Chapter 5: Mischief at Marigold Mall

Sabrina yawns, walking down the steps of her school on a friday afternoon. Her brother was supposed to be picking her up today, and excitement bubbled in her chest. She closes her eyes and hums to herself- and promptly bumps into someone.

"I'm so sorry-" she begins, stepping back. However, her apologetic tone turns excited, as she sees just who it was. "Oh, Mary!"

The older girl hums, giving Sabrina a thumbs up. "We should... stop meeting up like this." She speaks, as bluntly as usual.

Sabrina nods- "Yeah, my bad… I'll try and watch where I'm going next time." She smiles. "Do you have any plans today? It's my dad's birthday, and me and my brother want to look for a gift."

Mary taps her cheek, trying to remember if she had any plans. "Hmm…" She thinks for a few more moments- and then nods her head. "Mm-hm."

Sabrina's smile beams, and she takes Mary's hand. "Great! He should be here by now."

The two walk hand-in-hand to the elementary school's parking lot. Sabrina leads her friend to a gray car, and the window rolls down as she approaches.

"Heya, squirt." The young man in the driver's seat smiles, teasingly. Sabrina rolls her eyes as she reaches for the backseat door. Her brother looks through the rear-view mirror, but pauses when his eyes land on Mary. "Uh… who's this?"

"Oh, right. Blair, this is my friend, Mary. We met on the first day. I asked her to come." Sabrina explains.

Blair snorts- barely stifling a laugh. "A shrimpette like you made a friend?" He asks- with a smirk, as Sabrina crosses her arms and pouts.

Mary nods, raising a hand and making a peace-sign. "Sup." Her simple greeting also earns a laugh from her brother.

"Well, if you ever wanna hang with someone cooler, I'm always down." Blair gives another chuckle as he turns the ignition on. "Let's head out, ladies."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wuh- oof!"

A tear in the fabric of reality opens, quickly dumping out a pair of creatures. The first to land was a large puppet, an axe stuck in its pumpkin-like head. It glances around curiously at the new surroundings, as a black and white rodent plops down besides it.

"Hmmm… Where is this place..?" Opossumon wonders, floating above the shoulder of Pumpkinmon.

"Don't know, don't know…" Pumpkinmon mutters. It looks over its rafter landing spot- people of all ages were walking about and chatting. "It looks fun…"

Opossumon floats down, one hand tugging on its set of balloons. "Hey, hey! Watch this!" It grins a devilish grin, as it lands on the highest floor. A mop and a bucket lie just on the side of the rails. It smiles, and with a kick, it spills the water onto an unsuspecting couple.

As the two humans groan in disgust, the digimon pair burst into barking laughter. "Good job! Now let me try!" Pumpkinmon jumps down to a storefront, and pulls out a marker. It rushes to a glass display, and scribbles a series of crude shapes and drawings in an instant.

Opossumon giggles, "Yes! We can do all the mischief we want here!" It laughs, as Pumpkinmon turns back around.

"This must mean… We found it!" The puppet beams, and its rodent partner smiles as well. They laugh, and both yell-

"This is our pranking paradise!"

Mary yawns as Sabrina skips out of the store behind her. A bag was in her hand, and a smile was on her face.

"Thanks for your help!" Sabrina says, brightly. "I just know dad's gonna love this. Let's go meet Blair at the food court!"

Mary smiles, and nods as Sabrina skips on ahead. She lets out another yawn- before she notices something on one of the displays. Her eyes widen, and she quickly grabs onto Sabrina's shirt.

"Huh?" Sabrina turns back around, concerned. "What's up?"

"That." Mary mutters, pointing to a vandalized storefront. There were strange markings made up of a permanent marker. A poor, miserable-looking janitor was stuck scrubbing it off.

Sabrina lets out a small chuckle. "They look like ancient runes, don't they? Someone must really not like that store."

"Get in, get out. Get in, get out."

Dimitri mumbles this mantra to himself, trying to psyche himself up properly. He just needed a new pair of boots, his old pair finally crapped out.

Standing across the storefront pacing and muttering to himself was merely his attempt at stalling for a bit more time.

It'd be fine- as long as he didn't run into anybody familiar. In, and out, and he'd be back home in an instant. He lets out a final sigh, turning to the store, and-

"Hey, Dimi!"

His blood runs cold. As he turns to the voice, he sees Julian walking up towards him.

"Wow. That's the glare I'm familiar with." Julian chuckles, as Dimitri turns to face him fully. "Didn't think I'd see you here! How are ya?"

Dimitri's brow furrows, and he dryly huffs- "I have been more or less dead." That one manages to catch Julian off guard, and it gives Dimitri the chance to turn around and walk off. He still had a few months until it began to snow anyways.

"H-hey, don't leave!" Julian laughs, nervously, following after him. "Come on, man-"

"Oh, hey!" Another familiar voice calls, and Dimitri directs his glare above, hoping fate found his misery funny. Alexis walks out of a store with a bag slung over her shoulder. "Funny seeing you two outside of school."

"That's one way to put it." Julian shrugs- the slightest bit relieved. "I wonder if we can find the rest of our little lunch group!"

Dimitri lets out another sigh, hands lowering into his pockets. Two people felt manageable. He swallows, nervous-

And something cold and wet nails him on the side of the head.

As the bright pink drink runs down his shirt, he brings a hand to his face to wipe it off his eyes. He hears a laugh, and thinks it's Julian, for a moment.

But, as he turns to the source, the cackling prankster was a floating, pumpkin-headed puppet, laughing maniacally as Dimitri's day gets slowly, slowly worse.

The laughing slowly stops- because Dimitri's single eye is glaring a metaphorical hole through it.

Dimitri rushes after the puppet, leaving Julian and Alexis behind. The former gives a tired sigh- "I'm starting to think he doesn't like us."

Pumpkinmon hovers around the food court, trying to desperately avoid the pissed one-eyed teen. Dimitri reaches into his pocket, pulling out his digivice and summoning Hecklemon to his side.

"Heya- woah!" It yelps, and quickly begins to sprint with its tamer. "Why are we running?! You never give me any context!"

Sabrina, waiting on a line at the same food court, looks curiously to the source of the noise. Her brow quirks, as she sees Pumpkinmon whiz past her- shortly followed by Dimitri and Hecklemon. "Huh..?"

Mary looks from the menu to Sabrina at the noise she makes. "You… Okay?"

Sabrina nods- "Yeah, I'm fine. I just… thought I saw someone I knew." She mutters.

Mary nods, understanding, and brings her focus back to the menu. "D'ya think… Captain likes seafood?" She asks aloud.

"Oh, right! I should get something for Cass and Emm too."

"I've finally cornered you…"

Pumpkinmon yelps, as Dimitri steps forwards. The hall ended from here, and the puppet gave a nervous whimper at each step the teen took.

Hecklemon slings onto Dimitri's shoulder, and laughs- "Yeah, not so tough now! Beg for mercy!"

Pumpkinmon whimpers again- "I-I'm so, so- sorry..." and then it laughs. "... that you're a pair of SUCKERS!"

An empty bucket falls from above, trapping Hecklemon in its tin cage. Opossumon floats down, and Pumpkinmon grabs onto the leg of its partner-in-crime.

"Get schooled, pinky!" Opossumon laughs, as the pair float up and away on a handful of balloons.

Dimitri growls- but turns to the more pressing issue. He takes the bucket, and tries to shake his partner out. Like a cartoon, Hecklemon slides out, scrunched up like a cylinder.

"Are you hurt?" Dimitri asks, kneeling down- as Hecklemon pops back into its normal shape.

"Ehhhh, I'll live." Hecklemon shrugs, but points to Dimitri's ruined shirt. "You look like garbage. More than usual."

"It'll come out in the wash. Let's go home." Dimitri offers an arm, and Hecklemon swings onto his shoulder.

"Cranky about that digimon, ain't ya?" Hecklemon smirks, smug, and Dimitri merely rolls his eye. As he walks, however, another familiar face seems dead-set on bothering him.

"What happened to you?!" Hiro blinks, surprised. "You look like you just got out of a bad breakup."

Dimitri decides then and there that he hates this mall, and he's never coming back. He glances at the arcade Hiro just walked out of, and growls- "What do you know about relationships?"

"I- I've been in plenty of relationships!" Hiro stammers.

Dimitri huffs. "Dating sims don't count." He says- with a short, derisive laugh.

"W-well, how do you know about those to begin with?" Hiro retorts. "You're such a grump…"

Dimitri pretends he didn't hear that last remark, as Hiro walks back into the arcade.

"Wow. Such good friends!" Hecklemon snorts, as Dimitri continues to walk. "You have the charisma of a pufferfish."

"Enough." Dimitri growls back, as he walks back towards the exit he came from, around the food court. If he had any luck, those two would be gone by now. But, it's more than likely that he doesn't.

Julian looks at his ruined shirt with wide eyes. "Holy shit, dude." He mutters.

Alexis sighs. "That's worse than I thought it'd be."

"It's not that bad." Dimitri mutters, looking down to his shirt.

"It is that bad." Hecklemon smirks.

Julian sighs- "How about I get you a replacement, mate?" He asks

"I am not your "mate"". Dimitri shakes his head and sighs, knowing he won't get out of this situation. His partner must know his misery- because it laughs.

"Come on, it's super sticky." Alexis nudges him just a bit. "Think of it as… Repayment for last time!"

Dimitri sighs, and rolls his eye, as the two lead him through the mall energetically.