Chapter 11 - New Horizons (8)

Last night, it was petty theft.

This morning, it will be grand and thrilling heists!

At least, that was Mell's plans for the rest of the day. There were only a couple of hours left until the Tower opened so she couldn't go as crazy as she wanted.

"Well guys," Mell stretched, cracking her knuckles, "it's been a while since I've done this. Place your bets now--how much money will I be able to steal before the Tower opens? Starting balance is $20,000."

She glanced around the Mall, eyeing the nearby stores, only settling on an antique shop when she saw what seemed to be a wealthy elder walk inside.

Easy score.

With this, the beginning of operation "Mall Raid" starts!

She stopped in front of the shop's window and summoned her trusty pipe "Bonkers". She admired the gold plated text printed on the surface of the glass. "Miranda's True Antique's" it spelled out.

She summoned her Profile and studied it one last time.

{Name: Mellenia of the Sacred Bell

Title: Former Constellation (All statistics have been reset)

Level: 1

HP: 500

Mana: 100

Strength: 15

Dexterity: 16

Intelligence: 11

Wisdom : 5

Skills

Inventory}

For the past couple of days she had not been idle, training as much as she could. Unfortunately, since the Tower was still closed at this time, she couldn't speed up the rate at which she increased her stats.

Natural Human growth was slow.

Too slow.

She closed her profile and got into a batter's stance, slowly swinging "Bonkers" as if in preparation of hitting a home run. "Well guys, what do you say? We should start this episode with a grand opening, right?" 

With that said, she swung "Bonkers" hard. So hard, in fact, that the window completely shattered in one strike. A shower of glass shards fell upon the marble flooring, shards spraying out haphazardly. It was very reminiscent of a waterfall; fast, powerful, and gorgeous. Some flying shards of glass had managed to cut nearby bystanders while other shards lodged itself in furniture close by.

Nearby spectator's couldn't help but comment upon witnessing this scene. Their mouths were agape, eyes wide. Some even pulled out their phones excitedly.

"Yo, what the hell!"

"This bitch is crazy!"

"I'm recording this!"

Mell chuckled mischievously, rushing inside the shop, ignoring those that had seen her. After all, none of them were going to help and she highly doubted they would call the police. Clout and views came first, right?

Seeing as Mell was never one for words of persuasion, she simply knocked out those she robbed and bust her way into the cashiers behind the counter.

With that, her first score netted her a gain of $1,300.

She still had a whole Mall left.

"Phew, this is exciting. I better hurry before the cops get here!"

With that, she ran out of the shop--bulldozing her way through the recording crowd and made her way into a nearby sports shop, repeating the same process.

At this point in time, three Mall Security Officers heard the commotion from a distance and curiously came over to check out the situation. When they saw Mell, pipe in hand, striking a random customer they immediately reached for their tasers.

"Alex, protect the crowd!" Their leader barked. "Justin, you're with me!"

"Yes sir!" They both complied.

"You! Stop what you're doing and drop the weapon!"

Mell scoffed, "I don't want to." she rushed forward, pipe in hand.

Both Security Officer's fired their tasers, one probe managed to strike her sleeve while the other just barely missed. 

She barely flinched.

"Shit, did it get stuck on her clothes?" 

The leader of the trio hastily backed away, just barely avoiding getting struck in the head. The slight cold gust of wind that followed revealed the true intensity placed behind that strike.

The Security Officer named Justin, upon seeing Mell attempting to strike his boss, tried to jump on the chance given and moved to tackle her before her stance straightened. Mell, noticing Justin, simply punched him in the gut and proceeded to strike him with "Bonkers".

Justin's eyes widened in shock. How was she so quick?!

"Justin!" The Boss called out, enraged. The way she had managed to overtake Justin was strange--unnatural even--but he pushed down the feeling of fear that arose and rushed forth, trying to protect his coworker.

Security Officer Alex tried his best to hold back the crowd. But, seeing as he was the only one on standby at this current moment, some bystanders managed to slip through, trying to record an even better angle.

Alex reached for the radio on his shoulder. "Attention to all Units, help is needed in front of 'Rick's Sports Center'! I repeat, help is needed in front of 'Rick's Sports Center'! We have an unruly customer currently attacking our unit!"

Alex turned his head to glance at the situation behind, his heart skipping a beat at what he saw. Mell had managed to knock out both Security Officers and had ran off, leaving Alex behind to deal with the unruly crowd.

"Sorry guys, I don't have time to play with Security so I'll have to end it there, maybe next time we could play longer." Mell chuckled as she ran up the escalator, proceeding to the second floor.

As she ascended up, just below her was another Unit of Security running towards "Rick's Sports Center". None of them looked up, determination giving them tunnel vision.

This entire process continued to repeat itself as she traveled throughout the Mall until Mell stumbled upon someone strange at a resting area on the fourth floor.

As she made her way to the Café found at the center of the floor, she glanced at the nearby designer couches and stopped, perplexed by what she saw.

Sitting on a slick, rose red couch with their slender legs elegantly crossed was a handsome figure dressed in a typical masquerade outfit. With an intricately designed black suit with stunning flower designs, a matching tasteful dress shirt and gold vest, a pair of well-fitting dress pants, and shining black dress shoes; he gave off an air of dramatic superiority.

A fancy porcelain cup was raised to his perfectly shaped lips. Upon his handsome face was half a black masquerade mask, the centers of the eyes completely white. Those very eyes of the mask were narrowed in satisfaction. Impossible for a normal mask to do.

Unless it wasn't a mask.

A blue digital screen faded into existence.

{Administrator Wross Ester - Dove of Desire

Administrator of Floors: 21st Floor - Kingdom of the Grand Wross Ester, 23rd Floor - Rapture, 24th Floor - Ambition's Prison, 25th Floor - Cloudy Rain}

"Ester?" Mell slipped out, surprised.

"Hm?" The white eyes of the mask widened, leaving its narrowed form behind, a slight fold could be seen, indicating his eyes had turned towards her. "Ah, Mellenia my Dear, it's you. I must say, your departure from Constellation-hood has left me ever so bitter. You were such a treat back then..."

"What are you doing here?"

Administrator Wross Ester blinked, seeming to raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I thought you couldn't leave the Tower since it's closed at the moment."

"Ah." Administrator Wross Ester seemed to have understood something. He lowered the porcelain cup from his lips and placed it gently on the matching miniature plate on his knee.

Before a Tower opened, Constellations were able to view the Tower's designated Planet without the guidance of Administrators. During this time, they could not speak in chat--for there was no chat to speak into--nor could they interact with those they viewed. It was commonly believed that during this time Administrator's could not leave their Towers.

In truth, they could. Most just chose to either stay on their Floors or remain invisible--out of the audience's eyes. A rare few would make themselves visible, treating themselves like an Easter Egg. These occurrences are rare, however. So rare, in fact, that Mell wasn't the only one with this misunderstanding. It was common sense not to see an Administrator before the Tower's opened.

"I suppose we are a particularly private bunch." Administrator Wross Ester answered vaguely.

Mell frowned, biting her lip.

"I must say," Administrator Wross Ester continued, "are you not busy with something else at this current moment? I know I am a wonderful sight to behold, but unfortunately I do not think you have the time to admire my esteemed beauty."

Administrator Wross Ester's warning snapped her out of her thoughts. She scoffed. "You are so damn lucky."

At this time, a whole squad of Mall Security rushed towards them, their target obviously being Mell. A few had actual guns--which they were not shy to fire.

Mell hastily ducked to avoid the bullets before running past Administrator Wross Ester. She skillfully hurled herself over the railing, falling down a floor and catching the third floor's railing. 

Administrator Wross Ester simply sipped his hot chocolate, unfazed by the series of events.

"Sir! Are you okay?" A few Security Officer's rushed towards his side.

"Si--Uh... Wross Ester," One Security Officer stammered upon seeing the strange window pop up, "d-did she hurt you by any chance?"

"Physically, much is left to be desired. Emotionally?" Administrator Wross Ester sighed dramatically, resting a hand upon his forehead, the eyes of the mask closing. Some of the Security Officers found the mask strange but didn't comment upon it. "Ah, my heart aches to lose a child. She had so much ambition, so much fire!"

"Wait, she's your daughter?" One of the Security Officer's asked, shocked.

Administrator Wross Ester stopped his performance, blinking his eyes. "Where did you get that idea from?" He turned his head towards the commenter.

The Security Officer's looked at him in confusion. This guy... was he mentally sound?

As a few Security Officers tried to understand and protect Administrator Wross Ester, the rest ran back down to the third floor.

At this point in time, the cops had been called a long time ago.

As chaos ensued inside the Mall, Mell took the chance she had gotten from Administrator Wross Ester and quickly disguised herself in a changing room. Once done, she slipped into the panicked crowd and made her way out of the Mall.

After that, she rushed towards Evan's car, hopped in, and drove towards her next destination.

"What? You guys thought I was done? Ha! What the Hell was I doing up all night if I was just going to end it there?" Mell drummed her fingers happily on the steering wheel. She couldn't help but wonder if she had less viewers now that the Constellations had seen Administrator Wross Ester...

It's better not to think about it...

"Well guys, results are in! I managed to get $23,000! Pretty good results all things considering."

Mell clicked her tongue. "It sucks that practically everything is online now. Could you imagine the amount of money I could've gotten if everyone didn't carry a card?"

***

Needless to say, the office was in shambles. Police officer's scrambled to make sense of the various robbery reports that were coming in from last night while others tried to schedule interviews with those in the hospital.

Doug sighed heavily as he picked up the phone once more. Since early in the morning, since coming into work, he had been assigned to phone duty. His goal was to gather as much information as possible about the crimes committed by his suspect last night.

He practically choked on his morning coffee when he heard what the person on the other side said.

"Our suspect robbed the Mall and now you need men for a man hunt?!" Doug stood up from his desk incredulous.

A stillness dominated the room for a second upon hearing the news before his fellow officer's burst into action once more. They gathered what they could--their badges, handcuffs, guns, and other equipment as they rushed for the door.

"Jesus Christ, someone took this moment to rob the mall?"

"If they're crazy enough to rob the mall then what Conrad said might be right--we might be dealing with a potential spree killer."

Doug cupped his face in his hands, sinking into his chair, a headache forming. Should he follow them to the mall or try to catch up with his suspect?

He thought about the unanswered 5 W's back home and raised his head.

He grabbed his jacket, keys, and headed to the parking lot.

The View Side seemed like the best bet.