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Not far from Bumblyburg is another city called Perrysville - a rather hip and up-to-date city filled to the brim with entertainment such as its enormous shopping centers, movie theatres, restaurants, and its ever -so-popular music hall.
Just like Bumblyburg, and most towns and cities, there lives a superhero -- a rather fabulous one, to boot -- who made certain to keep the place safe and giving a helping hand whenever it was needed. Perrysville’s superhero was a beaut, but she was definitely much more than a pretty face to be reckoned with. She focused on the task at hand, she was determined, she was--
“Petunia!”
The lady in question looked over her shoulder during the middle of throwing her light-weight jacket on. “Yeah?”
A few of her fellow co-workers were with the woman who called out, all of them getting ready to face the chilly outdoors. She beamed to Petunia, speaking again, “We’re heading to the club. Did you wanna join us? Gonna be an all-nighter~...”
Petunia brightened up at this; however, just as she was prepared to respond, she paused while her body perked. Even though she would’ve enjoyed venturing to the nightclub, she shook her head instead. “I forgot that I needed to drop something off before the place closes, and I can’t risk it not being there on time, so…”
She blinked. “Oh, okay. Next time then?”
“I’ll definitely join ya next time,” Petunia apologetically said with a small smile. “Promise.”
Petunia exited out of the back of Marsha’s (the place where she worked, not an actual being of course) and into the parking lot as she answered her cellular phone, “Yes Mayor Achmetha.”
She continued her walk to her car while listening to what the mayor had to say. Thankfully, the voice on the other line wasn’t rushing with words, so it appeared it wasn’t an emergency as of now. This made her relieved.
She tossed the hair on the right of herself, answering, “I’ll be there in ten minutes max.”
She hung up and stared straight ahead upon reaching her car.
“Well...time to slip into something more comfortable.”
Perrysville Galleria; the place one would visit to “ooh” and “aah” at valuable art work, jewelry, and all sorts of minerals which people especially found visually pleasing. Tonight, for example, was opening night for a limited time showcase of European royalty. One of the items being displayed was a rare red beryl necklace owned by an empress from Austria. That necklace, as Mayor Achmetha mentioned over the phone, was the target of theft, so somebody needed to keep an extra eye on this fine set for tonight, at least.
Petunia arrived to the galleria just in time before the event commenced. Adjusting her silver jacket over her pastel pink top, she entered the establishment whilst she prepared for what she was requested to do.
She passed by various art work and the like for the first few minutes, but when Petunia heard more chattering up ahead, she had a feeling the event was close by. Well, she would be correct.
She whispered with her eyes widening a bit, “There!”
There was a large crowd of people only a few feet away from Petunia. In the middle of the room, there stood a tall display case which was covered by a red sheet. Further down that way, more cases and shelves were shrouded from view in a similar fashion; however, those items weren’t the focus of opening night. Although she’d prefer to be in the front, Petunia believed remaining to the back of the crowd would be a more helpful position just in case.
All of a sudden, a female voice spoke up from the right of her, “Petunia?”
Petunia without delay turned and practically gasped at the same time her chest fluttered due to who was there. “Esther! I’m surprised to see you here,” she said. “I thought you had to work at the coffee shop today…”
The tall leek woman smiled. “I had overtime, so I got to leave early.”
Ahh, Esther Leek . She was a friend of Petunia’s ever since the two of them met at Perrysville Community College approximately four years ago. While she took classes to assist her designer tech career, Esther was more of the music type and focused on only that...probably why she had a still blossoming music career but also required to work a part-time job on the side. Oh well, at least Esther worked at a place she genuinely enjoyed. Overall, Esther was almost opposite to her -- introverted, hesitant, and quiet. Although, Esther was more than that. She was a sweetheart. Petunia had the honour of having her as a server whenever she dropped by for some needed caffeine, and she loved it. Know what else she loved? Well, the cute tall girl beside her! She could go on about how much she adored her, but...yeah, that would drag this story even longer.
“So…” Esther spoke, brushing the long strand of hair out of her face, “we haven’t seen each other in a while. How’s work?”
‘Time to multitask,’ Petunia thought before she began her constant switching of her eyes between Esther and the display case. “Everything’s been going well! Just...regular process of designing trendy clothes at very humane prices. Same old, same old basically.” When took another glance of Esther, she couldn’t help but notice how nice she looked in that simple red tank-top and the black undershirt peeking from its hiding place. “Speaking of clothes,” she shot a wink, “...you look nice tonight.”
Esther blushed, something which surprised Petunia. “Oh this?” She looked to her outfit. “It’s just my casual clothes…” she said.
Petunia felt herself grinning from ear to ear at the reaction. Amazing, she never saw Esther react like that before! It rather...adorable. “They look nice on you, regardless.”
“Oh stop,” she laughed lightly while the strand of hair returned to its natural position between her eyes. “You look nice too. You with your hair not braided is rare.”
“Gotta let my scalp breathe.”
“True.”
They fell silent for a few seconds while Petunia kept her eyes only on the still-shrouded case. A small tremor ran up Petunia’s spine all of a sudden as though her body tried to inform that the other woman was staring at her, probably using her long hair as a curtain in order to make it seem less noticeable. She felt herself bubble with amused laughter; however, the redhead made certain not to let it slip.
“I wonder when the event’s supposed to start,” Esther suddenly talked as she tossed her hair back. “I could’ve sworn the poster in the front said nine o’clock on the dot, but it’s two minutes after nine...”
Petunia bit the left side of her lip in thought. ‘Hope they’re just running a bit behind.’
That was when a voice over the building speakers announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. We will now begin this season’s special showcase -- ‘European Royalty’! First off, we’ll open with the necklace believed to have been owned by Empress Elisabeth of Austria!”
She quirked her brows. “Ooh, I remember her from history class. I just know she had great clothing and attire! She was a stunning woman too.”
Esther overheard her and, even though she attempted to hold it back, snickered. “The first thing you say about it, and it’s what she wore?”
Petunia shrugged, flashing a smile. “What can I say? Princess and queen fashion is an aesthetic of mine!”
“...’aes’...what?”
“It’s visually pleasing to me.”
She blinked. “Oh, got it.”
“Here it is,” the embodied voice spoke once again, “Empress Elisabeth’s red beryl necklace!”
‘Don’t forget,’ Petunia mentally reminded herself as the curtain slowly started to rise while the crowd grew quiet, ‘you’re here on business until the event ends.’ She sucked in some air on impulse, trying to focus on the item at hand.
Higher and higher did the curtain rise in such an agonizingly slow speed and
the lights went out.
In typical “group of people in a semi-unfamiliar setting” fashion, patrons began to fret with murmurs of worry seconds after others gasped in surprise.
Petunia pressed herself against Esther with a small “eep!” coming from her. Esther, seemingly unfazed, glanced down at Petunia, blinking. The shorter of the two realized what she was doing and backed up a bit with an apologetic laugh.
The lights came back on and the curtain resumed rising.
The voice over the speakers coughed, clearing his throat. “A--anyway, here is Empress Elisabeth’s red beryl--”
The lights died.
“Oh bugger,” the disembodied voice immediately said. And when the lights, again, returned, he spoke once more over the shocked gasps, “...tonight just isn’t my night.”
During the second brief blackout, apparently the display case was shattered and the cloth removed from it.
The necklace was missing.
Over the confused murmuring occurring, Esther knitted her brows at the sight. “Someone went and stole the necklace…” was what she said soon after. “It reminds me of something from a--” when she turned her head in order to glance at Petunia, she paused as soon as she noticed that her friend was nowhere to be found, “...movie.”
She blinked.
“Petunia?”
“Huh…” He fiddled with the acquired beryl necklace in his hold as he allowed his back to lean against the alley wall. “This should make a pretty penny…” he said with a sudden smirk, “or two pennies.” And then he laughed; although, he was smart enough to keep it on the quiet side this time.
Swoosh.
For a brief moment, a shadow flew over his head, something which he spotted when it glided across the pavement. He shot his head up but saw nothing. Steadily, he kept his eyes there and then slowly returned the gaze once certain that the shadow wasn’t there anymore.
“Phew.”
Before the thief even thought about leaving the alley, he tore off his ski cap and matching sweater and then slipped his plain brown jacket. He tucked the necklace into a pocket while he whipped out a tissue and began to remove the black face paint surrounding his eyes. He should’ve just borrowed his buddy’s eye-shadow instead of doing that -- at least it was easier to remove than this sticky mess.
“...wait,” he spoke up, now out of the alley, “how come I put that stuff on anyways? I had a mask on. What more would I have needed on my face?”
“I don’t know about you, but black is a very gorgeous color to wear for this time of the year.”
“Heh,” he grinned upon hearing that response, “I guess you’ve gotta point, though it sounds like somethin’ my boss would say, whoever you are.”
“Really? I should have a chat with him sometime!”
“No can do, lady. He’s a busy man except for weekends.”
“Anyway,” the woman’s voice asked, changing topic, “can I have that pretty necklace you’ve got in your jacket?”
He faltered and removed the tissue from his eyes. No one was there, but his gut-instinct was telling him otherwise. Shoot, it better not be what he thought it could be. He spun around and saw not a soul there either; however, instead of externally panicking, he simply went, “Necklace? What would I be doin’ with a necklace? I don’t like stuff hangin’ from my neck.”
Swoosh.
A shadow went over him for the second time that night, and he could feel his pulse speeding with anticipation. Should he keep denying it until she went away or just make a break for it before she had a chance to show herself?
Heck no, he wasn’t gonna run away. The weapon he had on him should be enough to push this mysterious woman away a little. Besides, running away so soon was for cowards -- and he wasn’t a coward.
“Wherever you are, lady,” he told the female disembodied voice, “I think you’ve got the wrong guy. I can pull out my pockets right now and prove it to you that I don’t have a necklace on me.”
It was in his right ear when she responded with a sweet, “And drop the poor thing on the floor in the process?”
He restrained a surprised cry as he spun halfway and faced...well, a civilian. Yes, it was just a rhubarb-looking woman with an amused smile. The thief’s face fell at this. “Uh…” He cleared his throat for a moment and then continued, shooting back, “If you’re calling the change in my pocket that ‘poor thing’, then yeah, I’d do it. Anyway, if you’ve got nothing else to say, buzz off and leave me alone. Gave me a heart attack for a sec there...”
The short thief turned away from the woman and began to walk away from her by making a turn to the left; although, it was short-lived once the redhead called, “Wait!”
He stopped with an annoyed huff. “What?”
“I noticed you still have that face paint on you. I have some stuff that can help with that!”
Well, the stuff was beginning to itch…
Turning around, he was met with the woman holding a silver and purple compact mirror to him while also handing him a baby wipe. He hesitated at first, for his gut-instinct stirred; however, he pushed it down and nodded to the lady as he grabbed the wipe. Dang, he was probably nervous about doing this mission by himself and the anxiety was catching up at last. He leaned to the small mirror, glaring at the itchy substance remaining on his face--
“Flash Compact.”
Before the thief could register what the heck the woman said, everything went white and he cried upon being blinded by such a rude way. “Ugh, are you kiddin’ me?!” Something swiped at his side all of a sudden and knew exactly what was happening. “Hey!” He struggled to find where she went, but his attempt was fruitless when his vision refused to rebound still. How long was he going to be like this?!
He was grabbed by the collar of his jacket and his eyesight returned just in time.
Through the spots dying in his vision, the thief could see a gorgeous redhead staring back at him. She donned a purple mask which had three lashes on each side, making her green eyes stand out more. Dang it, he ran into the city’s superhero after all! Ooo boy, the boss wasn’t going to enjoy this.
He shut an eye that refused recovering as he demanded, “Who are you…?”
She was quiet, but only for a few seconds. The woman gave him a sophisticated smile and answered with a confident tone, “I’m Perrysville’s very own Vogue.” She lifted the necklace to the thief’s face. “Found this hanging from your coat pocket, you rapscallion. I’m pre-tty certain a galleria reported someone stealing Empress Elisabeth’s necklace just a while ago.” Ignoring the feeble glare she got from him, she inquired, “Mind telling me how you got this?”
...welp, maybe he could try his weapon on her.
“How else did ya think I got it,” he shot. “From the galleria!”
“So you admit to stealing it then.”
“Yeah yeah, listen...I’m from Bumblyburg and do this countless of times. I know about what comes next, so get on with it.”
Vogue quirked a brow. “Countless” huh? Guess the police was softer on thieves over in Bumblyburg...either that, or LarryBoy’s soft on them. She’s...really gonna have to talk to him about how his city handled criminals…
“Well, fine. I will.”
“ Thank you…”
The short rapscallion kept his eyes on Vogue while both parties searched for something in their possession, both preparing for a strike on the other -- of course, they were unaware that was what the other was doing. You know, typical stand-off procedure.
Vogue was suddenly thrown back with incredible force and landed on her back with a grunt. Something was hugging her whole torso and only half of her lower region. Her eyes focused upon herself and immediately saw an odd body of yellow bubbles wrapped around her like a straitjacket which managed to pin her against the sidewalk. The rapscallion, meanwhile, approached her with caution but with a smirk on his face. At this, she gave an unimpressed stare up at him.
“What is this?”
He whipped out a medium-sized “gun” which, due to his size, was almost the same size as him. “Homemade sticky foam! While you’re held up, I’ll go ahead and take that necklace back!”
She sighed. “And how will you be doing that while I’m in this state?”
“Got the stuff I need to break into the mold and grab it!”
“I see…”
The scallion faltered. “Compared to that dumb LarryBoy , you sure don’t get impressed easily.”
Vogue, though, had an idea up her fancy but non-existent sleeve. As she shifted under the gross-looking foam, she shot with her mouth going in a thin line on one side, “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call my fellow superhero ‘dumb’. He’s anything but.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah. Anyway,” he trailed off and squatted to the right of Vogue’s body whilst removing a small chisel from the inside of his jacket, “time for the goods. You had it on the right, right?” Three very hard taps was all it took for the scallion to break a big enough hole to snatch the beryl necklace from the defenseless hero’s grasp. “Nice!” He beamed, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way--”
Wait why was the foam rising?
He looked to Vogue and gasped. She and the foam were inflating in unison! Was...was she doing this? The rapscallion thief backed up as the expansion continued more and more by the second. As soon as the woman shot him a triumphant smirk, he knew she had something to do with what was happening.
“This is one of the reasons why I’m called Vogue,” she said over the sound of the foam breaking apart slowly, “my clothes can be used as devices while also staying fashionable! So...”
At this point, yeah, he should ran because at this point, it looked like the superhero was going to explode, for the rising and expanding continued, reaching higher past his height. He was pretty freaked out...as one could in this situation.
The foam blew apart into tiny yellow pieces as Vogue now hovered feet off the ground with her superhero suit taking the form of a balloon. She, at last, finished her sentence, “stuff like what you just did won’t cause any trouble at all!” She whipped out her compact.
“Oh no you don’t,” he exclaimed and gripped the necklace tight, “I’m outta here!”
Vogue muttered, “Crap,” as the thief began to run down the sidewalk. “He’s pretty fast, but once I release the air from this...” she quickly pressed the emblem on the left breast of her outfit in order to switch into fly-mode, “I’ll catch up in no time.”
Esther inhaled through her nostrils and then exhaled in a similar fashion while she stretched in place, enjoying the night air from atop the stairs which led to the entrance. “Well, that was something…”
Since the sudden theft of the red beryl necklace occurred, a lot of the crowd separated from the area but still remained within and around the galleria. They were hopeful that Empress Elisabeth’s necklace would return in one piece, especially since they knew that the police were on the case. They didn’t mess around.
Although...Esther had a feeling someone else would find the necklace first.
Vogue.
After all, she was already at the galleria and saw what happened. For all Esther knew, Vogue was just about done capturing the culprit--
“Get away from me! Man I’m starting to regret leavin’ Bumblyburg...”
Speak of the devil!
Judging by how the voice’s volume began to grow at the end of its exclamation, Esther had a feeling there was a scene taking place a few blocks across the street. She was right, because she soon spotted a short scallion rushing down the street while reaching into his jacket. His eyes were darting to the front of him and then behind. Feet up in the air and catching up was Vogue, shooting through the air with her wings extended at the right position to assist her.
“Vogue…” Esther realized how embarrassing it might be to practically whisper the superhero’s name with admiration, but...she honestly couldn’t help it. Vogue was an amazing superhero and a gorgeous one.
Vogue, meanwhile, whipped out a powder puff from the cleavage of her suit and prepared herself for a perfect toss. She needed to trap this guy if his stamina refused to wear. “And steaaady…set…”
All at once, Esther spotted the scallion pull out a gun as Vogue aimed her puff ball weapon ahead. Shoot, was he gonna shoot her? She tried to call out, to warn the superhero of what the thief had in mind; however, she simply couldn’t find her voice. Darn, speaking up was a weakness of hers, and it had to remind her here and now. She bit her lip and then rushed down the stairs, for she came up with another idea.
There was only a bit left in the gun, but the rapscallion thief was going to use it anyway as a last second resort. Worth the shot.
Vogue flung her powder puff as the thief began to turn to face her; all of a sudden, however, she spotted somebody running forward with a red and blue guitar in their possession and swung the electric instrument at the rapscallion! The scallion, of course, grunted and fell over in pain. She couldn’t tell who the person was from high above, but boy, they did a nice job!
...hopefully, he wasn’t hurt badly and the necklace was okay. Seconds after, the puff ball bounced onto his head and emitted a dark blue powder, causing him to cough and sputter.
She swooped down and entered the powder cloud.
Vogue lifted the grumbling rapscallion to his “feet” and then carefully took the necklace from his hold. “I’ll be taking that back to its temporary holder,” she said. “Thanks, fella!”
He coughed again. “Just send me back to Bumblyburg. Please . I hate powder...”
“No worries, you’ll get your wish much later. You stole a pretty valuable necklace, after all.”
Within seconds, the cloud evaporated. Vogue suddenly heard the sound of someone approaching with caution. Must be the one who stopped the thief.
“I--I think I might’ve hit him a bit too hard…” a gentle voice spoke up.
Vogue finished wrapping a rope around the scallion, in the meantime, and assured the voice, “Don’t worry, he’s gonna be fine. Thanks for your help, Esther.”
…
...Esther?!
In a panic, she stared ahead and saw the tall girl looking back at her. Shoot, she just said her name out loud, didn’t she? Vogue wasn’t supposed to know a random civilian’s name! “U--um…!” Her heart began to pound. Esther was sharp, she knew she wouldn’t be deterred by a “you look like an Esther” or something along the line of that. All she could do was awkwardly secure the thief and trying to think of what to say.
Over the police sirens which expanded in volume by the second, Esther couldn’t help but keep her eyes on Vogue with heat rising to her cheeks.
Huh.
Petunia looked nice with her hair pulled back like that.
“Well, the event’s postponed for a while,” Petunia sighed out as she took a seat upon the flight of stairs to the galleria, “but the necklace is a-okay.”
Esther took a seat beside her, brushing the long strand of hair out of her right eye and pulling her guitar against her body. “Thanks to you!”
She glanced at Esther. “How long did you know that I’m…” she paused as a few people passed by and then finished once she was certain they wouldn’t hear her, whispering, “Vogue?”
Quirking a brow, she replied plainly, “You didn’t wear a mask at all when you first started, your voice was the same, you always have the same Dior perfume on you whenever you’re Vogue, and I could see your top poking out of your suit earlier.”
Petunia faltered. “Huh. You’re the only one to piece things together for some reason.”
She shrugged with a blush and then sat back a bit. “It’s easy for me to recognize you.”
Perhaps it was the manner in which she said that, but for some reason, a flutter made itself known in Petunia’s chest soon after. She made herself chuckle, “Yeah, I guess it is!”
They fell quiet.
“...Esther?”
“...yeah?”
Her stomach joined in with the tingling sensation within her chest; however, she forced herself to ignore it and instead asked, “Since the event’s cancelled, were you planning on going somewhere else? My coworkers are at this nightclub, so I was wondering if you’d want to...”
Esther blinked, almost widely, at her. “I…” She paused and pondered what she should say. In honesty, she had no idea what to do now. Her brown eyes went to her lap but then returned to look at Petunia’s pretty green ones. Shyly, she responded, “Sure, I’ll...go with you.”
Quietly, she gasped in surprise, and a smile crept onto her face. “Would it be too soon to call this a date?”
The tall girl laughed, gentle in tone as she bowed her hair and allowed her hair to curtain her crimson face. “Not at all actually.” Esther, once more, paused. “...Petunia, you’re not worried about me knowing who you are?” Cool air touched her left cheek and when she turned her eyes, there was Petunia smiling at her while brushing her hair back.
“I trust you,” was all she said.
“You’re pretty close to my face.”
“Oh, sorry!”
“I like it.”
Petunia was about to pull away until Esther assured her with that. “Oh.”
She beamed gently and then rose, grabbing her guitar. “Did you wanna go now, Vogue ?”
“S--sure!” She got up as well. “I’ll drive us!”
And so, as they went by attendees and those departing Perrysville Galleria, Petunia couldn’t help but think about how much this night had to offer to her. Here she was, going out with her crush (and she knew Esther felt the same) for some fun on this cool wonderful Friday night after stopping a thief from stealing a beautiful artifact belonging to an Austrian empress.
What a night in Perrsyville...
end