Black Friday

[Audrey]

It's no secret Black Friday is dangerous and sometimes even lethal for some people, but I don't think they had what going on at the Jump City Mall in mind when they made those documentaries. An already stressful enough shopping trip was made worse with the strike of the notorious Anarchy Twins, a pair of preppy gum-chewing primadonnas intent on turning the planet into their own 'Material World'. Stephanie managed to arrive on the scene just as the two gals managed to get control of the upper floor. As she swooped behind a pillar to avoid getting spotted, the blonde twin took a spot on top of the now turned off escalator and prepared to address the fear-stricken crowd with a megaphone. "Hey ! We're in control now, so you're gonna   to us now, get it ya ? So the first   we want you to do   is   with the   and when   does   you need to   to make sure   doesn't   the monkeys cause   a condition which means which none of us want so that's why you need so there's not a problem with the central heating! Got it?" she yelled out, the crowd utterly cringing at her foul language but... also really confused as to what just they were just told to do. With a heavy sigh, the foul-mouthed twin's ginger-haired sister sighed and took hold of the megaphone.

"What my dear partner in crime means to say is you need to lay down all your valuables and exit the mall as fast as you can, cause no doubt those rotten Teen Titans are going to show up any minute now to ruin our fun and the last thing we need is you sniveling law-abiding losers to get in the way of that. So nobody get any smart ideas or we blow up the pet store. Think of the puppies scumbags! There's nothing worse on your conscious than dead puppies and kittens." the less vulgar twin corrected, pointing out the upper floor pet store rigged with dynamite and the trigger button in her hand.
"That's exactly what I said!" the first twin grumbled.
"Sometimes you have to do things professionally sis. Just because we're villains doesn't mean we can't talk like ladies."
"Whatever you say. I just think   is a when you're a "

Steph watched as the two sisters retreated to the inner sanctum of the upper floor. That rigged pet store was gonna be a problem. She needed to play this one stealth-like. Unfortunately, the Anarchy Twins had control of the security room and would no doubt be watching the cameras for any masked vigilantes like herself. Somehow she needed to get to the sister with the trigger to the bomb and get it away from her. Then she could wail away melee style on them. Thankfully the Anarchy Sisters weren't metas, but they certainly were no pushovers. She knew the blonde one kept some strange stun pistol on her and the redhead had nunchuks... What an odd combination. Keeping out of the line of sight of the cameras, Stephanie tried to look around for any other superheroes or even just a helpful civilian.

[Deleted]

Sometimes, Jacob thought, I hate living in this city.

Black Friday meant the best day, sadly, to get some of the things he'd been missing around his apartment. Thus, he forswore his oath to never set foot in a mall on this, the darkest of Fridays, because a microwave that couldn't even cook ramen was just shameful. He'd just barely arrived at the mall when the largest stream of profanity he'd heard in a while assaulted his eardrums. He was a little confused as to the point of that sentence. It really just seemed like someone was going for the land speed record on cursing. Blessedly, the speaker changed and this once could string two words together without a curse.

As the second speaker went on, Jacob darted over to a hallway just off the food court, standing underneath the only security camera that could see said hall. He dropped his backpack with a loud THUNK against the wall and used the sandstone to step up a bit and simply yank the wire out of the back of the camera. He peeked his head around the corner and spotted someone standing behind a pillar. The mask and lack of sociopathic conduct meant that this was a superhero, possibly a Titan. That was nice. The redhead gave a low whistle and beckoned her over to the hall. "I'm not from here, I don't know this mall. Where do you think they'd have gone?"

[Deleted]

Mimic was a bit on edge. The lunar eclipse was tomorrow and unlike a lot of people he just wasn’t looking forward to it. It wasn’t like he was afraid of it. Okay, so maybe he was, but he had good reason to be. During of which time he believes to be…someone else and as a result has zero memory of what he does during that period. He didn’t understand why. It just happens and the only reason he knows he turns into someone else is because he tends to get in huge trouble with the law and whatnot afterwards. So yeah he feared and hated the lunar eclipse. Hell he even felt uneasy around the moon in general although he was much too proud to openly admit such to anyone.

To help take his mind off of the inevitable, Mimic decided to do some shopping er window shopping at the mall, something that he just normally did not do. He often felt ‘too manly’ for it and would only get stuff like clothes when he really needed them although he does enjoy buying electronic devices. The young shifter was just about to try on what appeared to be an awesome looking jacket when he overheard loud profanity being shouted throughout the mall. Max wrinkled his nose in disgust as he slowly hung the jacket back up and peered over the railing to see what was up downstairs and what should he see, but a pair of attractive twin girls holding the place up and threatening animal and human lives alike.’ What was the world coming to,’ he wondered, ‘when a guy can’t even shop in damn peace without having a gun practically shoved in his face?’

Getting an idea he decided to call for some Titan backup. He slowly pulled out his T-Comm after ducking inside a circular rack of clothing. Hoping they didn’t spot him on the security cameras he notified his fellow Titans of what was happening. “Calling all available Titans, there’s some craziness going down here at the mall, so if you don’t want to miss out on any of the fun then I suggest you get your lazy butts over here pronto. The two culprits are a pair of femme fatales, real good lookers too, but that’s beside the point. Point is I…I might need some…some…help. They…they got a bomb, so yeah…some help would be nice,” he whispered into the T-Comm before turning it off and re-pocketing it. Afterwards he took a quick moment to breathe. Normally he wouldn’t be asking for help, but considering tomorrow night’s…events, well he wanted to be extra nice to his fellow teammates out of guilt. He had been extra nice to all of them the past week even to…Starfire and the other team’s alien members. He pretty much forced himself to be polite and get along with them all. Calling them for backup instead of rushing in alone was just one of the…extras that he had been doing. No doubt someone on the team noticed his sudden change in behavior and demeanor.

Part two of his little plan was simple enough really and by simple he meant deadly dangerous with a huge chance of risk involved. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and shifted into a tiny marble and made himself roll down the stairs. Surely those thieves were much too busy watching for humans than to notice a tiny little marble rolling about. The marble continued to roll past the hostages. It then made its merry way under the crack of the security room’s door where the thieves were holed up. His plan was simple: it involved using his shapeshifting abilities to scare the pants off them. He just hoped they were gullible and superstitious enough to believe in poltergeists.

Once inside he turned into a radio and switched himself on with a voice of an announcer. After all there is nothing spookier than having electronic devices suddenly switching on let alone talk about you... “We appreciate you viewers for listening to your local news channel. Here’s just in there has been a large rise in…crime this week. Yes, crime seems to be everywhere even in places where you least suspect it. Why just today a couple of beauties have taken over Jump City Mall and if they were smart they would come out right now before the local police toss in tear gas… Standing just in front of me is Officer Brown. Hello officer how will you be getting the twins out?”

[Audrey]

Steph leaped in and got close enough to the red-haired guy motioning her over. He didn't seem too super, but it looked like he wanted to help and Steph was all for any help she could get before the Titans arrived. "By the looks of it, they're going into Stacy's, the big ol' department store with the perfume ladies who always douse you with 'the latest fall fragrance' even though you tell them not to, because it completely clashes with the perfume you put on, and then you smell like a flower took a bubble bath in coffee and... Sorry, I'm getting off track. The security room is near the entrance, so they're probably watching the screens. I wouldn't disconnect anymore because then they'll get suspicious as to why all the cameras are going out all of a sudden. I think the one's fine though. Camera's break all the time right?" she shrugged as she looked over the bang up job the kid did on the camera... Kind of concerning he knew how to do that so easily, but hey, he wanted to help. Beggars can't be choosers really when you're up against megalomaniacs. "Right now... I really don't have a plan. I can sneak by some of the cameras to get around, but getting to them is going to be impossible if they're watching the screens. That security console's locked up tight! We need to get their eyes off the screens somehow."

Meanwhile the two troublemakers were in for a bit of a surprise when their number was suddenly called over the radio. The blonde one took the great measure of going into panic mode, but the redhead stayed cool.
"Oh they found us Ging, I can't , there's no way I'll in Belle Reve!" she squealed shaking the radio rather violently and almost breaking it on her knee in frustration. The other sister calmed her with a hand on the shoulder.
"They're bluffing. There's no way they have an entire squadron out there already, it's simply not possible. Not to mention I'm pretty sure tear gas was outlawed after the Titans Initiative. They're trying to scare us into walking out. So we're gonna push them even harder."
"How the are we gonna do that?"
"Let's say I've been tinkering in robotics lately."
"Neeeeeeeeeeerd."
"You are so incredibly lucky we're twins, or I would break you like you were going to break that radio right now."
"So what's this plan?"
"You stay here and keep watching the screens. I'll go get my little... "friend" and introduce you two."
"You know that really sounds like a-"
"DON'T. Go there. You're so immature sometimes, I have no idea how we're related."

[Deleted]

Mimic in his best radio announcer voice was about to go on when the evil beauty queen twins rudely interrupted him. The blonde fell for it hook line and stinker. Unfortunately, her sister wasn't buying it. The young shapeshifter was starting to re-think his crazy plan when the blonde twin started shaking him. Mimic felt he was going to be sick and feared that the girl was surely going to destroy him for good. In response to the rough shaking the radio produced an ear piercing sound. "Warning. Danger. Do not... Warning, Will explode indefinitely if..." the radio cried in the midst of the ear piercing whine. Thankfully the ginger calmed her twin down before the blonde could do any permanent damage to the hapless shapeshifter. Dazed, but angry, Mimic shifted into a prickly cactus in a bright, white light just hoping he would prick the blonde girl's hand.

This mention of a secret...friend: whatever it was definitely didn't sound good. But from how the ginger described it, it sounded like a super, mega destroyer robot. One way or another Mimic had to stop them. How? He wasn't sure yet. He hated to admit it, but he really could use some help right about now.

ooc: Apologies for how short it is, but wasn't sure what more to have Mimic do.

[Deleted]

"We need to get their eyes off the screens somehow."

Jacob thought for a bit. Psychological warfare wasn't his strong suit, but wasn't it easier to get someone to do something than to get them to stop? "Why do we have to stop them from looking at the screens? Can't we just make them see one screen in particular?" He examined the sandstone he was currently resting his heel against, and a great grin broke across his face. "If they don't wanna see any heroes, then we won't give them any to look at."

The redhead leaned around the corner, grinning at the sight of another security camera rotating at an even rhythm. He kicked his slab of sandstone, and the whole thing disintegrated into fine grains of sand that flooded across the floor, held back from exiting the hall by Tanami's own control over them. "You have until the count of ten to make yourself scarce, then I'm gonna draw their attention over here in a big way."

With that, Tanami started shaping the sand, sweeping arm motions drawing particles into the shape of some half-formed monstrosity as he started counting under his breath, a being from his own mind that seemed a malformed cross between gargoyle and demon. As soon as he reached a count of ten seconds, he sent the sandbeast hurtling around the corner at the camera, mouth wide in a silent roar since cameras here probably didn't transmit sound. The mass of sand hardened momentarily as it struck the camera, shattering it. If that hadn't drawn their attention, nothing would.