[6] Chasing Trisha

[Kaden]

It was like being stuck in some kind of psychotic video game. Journey through three dungeons and collect the shiny keys so to be able to fight the big bad guy... the only things Kaden was missing were a boomerang and green tights. On the plus side, his party was in pretty good shape. There was Piper, who was as close to a fighter as they were going to get, Sophia, who actually was a priestess, and then Kaden... that one character you never really wanted to use, but you didn't have anyone else to switch him out for. That's how Kaden saw things, at least.

"Y'know," Kaden began as the trio walked into the closest department store, "I'm kinda glad we're going after Trisha."

"Why's that? Got a thing for blondes?" Piper quipped sarcastically.

"Oh all the other people who went after an emblem, how many do you think ended up in an air-conditioned mall?" Kaden explained.

"Now that you mention it," Sophia looked around the store they had entered, "it is pretty nice in here."

"Better than being in the desert," Piper agreed.

As they trekked through the department store, looking for a way around Trisha's gate, silence fell upon the three of them. While Kaden wasn't against silence, per se, this was a situation where it was just making him uncomfortable. He wracked his brain for something to say, something that might spark idle conversation, but was cut off as they walked past the men's clothing deprtment.

"Woah!?" the courier explained, leaping towards the racks of clothes.

Both Sophia and Piper whipped around, searching for Kaden. It didn't take long for the two women to track down the excited shuffling of the courier was they moved towards him through racks of clothes. When they finally happened upon their ally, he was standing in front of a full-length mirror that had been set up along a support column for the store.

"Check it out," Kaden turned towards his companions. "I can't believe they have my jacket. Waaaay overpriced, though."

Shaking their heads, Sophia and Piper turned to continue deeper into the store, but stopped when urged by Kaden. The courier was pulling off "his" jacket and surveying the racks of clothing that surrounded him. Nodding to himself, he gestured for Sophia and Piper to hold on a minute.

"I'll be right back," the courier said.

Kaden made his way to the changing rooms, which were situated against the far wall, grabbing at hangers as he passed. Ducking into the changing room, Kaden stripped down and tossed on new clothing as quickly as he could. The courier was thankful that he wouldn't need to actually pay for the clothing he intended to take. His wallet couldn't take the hit.

With a exuberant sigh of relief, Kaden strolled out of the changing room and made his way back to Piper and Sophia. While his clothing hadn't really changed -- how could you go wrong with black on black? -- putting on something not smelly and disgusting and filled with sand was a huge relief. After throwing on a new jacket, Kaden ran a hand through his hair and smiled at his companions.

"That feels soooo much better. There's a pile of sand this big on the floor over there," Kaden held up his hands, hoping to accurately illustrate exactly how much of the desert had accumulated in his clothing. "All we need now is a store with a working shower." Running his hand through his hair, Kaden came back with far more sand than he would have preferred.

"The sooner we get to Trisha, the sooner we can take down Kai," Piper reminded the courier.

"What's the deal with you guys and taking down Kai?" Sophia asked as they began walking again. "That's not the first time you'd mentioned it."

"In the beginning of this... game," Kaden explained, "Piper and I were in a group of 'Hunters.' There was this other guy with us named Szar. Actually... I'm not even sure he was a guy. Some kind of alien."

"A changeling," Piper added.

"So Piper and I went with this changeling and snuck into Kai's mansion. That's where all the Hunters started out. Turns out Szar was actually a cop from, uh, Kajin Rala? Something like that. Anyway, he found some evidence that he could use to arrest Kai, but was taken out before he could make the arrest." Kaden exchanged a sad look with Piper.

"Kaden and I are going to finish what Szar started," the medic said purposefully.

Sophia nodded along with the short story, staying relatively quiet and taking in the information. Hopping onto a pair of escalators, at Kaden's suggestion, the trio slowly made their way to the second floor of the department store, but entirely in silence.

"Hey Kaden," Piper turned to the courier. "Do you think Szar was killed?"

"Hmmm..." Kaden replayed the image of Szar vanishing in a flash of blue light. The courier couldn't image that anything else had happened. "I'm... not sure. What brought that up?"

"I've been wondering about it," the medic replied. "I figured you might have... seen something I didn't. I don't know... hadn't really had a chance to ask about it until now."

"Yeah..." Kaden nodded sadly. It would have been nice if he had seen that could put both their minds at ease. "I hate to think he and Dimitri just... died like that."

"Dimitri?" came Sophia's voice. "You mean that odd kid that helped us out?"

"Oh yeah!" Kaden turned to face Sophia. "He ended up in this ridiculous game, too. It was crazy. Piper and I were just walking along and all of sudden two other Hunters pull up with Dimitri over their shoulder, drugged out." Kaden ran a hand through his hair as he continued. "Not too long after that he got blasted by that Balrog guy and was gone."

Silence fell over the group once more as they stepped off of the escalator onto the second floor of the mall. They surveyed their surroundings for several seconds, but no one made any definitive movements. Just as Sophia started to, Kaden's eyes fell upon something odd.

"Wait a minute," he stopped Sophia. "Wasn't the mall only two stories?"

"Yeah," Piper answered.

"These escalators keep going up." Kaden pointed to his left. Indeed, the escalators wrapped around and continued to go up.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Kaden started towards the third floor of the department store, but stopped when his eyes swept across the rest of the floor he was currently on. Where the men's clothing had been, one floor below, was a section for women's clothing.

"You ladies might want to slip into something less sandy," the courier said with a point. "Or maybe just check this floor for an entrances we can use. I want to see what's behind door number three."

Sophia and Piper nodded to each other and headed away from the escalators while Kaden proceeded upwards. The third floor seemed to carry an assortment of gadgets and electronics. Mostly the kind of frivolties that Kaden never had enough interest -- or money -- to care about. Along one of the walls of the third floor, though, was a series of windows.

A wide overview of the parking lot met Kaden's gaze as he approached the windows. At least most of it was the parking lot. Almost directly beneath where Kaden was standing was the roof of the mall; the department store extended higher than the rest of the stores. It was probably to give the building a little more architectural flair, Kaden guessed.

Turning away from the window, Kaden surveyed his surroundings, searching for something. His eyes settled on a display of televisions. Pulling one from it's shelf, Kaden returned to the window and hurled the TV straight through it. Kaden watched with a surprising amount of satisfaction as the glass shattered and was crushed against the roof of the mall below. Sometimes a little pointless vandalism could feel very theraputic.

The gears in his head having already turned, Kaden turned back to the escalators, intended to get Sophia and Piper. Just as he started down, though, he caught sight of the two women coming up to the third floor. Instead of going all the way down and coming all the way back up, though, the courier decided it would faster -- thought look significantly more stupid -- to just turn around and make his way up the down escalator.

"What was all the noise about?" Piper asked as Kaden approached them.

"I think I found a way into the mall," Kaden answered.

"That's good," Sophia nodded. "There was another entrance down there, but it had the same kind of grate on it."

"So how are we getting in?" Piper asked as she looked around the third floor.

"Over here," Kaden beckoned them to follow. "We can just go this way."

"Out the window?" Piper leaned her head outside, careful to avoid the pieces of broken glass still clinging to the window frame. "Did you see a way into the mall from the roof."

"Not yet," Kaden said with a hint of a grin.

Taking a step back from the window, Piper turned to see Kaden holding aloft a hand glowing with the cerulean hue of his ki. Thrusting his hand out the window, Kaden focused his energy forward. A small explosion rang out from the roof of the mall as Kaden's blast of energy crashed against the building. When the proverbial smoke cleared, a hole opened in the roof exposed the mall's interior.

"I suppose that's one way of doing it," Sophia quipped as she watched Kaden.

"It's a little more 'brute force' than I would have liked," Kaden admitted, "but humoring Trisha isn't particularly high on my to-do list." The courier clenched and unclenched his hand as he surveyed his handiwork. An almost burning sensation coursed through his arm.

"So how are we going to get down there?" Sophia asked as she stepped beside Kaden and peered out the window.

"I figured Piper could help us with that one? She doesn't seem to have a problem leaping tall buildings in a single bound."

"That's me:more powerful than a speeding locomotive," the medic replied with a sarcastic tone.

Stepping between Sophia and Kaden, Piper wrapped an arm around either ally's waist and simply hopped out of the broken window. Kaden found himself surprised at how gentle a landing his comrade had provided. Without letting go, Piper took a second small leap down into the mall.

The threesome landed softly on the upper-level of the mall's interior. The upper-level was basically two walkways that ran along the various store-fronts. Between the walkways the floor opened up to give a view of the stores below. As Piper released Sophia and Kaden, the courier moved to start exploring around the mall. The priestess' voice, however, stopped him.

"Did you guys see that?" Sophia asked, pointing down to the lower level.

"See what?" Piper turned her head to follow Sophia's finger.

"I thought I saw someone down there," Sophia added.

"There's no one down there," Kaden replied. His glowing eyes joined Piper in following Sophia's outstretched arm. "I'm pretty sure I'd be able to see them."

"So confident..." came an annoyingly familiar voice. Trisha's voice echoed through the mall through the speaker system. "I wonder how long that will last."

Annoyed at the woman's provocation, Kaden leaned over the railing of the upper level to get a better look at the floor below. Not a single light met his Sight, though he was already sure nothing would. Straightening himself out, the courier turned continued down the mall.

"Wait, Kaden," this time it was Piper's voice. "There's definitely someone down there. In that store, there." She pointed.

"I still don't see--"

Kaden cut himself off as he peered into the storefront. There was no doubt that there was something in there. Confused washed across Kaden's face as he watched the figure move about aimlessly. Despite his second Sight, the courier caught no glimpse of light from the person below. His Sight, his Sense... neither of them were able to sense anyone.

"In that store, too," Sophia pointed further down the mall. "And that one..."

It quickly became clear that there were people lurking about almost every store in the mall. It appeared that they were all just milling about the stores, but in short order they started walking out into the main concourse of the mall. Something wasn't quite right, though.

"Are those..." Piper squinted, trying to get a better look at the people below.

"No way. Not possible," Kaden answered her unasked question.

"You didn't really think I'd be all alone, did you?" The laughter in Trisha's voice was annoying enough to rip Kaden's attention from the people below. "Three of you and only one of me didn't really seem fair."

As Trisha spoke, more and more of these previouisly unnoticed people began shambling into view. In short order, the lower level of the mall was practically filled with them. Neither Piper, Sophia, nor Kaden could deny what they were seeing any longer.

"Let me get this straight... you're trying to arrest some psychotic criminal game-show host," Sophia titled her head.

"But to do it we have to get to a woman holding a special key..." Piper continued with a shake of her head.

"But she's hiding..." Kaden sighed. "In a mall full of... zombies."