Stanley Court Mall, East Wing

"Oh, I don't have to! I had a procedure done a few years ago that makes sure I can't get pregnant. Best part is, it's fully reversible once I decide to settle down!" With that said, Ariel listened to the kidnapper's current demands. ...Them? Oh, right. Yeah, a lot of guys really wanted her to do that the first time, since she was well-endowed by any standard...and downright ginormous considering she was entirely Electopian. "All right, guess it'd be pretty weak to not have any foreplay. Just...don't be one of those people that does it for like two minutes and finishes super fast, okay?" And on her knees she went. "Ready when you are!"

It was faint and hard to hear, especially over the singing, but the second sound Heidi heard was the sound of someone softly hitting bare flesh. It was actually Ariel grabbing her breasts, in preparation for...well, what/who she was about to do. If the bizarrely dressed woman didn't want to walk in on something that was normally only found in the seediest parts of the Net, it was probably now or never. Not that she had any way of knowing that.
"Oh, don't worry... I'm not the easily excited type. Speaking of which, I'm actually not sure... that I've fully gotten the motor running yet, so to speak," he murmured looking down and turning around. He didn't seem embarrassed about his situation, just irritated. "I'd say this might be a dietary problem if anything. Uh... Try telling me what a genius I am, see if that helps. And say 'my success in comics and media is nothing compared to the brilliance of your world domination!' but in a kind of sexy, defeated way," he continued, apparently being serious.

Thankfully, all of this provided enough context for Heidi to know that something was very, very wrong in the office, even if she couldn't make out all of the words. She burst in, nearly hitting Ariel with the door, and pointed her gun forward towards Will. The evil self-proclaimed genius turned around, holding his own "gun" in both hands, facing it towards her. "U... Uw... Eeeeeeeeeeew! Oh my-!" she gasped, pointing the space gun towards his member like she was going to do the world a favor and shoot it off. "Oh my God, what the heck are you two doing in here?!" Her bounty-hunting detective skills seemed to have picked up on the fact that whatever was happening seemed to be consensual. "Wilhelm, how'd you get out of jail? Why are you both naked? Just what exactly were you planning to do to Ariel?! I can't believe you impersonated one of our set-up men and snuck in here, just to have sex with one of the models!"

"Sh-She asked me! Damn it, I was just going to get revenge against Cornelia and then conquer the world!" Will defended, looking indignant. "I did not break out of jail just to screw with her!"

"N-No more talking! Put that up, then put those up!" Heidi demanded, pointing first at his groin, then at his hands. For what it was worth, Wilhelm had certainly succeeded in getting it up now, but with entirely the wrong timing. "You're a sex fiend as well as a madman! But I guess I already knew that, after seeing your sick octopus fetish!"

"Hey, I don't really have time to fill you in on all of the details," Will grunted, hiding his indecency back inside his boxers, "but see this thing in the hand? It's a PET. With a hostage in it. And take a look out there; see that strobe light? The one with the tentacles coming out of it? That's my new weapon that's going to mind-control everyone participating in this damned circus side-show, if you don't do exactly what I say."

Heidi turned her eyes down to Ariel, looking for some assistance as to whether or not Will was bluffing. She didn't seem very hopeful, as, in Heidi's mind, the situation had to be pretty darn desperate for Ariel to be willing to have sex with a smelly, evil, delusional prison escapee. At least they did have one form of leverage: it seemed like Will did believe that Heidi had an actual gun pointed at him. On the other hand, he didn't seem to think she'd risk shooting him. She did also still have the leverage that he was, at least physiologically, still very horny, but whether he was horny enough to stop focusing on his mission was another story.

A voice came from the PET: "He touched me... oh, he touched me... and ooooh, the joy, that flood my soul..." Oath sounded like she was getting a little hoarse now.
Deep down, Ariel couldn't help but feel slightly insulted that Will had failed to...rise to the occasion, so to speak. Usually, just seeing her naked body was more than enough for most. And what he wanted her to say...well, it really made it feel like he was more interested in doing it to Cornelia than her. But, at this point, she didn't have much choice. She really needed to be relieved, and she really needed to kill a bit more time. "Well, if it'll help...ahem! Oh, you're-"

But before she could continue, bam! In came Heidi, who instantly became the most dressed person in the room...which said more about everyone else than her, really. Her questions weren't exactly unwarranted, but..."Well, I don't think this is the answer you wanna hear, but, it's pretty much exactly what it looks like. He was horny, I was horny, so I figured, why not?" Also, there was the part where she had to make that decision, but she wasn't saying that out loud. Certain evil crazy people would get suspicious of her.

Speaking of not saying things aloud, the mile high club recruitment officer turned to Heidi, and gave her a solemn nod once the threat was repeated. If he was bluffing, he was doing a good job...the thing was, his boxers were doing a much less good job at hiding things, and, well...maybe she could distract him. And there was one surefire way to do that, especially after earlier. Ahem. "'I was impressed with the size of Will's boner!', Cornelia said with some surprise. His fascination with octopuses became clear, as their tentacles were the only thing big enough to properly convey his own girth!" ...Well, it wasn't THAT big, but men liked, among other things, to have their egos stroked a bit. "'Cornelia's body surprisingly began to yearn for him, even though she normally had little interest in such things! His scientific genius had always amazed her, but now he was truly overwhelming her, now that she knew his brain was not the only enormous thing about him! Unable to contain her lust, Cornelia got on her hands and knees, and offered Will her womanhood, in the hopes that he would show her a brand new field of expertise! And that the head of security was watching them only added to the allure! 'Why, this would be even more perfect if she joined in as well!', Cornelia mused, as she eagerly awaited Will's tentacle!" Just as she had said, Ariel turned herself away from the mad scientist, though with her rear end pointed squarely at him, and without her hair obstructing a single thing. Was this awkward as all get out? Yep. But if her guess was right, this would be, at the very least, extremely distracting to him, and give Heidi an advantage.
"You're right, I really didn't want to hear that," Heidi answered plainly, looking back and forth between Ariel and the perp, while keeping her prop focused on Will.

"Hey, in my defense, she went out of her way to make me horny," Will grumbled. He seemed very adamant on this point of proving that he was here to focus on revenge and world domination, not get his jollies.

While Heidi and Will continued their stand-off, Ariel took things into her own hands by again pushing her offering to take things into other parts of her. Heidi stared blankly, then shook her head violently as she was given the chance to join in. "I-I don't care if it's going to help or not! There's no, no way I'm doing that!" she responded, waving both hands in protest. "I'll eat kalimari, even if it looks gross, b-b-but no, I'm not going to have sex with that octopus freak, o-or watch you do it!"

Will wasn't paying any attention; it was clear from both his face and other physiological factors that her appeal was hitting all the right buttons. He fished back out said tentacle, then began to approach. "There, there, Cornelia... I don't blame you for not realizing my obvious superiority sooner... I know you have a tiny, insignificant intellect that can't compare to my genius. But I see that you're ready to surrender yourself and accept your punishment now, so that's good. Yes, your punishment is going to be severe. I'm going to grab that big, fat, chocolate-colored-" he drooled, approaching with both hands out like a bad guy from erotic fiction. Necessarily, he'd already dropped the PET. Before his delusional fantasy could be spelled out or played out any further, Heidi used her gun as a weapon. Well, not as a gun. Rather, she pistol-whipped Will on the back of the head, causing him to fall to his knees. "Oh, screw you-"

The pistol whipping continued, twice more. His head fell this time to protect himself; he may have some small moment of relief in this tortured day of his, as he more or less buried his face in the softness of Ariel's buttocks (if he liked that sort of thing). "Sorry," Heidi apologized, grabbing him by the elastic of his boxers and dragging him aside, off of Ariel. She then continued, giving her pistol arm a rest and resorting to kicking him in the ribs until the wind went out of him, with a ferocity that was very surprising given her ordinarily discrete personality. A few kicks in, he was far too winded to make any more snappy comebacks or heavy-handed observations of his own relative genius, but she kept on a few more for good measure. "You know, Ariel," she whispered, between kicks. "I think that you should really get this habit under control... I know you helped save the day and all, but when you crave stimulation so badly that you're willing to get it from someone like this, I'd say that's getting into the danger zone. You may want to try some relaxation exercises or possibly a steady relationship that's about more than just sexual give-and-take. A new hobby, perhaps, if you don't have the time to devote to other activities, with your job and all." All the while, as she played doctor with Ariel, she continued hammering away at Will without remorse or regard for his gangly figure.

Realizing that Ariel couldn't stand up now without exposing herself to the window, which would probably become the focus point for a lot of attention as people tried to figure out who was getting the hell beaten out of them in the MC's office, Heidi turned off the lights again. "Anyway, please get dressed now, Ariel. I'll take care of Wilhelm and get Oath back to her operator," Heidi suggested, placing the gun back into a holster, attached to a garter-belt on her leg. It didn't look like the scientist was going to be menacing anyone else for a while... Gingerly, she handled his now far less ready and vigorous junk, sticking it back where it belonged. "I'm glad I'm wearing gloves for this... Oh, on that note, I'd say I'd better call off the rest of the contest immediately. Sorry you won't get to model that last outfit... But these will all probably need to be taken in for some kind of evidence or inspection. If the strobe light was involved in his scheme, who knows what else around here is dangerous."

"And exchange it some day... for a crown..." Oath coughed, not having enough energy to put together a full song any longer. She didn't seem to realize the danger was over.

"Once you're dressed again, go see Cornelia back stage. You should be able to tell her what's happened and collect a reward, including compensation based on your performance so far. I'm sure she'll also be happy to reward you for helping to catch Jacques again. I hope you don't mind if I collect the bounty on him... b-but there's all sorts of paperwork involved and sit-down meetings and so forth... so you'll be spared all of that," she finished, then began to walk away quickly with Jacques' body. The idea that Ariel might want to split the bounty seemed to be heavily worrisome to her.

On stage, Dolly was wearing a silver-colored apron with purple embroidery, as well as alternately purple-and-silver panties. She was currently in the process of sticking said panties dangerously close to Bill's face, shaking her considerable bottom playfully to ask him to deposit money. He was clearly all to willing to do so, having both hands tucked into the right pocket of his slacks, but his boys were holding him back and shouting something at him. They'd probably gotten word of the situation that was unfolding and were doing their best to tear him away from the stage show, while others of the group worked to evacuate the show-goers. Heidi broke it all up, coming onto the stage (while still carrying Will). She began to clear up the confusion as quickly as she could, then assisted in the evacuation, setting Will's body down on a vacant chair near Bill. The middle-aged man's mustache worked back and forth as he irritably regarded the situation, then glared at the scientist... In his mind, he'd just lost the last stretch of his well-planned and amazingly gotten-away-with "charity fashion show," aka strip show. "Dammit, son... I coulda seen that smokin' hot, double-D model again and this time gotten an even better look at those puppies! If you didn' already have the taste slapped outta' yer mouth, I'd rough you up myself," he murmured, crossing his arms like a moody child. He'd probably go ahead and beat up Jacques again anyway, if he knew how much he'd seen of Ariel and how close he'd gotten to experiencing her in a way not typically allowed even by strip clubs.

"Huh? Oath? Where have you been? Oath? Why won't you stop singing 'Old Rugged Cross?'" Dolly asked, shaking her newly regained PET like she was trying to fix an old watch. "I don't remember this happening before, at least not since that time I agreed to let those two customers consummate their marriage during the ceremony..."
The good news was, Ariel's attempts to catch Will's attention succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. The bad news was, unless someone did something fast, she was going to end up having sex with a wanted criminal. But, someone did indeed do something fast, as Heidi immediately smacked him...and again...again...and then she felt something against up against her butt for a moment, only for it to be removed. This caused her to turn around, only to see that said something was getting the crap kicked out of him. "Yeah, I don't think he's going to be a problem now..." She sat on her knees, apparently being perfectly fine with being naked around other people even when there wasn't a crisis. What the other woman said, however, just made her laugh. "Aw, come on! Granted, I AM really horny right now, but I just did that to distract him! I mean, yeah, if worse came to worst, I would've done it, but...well, this is a best case scenario!" Mostly, anyway. After this, she was going bar hopping until she found a guy willing to completely forgo sleep and satisfy her. "Seriously, have you smelled him? And you think I'd want that in me? No thank you!"

With that, she reached over for her jumpsuit, and started putting it on. She'd still have to get back to the bathroom she'd changed in earlier, but once she got her understuff back on, she could finally move without having to worry about any further...stimulation. And-wait, she wouldn't get to do any more modeling? Aww. "That's too bad...but I guess you're right. For all we know, that last outfit would blow up everyone's minds!" To be fair, it probably would either way, just not necessarily in the way she was thinking. And...there, off the floor. Though, she was definitely moving a bit gingerly..."Ugh, I don't think I've ever been looking forward to putting on a bra as much as I am right now! But yeah, I'll check in with her after I grab my stuff!...Oh, and honestly, I really could care less about any bounty! I'm just glad that guy's going back to prison...I mean, did you hear what he was saying right before you whacked him? Guy's got serious issues!"

With that, Ariel made her way back to the bathroom. Let's see, she used...that stall. With that, she burst in, slammed the door shut (and remembered to lock it this time!), and immediately brought her jumpsuit down to her ankles. "Ugh, I need to have ZephyrMan remind me never to let me do that again!"

All right, time to get everything back on. Panties, on. Bra, on. And with that...jumpsuit, on. Now she could actually move naturally, and not worry about what could happen if stepped the wrong way. That was a good thing. Let's see, what else...oh, socks, on. Skirt, on. Boots, on. Vest, on. Gloves, on. Earpiece, on. And last, but certainly not least, PET case complete with PET, on. Now she could actually walk around without anyone staring at her...well, maybe that wasn't completely true, based on what she knew about Bill...okay, she could walk around without everyone staring at her. That one was definitely true.

And with that, she happily exited to the backstage, with a bounce in her step that (unintentionally) made sure that anyone predisposed for doing so would turn and catch a glimpse of her...bouncing. She had a Cornelia to find and explain all the details to, so she could get those chips she was promised. Of course, her explanation would probably cut out none of the saucier bits, but at least it'd be quite thorough.
"That does make me feel a lot better, really," Heidi sighed with relief, upon hearing that Ariel's intention to have sex with Will was more of a strategy than an actual desire. "Be sure to dress back properly before you go to meet Cornelia."

----------------------

Ariel did indeed dress back appropriately this time, although the story she had ready to deliver would be inappropriate no matter how she decided to tell it. The pilot/model head back to find Cornelia in her curtained, makeshift office. No one else was around, since all of the security had become involved with the evacuation and Heidi had also gone out to the stage. The voice of the famous comic artist implied that she was currently entertaining a guest, however, bringing back the recent memory of Ariel's attempt to lure in Jacques by mimicking her employer and his mortal foe:

"Even dressed in such meager garments, Cornelia felt no shame, only the fiery vigor to entertain others, the same driving motivation that guided her pen to create the Starborn universe and capture the hearts of millions! Here, she attempted to capture the hearts of a smaller group of individuals, each of them offering up money to the charity that she and Bill had chosen. Cornelia know, however, that another organ was driving their expenditures today, not just their hearts, and that the charity played backseat to her own stage-show. Cornelia had no reservations, slipping her pants down to reveal the immodest thong, its fabric nearly engulfed by Cornelia's own flesh; she didn't exactly want such ample hips or thick thighs, but no amount of exercise or dietary balance seemed to quell their growth... and since some charitable souls enjoyed that sort of girth around the buttocks, she supposed it might work out. She ground lower body against the pole, pressing it into her flesh and dipping her legs as low as she could take them. Her back arched sensually and she removed the fan from her hair, allowing her locks to flow untamed in a way unseen by any of her fandom before! Would she dare go further? Was it the money she craved, or just the attention and the release from her lifestyle as a hermit?! Cornelia didn't care! She- wagh!"

Before the employer could narrate her dance any further, she cried out, tumbling backwards out of her office. She was dressed in only the black underwear that Ariel had seen beneath her already skimpy outfit earlier, meaning that most of her flesh was now exposed due to the nature of the micro-bikini. Looking at Cornelia's butt now, as she lay with her lower body raised into the air and her legs spread, it wasn't hard to see why Will had gotten a little delusional thinking about it. In a rare moment of bashfulness, the artist scampered up to her feet and grabbed the curtain off of its hooks, yanking until it tore and wrapping it around herself. "'A-Ariel!' Cornelia e-e-exclaimed. 'I had been a little lonely back here by myself and was sad that Bill had forbidden me from going on stage... So I was just... Well, thinking about how it would have been to actually perform in the show, like the rest of you girls...'" her employer stammered, looking embarrassed. "... C-Cornelia explained," she added on as an after-thought.

Of course, Ariel hadn't come to peep on her employer; she had come to get paid. As such, she explained the situation to Cornelia, sparing no details. "Cornelia was amazed to hear that her old foe and tormenter, Wilhelm Jacques, was so obsessive that he'd break free from prison and attempt to attack me here at her latest expo. She could barely believe what she'd learned in the first place: that her trusted assistant was a criminal mastermind, bent on controlling the world through robots and hypnotism! Now she realized that he was not only a roboticist, hypnotist, and mad scientist, but also a sexual predator. How unfortunate for Ariel to have been placed in a position where she was forced to encounter him! Eager to put the matter behind all of them, Cornelia got to work tabulating a full and generous reward for Ariel, based on her efforts, compensation for her ordeals, and also the work of her navi..."

Heidi arrived, giving a tired glance to Cornelia as she observed her employer's makeshift wardrobe, then sighed. She was far too fed up with surprises and sexuality for one day to care why her employer was wearing a curtain wrapped around racy lingerie. "I've received a report on ZephyrMan's performance from Incognito and Warp now. His judging was deemed adequate, a little lower than the averages... I'm thinking he must be a little desensitized to such things, which I suppose is entirely understandable. We'll add a zenny total based on his performance to the total amount, right?" she finished, turning to Cornelia.

The artist was currently involved in staring Heidi up and down with shining eyes, taking in all of the fine details. "'I like the way this costume fits your slender figure, Heidi! You wear it in a way that we girls couldn't. You look so thin and taut, it makes one want to wrap you up in their arms!' Cornelia fawned," the artist laughed, grabbing Heidi up in a hug. Whatever modesty she'd had earlier seemed to have vanished. Heidi quickly squirmed out and went back to looking exhausted. "'Well, let's add it up... I'll provide you with a Hurricane battlechip, as well as 2000 zenny for your performance in the show and another 1200 for your navi's performance. So... Hurricane and 3200 zenny. Does that sound fair?' Cornelia asked," Cornelia asked. "Though, based on the encounter with Will, perhaps no sum would be enough for Ariel."

"... Wow, no wonder you hire someone else to do your negotiations for you," Heidi murmured, more to herself than to her employer. "Speaking all of your internal monologue out loud can't be good for haggling."
Ariel found herself having pause as she approached the entrance to Cornelia's 'office', as she heard the comic book writer speaking. It...kinda sounded as though she was doing some modeling or something. And, the more she heard, the less she really wanted to go in there. To her relief, however, she wasn't the one to trigger the inevitable awkward moment, as the other woman came spilling out, causing the pilot to take a small jump backwards in surprise. And, well...she wasn't really one to talk, but Cornelia really oughta consider putting on some more clothes before coming out...also, she kinda got why Will acted the way he did when she started acting like Cornelia. If he liked butts, it was hard to top that. It made hers look like a bookshelf in comparison. "Um, hi!" That was all she could muster before receiving an explanation. "Oh...yeah, I can understand that. I know it wasn't on purpose, but somebody really should've stayed back there with you!" After all, she was kinda the one responsible for the entire event. The least they could do was send someone to keep her company.

But anyway, she was losing focus. And so, Ariel recounted everything that went on in the MC area: about Will, about herself, about his evil plot, about her 'distracting' him...she told her everything she could think of. Cornelia's reaction was...actually calmer than she expected, considering the man wanted to ruin the woman in multiple ways. And almost ruined her, as well. At least she was taking it well, she supposed. And now, for that reward. Hopefully she'd get something neat...

With that, Heidi arrived, who immediately and noticably completely ignored her employer's current wardrobe. "Hi there! You look pretty beat...I guess I'm not surprised, what with everything you've probably had to do today." Hmm...wait, ZephyrMan was desensitized? Well...eh, being with her all the time did probably make him used to dealing with beautiful women, so that was probably it. Made sense to her, anyway.

Pondering the issue made her not quite notice the whole hugging scene, so (probably much to Heidi's delight) when it came time to discuss payment, Ariel looked...well, like someone that didn't see the other woman nearly get suffocated by another's bosom. Hmm, Hurricane? She didn't really know what that did, but it did sound nice and windy, so it worked for her. "Sounds good to me! And...about that whole thing? Just keep that guy locked up for the rest of all our natural lives, and that'll be payment enough for me for that!"
"Yes, I sincerely hope this is the last time any of us have to deal with that psycho. We'll have to hope the penal system takes him seriously as a threat this time. Maybe the whole 'robot octopus constructor who was captured after being kicked in the balls by a girl' part turned them off last time so they weren't keeping him in maximum security? Whatever the case, after one break out, they should know better than to put him in anything but the highest security available," Heidi responded, feeling confident that he wouldn't get out again. If nothing else, he should be pretty turned off of the idea by the amount of physical injuries he'd sustained both this time and the last.

"'Well, Cornelia began, 'Bill always seems to like spending time around me. So I should be able to ask him to stick close, if I desire company.' Of course, Cornelia was well aware of why Bill liked to stay so close, but that wasn't something to talk about in the company of others,'" the hostess spoke out loud, fiddling with her PET as she spoke. "Warp would later send the reward directly to Ariel's e-mail account. Ariel would, of course, understand that Cornelia didn't have a Hurricane battlechip on her person at the moment, as there was very little room to hide anything along the line of chips in such an outfit. Cornelia thanked Ariel again for her invaluable support in the endeavor and mentioned that she would be quite happy to contact Ariel again for future opportunities, as a lingerie model or otherwise. But especially as a lingerie model," Cornelia laughed.

"You sound a little bit like Bill when you let your own lecherous side out," Heidi warned her. "And... I'll keep getting work too, won't I?"

"'Of course! Even though you sent one of our models up to check on an escaped convict with possibly murderous intentions,' Cornelia joked. 'But then, security wasn't your official capacity here... You were supposed to be in charge of costuming and modeling! So maybe leave security up to the team from now on and make sure they're informed of all possible situations?'"

Heidi nodded, but looked to the side sullenly. "It'd also help if Bill would keep his mind on the task at hand. A little bit of detective work is going to be necessary if he's going to cover security. It's not all about numbers and muscle," she murmured.
"Yeah, I don't think I could take a guy like that very seriously, myself..." Well, so long as they got it right this time. Better late than never, at least. "Well, at least he probably won't try to break out again if he's half as smart as he said he was. At the rate he's going, someone'd kick his balls completely off if he did!" For the duration of the sentence, Ariel spoke with a big smile, as though the idea of that wasn't entirely unpleasant to her. Though to be fair, she DID almost have sex with the creep.

She then turned her focus to Cornelia. "I think I can guess why...he'd want to be close to me for a similar reason, right?" Despite the lack of an answer, it was pretty clear she'd hit the nail on the head. "And, um, yeah, I really didn't think you had the chip on you...and if you did, I'm not sure I'd really want it..." There were only so many places the writer could possibly hide a BattleChip, and none of them made Ariel want to accept one. "Anyway, no problem! I didn't get to do much modeling, but I had fun!" The last part managed to go completely over the pilot's head, so with blissful ignorance, she pulled out her PET, and pressed a single button, returning her Navi to its depths. "Hi ZephyrMan! Have fun?"

"Well...not towards the end, I'll admit." The windy Navi shrugged, since he'd gotten all the panic from that out of his system earlier. "Anyway, it seems you're all ready to go, pending the reward."

"We'll get that later, since Cornelia, uh, doesn't have it on her!"

"I see. Well, so long as we get it before too long, it needn't be now. So, shall we see ourselves off?"

"I guess...after all, I've got things to see, people to do!"

"...Don't you have that backwards?"

"Not today, I'm not! If I don't get any before today's through, I'm gonna explode!" Well, that was probably going to happen one way or the other..."Well, it was nice meeting you all, Cornelia, Heidi! Tell the others I said hi! ...Well, catch you guys later!" She never was that great at goodbyes. Especially when her baser urges she was about to go locate an as of yet unidentified man, who would the receive the honor of spending his evening giving it to her good.
((FXP including from net thread:

22 Warp FXP
26 Incognito FXP
6 Jian FXP
14 Pilfer FXP
6 Oath FXP
4 MindRoot FXP))