Stanley Court Mall, East Wing

As if sensing that Ariel was curious to know more about her (or perhaps just enjoying talking about herself), the pastor gave a sly smile and brushed her brown hair behind her shoulder with a slow drag of her hand, then proceeded to talk about herself. "How old am I? Well, I'd have to be pretty drunk to talk about that! So, you know, I'm a little past thirty," she explained, clearly having passed whatever bar she'd set for how drunk she needed to be. "But if anyone asks, I'm eighteen. Yup." Her body certainly looked pretty solid going past thirty, but eighteen seemed like a bit of a stretch. "Uuuurgh... I haven't worked any lady parts in like a decade though. You know how hard it is to get laid as a pastor? It's pretty hard. Everyone in your church wants you but you can't ask em, and everyone outside of the church gets kinda turned off when they hear." Of course, one had to wonder why she didn't just leave that part out when she made the pitch. It was a pretty safe bet that nobody would think she was a pastor if she didn't say so.

The pastor's lips rose back into a drunken smile as she moved forward, as if to embrace Ariel, then stopped short. She put both hands together in a position of prayer, almost thrusting them into Ariel's bosom. "I ask the Lord to forgive me after I say things like that! It's my place to not get any lay, I know that. That comes with the job! I also ask it after every drink. And after I strip and pull in money from guys. Although that last one doesn't normally happen, but, you know, circumstances as they are," she hiccupped. "I work as a pastor at the Doves in Love, if I hadn't told you... It's a church on Sunday but most of the time it's a drive-in wedding chapel in Vegas, you know? So I'm not really much of a pastor. Anyway, who's your navi? Mine's named Oath. She handles all the stuff I'm too drunk to do, usually... Like uh... She actually handles most of my work, really," the woman prattled on. "But today I can't find her. I mean... I have my PET, yeah, and jacked her in... but since the show started I can't find her. Weird, right? Anyways, enough about her, I'm sure she's being a good girl wherever she is. I haven't even said my name yet, have I? I'm Chapellin! Dolly Chapellin. But you can just call me Dolly. Or Chapellin. Whatever sounds better-"

The nonsense was cut short as Heidi arrived again. "Ma'am, please, don't stand so close to the curtain! We don't want anyone to see you before it's your turn..." She was in a bit of a rush since her leg of the show had come up again, but it was easy to see why: her outfit had clearly required a bit of maintenance to get the coverage right. It consisted mostly of a large, blue frill covering the chest and low down on the hips, either which threatened to be indecent if flipped up... which they were, thanks to the way she was running. Beneath each was a black strap/thong respectively, covering what had to be covered. Realizing the frills weren't doing their job, Heidi paused to smooth them back down, still red in the face. "Geez... Who designed these things anyway...? Did Cornelia really sign off on all of them?" Based on what Ariel had seen of Cornelia earlier, that wasn't hard to imagine.

"You're just about naked, sister! Almost like Ariel... You remember? Last round she-" Dolly started, but was silenced as Heidi clapped her hands over the pastor's mouth.

"Last event she stripped ALMOST naked! I do, I do! How daring that was! But I really have to get on stage," she sighed, then, like magic, fixed her face into that devil-may-care smile that completely defied her personality. She strutted confidently back onto the stage.

The smaller girl rejoined the two, rebuttoning her shirt as she walked. "Hmph," she greeted them, in no hurry to offer her name or any conversation at all. Ariel could see a bold, eye-catching show beginning onstage, in which Heidi did a lot of hip shaking and boob bouncing to intentionally betray the flapping frills of her bikini. She also got a look at the message board, which seemed like it was getting a little wordy... It was impossible to tell why they were doing it this way. Looking at the manager's box, the glass was all dark inside, showing no hints of what the MC was doing.

"Heidi is back on stage!
Entertaining to watch as last time!
Lingerie like this is bold by anyone's standards.
Please feel free to imagine your own girlfriend in something like this!

Maybe if you look closely, you can see underneath the flaps?
Exciting, isn't it?!"

"18...right." That was...a stretch. She could believe something closer to her own age, but this woman? 18? That seemed hard to swallow. But-wait, what'd she say...? "A decade?! How can you even stand it? If I go without it for a week, I feel like I'll explode!" Granted, by then, she'd probably have undergone certain measures to ensure said explosion had already happened, but still. "Maybe you shouldn't mention your profession, then. I mean, most guys are perfectly willing to sleep with you, even if you never tell them what your job is! I mean, I don't usually tell guys mine, and I usually can't keep them off me!" Well, most of the time, anyway. Every now and then, she'd end up alone because every man there was too afraid to talk to her.

"So, you're from NetVegas? You're a long way from home, then...what brings you to Electopia?" She couldn't have come all the way from Netopia just for this, after all. "You can't find your Navi? That's a problem...I'll ask my Navi if he's seen her!" E-mail writing time!...And, sent. "Okay, he'll let me know if he's seen her in a few. It's no good if you don't know where she is!"

And after getting an introduction, Heidi popped in...and even Ariel had to wonder where the rest of her outfit went. That was...not much at all. And most of what WAS there wasn't good a very good job of covering her up. "Yeah, that looks really awkward to wear..." Somehow, she could envision Cornelia herself designed a get-up like that...wait a sec. About naked? Her? Sure, she showed off her underwear and stuff, but that was fairly tame compared to some of the other stuff in this show. "You think? I didn't think I was exactly pushing the envelope, myself..." Well, to each their own, she supposed. It wasn't like she went topless or anything.

Speaking of which, once she was on the stage...was that the same woman that was embarrassed about wearing that thing? She really seemed like a completely different person out there..."Oh man, she needs to be careful, or she's gonna flash the crowd without even realizing it!" And since Heidi had basically drawn the pilot's undivided attention, she completely missed the other model coming over.

"Huh... but if I hide the fact that I'm a pastor, it's even more sinful than just having sex out of wedlock. Or maybe it's about the same... Regardless, probably best if I just maintain the status quo of nothing," Dolly laughed. "Oath would never stop nagging me if she thought I was getting my kicks that way. I actually thought she'd be pretty averse to this whole deal, but I haven't heard a peep from her! Oh, right, cause she's not there... Why was I in town? Uh... Pastor's meet?" she asked, tilting her head and smiling as if she expected Ariel to answer for her. It seemed pretty hard to trust anything she was saying, given her drunkenness.

Once Heidi was out, the two ignored the Jian's operator and kept chatting. The pastor frowned as Ariel continued to contradict what she knew to be true: namely, that Ariel had flashed the crowd already. "I had a crazy dream, Ariel! I dreamed you... during your first performance, you pulled down your pants... then you pulled up your top, only there was nothing underneath! And then they just bounced around... and everyone cheered and took photos..."

The little girl rose one hand, intending to interject and make light of it somehow. The pastor shook her head and continued talking. "I also dreamed that Von Derzel rode in... you know, that action star? Only he was dressed as a cartoon dinosaur... Pretty funny dream, huh?" Dolly giggled, slapping Ariel on the back familiarly. "Neither of those things would ever happen in real life!" The little girl sighed and went back to looking aloof.

Heidi came back in, now sweaty from her show. She straightened her bottom self-consciously, then turned to Dolly. "You're on! Please head on-stage," she urged the drunken, increasingly sleepy pastor, who complied with a lazy nod. "My goodness. I told my mom and dad I was going to follow my dreams and become a bounty hunter... o-or detective if that didn't work out... I never thought being a showgirl was going to play into it," she sobbed. "But there's so much money...!"

"And all of it for worthy donations," the smaller girl reminded her. Heidi nodded, now looking even more dejected."

"Oh well... Why don't you two come with me? These last costumes are inspired by Utopia, who is a bit of an oddball... and as such, so are the costumes inspired by her. We may all need some help getting into them," the detective / bounty hunter / showgirl suggested.

Messages were lining up on the board at rapid pace for the pastor, as she made a show of pulling off her schoolgirl uniform to reveal a blue string bikini, tied on each side with black, elastic straps in bunny knots. It was quite tight on her, especially because her hips had some of those motherly proportions that made her hard to pass off as 18...

"Maybe you like to roleplay?
A sailor suit is just the thing to make you feel young!
Don't think it's just for little girls.

String bikinis are sexy too.
Can you imagine if it came untied?
In any case you'll see the hips fully,
Even if the strings are tied!
Nevermind if it looks tight,
The elastic adjusts for a more comfortable fit too.
If you're a bit wider in the hips
Such a piece is perfect for you.
This is the one you've been looking for!"

Heidi was already grabbing up what passed for outfits from the clothing rack. "I do wonder what's gotten into our MC..." she murmured, squinting her eyes thoughtfully.

Ariel decided to just stank blankly and nod at what the pastor said, reasonably sure that it didn't matter what she said at this point. Though, one thing she said drew her curiosity..."That dream sounds awfully specific..." And there was only one reasonable conclusion to be drawn from it. "Oh, I bet you're one of those people that can remember everything about their dreams! I wish I was like that...I'm usually lucky if I even remember that I had a dream!"

With that, Heidi showed up, and soon started lamenting what she was doing. "Don't worry! Just pretend you're undercover, even though you're not really! And if it helps, I think you're doing a great job with everything!" Aside from her encouragement, the pilot/model kept quiet as she took a peak at how the current model was doing. The detective basically echoed what she was thinking. "I know, it's weird. I hope she didn't get laryngitis or something. I got that once, and it was awful! Plus, my boyfriend at the time kept making really terrible dirty jokes about my throat the whole time, and that got really annoying after a day or so." Once again, she failed to heed the often repeated advice of her friends, and didn't stop herself from talking one sentence early. "Though, if you typed enough stuff ahead of time, I bet you could go to the bathroom or something if you had to during the show! And since the glass is so dark, no one would know the difference!" And with that, Ariel simply stood around and waited for her next outfit to be handed to her, completely oblivious to the potential ramifications of her statement. There definitely wasn't anything suspicious about it. Nope, not a thing.

"I... I think maybe it's best that you're no longer with such a boyfriend," Heidi commented, although it almost seemed like the contrast between her current performance and the potential situation proposed by Ariel's former boyfriend made her feel a little better about what she was up to. "True... in fact, I don't think I ever met the MC in person while we were setting up for the show... That is quite suspicious. Since you'll be the last one out fir the final event, would you mind checking on them? I would at least like to make sure our MC is actually present. I will help get the girls into their costumes for now... when you're finished, just head back to the changing room," she suggested.

Although it had just been a friendly request more than an order for the show, it was coming from the costume manager. Ariel would probably want to follow up on it by heading to the MC's office.

The pastor came back from her tantalizing striptease, carrying her sailor suit in one hand and wearing the bikini. "I should do this during sermons too! We never make this much on a Sunday. If I can make Oath join in, we can take in even more! We can finally get that new sound projection system in the chapel that I've been wanting!" Dolly raved, already starting to stroll past Ariel towards the bathrooms.

"Yeah, turns out he was just some jerk that just wanted me for my body. Can you believe that?!" Given her proportions and occasional inability to comprehend things, it was probably entirely possible for the others to buy that. "Okay, I'll check it out! I just hope I don't find anything...well, anything suspicious, anyway. I guess I am kinda hoping I find something, so long as it's the MC!"

With that, Ariel's PET started beeping, and she immediately picked it up and checked it out.

'To: Ariel
From: ZepyhrMan
Subject: Check it out

You should have some time before you have to go on stage again, so could you please go check on the MC? Us Navis have reason to believe something strange may be going on with her...'

"...Huh, apparently, the Navis think there's something going on, too. Hope they're wrong, but that's even more reason to check!" And with that, she raced off to the booth. Unfortunately for her, now she remembered why she almost never went around in her jumpsuit without any sort of underclothes; anything faster than a slow walk, and it really started to rub on her in...places. But, she could worry about that a bit later, when she was back home alone, and had the means to handle the effects of said rubbing. For now, MC check time! Oh, and write up a reply to ZephyrMan. But that was easy. ...And maybe she should slow down just a tad, not wearing her bra underneath her suit was killing her, especially when she was walking so fast...

Heidi raised her eyebrows, then glared over at the protection room. Knowing that they might really be on to something seemed to be making her work as costume director seem a lot less important than her usual professional responsibilities. "I guess I do have a duty, though... So I'll leave it to you," Heidi sighed, heading back to the dressing rooms as she'd planned. It almost seemed like they ought to be doing each other's tasks right now.

Ariel flew to the MC's booth at painful speeds, refusing to submit to the inconvenience if chafing or being without underwear. Once there, she discovered that she could hear somebody inside... in fact, two somebodies, carrying on a conversation in the dark. Maybe a video running? There was no way to make out the words from her current position. The door did not appear to be locked, although the burst of light and volume if she were to simply enter would certainly alert anyone inside. She could also just knock, if she was feeling polite and not particularly concerned with danger.

Ariel's rushing led her to...a door. Yep, that sure was a door. There were two voices coming from the other side, but everything was soundproof enough that she couldn't make out anything more specific than that. But, there was a remedy to that. Completely disregarding any and all risks of doing so, she burst open the door, without the slightest hint of trying to maintain any sort of stealth. She did know enough not to say anything, at least, in case anything was said. Plus, she didn't actually go inside, content to stay at the entrance. By her standards, that was downright situationally aware.

The door opened, revealing a room that seemed even smaller on the inside than it did on the outside, owing to a clutter of overstuffed filing cabinets and spilling piles of papers and outdated storage media, which probably needed to be in filing cabinets as well. The inside was indeed dark; near the back, a thin, tall, shadowy figure was sitting by a projector, holding a PET. The figure whispered something into the PET, which itself replied with a hissed whisper... then a woman's voice spoke up. "I believe you're lost," the voice began, sounding somewhat devoid of emotion. "This is the projector room. You're one of the models, aren't you? Please head back to the dressing area."

If Ariel wanted to, she could flip the lights on to get a better idea of who she was speaking to. She could also simply ask. Or then, she could also be led into believing that she really was just bothering the MC; then she might simply leave.

As it turned out, there wasn't a whole lot of room for Ariel to step inside, even if she wanted to. Since she was on the lookout for anything suspicious, it didn't escape her notice that the figure in back was whispering to her PET, which meant it was something she didn't want her to hear. She wasn't quite sure what that meant, but it was definitely suspicious. "Nope, I'm here to check on you, since all the announcing's been, uh, not very announced! You sound fine, though...so, why aren't you actually announcing it? And why're the lights out? That can't be good for your eyes!" The pilot reached out where the light switch was, and flipped it on. Much better, especially since now she could get a good look at the person she was talking to.

Before the figure could speak up in defense of their actions up to this point, the lights came on, and things became even more confusing. A guy with unkempt blond hair, shaggy to the point where he had to brush it away from his eyes to see Ariel, stared into the doorway. His mouth was slightly agape and his upper lip, as well as his chin and neck, were thick with unshaven fuzz. He was holding a PET in his hand, but no sound was coming from it whatsoever (nor from him). His outfit consisted of a gray, flat-topped cap with a baseball-cap bill and an unflattering jumpsuit... It didn't quite seem like it fit him. The fabric sagged away from his body, like it was made for someone with a larger build. He didn't look at all like an MC that anyone would hire... a repoman or part of a home remodeling team, maybe? Or a janitor. MCs were supposed to have a kind of hip, party look to them, probably handsome. He would be handsome... if he'd shaved within the past few weeks. He seemed like he may not have even bathed for a while, judging by the flaccid droop of his greasy hair.

His lips quivered for a moment, partially folding back to reveal a snarl; he raised both hands into the air, like he thought he was about to be shot. "Bravo! You got me. I had hoped it would be Cornelia who did, or maybe that detective... or perhaps the karate girl again. I wouldn't mind teaching any one of them a harsh lesson. But, this was all part of my trap... A navi is a good hostage these days, don't you think? But you're going to be an even better one," he chuckled, revealing the PET in his hand. He seemed to have some plan, so his wolfish expression might be out of some kind of dementia rather than actual worry at his situation. The thin fingers clutched around the PET were gripping it so tightly that they shook. It wasn't that he was old or feeble... rather, he was emotional. "What a bunch of nonsense! It's absolute rubbish! The gall of that woman, to come back here and host another stupid publicity stunt in the same place where I nearly succeeded in capturing her empire, body, and future, just a short time ago? She'll regret that foolish decision... Yes, that milk cow is going to get what she deserves... And you're going to be my bargaining chip..."

He pressed a button on the top of his PET with one thumb. The strobe light above the event staging began to spin faster, emitting more colors... and some sort of slimy tendrils had begun to stretch slowly from what had looked like missing spots for lights. They looked like real octopus tentacles, including the suction points on the underside.

The MC grinned wider, tapping the button unconsciously again and again as he glared at Ariel. "You haven't caught me. You've just become another of my hostages... That's right, because you have a choice now! You can either surrender and do exactly what I say... or I will eliminate the navi that's inside this PET. Don't believe I can do it? I'm a master roboticist... a little thing like tampering with a low-end, store-bought PET is child's play. I'm not going to ask you to do anything illegal. You simply need to go back out there... head directly to the stage. Dance. I don't care what else you do... just dance, for at least one minute. Get as many eyes on you as you can... If you do that, I promise to return this navi to her owner. I'll stop my mind-control machine, which has been activated now, by the way. You and your navi won't be harmed either... I won't touch anyone. No one... except for Cornelia Craft. She deserves my ire... and all of my rage... to think that that insufferable, self-absorbed, third-person-speaking, social recluse is walking free and producing her comics without my genius hand guiding her! She's organizing her own events now! She's hired some jackass with a ten-gallon hat to replace me, like he has even a clue what he's doing, then hired back on that cross-dresser just because she's got money to throw around, I guess?! What a load of crap! I did all of their jobs without breaking a sweat, and that was just part of my plan, I wasn't even trying!" he ranted, beating his PET-free hand against the console as he spoke. "And she thinks somehow that such a group of nobodies stands a chance of outsmarting the great Wilhelm Jacques, of protecting her from my wrath?! There's no one in the world who could! Least of all you," the madman finished, pausing to wipe spittle from his lips with one sleeve.

He pointed the PET at her like it was a gun, grinning from ear to ear. "Go on! Take the stage. Dance for just a minute, and I will call off my machine, free the navi, and you'll never see me or the abomination that is Cornelia Craft. You'll get paid... After all, you did your part. All you had to do is perform. Don't tell a soul about anything... Just dance, and think about nothing," he urged her, now clutching his free hand to his outer thigh with painful force. "Yes, that's what everyone should do... Think about nothing... Let Dr. Wilhelm do all of the thinking for you... Hmhmhm... HA HA HA HA HA!"

It could easily occur to Ariel that if he laughed much louder, people would see him and come running anyways. In fact, if he was moved just a little bit forward, about a foot, people could see him through the window, since the lights were on... In fact, if she took too long, Heidi could even show up and assist her somehow. There were all sorts of things that could go wrong with the genius' plan. But was he bluffing about being able to wipe the PET containing his hostage?

"Come on now, make your decision," he cackled again, holding his jaw like grinning so wide was starting to hurt him. "I'll stay here and watch. If I see you dance, I'll leave and abort all of my evil machinations... Well, almost all of them. If you don't, then I'll kill this navi and mind control everyone. It's that simple. Although, seeing you dance would be its own reward, I must say. My, my... do you even realize that you're not wearing a bra right now?" he scoffed, sneering at her while looking vaguely turned on at the same time. "Whatever. Make your choice, quickly. And I don't want to see you even touch your PET."

...Huh? The MC was...a guy? But all the announcements earlier, and what was just said, were clearly from a feminine voice. One could almost see the question marks coming out of Ariel's head as she stared at the man inside, trying and failing miserably to figure out what was going on. His ranting did absolutely nothing to help her in that regard, though she did sigh when she heard that she was a hostage, or something to that effect. "Seriously? I remember once, when I was about...3 or 4, and I was taken hostage to squeeze some ransom money out of my parents. I didn't know that part until later, of course, but I was just stuck inside a dark room with some mean guy...he even took the cookie I had in my pocket, and ate it himself! Can you believe that?" Apparently, she didn't entirely comprehend the gravity of the situation...though, it would probably explain why her lumbar region wasn't a total mess from supporting her.

Her recounting of what probably should've been a far more traumatic experience than how it ended up being caused her to miss some parts of what the man said, though she did catch the part about either going down to the stage and doing something, or getting a Navi insta-deleted. One of his other remarks made her look down, and sure enough, her nipples were clearly visible through her jumpsuit. Which...gave her an idea. Granted, it was basically just an extension of what she was really feeling, but it was still an idea. "Yeah, tell me about it...ahh, it was such a bad idea to not put on my bra and panties under this! It keeps rubbing on my body, especially in those places...and I haven't even gotten any in the better part of a week...gah, what I wouldn't give to be ravished right now!" She let out a big sigh, complete with an exaggerated body motion for it...but something about it caused her to bolt back to a perfect standing position. "Kyaaah!~" Her blushing and wide eyes made it clear it was completely unintentional. "Th-That was almost, um...messy." With complete disregard for the situation, or the fact someone was directly looking at her, she removed her arms from her sleeves, and allowed the top half of the suit to fall, and comfortably settle around her hips. Or such was the plan, but there was just enough force applied that her suit continued to fall down to her knees or so. "That feels a lot better...my boobs felt like they were on fire!" She let out another sigh, this one being a rather massive one of relief. Though, speaking of another, didn't she have something to be deciding on? "...Oh, wasn't there something I was supposed to...can you repeat the question? After that whole thing, I kinda forgot it..."

Dr. Wilhelm Jacques, kidnapper extraordinaire, gave Ariel a blank look of confusion, just like hers when she'd come in the room and spotted a guy sitting there. "I assure you, whatever mean guy you encountered, if he got distracted by a cookie in your pocket... then he and I aren't in the same league," he laughed, sounding genuinely amused now, almost reassured. Like something about hearing about such a goofy kidnapper had strengthened his resolve that he was pretty good at this evil-doing thing. As she kept talking, putting on the "charm," to put it politely, the evil doctor's face fell into a dumb frown, like he couldn't quite comprehend what he was seeing. "You're... huh. You're... being kidnapped, but you're...? What? Aroused? I wasn't born yesterday," he murmured, staring hard in spite of what he'd said. Staring intently. Speaking of hard and intent, he squirmed in his seat a little, still slumping his shoulders like the energy had all leaked out of him... Still pointing the PET, like he was brandishing a weapon.

"No, don't! You don't have to resort to that sort of thing, just for my sake!" a voice rang from the PET, apparently hoping to protect Ariel's supposed innocence. "I go with the Lord and I believe that, no matter what should happen to me, my soul will ascend to heaven. So don't give away yourself just my sake." An honorable thing to say, but 1) sort of crackpot coming from a navi to begin with and 2) especially misguided because Ariel wasn't facing some kind of hard internal dilemma right now. The woman's voice sounded a lot like the MC's earlier... Wilhelm had probably been forcing her to narrate.

"Well, I don't want to be 'that guy,' but if you are going to do it that way, you'd better come in and shut the door. Otherwise, beep beep! Hostage goes ftzzzzz," he laughed, still sounding like he didn't quite believe the situation. "Ever since I broke out of jail... It's felt like a dream, you know? Like, once you're in there, you never see a way out... So when I finally got out, I thought... Am I really out? And now this! What a day. Anyway, shut the door... If not for your own modesty, because I'm going to press this button if anybody else gets a peek at you through the doorway. Alright? And on that note, turn back off the lights too. Cause neither you nor I can do much while they're on. Do that and I'll consider delaying your choice a little... I mean, this isn't really going to change anything. I'm still going to get my revenge on Cornelia and you're still going to be my distraction. So uh... Once we're done, off you go."

"I-I don't understand! What's the point, if you're not even going to let her off the hook?!" the woman, presumably Oath, complained.

"There is no hook. Did I ask her to take off her clothes? She did that herself... I mean, if she's horny, we'll use each other for that and then back to the plan as usual. Really, you guys! I'm not stupid, please, believe that. I've got gracious contingencies in store if she tries to mule kick me unconscious while we're boning or something. We are boning, aren't we?" he asked, standing up and loosening his belt. Just a little further and he'd be in view of the window, not that it'd matter if the lights went back off.

"No! Nobody's boning!" Oath urged the two of them. At this point, Ariel would have to decide if she wanted to take Will up on his oh-so-generous offer, in which case she'd close the door, turn off the lights, and then do the thing she apparently does a lot anyway (although this time, it'd be with a loony, unwashed mad scientist). "P-Please don't bone with him... I don't think I could take it! It would be... well, an affront to the Lord, to do that in front of a woman of the cloth, so please? Don't?" Oath begged from her PET.

The room wasn't rife with things that'd be good to pick up and hit Will with, as a side note... The cabinets would be too to lift heavy, although bashing his head into that could feasibly work. The projector seemed to be mounted into the wall... he did have a console he was using to control things earlier. Perhaps she could use the intercom or control his mind-control device / strobe light / octopus using it? If only she could get to the other side of the room. There was also a chance she could get the PET from him... While he looked like he might have been rather strong at one point, he'd clearly been rotting in a cell and then living on a meager diet for a good while. Still, he was crazy, and they say madness can be strength.

The mad scientist's remarks on her 'feelings' in such a situation caused Ariel to wince, since, well..."I know, I really should put such things on hold at a time like this...but, it's not me. When I wanna get laid, I wanna get laid, and that's the end of it!" And as her Navi could attest, that was incredibly true. "Just a sec..." She went ahead and completely took off her jumpsuit, meaning that Will could see everything, from head to toe. But not front to back, since while she did turn around to close the door, her hair remained too long for him to get a really good look at her hindquarters. "And to answer your question, yes, you're going to bone me, and you're not going to be gentle, you're going to do it hard and fast, so I can really feel it! But don't worry, Navi in the PET! Since the lights are off, all you'll need to do is block incoming sounds for a bit, and you won't know a thing that's going on!" Yep, she was really going through with it. Good thing it was unlikely that Navis had actual heart attacks, or she'd be worried a litle about Oath right now.

"Okay, so, what position do you want to do? Missionary? Doggy style? I'm not really picky, so I'll leave it up to you!" And with that...she shut off the lights, but refraining from doing anything else until she got an answer. Actually, in a way, doing nothing fit into her plans perfectly. She knew that it'd only take so long before help arrived, after all. But hey, if there was a happy ending with the happy ending, she was completely fine with that. Would it be awkward as all get out? Yep. But then again, with her luck, help would arrive before that happened. What a bittersweet moment THAT would be for her.

"I... I think I'm having a heart attack," Oath complained, apparently forgetting that navis can't have them. She was probably just desperately trying to get Ariel to hold off on satisfying her needs, which were now clearly more physiologically motivated than necessarily part of any plan. "Swing low... sweet chariot!"

"Hush, you... you're ruining the mood, hostage," Will complained, although his disposition appeared to have improved tremendously. He still wasn't smiling or being nice, but some color had returned to his face (and a slight but of moisture, as he appeared to be sweating with anticipation now. "Fair warning: I just broke out of jail, so if you were hoping I had a rubber on me... Let's just say I did not anticipate this situation. So unless you've got one handy, you're just going to have to take your chances. Unless you carry some yourself. "

"Coming for to taketh me hooome! Swing low!" the navi sang. trying to block the two of them out. It was possible that since she had somehow ended up in a foreign PET, she had no idea how to use a lot of her most basic functions.

Will didn't seem overly concerned about the navi's volume. Perhaps there was no need to be: the event outside their room was pretty loud. On the other hand, he could easily be losing his focus on the important aspects of his hostage plan now. "Hmm, well, since this is probably stricken from both of our record books once we're done anyway and I do have leverage... for starters, I want to go between them. I mean, I think that's pretty normal for me to want, given the size. You've also got to let me call you Cornelia. Once I'm feeling right, I'll go inside, then I'll bring it exactly how you asked... let's just keep our positions spontaneous, romance is always better that way. I'm not in my best shape, but I used to be pretty good with the ladies, so I don't think you'll be disappointed."

He stepped out of his jumpsuit, revealing an unwashed, thin body that was none the less broad-backed and mostly attractive, if you didn't prefer that much muscle to your guys. Unlike Ariel, he had some underwear (plain. white boxers that probably didn't smell too fresh), but he was already preparing to lose those too.

"LA LA LA LA LA LA!"

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

While a steamy, erotic scene unfolded in secret up in the MC's booth, the more public steamy, erotic scene was unfolding as scheduled on stage. The young easterner had taken get spot on stage again, now sporting a silver colored combination of shorts and halter top, including a set of cat ears and tail in a bright pink-purple color. "Ny... Nyan," she muttered into a headset microphone, swiping one hand hesitantly like a sleepy kitten. The crowd seemed surprisingly in to it, without her having to do anything dirty.

"That's it... something is certainly amiss. Dolly, you prepare to go on next. I have to fetch our missing model," Heidi resolved. Dressed in what looked like an ancient sci-fi cliche outfit, including an impractical silver, gleaming, one-piece bikini and oversized space helmet, with matching gloves and boots, she creeped up the stairs to the MC's office... She was not so stupid as to knock and alert any hostile force to her presence. Instead, she readied the sci-fi pistol she was carrying (which, unfortunately, was not real, partially ruining her otherwise well thought out approach), then leaned against the wall and listened inside... the first thing she heard was a woman's voice singing, sounding somewhat hoarse... singing to deliberately block something out. The second noise she heard...

"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.