Mugging Gone wromg
I should upload this. Anyways this is noncanon but canon compliant.
To leave a man such as Ray unattended is certainly a decision. After quickly analyzing the past 24 hours of his memories, Salem could see as clear as day what a fucking weirdo this guy was. An unapologetic asshole, an incredibly open familiar working with other familiars, a criminal apparently? And on top of all of it, insanely rich. Actually, she’s surprised they’re even in the same room as him. Like, in literal hindsight it makes sense, but if it weren’t for that Petunia lady and his lil weird fragmented kid, he’d probably never even be in this fucking store.
“Can you please move along,” his harsh voice hissed. The two were stood in the skirt aisle, Salem brushed against his hand and zoned out for a moment.
“What, kid not allowed to shop?” Salem scowled, intentionally reaching for the skirt he was about to examine, “I know I’m going to actually wear these.”
Ray rolled his eyes, turning away and splitting off, a duplicate remaining in his place. Now THAT’S bold. Goddamn. Salem raised a brow at the clone, seeing what it’d do.
“Sae! Sae!!!” A loud whisper from Reina almost made Salem jolt. In the corner of her eye she could see him peeking from the clothing racks, “Sae come on dad wants to talk with us.”
Salem grumbled pretending to study the skirt super hard. She didn’t even realize this wasn’t something she’d EVER wear. The texture was awful.
“Oh hi sir!” Reina chimed, locking eyes with the looming man, “wow you’re really pretty.”
“Appreciated,” Ray says in a flat tone, “however it’s unruly to be touching all over the store’s merchandise don’t you think?”
That was a personal jab, this is personal now. Salem knew this glove wearing asshole had a weird philosophy like that.
“You two should run along now,” the clone returned his attention to examining everything carefully, “wouldn’t want daddy to worry, right?”
Salem had enough, slamming the hanger back where she found it, which just happened to be right between his arms, grabbing Reina by the arm and grumbling past.
Eventually Reina took the lead after Salem realized she cannot spot Felix with the sudden uptick of white haired men in the shop. The pair marched right into a changing stall, only to be greeted with Verity.
“Where’s dad?” Reina blankly stared, blinking slightly as she looked about the small room.
“Yeah, come on,” Salem crossed her arms, staring daggers into her sister.
“So I lied,” Verity nonchalantly explained, “Dad is actually still in line for food, somehow.”
The other two gave their own disappointed remarks.
“But,” they swayed their head to the side, a billowing wave of pink mist washing over as they adjusted her appearance, “look familiar?”
Instead of Verity’s pleasant and normal looking face, it was an annoying shiny sparkling pale man with an irritating grin.
“Unfortunately,” Salem sighed.
“Pretty guy!” Reina exclaimed.
“Thought it was pretty weird there’s just a familiar walking around, maybe we could make some contact with him,” Verity shrugged, switching off the illusion, “maybe he’s someone important, if he’s walking around so casually.”
“I’ve always wanted a pretty best friend…”
“No, no,” Salem opted to shut down any hopes immediately, “that idiot is nothing to be trusted.”
“Aw…”
“Really?” Verity cocked a brow, “what’s your evidence?”
“Just a downright awful guy, more than anything,” Salem rubbed her fingers together, trudging through her mild mental static, “Ray Spiegelman, some weird rich guy who might even be wanted by the authorities in this city. I’m sparing you the gross details.”
“Yikes,” their eyes widened, “forget I mentioned it.”
“Shouldn’t we call someone then?” Reina piped up.
“Absolutely not,” Salem shouted, only just remembering where they were. Taking a minute in silent embarrassment, Salem hushed her voice and brought the other two in.
“No, Dad said we can’t snitch. So what we do now is do what we always do. And I know exactly how we’re going to do that.”
Petunia, for once, was enjoying a moment of peace. It was shocking to ever believe this was Ray’s idea in the first place. It’d been a couple years since she celebrated Mildred’s birthday. It was… always a tough thing to cope with. But maybe things will be better now they have… no. Stop it. Don’t think like that.
She dipped her head, exhaling and leaning into the rack itself.
This was so unnecessary. This was dangerous if anything.
What the fuck are they even doing?! She shouldn’t have left Ray by himself, he’s probably already gotten th—
“Excuse me,” a quiet little voice caught Petunia’s attention and she returned to earth. There was a teen, staring up at her with big eyes.
“Oh sorry, am I in your way?” Petunia shuffled backwards, leaving room for the kid.
“No, no,” he shook his head, and approached Petunia some more, “I actually needed some help? Uhm… My names Reina”
Oh god, since when was Petunia approachable, fuck.
“Y-yeah?”
“And I lost my dad,” Reina shuffled in place, diverting his gaze to the floor, “and you look like someone I know… so I just… feel safer asking for help.”
HAHA. FUCK OKAY.
“Sure t-thing!” Petunia nervously agreed, just ready to pack away all her uncomfortable feelings about children to help a teen! Yep!
Okay, take a deep breath. You need some water.
“Here, I need to stop and get some water and we can move from there, cool?” Petunia suggested.
“I saw a drinking fountain uh… outside the store I think! It’s got the uh… the bottle thing,” Reina pointed out. He seemed rather… spacey. Like if Enedelia was mellowed out. Maybe taken some melatonin.
So at least she’s somewhat familiar then.
The two marched out into the mall, Reina hanging close to Petunia’s side, just barely not touching. She lightly guided the two over close to the food court, where low and behold, he was right, a drinking fountain.
Petunia propped up her massive water bottle under the nozzle, watching it slowly fill right up.
“Alright, if I’m helping find you dad, I gotta know what he looks like,” Petunia point out.
“Right! Yeah!” Reina cheered, the joy being activated at the thought of him, “okay uhm. He’s tall, got white hair, blue eyes.”
Petunia can’t help but snort at the idea of a certain irony.
“He’s wearing a blue shirt with lemons on it, I usually spot him by the star hair pin he wears.”
Cute.
“It’s pink. Uh… he wears a lot of jewelry, today he had star socks on! White and yellow!”
This is too much information now.
“And he’s… holding a tray… waving right at me… coming over here.”
Wait what.
Petunia whipped around. Out of the crowd, there was a man holding a bundle of food with one hand, slowly approaching. Finally the adult is here, things can be a little more normal.
Something felt cold on her foot, sending a shiver right through her body.
“Ma’am, your water bottle is overflowing,” Reina calmly remarked, tapping Petunia on the shoulder. Reina was quicker however, taking the bottle himself and holding it. Before Petunia could even process, literally ANYTHING, Reina had run past.
“Hey, HEY,” the man shouted, “no don’t RUN AT ME I HAVE OUR FOOD.”
This was all too much, going too fast and too much.
Take a deep breath. Return to focus.
Retrieve your water bottle. Everything is okay.
“Hi there,” Petunia switched to a warm smile, joining up with the two, “You must be Mister Dad!”
He set the food on a table not too far from where they were standing, giving his child a side hug with one hand and holding his other out to her.
“You know it,” he chuckled, “I’d return the pleasantries but someone forgot to actually ask for your name.”
He gave Reina a small playful shake, leaving her face to flush from embarrassment. Petunia took his hand and firmly shook it. He stared down, having felt the massive scar on her skin, furrowing his brows.
“Petunia,” she interrupted, briskly letting go and hiding it in her pocket, “may I please have my water bottle back.”
Reina sheepishly returned her belongings, her father unimpressed.
“Felix, Felix Astor,” he returned, “we’re from out of state, so Reina here probably got spooked.”
“She mentioned I remind her of someone,” she rescrewed the lid and took another sip before finishing that thought, “which came in handy apparently.”
“Really?” Felix squinted, looking up and down. G-great. Cool.
“I don’t see it,” his face scrunched up, “Reina, who on earth are you talking about?”
“Foxglove.”
“Nope, still don’t.”
“I do.”
“I know.”
“It’s the stuff in he—“
“Reina, go get your sisters, I got lunch,” Felix rather abruptly requested.
He scampered off, however instead of returning to the store they were just in, she disappeared into the one next to it. Weird.
Felix shook his head, laughing to himself.
“They’re triplets, minds run a mile a minute,” he sighed, “gotta love them. Just like chickens crossing the road…”
“I have some like that,” Petunia crossed her arms absentmindedly, “much younger than yours I imagine.”
“Really? How old?”
Oh fuck. She’s having a parent to parent conversation. Oh god.
With Reina back and both Dad and the woman distracted, their plan could finally come to fruition. Setting up camp inside a round clothes rack, Salem and Reina waited patiently for their right moment.
Then they heard it.
“Ugh, how does she think she can find anything good here, none of these are high quality enough,” their target mumbled, lightly tapping through each item.
“Mildred only deserves the best…”
Salem gave her sibling a nudge, the pair nodding together.
She closed her eyes, making the direct connection to Verity, who was perched not too far off. Reina cleared her throat, slipping right into the Petunia voice. Verity watched as this caught Ray’s attention, seeing him stand to alert. Taking a couple steps, they walked right up, the disguise forming right with them.
All three were in sync and ready to go.
“You know them, anything more expensive would just make them uncomfortable,” Threetunia explained, “if we’re celebrating, we’re respecting them too.”
“Can't they just indulge for once?!” Ray groaned, “it’s your fault for not ever celebrating them, now look at them, they’ve developed an inferiority complex!”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Reina had to think fast, fuck what’s something Felix would say.
“They’re really conscious about what clothes are made of. Sometimes you shop really unethically. Mildred wouldn’t want that.”
Ray chuckled, shaking his head and holding a hand to it.
“My dear, I don’t simply shop,” he turned on his heels, a small dash of glitter following right behind him, a large grin plastered on his face, “need I remind you, I could have anything shipped to me at a— wha…”
“What?” Threetunia remained calm, speaking with clarity.
Verity didn’t mouth that however.
She and Ray were making direct eye contact.
“Is this some sort of joke?” He squinted, “who are you?”
The static became too much, Salem’s connection was severed. Verity was panicking, overwhelming their minds. Their leader wobbled, clutching her head. Reina held onto her, keeping a close grip.
“Eheh… a tourist?” Verity backed away slowly, too scared to switch off the disguise but no longer guided by Salem.
“No wonder your craftsmanship is lacking,” Ray approached, “your pink precipitation reveals you almost right away.”
“What can I say! Still… working out some… kinks.”
“Your voice,” his head tilted to the side, “what happened to your voice? Now that was rather impressive. Sounded just like her.”
“UH…” Verity’s voice was shrill, eyes darting between Ray and the other’s hideout, hoping something would happen. She bumped against the wall, staring up at Ray.
“Then this is ‘R’,” Petunia crossed her fingers, holding it up. Felix followed along, switching his fingers to all stack on his thumb.
“E…” he muttered, then signing I, a single pinky, “then…?”
“N is easy too, make a fist,” Petunia presented her fist, then took her thumb and squeezed it down the middle, “you should have two fingers on each side. I find this one easy to remember because M is… is…”
She stares off, suddenly very aware of everything and everyone around her.
In a split second she jumped to her feet.
“I have to go,” she stated. Only then did she realize, her and Felix both jumped up at the same time.
“You sensed it too, huh?” He nervously laughed.
“That’s not a good sign.”
“Nope.”
There was too much happening all of a sudden, and the poor staff didn’t at all know what to do, hoping security would speed up and get over here.
There were the triplets, and then maybe 5 Rays.
One was trying to actually talk to Salem, see if she was alright. Upon discovering a child who was struggling to be conscious, he had a certain amount of responsibility to uphold.
Two were basically playing defense, trying to keep Reina contained. He was trying to attack the first Ray, screaming and yelling in several different voices. It was both irritating and very very concerning.
The fourth Ray was just trying his best to get some amount of information out of Verity, who’d dropped the illusion. Hoping maybe they can calm Reina down, but to quote her “she’s no snitch and you’ll never take her alive” so it was incredibly fruitless.
The fifth Ray, Ray prime, just stood there, baffled at what he had to endure.
This was frankly just. Absurd.
And yet he refused to take any actual part in it.
Then something got the screaming one to calm down. He didn’t really pay attention to what, she said, but for once she wasn’t bouncing off of his clone’s form.
“Would you mind explaining why you’re harassing my daughters,” a hand grasped Ray’s shoulder, a threatening voice whispered in his ear, making his blood run cold.
In an instant, the duplicates disintegrated, leaving shine and glitter in their places. Ray slipped from the grasp, turning to face a blank stare from someone completely unfamiliar.
And Petunia’s death stare.
“L-listen I really didn’t mean trouble, one of them seemed to be in distress, but the other just kept screaming and a-and…” Ray stuttered.
“Zip it, you’ll save it for the proper authorities,” his tone was coarse, his gaze was stern.
However, the second the word authorities were brought into play, Petunia’s rage turned into surprise. Then fear. She looked worriedly at Ray, both of them understanding how bad this whole idea was.
Petunia took a swing right at Felix’s head, knocking him over. Ray gave him a light tap, deflecting him back super hard, sending him right into a wall.
Before Verity and Reina could move, the water from Petunia’s bottle flowed into the air, splitting off into two globs to wash over their legs. Hands emerged from the surface, grabbing both their ankles, in the process even tripping Reina over.
Ray grabbed Petunia’s hand, and bolted straight for the closest mirror, both slipping into its surface. The second they passed through, the water fell to the ground.
“Dad!” Reina cried out, scrambling to his feet.
Felix coughed, waving frantically.
“N-no don’t worry about me, get Salem, we need t-to leave immediately.”
There wasn’t really a right thing to do after all that. Ray and Petunia stood panting, the mirror realm refracting behind them.
“I feel,” Ray stood up, “I owe… an explanation.”
Petunia didn’t really care, she went right for a hearty smack.
Of course it’s Ray, so it doesn’t even land, sending Petunia down to the floor, cradling her hand.
“What the fuck is your problem?!” He cried.
“What’s yours?!?” She hissed, “You promised you wouldn’t make a scene!”
“They were interesting kids! Strong epithets! They approached me in this weird disguise and–”
“So you attacked them?!”
“NO? WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I AM?”
“I DON’T KNOW?!”
They took a moment to recover, Petunia eventually rubbing aloe on her hand, rolling over and offering it to Ray. He politely refused, gesturing to the fact he retained not a single scratch.
The two agreed to pretend this didn’t happen.
Back on the road again, Felix had initiated quiet time, for Salem’s sake. Only whispers were allowed while she recovered in the back.
“He would’ve deserved it,” Reina pouted.
“I don’t care if he ‘deserved it’ or not, I don’t think it’s ever a wise idea to actively approach a familiar that comfortable in public,” Felix stressed, whisper shouting, “he wasn’t your problem!”
“But he was rich!” Verity exclaimed, “So rich!”
“Yes! I know! Too fucking rich!” Felix stopped at a light, taking a minute to look Verity in the eyes, “that coat was handmade, Vee. You don’t fuck with rich people with hand-fucking-made long coats.”
Salem groaned, adjusting herself under her blanket.
“How you doing, sweetie?” Felix raised his voice an octave, checking on her in the rearview.
“Don’t talk to me,” she grumbled.
“At least you’re talking.”