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Ellie was never one to like shopping. Unless it was something for herself. And in reality it was only a few things she really liked.

First, there was machinery and parts for car and bike repair, along with the tools. This was the most common way Ellie could spend her shopping time.

Second, there was her punk clothing. She wasn't picky, but she did like to wear clothing that was fashionable (in her sense of the word) and cozy.

After that, there wasn't too much that Ellie liked to shop around for. Jewelry was pointless and gaudy, novelties like toys were just a bit dumb, and functional stuff wasn't something you "shopped around" for.

Today was Saturday. The blonde Meadowview girl had decided it would be a good day to maybe search for a new shirt and maybe a necktie to go with it. She had walked to the mall in a pair of skater shorts (which looked like they were a bit too big for her), a black jacket with chains all over it, and a tattered shirt peeking out from the jacket's opening. Her backpack was perched on her shoulders and jostled about as she made her rounds in the mall. It was quite a bit crowded, but that was probably because teenagers liked to hang out at the mall on weekends, and adults had time to go investigate various sales at the department stores.

Ellie thought it was going to be a relatively uneventful trip to the mall.

Too bad that wasn't the case.

She hadn't even made it to her store when rather suddenly a group of rowdy teenagers started to push their way through the crowd. It was quite inconvenient for everyone else around them as the disturbance seemed to create a bit of a wave with everyone else surrounding them. Ellie got bumped by her left side and somewhat got forced into doing the same to her right side. Her left side didn't deserve anything but a simple "Ah, crap!" but her right side deserved an apology for the rudeness. She turned to see a girl with short and curly blonde hair with a shopping bag perched on her arm.

"Errr... busy day, eh?" She asked casually before tossing in "Sorry 'bout that, kiddo."

Normally, that sort of apology would have been the end of the interaction. However, this time from behind them, a sudden uproar occurred. First it started off with a single shriek of terror. The shriek grew, spreading like a plague from one person to another. Soon enough, from behind them there was a stampede, people trying to run, pushing their way through the crowd. Unlike the reckless teenagers, this group was generally filled with a contagious panic.

As a result, the tall girl ended up getting further pushed into the other blonde girl, but it didn't stop there. People kept flooding forward, eventually pushing the two against the wall, Ellie on the outside somewhat pinning the petite one in.

"...the 'ell is the fuss over?" she grunted out slightly, not even remotely able to see what had happened towards the back where the screaming had started. It wasn't the first time she had seen this sort of behavior. Yet Ellie didn't want to believe that there'd be a Youma in the mall of all places. Instead, she hoped for a psycho chainsaw murderer. Those weren't really all that dangerous in comparison.

Given a small amount of time, the crowd thinned up around the area of concern. And upon spying the creature in question, one couldn't help but wonder why people had been screaming. It seemed like a rather large gift box, about the size of a person, was on the ground, but it was hopping around. The box was a black color and the ribbon on the top was of a blood red color. It seemed innocent enough, until the top opened, baring its sharp teeth and attempting to gobble up someone from the crowd. Fortunately, there weren't any slowpokes or grannies near the Youma, for nobody got caught so far. However, you knew that some granny was going to show up and not be able to dodge the rather hungry looking present.

Ellie couldn't help but sneer at the creature. It had to be the stupidest Youma to date!

"Restroom sounds good right now, girly!" she muttered out before rashly latching onto the girl's wrist and beginning a rather forceful journey through the fleeing populous. The Meadowview girl was quite tall for her age, and she was decently strong as well. So even though the stampede was trying to trample her and push her this way and that, she instead began to push back, forcing her way through the crowd. So what if this girl had to pee? The delicate blonde girl unfortunately was also getting dragged along to the bathroom, probably getting a decent amount of bumps along the way. Hey, she was the one who suggested the bathroom.

After quite a bit of effort on her part, the girl had managed to make it to the corridor where the bathrooms were. With a petite civilian in tow as well. With purpose, she let go of the girl's wrist and began to run towards the bathroom.

"Enjoy yer piss, girly!" she shouted on the way.

Though Ellie didn't want anyone to know her secret identity, she never really thought anything through about transforming. She knew well enough to head into some place that was out of the public eye. Yet she didn't think about the girl she had dragged into the corridor with her. Or that somebody could have easily been in the restroom as well. No, none of the logical ideas ran through her head while the worry of destroying another Youma was in her mind.

She ran into a stall, began to dig through her backpack to find that blasted henshin pen, then called out "Iris Power, Make Up!" the moment she found it. The space was quite a bit cramped for such a transformation, but what could a girl do?

She cautiously edged out of the stall, making certain nobody was nearby, then wobbled out slightly of the bathroom. She had gotten quite a bit better at walking with heeled shoes, but even then, nothing could ever take the edge off that initial first moment where she had just transformed. All Sailor Iris wanted were flats, was that so much to ask for?

"Okay, think I can handle m'self..." she grunted out quietly to herself. Her head nodded 3 times, as if she had been silently counting to that number before she flat out bolted out of the corridor back in the direction of the Youma.

However, when she got there, she found the strange black and red box, which had been hopping in the direction of some small kid, stopped in place. Though its top did not open, the gurgled sound of "Senshiiii..." could be heard from its depths. The box awkwardly hopped to face towards the Senshi that had so boldly announced itself. This would be a tastier treat if it could catch the senshi.

Sailor Iris grinned as the Youma seemed to be distracted by this other Sailor Scout. Rather promptly, she ran up towards the side and drew in close. She fully expected the box to be made of flimsy cardboard, so the Senshi of Rainbows decided a physical beat down rather than magical powers would be good enough.

"I'm Sailor Iris, and it's time t'make ya see some new colors!" she seemed to boast as her fist was pulled back, then thrust forward into the box.

The sound upon impact was enough to signal to the whole mall that this box was not made of cardboard, but of some solid metal. And her fist was now throbbing from her attack. She bit her lip harshly to prevent herself from crying out like a weak little girl.

In a near zombie like fashion, the black gift box hopped, hopped, hopped until it was now facing Sailor Iris. In the same gurgled tone, it repeated the word "Senshiiii...." A smart Youma, it was not.

Sailor Iris edged back a bit, allowing her right hand to dangle back for a bit, rather than nurse it like a wuss. Each hop the box made was more like a bound, so the Sailor Scout had to match the movements if she didn't want to get attacked. When she came near a wall, she shifted directions, which caused a delay in the box's movement. With the delay, Sailor Iris made her way towards the other scout, all while carefully making certain she was still out of the box's reach.

"Yeah, could be better, but I ain't dead," she responded in a delayed fashion.

Hop.

"What'cha think we should do, kiddo?" she asked the other scout, since obviously direct assaults weren't going to be the answer to this battle.

Hop.

Sailor Iris was not a planner. Even though she initiated the planning, she didn't stay in the "think things through" mindset for long. All she offered was a "That'll probably work!" and began to run in a different direction.

"HEY! YOUMA-IN-A-BOX... COME AND GET ME!!!!" she shouted, just to make certain the box trailed behind her instead of going after the more petite scout. It, being a rather stupid Youma, was easily attracted to the sound (it didn't really seem like it was able to see at all and was blindly hopping in whatever direction made noise).

Hop, hop, hop and it was once again facing Sailor Iris' direction and trailing behind her with large leaps. All the while, the taller of the two scouts mouthed in an exaggerated fashion "DO IT!!!"