Hal continued to lead Fiona and Odell through the noisy city streets. They had spent more time walking by places than getting to know the city, and the royal pains had begun to grumble.

“Hal, we’ve been at this for hours, and nothing has turned up! Shouldn’t we take a break?” Fiona complained.

“I agree; we should at least stop to eat something!” Odell added.

Hal stopped and sighed. He looked around the busy street. They had walked into a section of the town littered with small shops. The arrangement was functionally the same as an outdoor mall, but the buildings had not been built with ease of travel between them. Each shop had been built on top of each other, with stairs going up and down and platforms making bridges between them. It looked like a giant and elaborate Jungle Jim, born out of the wildest childlike imaginations.

The Netzian soldier had no idea that he laid eyes on the South Nun Shopping Center, a famous section of the city that attracted many tourists. He focused on the businesses and large crowd and figured they might be able to find something that could be carried and eaten.

“We shall procure food then,” Hal said as he pointed to the shopping center.

Fiona and Odell laid eyes on the elaborately built center.

“That looks fun!” Fiona said

“I bet they have a store for mechanics!” Odell added.

“Shopping is not the objective; we shall find sustenance and continue,” Hal said. His last few words were only heard by the wind as the other two made their way into the crowded shopping center.

Sort of remind you of home? I can think of three others that run off before you finish talking! No.5 echoed into Hal’s mind with a sound that resembled a chuckle.

“I find offense in your comparison,” Hal muttered as he made his way into the shopping center.

As his yellow eyes darted back and forth, he quickly realized that neither of his companions was nearby. Both had run off into the crowd. He grumbled to himself and began to walk through the center. Should he try to find them or leave them be? The two choices ran through his head.

After a short moment of debate, he gave up and got a protein bar out of a nearby equivalent to a vending machine. He began to walk through the center while eyeing the other customers.

Hal had been focused on charging through the city and not paying too much to the sights around him. Now that he was forced to slow down and examine everything, it was plain that there was far too much to look at.

The citizens, all dressed in their over-the-top and gaudy clothing, moved from store to store with vigor the Netzian soldier would not have expected. Each seemed preoccupied in their own world and paid no mind as they pushed past each other.

Hal found a bench that sat up against the outside wall of a store front and watched as the people walked past.

He did not like talking to others much, but he enjoyed watching them. He took in all the small movements and little ways each person would move as he thought.

After a while, he came to a simple conclusion. They would not find any information just by walking around the city blindly. There was too much going on for the team to approach the investigation without a plan. Fiona and Odell had been complaining along those lines, but Hal wasn’t about to admit that to them.

A billboard across the street was playing the news. A Hobusian was talking about the weather forecast in the city for the next day, though much of the other noise made it hard to hear. Once the reporter finished, it switched to an Aqueenian and Zenotote set of anchors. They began to cover the Beauideal news for a sports segment. A picture of Dia flashed on the screen. Hal focused as best he could. No.5, noticing what the Netzian soldier focused on, began to filter out extra din so Hal could hear.

“The beauideal Dia Mond is scheduled to appear for the event tomorrow at the grand arena in center nun. After allegations of her killing a foreign king emerged, the popular star has been largely elusive for the last couple of days. Any attempts to speak to her have been difficult as she has only shown up for matches and disappeared soon after,” the first co-host said.

“Of course, such allegations are nonsense,” the second host chimed in. “It is simply another attempt for an aggressive nation to start something with us,” the second co-host added.

“But we have gotten word that the sitting Aqueenian king, Jalen Wittstock the Fourth, had a recently held funeral ceremony,” the first co-host said. It was worded as if she was challenging her host, but it was clear to Hal that she read from a script. The second host shook her head.

“Obviously, their king was offed by others in the royal assembly. This story is just a cover-up to put all the blame on Nun!”

Hal shook his head and turned away from the report. He jumped immediately as an unexpected face was close to his own.

An Aqueenian girl his age had stopped and leaned in near the soldier as he was fixated on the Dia report. After he turned her way, they were a hair length away from their noses touching.

She had aventurine green skin and cheery blue eyes. Her silver hair flowed from atop her head into a long ponytail down to her legs. Her clothes were a bright red dress that seemed as wavy as her hair, and on her back, she had a long and skinny bag with a simple strap draped over her shoulders. Hal couldn’t help but find her very beautiful.

“You must really like Dia if you are focusing that much,” the girl said with a pleasant laugh. Hal collected himself and stood up straight. His face felt a little warm, so he looked off to the side to avoid the strange girl from seeing if it was flushed or not.

“And you are?” he asked.

“Sabia!” the girl chirped a response.

“Why is it that you have entered my personal space?”

Sabia shrugged.

“I don’t know; you just seemed interesting!”

Hal shook his head.

“I must go; companions are waiting for me.” He made his way deeper into the jungle jim shopping center. He had been thrown off by an attractive girl appearing suddenly, which frustrated him. ‘A soldier ought to be focused on the task at hand,’ he thought on loop to himself.

“Oh, I have nothing to do for a while; I’ll help!” Sabia replied. She followed after the green-haired Netzian into the crowd.

***

Fiona and Odell quickly ran into the crazy jungle jim-like market in the direction of the food court. A map at the entrance had given them the way, and they slowed to a walk while they talked casually. The duo assumed that Hal was silently following behind them.

“I wonder what kind of food they have here!” Odell gleefully said.

“I’m sure it must be a mix of all cuisines, given the large mix of species within this city,” Fiona pondered.

“As long as they have some meat, I’ll be happy!” Odell added.

“What do you suppose we should do after?” Fiona asked as she curiously eyed some of the various shops.

“As much as I want to explore some of the shops, we probably should get back to searching the city,” Odell said with a grimaced expression. In his mind, the words ‘am I becoming like my father’ echoed as he said something mildly responsible.

Fiona sighed. She knew Odell was right but wanted to explore the city more before diving into the investigation. Though she ought to have been the one most determined to track down her father’s killer, the blue princess felt largely unattached to the whole situation. The realization dawned on her for a second, but she quickly pushed it down.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“You’d probably like that too, right Hal—” Odell turned around while speaking to Hal, but the green-haired Netzian was nowhere to be seen. The Hobusian prince froze, and Fiona turned back as well.

They immediately began to look in every direction around the busy shopping complex frantically.

“Hal!” Fiona called out, but she only grabbed the attention of the passing shoppers.

“This is bad! He must have run off somewhere without us!” Odell said after a moment.

“And he’s the one who told us not to run off; how rude!” Fiona griped as she crossed her arms.

“What are we going to do! Can we really tell the others we lost him!” Odell said with a worried look.

“Maybe if we find a Netzian that looks just like him, they will never notice!” Fiona suggested. Her younger brother Asha was a collector of rare animals, and she had done just as suggested when she “accidentally” let one loose. The Aqueenian princess and Odell stared at each other blankly as they contemplated how stupid of an idea that was. Fiona blushed and looked down; she hadn’t put much thought into her word before speaking.

“We’ll pretend that was never suggested,” Odell said after a moment. The blue princess nodded in agreement.

The prince took a deep breath.

“We will just have to trust Hal; he is a soldier, right?” Fiona offered. Odell contemplated for a moment.

“You’re right, but we should still try to find him.”

Fiona pointed in the direction of the food hall.

“Let’s start our search that way,” she said as her stomach grumbled.

Odell nodded in agreement.

Both figured it was reasonable to start the search in the food hall. Hal had known they were going that way, and they thought they might meet up with him there. Unfortunately, even after the duo had waited in a line, bought food, sat at a table, and eaten, the Netzian soldier was nowhere to be seen.

Once they had finished, they began to search the whole shopping center for the missing teammate.

“Where could he have gone!” Fiona wondered aloud as she tried to look for a green head in the crowd.

“When we find that boy, we’ll have a stern talking with him,” Odell said. He shivered at another realization he sounded like his father.

After roaming for a while, they finally saw Hal with a pretty Aqueenian girl walking beside him.

Odell and Fiona quickly found a corner to hide behind and peered out. Odell’s short head was below Fiona’s taller, and neither cared about the odd looks the other customers gave while they passed by.

“I can’t believe it; we take our eyes off him for one minute!” Fiona said.

“I suppose he is around that age, but he sure has mixed priorities for someone who told us to stay focused,” Odell added.

“Should we follow after?” the princess suggested.

“Yes, but we need to make sure we aren’t noticed,” the prince added.

The duo began to carefully trail after Hal and the girl. Whenever any sort of cover would be close, they would hide behind it. Neither of the royal duo noticed a pair of strangers who stood on the roof of a shop and stared down at them.

The first of the pair was a Netzian with clawed fingertips, slit blue eyes, and a long, yellow scaly tail. She had short yellow hair cut down to her neck and wore a black suit. Her partner was a short Hobusian with a crown that looked like it would be better suited on a triceratops. He wore equally black clothes as the Netzian.

“Aren’t they supposed to be together?” the Hobusian asked.

“It seemed they are attempting to spy on their friend,” The Netzian said with a chuckle.

“This is no laughing matter, Liv,” the Hobusian grunted.

“We went through many years of specialized training to spy on some silly kids… It’s a little ridiculous, Felix,” the Netzian rebutted. “I’m not getting any younger, you know,” she added.

“Speak for yourself; I’m still young,” Felix replied. His tone remained serious.

“You’re a year older than me….” Liv replied in a distant tone.

“They’re leaving the area; we ought to get another vantage point.”

The Netzian sighed. She had been partnered with Felix for about two years, and he never seemed to keep casual banter going for too long.

Both spies suddenly looked like black blurs as they began to leap across building tops.

***

Hal was annoyed for many reasons. The odd girl, Sabia, continued to walk alongside him and try to make idle chitchat, and he found it increasingly difficult to focus on the task at hand, but that was a minor issue. His real frustration came from who followed them. At some point, Odell and Fiona had found him. Instead of making themselves known so that Hal could excuse himself from Sabia, the royal pains had decided to follow behind in a manner that could be called anything but stealthy.

To make matters worse, the duo had no idea that the second pair of much more capable agents had been on their tail and ran across the rooftops of the shopping center.

The green-haired Netzian gritted his teeth as he thought. He could escape Sabia in a manner that would leave all four of those following them on his trail, but then he would have to deal with the extra two agents. He could also lose the agents, but Fiona and Odell would not be able to keep up with that maneuver. As Hal contemplated what to do, Sabia tried to get his attention.

“Hal, Hal!” she shouted until the green-haired Netzian noticed. She had pestered him for his name, and he regretted giving it immediately.

“Dast?” he said.

“I asked what your Needaimus does?” she pointed to the red No.5 bonded to his arm.

“I would not disclose my secrets so easily,” Hal said.

“Ah, I’ll tell you what mine does!” she protested. Hal gave her a confused glance, and she patted the long and skinny black bag on her arm.

“She’s a little longer than average, so I carry her around in a bag that looks like it would be for sports to avoid attracting attention,” the Aqueenian girl explained.

Hal had been completely fooled. He had assumed she played a sport on Resh known as Beizopol. It would seem like a cross between baseball, soccer, and equestrianism for someone from earth. Players riding horse-like beasts would have to hit a ball to a series of bases along a field.

The Netzian soldier reframed his understanding of the strange girl for a moment.

“Nevertheless, I will not disclose my secrets so easily,” he replied. Sabia frowned. As she did, an idea popped into Hal’s head. “However, I may disclose them if you provide aid,” Hal turned out to the crowd as he continued to speak. When he did, he saw the heads of Fiona and Odell for a moment until they disappeared behind cover. More importantly, he picked up on which rooftop the other two agents were hiding, though he focused on Odell’s and Fiona’s spot to avoid the additional pursuers from catching on.

“We have some pursuers that might be less than friendly,” Hal continued to explain as he looked out to the crowd. He could not see Sabia’s face, but she had no surprise in her expression. Instead, her face was cold and calculating as she quickly locked into where each set of spies was. The Aqueenian girl wrote off Fiona and Odell as goofballs and determined the two on the roof for the threat.

When Hal turned back to look at Sabia, she quickly made a shocked expression.

“Oh my! Pursuers! Do you have stalkers or something?” she asked in an innocent tone.

“Perhaps two annoying ones, but they are less critical at the moment. Don’t look, but two unsightly people are watching us from the rooftop behind me. Sabia did as asked and continued to look at Hal.

“What should we do?” she asked in a hushed worried tone.

“Should our Needaimus work in conjunction; we may be able to devise a plan,” Hal explained. Sabia nodded.

“My June can launch things at a great distance, but I don’t carry anything to fire around!” she explained in a hushed voice. That was a lie; she, in fact, carried small, spiked metal spheres wherever she went.

Hal nodded.

“No.5 allows me to have a storage space; I can provide an object for you to fire,” he explained. “Now, all we need is a plan of action. Hal could have pulled out a weapon, but he suspected the enemy of reacting as soon as they saw it. They would need to make it a surprise.

Sabia suddenly wrapped her arms around Hal in an embrace. In the distance, Fiona and Odell could be heard shouting ‘ooh.’ The Netzian soldier's face was bright red as Sabia’s green face came close.

“We can’t just stand around and talk; it would look suspicious to our pursuers,” she said.

Hal cleared his throat and took a breath to regain a stoic expression. He began to relay a simple plan, and Sabia nodded in agreement.

From atop the rooftop, Liv was smiling, and Felix shook his head.

“Isn’t it just wonderful, young love!” the Netzian agent said happily.

“They’ll break up in less than a week,” Felix grumbled his reply.

“You’re always so pessimistic; wouldn’t it hurt to smile once in a while?”

The Hobusian agent shook his head in reply. Optimism gets you killed in this line of work. Better to expect the worst, like those two might secretly be on to us and are plotting a retaliation,” Felix muttered.

“Come now, that is a bit much, even for you,” Liv said with a smile and shake of her head.

Felix didn’t reply. He observed with squinted eyes as Hal and Sabia broke from their embrace and headed around a corner while holding hands.

The unsuspecting Odell and Fiona made their way over to the corner as stealthily as possible. Other customers gave them odd looks as they walked while tiptoeing.

The agents atop the roof leaped across the buildings silently while all parties followed after the apparent lovers. They navigated across the jungle jim shopping center for several minutes until a long bridge came into view. It was a stretch that Hal was hoping to see. There was only one building behind Hal and Sabia. The more capable agents would have to jump to the rooftop, and Odell and Fiona hid near its side. Felix and Liv were in the air as they flew to the new rooftop when the ‘lovers’ looked right at them.

“Oh dear,” Liv said. Felix cursed.

Sabia quickly unzipped her bag and bonded to her Needaimus. Its rose-colored metal stretched out from her arm like a spear. After the metal gauntlet formed around her limb, she pointed the Needaimus at the agents in the air. Hal handed her a wrench from his ability space, and in an instant, the metal object was fired above the long extension like a bullet.

The metal wrench fired directly at Liv’s chest. Her partner quickly shoved her while midair, and the attack sliced across his arm. He grunted and held the slice as they landed on the rooftop.

“Are you okay!” Liv shouted.

“I’m fine, but we didn’t come here for a fight. Let’s fall back.”

The two spies quickly retreated from the rooftop leaving only The apparent lovers and royalty in the area. Sabia quickly pointed her Needaimus at Odell and Fiona. Odell’s hands shot up in surrender, and Fiona disappeared in a flash.

Hal put one hand over Sabia’s Needaimus. At the same time, he used his other arm to block a kick from Fiona, which had been aimed at the back of Sabia’s head, as she flashed into view.

The Netzian soldier sighed.

“I suppose explanations are in order,” he grumbled to his companions.