Jimmy Stickman

Chapter 13: Pretzels

The couple reached the mall, and now it was in the later part of the afternoon. The temperature had just reached its peak for the day and was now gradually cooling-down. The sky was beginning to darken, but only a tad.

"Whelp, here we are. This is the mall, and I think know exactly which shop my dad was talking about when he wrote the message." Jimmy exclaimed.

"We need to find a way to make this a more efficient process..." Squirps negatively acknowledged. "If only I had..."

"Had what Squirps?" Jimmy asked.

"My ship..."

Jimmy's eyes widened somewhat at the thought; "Your ship? You mean one that flies?"

"Very much so; I am an excellent pilot, and I had my own ship until it malfunctioned somehow and was landed somewhere far away. I don't know how it happened, but it did, and without my ship, I am practically useless; all of my most important gear is stored in it.

"Really? Where is it? Do you know?"

"Well, when it malfunctioned I was flying above some mountains somewhere. When it hit the ground, I was knocked-out and that is the last thing I remember before waking up in the Illuminati building. Somebody probably found me passed-out and nursed me until I woke up. I don't know anything specific about it yet, but hopefully we will be able to find a small hint to the very least. It would be in our best interest to look for it. That said, I don't know how far displaced it is from our primary path. For now, let's just have our main target be the sword, and if we do happen to come across a useful hint or something, then we can shift our path a bit." Squirps paused as he turned his head toward the doors of the mall, which was still open for business. "Anyway, the message said something about a shop. Which one is it? Do you know by chance?"

Jimmy responded, "I have a strong feeling that he was referring to the pretzel restaurant on the second floor; their pretzels are delicious, and my dad apparently used to buy one every time he would go to work, at least if what my mom said is correct."

They walked through the South doors, which opened into the food court. There were people everywhere, but Squirps just held his breath and decided to go in for it. As they walked through the slew of tables, people, and restaurants, Jimmy couldn't help but notice how Squirps looked almost like his little brother. Luckily, everybody else who passed them by thought the same and didn't even bat an eye at them.

Squirps seemed amazed at the inside of the mall, and how many different kinds of people were walking through the atria. For someone who had never seen such a place before, the mall environment would definitely be pretty cool given the sheer variability and differentiation that it contained.

They kept moving. Jimmy wondered when they will know about the plot to take over the government, if at all. "Hey Squirps, when will the public find out about Lord Zayne's plan to kill the president?"

"I really don't know. Considering how the Illuminati has similar, yet less malicious goals to create a different government, the public will likely label them as the culprit. And the fact that he himself works for the Illuminati does not make matters any better. What I predict will happen is that he will have already succeeded before anybody knows of his goals, even if his actions are explicit. After all, his skills as an assassin do include a high capacity to remain hidden from the public."

"Hmm... Interesting..." Jimmy then took notice of a T.V. screen out of the corner of his eye. It was displaying a news broadcast about the Supreme Court. Jimmy immediately called out to Squirps when he spotted the headline, which read "Supreme Court has been attacked: many left dead after assassinated by some unknown culprit."