"Hahaha. My most favourite place in the world. Key Lime Mall" exclaimed Eddy, turning around to face the two Eds in a wide-arm stance, imaginary fireworks of red, blue and yellow exploding into the background. This was on par for the course, Eddy always enters the Key Lime Mall with such an ecstatic attitude.
"Whilst I appreciate the enthusiasm, is it really necessary to express upon every moment we visit the Mall?" Edd sighed.
"What are you saying?!" Eddy gazed upon the entrance of Key Lime Mall; a pair of marble-emerald pillars and an entrance stood in-between, with a large, dark brown sign just above that is written "Key Lime Mall" looming over the marble-white pristine flooring, overshadowed by a fancy entrance. "This entrance here... is our ticket to... scamming my most favourite kinds of customers"
"Oh dear" Edd rolled his eyes
"GUILABLE SHOPPERS" Eddy's eyes turned, his eyes snapped into dollar signs.
"Even if they are gullible, I doubt they are gullible enough to fall trap to your latest scam"
"What?" Eddy was pulling a red cart filled with over ten crates of bottled water with a crude doctored drawing of Eddy with a mustache and a monocle. "I think this is the best scam idea yet"
"Really?" Edd sighed heavily. "The brilliant scam you intelligently come up with is the sacred water that has been filled by your supposed ancestor called "Sir Edward Fortesque" who has found the mystical fountain of Peach Creek that has been lost for centuries and stored the contents in these plastic bottles that were, I might add, also sacred. I'm sure the well-founded history lesson will convince the legitimacy of our sacred water!"
"Glad you agre..." Eddy caught onto Edd's sarcastic tone. "Wait, are you being sarcastic?"
"I apologize, but this history explanation is very spotty at best. Plastic Bottles were available commercially in 1947. There are no documented records of 'Sir Edward Fortesque' nor of the illusive sacred fountain. People will catch onto you"
"Sockhead. Sockhead. Sockhead. The mall contains more stupid people than you think. Trust me, it will work"
"OOOH, SACRED WATER FROM SIR EDWARD FORTESQUE? He's my hero. I'll take fourty!" Ed stared at the sacred water bottles with wide-eye desires.
"You see. It worked on him!"
"...Ed is not the best of examples" Edd sighed once again. The scam that Eddy came up with, despite the disapproval and hole-prodding from Edd's intellect, did nothing to deter him from eventually suffering the consequences of such a flawed plan. But then, Edd thought that maybe Eddy will get the hint on his 139th time and hang up the scams for good. A quick look on Eddy's businessman content look doesn't hold much hope for Edd.
"Well, when it does work, I'm going to be laughing at you as I roll around in those sucker's change". Eddy marched on forth, clicking his fingers whilst Ed pulled the cart of 'sacred water' along obediently. Edd followed on, feeling as he has no choice, almost like with every scam conjured and crashed consecutively.
The Ed boys walked past the door into the Keylime Mall, the largest mall of the tri-state county. Stores laid out next to each other in a presentation of insatiable appetite; youths and adults can spend countless hours and yet felt like it were not enough to experience all it has to offer. Videogames. Clothing. Shoe-wear. Cards. Jawbreakers. More clothing. Everything that an average teenager want.
"Eddy. Double D" Ed was in deep thought, a state that concerns Edd at times, because it sometimes can be followed up by something bad. "Do you think the tales of Keylime Mall are true?"
"What?" Eddy turned towards Ed. "What tales?"
"Do you not remember, Eddy?" Edd chimed in, quietly giggling at the subject matter: 'The Tales of Keylime Mall', one tale that seem exaggerated and ludicrous to have some merit. "If I can recall, the tale was about Keylime Mall and its limitless expansion of the businesses. They state that every time you so much as blink, three new stores open"
"But Double D" Ed interrupted. "The biggest mystery is the fourth store that open and closes when you blink! And so the legend goes"
"That is ludicrous. It takes so much time and effort in preparation to create a business. Demographic. Budget. Planning permission. All that and more."
"Wow... We must be legendary!" Eddy responded with a hint of surprise, despite failing to come to a realisation that scam businesses 'are nary an equivalent to the corporation chain markets that monopolises the shopping malls'. Edd instead let out a huge groan instead of taking the time to explain the flaws in Eddy's statement. Alternatively he wishes to leave it in the hands of probability that skewers in the favour of failure.
The Ed boys have made their way through the crowd, with Ed pulling the cart of 'sacred water', ensuring it's not knocking into any unfortunate by-standers. He's unsuccessful in that endeavour as individuals within the crowd let out a yelp of pain. "Sorry" Ed apologised repeatedly to many of the unfortunate individuals who have been graced with the sharp corners of the cart.
"Ed you idiot. Be care..." Thump! Eddy collided with an obese man. As Eddy taken a moment to reorient himself from the sudden collision, he came to find that the obese man is a security guard. An african-American man with the traditional blue-collar shirt and black trousers, complete with a 'Key-Lime Mall' security badge. When in presence of a security guard, children would usually revert to a frightened, overly polite demeanour, yet Eddy responded with a wide-smirk. "Bumbles! My good man!"
"Eddy? Sorry I didn't see you there" Bumbles let out a ragged yawn, one that results from a lack of sleep. "That was a long night"
"Wow, you pulled an all-nighter?" Eddy's grin filled with pride in Bumbles. "I bet you did something grand!"
"Uh... Well, Mama's having a small bladder, so I had to take her to the bathroom" Bumbles' head notched down into a body language of sadness and disgust. "I changed my clothes three times"
"Have to cut the conversation short. We're doing... kid's stuff" Eddy switched the conversation, for the sake of his own sanity. Edd have an expression as if the words uttered from Bumbles traumatised him deeply; no words could echo the horrific night that the security guard endured.
"Wait, Eddy" Bumbles has his eyes set on the cart of 'sacred water' Ed has tugged along. "What is this?"
"Well... That is... uh" Eddy fumbled, coming up with a convincing lie to not risk getting removed from the premise. "That is... uh"
"That is Sir Edward Fortesque's sacred water, Bumbles!" Ed shouted enthusiastically, prompting a death glare from Eddy.
"Sir Edward... Fortesque?" Bumbles questioned in his confusion.
"Sacred Water from a fountain in Peach Creek that was never found. Very valuable. A bargain not to be missed" Eddy dragged Ed along with him, making no eye contact with the security guard as he ensures the cart is not within reach
He asked again ,"Why was it never found?"
"Because a giant robot destroyed it" Eddy blurted out, making any possible excuse. Unbeknown to Eddy, a sudden enthusiasm came over Bumbles.
"So the tales are true. There was a 50ft intergalactic robot made out of intergalactic space steel"
"What?" Edd expected many responses to happen after that excuse: being laughed out of the mall, confiscating the water or even a belittling pat on the head as he was amused by such a flawed scam. This response was not one of them.
"50ft intergalactic robot?" Ed prompted Bumbles, the subject overwhelmed him with interest.
"The 50ft intergalactic robot came to this planet centuries ago... and it drank a large source of water within Peach Creek. There was a water shortage for three years... and cowboy hat shortages too. The material powered up its nuclear fusion core and with that, he blasted off into space once again. And it were never seen again"
"...Yeah. That's what happened. We're... selling the last remains of the sacred water" Eddy ran with the excuse, appealing to Bumbles' gullible nature. "As you can see, we should not deprive the importance of the sacred water that Peach Creek is known for. We must share it with the citizens. We must remind them how important it is. Don't you see, Bumbles. This is our chance!"
"You are right..." Bumbles' tears ran down his face, the passion he perceived in Eddy to be inspiring. "I will help you share this gift with everyone here."
"You will?" Eddy responded with shock
"Really?" Edd could not think of anything more to say. No criticism. No advice. One of Eddy's most flawed plan and it has managed to convince an adult, who duty is to ensure the safety of the Mall's visitors, to unknowingly aid in a scam. "Well... I'm going to part ways and browse the astronomy section in the book store"
"Hey sockhead. I thought you were going to help me?"
"All the advice that I can give to you won't save this plan"
"Well... Make sure to grab a burger for me!"
"And put gravy on mine, Double D" Ed shouted. Any explanation Edd gave would fall on deaf ears, but to his mind, it is always mustard on the burger.
"Will do" And with that, Edd was out of sight, leaving the last two Eds and the security guard.
"Wow... I can't remember the last sca... I mean, sales we did without Double D" Eddy caught himself with the word 'scam' as to not elude Bumbles of his true intentions. He nudged his elbow pleasantly towards Bumbles' stomach. "But hey, we have an adult here, so we won out better, ammirite Bumbles?"
"Will this get me in trouble, Eddy? I don't want Mama to take away my Mech Morphers limited edition action figures" Bumbles mumbled; a statement that to many witnesses would treat him less than an adult.
"...eh, close enough" Eddy reassures himself.
Meanwhile, Edd found himself browsing in the astronomy section of the bookstore; the collection of books paled in comparison to the impossibly large selection of teen romance novels next over from the section, much to his annoyance. The books in the section were plain in colour, greys, blacks and reds, whereas the teen romance sections hosted the more bright colours, more inviting to love-struck teenage girls. It became a distraction for Edd as he questioned the manager's intention with the layout for the bookstore. He felt it was a crime to put non-fiction and fiction so closely together.
"Oh dear. I better restrain myself from rearranging the layout of this store" Edd mumbled to himself, instead scanning the shelves. "So many materials on planetary subject, theories on space travel and some on parallel universe. A shame that I have read most of them, though maybe I should pick up on 'Jene Katz'. His viewpoint on the scientific endeavours, and the country's struggle, in the space race is very fascinating."
"Dude, who are you talking to?" said a feminime voice that he knew too well. Overwhelmed, Edd found his face reddening as he turned around, finding himself face to face with Nazz.
"Oh Nazz... " he buried himself into the nearest book he can grab, a childrens book called 'The Multi-Color Giraffe' that was misplaced in the astronomy section. "You're back from Germany?"
"At a great time too. A smart man like you reading a book like that? Best thing I've seen all week"
"There is... a subtle amount of complexity regarding the giraffe" Edd blurted out, followed by burying his face into the book out of embarrassment. He couldn't believe the excuse he came out with.
"Hey, don't worry. I still find myself reading 'The Adventure of the Magic Wizard'" Nazz comforted Edd, feeling a little guilt over her joke. "Why don't we catch up?"
"Really?" Edd turned his head towards Nazz again, a more thorough scan than just her face, as he noticed the cream-coloured jumper and the blue denim skirt with black leggings. Edd found himself surprised that she is wearing a more mature outfit compared to her previous wear.
"Yeah. I need to talk about Germany with you" Nazz was filled with excitement, though she transition into a disappointing tone. "Kevin doesn't know much about Germany... and Rolf would say that it's a 'few countries away from old country' and goes into his family history".
"Ah, I see. I shall indulge myself in the conversation. I've been on a trip with father to Germany myself!" Edd responded, assuring her of his interest to continue the conversation.
"Awesome. I better tell Kevin that you are tagging along"
"Wait, Kevin is he..." Before Edd could complete his sentence, Nazz has already gone ahead, out of the bookstore to tell Kevin. "This might be... awkward".
Meanwhile, outside the entrance to Keylime Mall, Marie Kanker is leaning against the emerald-marble pillars. She has loitered outside the mall for what it seems an eternity to her, though in reality it has been five minutes, waiting for her sisters as they plan their destructive antics inside... despite being banned multiple times. Marie held the highest count number of nine bans .
"Tch, I'm not waiting any longer for those two slowpokes" Marie made her way through to the doors of the Mall, donning on her black fedora and electric blue sunglasses as disguises. "I can create my own fun".
