Meanwhile, another mystery vehicle, a green van, was also arriving outside the city limits.
"Finally, a vacation," Balthazar Cavendish said happily "we could use a break from our meaningless job of picking up alien garbage."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Vinnie Dakota replied.
"It is a tad peculiar that we were granted this, however. Are you sure this was approved by Mr. Block?"
"It was approved, in the sense that I didn't tell him we were going," Dakota replied.
"What? You're telling me we are participating in an unlicensed excursion?" Cavendish asked "you do realize this sort of thing is grounds for termination."
"Hey relax, you wanted a vacation, we're taking one," Dakota told him "besides, it's like you said, our job is so meaningless, it's not like anyone is gonna care."
"Even still, we cannot afford to lose our employment because you choose to take unauthorized holidays!"
"Aww jeez, are you gonna do this the whole trip?"
"All right, fine," Cavendish replied "I shall try to enjoy our vacation, illicit though it may be. But, if we get in trouble for it, I shall blame it all on you."
"Great, whatever," Dakota replied.
"They say San Fransokyo is on the cutting edge of developing technology," Cavendish explained "it should be quite educational."
"I'm more concerned about the sights; ya know, fun fairs, fun parks, really anything with the word 'fun' in the name," Dakota said "also, I'm looking forward to sampling the local cuisine."
"Yes well, there'll be plenty of time for that," Cavendish told him "first however, I would like to take a stop at the nearest museum."
"I thought we were on vacation, I don't want to go to a museum."
"Don't you want to experience high art and culture?"
"I'd rather eat."
"We can eat later," Cavendish told him.
"Okay, museum first, then eating, but I get to pick the place," Dakota replied.
"Very well, but I can only imagine what you'll select," Cavendish replied.
Elsewhere, the four teens had arrived the local comic book store. Sara made them wait outside while she went into to search for her beloved prize.
Also inside the building was Fred, rifling through a stack of comics.
"Ah, the most recent issues of Captain Sturdy are in," he said happily "time to take these bad boys home."
He took his comics and prepared to leave, when suddenly, he laid eyes on someone he had never seen before
She was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, with short blonde hair & green eyes. She was looking around the shop for something, for what, Fred didn't know. He just knew that he had to talk to her.
"Okay Fred, be cool," he said "just go over there and say hello." He lifted up his arms and quickly smelled his armpits "Okay, I'm good to go."
Unaware of Fred, Sara was still searching for her elusive collectible.
"Please be here, please be here… aha! Found it!" she exclaimed happily, picking up the box "finally, after all this time, you're coming home with me," she added, before glancing at the cost "that's the price?! Oh, I don't think I can afford it."
"Perhaps I can be of assistance.
Sara turned around and saw a lanky teen standing not too far behind her.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Frederick Frederickson the fourth, but everyone just calls me Fred," he told her, extending his hand.
"I'm Sara, Sara Murphy," she replied, shaking it in reply.
"Sara, that's a beautiful name," Fred replied "it's funny, I happen to know a Sara, but she's nowhere as beautiful as you are."
"That's...um, great," Sara replied nervously "well, I have someplace to be, so..."
"You know, I couldn't help but overhear that you're having some problems affording that fine quality figurine you've got there. So I'd like to volunteer to buy it for you."
"That's very generous, but I barely know you, and it's pretty expensive…"
"Don't worry, I'm kind of a big deal around here," Fred said, taking the figurine from her "let me take care of it for you."
"Oh uh…thanks, I guess," Sara replied.
"So, I don't recall seeing you around here before."
"Yeah, I'm on vacation with my brother, he won a trip here for some reason," Sara told him "but then I found out this figure was here, and I just had to have it. See, I'm a big fan of Dr. Zone, and I need it to complete my collection…"
"Say no more, you don't need to tell me about the importance of collectibles, or collections," Fred said.
They both reached the counter, and Fred laid the purchases down on it.
"I'll take this, and these Captain Sturdy comics," he said "and careful with the figurine, it's quite valuable."
"Of course," the clerk said.
"So, have you seen any more of the city?"
"No actually, but we are planning to once I finish up here."
"Ooh, you gotta let me give you the tour," Fred told her "I know this city like the back of my hand; I know all the hotspots and not so hotspots. "
"Oh, well that sounds nice," Sara replied.
"Tell me, have you had lunch yet?"
"Actually, no, we…"
"I know this great place, I go there all the time, you'll love it," Fred said, interrupting her.
"Um okay, thanks" Sara replied "tell me, are all the people in this city as friendly as you?"
"Yeah some are," Fred replied "but you know, I'm just a friendly guy in general," he added, as their items were deposited on the counter.
"Come on, let's go," he added, grabbing Sara by the arm and pulling her outside.
"Standing alone outside a comic book store in a city we've never been to before," Zack said "it's official; we're gonna get kidnapped."
"Don't worry Zack, I've got my backpack and Melissa knows karate," Milo said happily "besides, who would kidnap us?"
"You know, except organ harvesters," Melissa added "three fresh young teens like us would be a tempting target."
"Okay, knock it off!" Zack told her.
"What, I'm being serious," Melissa said, smirking "there are people who would love to steal our organs. We wouldn't even see them coming either; they pull up in a van, grab us, and 'wham!' Next thing you know, your kidney's been removed and being sold on the black market."
"Are you serious, or are you making this up to mess with me?" Zack asked.
"A little of both."
Before Zack could say anything, Sara came out of the shop. The three teens noticed she was accompanied by a scruffy looking guy.
"Hey Sara, who's your new friend?" Melissa asked.
"Name's Fred, I'm kind of an expert on things around here," Fred said "heard you guys were new in town, and thought I'd give you the tour. But first, lunch at Noodle Burger, my treat."
"'Noodle Burger?' Sounds like a fusion place," Melissa commented.
"Come on guys, it might be fun," Milo said "and this guy did offer to show us around."
"See, this kid has the right idea," Fred said happily "and trust me, you guys will not regret this."
"Okay, I guess we're going to Noodle Burger then," Melissa replied "that name still doesn't sound right."
"You think it's called that because the burgers are made of noodles, or they serve noodles alongside the burger?" Zack asked, as they headed off.
"I don't know, but I'm looking forward to finding out," Milo replied.
Eventually the gang arrived at Noodle Burger, and were pleasantly surprised the food wasn't as bad as they thought.
"You guys have whatever you want, it's all on me," Fred told them, "I'm kind of a VIP around here," he added, pointing to his picture on the nearby wall "oh, and if any of you want time in the ball pit, let me know; I get first dibs."
"A ball pit? What are we, 10?" Melissa asked.
"Come on guys, this guy has been so nice to us, the least we can do is repay his hospitality," Milo told them "I'll go in the ball pit."
"That's the spirit dude," Fred said "go on over, tell 'em Fred sent ya."
"Listen Fred, thanks for all of this," Sara told him "I honestly wasn't sure what we'd do if you hadn't come along. Wander around aimlessly, I suppose."
"Hey, I'm always happy to help," Fred said, slipping his arm around her.
"Uh, let's hold off on the arm thing for right now, okay?" Sara replied nervously, moving his arm aside.
"Right sorry, moving too fast, my bad," Fred replied "well anyway, eat up 'cause after this, I am taking you on a tour of the best this city has to offer."
Meanwhile, Milo played around in the ball pit, causing one of the balls to come out and roll around, resulting in a customer tripping on it. This led to him losing his balance and the contents of his tray splashing unto another customer. This, in turn led to ketchup squirting out and blinding the guy at the register, causing him to stumble backwards into the kitchen area, knocking over stuff.
"Whoa, never seen that happen before," Fred commented "weird."
"Murphy's Law, right on schedule," Melissa commented.
"Yeah, we'd better get out of here before the place catches on fire," Zack added.
After taking their order to go, the teens waited outside the restaurant.
"You guys are gonna love this, prepare to tour San Fransokyo in style," Fred told them, moments before a limousine pulled up.
"Limo, nice," Melissa commented.
"Heathcliff my man, let's hit it, we've got a tour to take," Fred said, gesturing them to go in the limo.
"Your auto insurance is paid up, right?" Milo asked.
"That's a weird question to ask," Fred admitted " But let me check; Heathcliff, how are we on the insurance?"
"It's been handled Master Frederick."
"There you go, we are good on insurance, still not sure why you wanted to know that. Anyway hurry up, we've got lots to see."
"Man, now this is a sweet ride," Zack said, as he took in the inside.
"It's pretty big, but where's the spa?" Melissa joked.
"Don't be silly, you can't fit a spa into a limo," Fred told her "however, we do have a hot tub in the trunk, if you're interested."
"Ooh, the one time I didn't bring my bathing suit," Melissa replied, sarcastically.
"You can sit next to me Sara," Fred said, patting the seat next to him.
"That's okay, I'll just sit next to Milo," she replied, placing Milo in between them.
"All right," a dejected Fred said "okay Heathcliff, let's get going."
Later that day, the limo dropped the gang back off at their hotel.
"I'm sorry about the limo losing a wheel and speeding up like that," Fred told them "I don't know what went wrong with it. Good thing your brother had that tire iron in his backpack."
"Yeah, Milo's handy for situations like that," Sara replied.
"Anyway, I was thinking; tomorrow, I'd love you to meet my friends," Fred said, taking Sara's hands in his "you'll like them, they're great guys."
"I don't know…"
"Come on, please?" Fred pleaded "it'll give you a chance to tour SFIT, my alma mater. The stuff they make there will blow your mind."
"Sounds like the kind of place Dr. D would like to visit," Milo said "can he come along?"
"I don't know who that is, but he has doctor in his name, so I'm guessing he's a fancy scientist or something," Fred said "sure bring him along, he should fit right in with all the other brainiacs. "
"What do you say guys? You wanna come too?" Milo asked.
"Milo, the whole point of going on vacation is to not go to school," Zack told him.
"I don't know Zack, it could be fun," Melissa said "might be neat to see what those guys came up with."
"And you'll come too, right Sara?" Fred asked.
"Well, I…" Sara said, seeing the pleading Fred looking at her "I think you may be misinterpreting signals here… all right, I'll go, but only 'cause I don't trust Dr. D to watch these guys."
"Then until tomorrow, my sweet maiden," Fred said, kissing her hand before leaving in the limo.
"Is it just me, or was that guy totally into Sara?" Melissa asked.
"It's not just you, he couldn't have been more blatant," Zack said "okay, he actually could've; I'm surprised he didn't hire skywriters to spell out their names in the sky."
"Looks like you've got a rich admirer," Melissa told Sara "have to say, I envy you."
"Yeah, easy for you to say," Sara replied "you're not the one who has to let him down easy."
Later that night, after everyone was settled in, Milo took out his phone and dialed a number. Eventually, the face of Amanda Lopez appeared the screen.
"Hi Milo, how is your vacation going so far?"
"Fantastic! We're staying at this really swanky hotel, and we met this neat guy who's in love with Sara, so he took us out to lunch and around the city. I got to eat at a place called Noodle Burger; don't let the name fool you, it's not as bad as it sounds. Oh, and I got to ride in a limo!"
"Sounds like you're having a great time," Amanda replied "I really wish I could've come with you."
"Yeah, me too," Milo replied sadly "tomorrow, we're going to visit this college for smart kids; that sounds right up your alley."
"It really does," Amanda replied.
"Well don't worry, I'll take lots of pictures so you can share in the experience," Milo told her "unless my phone breaks, which it probably will."
"Maybe have Zack & Melissa take the pictures."
"Yeah, good idea."
"Well, I look forward to hearing about your visit there," Amanda said "have a good time."
"Bye Amanda, I miss you."
"I miss you too Milo," Amanda replied before the phone began to sputter and spark and then conk out.
"Man, I go through so many phones," Milo commented.
Next up, Fred learns about Murphy's Law, and Cavendish & Dakota's lunch runs into a bit of a snag.