Iris checked her watch for the umpteenth time.

8: 30

'Where are you Kim jie jie?' she thought, her nerves getting wilder as the seconds ticked by agonizingly slow.

"You sure this is the right Caltex station?" Elina asked a bit doubtful. Iris was skilled in many things but navigation and directions was not  one of them.

After around 10-20 minutes of pedaling and a breaking a few traffic laws and running past at least three red lights and nearly riding straight into a dog- which they didn't, they had arrived at the Caltex gas station. 

Now, here they were, waiting just outside the mart that was also part of the station. The smell of diesel fuel, petroleum and other mechanical fluids and fumes were still evident in the air and they admittedly made Iris a bit dizzy. There weren't any cars here anymore and the only occupant was a motorcyclist who showed little to no interest in them- if he even noticed them that is. Another car had come to refuel- which barely took 10 minutes and left just like that.

The mart was still open since it was well...open 24/7 and the two poor elderly men who were in charge of the counter seemed to be dozing off like everybody else was about to do soon.

Their bicycles were parked beside them and.......yeah.

Now all they could do was wait.

"I'm gonna go get a drink." Eli said, getting up and going inside the store, pulling the hood of her hoodie up as she did. No need to attract attention.

Barely 5 minutes later, she came back out with a can of Coke in hand. Iris raised an eyebrow.

"None for me?" she asked.

Eli shrugged. "You didn't say anything and sides, you hate fizzy drinks." She said.

"You could've at least gotten me a Milo." Iris muttered.

Another two minutes passed, Elina finished off her drink and threw it away into the nearby trash bin.

Still no sign of Kim.

"You don't think she's ditched us, do you?" Elina asked.

"Of course not!" Iris snapped defensively. "She wouldn't do that." 'Would she?' that small cynical part of her couldn't help but voice its skepticism.

Elina put her hands up, palm outwards. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend you." She said.

Iris calmed down. "It's cool. Didn't mean to snap either, sorry." She said. Then she looked around and sighed. "Sorry, Eli."

"For what?" Eli asked.

"For messing up." Iris said them rubbed her eyes under her glasses. "Stupid, I had one simple job and I f it up and cuz of that this whole thing could be f up." She muttered.

'Uh oh.' Eli thought. Iris may seem like the type to just go with the flow of events but even she knew at times the current was too strong even for her.

"Hey..." Eli stood next to Iris and placed her hand on Iris's back. "Be patient. Kim will come. Like you said, she's like the big sister you never had. So be patient. She'll come. Besides, I'm kind of one to blame too... I suggested this whole thing to begin with." Eli used her free hand to rub the nape of her neck.

"So if we get caught, I'll take full responsibility, alright?" Eli comforted.

"Thanks...." Iris said looking down on the ground. "Also, don't worry. We're in this together so it's both of our responsibilities. And....thanks I needed that." She said and gave her a smile.

"You're welcome." Eli said with her own smile, glad to pull Iris out of the water before it carried her further. She then proceeded to lean against one of the metal gates surrounding the perimeter of the gas station. The two were in a comfortable silence. Well, not all too silent considering they were near a busy road. Traffic seemed pretty consistent despite it already being 8.

'Then again, it's Penang, traffic always sucks.' Iris thought. 'Hopefully this won't delay us further.'

"Definitely." Eli said.

Iris was surprised. "Did I....say that out loud?" she asked. Sometimes she really had a habit of literally speaking her mind without even knowing she was doing so.

"Yes." Eli said.

Iris looked at her watch again a bit impatiently. If there's anything she isn't, its patient. Eli however was casually scrolling through YouTube for some videos to watch. She seemed very laid-back about all this. She was about to click on a video when Iris stopped her.

"Don't use up so much data. We might need it later on" Iris said.

"True..." Eli then slid her phone back in her pocket. Eli then put up her hood for fun..........

Ok she managed to pull the laid-back facade for a minute before she began to bounce her knee in agitation.

Yeah, patience wasn't her forte either.

Eli bit her lip and tried to keep the pessimistic thoughts at bay but it was getting a bit hard not to.

Was their road trip, their adventure about to end before it even began?

Iris was about to voice her concerns again when a Perodua Myvi suddenly pulled up in front of them.

They both tensed-this was like a scene right out of those kidnapping movies/ safety clips their teachers and parents made them watch, where a suspicious vehicle suddenly stops right there then arms come out like a snake's tongue and pull the victim in.

But the window rolled down to reveal.............

"Yo, hope you didn't have to wait long. Traffic and all that."

A girl was long, straight black hair that flowed naturally down to the middle of her back but with a hairband there to keep the bangs out of her face, almond shaped eyes that were such a dark shade of brown they seemed like black from a distance. The eyes held the sparkle of humor and mischief Iris had grown to enjoy.

"Kim/ Kim jie jie!" Iris and Eli said at the same time, relief flooding through their veins.

Looks like their road trip is still on and about to begin.

"Sorry, did you have to wait long?" she asked, a lanky hand draped over the windowsill lazily. "Hop in and let's go baby!" she said, she sounded excited but then again, who wouldn't be?

"Didn't hafta tell us twice!" Iris said, already opening the door and hopping in, Eli in tow. Eli pulled the door closed, Kim floored the pedal and they were off.

"Buckle up, ah. I'm gonna have to push it if we wanna make it there in time. We might cut it a bit close." Kim said.

Already, Iris and Elina were doing just that. "Fast and Furious or Mission Impossible?" Iris asked jokingly.

The radio started playing some catchy tunes like Post Malone- Sunflower, Chainsmokers- Closer, Selena Golmez- Tell Me Something I Don't Know and so on. Eli didn't hesitate to tap her foot along to the rhythm. It was gonna be a long trip.

Iris wanted to plug in her earphones but didn't want to look rude. Besides, for once the radio was playing some pretty catchy tunes. Soon all three of the girls were singing along to Rewrite the Stars together for kicks and Iris would daresay she was having fun and enjoying singing openly like this for once.

They were now on the Penang Bridge, South East Asia's longest bridge. The bridge connected the small urban island to the mainland. KL was quite a distance from where they were now, the flashing yellow street lights passed by in a blink of an eye as Kim floored the pedal, minding not to break any speed limits.

Elina couldn't help but notice that Iris had a thoughtful but faraway look in her eyes. "Hey, penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

"It's just, it feels like we're forgetting something........" Iris said. "Damn it, it's on the tip of my tongue and that's driving me nuts!"

After about another half an hour of singing, their throats got a little bit parched so the three of them took a sip of water to put their throats back at ease again. The car reached a red light, and Kim took this as an opportunity to chat a little with the girls at the back seat.

"So, did you tell your parents you're coming with me?" She asked, twisting in the front seat to face them. Despite Kim asking in a casual tone, the question and the tone itself made their hearts drop to their stomachs. And Iris and Elina's faces were not doing a good job at hiding that fact.

"Wait, you....... did  tell them, right?" Kim asked her voice definitely not as relaxed as before.

The two of them glanced back and forth at each other, 'You tell her!' Iris's eyes implored.

'No, you  tell her!' Elina shot back.

'You said you  would take responsibility!' Iris pointed out.

'And you  said you  were in this together with me which mean it's your  responsibility too!' Elina pointed back.

'You're hopeless!' Iris shot back one more time before deciding to just get it done with.

"I left them a text." Iris said. It's true, she'd told them in the family groupchat before leaving.

"Oh, that's good to hear." Kim said, relieved.

"Wait, is your data on?" Eli asked.

".........shit." Iris cursed and quickly fished her phone out.....

Only to realize that she didn't  turn on her data which meant that she hadn't  told her parents where she was.

She was so screwed.

"I am/ You are so screwed." Iris and Eli said at the same time.

Eli was then reminded that she would be even more royally screwed than Iris. If her parents found out, it'll be the wringer for her. They'll never let her live it down. She then shook her head and thought to herself. She tried to keep calm, think of something else like Iris taught her, even something trivial but the doubts were spreading like a plague.

'No, it's gonna be okay. They don't know. They're not here. Wait, if Iris's parents found out, they'll tell......and...and oh crap, that'll lead to yelling, oh shit, shit, shit! Oh god, why did I even suggest this whole thing in the first place?!' Eli thought frantically in her head.

Eli's parents had drawn a very thin line for her before she could even walk- behaved and misbehaved. There was no in between, you misbehaved, you're wrong, you crossed the line simple as that. They made that fact abundantly clear for years. They had the ability to make her panic and over think even if she was staying behind the line. Now she's really crossed the line. Oh god they were going to-

"-li? Eli!" she was snapped out of her inner turmoil by Iris. "Calm down, you're starting to lose it." it was then she noticed Iris had firmly grasp her shoulders so hard that she could feel her skin being pinched under the two layers of cloth and that they were moving on the road again.

"Calm down, I've turned my data back on and told my parents what's going on. We're about to call them and talk to them at the next red light, ok? Nod if you can hear me and understand me." Iris said, her words were even, controlled and calm.

Eli nodded.

"My parents don't have your parent's phone number, so I don't think they called your parents yet, you're still in the clear." Iris added. "Can't say the same for me though." she added, not even bothering to hide her dread now.

Eli then drank some water and took a deep breath. Just like how Iris taught her whenever she was going to have a meltdown.

"Okay I'm calm now." She said regaining her calmness.

"Here, take this." Iris said putting something small in her palm. It was a small white pellet that was barely the size of her thumbnail. For a moment, Eli panicked and thought it was some kinda pill, wait, how did Iris even get these pills?!

"It's a mint Tic Tac." Iris explained, shaking the small container of said mints she took out from her pocket. "Thought something minty might help clear the mind."

Nevermind.

"Hey, you two ok back there?" Kim asked, sparing a brief glance back but having to quickly turn her attention back to the road as she reached a U turn. "You wanna take a quick stop or something? Toilet? A snack?" she asked, concerned like a big sister.

Iris and Elina were touched by that.

"We're fine." Iris said. "Just.....a bit nervous."

"For Drakkon or your parents?" she asked.

"I rather slay an actual dragon than face my parents." Eli muttered bitterly.

Kim turned around and looked at Iris. "Well, at least your parents know now. And to quote you, Iris- something is better than nothing." Iris nodded her head, acknowledging her agreement. She then continued driving. "So, what do you guys wanna do when we get to KL?" She asked trying to lighten up the mood.

Finally, no more of that suffocating awkwardness. No wonder Iris looked up to Kim.

"Depends." Iris said with a shrug.

"Um.....after we watch the heist or....?" Elina asked.

"After the heist lah. Might as well spend as much time having fun before we go back to our normal lives." Kim said with a hint of mischief lingering in her voice. And though she wasn't facing them, Iris could already imagine the glint of adventure shining in Kim's eyes.

"Won't that be ma fan?" Iris thought with a frown. "You don't have to do so much for us you know....." she felt a bit awkward at how Kim was willing to do so much for them when they were kinda risking dragging her into trouble too.

Or worse, jeopardize her relationship with her brother, Ian too.

"Iris, if you seriously think I'm gonna just dump you two in KL just like that after getting my scoop, you're dead wrong." she said seriously. "We're in this together, ok? Besides, it's no big deal." she said waving it off. "It's nice to hang out with you two for a change."

"Oh....." Iris said, dumbfounded. "Tha-thanks, Kim jie jie. I'm glad you care." She said sincerely.

"No problem." Kim said.

"Can you adopt me?" Eli asked.

"I thought you wanted me to adopt you. I'm hurt, Eli." Iris said in a mock hurt tone, putting a hand on her chest for emphasis.

"Fine, can you become my god-sister?" Eli asked.

This time, Kim turned around and smiled at her. "I already am." She said before turning her attention back to the road.

"Wow." Elina said out loud, not bothering to hide her shock. Kim really was being genuine. That made Eli like her even more now.

And unfortunately, before Iris could suggest anything, they reached the red stoplight. The moment of judgment.

Kim turned around fully to face them again, Iris made a mental note to have one of them sit in front on the way back to make things easier.

"I think you should make that call now." Kim said, looking at Iris.

Iris and Elina gulped, except Iris had almost gone as pale as Eli. Then she took a deep breath. 'Just suck it up and get it over and done with.' She told herself.

Iris took her phone out and scrolled through the contacts and....whoa her hands were shaking. When was the last time her hands shook this bad? Then she felt fingers with skin scattered with callouses yet so gentle and soft like a blanket grasp her wrist, subduing her trembles.

"You can do this. You've taken worse." Eli said.

"Goodbye eardrums." Iris said. Then she took a deep breath........

And made the call.

Instantly her Nana's voice all but screeched out- and the phone wasn't even on speaker! Startled by the sudden shrill cry of pure worry and anger, poor Kim nearly had a heart attack and ended up slamming down on the emergency brakes, had it not been for their seat belts, Eli and Iris would've catapulted out of their seats right then and there.

Though their airway was temporarily cut off as the seat belts buried themselves into their ribcages. They both gasped then after regaining their breath, Iris put the phone to her ear.

"Nana we're driving!" she yelled. "I'm fine, please tone it down a bit." Thankfully Nana did......a bit.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?!?" her Nana's voice shouted into her ear. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS?! GATE SUDDENLY OPEN LIKE THAT, YOUR ROOM EMPTY I THOUGHT YOU WERE KIDNAPPED YOU KNOW?!"

"I left a note." Iris pointed out.

"SO WHAT?! LEFT A NOTE MY HEAD!" Nana said. "YOUR PAPA AND MUMMY ALMOST KEE SIAO! YOU AND YOUR FRIEND THINK YOU TWO WHAT? SUPERHEROES AH?!

"AIYO YOU AH, YOU ALWAYS GO OFF WITHOUT TELLING ME AH, JUST YOU WAIT TIL YOU GET HOME--------------" she chose that moment to switch to her Asian native tongue known as Hokkien and Iris decided to mute it to save her ears which were miraculously not bleeding.

"You deaf yet?" Eli asked.

"My eardrums haven't erupted and I can still hear your voice. Does that count?" Iris asked.

"Wah, lu e Nana kee siao liao!" Kim said.

"I better get back to this, I'll put it on speaker. You ok with that, Kim?" Iris asked.

"As long as she doesn't kill us then can." Kim said.

"You sure ah?" Iris said. Kim and Eli nodded. "Here goes." She pressed the speaker icon and the voice erupted for all to hear.

"Enough already she gets it!" Another feminine voice, Iris's mom butted in and snatched the phone away from her raging Nana. "Iris, are you there? You ok or not? Is Eli with you?" she asked, voice laced with concern.

"I'm ok and so is Eli, she's here with me." Iris said and put the phone in front of Eli for her to reply.

"Hi, auntie." Eli said, a tad bit guilty. She liked Iris's mom, she definitely treated her better than her actual mom does. The fact that she's caused her god knows how much fear and worry......

"I'm fine. Iris is with me and we're ok." She reassured.

"Where are you two going?" Iris's mom asked.

"KL." They both replied at the same time.

"KL?! For what?!" she asked, baffled.

"They want to go see Drakkon." Kim supplied. "And hi, auntie." She greeted.

A collective 'HUH?!' and 'What?!' resounded.

"SERIOUSLY?! YOU WANT TO GO SEE A CRIMINAL?!" Iris's mom asked. "Iris, you- ugh......" Iris could only imagine how lost for words her mom was.

That once again twisted the knife known as guilt deeper into her heart.

Eli seemed to shrink in her seat. She felt like she betrayed Iris's mom's trust in the two of them. Iris was trying to think of something to say to more or less patch up the damage that had already been done but Kim saw the distraught the two girls were facing from the driver's mirror and decided to back them up.

"Auntie, it's okay. I'm the one who let them come with me. Besides, they'll be with me the entire time. I'll take care of them, auntie."

"You sure, Kim? We don't want to trouble you." Iris's mom said.

"It's ok lah, auntie. I'm heading to KL for an assignment anyways and thought I could use some help since the others were busy with their own assignments." Kim shot Iris and Eli a knowing wink. "And besides, we've already come this far. Don't worry, we can handle ourselves."

"Ok then." She said, sounding relieved knowing that there was a responsible 'adult' there. "What time you all come back?"

"Latest tomorrow." Iris supplied.

"Ok......be careful. Keep us posted and don't do anything reckless, alright?" Iris's mom said seriously. "Let us know if anything, and I mean anything happens, you hear me?"

Iris knew her mom was the type who would briefly be mad or upset, then concerned, then disappointed and then worried again. A lump rose in her throat and she quickly swallowed it.

"We will mom." Iris promised.

"I'll keep Iris out of trouble." Eli said.

Iris shot her a baleful look. "And I'll take care of Eli." Iris added.

"Young lady, you and I are talking about this when you get back." This wasn't the voice of Iris's mom.

It was her dad.

'Shit.' She thought again.

"Yes, papa." She said referring to him as 'papa' which sounded more formal rather than the casual 'dad'.

"Take care you hear me? Don't play play ah. This is real. You're dealing with a criminal here. An unpredictable one. You cannot let your guard down and must always remain vigilant. Just because he does all this lights and magic doesn't mean he's nice, understand?" he said not trying to sugarcoat anything.

"Yes, papa" Iris said, trying not to sound fed up. He didn't even sound worried about her, more like worried what will go wrong with the situation she has to handle.

He's worried about how she'll handle the situation...not her, not really.

It kinda hurt.

"Alright, take care you two." Iris's mom's voice came back up again, thank God. "I love you." She said genuinely.

"Yes, mom. Love you too." Iris said and blew her a kiss before hanging up the phone. Eli who was on the edge of her seat, practically melted back against the plush seat and slid down, from relief.

Both girls released a breath they didn't know they had been holding in. Another bullet dodged.

"Thank you so much Kim." Eli thanked with gratitude.

"Yeah, you really saved our asses back there" Iris said.

"Not a problem. Besides, it'd be boring if I were driving to KL by myself." Kim said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Pity koko can't join you, eh? Just you and him." Iris teased wriggling her eyebrows just to kacau her.

Had it not been so dark, the two girls would've noticed the slight blush tinting Kim's cheeks. "You wish." She scoffed good- naturedly.

"How much longer till we get there?" Iris asked, more serious now.

Kim did some mental calculations and estimations. "I'd say in another 2 hours." She replied.

Eli checked the time.

9:20

"Well on the bright side, we'll have about half an hour." She said.

"Yeah, except by then it'll be packed. Getting in won't be easy." Iris said.

Back then, roads would be packed because of holidays or rock concerts that fans were begging to see or some special event. These days, traffic jams became the norm on highways whenever people catch wind of another heist Drakkon is about to pull off.

Naturally many would pounce onto the chance to see the infamous Phantom Thief in action- more than once, Iris and Eli saw some of their own classmates absent from school because they went to another state for the similar goal.

Today would most likely be no different. It was mere luck once again on their part that traffic wasn't as bad as it usually was.

Luck was really on their side now, huh? Eli would've said that out loud but decided against it out of fear that she might jinx their good luck. Beside her, Iris was thinking the same thing and opted to make a brief prayer that everything would go smoothly....in a way.

What's the worst that could happen?

Iris wish she could've asked that but knew her answer wouldn't be a good one. 'Oh well, might as well just go with the flow.' She thought philosophically.

"How are you so chill?" Eli asked. "I still feel like my heart is about to go kerblooey."

Iris shrugged. "I feel like I just swallowed a giant iron ball and my insides are doing somersaults." She admitted shamelessly.

They both knew it was pointless to hide their fear. To do so would mean they were either overconfident or foolish and neither aspect was appealing.

"Then again, we'll just have to go with the flow." Iris said in that matter of fact tone she always uses when she's being philosophical.

Meanwhile in a realm unknown to mortals, fate has once again tossed the dice.

[Timeskip to KL] ____________________________________________

The traffic soon came to an end and replaced with the blinding flashes of cameras, the air filled with layer after layer of differing noises from policemen yelling, people murmuring in anticipation and some even cheering right in front of the Cultural Palace, waving banners with their phones whipped out streaming live on social media as though it were a stage in a rock concert. Kim parked her car in the nearby parking lot, surprisingly finding a spot.

"Holy-" Iris began.

"Shit." Eli ended.

Kim was too in shock to add her own two cents.

Thanks to some 'shortcuts' and 'driving hacks' Kim pulled off along the way, they had made it to KL in 1 hour and 30 minutes- that half an hour difference made a bigger impact than one would think at first. Thanks to that, they realized that maybe they wouldn't have to rush as bad as they thought.

Turns out they were wrong.

If the place was already this crowded now, how crowded would it have been if they had arrived later? All of them subconsciously thought it would be like a sea of humans.

Oh, who were they kidding, it was already a sea of humans! They had smartly decided to say at the back of the crowd where they were least likely to get separated to as Charles would've put it had he been there- a human sandwich.

Adults, teenagers, children of all walks of life from various parts of Malaysia and they daresay other countries were all jumbled together in the sea of humans like one giant being with differing sentient minds with a similar goal.

The flashes from cameras and phones kept blinking like stars that were too bright and far too close for comfort, stinging their eyes. Iris blinked, annoyed and massaged her temples trying to fight back the small rising headache that was rearing its ugly head in her....well....head.

Even Eli herself was getting a bit overwhelmed by the sheer chaos of everything. There was never a pause in anything, there was always some form of noise or shift in movement, even the air itself seemed to be hustling and bustling about like the crowd. She was aware that beside her, Kim was taking out her camera and already snapping pictures of the massive crowd that had gathered for this.

"This is gonna be one helluva scoop." She said, her lip twitching upwards slightly as she felt the excitement begin to flow through her as well. What? Exciting anticipation in such a massive crowd like this was naturally contagious in a way.

"Alright, move along now! An investigation is taking place here! Make way!" a middle aged man wearing a police officer uniform yelled through a megaphone in an attempt to provide some form of discipline in this chaos of excitement. But unfortunately, his yells were swallowed and drowned out by the roaring anticipation of the crowd. Not a big surprise there.

Still though, Iris had to give the man kudos for at least trying.

Emphasis on the try.

"How are we gonna get through all this?" Eli asked aloud.

"I.....hate....being....short!" Iris yelled in frustration as she tried and failed rather miserably at looking over the various heads of the gathered crowd. It was like trying to not go down underwater with a metal ball shackled to her. No matter how high she jumped, she always came back down with barely a glimpse of anything other than a blurred mass of humans.

Eli contemplated asking Kim to lift them onto her shoulders so they could help her film and make it a win- win but......nah, that's just disrespectful and outright mean.

Then the worst thing happened.

Iris sighed and turned around to look for Kim. "Kim ji- Kim?" she felt her heart drop as she turned around and came face to face with someone that definitely was not Kim. "Kim jie jie?!" she asked, voice beginning to panic.

Iris quickly grabbed onto Eli's hand and gripped onto it like a lifeline, afraid to lose her to this ocean of humans too.

"What?" Eli asked.

"We lost Kim!" Iris said.

".....oh crap." Eli said, skin tone suddenly paler.

"Where is she?!" Iris yelled, they were free to yell since no one would really hear them over the ghastly ambiance they surrounded by.

"How am I supposed to know?! Look at this sea of humans!" Eli yelled back gesturing at the crowd around them.

Iris then realized she had her phone. Of course, she could just call Kim and tell her where they could rendezvous at. She pulled out her phone, careful not to drop it with all the shoving people.

Miraculously, she managed to not drop it and actually found enough space to bring it out, scroll through the contacts and press the contact she was looking for.

She gestured for Eli to come closer and connected her earbuds to her phone before passing one to Eli. It would be easier if both of them heard from her at the same time and with the chaos surrounding them, speaker wasn't an option and they even if Iris shoved the phone against her ear enough to flatten it, she would still have difficulty hearing Kim.

Not the first time the two girls silently agreed that earbuds were humanity's greatest invention.

As soon as the call was picked up.....

"KIM JIE JIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" They both yelled at the top of their lungs. For the briefest seconds, all the other noises seemed to have hit the pause button as they accessed the new tune to the beat, then deeming it as irrelevant, the beat went back on.

"Iris! Eli!" Kim's relieved voice came back. "Oh thank god, I thought I lost you guys!"

Then the barrage of questions tumbled out.

"Where are you?"

"What happened?"

"How'd you suddenly go poof?"

"What do we do?"

"Calm down, calm down, I can only answer one at a time!" Kim said, a bit overwhelmed. "Look, don't worry I think my bag strap snagged onto something just now and I got dragged away, then the crowd must've covered you two up and I ended up drifting away.

"Listen, right now I'm by the flag poles, can you see me? I'm waving a pink handkerchief."

Iris and Eli craned their necks and stood on their tiptoes. Yup, they briefly spotted a blur of pink near the flag poles.

"You guys can head in first if you want. Later, rendezvous with me under the Terengganu flag, ok?" she instructed. "I'll be filming so I may be a bit late, just wait for me and call me if anything happens, ok?"

"Ok/ Roger roger." They both replied. Eli glanced over and saw Iris calm down as though nothing happened now that they had a solid plan.

"Come on, let's head over there." Iris said and all but dragged Eli to an area that wasn't as crowded and definitely more spacious. They both stood there for a moment to catch their breath, glad to be out of the mass of sweaty noisy humans that threatened to suffocate them.

"Seriously, how are we gonna get in there?" Iris asked, gazing at the entrance to the inside that still managed to stand out amongst the crowd as though taunting them. "Don't tell me we came all this way for nothing." She groaned.

Eli was also racking her brain for some way to get through the crowd. If only she and Iris could just ride on top of the crowd like what people do in concerts on TV but....nah. That's all they were, TV, entertainment........unrealistic fantasies.

But she and Iris did not endure a 3 hour plus car ride and potential lifetime of grounding from their parents to come this far just to give up and go home with nothing.

Then they notice a disturbance among the crowd as a group of people suddenly surged through it like a bullet- a slow one considering how the crowd wasn't exactly fast and cooperative. Despite it being night, the lights surrounding them glinted off the metallic silver accents on them and shone on their dark blue uniforms.

They were police officers.

"About time they start actually doing their job." Iris muttered.

"About too late for crowd control." Eli said, noticing how some people couldn't exactly maneuver out of the way for the police officers even if they wanted to due to other human limbs pushing against them the other way.

Then the two girls noticed that the crowd had finally found it in themselves to more or less work together to create a clear throng of space to allow the police to quickly make it to their intended destination. Noticing how there was a clear space around them......

The two girls glanced at each other and came to an unspoken agreement. Using their small statures to their advantage, they weaved through the crowd and tailed the police officers.

Thanks to that, they worked their way inside the Cultural Palace. It was now.....11:36 PM.

"We made it with 24 minutes to spare!" Eli said.

Iris said a quick prayer of thanks. Looks like luck has once again graced them with its divine greatness.

The exhibition room was once a room that was so big, Iris and Eli could've fit both of their rooms in here with space to spare for a kitchen. Now? It seemed small and claustrophobic with all the people gathered there.

There were numerous display cases, each filled with its own treasure or artifact that held so much meaning and value stretching from money and worth to history and sentimental values from descendants from war heroes.

But all those were ignored by everyone like gum on someone's shoe as they gathered around the keris and crown that had been laid there quite ceremoniously inside a glass case like a gift.

(The keris and the crown)

But the two girls weren't fooled. Eli was willing to bet that there were all kinds of sensors and other hidden tricks to try and keep the treasure in place and Iris would bet that there were dozens of police officers mingling amongst the crowd disguised as civilians in an attempt to root Drakkon out before he could make his move.

'Good luck with that.' She thought. After all, Drakkon is a master of disguise.

Suddenly, they both felt something brush past them and turning around, they saw it was a police officer with curly black hair that almost reached his shoulders with an evident mole on his left cheek. He tipped his hat to the girls with a small smile as he went on with his duties, twirling his baton in hand, whistling away. The girl's nodded in respect and waited for a few minutes.

Suddenly, nature called as nerves grew. Iris tapped Eli's shoulder.

"Hey, can I go to the toilet now..?" She asked. "And could you tag along? I don't wanna get lost in the crowd or vice versa."

"What? But the heist is in another 10 minutes!" Eli said pointing at her watch.

11: 50

"Oh for God's sake, it'll just be for a bit." Iris said. Eli looked at her watch and succumbed.

"Fine, fine. Let's go." She said stuffing her hands in the pockets of her hoodie.

Getting out of the room was no easy task, they realized. The moment one of their feet so much as stepped out of the room, two police officers were upon them.

They checked the contents in their bags, emptied their pockets, pinched their cheeks, tugged their hair and poked and prodded though mindful not to invade their personal space too much. They were thorough in their check but respectful at the same time.

After a while, they nodded and allowed them through but before they left.....

"Wait." The guard called. He took out a purple marker and asked them to roll their sleeves up which they obliged. He pressed the tip against their skin and drew a T on their shoulders.

"Is this like a pass?" Iris asked.

"Yes, try not to get it wash off." He said.

Eli realized that there was also a small camera device on the wall. That meant that if they were to return without the T drawn on their shoulders, they could root out Drakkon. What's more, most people wore sleeves so it was a detail that could easily be missed.

And that slip up alone was all it took to make the plan go crumbling down.

It was a simple yet admittedly smart move, the girls had to admit that.

It was....surprisingly easy to get to the toilets. Majority of the people were all trying to cramp themselves into the exhibition room where the keris and crown were kept. They were so dead set on getting into that one room that the hallways and corridors leading to other adjoining rooms or separate rooms were virtually empty.

But they sure as heck weren't abandoned.

There were guards posted everywhere. Every door, hallway and corridor each had at least two if not four or more guards standing guard but......

They noticed that some of the guards in the other rooms which would be abandoned had their presence not been there seem rather bored with their guard duties, one of them was even taking a nap!

"They're.....pretty lam nua." Iris pointed out. "Then again, I'm not surprised."

"You think they'd be more alert with....who know who about to show up." Eli said the last part softly. She thought it was best not to say the name aloud and raise a false alarm.

"They're expecting him to focus on the exhibition room and well, mentality is like a controller. Once you think something and believe it- like believing chickens don't fly, it's hard to change that." Iris said.

".....say wha now?" Eli asked, dumbfounded.

Iris sighed. "People see what they expect to see. They don't expect to see Drakkon there so......."

"They'll assume he won't show up and naturally let their guard down." Eli said, understanding now.

"Yes." Iris said.

After answering nature's call and washing their hands, the two girls exited the toilet.

"I didn't know they had unisexual toilets." Eli said, noticing the newly installed toilet at the end of the hallway.

"Must've been renovated recently. You gotta admit, it'll definitely come in handy." Iris commented.

"Yup." Eli agreed.

The two girls then heard a sound pierce through the hallways, easily echoing off the walls to surround them in an amiable fog.

A muffled shout.

"What in the-" Eli and Iris whipped their heads around, trying to locate the source of the sound. It couldn't have been from the ladies, they were right in front of it! The males? Ok, that'd be awkward.

Then they heard it again and this time, they both turned around.....

Towards the unisexual toilet.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Iris said.

Eli nodded in agreement. Her gut feeling was acting up and she's pretty sure it wasn't from the string cheese snack she had earlier.

They entered the stall and saw the usual. A line of stalls on one side of the wall, another had a row of sinks and mirrors and soap dispensers with toilet paper to dry their hands and marble tiles on the floor.

Then they heard another muffled shout, louder this time and a thud coming from.......there!

They ran towards the stall and saw that it was closed, locked but..... they both bent down and saw no feet.

"Well this is awkward..." Eli subconsciously rubbed the back of her neck while Iris was doing the same without even knowing. The two girls couldn't help but feel like perhaps they were crossing a line here.

The muffled shouting still carried on.

Eli glanced at Iris. "How about you do the honors?" she said already stepping back. She did not want to open that stall to see something unspeakable. Iris sighed and passed Eli her bag. She stretched her legs for a second, dropped into a fighting stance and.....she side kicked the door.

The sole of her foot that contained the strength of her entire leg and hips along with the hard soles of her sneakers made the hinges snap and gravity took hold, pulling the door down to reveal its occupant......

A man in nothing more than a tank top and pink boxers tied up and gagged in duct tape.

Iris and Eli couldn't stop the shout of surprise from escaping. Then they took a closer look and......wait a minute, why did he seem familiar?

The curly black hair, the mole on his left cheek and the overall bodybuild.......

Their eyes widened as it clicked.

It was the police officer they bumped into in the exhibition room!

They quickly regained their senses and took action instead of just gawking.

"Hang on, we'll help." Iris said and took the gag off.

He took a deep breath, grateful to be able to breathe properly.

"How long have you been in here?" Eli asked.

The officer paused. "I.....since my last shift." He said.

"And that was?" Iris prompted as she tried to unbind his hands.

"I....I think around 6 kut ?" he said.

Eli who had almost finished cutting the duct tape froze as did Iris.

"Since 6?!" they both said.

Rubbing his wrists to get the circulation back, the officer nodded.

"Wait, if you've been in here since 6 PM then-" Iris started.

"Who the hell did we see entering the Cultural Palace?!" Eli added.

Then their eyes met and no words had to be spoken as the same answer came to mind.

Drakkon.

This whole time, this entire effin time.......

The beast had been roaming in the sunlight, awaiting for the moment to strike.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

FP: Hey readers! Sorry we couldn't put in the translation page in the last chapter since it was already pretty long so.........

kakak: Older sister in BM. In the fanfic however, some people such as Iris also uses it as a term for housekeeper.

koko: A Hokkien slang that is used to address older chinese men, Iris uses it as an Asian slang term for big brother as big brother in Chinese is gege.

jie jie: Big sister in Chinese.

lao ama: Old granny in Hokkien.

keepo: Asian slang for nosy; curious; poking nose into others business.

Gao dim liao: Hokkien, translates to  'taken care of already'.

Wan an: Goodnight in Chinese.

Pinjam: Lend; borrow in BM.

kacau: Tease; annoy; pester in BM.

KEE SIAO: Go cray cray in Hokkien.

Wah, lu e Nana kee siao liao: Also Hokkien, translates to 'Wah, your Nana has gone crazy/ lost it!'

 lam nua: Negligent; tardy; too laid back in Hokkien.

BP: You'll also notice that this time, terms such as 'Aiyo' and 'kut' were used, these terms are also a part of the Asian slang and Malay dialect.

FP & BP: That's all, see you next time!

FP: FP and BP over and out. Peace!