Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter XXI

MACKENZIE

Music: Impregnable Fortress from Gradius V

"There's a mark over what seems to be Mexico. That's pretty close by, so how about we knock it out of the way now?" I ask Sam, who's currently flying. We've been checking over the map just like we always do after leaving the previous location.

He shrugs. "Works for me. Does it give us a specific location in Mexico?"

I tap the mark on the map, and it pulls up a Wikipedia article on Mexico City. "Mexico City. Huh."

"I guess that works for me," Sam says. He selects the mark on the map, sets the hovercraft to autopilot mode, then leans back in his seat and puts his feet up on the control panel. I roll my eyes and walk back over to where Mia, Sean, and Shanna are sitting. The three of them are obsessing over Harry Potter or something along those lines, which is not anything I'm really into, so I just sit silently.

Vowing to fight as hard as I can to not have to leave these people.

Of all places to park in front of, the hovercraft "chooses" what looks like the capitol building. I mean, it's constructed with several large towers that have huge domes at the tops of them with crosses sticking out of them, so I think I have reason to believe that.

"Okay, we've got absolutely no leads to go off of here. What do you guys wanna do first?" Sam asks.

Nobody has an answer for a few seconds. Avery eventually shrugs and replies, "I mean, this looks like a pretty big city, so the chances of finding anything are slim. We need more than just a location to go off of here."

"This is ridiculous," Mia sighs, facepalming.

Heath, Luke, and Skylar start reading the Wikipedia article. "We could always just tour the place and see what each of the attractions has to offer, like we've done in the past," Skylar suggests.

"That plan's probably as good as any," Shanna says. The rest of us nod in agreement.

Our first stop is the "National Museum of Anthropology", which unless you're into looking at ancient artifacts, doesn't really have much to offer. A quick walk-through of the place enables us to find various tourist groups walking about, but not even the hovercraft's scanner has any luck in finding anything suspicious-looking here (I should also mention that every time a citizen spots the hovercraft, they just eye it weirdly and don't say anything as we walk past).

Mia chooses the Palace of Fine Arts, finding the name appeasing. No shows of interest are on (not that we have the time to stay and watch any), and other than that, all that's left to see is random murals and architecture that doesn't really serve that much of a purpose to us.

Heath suggests the Metropolitan Cathedral. Pretty much nothing more than a large church that apparently dates back to the 1500s. I've never been that much of a history buff, so I barely pay attention to the historical value of these landmarks.

Skylar, however, is. So while we're walking out of the church, she suggests, "Can we visit the National History Museum? Please?" And I'm not kidding you, every single one of us looks at her and shakes our head no. She fake-sulks and makes pouting noises.

We spent a little bit of time "chilling out" at the Chapultepec Park, Mexico City's largest park. To most casual bystanders, we're just a large group of teenagers hanging out on the benches. Stopping down and taking a rest, if you will. In reality, we're surveying the area, examining every single person who walks by.

If that sounds creepy to you, it kinda is. But at least we have a legitimate reason.

After going through a few more useless places, we decide to fly out of Mexico City. Heath says aloud what's on all of our minds: "What a grand waste of time."