Day 131

[from Aishiteru! Hikikomori-san]

"Hey! Let's go on date!"

Yuuichi, who was busy playing on his Vii Q, jumped slightly as Ilana suddenly threw her arms around him from behind. "Eh? A date?" he repeated.

"Yes!" said Ilana, who seemed excited by the prospect. "We are married couple. We should do married couple things, like go out on date, feed ducks, drink from same glass."

"I thought "married couple things" were all to do with children and taxes," remarked Yuuichi.

"We have not those things!" replied Ilana cheerfully.

"We still have to pay taxes, you know!" said Yuuichi indignantly.

Ilana shrugged, turning her attention to the TV screen. "What you are playing?" she asked.

"It's called Splashoot," said Yuuichi. "It just came out the other day. I'd been so hyped for it, and I gotta say, it's amazing."

"What it is?" asked Ilana.

"Basically, you play as kids that can transform into squids, and you battle other players to try and paint the most territory. Look, now I'm a kid…" Yuuichi pressed a button and his character dived down into the ink beneath him. "Now I'm a squid!"

Ilana suddenly grabbed the remote control and switched the TV off. "Now you are dead," she said. "Now we go on date."

Yuuichi cried out in shock. "Hey, I was playing that!" he moaned, reaching out for the remote. "Switch it back on!"

Ilana smirked. "You promise we go on date when you finish?"

"Yes, yes, I promise!" said Yuuichi in a panic. "Now please, switch it back on!"

Ilana giggled, and switched the TV back on. "You so cute when am - how you say - fluster," she said, as Yuuichi found that to his relief he had not been killed.

"Please don't do that again," said Yuuichi. "You almost ruined my kill-death ratio!"

"I know not what that is," said Ilana, "but I sorry. I just want do things with you. You are husband, after all. We should go on proper date."

"I know," said Yuuichi. "Tonight, I promise. Once I'm done playing."

Ilana smiled widely. "Thank you, Yuuichi," she said.

Yuuichi suddenly blushed nervously. "You know… I've never really been on a date before," he said.

Ilana seemed surprised by this. "Really?" she repeated. "Not ever?"

"Yeah," said Yuuichi. "Like I told you before, I'd never had a girlfriend or even kissed anyone before you turned up."

"Oh yeah, you said that…" muttered Ilana thoughtfully. "Well, I make sure first date is good one, then. Should we go fancy restaurant, dine like tsars? Or should we do simple thing like go for walk, eat ice cream, watch sunset?"

Yuuichi thought about it for a moment. He didn't really have any clothing appropriate for a fancy restaurant, and he had this feeling in his gut that if the two of them were to visit such an establishment, it would most likely end in disaster. Surely nothing could go wrong from just a simple walk through town. "A walk sounds nice," he said.

"Okay," said Ilana, nodding. "We go for walk, then. You show me all nice things around town."

Yuuichi rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Uhh, Ilana… you do remember I've barely left my apartment in three years or so, right? I don't really know much of the town at all."

"Then we just walk wherever, and see where path takes us," said Ilana. "Might be better. We not know what we about to see, so it make good surprise for us when we see it."

"Okay, sounds good to me," said Yuuichi. "I'm looking forward to it. I never thought I'd be saying this six months ago, but… I guess it'd be good to get out of the house sometime."

Ilana smiled. "You see? " she said. "Do same thing every day is boring. Must try new things. Is important."

Yuuichi nodded. "Yeah. I'm starting to realize that now. And it's all thanks to you, Ilana. That being said…" Yuuichi effortlessly dispatched yet another squid-like enemy, causing them to explode in a shower of ink. "I'm not going to give up video games and anime completely. They're just too good!"

"I not ask you to," said Ilana. "They part of you. Yuuichi without anime is like Russia without vodka. Is not thinkable."

"I see," said Yuuichi. "Okay then."

Ilana suddenly leaned forward, peering curiously at the TV screen. There was an odd piece of graffiti painted on the wall Yuuichi's character was currently standing in front of. "What that say? 'Bush do 9/11'?" repeated Ilana, confused.

Once more Yuuichi nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Ehhh… there's some weird people on Wintendo Direct…"

***

As Yuuichi and Ilana strolled peacefully along the riverbank, the sun was starting to sink low in the horizon, a cool late-afternoon breeze rustling through the grass. Ilana's hand slid gracefully along the iron railings separating them from the waters below, her hair glowing a fiery scarlet in the evening light. Yuuichi found the whole scene remarkably tranquil and relaxing. For the first time in a very long time, he felt glad to be out of his apartment.

"Hey, something's just occurred to me," he said. "If you were a mail-order bride, then there must have been some reason you wanted to leave Russia, right? What was it?"

Ilana sighed, as though she had hoped they wouldn't had to have had this conversation. "I not have good life in Russia," she said. "Growing up, family was always poor, weather was always cold. No money for fun things. Was hard life, but was only life I know, so I endure it. Best friend at school was a girl named Katarina. She was, uhh, how you say… she like girls like you like girls."

"She was a lesbian?" asked Yuuichi.

"Yes, that is word," said Ilana. "She was lesbian. And we were good friends. Not lovers. I was not her type. Also am not lesbian. Anyway, Putin not like lesbians. He say, "You lesbian, you go to jail". So Katarina go to jail. And then I realize: Russia is not good country. I talk to family, and they agree: Russia is not good country. So I decide to leave, make good life elsewhere. However, I not have money to buy house in other country, and I not have skills to get work in other country. Only have enough money for plane ticket. So I decide to marry foreign man, move in with him, and start new life that way. Was only choice."

"So that's why you became a mail-order bride," said Yuuichi. "That's actually rather sad."

Ilana nodded. "I hope Katarina is okay in jail," said Ilana. "I never tell her I leave the country. When she get out, she will look for me but not find me…"

"I'm sure someone will tell her where you went," said Yuuichi.

"I know," said Ilana. "I just regret not saying goodbye. She was best friend, after all."

"And then after all that, you come over here, and find that the guy who "bought" you knew nothing about it, and was just a lazy otaku with no job," said Yuuichi. "Damn, now I feel even worse."

Ilana stopped and leaned back against the railings, smiling at Yuuichi. "I tell you many time, Yuuichi," she said. "You are good man. You are honest man. You willing to change, and you are changing. I lucky to have been bought by you. When I signed up to be mail-order bride, I was… nervous, I think is word. Yes, nervous. I heard bad things. Mail-order brides trying to leave bad life behind, and finding even worse life waiting for them when they step off plane. But I lucky. I have very good life now, in very good country, with very good man. I am happy."

Yuuichi smiled back at her. "I'm glad you feel that way," he said. "Japan certainly is a great country, isn't it?"

Ilana nodded. "Yes. When your friend bought me, I look up information on Japan. The technology, the nature, the culture, the riches… I loved it all. I thought, "Japan is good country to live in". And I was right. Is good country. Am glad to be here with you."

Yuuichi glanced up at the golden sky, as the sun continued to sink lower and lower. "Thanks, Ilana," he said. "I… I like having you around as well."

Ilana giggled, moving away from the railings and hugging Yuuichi from behind. "Of course you do," she said. "I am pretty wife who cooks and cleans for you. Of course you like me."

Yuuichi blushed but did not resist as Ilana hugged him close to her, her breasts pressing against his back. He nodded. "Yeah. I think… I think we make a good couple."

Ilana nodded, nestling her head against Yuuichi's shoulder. "I think so too," she said. The pair of them stood this way for some time, silently enjoying each other's warmth, until the sun had finally disappeared completely below the horizon and the sky faded into the blue-black of twilight. As the first stars appeared, the pair looked up at them, watching them twinkle beautifully.

"You know," said Ilana, "there is saying in West that if you wish on first star you see at night, your wish will come true."

"Really?" said Yuuichi. "Then, I wish for-"

Before he could complete his wish, Ilana placed a finger over his lips to silence him, causing him to blush harder. "Is also saying that if you say wish out loud, it not come true," said Ilana. "So say it not."

Yuuichi nodded, and the pair silently made their wishes. "So, uhh… should we head back to the apartment now?" asked Yuuichi. "It's getting dark."

"We should, yes," said Ilana. "Was good first date, yes?"

Yuuichi nodded. "Yeah, it was," he said. Then, he paused and looked around. "Uhh… which way exactly is the apartment?"

Day 130

[from Electron]

The marble steps of City Hall cracked slightly beneath Titus' weight as he watched Electron approaching. Yesterday the mayor had publicly announced the superhero's impending arrival in SIlverburg, and had boldly declared that the super's crime wave was now over. Titus begged to differ, and he was ready to take the superhero down in front of the whole city and prove once and for all that he could not be stopped. Not by the police, not by SHRED, not by anyone.

As Electron descended towards the pristine City Hall building, he couldn't help but be slightly intimidated by the sheer physique of the man before him. He was over six feet tall, powerful muscles rippling and gleaming all over his body, his solid steel skin shining sinisterly in the sunlight. It seemed like a very difficult first assignment, but Electron tried to remain calm and not let his nerves get the better of him. He had the advantage here. He had all the equipment and training that SHRED had given him, and he also had a plan.

Electron landed neatly at the bottom of the steps, and from this position, Titus seemed even larger as he stood thirteen steps above the superhero, looming menacingly over him. "So, you're Electron, huh?" he said. His voice was loud, deep, and gruff, but with a slightly metallic quality to it. "You're shorter than I thought you'd be."

At this point, many superheroes would have come up with some sort of witty riposte, deflecting the insult right back at the villain. Most superheroes, however, were not on their first day on the job, and feeling rather intimidated by the giant metal man standing before them. A hesitant "I guess" was Electron's only reply.

Titus smirked. "You don't seem like much of a hero to me," he said. "But if you really wanna get your ass kicked that badly, then come at me!" Titus spread his arms wide, challenging Electron. "I'm right here, hero!"

Electron knew that his suit wasn't going to provide much protection against Titus' herculean punches. One blow to the face would probably knock his head clean off his shoulders. But for his plan to work, he needed to get in close. And in any case, perhaps he wouldn’t need the suit's protection. If his electromagnetic force fields could stop a bullet, they could stop one of Titus' punches. Probably. Possibly.

Nervously, Electron started to make his way slowly up the grand staircase, never once taking his eyes off of Titus. After a moment, Titus also began to descend, closing in on the superhero. As soon as Electron was within arm's reach, Titus roared out and swung at Electron with a mighty right hook. It was well-telegraphed, and Electron ducked out of the way easily, but before he could do anything else, Titus suddenly kicked him hard in the face, sending him tumbling back down the stairs. The hero fell to a heap at the bottom but quickly scrambled onto his hands and knees, grimacing in pain as blood began to spurt from a broken nose.

"Is that all you got?" shouted Titus, taunting the hero from up high. "I thought you had more in you than that!"

Shakily, Electron climbed back to his feet, staggering a little before turning to face Titus with renewed confidence. "I'm just getting started," he said.

"Really?" said Titus. "Looks to me more like you're about to be finished!" Titus charged down the steps, each one cracking under his weight as he stormed towards the shaken hero. This time, Electron was ready, and as Titus swung another almighty blow at him, he focused a magnetic force field directly in front of himself, ready to block the hit. Titus' fist still connected with Electron's chest, but all the force had been taken out of the blow and Electron did not feel a thing.

As Titus stood there flabbergasted, trying to understand why his punch hadn't sent Electron flying across the street, Electron quickly placed a hand on Titus' arm, and in a shower of sparks the villain was completely immobilized. "Wh… what the… I can't move!" he exclaimed. "That's… that's impossible!"

"Actually… oww…" Pinching his broken nose between the forefinger and thumb of his free hand, to try and stem the blood flow, Electron carried on speaking in a voice that now sounded rather nasally. "Actually, it isn't. It's to do with… electromagnetism and stuff. I dunno, I'm a little dizzy, but…"

Titus tried vainly to move himself, even an inch, but he could not. "There's… no way I could be taken down by a bunch of magnets… argh!"

"Actually, you are the magnet," said Electron. "The electricity flowing through your metal skin creates an electromagnetic field, which I'm able to manipulate at will. I'm using that to hold you still, and that's why you can't move."

"I see," said Titus. "So, as long as you're holding onto me, I can't move?"

"Pretty much," said Electron. "SHRED are on their way, and they'll take things from here. You'll be off to Black Rock, and this city will be safe."

"Maybe for now," said Titus threateningly. "But for how long? Another me will come along soon enough. You may have defeated me, but how many more can you defeat?"

"I dunno," said Electron, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess we'll find out, one way or the other. But hopefully, I can defeat as many as I have to in order to keep this city safe."

Titus sneered. "We'll see," he said.

Day 129

[from CC BattleGrid]

"Hey Corey, you got your CC System installed? Come on, let's battle! I wanna see if you're as good as your sister! You have a BattleGrid Chip stack, right?"

Corey sighed. "You're the fifth person who's asked today," he said. "Can I at least finish my lunch first?" Corey was currently sat in the cafeteria, a half-eaten sandwich in his hand. This was his first day back at school after getting his CC System installed, and it had naturally caused quite a stir among his classmates.

The kid currently challenging him was Brendan, a boy in his class, and it seemed he wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Come on, Corey!" he said. "It'll only take a couple of minutes! You know how short BattleGrid games are!"

"They're not always short," said Corey. "Not if you have the right Chips."

"And do you have the right Chips?" asked Brendan.

"Not yet," conceded Corey, "but-"

"Then let's battle!" insisted Brendan.

"Yeah, come on, Corey!" said a girl from the next table. "We wanna see you battle!"

"Yeah, battle!" called out another student.

Students all over the cafeteria started chiming in, expressing their wish to see Corey battle.  At this point, Corey realized that it just couldn't be helped: they weren't going to leave him alone until he gave them what they wanted and started a battle. "Okay, fine," he said. "But just one battle. Anyone else will have to wait until I've finished my lunch."

"That's fine with me!" said Brendan, who was already fishing his stack out of his pocket. "I'm gonna be the first person in school to play Alexa's younger brother! I bet I can beat him!"

"We'll see," said Corey, putting down his sandwich.

As Corey was getting off his seat, however, a teacher quickly made their way over. "No BattleGrid games inside the building!" she insisted. "If you want to play BattleGrid, you'll have to go outside!"

"Fair enough," said Brendan. "Come on, Corey, let's take this outside!"

Corey nodded, his hand slipping inside his pocket and gently clutching his Chip stack. The pair made their way out of the cafeteria and outside into the grounds, and most of the cafeteria's inhabitants followed them out. Even a couple of the teachers couldn't help but go outside to watch; after all, this was the younger brother of one of the country's greatest BattleGrid players. It was sure to be a spectacle.

Once they were safely out in the playground, with the expectant crowd gathered around them, the pair took out their Chip stacks, shuffled them, and placed the first six Chips into the slots on their arms. Their holovisors whirred into life, projecting a heads-up display directly into their vision. The game had begun.

Corey glanced at the six Chips he had installed and nodded, satisfied. "Tell you what," he said. "I'll let you go first, Brendan."

Brendan smiled, showing his confidence. "You sure about that?" he asked.

Corey nodded. "I'm sure," he said. "You're the challenger, you should go first."

Brendan's smile grew into a grin. "Too bad, Corey," he said. "You just let me win. "First, I'll activate Gradual Repair and Blaze Shield, not that I'll need them." Through Corey's holovisor, a green aura seemed to envelop Brendan, followed by a fiery shield. Gradual Repair, like Blaze Shield, was a Passive Chip that would gradually restore 750 CP every turn. Looks like he has every reason to be confident, thought Corey. But then again…

"And now," said Brendan, "I activate Ultima Overclock!"

The assembled crowd gasped. This was the strongest and rarest attack in the entire game, capable of dealing 6,000 CP of damage, but at the cost of burning out all the user's installed Chips. This mattered not to Brendan; he thought that with this early blow, victory was almost assured. But there was something he wasn't counting on.

Corey almost chuckled as the intense white beam shot towards him. This was too perfect. "I activate Perfect Reflection!" he said, an instant before the beam struck an invisible barrier inches in front of him and came to a halt.

If the crowd had been shocked by Brendan's move, then this one bowled them for six. Perfect Reflection was a Dormant Chip that doubled the power of any attacking move and then reflected it back at its user. Those who could quickly do the math in their heads realized that the reflected Ultima Overclock would now deal 12,000 CP of damage to Brendan. His Blaze Shield and Gradual Repair would be useless. In only a single move, he had lost the match.

"What?!" exclaimed Brendan, as the reflected beam shot back at him twofold. "There's no way a beginner like you could have a Chip like that!"

"You forget who my sister is," said Corey.

Indeed, before Corey had left for school that morning, Alexa had given him one of her own professional decks. "I'm sure a lot of people at your school will want to battle you today, given my own reputation," she had said. "So, what the heck. I'll let you borrow my own deck for today, so you can take 'em all to the cleaners. You can thank me when you get home~"

Brendan stood stock-still in utter shock as the massive beam of light engulfed him, draining his Chip Points to nothing. The battle was over before it had even begun, and the crowd were left speechless. After a moment or two, however, a great cheer erupted as those gathered in the playground began to celebrate Corey's victory. "That was incredible!" "You beat him in one move!" "That's Alexa's brother, all right!" "Way to go, Corey!"

"I should go back and finish my lunch now," said Corey. Ejecting his Chips and pocketing them again, he headed off back to the cafeteria with the joyful crowd in tow, leaving a stunned Brendan standing alone in the middle of the playground, the "YOU LOSE" message still flashing endlessly on his holovisor.

Day 128

[from Sapporo Lilies]

"Aagh! I think one of my contact lenses came out!"

Naomi is lying sprawled on the ground, having just endured a tough tackle from Tomoko that was evidently strong enough to knock out one of her contact lenses. Tomoko has already scrambled to her feet, and a couple of the other girls are now rushing over to help. "Are you alright, Naomi?" asks Fiona.

Naomi rather unsteadily starts to get to her feet. "I'm fine," she says, "but my right contact's come out."

"Sorry!" said Tomoko. "It's hard to control your tackles with all this mud."

It's only a few days until our first game of the season, against Kobe Leonessa. We've had a couple more friendly matches since our 1-0 victory over Saitama, and we won all of them. Now we just have to remain focused, keep up our training, and go for the best results we can. Kobe Leonessa recently enjoyed a period of total domination, winning three consecutive titles and four consecutive Empress' Cups, so it's going to be a tough first game for us.

Our preparations haven't exactly been plain sailing, either. Our training ground doesn't seem to have good drainage, and it's been raining a lot over the past few days, with the result being that the pitch is now rather chewed-up and muddy. It's not a great playing surface, but it's all we've got. We can't use the Sapporo Dome itself except on match days. The end result of all this is that Naomi is now missing a contact lens.

"Do you want us to help you look for it?" asks Konoko.

Naomi shakes her head. "Nah, it's okay," she says. "I always bring spares, just in case something like this happens. They're disposables, anyway, so it doesn't really matter if I lose one." I have to admire Naomi's maturity. She's only 19, but she already has a very professional mentality. Bringing spare contact lenses with her in case she loses one is a very sensible thing to do. It also makes me wonder if this has happened to her before.

Fiona nods, acknowledging Naomi's decision, then calls out to me. "Hey, Katsumi! Naomi needs to go put a new contact lens in, should we keep going in the meantime?"

I nod curtly. "Yes please," I say, before addressing Naomi. "Do you need any help getting to the changing rooms?"

"No, I'm fine," says Naomi. "Thanks anyway." She covers her right eye with her hand, blocking out the blurred part of her vision. She should be able to see normally like that, but at the cost of her depth perception. I'm sure that won't be too much of a problem for her, though.

As Naomi passes me, heading towards the changing rooms, the rest of the girls carry on with their exercises. Currently we're doing a practice match, with nine players on either side. Because there are nineteen players overall, that means someone has to sit out; however, to make it fair, the player sitting out rotates every five minutes. Conveniently, this works out so that everyone gets ninety minutes' worth of playing time, with a fifteen-minute break in the middle as well as the five-minute breaks everyone gets when they sit out.

Right now it's Ritsu sitting out, and as the game begins again in earnest, she's sat on the bench beside me, her leg constantly jittering as she watches the others play. I'm not sure if the leg-jittering is a sort of unconscious tic, or if she's just anxious to get out there and resume playing again. If she is, she's being quiet about it. I'd been half-expecting her to ask if she could go back on again while Naomi was out.

[AUTHOR NOTE: At this point you will be given the choice whether or not to let Ritsu back onto the pitch]

I decide I might as well ask. "Wanna go back on for a minute while Naomi's putting her contact lens in?" I ask.

Ritsu smiles and nods. "Thanks, Katsumi," she says. "I wanted to go on, but I didn't want to sound impatient."

"Alright," I say, smiling. "Your five minutes will probably be up by the time she comes out anyway."

Ritsu nods, and heads back on to join the game while Naomi is busy putting her spare contact lens in. In the meantime, the team with the one-woman advantage have been mounting an attack, with Yura tearing through their defence like a hot knife through butter. From about ten yards out, she strikes a vicious shot, but Miyuki makes a daring leap and manages to just palm it wide for a corner. Not a bad save. Aliona may be out first-choice goalkeeper by some margin, but that's not to say Miyuki isn't talented. In fact, having been training with them for over a month now, I'd say all our players are fairly talented. We might have a shot at a top-three finish after all, if we play our cards right.

Day 127

[from Aura of Chaos]

The nearest settlement to Tirera was Palent, a small village to the north. Xeron and Tara decided to rest there for the night, staying at the local inn, before moving on in the morning. At Xeron's suggestion, the pair entered the inn separately and rented separate rooms, lest their visit be mistaken for some sort of illicit tryst.

Tara slept in late that morning, as she recovered physically and mentally from the previous night's events. By the time she had woken up, washed her face, and proceeded downstairs to the inn's lobby, Xeron was already there waiting for her. He was sitting at a table, dressed in his full armour with his spear embedded point-down in the floorboards next to him. "Good morning, Tara," he said. "Did you sleep well?"

"I guess," said Tara, stretching a little. "I'll go and get myself some breakfast, and then we can be off."

Xeron, who had already eaten, nodded. "Take your time," he said. "I don't have anywhere to be in particular."

Tara spent the last of her money on a hearty breakfast, washed down with a pint of weak ale. Feeling refreshed, and ready to put the past behind her, she set off with Xeron to begin her new life. "So, where are we headed to first?" she asked.

"Well, if we head through the valleys to the west, we'll reach Hilston," said Xeron. "It's a pretty big town, so we're guaranteed to find some kind of work there. I should warn you, though: it's not just a straight path there. From this point on, we'll be encountering all sorts of wild creatures, and if necessary, we may have to fight. You're prepared for that, right?"

Tara nodded. "I want to be useful to you," she said. "I don't want to be a burden to you. So if we have to fight, then I'll help you."

Xeron smiled at her. "Good," he said. "Thank you. I just want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. This isn't an easy life."

"I know," said Tara. "But in a way, neither was my old life. And right now, this is the only life I have."

Xeron nodded. "Alright then," he said. "Speaking of which…" He lowered his voice slightly, as they hadn't quite left the village yet. "What magic spells do you know, exactly?"

Tara glanced around uneasily, understandably quite paranoid that somebody might overhear this conversation. She moved closer to Xeron and spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "Well, my spell books were all destroyed in the fire, and I'd only memorized a few of the incantations in them, the ones I used the most often. As you already know, I'm very good at healing magic, and I also know a couple of water and light-based spells."

"So you're a White Witch¹?" asked Xeron.

Tara nodded. "That's right," she said. "I tried learning some black magic once, but it seems I don't have an affinity for it."

"Fair enough," said Xeron. "Healing spells should come in more handy than fire spells anyway. They'll save me a fortune in health potions."

Tara truly smiled for the first time since Xeron had woken up the previous day. "I suppose they will," she said. "They might even safe your life again."

"I hope it doesn't come to that," said Xeron, "but if so, then yeah."

The pair fell silent for a while as they made their way along the valley trail that snaked its way westwards towards Hilston. It was an easy enough trail to follow, without too many steep inclines, but at the same time there wasn't a lot to do or see on the journey, only the occasional bird passing overhead or the occasional trinket lying on the ground. "Finders keepers" was very much the rule among adventurers, and when Xeron came across an abandoned purse with 50 gold pieces in it, he pocketed the money without a second thought. There was no way of tracking down the owner to return it, and in any case, it was entirely possible that the owner had been killed by a pack of wild animals or something.

Just after midday, Hilston finally started to appear on the horizon. But the journey wasn't quite over yet. Xeron suddenly threw up an arm, signalling for Tara to halt. To his right, he could make out the unmistakeable low snarl of an approaching wolf. He readied his spear, shifting into a combat stance. "Get ready, Tara," he said. "You're about to get your first taste of battle."

"What is it?" she asked warily. "Bandits?"

"No," said Xeron. "A wolf. Or rather… two wolves," he added, as the pair of wolves sprang forwards from out of the bushes. They sized up the two adventurers for a moment, then the larger of the two pounced, headed in Tara's direction. The young Witch gasped, flinching back at the sharp fangs lunged at her.

The wolf never reached her. Xeron turned and hurled his spear in the nick of time, impaling the wolf right through its midriff. The stricken wolf collapsed to the ground mere inches from Tara, its fur matted with blood. Tara was shocked for a moment, but realized that she could not let her guard down, as the second wolf was still at large and ready to pounce.

Xeron tugged on the spear to try and pull it out of the dead wolf, but it seemed to be stuck. "This might take a while," he said. "Sorry, Tara, but could you help me out with the other one, please?"

Tara nodded. She wasn't sure what good her spells would be against the wolf, but she had no choice but to try. As the other wolf set its sights on her, Tara began to mutter an incantation under her breath, preparing one of her light spells. However, before she could finish the incantation, and before Xeron could tuck his spear free, the wolf pounced…

[FOOTNOTES]

¹A "White Witch" is a Witch that specializes in healing and non-offensive magic. A "Black Witch" is a Witch that specializes in offensive, often destructive magic, such as fire, lightning, and earth. "Silver Witches", who are adept at both non-offensive and offensive magic, are very rare.

Day 126

[from Street Racer]

The girl raised her hands high in the air, scanning the start line to make sure that all the competitors were ready. A moment later, her arms sliced downwards through the air, and the four cars screamed into life in an explosion of torque and tyre smoke as the race began. The cars accelerated straight past her and roared off towards the first corner, leaving nothing in their wake except a faint haze of smoke and a set of jet-black tyre marks on the worn asphalt.

Tristan and T-Bone had gotten the best starts off the line, with Alyssa just behind, and Michael already a car's length behind as they reached the first bend, a 45-degree right-hander. Since the run to the first bend had been so short, and the angle of the corner was so shallow, the drivers merely had to lift off the throttle to make it through on this occasion. Tristan had the inside line, and so had the fastest route through the corner, with T-Bone forced out wide. As they headed down the long straight, Tristan was ahead.

Halfway down the straight, the group encountered a traffic car heading in the same direction. All four spotted it in more than enough time to scramble out of the way, roaring past as they carried on. Some nights the traffic was worse than others; on nights when the roads were totally gridlocked, racing was impossible. Rumour had it that the city government were considering intentionally causing traffic jams at night, as a last-resort method of preventing street races from taking place. Tonight, however, the traffic seemed nice and sparse. Perfect for racing.

The next corner was a 90-degree right-hander, at a four-way intersection. Corners at intersections were tricky, as there was always the risk of meeting a traffic car coming the other way as you rounded the corner, and you wouldn't see them coming until it was too late. Some street racers liked to throw the back end out and drift round corners like this, giving them greater visibility and more of a chance of dodging any such cars. Tristan's car wasn't set up for drifting, though, so instead he simply braked hard and steered the car normally through the corner, taking a sweeping racing line just like a professional driver would use. Behind him he could hear a squealing of tyres as Alyssa customarily drifted round the corner, though on this occasion it was perfectly safe; the straight beyond was entirely deserted.

This nest straight had a little left-hand kink towards the end, leading into another 90-degree right-hander. If you positioned your car carefully as it went through the kink, you could cut down the angle of the right-hander and carry a lot more speed through it. However, as he approached the kink, Tristan noticed a traffic car heading through the right-hander in the opposite direction, turning onto the straight he was coming down. It was going to be right in the middle of the corner as he went through it, messing up his racing line.

Tristan made sure to keep well out of the way of the traffic car as he braked for the right-hander, but had to take a much wider line than he would have liked. This, coupled with the straight-line speed of T-Bone's Corvette, meant that T-Bone was just able to poke his nose in front as they raced down the next straight. What was more, T-Bone now had the inside line for the next set of corners, at a large roundabout.

Undeterred, Tristan braked late and attempted an overtake around the outside as they turned right onto the roundabout. T-Bone, however, misjudged the corner and oversteered wide, sliding into the side of Tristan's car. Tristan's right-hand wing mirror was smashed off, the bodywork scratched slightly. An easy fix, and nothing worth worrying about. Unlike a lot of other street racers, Tristan wasn't particularly bothered about cosmetic damage to his car: it was mechanical damage that worried him.

The drivers came upon the first exit remarkably quickly, and were almost flat-out as they turned through it, emerging onto a short straight before a left-hander. T-Bone held a marginal lead now, but Tristan had the inside line for the next corner. Once again he braked late, forcing T-Bone wide. This time T-Bone was forced to mount the pavement, narrowly missing a lamp-post and having to slow down to avoid crashing into the buildings adjacent to the street. Now the advantage was back with Tristan, and Alyssa was right on T-Bone's heel. Michael was still at the roundabout, having already fallen some way behind the leading three.

Dodging round another traffic car, the group made its way through another right-hander, then another. Now they were immediately confronted with the track's most difficult feature - two sweeping 180-degree bends, first a left-hander, then a right-hander that brought them back to the finish line. Tristan felt sure that his car's superior handling would give him the advantage here, and sure enough he was able to brake a little later than T-Bone or Alyssa and gently feather the throttle as he made his way round the corner, keeping his speed up.

All three drivers took a wider line through the first of the hairpins, staying out of the oncoming lanes for fear of meeting a car coming the other way. This proved to be a sensible move, for as Tristan exited the corner he met a car going the other way, entering the hairpin he had just left. He and the two drivers behind him were well clear of it, and swiftly turned their attentions to the right-hand hairpin. This time the inside line was away from the oncoming lanes, and the drivers were able to take the turn at a more favourable speed.

Exiting the second hairpin brought them onto the start/finish straight, with the other street racers gathered at the side of the road to watch. Lien waved excitedly to Tristan as he accelerated over the line to start the second of the four laps. Tristan did not notice her, his eyes remaining on the road in front of him. He needed to focus. On these tight streets, with traffic all around, you couldn't lower your concentration for even a second. A single mistake here could cost you a lot more than just the race.

Day 125

[from StarLight]

A short while and a lot of staring later, Amaya had purchased two hamburger meals from a local fast food joint, and had managed to fly up to the roof of a local skyscraper so she and Kage could eat in solace, while the youkai explained exactly what was going on.

"Okay, start from the beginning," said Amaya. "Who are you?"

"M' name ith Kage, nyum~" said the youkai through a mouthful of hamburger, before swallowing. "I'm a youkai, from another world parallel to yours. Say, what did you say this thing was called again? It's delicious, nyaa~"

"It's a hamburger," said Amaya. "Do you not have hamburgers in your dimension?"

"They didn't have 'em here either, when I first came here," said Kage. "But then, I guess that was a while ago now, nyaa~"

"A while ago?" repeated Amaya. "How long exactly were you trapped in this thing?"

Kage thought it over for a moment while chewing another mouthful of hamburger. "I'm not good with math, nyaa~" she concluded finally. "What's 2015 take away 1643?"

Amaya tried to work it out in her head for a moment, gave up, and consulted her smartphone's calculator app instead. "372," she said finally. "No way! You were in there for almost four centuries?!"

"Apparently," said Kage through another mouthful of hamburger. "Man, I can't tell you how good it feels to be outta that thing~"

"How did you get in here, anyway?" asked Amaya, holding up the wand in her hand. "And also… what is it? How come it turned me into a magical girl when I picked it up?"

"It's called an Emblem, nyaa~" said Kage. "It's a mystical object, forged from the energy that flows through our world. It's what allowed me to travel to this one, nyaa~" Kage picked up her vanilla milkshake, took a sip and scowled. "The hell is this?"

"It's a milkshake," said Amaya. "Did you not have those either?"

"It tastes awful, nyaa~" said Kage. "Don't you have beer in this time period?"

"Well, we do, but they don't sell it at fast food restaurants," said Amaya. "And I'm a minor, so I can't buy beer anyway."

"No beer?" asked Kage, looking terribly disappointed. "What kind of awful future is this, nyaa~?"

Amaya opened her mouth to reply, then realized they were getting rather off-topic. "We can discuss that later," she said. "Back on topic… you say this thing is full of energy?"

"Yep," said Kage. "It's called chi. That chi is now flowing through you, giving you extraordinary power. It's what changed your clothes too, nyaa~ The clothes symbolize... something or other, I dunno. Can't remember. It's been however many years you said, I've forgotten a few things." The youkai shamelessly stuffed the last of her hamburger into her mouth.

"But you still remember how you ended up sealed inside it, right?" asked Amaya.

"Of course," said Kage. "I'll never forget that. You see, I came to this world with a friend, to protect you humans from monsters coming from another world. Not our world, another one."

"There's a third world?" asked Amaya.

"Yeah," said Kage. "It's not a great place, nyaa~ So anyway, using the powers of our Emblems, we fought together to keep the old Mitsuzawa safe from the rampaging monsters. But then things turned sour." Kage's expression, which had previously been carefree, now grew bitter and resentful.

"The humans were ungrateful, nyaa~. We were fighting to save their lives on a regular basis, but they didn't appreciate all the hard work we were putting in for them. They started forcing us to do all kinds of dumb favours for them, like cleaning their houses and stuff. We became their maids, rather than their saviours. One day, I put my foot down and said, "I won't be a slave to humanity any more, nyaa~!" But they'd already brainwashed my friend into serving them. So she turned on me, and sealed me inside my Emblem."

"That's horrible!" said Amaya.

"I know," said Kage. "I'd love to get my revenge on her, but sadly, I wouldn't have the first idea where to find her any more, nyaa~ And in any case, I can't. The moment you touched my Emblem, all my powers passed to you. Now I'm bound to you eternally as your familiar. Don't expect me to wait on you hand and foot, but feel free to use the Emblem's power for whatever, I don't really care, nyaa~"

Amaya looked down at the Emblem, and started to think. Revenge… that's right. With the power of this Emblem, I could get my revenge on everyone who's ever wronged me. My father, who abandoned me… my mother, who ignores and neglects me… that guy from GameStop who refused to sell me Black Ops 2… I could get back at all of them using this. No, more than that…

An image of White Star ran through Amaya's mind. She remembered how the entire town had stopped to gaze in wonderment at the magical girl, and how nobody had been able to talk about anything else ever since. She remembered the way everyone had been staring at her as she walked down the high street. And slowly, the plan began to formulate in her mind. Slowly, a twisted grin formed on Amaya's face. "I have it," she said. "I know just what to do with this power."

Amaya turned to face Kage, a serious look on her face. "I'll avenge you, Kage," she said. "I'll find your youkai friend and crush them. I'll find all those who have wronged us both, and crush them. Nobody will be able to ignore me any longer, now that I have this power. They'll be forced to pay attention to me, just like they all pay attention to that idiot White Star!"

Kage, who had been thoroughly enjoying Amaya's rant up to this point, suddenly choked on a mouthful of French fries. "Wait a minute… did you just say White Star?" she asked.

Day 124

[from Project Sky]

As I get closer to the girl, I start to get a better look at her. She's relatively beautiful, with long mahogany-brown hair and brown eyes. Like most commoners, she wears a standard un-dyed tunic that extends down to her knees, and wooden sandals. In the olden days her tunic might have extended to her ankle, and perhaps had a hood attached to it, but in this new floating continent, materials are scarce. Though modesty still needs to be preserved, there are simply not the resources for clothes to be made any larger or fancier than they need to be. Hand-me-downs are also common; the clothes on my back were once my father's.

She looks over as I approach, looking up at me. "Hello, traveller," she says. "Can I help you with something?"

I nod, and tell her I'm looking for information about the Ruin. I want to know how to reverse it, and fix this world. Her smile fades a little; it is, after all, rather a serious subject.

"I see," says the girl. "The Ruin, you say… I have heard of it, but I don't know anything about it. Our elder might know, though. Shall I take you to him?" I nod, and the girl stands up, shaking the excess moisture off her hands. "Okay. Follow me." She makes her way back towards the road and I follow behind, my pegasus walking alongside me.

"Is this your first time in Harford?" she asks, and I nod. "I thought so. Where have you come from?" I tell her the name of my colony. "Ah. That's a few colonies over, isn't? It must have taken you a while to get here." Not really, I tell her, and she nods.

"My name is Elizabeth Coulson Liland," she says. "Liland" is the name of the country Harford would once have been part of, back before the ruin. My home colony, too, would have been part of Liland. In the wake of the Ruin, many people adopted their countries of origin as part of their name. The elder told me it was their way of holding on to their national pride, and remembering the nations they were once a part of but have now ceased to be. This tradition has now become established throughout the continent.

Elizabeth asks for my name, and I tell her. "It's nice to meet you," she says. I tell her it's nice to meet her too. We fall silent for a moment as we head up the road, making our way towards a bridge leading to another island of the colony. Looking into the distance, I notice that the shimmering blue lines I spotted on my approach seem to be emanating from a tower on the adjacent island. I decide to ask Elizabeth about them.

"Those?" she says. "Those are the Skylines. They're a magical transport system that allow you to travel to far-away colonies in the blink of an eye. Only the larger colonies are linked, though, which is why you wouldn't have seen them before. If you can't find what you're looking for here, then you may want to use the Skyline to travel to another large colony quickly. A word of advice, though: always send your pegasus through first. If you go through first, it might not follow after you. Does that make sense?" I nod. "Okay. You can get to the Skyline through that tower. It's free for anyone to use, and it's perfectly safe, so don't worry." I nod again.

Now that I'm at street level, Harford seems even bigger than it did while I was flying over it. The clock tower, positioned over on an island to my left, has to be the tallest structure I've ever seen. Even at this distance, I can clearly make out that it's 2:36pm. I can also see some heavy clouds on the horizon: it's going to rain later on. None of the colonies I've visited so far are high up enough that they actually touch the clouds, though I have heard of colonies far away that are tall enough to do so. For a moment, I can't help wondering what it would feel like to be inside a cloud, then I dismiss the thought as inane. I'm here for a reason, and I should concentrate on that.

Soon, we're crossing the stone bridge that leads to the next island. The stone feels very sturdy beneath my feet, and it's almost impossible to tell that I am actually on a bridge and not still on land. As we walk, we pass a man walking in the other direction, carrying a bundle of straw. My pegasus looks wistfully at it, as though craving it. I gently remind my pegasus that it only ate a couple of hours ago, and Elizabeth lets out a high-pitched giggle. "I guess the flight here must have made it hungry again," she says. I have to concede that she's probably right. Having to barter for pegasus food as well as my own food can be a bother at times, but if not for my pegasus, I would never have been able to reach this far. Having it is certainly worth it in the long-term.

After a few more minutes of walking, we reach a large stone house with a neatly-kept garden in front. "This is the elder's house," says Elizabeth. "Shall I look after your pegasus while you go inside and talk to him?" I agree to this, and hand over the reins before heading inside the elder's house. I've already talked to several elders who knew nothing about the Ruin, but perhaps Harford's will have more to tell me.

Day 123

[from Akita no Akumu]

ESCAPE (CHANGE THE FUTURE)

If you could see the future,
Tell me, what would you see?
And if you long to change it all,
Then would you walk with me?
I'll tell you all my secrets,
I'll tell you all my fears,
And we can make a different fate:
The future starts right here

We cannot escape
Our destinies and our fates
We will not embrace what is to come
We will change the future

I've seen the buildings crumble,
I've seen the people die
Soon they'll stand in the promised land
In a castle in the sky
But I can change their futures
I can make things right
And now I hope you'll stand with me
As I begin the fight

We cannot escape
Our destinies and our fates
We will not embrace what is to come
We will change the future

They say this cannot happen,
They say it's all a lie
For although we're sure what lies in store,
We don't know the reasons why
But I don't want attention,
No, I do not want fame,
Though maybe in a thousand years
The world will know our names

Can you see what I see?
I can see the lightning
You may not believe me, no
But you'll be the one who cries for help, and
You'll be the one I save

We cannot escape
Our destinies and our fates
We will not embrace what is to come
We will change the future

We will change the future

We will change the future

Day 122

[from Vanishing Point]

As the guard took another step forward, Kiyoko instinctively began to shrink back against the wall of the broom cupboard. As she did so, her foot accidentally kicked a bucket, upsetting it and knocking over the mop that had been inside, sending it clattering hard to the floor. The noise seemed to fill the entire room, deafening her. If that had not given her away, her instinctive gasp of horror upon realizing the situation definitely had. The effeminate guard gasped in response, his reaction merely confirming what she already knew. She had been rumbled. It was over. There was nothing more she could do except stand there, trembling from head to foot, sweat pouring down her face and tears of regret welling up in her eyes as she waited to accept her inevitable fate…

BANG.

***

"I'm concerned," said Cobra, looking down into her mug of tea. "The last I heard from her, there was a guard chasing her. There was a loud bang, and then I haven't heard anything since. I don't think it was a gunshot, but… what if it was? What if she was shot, Kamui?"

Cobra and the detective were currently sat at a low table in the living room, wondering exactly what was happening over at Shinsuke HQ. The cup in her hands was the final result of her tea experiment - she liked her tea strong, and with no milk or sugar. That information no longer seemed important now.

Kamui's face was also concerned, but he was trying to keep calm. "We don't know that yet," he said, "but I have to admit, what you heard - and aren't hearing now - is pretty disturbing. But for now, all we can do is sit here and have faith that she's fine, and she'll get that data back to us."

"And how long are we supposed to do that for?" asked Cobra, getting agitated. "How long are we supposed to just sit and wait while our friend is in that building, captured or even killed? We have to do something!"

Kamui sighed, rubbing his temple. "I know," he said. "But we can't just barge straight in there. We need to think of a plan first, otherwise we'll just get ourselves killed."

Cobra let out an angry sigh. "You're right," she said bitterly. "God dammit. Well… we still can't wait forever. I'll give her until morning, and if she still hasn't come back, or responded or anything, then we go in. Sound fair?"

Kamui nodded. "Yeah. I'll let Hanako know."

***

Hanako, meanwhile, was sitting on the stairs, on the phone to her mother, who naturally was rather concerned that her daughter hadn't come home for almost 48 hours. Hanako was trying her best to reassure her that everything was okay.

"No, really, mom, I'm fine!" she said. "It's just that some stuff happened, and it's kinda bad, so I'm staying with some friends for a while until it all gets sorted out. It's nothing really."

"What kind of stuff?" asked Hanako's mother. "What is it that you're not telling me?"

"I can't tell you what I'm not telling you," said Hanako. "That's why I'm not telling you it."

"But why not?" asked Hanako's mother.

"Let's just say it could get all of you in serious trouble if you got involved," said Hanako. "Please just believe me: I wanna tell you, but I really can't!"

Hanako's mother sighed. "Okay, I'll trust you for now. You're old enough to look after yourself for a while at least. But could you at least tell me where you are, so I can come visit you? I'm sure Tetsuya and your father will want to see you as well."

"Okay, sure. I-"

"COME QUICK, YOU GUYS!" Cobra suddenly bellowed from the living room. "IT'S KIYOKO!"

Hanako, startled, promptly dropped the phone, while Kamui rushed into the living room. Sure enough, there was Kiyoko, staggering up the front drive towards the house. She didn't seem to be hurt, but she was clearly exhausted. As Hanako quickly made her excuses and ended the phone call, Kamui quickly opened the front door for Kiyoko, who staggered inside and slumped straight into Kamui's arms.

"Where have you been, Kiyoko?" asked Cobra. "We were so worried about you, we thought you'd been captured! What happened?"

Kiyoko let out a half-sigh, half-yawn, gazing bleary-eyed at the sofa. "I just wanna sleep…" she mumbled.

"Alright," said Kamui, slowly guiding her over to the sofa. "You've had a long, hard day. You can tell us all about it in the morning. Oh… but did you get the data?"

Kiyoko nodded sleepily, slipped a hand into her pocket, and pulled out the memory stick, which she gave to Kamui. "Thanks," said the detective. "We'll take a look at this in the morning. For now, I think we could all use some rest after today."

Kiyoko nodded again. She climbed onto the sofa, curling up on the seat, and was asleep within seconds. "Let's leave her to rest," said Cobra quietly. "She deserves it, after everything she's done today."

"Why?" asked Hanako, who had remained completely oblivious to all these goings-on. "What happened over at Shinsuke HQ?"

"I'll tell you once we're up in our room," said Cobra. "Let's go."

"Does that mean I get the single bed tonight?" asked Hanako, as the three of them ascended the staircase.

"Sure," said Cobra.

"Yay!" said Hanako excitedly.

"Quiet, you idiot!" hissed Cobra. "Kiyoko's asleep."

"Oh yeah," whispered Hanako sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Well, I'm glad to see that she's safe," said Kamui. "I wonder what actually did happen…"

***

BANG.

Kiyoko flinched instinctively at the noise before realizing it was merely the door of the broom cupboard slamming shut again. As she stood there, bewildered and terrified, she heard the guard's voice coming from the other side of the door. "This floor's clear. Over."

"Are you sure?" came the reply. "Did you check everywhere?"

"Yeah, I checked every inch," said the guard. "She's not on this floor." Kiyoko didn't hear the rest of their conversation, nor the guard's footsteps moving away afterwards, for at that precise moment, she breathed a sigh of relief and fainted, turning visible again as she collapsing to the floor of the broom cupboard with a thump.

It was only a few minutes before Kiyoko regained consciousness. Her immediate thought was to peek through the door of the broom cupboard, to check if it was okay to exit, before realizing that the security team may still be sweeping the building. If they weren't, then the employees may have already started filtering back into the building, and even if they couldn't see her, they could still see the door opening and closing by itself. She couldn't hear any footsteps outside, but she didn't want to take the risk, so she decided to simply remain in the cupboard, quiet as a mouse, until she was absolutely sure that it was safe to exit.

By the time the security search had ended, and the corridor had once more filled up with employees and emptied, it was almost sunset. Kiyoko opened the door a crack and peeked through to confirm that it was safe to leave, then turned invisible again and finally made her way back out into the corridor. As a Shinsuke employee made their way towards the elevator on her way home, Kiyoko followed her, slipping inside the elevator behind her and resting her back against the wall, barely restraining from letting out a sigh of relief as the mechanical doors began to close behind her. She was safe.

Day 121

[from Space Hunter]

Aurelia's ship exited warp speed in the Kappa system. According to Dr. Sanara, the first component of the cure could be found on the planet Kappa-2. There was nothing specific regarding the planet or its inhabitants that would potentially affect this mission; however, space pirates were known to be operating in the area, so Aurelia would have to be careful. As the princess of another star system, she and her ship would command a very high price on the black market.

As she assumed manual control of the ship once more, Aurelia checked the ship's thrust vectors to make sure it was properly on course, then contacted Dr. Sanara via the ship's comms device. "I've emerged in the Kappa system," she said. "I'm on route to Kappa-2 now. Everything looks good; there shouldn't be any problems from here on out."

"Well, there's always the pirates to be worried about," said Dr. Sanara, a little warily. "Your ship isn't well-armed, is it, my lady?"

"Right now it isn't armed at all," said Princess Aurelia. This was a craft built for speed and luxury. Its only weapons were two photon blasters in the nose cone, and those wouldn't bother anything larger than a fighter. In any case, they had been deactivated ever since her crash-landing on Sigma-2, and she had so far chosen not to repair them. She had been hoping she wouldn't need them. "However, I do still have my plasma shields, and the ship's armour is pretty tough. Even if I can't out-manoeuvre them, I can still take a few…"

Aurelia paused, her voice petering out. She thought she had heard a rattling sound coming from the cargo bay. It was impossible that any space pirates had infiltrated the ship, so unless it was just her imagination…

"Is something wrong, my lady?" asked Dr. Sanara.

"I thought I heard something coming from the cargo bay," said Aurelia, glancing over her shoulder.

"Space pirates?" asked Dr. Sanara.

"No, that's impossible," said Aurelia. "There's no way they could have gotten on board."

"Then a stowaway?" asked Dr. Sanara. "Someone from Sigma-2?"

"That's the only explanation I can think of," said Aurelia. "I'll go check it out."

"Okay," said Dr. Sanara. "Be careful… and remember to turn on the autopilot while you're not in the cockpit."

Aurelia, who was already halfway out of her seat, abruptly re-engaged the autopilot, letting the ship steer itself for a moment while she investigated the cargo bay. She didn't really see the point in this, as they were in the middle of open space and there was no chance they would hit anything. Apparently it was so that evasive manoeuvres could be conducted in case of a sudden ambush, but Aurelia doubted that the autopilot would be much use in a situation such as that.

Drawing the primitive handgun General Pereira had given her for self-defence purposes, Princess Aurelia slowly made her way back through the ship, towards the cargo hold. If anyone was inside, they must have somehow snuck in while it was being loaded. The only way in during flight was through a airtight door, and like all the doors on the ship, it would only open if a sensor detected someone with the appropriate clearance level was approaching. In other words, the doors would only open for Princess Aurelia and the most trusted of royal staff.

Sure enough, as Aurelia approached the door, the sensor detected the security information encoded in the insignia of her jumpsuit, and the door slid open to allow her access. Stepping inside the cargo bay, Aurelia held the firearm at her side, her hands shaking a little. There was no chance of the bullets going straight through the wall and causing an explosive decompression, so she didn't have to worry about missing. But it was hitting that she was more worried about. She had set out on this mission to save lives, and she didn't want to end any, certainly not innocent ones.

Aurelia quickly swept the perimeter, checking behind the boxes of supplies that had been loaded into the bay. At first, there seemed to be nobody there. Then, Aurelia noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Slowly, cautiously, she turned round, looking up at the ceiling.

There was something on the ceiling. Before she could properly tell what it was, Aurelia squealed, raised the primitive pistol, and fired.

Day 120

[from Sonic the Hedgehog Returns]

"Alright, Sal, I'm inside the Death Egg," said Sonic. "Told ya I wouldn't get blown off~"

Sally sighed. Even during a crucial mission he couldn't stop with the wisecracks. "Okay, good. Now for the hard part: you'll need to stay still for a minute so Rotor can synchronize your position data with the Death Egg schematics, and work out the fastest route to the generator room."

"And how long will that take?" asked Sonic, who was already starting to get a little impatient.

"I don't know," said Sally, "but it's shouldn't take more than a minute. I'll let you know as soon as we have the route ready."

"Alright," said Sonic, "but if any SWATbots show up, I'm taking off."

Sally opened up NICOLE, placing her gently on the floor. "What do you require, Princess Sally?" asked the holographic lynx.

"I need you to project the Death Egg's schematics again for me," said Sally. "This time, highlight the generator room in red. We're going to feed you Sonic's positional data; highlight that in blue for me. Then, give me the fastest route to the generator room from Sonic's current position."

"Affirmative." The lynx projection disappeared, to be replaced with the Death Egg's three-dimensional schematics. A small room in the exact centre glowed bright red. This, it seemed, was their goal. Rotor wirelessly beamed Sonic's positional co-ordinates to NICOLE, and by cross-referencing them with the Death Egg's co-ordinates, she was able to mark him on the map with extreme precision. As expected, he was currently at the very edge of the Death Egg, and his blue positional dot seemed to be jittering slightly. This was either because the Death Egg's relentless march towards the Great Forest was complicating the calculations, or simply because Sonic was already so bored that he was running round in circles to relieve himself. Sally, having known Sonic for most of her life, figured it was probably the latter.

After a further moment, a green trail began to snake its way through the Death Egg in the direction of the generator room. It certainly wasn't as-the-Buzzbomber-flies, but since Sonic would be the one traversing it, it probably wouldn't take him any time at all. Sally zoomed in on the schematics with a wave of her hand, focusing them on Sonic's location. "Okay, we've got the path ready," she said.

"Took you long enough," said Sonic. "So, which way do I go?"

"Head straight forwards, then take the third right," said Sally.

"Got it." Glad to finally be able to get going, Sonic zoomed off down the corridor in front of him. He counted the right-hand pathways under his breath, then quickly turned down the third one he encountered. "Okay, now what?"

"Take the next left," said Sally.

"Right," said Sonic, as he took the left.

"No, left," said Sally. "Then right."

"Right," said Sonic, as he took the right.

"Now there should be a staircase coming up-"

"Already halfway down it," said Sonic.

"Of course you are," said Sally wearily. It wasn't easy directing someone who could move faster than you could speak. "Now just go straight on for a while."

"You got it, Sal," said Sonic. A couple of Badniks noticed Sonic approaching, but Sonic simply tore straight through them with a Spin Dash and kept going without missing a beat.

***

A short time later, Sonic found himself brought to a halt by a closed door. "This doesn’t look like the generator room," Sonic remarked.

"That's because it isn't," said Sally. "You have to go through this room to get to it. Be careful, Sonic: Robotnik's not going to let you into the generator room that easily. I don't know what kind of dastardly traps might be lurking on the other side of that door, but you'll need to-"

Sally was cut off by a deafening clang as Sonic impatiently Spin Dashed straight through the steel door, knocking it off its hinges. "Or you could just barge straight in like an idiot," muttered Sally sardonically, "that works too."

The room beyond seemed to be almost entirely empty, save for a lone figure located at the opposite end, guarding the only exit. Sonic took one look at the figure and immediately did a double-take. "What the-"

The figure standing before him was a large metallic facsimile of himself, at least a foot taller and constructed entirely of thick silvery steel. Its eyes glowed a menacing orange as it locked its gaze on the real Sonic stood before it.

"Well, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Sonic remarked.

"HEDGEHOG DETECTED." said the machine, in a harsh robotic voice. "ELIMINATE."

"What was that?" asked Sally warily. "Sonic, what's going on?"

"We've got a bit of a problem," said Sonic, as the machine started to rev up a version of Sonic's own Spin Dash. As the curled-up machine launched itself at him, its metallic spikes gleaming dangerously, Sonic leapt out of the way just in time and the robot was sent hurtling straight through the open doorway and into the corridors. Sonic watched on with some amusement. "Looks like Buttnik forgot to install the brakes on that thing," he quipped.

"What just happened?" asked Sally. "Are you alright, Sonic?"

"Looks like Buttnik's built some kind of metal version of me to guard the generator," said Sonic. "I think I lost it, though."

"A robotic version of you?" Sally made a noise over the radio that rather sounded like a suppressed giggle. "I dare say it must be an improvement over the original."

"Hey!" said Sonic, feeling rather insulting. "Who's the one bustin' his rear end to try and save you guys?"

"You're right, I'm sorry," said Sally, suppressing another giggle. "It makes a change from robotic versions of himself, at any rate. Well then, if it's safe, head towards the generator and shut it down."

"You got it, Sal," said Sonic. "Let's do this!" Spin Dashing through the door at the other end, Sonic suddenly found himself on a set of narrow walkways spanning an enormous chasm. This was the central ventilation chamber of the Death Egg, with the generator room suspended in the centre. The ceiling had to have been at least a hundred metres above him, and the floor at least a hundred metres below. All that separated him from a gruesome demise was a metre-high railing made of rather flimsy-looking metal. "This can't be safe," said Sonic.

"That's probably the idea," said Sally. "Be careful, Sonic."

Sonic nodded, and made his way across the walkways as fast as he dared. If he went too fast, the resulting vibrations would rip the thin metal sheets beneath his feet to pieces. Ultimately, however, he made it to the door of the generator room, which seemed surprisingly small, and forced his way inside.

As he entered the generator room, Sonic approached the apparatus and was suddenly taken aback. He had been expecting a large tangle of complex machinery, and generators as large as houses. What he saw instead was like nothing he had ever seen before, and it completely stumped him. "This is the Death Egg's power source…?" he exclaimed.