Day 191

[from Electron]

Electron raced over to Jefferson Avenue as fast as his Jet Boots would carry him, and upon reaching it, he immediately spotted the masked killer's distinctive armour. With a sudden pang of nervousness, he rapidly descended, coming to a halt just in front of the killer and cutting off her escape. To his dismay, he saw that her armour was spattered with blood, and he realized that he had been too late. He could, at least, stop her from taking any more lives. "That's far enough," he said.

The armoured woman took a step back, seemingly rattled. Her hand strayed to the handle of one of her katanas, but she did not draw it. "I don't wanna fight you," she said. "I got nothing against you."

"Yeah? Well, I have something against someone who murders two innocent people in cold blood," said Electron.

The woman's fists clenched tighter, a scowl of contempt passing across the part of her face that wasn't covered by the domino mask. "They're not as innocent as you think they are," she said.

Sparks began to fly around Electron's hands as he prepared his Taser Grip. The same immobilization trick he had used on Titus would not work on this woman; he would have to get in close and shock her into submission. "Even if they're not, what gives you the right to take the law into your own hands?" he asked.

The masked woman was silent for a moment, her scowl growing more pronounced. Electron felt that perhaps his logic and reasoning had beaten her, but he then realized that if she couldn't fight him with logic and reason, she might try and fight him with force instead. A split-second after he had come to this realization, the masked woman suddenly produced a smoke bomb from a pouch on her belt and threw it to the ground. In a flash, the area was obscured by thick white smoke, and under the cover of the smokescreen, the woman darted for the cover of a nearby alleyway.

It took Electron only a couple of seconds to recover from the surprise, and he sprinted through the smokescreen, inhaling a lungful of smoke in the process. He was swiftly brought to a halt as he hacked and coughed, momentarily struggling to breathe. "I didn't… really… think this… through…" he spluttered.

By the time he had recovered enough to follow the masked woman into the alleyway, there was no sign of her. Cautiously, he advanced into the alleyway, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Every so often he clicked his fingers, sending out showers of sparks to illuminate the darkness. However, there was still no sign of the woman. At the other end of the alleyway was a T-junction, and with no way of knowing which way she had gone, Electron was forced to abandon the search. "Dammit," he said.

Resigned to his failure, Electron contacted Martin. "I lost sight of her," he said. "And… I don't think I made in time to save the next victim, either."

Electron could hear Martin sigh into the microphone. "Well, it doesn't matter that much," he said. "The cops have got the area locked down. Even if she got away from you, she can't get away from all of them."

"I'm not so sure," said Electron. "It was weird, though, it was like… she didn't even try to fight me, she just tossed a smoke bomb and fled."

"That means she ain't just some indiscriminate killer, like Titus," said Martin. "She's deliberately targeting these people, and for whatever reason, she doesn't wanna get her hands any bloodier than she has to."

"If that's the case, then tell the cops to try and take her alive," said Electron. "She may be a murderer, but she deserves to face justice."

"I don't control the cops, man," said Martin, "I only control you. But I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Martin," said Electron. "I'm gonna go look for the house where she struck this time. Maybe I can try to find a pattern that links the victims together."

"Good idea, man," said Martin. "You do that, and let me know if you find anything."

"I will," said Electron. "I'll talk to you later."

"See ya," said Martin, before hanging up.

Electron closed the connection, and headed back up the alleyway towards Jefferson Avenue, heaving a sigh. For a hero, he didn't feel like he'd done a whole lot of heroism since he had been assigned here. His defeat of Titus had been all too easy, the result of his powers happening to coincide with his foe's weaknesses. He had had little to do until this masked swordswoman had struck, and now she had murdered two people without him being able to stop her. He couldn’t rely on the police catching her for him; he had to do something. Going to the scene of her latest crime to look for clues would be an excellent place to start.

Electron hadn't seen where the murder had taken place, but finding it was not very difficult. All he had to do was follow the sounds of wailing, of both sirens and voices. The sounds led him to house number 86, outside of which were parked three police cars and an ambulance. As the hero watched on, a body was brought out of the house on a stretcher, covered in a bloody sheet. An arm dangled over the side of the stretcher, blood still dripping from the fingertips. It was a gruesome sight, and it occurred to Electron that he had never seen a dead body before. Something deep inside told him that it would not be the last he bore witness to.

Approaching the front of the house, he saw that a window had been smashed in; presumably this was the means by which the masked killer had entered. A pair of policemen had been preparing to close off the scene with yellow crime scene tape, but when they saw Electron approaching, they held off on doing so, allowing him through.

"Kinda ironic, isn't it?" one of the policemen remarked to him. "The guy living at number 86 gets 86'd."

"I'm not sure that fits the definition of irony," said Electron as he passed through.

"See, I told you he wouldn't find it funny," said the other policeman.

"Well, I still think it's kinda funny-"

Ignoring the policemen, Electron proceeded onwards into the house, carefully climbing through the broken window. His gloves meant that he didn't have to worry about contaminating the crime scene, but even so he tried not to touch anything on his way in. Having entered, he found himself in the living room, which he immediately realized had been the scene of the murder itself. The television was on, though the screen was splashed with blood; a larger pool of blood lay on the carpet before the TV, marking the spot where the man had fallen. Electron noticed a hunting rifle lying on the ground near the blood pool, and another mounted on a wall rack above the TV; hanging above the rifle was a large Confederate flag.

Sitting on the sofa was a woman who, presumably, was the victim's widow. Her own clothes were spattered with blood, and she was sobbing uncontrollably into her hands as a policeman tried desperately to console her. Looking up, he noticed Electron and exchanged sombre nods with him before silently getting up from the sofa and allowing Electron to take his place. I hope I can handle this, Electron thought. I'm not very good at talking to people who just watched their husbands get killed; I dare say I haven't had much practice.

Electron gently put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Hey," he said gently, "it's gonna be okay. I'm gonna catch the woman who did this. I promise you."

The woman managed to calm herself down enough to speak. "You… you promise?" she sobbed, looking tearfully at Electron.

"I promise," said Electron. "But I'm going to need your help, alright?" The woman nodded, wiping her eyes. "Okay. Thank you. What's your name?"

"S… Sarah," the woman sobbed. "M… my name is S-Sarah."

"Her husband's name was Kevin McAllister," said the policeman. "He's the man who was murdered."

"I kinda guessed that last part," said Electron. "Did your husband - Kevin - did he know John Baxter, the previous victim?"

Sarah sniffled and nodded. "They… they knew each other," she said. "They used to go out together… buy some beers, go fishing at the wharf… oh God!" She buried her face in her hands and started sobbing once more.

Electron, unsure what to do, simply patted her gently on the shoulder. He knew his mission was to interrogate her, but he simply didn't have it in him. "I've never been fishing," he said finally. "I guess different kinds of people have different kinds of fun, right?"

Sarah nodded, seeming to appreciate the more sympathetic line of inquiry. "I was never interested in it either," she said, drying her eyes again, "but Kevin… he really loved fishing. Sometimes I'd go with him just to sit and watch him…" Her voice petered out as she tried to hold back her tears once more.

"Did… anyone else ever go with him, besides you and John?" asked Electron.

Sarah gasped, as she came to the same conclusion that Electron had. "You… you think they might be in danger?" she said.

"I think these murders are connected somehow," said Electron, nodding. "Right now, the only link I have between them is your husband's fishing trips. It can't be a coincidence."

Sarah thought for a moment, the agony and sorrow on her face now tinged with panic. "Oh God, let me think… okay… there are these two guys who went with Kevin and John whenever they went fishing, and they met for other things as well. Oh, what were their names… Paul! One of them was definitely called Paul! I'm sorry, I don't remember his last name-"

"It's okay," said Electron gently. "That should still be enough for us to find him. Do you remember the other man's name as well?"

"No, I'm sorry," said Sarah, shaking her head. "I-I think it might have begun with an M… m-maybe Michael, or Matthew…"

"Well, if we find one, I'm sure we'll find the other," said Electron. "Thank you. Now… umm… this might be hard, but if you can, could you possibly give me an account of… what happened?"

Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep, rattling breath, steeling herself. "I… I'll try," she said. "It was over so fast, though… one minute, we were sat here watching TV, the next… th-the window was smashed in, and we turned to see who it was, and it was the woman from the news reports. Th-the woman who killed John. I thought she was gonna kill us, but she… she just stood there… staring at me. I don't know why. Kevin… got up to get his rifle… and…"

Sarah couldn’t bring herself to say anything further, and dissolved once more into tears, but Electron could work out the rest for himself. Kevin had retrieved the hunting rifle from the mantelpiece, but before he could fire it, the killer had struck him down. The fact that she had hesitated upon seeing Sarah gave him pause for thought. Perhaps she hadn't expected there to be witnesses.

Electron gave Sarah another comforting pat on the shoulder. "It's okay," said Electron. "You've been very helpful, and very brave, telling me all of this. I'd like to ask you one last question, if that's okay, and… try not to get too upset by it." Sarah nodded, and Electron braced himself. "Do you… know of anything that your husband or his friends might have done to anger this woman? Any reason at all that she might be after him? I'm sorry, but I have to ask this."

Sarah forcefully shook her head. "No," she said. "My husband was a good man. He didn't deserve this… he didn't deserve this!" Sarah started sobbing again, even harder than before, and this time Electron sensed that he would get nothing more out of her. In any case, he had nothing more to ask. All that remained was to leave the poor woman to her grief, though not without some final parting words of comfort.

"Nobody deserves this," said Electron. "Nobody deserves to see their loved one get taken from them like this, either. I'm sorry for your loss." With that, Electron got up from the sofa and started to go. He took one last look back - at Sarah, overcome with grief, at the blood soaked into the carpet, and at the Confederate flag hung over the mantelpiece - before climbing back out through the window and taking his leave.

Day 190

[from Ashiteru! Hikikomori-san]

"We are here!" exclaimed Ilana. "We are here at beach!"

With excited giggles, Ilana raced down onto the beach, with Yuuichi following along behind her. "Don't run off too far," he called after her. "I don't want us to lose each other."

"I won't," Ilana called back. "I just go to changing room!"

Yuuichi followed Ilana in the direction of the beachside huts that were used for changing in and out of one's swimsuits. He and Ilana were already wearing their swimsuits underneath their regular clothing; all they needed to do was find an available hut each and then strip off. To make things interesting, they had each chosen their own swimsuits and had not been allowed to see each other's, so Yuuichi had no idea what Ilana would look like when she stepped out of the beach hut and vice versa.

Having secured his own beach hut, Yuuichi set about stripping off. His swimwear of choice was a simple set of black knee-high swimming trunks. Hanging his clothes up on the pegs provided, Yuuichi turned to the door and was suddenly struck by a pang of nervousness. He'd seen Ilana in various states of undress - he'd even seen her naked once or twice - but she'd never seen him wearing this little before. He glanced down at his scrawny build, and couldn't help wondering whether Ilana would think less of him when she saw his skinny physique. He knew, deep down, that she loved him for more than just his appearance, but he still couldn't shake the anxiety.

After a moment or two of hesitation, Yuuichi finally decided that, regardless of the outcome, he couldn't back out now. He and Ilana had come all this way, and she would be intensely disappointed if he decided at the last minute that he couldn't go out in just his swimsuit. He places his hand on the door handle and, with a deep breath, stepped out into the warm summer air.

Looking around, it didn't seem as though Ilana had emerged from her hut yet. However, the reason for this soon became apparent, as her voice drifted out of the adjacent hut. "That you, Yuuichi?" she called out.

"Yeah," said Yuuichi.

"I already in swimsuit," said Ilana, "but I waited for you to come out, so I could make big entrance. I come out now, okay?"

"Uhh… okay," said Yuuichi.

The door to the beach hut slowly opened, and Yuuichi caught sight of Ilana in her swimsuit for the first time. It was a blue-and-white striped bikini, and perhaps a size too small for her, for it didn't seem to cover as much of her breasts as it could have done. Nonetheless, it looked extremely nice on her. Ilana struck a seductive pose, leaning out her hips. "Well?" she asked. "What you think?"

Yuuichi found the outfit extremely alluring; that much he could not deny. However, for some reason it did not seem to spark the same level of shock, embarrassment or blood loss that he had previously suffered upon seeing a half-naked Ilana, and this puzzled him into silence. Ilana quickly picked up on this. "Hmm? You like it not?" she asked.

"N-no, it's not that!" said Yuuichi hurriedly. "I really do love it! It's just… well… I guess…"

"What is?" asked Ilana, curious.

"I, uhh… don't really know how to put it into words," said Yuuichi hesitantly, "but, uhh… it feels like… seeing you standing there without many clothes on, it just… doesn't feel the same way it did when you first came here. You get what I mean?"

"Not really," said Ilana, a little confused. "Maybe you just… are used to it? I get half-naked in front of you many time now, maybe effect has worn off."

"Maybe," admitted Yuuichi. "Don't get me wrong, I still think you're very attractive, but… how should I put this?... seeing you like this a month or so ago, I would have been shocked, or embarrassed, or… something like that. But seeing you like this now, all I feel about it is that… well, that you're extremely beautiful."

Ilana smiled. "I understand now," she said. "You are used to having me around. And I think, perhaps… you have truly fallen in love with me."

Yuuichi blushed heavily and looked away. "I guess I have," he mumbled.

Ilana giggled, and also blushed a little. "Is okay, Yuuichi," she said. "I in love with you too, remember?"

Yuuichi looked back up at Ilana, surprised. Though he had long suspected it, if not known it from the start, this was the first time Ilana had actually told him that she loved him. "Ehh? Really?" he said. He couldn't help glancing down at his scrawny physique once again.

"Of course," said Ilana, slowly advancing towards Yuuichi. "I tell you many times, it is heart that is most important, not money or beauty, and you have very warm heart." She delicately placed a hand on Yuuichi's chest. "It matters not to me if you are handsome or rich, Yuuichi. It matters not if you are pervert otaku who love cartoon girls in bikinis. I love you anyway."

Suddenly, Ilana leaned forwards, and Yuuichi found himself frozen to the spot as her face slowly grew closer to his. When her lips were just an inch from Yuuichi's, she closed her eyes and whispered, "Ya lyublyu tebya".

"You what?" Yuuichi whispered back.

"Is Russian," said Ilana. "It means, 'I love you'."

Before Yuuichi could respond, Ilana's lips moved forward that last tantalizing inch, connecting with Yuuichi's in a tender kiss. After a moment of surprise, Yuuichi closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, savouring what was his first kiss. Finally, after what seemed like a blissful eternity, their lips parted, and Ilana looked deeply and lovingly into Yuuichi's eyes. "…with all my heart," she said.

Day 189

[from StarLight]

It didn't take White Star very long at all to reach the industrial district. "There it is," she said, as the cluster of factories and warehouses drew close. "Alright, let's see what we're up against. Considering the last one was a fifty-foot-long sea monster, I imagine this one's going to be some giant land monster, or a… tiny dot?"

White Star halted in mid-air, confused, as she spotted a monster down below that was much smaller than she had been expecting. She could tell it was a monster, and not a regular animal, from its pitch-black colouration and sinister aura. Slowly hovering down to street level, she found herself confronted - in a manner of speaking - by something that resembled an ordinary pug, albeit with pitch-black fur, two sharp fangs, and a crimson-eyed stare.

White Star was extremely underwhelmed by this new adversary. "A dog?" she said in disbelief. "I have to fight a dog? It's barely a foot tall! I mean, yeah, it's got vicious fangs and glowing red eyes, but come on! How is this thing possibly any threat to-" White Star's rant was cut off mid-sentence as the pug monster suddenly leapt at her with a vicious bark, clawing and biting at her leg. "Kyaah! That's how! Get off me!" White Star frantically shook her leg to try and shake the dog off, but it clung on, trying to align its jaws for a savage bite.

"Careful, White Star!" said Kousen. "If that monster gets even a single paw on the White Star Emblem-"

"I know, I know!" said White Star, holding the wand aloft. "It'll absorb the chi and grow stupidly large and strong! Heck, maybe I should let it, so I actually have an - ow - worthy opponent!"

"It's clawing your leg to shreds," Kousen observed drily, noting the scratches running all the way up White Star's shin.

"I am… aware… of that!" said White Star, swinging her leg wildly to try and dislodge the monster. Finally, with a tremendous swing, she sent it flying about twenty feet away; it skidded a little across the asphalt before scrabbling to its feet again and growling silently.

White Star conjured a strip of bandages out of thin air and began to wrap up her injured leg. "I'm really gonna have to practice coming up with excuses," she said. "It feels like I'm going to need that skill. I mean, now I'm going to have to explain to my friends why my leg is all bandaged."

"You could just heal it with magic," Kousen suggested.

"Oh yeah, didn’t think of that," said White Star. "Well, I'll do that later. Right now, I should probably take out this monster before it attacks me mid-sentence again. Seriously, I had enough of that with Black Star last week."

"Maybe it's a sign that you should talk less and fight more?" said Kousen pointedly.

"Maybe," admitted White Star. Turning her attention back to the job at hand, she readied her wand for attack. "Although I still have one more thing to say: let the light of justice shine! Star Shower!"

A volley of star-shaped projectiles burst forth from the tip of the White Star Wand and obliterated the ground around the pug monster, sending it flying backwards. White Star flew forwards to get a closer shot, but found that the pug had injured its own leg, and could seemingly no longer stand. Looking at it now, it almost seemed like just an ordinary wounded dog, and although she knew it was a dangerous demon that had to be destroyed, White Star felt that she could not bring herself to do so. With a sigh, she lowered her wand.

"What are you doing, White Star?" asked Kousen. "Hurry up and destroy it!"

"I can't!" protested White Star. "Look at it! It's a hurt little doggy!" Kousen groaned and facepalmed. "I'm sorry, I know I should kill it," White Star continued, "but I just… can't! Oh gosh! I'm getting flashbacks to every anime I ever watched with a dog, because in every one, the dog dies! And it's always sad! Especially that one time in-"

White Star fell silent as Kousen suddenly rested a hand on her shoulder. The youkai, sensing that her usual impatient approach would get her nowhere, had decided to try a different approach. She had seen this in one of the TV shows Sanae had shown her: it was something called "tact". "Sanae," she said gently, "while I can't say that I understand your feelings, being an emotionless being, I can tell that this is causing you great distress. But you have to snap out of it. Despite its appearance, this creature is a vicious demon bent on destruction, and it must be put out of its misery."

Kousen then had a sudden idea. "Think of it this way," she said. "It's not actually a dog, it only looks like one. It's no more a dog than a wood carving would be. If it helps, try to picture it as something other than a dog. Picture it as something that you hate. Picture it as the embodiment of evil that it truly is, rather than just a pitiable creature."

White Star nodded. "You know, that actually makes a lot of sense," she said. "I'll try that." She looked down at the wounded monster, still trying in vain to climb to its feet, all the while growling sinisterly. She used her imagination, and slowly its face began to change into a human one.

"Kirino was best girl!" said the monster.

"YOU LIE, DEMON!" The trick had worked perfectly, and a riled-up Sanae pointed the White Star Wand at the wounded monster once more. "To hell with your blasphemy! Finishing Move: White Star Beam!"

A blinding beam of light shot out of the White Star Wand and struck the asphalt at almost point-blank range, obliterating the monster in an instant. When the beam faded away, all that was left was a smoking crater in the middle of the road, and a Black Heart lying at the very bottom. White Star scooped it up off the ground and stared at it wistfully. "Alas, poor Yorick," she remarked. "I knew him well." With a jaunty shrug, the enthusiastic smile returned to her face. "Ah well. Let's go home," she said.

"You got over that surprisingly quickly," said Kousen, as they flew off back to the centre of town.

"Well, what can I say?" said White Star. "Your trick really worked. Thanks for snapping me out of that, Kousen."

"No problem," said Kousen. "I was just doing my job… which is making sure that you do your job."

White nodded, giving Kousen a confident smile. "And I'm going to do that job to the best of my abili-" THWACK. The magical girl, not looking where she was flying, had flown headlong into the side of a warehouse, and slowly slid down the corrugated iron wall before coming unstuck and falling backwards to the floor with a thump.

Kousen leaned nervously over her charge. "Are you alright, White Star?" she asked.

White Star groaned, looking up at Kousen with dazed, unfocused eyes. "Kyon, the phone's ringing…" she mumbled.

Day 188

[from Aura of Chaos]

It took Xeron and Tara three days to reach Clauston, but finally the great walls of the city loomed large before them. Clauston was the capital of the kingdom of Albion, and was home to the nation's ruler, Claus III. The city had at first been called Ravensbury, but nearly forty years ago it had been renamed in honour of King Claus I, Claus III's grandfather. It had been the scene of many important events in Albion's history, not least the attempted assassination, thirty years ago, that had led to the present ban on witchcraft.

Finally, Xeron and Tara passed through the high-arched entrance and found themselves in the main city. A small park nearby greeted those entering the city, while off to the right sat a large inn, where weary travellers could rest. Looming over the rooftops a short distance away, the pair could see the rising spire of the Church of the Divine Spirits, one of the largest churches in the world, and over on the other end of town, they could just make out the immense royal castle, towering over the rest of the city. It truly was a massive city, and now that they were within its walls, it seemed to stretch in all directions for as far as the eye could see.

Tara, who had never known life beyond Tirera until less than a week ago, was completely overwhelmed by the size of it all. "It's so… enormous!" she gasped. "How will we ever find our way to the Great Library?"

"I've been here before," said Xeron. "If I remember correctly, there are signposts throughout the city, pointing the way to various landmarks. The Great Library will surely be one of them. If we still can't find it, we can always just ask around. There's plenty of locals who'll know where it is." He gestured at the crowds of people milling around them. The city's population had to number in the many thousands, at least.

"That's a good point," admitted Tara. "Okay, so do we try looking for a signpost?"

"That would be a good idea," said Xeron. "Okay, there's gotta be one nearby…"

It only took Xeron and Tara a minute or two to locate the nearest signpost: in the centre of the park. "Ah, here it is," said Xeron. "Okay, let's see… looks like the Great Library is straight down that road." He pointed to the north, along the road through which they had entered.

"Well, that's convenient," said Tara.

"It sure is," said Xeron. "Alright, let's get going."

The pair headed off through the wide cobbled streets. The streets of Clauston were not literally paved with gold, as was rumoured in certain parts of the world, but rather with sandstone quarried from neighbouring Akeda. The sandy yellow bricks certainly gave the fleeting illusion that one was walking on gold, and gave the whole city a rich, vibrant feel. As Tara followed Xeron through the crowds, her gaze swivelled in all directions, drinking in the sights all around her.

It wasn't long before the grey stone building of the Great Library began to loom large in their sights, and as they arrived in a large square, the library itself was suddenly right before them, sitting proudly at one corner of the square and stretching upwards for at least five storeys. In the centre of the square was a large marble fountain depicting two angelic figures. A plague set into the base of the fountain revealed its purpose:

ON THIS SPOT, ON 643.4.20 TE, KING CLAUS II WAS ATTACKED BY A VILLAINOUS BLACK WITCH. THE KING ESCAPED UNHARMED, BUT AN INNOCENT WOMAN LOST HER LIFE. THE CULPRIT HAS NEVER BEEN CAUGHT. THIS TRAVESTY WILL ENDURE FOR ALL TIME.

Tara gasped, clasping her hands to her chest. "This is…"

Xeron nodded solemnly. "This is where it all started, thirty years ago," he said. "This is where the old king was attacked. In his anger, and his thirst for revenge, he made witchcraft punishable by death. Of course, not everyone agrees with the law, and there are plenty of people out there who disobey it or refuse to enforce it, but… not everyone's like that."

Tara nodded. She had still not forgotten what had happened in Tirera only a few short days ago. "Do you think that… the law will ever be repealed?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Xeron. "I hope so, though. It's not right that y- that Witches have to live their lives in fear." Xeron breathed a little sigh of relief, having just barely avoided letting slip that Tara was a Witch. Even in this crowded square, somebody might still have overheard.

Tara nodded again. "Do you think, perhaps-?" She cut herself off mid-sentence, shaking her head. "No. That's silly. It would never…"

"What would never happen?" asked Xeron.

"Well… I was thinking…" Tara shifted a little uncomfortably. "If we manage to save the kingdom from this sorceror, do you think - maybe - the king would reward us by agreeing to repeal the law?"

"Perhaps," said Xeron. "We could certainly help prove to him that not all Witches are like the ones that attacked his father."

"I hope so," said Tara.

"Well, we'll see," said Xeron. "First, we have to figure out how we can stop him." He gestured at the Great Library's double doors. "Shall we?"

Tara nodded, and the two made their way inside the Great Library in search of answers.

Day 187

[from Devastation Online]

While in Arwing City, I stock up on some supplies: healing items to replenish my health, a couple of chocolate bars in case my SP runs low, and some more ammunition for my Enforcer 9mm sub-machine gun. I've never travelled east of Arwing before - at least, not since the invasion started - so I don't know what to expect once I set out. It's best to be prepared.

As I head east, towards the city limits, I pass into the industrial area. To my right, I notice a group of Reavers salvaging sheet metal from a disused factory. Even though their stated aim is to plunder as much of Earth's wealth as possible, we can't do anything about them. The PDF top brass have determined that it's best not to waste resources fighting them, not when we have the much bigger threat of the Devastators to deal with, so we've been ordered to just let the Reavers go about the business. The fact our hands are full with the Devastators are probably why the Reavers targeted us in the first place, come to think about it; they know we're too busy fighting this war to be able to stop them.

I ignore the Reavers, as per my orders, and continue on down the road. Soon I'm outside the city limits, and into the barren wastelands to the east. Before me, looming in the distance, is a large mountain range, which I will have to cross in order to get to St. Leonard. There is a clear path through the mountains, however, so the journey will not be as arduous as it sounds.

After a few minutes, I hear an ominous buzzing sound, which can only mean one thing: an incoming Devastator drone. These smaller, flying Devastators were the first to make the hyperjump to Earth, and they've since swarmed across much of the region, scouting out the lands. They're weak in comparison to the other Devastator types, but are very fast and still highly dangerous. I quickly draw my SMG, eyes peeled for the drone's distinctive circular metal body.

A sudden burst of flame to my right catches my attention, and I turn round to find that another PDF recruit is engaging not one, but two Devastator drones. One appears to be a standard T-Class Devastator - the drones' formal designation - while the other is a TP-Class, equipped with a flamethrower. The burst of flame I saw came from the TP-Class, but it looks like the other recruit managed to dodge it just fine.

I quickly rush to the aid of my fellow soldier. It's only right that I help them out. "Are you alright?" I ask them.

The solder nods, accepting my help. "Yeah, I'm fine," he says. "Could use a little help, though."

"Happy to oblige," I say, aiming my gun. The T-Class Devastators are about two feet in diameter, with circular bodies and a single red eye. There's a small gap in the centre of their bodies, from which protrudes a four-foot-wide, five-bladed fan that spins at extremely high speed, somehow providing their propulsion. The way this system works has never quite been deciphered. The spinning blades can also be used as a deadly melee weapon, slicing through anything in the drones' way, and we'll have to be careful not to get too close.

I quickly start firing at the machines, using short quick bursts of fire in order to conserve my ammunition and minimize recoil. I can only get two or three bursts in before the T-Class charges at me, and I have to duck out of the way to avoid its deadly blades. The TP-Class fires another burst of flame at my fellow fighter, but he activates a Special and raises a magical barrier to protect himself. It seems as though he prefers battling with magic to battling with weapons, for instead of using the Defender handgun holstered at his hip, he instead unleashes a powerful lightning attack at the TP-Class, striking it directly and sending sparks flying. The machine is not disabled, however, and the fight continues.

I continue to fire at the T-Class, dodging its attempts to strike me with its blades. Finally, it resorts to laying down a smokescreen, obscuring our vision in a thick haze. I fire blindly into the darkness and, upon hearing my bullet strike metal, hastily unload my whole clip in that direction, no longer worried about accuracy. I do not stop firing until I hear a satisfying boom as one of the machines is destroyed, unable to withstand my sustained fire.

As the haze begins to subside, a burst of flame suddenly erupts through the darkness and strikes me before I can dodge it, knocking me over. It seems that the TP-Class still lives. As I get to my feet, my comrade unleashes another lightning attack in the direction that the flames had come from, and is met in turn with a hail of gunfire from the TP-Class' machine gun. He weathers the attack though, and as the haze disappears completely, we quickly team up to finish off the TP-Class. Just as I run out of bullets in my magazine, the drone explodes in a satisfying shower of sparks, its remains falling harmlessly to the floor.

"Thanks for the help, man," says my fellow comrade. "I'm not sure I could've handled that on my own."

"No problem," I say, as I load another magazine into my Defender. "You alright?"

"Nothing major," he says, rooting around in his backpack. "Just need a Potion and I'll be right as rain." Pulling one out, he quickly consumes it and tosses away the empty bottle. "Ah, that's better. Say, which way are you heading? Maybe we could team up for a bit. You're pretty good."

"I'm headed to St. Leonard, to ATRAC," I explain. "I have an important discovery to tell them about."

"Ah. Well, I'm headed back to Arwing, so I guess I'll see you around," he says.

We exchange contact details, then goodbyes, and then go our separate ways. My brother-in-arms heads back the way I had come, towards Arwing, while I continue onwards towards St. Leonard, keeping a sharp eye out for any more T-Class Devastators that might try and attack.

Day 186

[from Vanishing Point]

Mizuki watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon, its golden glow reflected in the shimmering waters of the river before her. A gentle breeze played at her shoulder-length emerald hair, and at the hem of her dress. She turned to the tall, spiky-haired man standing with her. "Beautiful, isn't it?" she said.

"It sure is," he agreed. "But not as beautiful as you."

Mizuki blushed and smiled, just as a heavy gust of wind blew her fringe over her face, obscuring it. She shook her head, sweeping her hair back into place, and the man chuckled. Mizuki herself couldn't help grinning a little.

"Mizuki," said the man suddenly, "I want you to be my girlfriend."

Mizuki seemed taken aback by the sudden suggestion. She took a step back, blushing harder. "Ehh?!"

"Well?" said the man. "How about it?"

Mizuki clasped her hands to her chest and looked away, clearly flustered. "This is… so sudden…" she said.

"Mizuki!"

Startled, Mizuki turned round to see Shinji, her plucky childhood friend, racing down the riverbank towards her, and her confusion intensified. "Huh? Shinji?"

Shinji stopped just short of Mizuki and the other man, resting his hands on his knees for a moment to catch his breath. "I'm sorry, just… give me a minute…" he said, raising a hand. The two others waited patiently, and after a moment or two, Shinji finally straightened up and addressed Mizuki with a nervous but determined expression. "Don't do it, Mizuki!" he said. "Don't become his boyfriend! Be mine instead!"

This confession shocked Mizuki even more than the first one, and she reeled back, her face turning as red as the sunset. "Ehh?!!"

Shinji nervously held out a box of chocolates, his own face swiftly reddening. "Mizuki… please accept my feelings!"

The taller man sneered at the newcomer. "Hah!" he said. "Like she'd ever pick a wimp like you over someone like me!"

Shinji held his ground. "I may be a wimp," he said, "but I've known Mizuki for far longer than you, and I know she'll choose me!"

"Oh yeah?" said the other man, amused. "Well, I guess we'll find out, won't we?" He turned to his shell-shocked beloved. "Come on, Mizuki, who's it gonna be? Me, or this pipsqueak?"

Mizuki looked from one man to the other and then back again, In addition to her shock and embarrassment from the sudden confessions, she now felt highly flustered by the pressure. "Uhh… uhh…"

"Aaand… cut!" The sharp voice of the director brought the fake scene to a close. "Alright, that's a wrap. Great job, everybody!"

The moment the director's voice rang out, the embarrassment faded entirely from Mizuki's face, replaced with a triumphant grin. "Yes!" she exclaimed, pumping her fist. "Nailed it!"

"Well, I guess that's Season 2 all wrapped up," said Shinji, or rather, the actor who'd been playing him. "Now all that's left is to celebrate."

"Leave that to me!" said Mizuki. Stepping off the fake riverbank, which was nothing more than a studio set, she started to address the various staff gathered around. "Alright, listen up, everyone! Now that we've finished filming Season 2, it's time for our big end-of-filming celebration party!" Amidst cheers from the crowd, she continued: "We're gonna need pizzas, beer, a barbecue, plenty of meat to go on it, some chocolates - some more chocolates, that is," she added, as she took the box of chocolates from her co-star's hands. "We'll need yakisoba - lotsa yakisoba - and I'll have someone from Kyūrei bring us over a whole bunch of sugar-free cola! Being their spokesperson has its perks! Oh, and if any of you want anything else, go ahead and order that too! Everything's on me!"

"Wow, really!" exclaimed one of the cameramen. "You're so generous, Mizuki!"

"I'll order the pizzas!" said the boom operator, pulling out his phone.

"Shouldn't you have organized this before now?" asked Shinji's actor. Mizuki's only response was a carefree shrug. "And are you sure you're alright paying for everything?"

"Please, I'm a billionaire!" said Mizuki. [AUTHOR NOTE: That's in yen] "If I can't splash out, who can?"

"Well, I'm gonna go get the beers in," said the other actor. "You'll pay me back, right?"

"Of course!" said Mizuki. "I said I'd pay for everything, didn't I?"

"You did, and I'm gonna hold you to that," said the other actor. "Alright, later."

As her co-star waved briefly and then headed off, Mizuki turned her attention to the heart-shaped box in her hands. "In the meantime," she said, "I've got a date with this delicious box of chocolates!"

"Uhh, Mizuki… we're gonna need that prop again when we start shooting Season 3," said Shinji's actor, as Mizuki walked off with the box.

"The chocolates will have gone off by then," said Mizuki, undoing the ribbon, "and it'll be a waste." She opened the box, tossing the lid and the ribbon aside, and took out a chocolate. "Besides, we can always just buy another box-" She popped the first chocolate into her mouth, then carried on talking through her mouthful. "-or we could just re-use the empty box. It's not like the audience are gonna know there's no chocolates in it."

"Then you'll probably be needing the lid…" said Shinji's actor.

***

A short time later, the party was starting to come together. Tables were being laid out throughout the studio, with various food and drink spread out across them. A banner reading "SEASON TWO FILMING IS OVER" had been hung over the entrance. Mizuki was perched on the edge of one of the tables, eagerly scoffing the box of chocolates, much to the chagrin of a passing assistant.

"Miss Sato? What are you doing?" the assistant exclaimed.

"Eating chocolate," said Mizuki nonchalantly, before popping another chocolate into her mouth as though the assistant was not there.

"You can't eat that whole box by yourself!" said the assistant, staring in horror at the half-empty box. "It's not healthy! You'll get fat!"

"Screw you I can't eat the whole box by myself," mumbled Mizuki through a mouthful of chocolate.

"Miss Sato," the assistant began, "I insist that-"

But Mizuki had had enough of her dietary habits being criticized. She swallowed her mouthful, and suddenly her eyes began to glow an eerie white, her pupils and irises vanishing entirely. "No," she said, her voice mysteriously layered. "I insist that you quit bugging me and do something useful, like bringing me that plate of yakisoba I already asked for."

As Mizuki spoke, the assistant's eyes glazed over, her expression turning blank and her posture relaxing. When she spoke again, it was in a robotic, monotone voice, devoid of any trace of emotion. "Yes Miss Sato," she said. "Right away Miss Sato. I apologize for the inconvenience Miss Sato."

The assistant bent forwards in a mechanical bow, then walked off. Mizuki's eyes returned back to normal, and for a moment she watched the assistant go, confused as to what had just happened, before letting out a weary sigh. "I just did the thing again, didn't I…" she muttered.

Day 185

[from Sonic the Hedgehog Returns]

A heavy storm had blown across Robotropolis and the Great Forest that night, bringing with it torrential rain and thunder. This was not the kind of weather that one would wish to be out in. However, the girl currently sprinting across the rooftops of the outskirts of Robotropolis did not have a choice. She had to get to Knothole, no matter what. Even the two SWATbots chasing after her could not stop her.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE, CITIZEN." drawled one of the SWATbots, aiming its laser gun at her. "SURRENDER YOURSELF OR PREPARE TO BE ELIMINATED."

"Not a chance, rustpot," said the girl.

The two SWATbots duly opened fire, but the girl was able to nimbly dodge their fire as she ran, occasionally resorting to acrobatic jumps or flips to get out of the way. Even when faced with gaps between the rooves, or a slight rise or dip, the girl charged onwards without putting a single foot wrong, her parkour skills carrying her gracefully across the skyline.

Finally, however, she appeared to have reached a dead end. At the end of the row of buildings in front of her was a large metal billboard, facing the street below. She could not avoid it, as there was no other path onwards. However, she had a plan. She kept going, running straight at the billboard, and as she reached it, she ran up it for a brief moment before kicking off it and flying into a backflip. The closest of the two SWATbots was unable to pull off such a delicate manoeuvre and slammed straight into the billboard, knocking it over; it came to a rest at a perpendicular angle, perfectly bridging the gap to the next roof. Meanwhile, the girl manoeuvred herself through the air mid-backflip and landed right on top of the second SWATbot, slamming it down hard into the roof and destroying it. With the path ahead now clear, and her pursuers dealt with, she charged onwards through the driving rain in search of her destination.

***

At Knothole that night, Princess Sally Acorn was fast asleep in bed when she was suddenly woken by a series of slow, loud thumps on her door. Staggering bleary-eyed from her bed, she got up and went o the front door to see what was the matter. "This better not be Ant with another one of his nightmares…" she grumbled.

When Sally opened the door, she realized that it was not Antoine, nor indeed was it anyone she knew. It was a teenage fox girl, her dark-blue fur completely soaked by the rain. She was wearing a black midriff-baring tank top, black shorts, and sports shoes that were caked in mud. In spite of her athletic-looking physique, the girl was completely and utterly exhausted, panting and gasping for breath, and before she could say anything coherent, she toppled forwards and passed out.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Sally, quickly moving forwards to catch the girl before she could hit the ground. Sally dragged the unconscious girl inside, water dripping from her fur onto the wooden floor, then closed the door behind her. She made up a bed for the girl out of old sheets, laid her down inside it, then collapsed back onto her own bed. She felt too tired to do anything more for the girl, so she would just have to check on her in the morning.

When Sally woke up the next morning, however, the girl had vanished from her bedroom. The pile of neatly-folded, slightly damp sheets next to Sally's bed was the only indication that she hadn't just dreamt the whole thing. Puzzled as to where the girl could have gone to, Sally changed out of her nightgown and into her daywear - a blue denim vest and shorts, navy-blue boots and white gloves - and headed through into the living room, whereupon she found the girl from the previous night casually doing star jumps , her bushy tail swishing from side to side. "64… 65…" she said to herself.

Sally was positively stunned. "What on Mobius do you think you're doing?" she exclaimed.

"My morning exercises," said the girl.

"You were passed out from exhaustion just a few hours ago!" said Sally. "You should be taking it easy!"

"Perhaps," admitted the girl, and she slowed carefully to a stop. "In any case, my lady, I should move on to the topic at hand. I bring grave news from the Freedom Fighters in Emerald Coast."

Sally was surprised, not least because the Emerald Coast Resistance was one of the strongest remaining pockets of resistance outside of Knothole, but because it was quite some distance from Knothole. "You ran all the way here from Emerald Coast?" she said. "No wonder you passed out… your fitness is truly astonishing. But please, continue. What of the Emerald Coast Resistance?"

"I'm afraid that the Emerald Coast Resistance has fallen," said the girl, a look of sorrow passing across her face. "Somebody betrayed us, and relayed our position to Robotnik. Our leader, Sgt. Nero, has been captured, and all our other members have been Roboticized… or worse." Her expression continued to grow ever darker. "Nero and I are likely the only ones left. Please… I want you and your Freedom Fighters to help find and rescue him."

"What makes you think Robotnik hasn't already Roboticized him?" Sally asked.

"The sergeant has been a thorn in Robotnik's side for years," said the girl. "Perhaps not as big a thorn as Sonic the Hedgehog, but still a powerful enemy. Now that Robotnik has him in his clutches, he'll be taking his time, and enjoying his victory. He won't Roboticize Nero just yet, but even so, we still need to hurry if we want to find him and save him."

Sally still felt rather reluctant. "I can't say I agree with Nero's methods," she said. "He's reckless, violent, and not averse to using deadly weapons." The Freedom Fighters had a strict no-guns policy, with Bunnie's built-in laser cannon being the only exception. "However," Sally continued, "I can't deny that he's a brilliant strategist, and a powerful ally in the fight against Robotnik. I'll have to discuss it with the others, but I'm sure they'll agree to help you rescue him."

"Oh, really?" exclaimed the girl. She quickly stooped into a low bow. "Thank you so much, your highness!"

"Please, there's no need to be so formal," said Sally. "Just call me Sally. And your name is?"

"Solstice," said the girl, straightening up. "Solstice the Fox. "It'll be a huge honour to work alongside you, and the great Sonic the Hedgehog."

Day 184

[from Pokémon xTreme]

As Brandon and Taylor exited the Pewter City Gym, Brandon noticed that Taylor didn't seem particularly happy, despite the Venom Badge now pinned to her lapel. "Something wrong?" he asked. "You look kinda upset."

Taylor decided to just come out and say it. "Graham told me how you got suspended," she said. "How mentoring me is part of your community service."

"He did?" said Brandon, his expression suddenly looking rather pained. "Shoulda seen that coming, shouldn't I?" he muttered to himself with a sigh. "Should have seen that coming."

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Taylor.

"Well, to be honest, I figured you already knew about the incident," said Brandon. "It was pretty big news."

"I heard something about a trainer getting arrested and suspended, but I didn't know it was you!" said Taylor. "I mean, I could tell you were a bit of a renegade, but getting drunk and attacking someone-?"

"It was one time!" Brandon protested. "Well, the attacking part was one time - I'm not gonna pretend I didn't get wasted a lot before all this - but still-"

"If they banned you for a whole year, it must have been pretty serious, right?" said Taylor."I mean, how badly did you hurt her?"

"I can't remember, I was pissed!" said Brandon. "I think if I remember from the trial, I didn't-"

"Oh my God, she took you to court," said Taylor quietly.

"-I didn't actually hit her though," Brandon continued, "I think I just, like… grabbed her and pushed her around a bit, and then threw her outta the room. She mighta hurt herself when she landed, but… you know, like I said, I was drunk, I didn't know what I was doing. I'm not trying to justify myself, I know I fucked up badly, I'm just saying… it wasn't quite as bad as people might make it out to be.

"As for the year's suspension, they were just trying to make an example outta me. The people in charge were trying to send a message that stuff like that just wasn't acceptable. I'd ruffled enough feathers already, so they were just looking for an excuse, and I gave it to 'em on a silver platter. But still, I accepted the ruling, I know I did wrong, I apologized to the woman, and now I'm trying to straighten myself out, 'coz if I fuck up again, next time it might be a life ban, and I really don't want that. I had one last drink the night after the sentencing, and I haven't had a drink since."

Taylor nodded. She could clearly see that Brandon regretted his actions and was trying to clear up his act, and she appreciated it. She felt she could forgive him for his mistakes. However, there was one thing still bugging her. "So, what about me?" she asked. "Are you training me because you want to, or because you have to?"

Brandon pulled up and sat down at a nearby bench, motioning for Taylor to sit with him. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he let out a sigh. "I'll be honest with you," he said. "When they first told me that I'd have to do this program, I didn't really wanna do it. Having to drag some kid around and show 'em the ropes didn't really sound like my kinda fun. But then I remembered what it was like for me back when I first started out, when I was eleven.

"Back then, I didn't have all these websites full of Pokémon-raising guides, and the ones that did exist took forever to load because the Internet was shit back then. There was no Pokédex app to keep track of my captures, or tell me my Pokémon's movesets or abilities or anything like that. Almost everything I know about battling, I had to find out for myself, and it was a slow and difficult learning curve. By the time all these extra aids came around, I was already a top professional, and I didn't really need them as much as I had back when I first started.

"I think if I'd had a mentor when I started out, like you do now, I coulda reached pro status maybe two years earlier than I actually did. I coulda had two extra years at the top of the game by now. So I figured, well, if I'm gonna have to do this, I'm gonna do the best damn job that I can. I'm gonna help this person become the best damn trainer they can be. I'm still committed to that. I've seen that you've got potential, and you proved that by beating Graham. So I'm gonna help you reach that potential, not just because I have to, but because I want to."

Taylor nodded, and her smile returned. "That's all I wanted to know," she said. "Thank you, Brandon."

"No problem," said Brandon.

"So, what now?" asked Taylor. "The Cerulean City Gym is the next one up, right?"

"Yep," said Brandon. "The Gym Leader there uses Water-type Pokémon, but I think this time, with a little more training, you might be able to get through without even needing Pokémon with type advantages. You're not gonna be able to find many on the road up there, that's for sure."

"Well, I'll just have to do my best again, then, won't I?" said Taylor.

"That's the spirit," said Brandon. "Oh, hang on, just let me take this-" Brandon's phone had started to ring, and he fished it out of his pocket and answered the call. "Hello?"

Taylor couldn't make out what the person on the other end was saying, but they were clearly yelling, causing Brandon to flinch. "I don't know what you-" The person on the other end cut Brandon off, yelling at him once more, and before Brandon could get a word in edgeways, the caller hung up. "Hey, wait-" It was too late, and Brandon was left staring dumbfounded at his cellphone.

"What was that all about?" asked Taylor.

"Uhh… personal stuff," said Brandon, looking flustered. "Don't really wanna talk about it. But there's been a change of plans, we gotta head back down to Viridian for now."

"Really?" asked Taylor, as Brandon got to his feet. "You mean right now?"

"Yeah, as soon as possible," said Brandon.

"It must be serious, then," said Taylor, getting to her feet.

Brandon shook his head. "Oh, you have no idea," he said.

Day 183

[from StarLight]

"I summon the ANCIENT WARRIOR OF LIGHT, IN ATTACK MODE!"

The man with the long rose-coloured hair raised the card high above his head, and from out of it burst a heavily-muscled man in silvery armour so shiny it was almost blinding to look at. "Since I have Temple of Light in play," declared the man, in an unnecessarily-loud voice, "The Ancient Warrior of Light's attack is BOOSTED BY 500! AND HE GETS TO ATTACK YOUR LIFE FORCE DIRECTLY!"

"NOT SO FAST!" His opponent, a teenager with wild blue-and-yellow hair that pointed in all directions, held up a finger, grinning. "You just activated my Trap Card, Pit of Plot Convenience!"

"WHAAAAAAT?!!!" screamed the rose-haired man, reeling backwards in shock.

"That's right!" said the wild-haired teenager. "Pit of Plot Convenience sends any monster that attacks me into the PIT OF ETERNAL DARKNESS!"

"NOOOOO!!!" yelled the rose-haired man. "NOT THE PIT OF ETERNAL DARKNESS!"

"BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!" the teenager boomed. "Since it's a Monday, my left shoelace is untied, and I had bacon and eggs for breakfast this morning, Pit of Plot Convenience also allows me to summon THE ULTIMATE DRAGON MONSTER FROM MY DECK! AND YOU'LL ALSO RECEIVE THIS FREE TOASTER!" He held up the card in one hand, and the toaster in the other.

"NOOO!!! NOT THE ULTIMATE… wait, is that a four-slice toaster?" asked the rose-haired man.

"No," said the wild-haired teenager. "It's only a two-slice."

The rose-haired man dramatically fell to his knees and let out a loud "NOOOOOOO!!!" of despair.

***

As Amaya headed out of the school that afternoon, she, like most of the other students filtering out, couldn't help noticing the extremely loud card battle going on in the schoolyard. "Huh, so there is a card game anime going on here," she remarked.

"Apparently, the loser gets sucked into the Pit of Eternal Darkness for, uhh… eternity!" said an onlooker.

"Doesn’t that just mean they die?" asked Amaya.

"Sshh!" said the onlooker in a hushed voice. "They think 'Pit of Eternal Darkness' sounds cooler!"

"Well, I think they're losers," said Amaya, a moment before the rose-coloured man let out another scream of terror as the Ultimate Dragon reaped the last of his Life Points. "Losers with no concept of volume control," she added. That reminds me, I wonder how Sanae's getting on at the Sewing Club…

***

"Okay, first order of business," said Hitomi, adjusting a pair of red glasses she had put on. She didn't need them to see, but she thought they added to her moe appeal. "We all need official roles within the White Star Fan Club. I'll be the chairman, because this whole thing was my idea. Nagisa, you'll be the treasurer. You'll be in charge of our budget."

"What budget?" asked Nagisa. "The school isn't going to give us any funding!"

"Then we'll have to secure our own funding," said Hitomi.

"How?" asked Nagisa. "And what for?"

"You're the treasurer, you figure it out," said Hitomi, shrugging. "Mio, you're the secretary. You'll be making notes of each meeting."

Mio nodded, pulling a notepad and pen out of her bag. "Leave it to me," she said.

"Sanae, you can be vice-chairman, since you're the oldest out of all of us," said Hitomi. "Now, what could we get Hinata to do…"

"Well, I-I don't really mind," said Hinata nervously, "as long as it doesn't involve public speaking… o-or anything embarrassing…"

"Hmm…" Hitomi thought about it for a moment. "Oh! Since we're an official fan club, we should have a website, right? Are you any good at HTML coding?"

"I-I don't even know what that is…" stammered Hinata.

"Then just set up a Blagger page, and write articles on there about White Star's exploits!" said Hitomi. "I'm sure that'll do!"

"Oh, please," said Nagisa, "who even uses Blagger anymore?"

"We do!" said Hitomi.

Mio seemed to have had an idea. "Could we post fanfictions on the blog as well?" she asked.

"Why?" asked Sanae.

"Oh, no reason," said Mio, her glasses gleaming. "No reason at all."

"Sure, why not?" said Hitomi. "Just make sure they're good ones, and not just stuff you stole from F*nF*ction."

"Oh, I will," said Mio, smiling, "don't you worry about that."

"And no lewd fanfictions either!" said Sanae. "This series is rated T for Teen, and that should go for the website as well!"

"I agree," said Hitomi. "I couldn't possibly picture White Star in that way! But then, I'm guessing that's the same for all of us here, right?"

Mio's enthusiasm immediately took a sharp dive. "Uhh… yes, of course," she said. "I couldn't possibly think of White Star in such a perverted manner!"

"Okay, good!" said Hitomi. "Well, now that we've settled all of that, on to the second order of business…"

As Hitomi carried on speaking, Sanae was suddenly distracted by the arrival of Kousen, floating down through the ceiling and hovering in the centre of the table, unseen by everyone except her. "Another monster has just appeared," she said.

Are you sure that's not just the card game guy doing his card game things?, thought Sanae.

"It is not," said Kousen. "This monster has appeared downtown, in an area full of giant smoking buildings. They do not appear to be on fire, but if the monster damages them, something catastrophic might happen."

You mean the industrial area?, thought Sanae. That's not good. Okay, I'll be over there as soon as I can, I just have to get out of this meeting first.

"-senpai?" Sanae blinked as she realized Hitomi was addressing her. "What's wrong? You're spacing out."

"Uhh…" Quick, I need to think of an excuse. Bathroom? Phone call? Uhh… "I need to use the phone call. I mean, uhh, make the bathroom. I mean, uhh…" Panicking, Sanae pointed out of the window. "Look! A terrible getaway excuse!"

"Where?!!" The four underclassmen all turned to look out of the window, leaving Sanae to slip out of the room unnoticed.

"Heh, suckers," she said, as she headed down the corridor. "Alright, now that I'm finally away from those lunatics, I can get back to what this show is really about: me, beating the crap out of monsters!" Opening her bag, she took out the White Star Emblem and raised it into the air. "White Star: Transformation!"

Once more, Sanae was engulfed in a blinding white light. Her school uniform morphed into a beautiful white knee-length dress with violet lace trim. White thigh-high socks and high-heeled shoes gently enveloped her feet and legs, the straps of the shoes winding their way delicately up her shins. White gloves manifested themselves on her hands, and as the Emblem transformed into the White Star Wand, she clutched it tightly in her right hand. Finally, her hair curled itself into two neat ringlets either side of her head, and her transformation into White Star was complete.

White Star flew off through the corridors and out of the main entrance, and as she headed towards the industrial area, the White Star Fan Club - still searching for the terrible getaway excuse that Sanae had pointed at - suddenly noticed their hero flying away. "Omigosh! It's White Star!" Hitomi exclaimed. "Alright, gang, you know the drill: let's go follow her and cheer her on for victory!"

"Yeah!" cheered the other members. The four of them quickly rushed outside into the corridor, heading towards the exit.

"Hey, where did Sanae go?" asked Nagisa. "She was with us just a moment ago."

"Probably making the bathroom," said Hitomi. "What a shame… she's gonna miss out on seeing White Star battle!" 

Day 182

[from A Thousand Miles to San Francisco]

"You know, I picked up a guy in Palm Springs once - must have been about twelve years ago now - he was heading to San Francisco too, but for a completely different reason. His name was Max, he was an IT wizard or something. He used to run some kinda online business - can't remember what it was called, or what it did - but when the dot-com bubble burst back in 2000, his company was one of those that went under. Guy lost everything: his job, his house, his money, his girlfriend… he told me he had nothing left, so he was gonna throw himself off the Golden Gate Bridge and end it all."

Samantha gasped, horrified. "What? Really?" she said.

John nodded. "Yep," he said. "'Course, he only told me that after I'd let him in and set off again. I said, I'm not driving you all the way to San Francisco just so you can kill yourself when you get there, that's almost five hundred miles. He was begging me, he said, 'I know I sound crazy, but that's where I want it all to end'.

"I looked over at the guy -- looked him dead in the eyes -- and I could see that he was desperate. But more than that, he was scared. Really scared. I fought in Vietnam for four years, I know what a man looks like when he's scared, and this guy was scared out of his mind. He'd had everything he'd ever worked for taken away from him in the blink of an eye, and he just didn't know what to do with himself. I realized he was so scared, he'd stopped thinking straight, and he'd somehow decided that suicide was the only option left to him. But I knew that deep down inside, he didn't really believe that. So I looked him dead in the eyes, and I told him, 'I don't think you want to kill yourself. Not really. I can see how frightened you are. If you really wanted to kill yourself, you wouldn't have hailed my truck, you would've jumped out in front of it.'

"Max then explained to me that the reason he wanted to go to the Golden Gate Bridge to kill himself was because he'd made a suicide pact with a woman he'd met online. Her husband had left her for another woman, and taken their kid with him, and she'd decided she couldn't live without her family. However, she didn't wanna die alone, so she'd been searching on the Internet for someone to join her in San Francisco and leap off the bridge with her. They'd met on some kinda Internet chat room, and they'd agreed to meet at the bridge that night and jump off together.

"He told me I was right: he was scared. He was having second thoughts about going through with it, but he didn't know what else to do. I told him to just take some time, think about what to do next with his life. 'You got all the time in the world,' I told him, 'you're still pretty young.' Honestly, he couldn't have been older than thirty. Seeing someone that young with so little hope was pretty darn sad. I told him he still had plenty of time left to get things sorted out, and to make something of himself. Hell, he owned his own company. It might not have worked out for him, but that's a lot more than I ever accomplished.

"So finally, Max admitted that I was right. He didn't really wanna die; he just wanted a solution, a way to fix his life. He hadn't been able to find one, so he felt like his only remaining option was suicide, but he told me he now realized that he just hadn't been looking hard enough, or thinking hard enough about it. I asked if he wanted me to turn around and take him back to Palm Springs, and he said no. He still wanted me to take him to the Golden Gate Bridge, but instead of throwing himself off of it, he was gonna try and talk the woman out of jumping, just like I'd talked him out of it. He told me, 'If I'm gonna try and build a new life, then I think she should try and build a new life as well'."

Samantha found herself rather touched by the whole story, but also a little anxious about its ending. "That's so sweet," she said. "So what happened in the end? Did he manage to save her?"

John merely shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "We got to San Francisco at about ten o'clock at night, I dropped him off as close to the bridge as I could get, he thanked me for all my help, and then he disappeared into the night. Never saw him again. For all I know, he might have jumped after all. I do wonder sometimes what happened to him, and to that other woman, but I guess I'll never know."

Samantha nodded. "I guess not," she said. For a fleeting moment, she had thought about trying to track him down upon reaching San Francisco, but in a city of four million people, and with nothing to go by except his first name, it would be utterly impossible. Besides, even if she did find out, she would most likely never see John again either. Somehow, however, not knowing how the story ended made it all the more intriguing and mysterious.

[AUTHOR NOTE: Sadly for you guys, you ARE going to learn how it ends! Not today, however, since it's almost 2am and I'm exhausted. I could just put it in a paragraph-long epilogue here, but why not write a full scene about it? This scene will most likely be exclusive to Project 20:15 and won't be in the final novel, so look forward to it at some point in the future.]