Day 213

[from StarLight]

Back at Sanae's house, Kousen was eagerly filling in the form necessary to claim her prize, only to hit a snag. "'Please enter your credit card number to continue'..." Kousen stared at the screen in confusion. "What's a 'credit card number'? Hmm... oh! I'll just ask the magic Moogle!" Opening another tab, Kousen typed in "wat is a criedt card nimber" - once again, auto-correct spared her blushes - and began to search.

***

Meanwhile, at Mitsuzawa High School, Amaya had been pinned down behind a bench by Nagisa and the rest of the White Star Fan Club. As Sanae raced across the battlefield, her enlarged breasts bouncing conspicuously, she caught sight of Nagisa's weaponry and stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth falling open.

Nagisa had not bothered with her Hyper Drencher's soda-can-sized water tank. Instead, she had taken a garden water barrel, filled it full of water and strapped it to her back, then attached it to the gun via a piece of rubber tubing. The result was that her gun resembled nothing less than a makeshift flamethrower. Not only did this set-up provide Nagisa with a tremendous amount of ammunition, but it also constituted an amazing feat of strength, considering she was still able to move and fight even with dozens of litres of water strapped to her back. Hitomi, Mio and Hinata stood sheltered behind her, all three still completely dry, Nagisa's superior weaponry having swept all before them.

As Nagisa trained her weapon on Sanae, she sprinted to join Amaya behind cover, barely making it in time. A blast of water hit the bench, splashing over the already soggy woodwork, but the pair were safely out of its reach.

"She's got us pinned down," commented Amaya rather needlessly.

"Thanks for the sitrep, Captain Obvious," retorted Sanae.

"What should we do?" asked Amaya.

Sanae winked at her friend. "Don't worry. I have a secret weapon. Or rather, two secret weapons."

Sanae reached inside her blouse, and the reason for her apparent increase in chest size and bounciness quickly became apparent. As she pulled a small water balloon out of her bra, holding it up for Amaya to see, one side of her chest promptly deflated back to normal proportions.

Amaya was torn between utter bewilderment, and flat-chest-induced relief that those hadn't actually been Sanae's real breasts. "So... you're not wearing panties, and you've had water balloons stuffed up your bra all day?" she remarked. "I don't know what to worry about more: you, or this show's chances of keeping its Teen rating on FictionPress. Especially with all the times we've said "breasts" by now."

"I'd be more concerned about the White Star Fan Club, if I were you," said Sanae with a smirk. "They're about to get totally drenched!"

Sanae hurled the water balloon at the group. As can only be expected of an anime protagonist, it was right on target, exploding right in the middle of the group before they had a chance to dodge. All four fan club members were instantly drenched as the balloon exploded. "Aagh! I got water in my eyes!" wailed Hitomi, scowling. "Hey! Stop laughing!"

"Nobody's laughing, Hitomi," said Mio as she attempted to dry her glasses on her sleeve, a futile effort since her sleeve was just as soaked as her glasses.

"I wasn't talking to you guys, I was talking to the readers!" protested Hitomi. "I know you guys found that funny, but stop laughing! Oh, and Mio, the narrator says it's pointless to try cleaning your glasses with your damp sleeve."

"So it is," said Mio, examining her lenses, which were still streaked with water. "I'll clean them properly once we get inside."

Meanwhile, the battle continued in earnest, and before long Sanae and Amaya were the only two students left. The playground around them was littered with discarded weapons, drenched students and the remnants of burst water balloons. Some students were already traipsing inside to dry themselves off and eat their lunches, others merely sat around feeling sorry for themselves, or lay still for fear of being mistaken for a dry combatant and squirted again. But the battle wasn't over yet.

"You know, Amaya," said Sanae suddenly, with a devious grin on her face, "only one of us can truly win this."

"Of course," said Amaya, returning the grin.

"Let's settle this like in the old American Westerns," Sanae continued. "We stand back-to-back, take ten paces, then draw."

"Sounds good to me," said Amaya.

The two turned and stood with their backs to each other, Sanae clutching her Kasaiki H50 and Amaya her Kasaiki H40. Each had a look of sheer determination on their face. "On the count of three," said Sanae, "start walking. One-"

SPLASH. A water balloon flew from nowhere and both Sanae and Amaya were drenched. Sanae gasped audibly with surprise; Amaya merely looked disappointed, her wet hair falling over her eyes. Sanae wiped her own bangs away from her face, wide-eyed with shock. "But I thought we were the only two students left!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, you were," said a voice coming from the side. "Unfortunately, you forgot about your teacher!"

The pair turned in unison to see the triumphant face of the victor, Chekhov SR-15 held in her hands. "Inaba-sensei!" exclaimed Amaya.

"That's right!" gloated Inaba-sensei. "Victory goes to the teacher!"

                                                                                                ***

Inaba-sensei revelled in her victory for the remainder of the school day. Most of the students, of course, felt that having a teacher win the battle violated some unwritten rule, and so the win was generally attributed to Sanae and Amaya. Inaba-sensei, however, knew just how to get her students back on side again.

"If one of you had won the water fight," said Inaba-sensei during that afternoon's homeroom, "I'd been planning to let the winner out of doing homework for the next week. But since I won the water fight instead, I'm cancelling everyone's homework!"

At this point, of course, her sodden class couldn't help but cheer for her, and so both teacher and pupils left the gates at the end of the day feeling elated. Well, most of them. Amaya had managed to towel-dry her hair at the end of the battle, but like most of the students, her clothes were still wet as she trudged back home at the end of the day.

"I still won, for all intents and purposes," she complained to Kage, her water gun still clutched in her hand. "Me and Sanae were the last students standing. Teachers don't count."

"You're just a sore loser, nyaa~" said Kage.

Meanwhile, Sanae was also trudging home. With all five White Star Fan Club members still rather bitter about having lost, not to mention rather sodden, they had agreed to cancel that day's meeting and go straight home instead. "My twintails take forever to dry!" Hitomi had said.

About halfway to her house, Sanae's attention was suddenly grabbed by a chorus of screams coming from her right, near the downtown area. Looking round, Sanae could see a vague black shape looming in the distance. "Oh, come on, today of all days?" wailed Sanae. "I already got soaked, and now I have to defeat a monster?" She sighed. "I guess it can't be helped… Kousen might not be here to nag me into doing it, but I know I still have to. Besides, at least I'll get to change out of these wet clothes. Sorry, readers."

Sanae winked at nobody in particular, then swung her bag off her shoulder, placing it on the ground in front of her. Crouching down, she retrieved the White Star Emblem from the pocket in the front and raised it high 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.

Sanae soared blissfully up into the air, performing a backflip. "Ah, it's so good to be out of those wet clothes... and wearing panties again." she added sheepishly. "Otherwise it would be really kind of awkward right now. Alright, time to go do my duty!" Sanae immediately flew off towards the strange black shape in the downtown area.

"Haha, she said, 'do my doody'," chuckled an onlooker for no apparent reason.

Day 212

[from Murder by Pixels]

Harry, Sapphire, and Lt. Hawke returned to the police headquarters, and Harry set about collating what they knew so far. He had hooked his computer up to an interactive whiteboard on the wall, and was using that to project his notes for the rest of the team to read. Right at the top, highlighted in bold, were the three key questions: "WHY DID CARLO NEED MONEY SO BADLY?", "WAS HIS DEATH MONEY-RELATED; OTHER POSSIBLE MOTIVES?", and "WHO WOULD KNOW DETAILS OF CARLO'S WORKPLACE?"

Meanwhile, Lt. Hawke set about procuring the warrant for Carlo's house, while Sapphire fast-forwarded through the security tapes from the kitchen, checking that the manager's claim about no-one going in or out was true. "I've finished going through the tapes", she concluded finally. "Nobody goes in or out of the kitchen between the time Carlo arrives and the time he drops dead. The shooter must have shot him through that gap in the shutters."

"I thought so," said Harry. "You notice anything else on the tapes?"

"Only that watching security tapes is extremely boring," said Sapphire.

"You're telling me," said Lt. Hawke, who had just arrived back at that moment. "You find anything, though?"

"Nothing we didn't already know," said Harry. "Nobody came in or out of the kitchen prior to Carlo's death."

"Alright," said Lt. Hawke. "Well, I've got the warrant sorted out, so let's see if we can learn anything about his financial situation."

Harry nodded. "Sure," he said. "Let's go."

***

Carlo's address turned out to be a small suburban terrace, only a few minutes away from the restaurant. "Well, I'm guessing he wasn't struggling to make his rent," Harry remarked as they pulled up outside.

"Wouldn't have thought so," said Lt. Hawke. "But hey, you never know. Let's go find out."

The trio got out of the police car and headed towards the front door. Carlo's personal effects, including his house keys, had been taken from his body as evidence, and Lt. Hawke fished the keys out of his pocket as they approached. Although the house itself was not a crime scene, all three were wearing fresh pairs of latex gloves, to avoid contaminating any potential evidence they might find. Hawke unlocked the front door, and the detectives proceeded inside.

"Where should we start?" Sapphire asked.

"I think it makes sense for us to split up," said Lt. Hawke. "You two look down here, I'll check the upstairs rooms."

"Alright," said Harry. Lt. Hawke headed up the narrow staircase, while Harry and Sapphire entered the living room and spread out to search. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the décor, and nothing that jumped out at them as unusual. That, of course, didn't mean they wouldn't find anything.

"You know what I'm thinking, Sapphire?" asked Harry, making his way towards a chest-of-drawers.

Now that she and Harry were alone, Sapphire's accent reverted to her natural Irish lilt, something she reserved only for those she felt comfortable around. "What would that be?" she asked.

"In order for him to have needed so much money so urgently, he must have been spending a lot of money on a regular basis," he said, as he opened the first drawer. "You know what I think he was spending it on?"

"Drugs," said Sapphire suddenly.

"Exactly," said Harry. "He must have had a pretty bad habit. Maybe not heroin, perhaps something like cocaine. Whatever it was, it was bleeding him dry, so, like many addicts, he resorted to theft." Harry closed the drawer and opened the next one. "Now, if I were a crack addict, where would I hide my stash…?"

"I think I know where," said Sapphire.

"Where?" said Harry. He turned round to see that Sapphire was in fact holding up a bag of what was presumably cocaine, having retrieved it from a small decorative box on a shelf. She glanced at it anxiously, before glancing back to Harry. "Ah," said her fellow detective. "When you said 'drugs', you meant, 'I've found some drugs'…"

"I have," said Sapphire. "Or at least, I think so…"

"Well, he's not gonna be hiding sugar in a box, is he?" said Harry, heading over to take a closer look. "So yeah, I'd say that's coke." Turning towards the doorway, he called up to the lieutenant. "Hey, Hawke! I think we found something!"

The lieutenant quickly rushed back downstairs to join them. "What is it?" he asked, as he entered the living room.

Sapphire held up the packet of cocaine for him to see. "Looks like Carlo was a crackhead," said Harry. "He must have been stealing from the workplace in order to fund his habit."

"I see," said Lt. Hawke, taking the bag. "Nice find, you two. I'll get this to the forensic lab so they can analyze it… no prizes for guessing what they'll find, though."

As Hawke sealed the bag inside a larger evidence bag, an idea suddenly seemed to strike Sapphire. "Actually…" she said.

"Actually… what?" asked Lt. Hawke.

Sapphire look down at the floor, clearly unsure about what she was about to say. "Well… you know how all drug dealers cut their drugs a different way? Like in Breaking Bad, with the blue meth? It's like a signature. Theoretically, we could compare that batch to any other batches we have in the evidence lock-up, and pinpoint who Carlo's dealer might have been."

Though Sapphire did not seem too confident in the idea, Lt. Hawke did. "That's actually a pretty good idea," he said. "You think he might have had something to do with Carlo's death?"

"He could have done, yeah," said Harry. "Carlo's late making a payment, the dealer gets angry with him… it's possible."

"Alright, then we'd better get this to the lab," said Lt. Hawke. "Unless you think there might be some other clues lying around here?"

"Well, we'll never know unless we look, will we?" said Harry.

"Good point," said Hawke. "Alright, let's split up again and have another look. Who knows, maybe we're barking up the wrong tree with this drugs thing, and there's something else here we're missing."

"That is the second key question, after all," said Harry. "Was his murder money-related, or something else?"

"Well, let's find out," said Lt. Hawke. "Call me if you find anything else." With that, the lieutenant headed back upstairs, leaving Harry and Sapphire to resume their search.

Day 211

[from Devastation Online]

The first point of interest on the road to St. Leonard is a small mountain range, which one has to traverse through in order to proceed. The fastest way through is to head to the small mining town of Iron Valley, almost directly to the east of Arwing, and then head through the Iron Valley Mines, a network of mining tunnels and bridges criss-crossing the narrow valley that gives the town its name. The tunnels may seem confusing to the uninitiated, but as long as you have a compass, and remember to keep heading east, making your way through is a breeze.

I don't stop for long in Iron Valley, instead making my way straight through and heading for the mining tunnels. The mining operation is still underway, but some of the older, less-needed tunnels have been renovated and set aside for civilian use. This is, after all, the fastest gateway between two of the largest cities in Albion. As important as the mining operation here is - it's a major supplier of iron to the PDF - they can't have it getting in the way of the transport system.

I make my way through the tunnels with ease, and before long I'm on the other side of the mountain range. I now find myself in the rolling green pastures that dominate this part of Albion, dotted with hills and small ridges. Other than a few wild animals, it seems to be mostly deserted; it's rare to see Devastators on this side of the mountain range. In the distance, I can make out the small town of Clifton Hill, and to the north, a small river flowing down from the mountains. It's a very picturesque environment. Or at least, it would be if not for the two large wolves currently headed straight towards me.

The Devastators' presence has had a strange effect on many of Earth's creatures, causing them to grow stronger and more violent. The prevailing theory is that this is some type of strange radiation that only affects lower-level life forms, and is perhaps deliberately spread by the Devastators in order to give us a harder time. Fighting the Devastators is bad enough without having to fend off all manner of wild creatures as well. The Devastators, of course, aren't threatened in the slightest by these creatures, but sadly I am not a Devastator.

I manage to draw my SMG and fire off a burst of ammunition that fells the first wolf, but the second keeps charging and I have to dodge sharply, pushing its jaws away as it lunges. The wolf skids to a halt and prepares another charge, but I'm able to quickly fire off another burst of ammunition and kill the second wolf as well. With those enemies dealt with, I continue on my way.

The dirt track I'm on soon curves to the north, and after a while I find myself at a four-way crossroads. Naturally, I want to go east, but I can't help being curious about what lies to the north, on the other side of the river. From the looks of things, there's a forest in the distance, and presumably there's something in it; however, the signpost doesn't actually say anything. Despite my curiosity, I decide that I can't allow myself to get sidetracked; it's already getting a little late, and it'll probably be nightfall by the time I reach St. Leonard. I should carry on to Clifton Hill.

I'm nearly at the town when I'm assaulted by a small group of crows, which prove difficult to hit, and I end up expending the rest of my ammo clip. As I start to reload, I'm now vulnerable, and two of the crows swoop down upon me and start pecking and clawing at me. I instinctively shield my face with my arms, but of course my arms then take the brunt of the attack, and now I can't reload either. It seems I'm in big trouble, unless-

"Move-not." The unmistakeable accent and speech patterns of a Dae'loran. I dare to glance behind me for a moment and manage to catch a glance of a blue-skinned figure in a long white dress, her hand raised in a spell-casting stance. "Static Discharge!"

An arc of lightning surges forth from the Dae'loran's fingertips and strikes the crows directly, while miraculously missing me. The electricity paralyzes the crows and they all collapse to the ground, helpless. Now that I'm finally free of their torment, I'm able to safely reload my SMG and finish them all off.

With the battle over, the Dae'loran approaches me, a concerned look on her face. "Okay-you?" she asks. The Dae'loran language has some kind of strange quirk where every word is a compound word, made up of a base word and a modifier. It's been a few months since they started to arrive on Earth en masse, to help fight back the invasion, and although their grasp of English is fairly impressive considering, they've had trouble adapting to our language's syntax.

"Yeah," I say, nodding. "I just have a few scratches."

"Bleed-you," she says, drawing closer. Looking down at my arm, I notice that I am indeed bleeding from some of the deeper scratches. "Heal-will." She gently places a soft blue hand on my arm. "Heal," she says, and a gentle blue pulse emanates from her palm. I feel the pain in my arms subside, the scratches spontaneously healing. Dae'lorans are world-renowned healers, and I have to admit, if this one hadn't come along I might have been in serious trouble.

"Thank you," I say. "You really helped me out there, honestly."

"Thank-not," the Dae'loran says. "At-war are-we. Help-must. Duty-is."

"Of course," I say. "Well, thank you anyway."

The Dae'loran curtseys. "Good-leave," she says. "Luck-many." She's not the first Dae'loran I've spoken to, so I know that this garbled phrase is their way of saying, "Goodbye, and good luck".

I salute her in response. "You too, ma'am," I say. "Luck-many."

The Dae'loran lets out an odd noise that may be her species' equivalent of a giggle, then continues on her way. Still thanking my lucky stars that she'd happened to come along when she did, I continue on my way towards Clifton Hill, and safety. I might need to buy some more ammo clips at this rate.

Day 210

[from Sonic the Hedgehog Returns]

The co-ordinates Liana sent corresponded to a old warehouse in the Oil Ocean Zone, to the north of Emerald Coast. Armed with these co-ordinates, Sonic headed off with Bunnie and Sally to rescue Sgt. Nero. Solstice had insisted on coming along with them, but Sonic had refused. "It's too dangerous," he had said. "The place is probably crawling with SWATbots. You stay here until we get him back." Reluctantly, Solstice agreed, and Sonic set off for Oil Ocean Zone with the others in tow.

Arriving at the industrial complex containing the warehouse, the trio sheltered behind a low wall to avoid detection. Sally peered over the top of the wall with her binoculars, searching for Badniks. "There's a few SWATbots patrolling the area, and two SWATbots guarding the entrance to the warehouse," she said."

"Only two?" sneered Sonic. "It'll take a lot more than that to stop me. C'mon, you two: we're bustin' Nero outta there!" With that, Sonic flipped over the wall and zoomed off into the open. Instead of attacking the SWATbots, however, he merely raced right past them, drawing their attention. "Come on, you tinpots," he yelled, "I'm right here!"

"PRIORITY ONE: HEDGEHOG," droned the SWATbots in unison, turning towards Sonic and opening fire. None of the machines came anywhere close to striking the speedy hedgehog, and while they were all preoccupied with trying to shoot him, Bunnie was able to sneak up on each of them in turn and smash them to pieces with her bionic limbs. Sonic, however, took the liberty of taking out the last one himself, Spin-Dashing straight through it and causing it to explode.

While Sonic and Bunnie took care of the SWATbots, Sally proceeded to the now-unguarded warehouse entrance. Like most of Robotnik's warehouses, the entrance was covered by a heavy steel door, protected by a passcode system. Fortunately, Rotor had developed a device that was able to decipher the codes and bypass the system. Sally slipped the device out of her jacket pocket, placed it on top of the keypad, and waited for it to do its job.

"All clear out here, Sal," said Bunnie, and she and Sonic headed over to join Sally.

"There'll be more SWATbots inside, though," said Sonic. "Maybe Buttnik himself, if we're lucky. Man, wouldn’t that be a treat."

"It certainly would," said Sally, "unless he has one of his robots in there, waiting for us."

"All the better!" said Sonic. "I get to smash Buttnik and his ugly machines! Come on, what are we waiting for?"

At that precise moment, the decipher device beeped as it finished unscrambling the entry codes, and the steel door began to slide upwards. "Nothing," said Sally, retrieving the device. "Let's get in there and rescue that hedgehog."

"You got it, Sal," said Sonic. "Here I come, Nero!" Sonic zoomed inside the half-lit warehouse and quickly came to a stop, confused. "Huh…? There's nothing in here!" he said.

"What?" Sally and Bunnie followed Sonic inside and saw that he was right: the inside of the warehouse, though seemingly pristine, was completely and utterly empty. There were no SWATbots, no Badniks, no machines at all, and certainly no Nero or Robotnik.

"The heck is goin' on here?" asked Bunnie. "Did we get the wrong warehouse?"

Sally double-checked the co-ordinates. "No, this is definitely the right one," she said. "He can't have cleared out already…"

Sonic scowled, an uncomfortable feeling rising in his stomach. "I've got a bad feeling about this," he said.

Sally, confused, activated her radio and called Liana. "Liana, we're at the warehouse," she said. "It's completely empty. Are you sure this is where they're holding Nero?"

"Maybe there's a secret tunnel or somethin'?" Bunnie suggested, though she too was starting to get a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Oh, there's no secret tunnel there," Liana responded, her voice jarringly nonchalant. "There's no Nero there either."

"Liana," said Sally warily, "what's going on here?"

"Well, you see," said Liana, "the thing is… I'm the one who betrayed the Resistance's location to Robotnik." As Sally gasped in shock, dozens of red lights suddenly began to flicker on all around them, indicating the presence of a large number of SWATbots  hidden in the shadows. "Obviously I can't let you find Nero," Liana continued, "and now that you know the truth, I can't let you escape from here either, so…"

One by one, the SWATbots began to emerge from the shadows, closing in on the stunned Freedom Fighters. "Why didn't I see this coming?" asked Sonic.

"Quick!" said Sally. "The warehouse door is still open! We can escape!"

"Oh right, almost forgot about that," said Liana suddenly. "Thanks for leaving your radio on, suckers."

As the warehouse door slowly began to close again, Bunnie snatched the radio from Sally's hand and crushed it in her metallic fist. "Sonic! Get us outta here!" she said.

"That's kinda the plan!" Sonic retorted, grabbing hold of the girls' hands. "Hold on tight, ladies!" As the SWATbots began to open fire, Sonic raced off, sliding underneath the lowering warehouse door a second before it closed behind him, shutting the machines inside. The trio then headed back to Knothole, their betrayal and failure weighing heavily on all of their minds.

Day 209

[from Aura of Chaos]

"So, what now?" asked Tara, as she and Xeron stepped back out into the streets. "We can't really make a move until that sorcerer does, so should we just stay in Clauston for now?"

"I think that would be best," said Xeron. "We can stock up on supplies, and I'm sure there are plenty of people here who'll have work for us. It's a huge city, after all."

"So, where should we go first?" asked Tara.

"I think if we're going to be spending a lot of time here, we should go find a place to stay first," said Xeron. "I saw a nice-looking inn near the city gates, we should see if they have any rooms spare."

"Good idea," said Tara.

The two headed off back towards the southern gates, and within half an hour they had booked a room at the Three Sisters Inn for the next week. This, they felt, would be ample time to earn some money, stock up on supplies, and sharpen their fighting skills, and given the pattern of his attacks so far, the sorcerer would most likely have shown himself again by then.

Their next destination was the Market District, in the southeast of the city. Not only was it conveniently close to the inn, but it contained the largest range of items for sale in one place in the whole kingdom. By the time they'd finished shopping, Tara had some new clothes, Xeron had a new iron chestplate and lance, and their supply of potions and remedies had been significantly replenished. Their funds, however, were starting to run low, and so the pair turned their attention to finding work.

"I wonder if it's worth checking the Lower Quarter, near the docks," said Xeron. "It's the poorest, roughest part of the city, and there's always a lot of crime happening there. It's a dangerous place, but we might be able to earn a lot of gold through collecting bounties, or righting wrongs or whatever."

"That sounds good to me," said Tara. "I mean, it can't be any more dangerous than when we defeated that Shoukan back in Hilston, can it?"

"Good point," said Xeron. "Alright, Lower Quarter it is, then."

The Lower Quarter was in the southwest of the city, located on the other side of the gate. There were significantly less people out in the streets of this part of town, perhaps because of its reputation as a hotbed of crime. Tara saw several run-down, dilapidated  buildings, some of which still seemed to be inhabited. The golden pavement beneath them was chipped and cracked, and in a few places missing completely, foot-wide chunks of earth poking out from amidst the tiles.

"Why doesn't the King try and renovate this part of the city?" asked Tara. "The longer it's left like this, the worse it'll get. Some of these buildings don't even look inhabitable!"

"He doesn't have any incentive," said Xeron. "It'd take too long, cost too much, and there'd be no guarantee it'd actually fix anything. So I guess he's just gonna leave this part of the city to rot."

Tara looked quite upset at this, but she realized there was nothing they could do about the state of the Lower Quarter. Fixing something like this was far beyond their power. Instead, she turned her attention back to the here and now. There appeared to be a street brawl happening a little way down the road they were walking on, and Tara felt Xeron tug on her shirt sleeve, gently steering her towards a side alley. "We should go a different way," he muttered. "We don't wanna get caught up in something like that."

"But we could help!" Tara objected. "We could stop the brawl, or something-"

"If the royal guard catch us getting involved in something like that, they'll probably arrest us too," said Xeron. "It's best that we try and stay out of trouble until-"

"Stop right there!" From out of the shadows in front of them burst a young woman with tanned skin and dirty grey clothes. Her left eye was covered with a black eyepatch, with a long scar just visible behind it. What caught Xeron and Tara's attention, though, was the jagged knife held in her hand, pointed straight at them. This young woman was trying to rob them.

"Hand over all your gold, and nobody gets hurt!" said the woman.

Xeron's response was to lift up his lance, as though to bring attention to it. "You sure you wanna do this?" he asked.

The woman seemed a little intimidated, no doubt realizing that the man she was trying to mug wasn't just some random citizen, but she tightened her grip on her knife and put on a brave face. "This is your last chance!" she said. "Hand over the money or I'll cut you!"

Xeron sighed, and launched himself into battle. The resulting fight happened too fast for Tara to make out what had happened, but at the end of it, the would-be robber was sprawled against the wall of the alleyway, wincing in pain, and Xeron was stood over her, holding her knife in one hand and his lance in the other. Judging from the lack of blood, he must have only used the shaft of his lance to strike her, rather than the tip. Xeron pocketed the knife, and reached out towards the girl, presumably to pull her to her feet.

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" said the girl hurriedly, holding up her hands in a gesture of peace. "Don't arrest me! I don't wanna go to jail again! Look, if you let me go, I can give you some good info! You guys aren't from around here, right? I can tell you all this city's little secrets!"

Xeron paused, a look of intrigue on his face. "What kind of secrets?" he asked.

Sensing Xeron was taking the bait, the girl relaxed a little. "Well, you're friend over there's a Witch, right?" she asked. "I can just tell, y'know? Don't worry, I ain't gonna tell anyone. Anyway, she's probably having a hard time looking for spellbooks and mana potions, right? Well, there's a place right here in the city where she can go to get more. But I'll only tell you where it is if you let me go. We got a deal?"

Xeron glanced over at Tara, seeking her approval, and Tara swiftly nodded. She really did need new spellbooks and a supply of mana potions if she was going to continue to be useful to Xeron, and besides, she felt rather sorry for this poor girl, reduced to  petty theft in order to get by. Judging from the looks of her, she was probably homeless as well. It seemed Xeron agreed with her sentiments, for he then nodded in turn. "We have a deal," he said.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief, and scrambled to her feet. "You won't regret this," she said. "Alright, follow me. It'll be easier if I just show you where it is."

"How do I know I can trust you?" asked Xeron.

"Well, what do I got to gain from tricking you?" asked the girl. "A one-way ticket to jail? No thanks."

"Point taken," said Xeron. "Lead the way."

Day 208

[from Vanishing Point]

One train ride later and Kamui and the girls found themselves outside a large, walled-off studio. "Here it is!" said Hanako gleefully. "Saegusa Studios!" Beyond the elaborate iron gates, the group could see several huge studio buildings, and various employees milling around between them. Kamui could see a man in a tokusatsu hero costume having a rather animated conversation with a man who, presumably, was his director.

"And this is where we'll find Mizuki?" asked Cobra.

"Yeah!" said Hanako. "She'll be filming the next series of Life With Mizuki right now!"

"Life With Mizuki?" asked Kiyoko, who of course had never heard of the show. "What's that about?"

"Oh, it's really good!" said Hanako. "It's, like, a sitcom following Mizuki as she goes about her everyday life as a young woman and famous idol! Every day she has some challenge to overcome in her life, and at the end of every episode she puts on a concert and sings about whatever lessons she learned in that episode! Oh, and she shares an apartment with this one guy, and he totally has a massive crush on her, but she doesn't even realize it! It's hilarious!"

Kiyoko seemed rather impressed by Hanako's enthusiastic description. Cobra, however, did not. "It sounds awful," she said.

"Your taste is awful," Hanako retorted, pouting.

"Umm… how are we going to get inside?" asked Kiyoko suddenly. "I mean… the gates are locked… and there's a guard there…"

"Relax," said Kamui, "I got this. Just follow my lead, like always."

The group headed towards the gates, and Kamui approached the guard booth. The guard manning it seemed fairly bored. "State your business," he said.

"We're private detectives," said Kamui. "We'd like to talk to Miss Sato about an incident that occurred to her last-" Before Kamui had even finished, however, and much to his surprise, the guard suddenly buzzed them through. The gates to the studio slowly opened inwards with a mechanical hum. "Well, that was easier than I expected," he remarked.

"I'm so damn bored right now," said the guard. "They wouldn't even invite me to the party. Maybe you guys will liven things up."

"Party?" asked Hanako, her attention immediately captured. "What party?"

"They just finished filming Season 2 of Life With Mizuki, and they're holding a big party down in Studio C to celebrate," said the guard. "If you folks are looking for Miss Sato, that's where you'll find her."

"Wow, that's convenient!" Hanako remarked. "A day later and she wouldn't even have been here!"

"That sure is a stroke of luck," said Kamui. "Alright, thank you, sir. We'll be on our way. And we'll try not to cause you too much trouble."

"Please do," said the guard. "Nothing ever happens around here. Little bit of trouble would make my whole year."

"I wish I could say the same," Kamui mumbled to himself, as he and the escapees made their way through the open gate.

***

It didn't take the group too long to locate Studio C, especially since it had a giant yellow "C" painted on one side. As they approached, Hanako suddenly came to a dead stop, a panicked look on her face. "Wait a minute!" she exclaimed. "I just realized I don't have anything for Mizuki-tan to autograph! Aah… what am I going to do?"

"Hanako, of all the things to be worried about-" Cobra began.

"No, you don't understand!" said Hanako. "This might be my one and only chance to get the autograph of my favourite person in the whole wide world! I need something for her to sign!"

With an amused sigh, Kamui pulled out his notepad and tore off an empty page, handing it to Hanako. "I don't know how you have so much energy all the time," he remarked.

Hanako let out a gentle squeal of delight as she took the piece of paper from Kamui. "Oh, thank you, Kamui!" she said. "You're a lifesaver!"

"Now that that's sorted, let's get going," said Kamui. "Mizuki won't wait around for us all day."

"Right!" said Hanako, her enthusiasm returning twofold. "Let's get going!" She dashed off in the direction of Studio C, leaving the others chasing after her.

"That attitude of hers is gonna get her killed one of these days," Cobra remarked, as she sprinted after the pink-haired teen.

Day 204 (Catch-Up)

[from Sapporo Lilies]

This is it, then: the first match of the season. Our opponents are Kobe Leonessa, one of the strongest teams in the division, so we have a tough match ahead of us. Our preparations went well, though, and I'm confident that whatever the result, we can do ourselves proud.

Just like our opponents, I've gone for a conventional 4-4-2 formation. Aliona is in goal, with Shinobu, Choi, Yuuko and Ritsu in defence. I wanted to play Suzume, as she's been pretty impressive in training, but I'm still not confident that she'll obey my match orders. Nonetheless, she's on the bench. Natsume, Fiona, Konoko and Tomoko are in midfield, with Sanae and Yui up front. Alongside Suzume on the bench are Miyuki, Naomi, Hinata, and Yura.

It's almost a sell-out crowd as I lead the players onto the pitch. I share hands with my opposing manager, a woman named Yumiko Hanamura, and then retreat to the dugout to watch the match unfold.

3 MINUTES. Straight from the start it's Kobe Leonessa on the assault. One of their midfielders takes on Konoko and dances straight past her, racing into our half of the pitch. The ball is passed forward to one of their strikers, 20 yards out, and Shinobu and Choi swiftly close them down. They make their way past Shinobu, but not Choi, who slide-tackles the ball off of them. Shinobu picks it up and belts it downfield towards Natsume, but it goes out for a throw-in. Already Kobe are probing our defences, and we'll have to remain strong.

7 MINUTES. Another Kobe attack, this time on the left wing. Tomoko can't stop them from getting past her, and Fiona can't intercept the pass infield to their forward. The forward dribbles it on for bit, then passes it to the other striker. Choi doesn't give them any room, and they're forced to pass it back into the midfield.

The danger doesn't go away, though, and Kobe continue to build up an attack. Soon one of their strikers breaches the penalty area and takes a shot. They didn't have enough room, though, and it curves high and wide of the far post. That definitely won't be their last chance of the game, though.

11 MINUTES. A Kobe throw-in on the right wing heralds yet another opportunity for them. Their right-winger takes it almost to the byline, then manages to out-manoeuvre Shinobu and send in the cross. Choi, who's been playing magnificently in this early spell, heads it away, but one of Kobe's midfielders gets to it and tries an ambitious volley. It ricochets hard off Yuuko and behind for a corner. Considering how tight the angle had been, I imagine they'd been aiming for that the whole time, rather than a goal.

12 MINUTES. Kobe send several players upfield for the corner, and Aliona and I signal that we could use this to try and set up a counter-attack. When the corner comes in, Aliona leaps up, catches it, and shouts some instructions to her defenders before kicking it back into the opposing half. Sanae manages to get her head to it, but all she can do is head it straight to a Kobe defender. Still, we have at least managed to push back their attacks for now.

17 MINUTES. Konoko is brought down a few yards from the edge of the penalty area, giving us our first real chance of the match. There's a brief discussion about who will take it, before Tomoko agrees to do so. She lines it up, as Kobe organise a three-woman wall to try and defend against it.

Tomoko takes a run-up, then hits the free kick. It sails straight over the wall, and the goalkeeper is forced to dive to her right and push it out wide for a corner. Looking at the replay, it looks like the shot may have been heading wide anyway, but the goalkeeper was just making sure. In any case, that works out nicely for us, as now we have a corner: Tomoko's speciality.

18 MINUTES. Tomoko takes a run-up, and sends the corner into the area. A Kobe defender gets a glancing header on it, Yui then gets her head to it, but all she can do is direct it wide of the far post.

22 MINUTES. The momentum seems to have shifted in our favour a little after that free kick. Natsume is on a run now, changing down the left wing. A right-back closes in to try and tackle the ball off her, but Natsume muscles her way past without a problem. She sends the ball forwards into the area, and Sanae picks it up, but there's not enough space and she quickly loses possession.

25 MINUTES. Kobe are building up another midfield assault. They seem to have identified Konoko as a weak link in our midfield, and are exploiting her relative inexperience. Another midfielder dribbles straight past her with the ball, then passes it forwards to one of their strikers, heading towards the penalty area. Yuuko closes them down, but they offload the ball to their strike partner, who unleashes an ambitious shot from 20 yards out. It ricochets off the crossbar, and Yuuko is the first to the rebound, clearing it away for a throw-in. When the throw is taken, Ritsu is the first to the ball and the opposing move breaks down.

29 MINUTES. Things are a little more even now, and a little more settled. One of Kobe's midfielders goes on a deep run but is halted in her tracks by Fiona, who goes on a run of her own before passing it out wide to Natsume. Natsume powers her way down the touchline, but finds herself confronted by a defender and unable to send the cross in. In the resulting skirmish, the ball is eventually put out for a goal kick. I'm not sure about the call initially, but a replay shows that the referee got it right on this occasion.

33 MINUTES. Kobe suddenly break down the right wing, racing towards the byline. Shinobu rushes in to challenge but ends up committing a foul, and it's a free kick. Given the position, only a few yards from the corner flag, it may as well be a corner, and we organise ourselves accordingly, pulling back and trying to mark as many of Kobe's attackers as we can. This is difficult, given that was also have to form a three-person wall.

The free kick is taken, and deflects straight off the wall. Natsume quickly belts it upfield, and it goes out for a throw-in near the halfway line. With the immediate danger having passed, we re-organise ourselves and prepare for a possible second wave of attack, however nothing comes of the resulting throw-in.

38 MINUTES. A high ball comes out towards our left wing, Natsume and a Kobe midfielder jump for it, and there's a clash of heads. Natsume seems dazed for a moment, but seems able to shake it off. The Kobe player, however, goes straight to the floor, holding a hand to her head. She seems to have sustained a head injury in the collision. Of course, there was no ill intent, so Kobe get nothing more than a throw-in from it, but they'll still have to substitute that player off.

While everything gets sorted out on their end, I call Natsume over to the dugout to check that she's okay. "You alright, Natsume?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she says, rubbing her temple. "My grandma could hit me harder than that."

I chuckle. "Glad to hear it," I say. "If you start to feel faint, or dizzy, say the word and I'll take you off, okay? I can't risk you suffering any injuries."

"I said I'm fine," says Natsume. "Relax."

"Alright. Good luck out there." As Natsume heads back out onto the pitch, I signal to the substitutes' bench. "Have Hinata start to warm up, just in case."

43 MINUTES. It quickly becomes apparent that Natsume has not sustained any injuries from her collision, which is good, because Kobe are pressing down her wing once more. She muscles the ball off the substitute right-winger and goes on a charge of her own, before passing it infield to Fiona. A midfielder closes in on Fiona but she simply darts past her, and as she passes the ball forwards to Yui, I lean forwards on my chair. This is a good opportunity.

As it happens, Yui is closed down before she can shoot, and has to pass it back to Fiona. Fiona then passes it to Sanae, who is in space at the edge of the box. She takes two touches, then shoots-! ...but it goes just the wrong side of the crossbar. Sanae looks gutted at herself for missing that, and I have to admit, it was a good opportunity wasted. But against such high-calibre opposition, I'm just glad we're still level.

45+1 MINUTES. The injury to that Kobe midfielder is mostly responsible for the four minutes of added time at the end of this half. Kobe look like they intend to make the most of it as they start to push forward, trying to win a decisive advantage going into the second half. Their latest attempt is down the left wing, but Ritsu closes them down and the resulting cross in is a poor one, going out for a goal kick.

45+4 MINUTES. Kobe Leonessa are still pushing as the half comes to a close, but at the half-time whistle it's still 0-0. We've managed to hold off that late push, and we've had some fairly solid chances throughout the first half, so we head back onto the dressing rooms very pleased with our first-half efforts. Who knows; if the second half goes our way, we might just manage to snatch a victory.