“I guess I can’t complain about there not being anything here this time,” Cap said.

    Daiki nodded as he stared at the ruined buildings in front of him. By all appearances, there was not a single building left intact. It was as though they were standing in a city that had been repeatedly bombed, and the war had only just ended.

    Out of the corner of his eye, Daiki saw Cap frown.

    “What is it?” Aquila asked.

    “I can’t put my finger on it,” Cap replied. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

    “Let’s take a look around,” Aquila said. “Maybe we can find somebody.”

    As they started walking, the devastated shells of buildings towering over the cobbled streets, Cap and Daiki taking the lead, Cap sidled up to Daiki and quietly asked, “Last night, um, did you hear them...”

    Daiki nodded. “They were, um...”

    “It was very,” Cap said, “um, I mean they seemed to be...”

    “Grateful,” Daiki said. “Grateful...that Aquila is still alive. Very...grateful.”

    Cap nodded. “Very.”

    “What are you two talking about?” Aquila said.

    “Nothing,” Cap replied.

    They turned a corner. Down the street, as far as Daiki could see, were partially destroyed buildings. Not a single person to be seen.

    Cap glanced around. “Something is very wrong here. I’m going to get a bit of height and see what we’re looking at.”

    “Do you want some help?” Aquila asked. “I can fly too.”

    “I’d rather do this alone,” Cap said. “Safer that way.”

    Aquila cocked her head. “What are you worried about?”

    “Snipers,” Cap replied, rising into the sky.

    Daiki shrugged and moved to lean against a wall.

    “I don’t think anybody’s here,” Kasumi said, coming to join him.

    “We do seem to have missed whatever war came through here,” Aquila added, following her.

    Daiki sighed. “Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way. Maybe we should just go to the hub world and follow the information stream back to mine.”

    “It’s risky,” Aquila said. “Now that we know that we’re in a multiverse with multiple hub worlds, there’s no guarantee that the hub world will be the right one. If it is our hub world, the moment we arrive it will try to erase Kasumi. If we do get the right hub world, there’s still the risk that the information stream to your story world is still compromised, which means that we would just end up back where you started. I won’t stop you if you decide you want to try it, but I will point out that what we’re doing now does give us a direct route.”

    “So, stay the course,” Daiki said.

    Aquila nodded. “And, unpleasant events yesterday notwithstanding, I’m really enjoying this. I know we’re hoping that the next portal will be your story world, but I’m not going to have any complaints if this lasts a bit longer.”

    “You’re both good friends,” Daiki said.

    Aquila smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

    “Me too,” said Kasumi. “So, time to play ‘guess the story’?”

    “Could be a war story,” Daiki suggested. “Big battle in a ruined city.”

    “Maybe it’s a drama,” Aquila said. “People rebuilding their lives after the war is over.”

    “You’d expect to see some people then,” Daiki said. “Or at least hear them.”

    Daiki blinked. It was silent. The only things making any sounds since they had arrived had been them.

    “The silence is actually pretty creepy,” Kasumi said.

    “Maybe we’re just far away from the action,” Daiki said, “and the buildings are absorbing any noise...”

    Cap descended to the street in front of them. “We’re in trouble,” he declared. “We’re in a lot of trouble.”

    “What’s wrong?” Aquila asked.

    “We need to figure out how to hide ourselves and lay low until Daiki’s sword recharges,” Cap stated. “And we need to do it as quickly as possible.”

    “Cap,” Aquila said, “I know you have this instinct to protect us, but whoever used to live here is long gone. This place is empty.”

    Cap closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Aquila, Daiki, Kasumi, you need to listen to me. Nobody has ever lived in this place.”

    Daiki blinked. “But, it’s a city. It’s a bombed-out city.”

    Cap shook his head. “Look around you. Where’s the rubble?”

    Daiki looked at the streets. The cobble was a bit dusty, but clear.

    “I fought my way across Europe in the Second World War, remember? I’ve been in lots of cities that have been destroyed by bombing or shelling. The streets were covered in rubble. But these streets are clean. Every single one. Buildings don’t just disappear when they’re hit with explosives – the material that’s used to make them is broken into pieces and sent flying. This place should be lousy with rubble. But there is none, anywhere.”

    Daiki, Aquila, and Kasumi exchanged an alarmed look.

    “And there’s more,” Cap said. “You see that building in front of you? It got hit by bombs, right? You can see the inside of it through the holes. But if a bomb or shell hit it so that the blast blew out the exterior wall, then why isn’t there any damage to the wall you’re leaning against?”

    Daiki looked up. The wall was pristine. A chill began to run down his spine.

    “None of these buildings should be safe,” Cap continued. “They all should be on the verge of collapsing. But here’s the thing – every single one is sound. I’ve got x-ray eyes – it’s a superhero thing – and I can see through walls. Every single wall and floor is made from reinforced concrete. Every single floor will support our weight. There is zero danger of collapse.”

    Beside Daiki, Aquila stepped away from the wall and began looking up and down the street with a guarded expression.

    “This is supposed to look like a European city,” Cap said. “But there is no city centre. It’s just a grid of streets, as far as I could see. But, that’s not the worst part.”

    Daiki stepped away from the wall and loosened the Black Sword in its scabbard.

    “There are no positions we can secure in these buildings,” Cap said. “Every single position has multiple open points of access. Try to get to a higher floor, there are places to attack us from below. If we try to stay low, we can be attacked from all four sides and above.

    “This isn’t a city – it’s a set made to look like one. And even worse, it’s a killing zone.”

    Daiki took a deep breath. “We’re in a death game.”

    “I don’t know much about those stories,” Kasumi said, “but that sounds really bad.”

    “You take a dozen or so people, put them in a place like this, and they kill each other until there’s only one or two left,” Daiki explained. “Cap’s right – if we meet anybody here, they’ll be trying to kill us. We’re in a lot of trouble.”

    “If somebody finds us, there’s no way we’ll be able to keep our distance from their story,” Cap said. “We’ll be fighting for our lives.”

    “Maybe this isn’t an active story,” Kasumi said. “Maybe we arrived after the death game has finished.”

    “It’s possible,” Aquila said. “Let me check.” Her eyes gazed into the distance for a moment, and then she winced and shook her head. “The information stream is not only active, it’s updating right now. We’re in the middle of a live death game.”

    Kasumi looked at the cobbled street and sighed.

    Aquila held up her hands. “Nobody panic. I think I’ve got a solution. Seventeenth Stage!”

    Cap looked around. “Um...I don’t get it. What is supposed to happen?”

    “The Seventeenth Stage of Creation,” Aquila said. “I’ve frozen the story around us. You can’t see anything because nothing was happening, but time is no longer flowing in the story. We can now just wait for Daiki’s sword to recharge in peace.”

    Cap glanced around again. “I’ll have to take your word for that. That’s amazing, though.”

    Aquila grinned. “I waged a war against the world of my creator. Having godlike power is a prerequisite for being able to do that. That said, this power does a lot, and it takes a lot out of me. So, I don’t do it often. We should also make sure that we haven’t missed anything. Daiki, how is your sword’s cooldown timer?”

    Daiki opened the interface to the Black Sword. He scowled. “It’s frozen too.”

    Aquila waved her hand. “So much for that idea. I’ve turned the Seventeenth Stage off. No point in draining myself with it if we’re going to be getting into a fight.”

    “This place is pretty big, though, right?” Kasumi said. “Maybe if we just hide we’ll be fine.”

    Daiki shook his head. “Nobody’s going to put a battle royale into a place this big without giving people the ability to find each other. We’ve got to assume that there’s some sort of tracking device, and that they can see us on it.”

    “There’s not a lot they can do to me,” Cap said. “But there’s no way I can protect you all under these circumstances. We’re in for a long day and night.”

    Aquila and Kasumi looked at each other and nodded.

    “Find us a place that looks decent, and we’ll secure it,” Aquila said. “She’s a god of creation, and I have most of the powers of one. We’ll give you the walls you need to create a safe space to hole up.”

    Cap nodded. “Alright. I did see a spot that, if I was commanding a company, I’d have chosen. It’s just a bit of a walk from here.”

    Daiki drew the black sword. “Let’s get going. We’ll keep Kasumi in the middle of us, just in case.”

Aquila looked at the position Cap had chosen with approval. It was on the ground floor in what used to be a shop – was supposed to look like it used to be a shop, she corrected herself. Now she and Kasumi just needed to make it safe.

    Kasumi pulled out her sketchbook and started drawing. “Make sure they’re reinforced concrete,” Aquila said. From the corner of her eye, she saw Daiki sit down on the floor and relax, and Cap approach, a look of curiosity in his eyes.

    “So, what are you doing?”

    “We’re drawing you some walls,” Aquila said. “We’ll plug all the holes so that we’re just defending the one opening, and then we can figure out whether we want to leave it open and defend it, or close it up and wait the night out. Plenty of options.”

    “So, by drawing the walls in that sketchbook, it will make them appear in reality?”

    Aquila nodded and grinned. “That’s the power of a god of creation.”

    “I’m ready on the first one,” Kasumi said, holding up the sketchbook for her to see. Aquila glanced at it. On the page the wall where a jagged hole cut through the centre now had the hole filled in with fresh concrete.

    “Wait,” Cap stammered. “That hole just disappeared! I know that you said that would happen, but–”

    Aquila smiled at him. “She draws it, I look at it, and it becomes real.”

    “So when you two said that you would draw anything you needed...”

    “We were being quite literal,” Aquila said. Beside her, Kasumi had started drawing the next one.

    “Ready on number two,” Kasumi said, holding up the book. Aquila looked at it.

    “We need to make a decision,” Aquila said. “The way I see it, we’ve got two choices. We can leave the final opening as it is and try to defend it somehow, or we can close it up. There are drawbacks to each.”

    “Why not just close it up?” Kasumi said, drawing the third hole and something to fill it.

    “Because they might know we’re in here,” Cap said. “If we leave it open, they’ll be trying to get at us from just that opening, so we’ll know where they’re coming from. If we close it up, then they could try to break through from any direction.”

    “There’s also air,” Daiki said. “We all need to breathe.”

    “Ready on number three,” Kasumi declared, holding up her pad. Aquila glanced at it, and the hole disappeared.

    Aquila frowned. Had she just heard singing?

    “The concrete could be sufficiently porous to let enough air through that we’ll be fine,” Cap said. “But, that’s not guaranteed. We need something blocking it, though. We can’t have some sniper shooting us from cover while we sleep.”

    Aquila cocked her head. “Cap, Kasumi, do either of you hear anything?”

    “Like what?” Cap asked.

    “Singing,” Aquila replied. “A woman singing.”

    Cap shook his head. “Sorry, I’m not hearing anything.”

    “Me neither,” Kasumi said. “Also, ready on number four!” She held up the pad.

    Aquila looked at it. Another hole disappeared. The singing continued. “You’re sure none of you hear that?” she asked.

    “Almost done the last one!” Kasumi declared.

    Aquila turned to where Daiki was sitting. “Daiki, did you–” A chill went down her spine. Daiki was gone.

    “Kasumi, show me that last one now,” Aquila demanded. Kasumi held up the pad for her to glance at. Once she did, she started doing up her coat. Kasumi’s eyes widened in alarm.

    Cap looked at her. “What’s happen–” His eyes fell on where Daiki had been sitting.

    “I’ve got this,” Aquila said. “You protect Kasumi.” Without waiting for an answer she stepped out of the building and took off into the air, following the singing.

    She flew seventy feet into the air, her eyes scanning the streets below. It hadn’t been long, and Daiki couldn’t be far. Turning a corner, her eyes widened. He was walking down the street slowly, as though in a stupor. She looked around, searching for the source of the singing. A glint of sunlight caught her eye. She squinted.

    It was a young woman perched on a roof, no older than a schoolgirl, softly singing while gazing down the scope of a large sniper rifle.

    There was no time to waste. Aquila summoned her swords, a spinning circle of longswords flashing into existence around her. With a flick of her wrist, she sent four speeding towards the sniper. The sniper spasmed as the blades struck home.

    Below her, Daiki stopped walking and shook his head.

    “I’ll take care of this,” she called down to him. “Get back to the others! They’re just around the corner and down the street.”

    Aquila flew to the sniper’s perch and landed softly. Before her, the sniper rolled onto her side, impaled by two swords in the chest, one in the arm, and one in the leg. Blood trickled out of her mouth.

    “I’m so sorry,” Aquila said, dismissing her circle of longswords. “I couldn’t let you kill my friend. I had hoped that I would just wound you, but...”

    “How did...you find...” the girl gasped.

    “I followed your singing,” Aquila said. “It was very beautiful. You should be proud.” She read the sniper’s character description, and her eyes widened. “You’re only fifteen...what have I done?”