1. Enter Shocking Blue

It was already a deep night in Tokyo, the neon lights were blinding and the city buzzed with the sound of people and their vehicles. However, on this side of the city, just a few lights remained, the buildings and streets were misty, drenched in darkness. On the top of a building stood a man wearing a beaten brown overcoat and black boots. He was looking at a window of the building before him, a floor below him. The man touched a device on his ear and said:
- "Operator-san, any readings?"
- "Unfortunately none" - said a woman's voice - "You'll have to rely on your visuals at this time." - the man continued:
- "Raikubo-san, can you see anything on our floor?"
- "Hi, Kaa-chan" - another woman's voice replied - "nothing here, there are a lot of windows, but no light. It's all silent too." - on the other side, a woman stood, on top of another building. She had long wavy pink hair flowing down her face and was wearing a black jumpsuit and a black jacket. She was smiling and touching the device on her ear.
- "I don't like this" - the man replied - "It seems too quiet if the reports are correct."
- "Well, do we have any other options?" - asked the woman.
- "No. Take your position."
- "Sure!" - the woman got closer to one of the windows and got ready to jump - "what is the strategy?"
- "We enter and make sure the rooms are clean. If they are, we meet in the middle. If not" - he hesitated - "well, we keep our channels open and rush."
- "Shall we go now?"
- "Yes." - both moved at the same time on each side. They grabbed a pistol and shot, releasing a string with a steel tip, which drilled into the building and fixed itself. Both jumped and broke their respective windows, entering the building.

The woman, called Raikubo Haruka, turned on her flashlight and examined the place, with her pistol in hand. It was a small bedroom with a desk and a futon on the floor. The place was a little dirty and the futon's cover was messy. She left the room and found a corridor and a another bedroom. All empty. She continued advancing.

On the other side, the man called Yukiya Kazuki, otherwise known as "Kaa-chan" by Haruka, found himself on a bathroom. It was wet, and there was barely any powder accumulated. On his toes, he left and entered the quite expansive living room, featuring a dining room and a kitchen. It was furnished, and signs of struggle were all over it. The sofa was upside down, books were scattered on the floor, and there were broken chairs. "Someone was on the bathroom, no more than a few days ago, maybe just a few hours ago" - he thought to himself - "but here, things were hot". He continued surveying the room silently. As he was getting to the other side, Haruka appeared.

- "Good to see you, Raikubo-san. No signs of life at your end?"
- "Not at all" - she looked around the living and room and at him - "I guess things were chaotic here."
- "Yes, indeed." - he pointed at the floor - "there are some burn marks on the ground. Also, lots of books are scattered. Aren't those forbidden?"
- "Well, they are." - Haruka picked a book up - "I guess that's why whoever was here lives in an abandoned part of the city." - Haruka looked at it - "Wow, Ranch of Creatures, I really like this book."
- "How would you like it? Have you ever read it?"
- "Well, no" - Haruka touched her lip - "but I kind of remember it, like I have a memory of a quote, something like 'everyone is equal', or 'people should work together', or something in those lines."
- "How very literate and inspirational!" - he rolled his eyes - "How about we follow this and help some people then" - Kazuki pointed at the ground - "there are burn marks that lead to the door, let's go."
- "Okay" - she spread her arms - "Let's not care about my memories, let's continue, then" - Kazuki ignored Haruka's reply and both went through the door.

The two entered a dark corridor, and used their flashlights to survey the space, keeping close together. They illuminated doors to other apartments, to two elevators, a fire extinguisher and some stairs. As they scanned the floor, following the burn marks, they froze with a vision. Kazuki approached and knelt to analyse what he was seeing, while Haruka kept looking around them.

Kazuki was unfazed as he took a look on a dead man's body. He refrained touching, but used his light to understand it as much as he could. Haruka also approached to take a look, but Kazuki was the well versed one. Still unfazed, he got up and talked to her:
- "So, this was ugly here."
- "How did he die?" - Haruka replied.
- "This man was probably killed by intense electrical shocks, even though there are other bruises. I think it's been a quite a while, around a day, probably."
- "I see, so whatever did this burned him to death with electrical shocks, is that it?"
- "Exactly. This does fit well with our report, a violent deviant and lots of flashing lights. Now we know it must have been electricity."
- "Let's continue then."

Haruka and Kazuki scanned the floor and walls looking for signs of electrical shocks and quickly found a small trail which led to one of the elevators. They got close and pressed one of the buttons, then took a step back and prepared for a fight, readying their guns. As the elevator rumbled, Haruka heard her heart beating. With a loud thud, the elevator stopped. Raikubo and Kazuki breathed in and went into fighting stances as the elevator's door opened.

The door revealed an empty old elevator, dimly lit and featuring a burnt floor, probably due to electrical shocks.
- "Ooof!" - Haruka said relaxing - "No surprises here."
- "Yes, but the floor is burnt, our deviant probably used the elevator" - Kazuki replied.
- "No doubt about that."
- "Now let us get in."
- "What?" - Haruka's eyes widened.
- "Let's enter the elevator and go down."
- "Isn't it dangerous? With such a deviant, the energy could be shut down and we would be trapped inside the elevator." - Haruka said, gesticulating.
- "Well, we heard nothing since we entered the building. I don't think the deviant would be able to react to our presence and attack the elevator before we reach our destination. Also, if we go through the stairs, we might need to analyze each floor. On the elevator we can guess to which floor he went."
- "Alright" - Haruka's energy was low as they entered the elevator. - "okay, it is as you say, the button for the ground level is the only one that is burnt."
- "Yes" - Kazuki showed a resemblance of happiness - "Stay on your toes and let's go down" - he pressed the button and the doors closed.

The elevator descend slowly and rumbling contributing to the tense mood between them. The two remained silent, with eyes and ears wide open. As they got closer to the destination, they picked up their guns and flashlights and pointed them towards the door. With a loud clank the elevator stopped and they breathed as the doors opened.

They were greeted by silence and darkness. The flashlights illuminated a large, unremarkable corridor. However, between old rugs, and the dusty floor, there was a sparse trail of burns. Both followed the trail, still looking around. Soon, they were lead to a wooden door which seemed to lead to the room with the building's power frames. Haruka advanced and said:
- "Please cover me, Kaa-chan" - her expression was now stoic as she looked into Kazuki's eyes. He replied:
- "I will Raikubo-san, let's go in." - Haruka put her hand on the door handle, turned it and slowly opened the door.

As she opened the door, Haruka quickly covered her eyes which were assaulted by the bright light of the room. Kazuki took a step back and saw, inside the room, a strange deviant. Its body had the shape of an orangutan, but covered with scales. One of its hands was like a lamprey's mouth. The deviant noticed them, and turned its head towards Haruka, revealing it's reptilian eyes. Then, it got up and rushed towards her.

In a split second, the monster was close to her and started throwing punches. Haruka walked backwards, avoiding a series of blows. Kazuki approached and hit their foe with a large wooden plank he had picked up, and stepped back. The deviant stopped, turned towards Kazuki and hurled towards him to attack with its lamprey arm. Kazuki, however, extended his arms and released freezing wind from his hands. The wind met the creatures' arm and forced it to stop.

Haruka used this stalemate to take a breath and then conjured a stream of lightning from her hands. The deviant opened its arms and legs and was able to absorb the attack. Despite that, it had to focus, which gave Kazuki the chance approach and freeze its legs on the ground. As the deviant struggled, Haruka got her pistol and fired 5 tranquilizer rounds. The deviant struggled more but fell to unconsciousness. Kazuki used his pendant to conjure a magical net, which wrapped the deviant, ending the fight.

- "Are you okay, Raikubo-san?"
- "Sure!" - she was cheerful again - "and you?"
- "Also fine." - he looked at the deviant - "it was not that powerful, but certainly dangerous."
- "Indeed, it is a shame this is getting more common."
- "Yes" - he looked around - "let's call the cleaning team and leave, we are done here" - Haruka interrupted him:
- "No, we are not done yet."
- "What do you mean?"
- "This deviant killed a man and then went to the power frame room." - Haruka moved around and touched her chin - "why? I ask myself if there is someone here."
- "You are correct" - he sighed - "let's take a look."

They went inside the power frame room, holding their guns on their holsters as they surveyed it. The room featured just the power frame and some cables, nothing remarkable. They were almost leaving when Haruka's eyes widened and she whispered:
- "Did you hear that?"
- "No" - Haruka signalled for him to keep quiet. Haruka slowly walked around the room, when she noticed some bricks seemed detached from the wall near the floor. She knelt, asked Kazuki to approach and quickly removed the bricks. That revealed a small cavity, and at its end was a small boy, crying. She said:
- "Are you alright?" - the boy looked at her, but said nothing, his eyes were full of fear - "it's alright, I am here to help" - Haruka extended her hand and wore her best smile. "please hold my hand, I will help you" - the boy was still fearful, but Haruka kept her hand and her smile intact. She waited a while before continuing - "what is your name?" - the boy looked down, then looked at her and said:
- "Gon."
- "Alright Gon, my name is Haruka." - she kept her hand and smile in place - "Come on, we have water and food, we will help you" - the boy took his time, but slowly moved and took her hand. Then, she slowly helped him out. Haruka said to Kazuki - "now, please call the cleaning team and let's leave this place. Tell them we have a child to be taken care of." - before they left the room however, the boy hugged Haruka and cried. She hugged and reassured him whilst hiding her own tears.

- "Operator-san, we are done" - said Kazuki - "the creature is trapped. We also have a child to be rescued and a body to be recovered."
- "Sure, Kazuki-kun, the rescue and cleaning teams will be there shortly."
- "Thank you operator-san."

The two teams arrived. Haruka and Kazuki left the building and were greeted by the deep night, and the dimly lit, empty streets. They walked together for a while, and watched as the landscape became illuminated and people and vehicles started showing up. They continued until they reached an apartment condominium with lots of medium sized buildings, where they lived.

- "Here we part our ways" - said Kazuki. - "good job today."
- "Yes" - Haruka replied smiling and looking around - "you too did a great job. I'm also glad to have some rest now." - she looked at him - "see you tomorrow?"
- "Yes, sure" - he was stoic.
- "Goodbye!" - then, they went to their homes for the night.