She looks at my ring. “Where did it come from?”

“Is this how it ends?” Marion laments. “Killed by a robot that sounds like the ghost of an 80s cartoon villain?”

Without power, the office was filled with night and shadow.

“An oversized toad won’t stop me!”

The big guy was busy. I took the call.

We thought we could manipulate time. Defy its flow.

“What on Earth do you use a sonic hammer for?”

“Yeah,” Hama said, “I’m a GIRL that wants to become a WARRIOR!”

The girl is nervous as the author signs her well-worn hardcover.