On a train that stopped at the Midzone from somewhere deep in Japan, two mysterious characters got off: a slender woman clad in leather, with long red curls as well as a red big mouth, and her companion, a chubby dwarf with clown shoes.

"Are we Downtown, Torquay?" the chubby man asked.

"This is not the place that I seek," a profound voice replied. "We'll take a bus to there."

"Won't that be expensive?"

"Shut the hell up, Bigfoot," and the woman slapped the chubby man."We'll be ok with the money we managed. Ha, ha, ha."

The chubby man imitated her dry laughter but she shut him up again.

Hunter was reading the news on a transparent tablet while licked on a piece of donut. 'Tomorrow the electropliers will get Nettai.' It was today's news.

"What's an electroplier, Mr Mitchell?"

"An electric rope. There's one coming to Downtown's museum tomorrow. Cleopatra's electropliers, an alleged reliquary from Pre-modern Egypt. I'm taking Gina soon."

"And what'd it be that for?" The dog sounded disappointed.

"It's a weapon, dog."

"Is it really Egyptian?"

"No, of course not. It's impossible that such artifact with that kind of technology is more than 400 years. See that picture? Do you think it looks like an archaeological excavation?"

"But that is what it says here. It was found in Egypt."

"Then you believe in jade pans," Gina said from the kitchen conunter. She was eating anmitsu.

"I don't understand."

"To believe in what all media says is never secure. You buy pans made of jade, they promise you they won't get scratched and food won't get stuck but at the end, all of that happens. It's very innocent of you if you buy what news sell."

"In my times," Hunter riposted very angrily, "news were efficient and accurate."

Gina laughed.

"I can say it is at least antique," Mr Mitchell crossed in to alleviate sarcasm. "But for me, it was constructed here in Asia and they set it up to catch tourists."

"Won't it be watched over?"

"Don't think it needs to. That's not something out of this world. Who would steal it? The museum will deal with it."

"If it's a weapon, they should watch it over," Hunter said to itself.

"I have a Teddysprout," Paris commented Zach in the Town Park.

"A what?" Zach was licking on a chocolate ice cone. Paris didn't buy one for herself because they didn't have 'stripes' color.

"A Teddysprout, Tobby is a Teddysprout."

"A new race for dogs?"

"C'mon, moley, according to what I read online, they're protective spirits."

"Aren't you overreacting?"

"Nope, Gina Belt confirmed it," Zach gulped. "As seen, that poor girl's dog and mine are Teddysprouts. You should've seen the fight they had in ... my house."

"What? Who?"

"Tobby and the talking dog," Paris whispered. "They cast rays, energy balls."

"What were they doing there?"

"I sent Alfred to kidnap the dog but he brought me the jet-black hair girl instead, I assume he's getting old and stuff. Anyway, we should keep an eye on this matter."

Zack stayed pensive for a moment. His silence was interrupted by Paris's screech.

"Look, Zach," she showed her phone screen to him, "I want it."

"But Paris, there's just one and the museum will have it."

Paris's new target was the electropliers, they caught her attention.

"Then, I want that one."

"I don't think you can obtain it but ... you got money, who knows then?"

"Of course, moley-moley, that's why I'm a billionaire."

"Don't call me that, I have enough being called Willy."

"Who does?" Paris focused on his answer. She liked to restrict Zach for herself, she pays him for everything, his time, his secrets, they had to be hers. Who calls him Willy and why?

"Well, there's something to tell you," the boy turned his sight as the Town Park was always full of people.

"Hurry, it better be worth it."

"I found ... something near my house. I don't know what it is but it could be related to Tobby and Gina's dog."

"A Teddysprout??" She screamed.

"Keep it down, Paris."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Well, it's two, actually."

"How so?"

"I don't know, it's very exciting," Zach exclaimed, biting the cone with his big incisors.

"I must see them to validate their realism," Paris's turquoise eyes expulsed envy.

"They are real. They came out of a yellow crystal, like your dog..."

"Hmm, they're Dalmatians too?"

"No. That's the thing. They're a couple of bears. I got them locked in my bedroom so Alexandra and mom can't run into them."

Gina Belt was staring at them unnoticed. She and Samantha tended to spend time there after school and during the free periods.

"What do you look at them this much?" Samantha asked.

"Nothing special," Gina lied. She wasn't going to forget those two were changers as she, a quality the three had in common. Her question was why Hunter hadn't done a thing about it, what was it waiting for?

The dog had told her this didn't work like that. It wasn't possible to detach a Teddysprout from its changer. The word "lethal" didn't come out of its white mouth but "inadequate" did. This issue made Gina get her knickers in a twist. She indeed didn't understand much about Teddysprouts and what to be a changer really represents, how Hunter had a hidden chest in her closet which it got donuts and potato chips from, how he chewed or drank without a proper anatomy, why it wasn't able to use the tablet or the remote or open doors without flashy ruses but talk was a normal ability for it, how they switched off like toys, how they repaired themselves.

"Gina, let's play some smartball. My brother sent me a new racket the other day."

The Belt girl let her thoughts go. Samantha's brother was a mystery as he lived abroad and a redhead girl was too unusual in New Heart Hill that the ginger male silhouette was attractive to Gina's imagination. She automatically paid attention to her bestie.

"Yo, Gina. Those leather gloves you have on ..."

"They're not leather."

"A new fashion? You even didn't wear your bandana today. You know I don't understand that."

"My dad gave 'em to me. Some of his inventions. They shoot plasma balls in different modes, but I haven't tried it completely."

"Sounds cool, but why would you need that kind of items?"

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Let's play smartball, Samantha," Gina smiled.

Checking the news, Hunter ogled the picture of that woman. 'Wanted for burglary and armed robbery. Torquay.' Beside hers, the picture of her partner, both of them were facial composites. The caption stated they were a criminal pair expert in robbing jewelry and were wanted for emptying more than ten jewel shops in Tokyo.

'You don't need to be a genius to determine those scoundrels are here in New Heart Hill and are going to steal the gadget that is coming.'

Gina entered her house once she left Samantha in hers. Again, the redhead never said too much about her family and Gina's final result was her neighbor was an actual mystery zone, living with none but a senile old white-haired woman and no family pictures elsewhere.

"Hey, child," the Dalmatian saluted, "this evening another rubin will fall Downtown." It was lying; Hunter felt like protecting that artifact from that pair of thieves.

image [https://images2.imgbox.com/9e/68/nO48DRuP_o.jpg]

"Huh? And how do you know that it'll fall at that exact time?" Gina put an ugly face of doubt. Every previous rubin hunting was random and they were guided by the dog's snout.

"I possess lots of skills you ignore," Hunter bragged.

Mr Mitchell was welding something in the kitchen counter and listened to the conversation.

"If you could really establish whether a rubin will fall at a time or a place or not, then you wouldn't make us go the wrong ways before, dog. I so don't trust what you're saying." Gina Belt was very astute.

"Why would I be lying? The rubin will fall at dusk. It's true."

"And by any chance, I don't know, won't that rubin fall near the Town Museum?"

"What do you mean?"

Hunter hesitated. Gina caught it up in her web.

"Nothing. It's ok, dog, let's go Downtown." Gina knew it was all fibbing but couldn't be sure of the reasons for the dog to be near the electropliers. "Dad," she screamed at the counter, "have you seen my pink bandana? I couldn't find it this morning."

"I'm finishing it."

"What?"

The night covered the city slowly. Hunter was impatient and Gina was combing her hair. She was dressed different and suddenly, her long jet-black hair was strained backwards in a ponytail.

"Hurry, up, child!"

"Don't pressure beauty, unhappy dog."

"You're going out again, aren't you?" Mr Mitchell came into her bedroom. He carried something. "Do you remember last time you sneaked out at night you almost got pneumonia?" His pitchy voice dragged some lowered concern.

"We're hunting rubins, tonight, Mr Mitchell. I'm with her, nothing will happen to us."

"So, I just should trust my daughter's safety in you?" The man sounded incredibly sad, like regretting what he was about to do. "Gina, I got this for you, anyway."

Mr Mitchell showed her a pair of rocketboots and the bandana the girl always wear. The bandana had three metal buttons it didn't have before. The man stopped his daughter's misconceptions when she opened her smile expecting Brand Healtown rocketboots. It was an old pair of Umioka rocketboots he arranged and modified himself. Gina showed disappointment. More likely to complain about the night assault, Mr Mitchell couldn't stop Hunter and Gina from leaving the house. He was somewhat concerned, his flat belly was churning but he also touched a bit of excitement when he saw his daughter ascending the sky from a glare of the rocketboots, taking the dog in her arms.

Gina Belt felt awesome. She expected her mom to buy her rocketboots for ever but it never happened. These, although not Brand Healtown, were smooth too. Nothing compared to fly, nothing like the tricycle. In less than 20 minutes they were in Downtown region, inside an alley where they could see the front of the museum. The electropliers were delivered hours ago and it was going to be exhibited the day after.

"Well, dog. Where's the rubin?"

"It's coming. Why are you wearing a domino mask?"

"I don't wanna be recognized. I know we aren't here for a rubin. We're here because of the electropliers. What's the deal with them?" Gina said using her sarcastic tone.

"How do you assume that? Well, yeah, we're here for that, but I'm not robbing it, someone else is."

Paris Healtown was also there, spewed by the shadows of the city, this time without her usual companion, a very unusual fact.

"Huh, who's that masked girl? What's she doing with Gina Belt's dog?" Sometimes Paris's senselessness wrapped her from head to feet. "She's not stealing the electropliers, I am!"

Two more figures showed up from the east but the orangish light of the light pole fell onto them. The red-haired woman in leather was imprisoning everyone's attention while she glared, the other figure seemed dull. Torquay and Bigfoot had showed up walking towards the closed museum. Hunter's ears rose up.

"They're the thieves from the newspaper. Get 'em even."

The masked girl smirked. A good chance to prove what the belt can make. Gina grabbed a bombon and threw it from their alley to the direction where the two absolutely suspicious people were walking.

The bombon also had a voice, like the gloves. "Bombon," the same womanly voice.

The explosion broke the glass door of the museum in shards and the two crooks were stunned but harmless. Hunter got mad, how could this evil act have been perpetrated by its own changer? Gina hadn't cared about anything.

"Somebody is shooting at us, Torquay," Bigfoot said with his big hands on his ears.

"Who is it?" Torquay said, recovered. However, someone said "Mode one" and she got shot in her arm by a scorching blast.

"You're under arrest, thieves!" A voice said from the darkness.

"Cops?" The woman wondered, touching her wound. "Not at all, too young to sound like one." Torquay fished out a long whip and slashed Bigfoot. Her minion started to girate like a tornado and broke the whole doors of the museum. Both of them rushed to get in.

Gina cursed and ran towards them. "Stop, you burglars."

Torquay saw the girl in mask and stopped her walk. She agitated her whip to slash her persecutor but she was very agile and avoided the whips. "Bigfoot, keep going, find the thing!" The woman in leather fought Gina until she finally whipped her arm. "We're even now, dumb girl."

Gina thought the stupid dog always got her in physical pain. She changed the needle in her gloves and a succession of blue spheres were coming uncontrollably from the gloves. The girl had hit Torquay to the floor. The alarms were pounding. A watchman saw the two females, the girl with the open palm and the provocative leather body on the floor.

"Call the police," the masked girl shouted trying to switch her gloves off.

"Oh no!" Torquay claimed.

A small tornado returned from the insides of the museum, shining in electric sparkles. It tackled the watchman, ripping his uniform and passed through Gina. The ponytail girl blinked and neither the tornado nor Torquay were around. The tornado had taken the woman out the museum, they had robbed Cleopatra's electropliers!

Gina was miffed, she ascended the sky once again. Paris saw the couple of thieves running away with her precious artifact and fished out a small cube out of her handbag. The scooter was armed afterwards and she rode to the night sky too. Torquay was a bit hurt but she finally had it. She and Bigfoot crossed a corner of shades and got to a part of the wood area near the main hill of the center.

The moon lit her treasure. It was a blue and golden luminous shaft with a translucent rope coming out. Torquay turned it on and the rope started to illuminate in electricity. "Look, Bigfoot, my weapon, ha ha ha!" The other thief imitated her dry laughter but she shut him up again.

"Bombon." Gina dropped her explosions from the heaven but the bombon she'd thrown shrank and disappeared. Hunter landed flapping like Dumbo.

"Are you nuts, girl? You wanna blow the whole town or what?"

The masked girl also landed in her new silver boots.

"Shut up, dog."

"A talking dog, Torquay! And there's that nasty masked girl."

"I'll send her to hell."

"Don't think so, hideous old woman." Gina shot her plasma balls again but they were smoke once Torquay vanished them turning the electropliers like a fan. The woman laughed. Gina tried again. Even Mode two was reduced to nothing by the electricity.

"Not too confident, now, brat? Ha ha ha," Torquay posed as a model and laughed as an old dog with distemper. Suddenly, a scooter came from the sky and tackled Torquay to the bench of a sidewalk, sending Paris and the woman off play.

"Torquay! You'll pay for this," Bigfoot started to girate as a tornado but Hunter cast a light sphere and knocked him out.

"There you are," Gina approached Torquay on the floor. The woman was so weakened and the girl was so pissed off. Gina selected Mode Three and her plasma balls covered her knuckles becoming a luminescent fist. Gina punched the woman in the cheeks several times.

"Where are the electropliers, child? Stop pounding that woman, for heaven's sake," said Hunter. Gina felt satisfied and let go of the villain.

Paris Healtown was putting the weapon inside her handbag and a plasma shot sent the reliquary to the air until it dropped to the sidewalk of a closed store.

"Who are you and what are you doing with Gina Belt's dog, hotkey? Those electropliers must be mine!" Paris pouted.

"Seriously, lass? I knew you were a bimbo but not this much," Gina replied.

The night became gelid and sharp. Gina heard a dry laughter of insanity. Torquay had the electric weapon back in her hands. She looked awful, there were no vestiges of that desperately feminine attractiveness she dressed her face with, her big lips were cut in blood, her curly hair became disheveled, even her walking seemed defective.

"You think, you defeat me? You're just a bunch of kids. How could you play grownups? Ha ha ha! I got beauty, I got power, I got thunders," the sparks of the eletropliers sounded newfangled as it was not a reliquary. "You are no one."

"No, we are three," Zach Mole came out of Paris's handbag along Tobby. Healtown technology was neat. "And two puppies."

Zach Mole drew his long metal claws once Paris snapped her fingers. "Let's surround that criminal, Zach." She meant she stole her electropliers, not the town's. Gina joined and so did Hunter.

The insane thief was then circled by the masked girl, the blonde, the moloid and the two Dalmatians. She saw her end coming. A voice, not hers, but a cavernous voice told her to give up. Whose horrifying voice was that? The sirens of the police inundated Downtown region. From one of the police cars, Chef Elli came off with the museum watchman.

"That girl, that girl," the watchman said, covering his bare torso.

"Torquay, Bigfoot, you're under arrest. Turn the electropliers in."

Some officers approached the disheveled woman and handcuffed her. She had lost sense of everything. "Her dog talks, her dog talks." That was all she said while she was pushed inside the police car.

Gina saw all of this and turned on her rocketboots, grabbing her Teddysprout and leaving the scene. Paris wanted attention and also wanted the electropliers but the police had them now and she was too confused to keep staying overnight so, she fished another cube out of her handbag and following Gina's freight, she left flying over a scooter with Tobby. Zach saw everywhere and saw himself alone. He made a quick powerful hole on the pavement with his long claws and got himself in it, getting lost in the earth.

"Wait, wait!" It was Jini Seiseki, New Heart Hill's main journalist who lived with a mic in her hands. "I wanted to cover this. Three heroes for the town."

"Not too hard to get it," Officer Elli said in a laconic voice, "one of those kids was the Healtowns' daughter."

The next morning, a more rested Gina was eating some cereal. She had a wound on her right shoulder where Torquay had whipped her; thus, she had a jacket on. Hunter was coming down the stairs. Mr Mitchell was having some tuna sandwiches while he checked the news on the transparent tablet.

"'Masked Shero Saves the Town,' uh, I wonder who this is about.