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Four lanes of rush-hour traffic stood between Hinode and his goal: the various tournaments (and prizes!) that awaited him at San Japan. A lifelong Texan, he figured that surely his fellow citizens would yield to a young man, (or at least, a young three and a half foot tall armadillo) crossing the street. Adjusting his backpack, he took his first steps onto the road. A car suddenly zoomed in front of him; the turbulence blew Hinode off his feet and he fell back onto the sidewalk.

"Must be from New York." Hinode muttered under his breath as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Well, if at first you don't succeed…" Hinode thought to himself as he waited to let a car pass. As it flew by, he felt a sense of déjà vu, which he quickly dismissed to focus at the task at hand. A pickup truck was bearing down on him in the second lane. Hinode tensed up and prepared to dash out of the way, but the truck slowly came to a halt, its occupant motioning for him to go ahead.

Now this was more like it, Hinode thought to himself as he trotted in front of the Good Samaritan's truck. As he stood on the yellow line in the middle of the road, Hinode turned to face his benefactor, intending to give him a thank you wave. As he went to do so, he noticed the driver was moving his arm as if to point at something.

THWACK! Hinode was struck from behind by the rear-view mirror of a SUV coming from the opposite direction that had drifted ever-so-slightly into the center of the road. He found himself more surprised than frightened as he flew through the air. He instinctively rolled into a ball and was caught by the now-bending branches of a tree.

The branches quickly sprung back into place, sending The Ultimate Gamer flying back across the road and into another tree, which Hinode promptly fell out of. Falling onto his backpack, the dazed armadillo uncoiled himself, spending the next few minutes on his back in a dazed state with his feet sticking up in the air.

Hinode groaned as he came to his feet and stumbled around for a bit. To his dismay, he discovered that he was right back to where he had started. He made several more attempts, and was forced back each time.

The bell from earlier rang again, but nine times. Hinode had fifteen minutes until he was supposed to meet his friends in front of the Municipal Auditorium, and the first tournament began forty-five minutes after that. He leaned against a light pole and assessed the situation. He was up against formidable odds, was outnumbered, and was now running out of time!

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