Mission 33

The final's dirty tricks continue and keep failing. Loid hops a collapsing floor tile mid-rally, Fiona intercepts a bounce off a sunken panel and hammers it home, and the pair adapt to a raised net, artificial wind, and stink-sprayed balls, reducing every scheme to a minor nuisance while they take the set and level the match. Fiona briefly fantasizes about stretching the game into endless tiebreakers just to stay on the court with Loid, then abandons the idea rather than risk his respect.

Out of gimmicks, the Campbell siblings escalate. Loid catches Carrol's tongue signal, spots a glint in the ducts, and throws himself in front of Fiona as a sniper fires, absorbing the shot. He calmly shows her the rubber round, reveals the bulletproof vest he wore in anticipation, and passes off his stagger to the line judge as a hangover. Rather than protest and jeopardize the prize, the agents choose to bait the low-velocity shots and dodge on the shooters' cues. The sniper calls in a court interference squad and armed ball boys, but Loid reads them all, parrying one hidden bullet with a swing that sends it into Carrol's stomach, an injury the boy blames on too much breakfast milk. As the crowd marvels at both teams' bizarre lurching, Loid finishes the match by slamming the ball between Carrol's legs, sealing the championship while Cavi slumps in his seat.

Carrol, defeated despite every advantage, tearfully admits disappointment in himself for the first time; Loid encourages his talent and work ethic, and the boy vows to train properly, while his sister Kim decides tennis is lame and quits. Fiona reflects that Loid reforms enemies as readily as he completes missions, which is exactly why she loves him. The victory sours when Cavi refuses to hand over Lady in the Sun, citing forces beyond his control. The agents deduce that the SSS has learned of the dossier and is coming for the painting. Fiona stalls by browsing the collection in person while claiming her partner has gone off to nurse his hangover.

The SSS collects the painting and departs with Cavi's thanks. Outside, Cavi's masked secretary escorts Fiona out, then peels off the disguise: Loid, who swapped a prepared forgery into the SSS handoff while sneaking the genuine canvas into Fiona's bag. The state police will now comb a fake for a code that is not there. Their official prize, a strange pot plus some garish rings Cavi tossed in, gets earmarked as a souvenir for Handler. Spotting the hidden cipher on the real painting, the agents high-five and head for HQ to have it analyzed.

Loid takes a sniper's rubber bullet for Fiona, having predicted foul play well enough to wear a vest. Team Foney wins the Campbelldon championship despite sabotage from the floor tiles up. When the SSS confiscates Lady in the Sun, Loid, disguised as Cavi's secretary, hands them a forgery and smuggles out the original, and the pair confirm it carries the secret code tied to the Zacharis Dossier.

Mission 33 spans 29 pages in Volume 6, released September 21, 2020, closing out the Campbelldon final within the Campbelldon Tennis Arc and adapted in Episode 23. Loid shares the cover with Kim and Carrol Campbell.

This is the first main-story chapter in which neither Yor nor Anya appears in any form.