Shakujo – the staff used by monks with the rings on the top; they would shake it and bugs would get out of their paths so they didn’t step on them
Disclaimers: Usagi is not betrayed by any senshi. Usagi does not have an earth-shattering revelation concerning the senshi. She does not dump Mamoru, and Mamoru does not dump her. She does not gain new powers. She does not go to another dimension. If you have a problem with this then leave otherwise your prerogative is furthermore inane =) Anything owned by me will be duly noted.
“Mako-chan, have a good day at school,” Mia said, calling after the girl
that was growing like a weed and running to meet friends.
“Yeah, yeah!” Makoto called back, smiling good-naturedly to her. Mia was like her older sister now by all standards, and the two got along as such. Half of the time they argued and half of the time they got along. Grandfather, for his part, took everything with a grain of salt.
Mia grinned to herself as she leaned over and closed the door to the jeep, before driving off down the read toward the university where she was assisting Grandfather. It was a slow drive. Traffic seemed to be moving as sluggishly as the sky looked, with its dark clouds. It was a bit chilly she noted, thinking back on when she shut the door.
“Mako-chan ran off without a jacket, too…” she thought and sighed, looking down to her own pink sweater before turning onto another road. If she had spent another moment on that road she would have seen a young ebony-haired man walking down the sidewalk with a white tiger at his side.
“Welcome back, Mia. I want you to get back to work translating that text. If you work hard you can be finished by today.” Mia sighed and set her bag on his desk, removing her jacket in the heated room.
“And I wanted to go shopping today…” she thought longingly. With a mental sigh, she moved toward the office, stretching her arms over her head.
When she had first taken on the task of translating the text she hadn’t known what she was getting herself into. The story was much longer than she had anticipated and a poem went along with it… Mia also hadn’t had the amount of time she would have liked to work on it, with Makoto coming to stay. It had been hard work, but and the parts that were translated she knew by heart.
With a yawn she hunched over the desk and began to type away, the book opened to the page where she last left it. “I’m a bit worried about Makoto,” she spoke honestly as she read over the words on the book, her eyes narrowing and then widening as she tried to concentrate.
“Oh?” Grandfather asked, moving to an extra table where he began to grade papers.
“Yes, it was a bit chilly outside when I dropped her off at school and she wasn’t wearing a jacket. I don’t know why it bothers me so much…” Grandfather chuckled but said nothing, instead continuing with his work.
So at recess when she sat by herself for the first time in weeks, she began to think. Her hands fondled the soft brown material of her skirt and she began to wonder if she should skip school and get a ride to the university. She had money. It should have been used for lunch, but she was too antsy to eat and didn’t plan to later.
Her green eyes darted from student to student. Children, no matter how innocent they appeared, were ruthless, and the first one that saw her leaving the grounds would tell on her. That much she had learned from living on the streets, and from watching other children when they got into trouble at school.
When the time came to go back to class and children were scrambling toward a central point, Makoto took the opportunity to duck into the bushes and then onto the sidewalk outside of the school grounds. It had been an easy move, one of the first she had picked up after running away from her first foster home, not that her guardians had cared.
The young girl began to pluck leaves from her hair as she walked down the street. Despite her grooming, she knew what people would think of her, seeing an unsupervised girl walking through the city.
“I hope I don’t run into any truant officers…”
Regardless, the misfit demeanor was easy to come by, as she had spent several months acquiring it. In such it was easy to “change appearance” on a moment’s notice. No, this eleven-year-old girl, despite her age, was not someone to be messed with.
She made it to the university okay, but by the time she got there her stomach was growling, despite her uneasiness. No one questioned her identity, already used to seeing her there on several occasions. Some of the older staff even greeted her warmly, causing her face to light up for their sakes. But as soon as she turned her head, the expression would fade and she did not pause to look back to them and shatter the facade she had created for herself.
When she reached Grandfather’s door she could hear his voice booming out to a classroom and under her breath she muttered, “Shit…” Then she glanced back through the glass window of the door and tried to catch Mia’s attention. Her cousin was sitting on the front row of the stadium seating, trying to pay attention, and for all of her effort, Makoto could not get her attention.
She did succeed, however, in getting the attention of the rest of the class and consequently, Grandfather’s… The door slung open when she was still trying to get Mia’s attention and the man stared down at, his eyes going wide at the sight of his youngest grandchild. “I’m in shit now,” Makoto thought as she stared at him evenly.
Grandfather looked from Makoto back into the classroom and in a low voice said, “Mia, would you mind coming here.” The young woman seemed a bit confused as to the request until she saw Makoto in the doorway, looking as stoic as ever.
“Mako-chan, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“That’s right, Mia. Take up for me,” Makoto thought before looking back to Grandfather.
The two pulled Makoto into the classroom, causing the entire class to fall into a chorus of “Awwww.” Makoto preyed off of their sympathy and smiled sweetly to them all, her face portraying the epitome of innocence. Mia was not amused. She pulled Makoto by the shoulder into the office and Grandfather closed the door behind them, leaving Mia to close the blinds.
“All right, young lady. What’s going on? Why aren’t you in school?”
“I had a bad feeling…” Makoto replied evenly as she stared at him, with no need to lie. Mia glanced to Grandfather as he sighed and studied Makoto.
“Care to tell us about it?”
Makoto sighed in relief and nodded, feeling much better that she wasn’t in trouble, yet…
“I can’t explain it. I just felt really bad, and I’ve been in a bad mood all day…” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Makoto, I hardly think that would give you reason to cut school,” Mia said, crossing her own arms over her chest. “Are you sure you just didn’t want to go to school?” The younger girl sighed, rolling her eyes as she slid toward the door.
“Fine, don’t believe me. You go ahead and be just like everyone else!” The little emerald-eyed girl was waiting for a reaction from her grandfather, not really wanting to leave them. None came, but that itself was a reaction. So the youngest of the trio turned back to him and frowned softly. “Grandpa?” she asked, and caused Mia to look back to the older man as well. He said nothing to her query, staring out the window.
“Grandfather?” Mia asked, stepping toward him. The expression on her face mimicked Makoto’s, though more in worry than frustration.
“Mia, dismiss class. Tell everyone to go home.” The young woman stared at him for a moment. He had never dismissed class early.
She was going to question his motives, but after re-evaluating his tone, stance, and the grim expression on his face she said simply, “Yes, Grandfather,” and moved toward the door.
Makoto moved out of the way and stepped toward him to see what he was seeing. What could have made the old man change so suddenly? What could have made him dismiss class only twenty minutes into the schedule? She climbed into the chair behind his desk and looked up, her head now even with his and therefore able to get the same view he had.
The cloud cover had increased drastically and she noticed just then that the fluorescent lights over head were the only things keeping light with them. It seemed as though the sun had been eclipsed.
“Grandfather, what’s going on?” Makoto asked, still looking out the window into the pre-eve. He sighed, not bothering to hide his discomfort and turned back to her.
“I don’t know, Makoto. I wish I did, but I can only speculate…”
“What’s speculate mean?” she asked, looking up to the older man, her face frowned again. She was once more being forced into the position of not knowing, and she hated it. But then again, if Grandfather didn’t know, then she could stand it…
“It means guess,” Mia said, returning as the last of the students left Grandfather’s classroom. She walked toward the corner of the office, to the television that Makoto had managed to miss in her many trips here. Makoto watched as Mia turned the television on, but frowned when she saw it was only the news. Mia and Grandfather watched in interest though.
“It’s a tiger!” Makoto said, jumping forward and leaning over the chair she had just climbed onto. Grandfather hushed her and tried to continue watching. After pouting at him, Makoto complied and looked back to the television.
“It seems like that tiger is pet… But he shouldn’t be in the city with such a large animal!” Mia said. “People could get seriously hurt!”
“Are you kidding?” Makoto said, catching her incredulous cousin with a grin. She turned back to the screen, watching as the young man stopped before a police force, his tiger as well. “If I had a tiger like that I would show it off, too!”
The entire group watched as the young man was stopped, and he did not seem entirely happy about the fact… The tiger even seemed to be growling as they took a close up of him. Makoto watched in wide-eyed wonder and envy, wishing she had her own tiger to parade around without a leash. Mia stared in her own wide-eyed disbelief at the fact that the young boy, looking to be about fourteen or fifteen, had not been stopped for doing it. Grandfather also stared, his eyes gradually widening.
“Mia,” he said suddenly catching the attention of both of the girls.
“Yes, Grandfather?” she asked, glancing briefly to the man before looking back to the television screen.
“That’s one of them,” he said. Makoto looked back to him and saw him visibly frown.
This was not a good sign. Mia’s gasp did not further her confidence.
‘One of them?’ The old man was not about to explain himself. He only gave Mia a strict look, one that made Makoto grin and then sighed.
“Mia, I want you to go and get that young man. Bring him here…”
“A boy?” Makoto asked incredulously, her eyes going wide and her lip rolling forward in disgust. “How gross!” She slid out of her chair, placing her hands on her hips and staring at her Grandfather in incredulity.
Ignoring her statements, Grandfather continued, “That is, after you take Makoto home. I don’t want her to be here for this. Go, now! We don’t have time to waste!”
Mia nodded swiftly, mumbling on, “Yes, Grandfather,” and then moved toward her younger cousin. The elder grasped the wrist of the younger and, despite many complaints, set out towards her vehicle. They left quickly; Makoto’s shouting echoing all the way down the hall.
Grandfather’s mind was far away from them as he looked back out the window toward the city. Clouds were still rolling in, and the sun’s rays were coming few and far between.
When Mia sat in the driver’s seat, Makoto promptly began to scream again to annoy the older girl, until Mia reached across quickly and shouted, “Makoto! BE QUIET!” There was silence. Makoto rolled her eyes at Mia but complied. “And put your seat belt on. Don’t make me get Grandpa.” Without too much of a fuss, the younger placed the seat belt over her waist, but pulled her arms around the chest strap and tucked it behind her head. They were on the way shortly, with little traffic getting out of the university’s parking lot. Many were still in class.
Mia turned the radio on to see if the radio broadcast had still been on. It had. Police were waiting on animal control to arrive before they moved. It seemed like the tiger was not letting anyone get near the boy.
“So are we getting the tiger too?” Makoto asked, half-listening to the broadcast while Mia drove quickly.
“You seem to have forgotten… I am taking you to the house, and then I am going to get the boy… and his tiger… Though I don’t know where we’ll put the tiger…” Mia said, her voice fading off into doubt.
“You’re going to get the tiger and not even let me ride him?!” Makoto screeched, causing Mia to wince. Grandfather seemed to be rubbing off on the older girl, for she simply ignored Makoto as she continued to drive. The silent treatment worked, and the younger girl became quiet drawing in on herself and staring out at the road as they drove on.
The pair came into town quickly only to see that traffic had nearly become standstill. Mia resisted the urge to swear, in case Makoto should have the brilliant idea to bring it back on her later.
“He’s one of them…” she thought silently, wondering which of the five he would be, not that she even knew the five names, only that there were five of them.
Traffic was moving up inches by the minute, and they still had a few miles to go before they reached the scene. It was probably the reason for delay, Mia noted and then looked back to her younger cousin that was drumming her fingers on her leg. Then she looked out her own window. A few people jogging, a motorcycle suddenly zoomed by them, catching the attention of both of them with its loud motor. Rather it caught Makoto with its loud motor; Mia was wishing she had the bike herself.
It was when she turned back to see if the car in front of her had moved any that the jeep’s engine stopped turning and Mia’s eyes went wide. “No, no!” she cried, and pulled the key back only to turn it forward again. The engine did not budge. “Why today?! Why did this happen today?!”
“Mia,” Makoto said. “None of the other cars are working either… Listen…” The younger of the two became quiet, allowing her cousin to listen and to Mia’s surprise it was nearly silently. People had become louder than the cars.
“I don’t understand!” Mia thought with a frown. She looked at the younger girl that was staring at her, large green eyes showing a bit of worry. “Let’s go, Makoto. We can’t stay here anymore.” Mia sensed the girl was about to protest, but she didn’t. They both climbed out of the car and after Mia locked the doors they ran to the sidewalk. People were honking their horns, shouting obscenities, and yelling in general at one another.
“Think I could teach ‘em a few?” Makoto asked with a grin, referring to the swearing.
“Not now, later,” Mia said, pulling her wrist as she ran down the sidewalk through the oncoming flow of people. Makoto didn’t try to break away from her either, surprisingly enough.
They had run two blocks when Mia finally caught sight of a police officer at a donut stand. She rolled her eyes upon seeing that the man was still in line. More than that, though, she noticed his T-shirt, shorts, and helmet, all recognizable as law enforcement uniform. It wasn’t normal attire, but the reason for that was propped only a few feet from him against a tree.
It was a bicycle.
There were two bicycles.
Mia could see another person with him, only a few feet off to the side and out of the line.
“Oh there is a God!” she thought silently, running toward the bikes as fast as her legs would carry her. Behind her, the grasp on Makoto’s wrist was loosening, much to the eleven year-olds great relief. “Get on the bike, Makoto,” she whispered.
“Mia, you know this is stealing, right?” Makoto asked, with a slight grin that said she didn’t mind in the least.
“Yes, Makoto, I know that. Get on the bike and follow me.”
“Sure thing, Boss!” Makoto said before saluting her quickly. They rolled the bikes away from the tree and out of the view of the officers and then jumped on them, pedaling away quickly. It was only after ten seconds that they heard the angered shouts of the officers at the loss of their vehicles. Makoto gave a cry of elation as she pedaled harder, though she was still cycling behind Mia.
Mia silently vowed to herself that when this was all over she would never do another illegal thing again. “Mia, I never thought you would do something like this!!” Makoto shouted as they rode down the road. Mia wasn’t listening though…
This time it was her ears that had picked out the noise, rather the lack of it and her cerulean eyes darted back and forth nervously. The cars in the street, which was not light on the traffic, had all stopped in the middle of the road.
“Something’s wrong. Something’s not right at all,” Mia thought in a frown as she cast her eyes forward again. “Makoto, turn right up ahead and I think we’ll have found our spot!”
“Cool!” Makoto cried in glee. Mia couldn’t help but smile at the young girl’s happiness, but did it have to be during such shady acts? There was no time to shake her head. They were dodging pedestrians as they turned onto the next road, only to screech to a halt.
Just before them, as if gravity had suddenly released its leniency on flying objects, a helicopter fell to the ground, its rotor blades turning too slowly to hold it in the air any longer. The resulting explosion threw Makoto and Mia off of their bikes, the former flying into the latter as she landed with a cry of alarm and surprise. When they both opened their eyes the wreckage from the helicopter was staring back at them. Makoto stared on in horror, an all too vivid flashback of another flying object falling to the ground in much the same manner.
“What the hell is going on here?!” Makoto cried, tears springing to her eyes.
“Makoto, we have to go onward,” Mia said, standing taking Makoto’s hand to pull her to her feet.
“No!” Makoto cried, snatching her hand from Mia’s grasp. Her voice was garbled and raw and when Mia looked away from the wreckage she could see the glistening tear streaks on Makoto’s face, tinted orange by the fire in front of them.
The clouds over head began to release their storage. Lightning flashed through the air, rumbling loudly and causing the two to cover their ears. Mia looked around at the running and crying people. It seemed as though all hell had broken loose. Makoto was still crying on the ground; Mia was on the verge of doing the same, and yet…
“Grandfather,” she thought. “I have to bring him to you…”
She turned her attention back to the crying girl and bending over, scooped her arms around her. When she stood again, it was with a groan, and not an easy task to accomplish, but Makoto didn’t argue against her anymore. She was too distraught by the memories brought on by the crash that sent flashes of the faces back to her…
Mia made her way around the helicopter crash, and lightning flashed again. The glass windows of the department stores began to crack and shatter, sending shards of glass everywhere, but Mia closed her eyes and continued to run, ignoring the stinging in her limbs. Makoto had already buried her face against her cousin’s neck as well as wrapping her arms around it. Maybe she did find a bit of solace in her older cousin…
“Hell’s broken loose,” Mia mumbled, her voice lost in the new screams mixed with thunder and the sound of running feet on the pavement.
Up ahead the police barricade was still in place, and the police were scattering like ants. Mia could hardly blame them. Even if they were supposed to serve and protect, they were still human, and still had their own self-interests. What surprised her, though, was that the boy and his tiger remained during all of this chaos.
He looked shocked, and a bit frightened, but he and the tiger stood nonetheless in their places, not budging. Maybe it was the fear that held them in place…
She had only run a block when she realized how truly out of shape she was. Then again, how many people that were ‘in shape’ could run long distance while holding themselves plus half of their original body weight? The question satisfied her even as she tumbled onto her knees and the broken glass with a crunch, still holding to Makoto as she dropped against a department store wall.
Mia began to call out to the boy for his help, but her breath caught in her throat as a form began to appear from thin air from behind him.
“Ma-Makoto!” she called out, having no one but the younger girl to share the sight with. Too caught up in her grief to know better than not to, Makoto turned and looked on in the shame shocked expression as Mia.
“Mia, I’m scared,” Makoto said, the tears still silently falling down her face. It was a monster that appeared. It could have only been a monster, with black samurai armor, standing nearly ten feet tall. “His eyes,” Makoto whimpered, staring at his white eyes. His face could not be seen, covered by a mask that ran across the mouth. In one hand he held a nasty looking kusari-gama and in the other was the slack of a chain that ran from the blunt end of the weapon. Makoto swallowed roughly, her tears stopping and crawled out of Mia’s embrace, telling herself that she had been through worse than freaks in costume. “Mia, we have to get out of here, now!”
Mia didn’t respond. She was staring in horror at the samurai that was staring down the young man. The young man didn’t seem shocked at the fact. His body was tense, in a position to fight. It was a good thing, because the samurai began to spin the scythe quickly as if he was about to throw it.
“Mia!” Makoto hissed, grabbing the sleeve of her pink sweater. “We have to go, now!”
“No!” Mia returned. The thunder had stopped, and only the faint sound of the crackling fire was even noticeable. Neither the boy nor the samurai had said anything to attract attention. “We have to get that boy for Grandpa!”
“Then let’s get him and get the hell out of here!” Makoto cried, looking back in time to see the samurai throw the scythe at the boy.
“Look-“ Mia’s cry was cut off by Makoto throwing her hand over the older girl’s mouth and receiving a stare of incredulity. After prying, which was a more difficult task than she would have admitted, Makoto’s hand off of her mouth, she hissed, “What are you doing?”
“The first thing you learn when living on the street is not to attract unwanted attention to yourself.” She turned back and looked at the deep slash on the young man’s red sweater. A different color red was visible beneath it and she cringed, but the more she looked at it the less it seemed like blood as she had originally thought. “What the hell?” she wondered aloud.
“Do you wish to fight me demon warrior?” the boy shouted as he landed a few more feet away from the samurai, crouched. The tiger growled loudly in its own challenge, but before the samurai could speak the young man began to pull his sweater off, revealing a crimson armor, similar to that of the black armor before him. However it was more form fitting and not nearly as bulky. His pants came off a moment later, to show a full-body armor that left Makoto and Mia both wondering. “I am Ryo of the Wildfire!”
“Drinking strength from immortal fire…” Mia breathed staring at them. Makoto stared at her for a moment before pulling Mia to her feet and toward an alley. Living alone for so long had built a strong basis for self-preservation within her, and if Mia was her only way out of the city, then she very well couldn’t let her die either.
The young girl barely had time to hear the samurai in black laugh before she and Mia pitched forward into the alley, the latter with a small cry of alarm. Makoto poked her head around the corner of the alley, her green eyes alive with alarm, fear, and wonder.
“Who the hell are these freaks? Running around like samurai… swinging weapons… And what is Mia,” at the thought she cast her eyes up to her cousin who was peeking over her head at the battle, “have to do with any of it? Why is Grandfather making her get this information?!”
The dark samurai began to swing the scythe again and the two moved toward and away from each other in a small dance that would be their fight. Mia’s eyes were nearly glued to them, wondering how they would make it through the fight, and hoping that the boy in red would win. Makoto was no longer paying attention to the fight. Survival had reared its not so ugly forehead and Makoto was listening to what it told her full force. She had climbed away from Mia, and was looking around the dead ended alley, for something, anything that would help them get away without distracting too much attention.
She turned back to Mia with a disgusting sigh and then continued watching. “I’ll rub it in her face for a month after we get out of this… If we- No! I am not going to die like this! Maybe there’s someone else…” The young girl peeked out of the alleyway again to see if she could try and find another person maybe that could help them. “Where is everyone?” she wondered, on the verge of hysterics.
The city had become a ghost town, either that or the other people had been smart enough to find shelter… “Not me! I’m stuck with a psycho that wants to die early!” Makoto thought angrily and she stalked toward Mia.
“Mia!” she hissed again, slapping her cousin’s shoulder. The older girl stood swiftly, turning her eyes from the battle as the sting began to enter her mind. “We have to get out of here! I have seen a lot of fights before, but nothing like this! We have to go, now!”
“Makoto-“
“Mia!”
Mia sighed, knowing that Makoto would not understand this urgency without explanation… She bowed her head and closed her eyes, trying to find the strength to pull Makoto into this.
“The war is here,” she thought, opening her eyes to see green anger-filled orbs staring back at her, “and it’s very real. I didn’t even believe it myself, but Grandfather made me see… And now I have to make Makoto see… There’s no way out of this.”
“Makoto,” Mia began more calmly this time, “there’s a legend, that Grandfather has taught me, and in his texts, the texts that I was supposed to decipher. It says that when darkness covers the earth as you see now, a war will begin… a terrible war that will cause much suffering and torment to all of those the darkness touches. This,” she said and pointed up the to dark clouds that made it seem as night, “is that time, and our only hope is if that boy in red can save us. He along with four others, will save the world.”
Through the monologue, Makoto had remained quiet, but now she was flat out silent, staring at Mia in incredulity. Her jaw was clenched tightly and Mia began to say something, but Makoto’s hand quickly raised to stop her.
“Look, Mia, if you want to stay here then just say so. You don’t have to make up some insane story, okay?” Makoto said and turned back to look at the fight. The boy was getting his ass kicked by the black samurai, and for a moment Makoto bit her lip. “I hope that was just a story,” she thought silently, sensing as Mia looked over her again, “because if not then we’re all going to die…”
As she was thinking this, the self-proclaimed ‘Ryo of the Wildfire’ was trying to pick himself up off of the shattered asphalt. Groaning and moaning, he was not having very much luck it seemed. “Damnit, get up!” Makoto thought urgently as she watched. She didn’t want to die, but she didn’t want anyone else to die either…
The samurai was advancing upon him, grinning and swinging the scythe by its chain while holding the slack of the chain in his free hand. For a moment the mirth his eyes showed seemed truly demonic, barring that Ryo had called him a demon. Mia cringed, coming around Makoto and ready to intervene.
“How will I stop that demon? How can I save Ryo? What will happen to Makoto if I try to do anything? What will happen if I can save him and don’t?!”
“Look out, now!” a new male voice cried, and Mia felt her heart leap. Both girls turned their attention to a new young man that was standing opposite and to the right, making his way out of an alleyway, toward the two that were already fighting. His garb was similar to Ryo’s, save a dark blue where Ryo’s was red. Compared to Ryo’s black hair, he had blue, and piercing dark blue eyes. “I am Rowen of the Strata, and I can not allow you to harm him any longer!”
“That’s right!” another voice shouted loudly, introducing a new character into the scene, and Makoto and Mia both cast their eyes far upward. Barely visible against the dark sky and at the top of the building that Mia and Makoto were leaning on, was a figure that suddenly jumped headfirst, causing the breath to catch in both of them.
So far they had seen nothing amazing, but when the green, self-proclaimed, ‘Sage of the Halo’ landed on the ground in a crouched position and then stood, Makoto would have to admit that something seriously wrong was going on. Mia’s beliefs were only strengthened.
“That’s not supposed to happen,” Makoto thought, her body beginning to tremble. “When people fall off of ten story builds they go splat. They don’t stand up like nothing happened!”
“And don’t forget us!” another cried, causing two more figures to be made known. One was garbed in the orange outfit with dark hair, and another was in light blue with a tawny hair color. He was even smiling. They announced themselves as ‘Kento of Hardrock’ and as ‘Sai of the Torrent.’ Makoto swallowed, taking a deep breath as she reached behind her and pinched Mia’s leg as hard as she could.
“Makoto, that hurt,” Mia replied with no emotion, still staring straight ahead as the five began to advance on one.
“Alright, then this must not be a dream. Oh my God,” she moaned silently, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself. “Mia, there’s five against one. We have to go and not interfere! They will be okay!” she said, turning back to her cousin, her face alive with fear.
Mia looked down at her with wide blue eyes, and at the vision that greeted her, she could not help but smile softly. Makoto looked scared and worried, and like she needed someone. She was admitting that she wanted Mia to be with her, in pleading green eyes. The older girl gave a small smile before she reached out and patted her cousin’s shoulder.
“Give it two more minutes, Makoto. We’ll go then, regardless, okay?” Makoto took a deep breath through her nose, her breath now coming in heaves, but she nodded and turned back to the fight quickly. Mia wasn’t going to budge until the two minutes were up… She might as well try and get some enjoyment out of the carnage before then…
“Reality’s such a bitch,” she thought as she watched the five begin to attack the samurai in black and gray, six counting the tiger. Makoto would have thought that his cockiness, considering he still did not seem concerned with the odds, would have made him vulnerable. The fight was quickly proving otherwise. Though they attacked him ruthlessly, the five seemed to be making no headway against the samurai with his scythe. “They don’t even have weapons,” Makoto noted as they each began to fall as the one in red had before. “Oh! Oh! Give him the jab, Kento! The jab!” she thought, wincing as the jab was given to Kento, instead of the other way around.
“Those five,” Mia spoke to Makoto, gaining her attention, “are the Ronin Warriors. They will save the world from Talpa and the Dynasty…”
“Talpa? Dynasty? I don’t know about all that, but they seem to have some pretty good moves… Too bad they are getting their asses kicked,” Makoto replied, having gotten over the shock of seeing all of this already. Mia would have argued against Makoto’s language, but her thoughts were the same, so she said nothing.
When they turned back they saw that all of the five now had been thrown into the ground or into the sides of buildings, suffering the same groans that Ryo had, not without justification it seemed. Mia groaned as well, suddenly running forward, despite Makoto’s earlier warnings.
“Use your armor! Why don’t you use the real armor?!” she cried, making it apparent to all that she was their as she waved her arms wildly. Makoto ran forward, grabbing one of her flailing hands and began to tug wildly at her.
“Mia, you stupid idiot! Run!”
“What have we here?” the samurai in black asked.
“His voice came from behind us!” Makoto thought, whirling quickly and coming face to face with the dark man. In a spurt of fear and defiance the younger of the girls cried out against him. “You don’t scare me, you big piece of tin shit!” Her statement only caused the demon to laugh at her. Mia grasped her shoulders from behind and began to pull her backward.
Then the older turned quickly, and cried out, “Use your armor! Quickly-“ but the breath was cut from her as she felt something squeezing at her lungs and back, nearly crushing her. “What’s happening?” she thought; looking down and seeing the black chains that now encircled her chest and looped around. Behind her she could feel someone squirming and began to hear Makoto’s enraged screams.
“Mia, you stupid bitch! Look what you’ve gotten us into! We’re going to die now! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!” Makoto screamed, and tears began to sting at Mia’s eyes.
“The fact of the matter is,” the samurai said calmly, catching the attention of all seven figures, “that the child seems to have a firmer grasp on reality than the rest of you do. Your fighting is pointless…”
“Damn you!” Makoto began to scream again, swinging her legs, so that the chain swung them around. She began to pound on the chest of the dark samurai with her feet, hoping to throw him off balance or something! No matter how much the girl grunted or forced, though, he was firm. He would not budge. “Get us out of here, damn it!” She screamed back at the five others that had managed to pull themselves off of the ground.
Makoto was still screaming when Mia heard the five young men call out their new war cries. Ryo led them off. A red light was covering his hands and then spreading out from there to swallow him whole.
“Is he taking the leadership position?” Mia wondered, but was cut off from the thought as the chair began to pull more tightly at her chest, and Makoto’s shoulder blades were digging into her own causing her to cry out again.
“Someone get us down!” Makoto cried, her anger gone and replaced by fear. The young girl had stopped thrashing and was sobbing helplessly in her suspension. Mia wasn’t as tearful as her younger cousin was, but she was still scared.
“Let them go, demon!” one of the five demanded. Mia couldn’t tell who it was, though and took a deep breath. That demon samurai merely laughed at the cry and began to swing the two back and forth.
Ryo, Kento, Sai, Rowen, and Sage were forced to watch as the demon turned swiftly toward the big advertising television behind them and threw the girls toward it with the greatest of ease, then turned back to his opponents. They expected them to crash through, and were too shocked to do anything about it. But instead of crashing through it, the two were absorbed as if they had fallen into a pool of water.
The TV slowly began to have light shown through it again, and Mia and Makoto were shown there as if they had been there the whole time, only now they were blown to scale size on the screen. The five could see the tear stains on Makoto’s face and the terror in the eyes of both of the girls. “Let them go, I said!” the one in dark blue, Rowen, cried out and jumped forward as he pulled the an arrow from a quiver on his back. He released the air at the demon samurai, only to have it bounce off of his armor harmlessly.
The samurai merely laughed as the television flashed with static and snow and then the screaming ensued. As the faces of the girls were magnified so too were their screams, nearly twenty times louder. Rowen stared on in shock and horror and watched as the girls quieted down, the younger having tears streaming down her face.
“Anything we do, they can feel?” Sage thought aloud.
“That’s playing dirty!” Sai shouted angrily.
“Maybe… But you know when you have an itch…” the demon spoke, lifting his weapon. Then he pointed it toward his chest and began to drag it across the armor slowly, pressing as hard as he could, “And you just have to scratch it!!”
The screams of the girls were heard again and Ryo leapt forward, barreling into the demon and knocking the scythe from his hand.
“I don’t know how much more of this I can take…” Makoto confessed as her head began to droop, her breath coming in heaves.
“Just hold on,” Mia reassured her. “It’ll be over soon. Don’t worry.” She felt Makoto nod and she swallowed. Her throat was hoarse from screaming and her chest was on fire from the pain that coursed through it.
The young woman closed her eyes and bowed her head. ‘If it means my death then I will die if they can save the world… But Makoto?’ Mia felt a sob escape her throat and her shoulders began to sag from fatigue.
“Mia!” Makoto cried, desperately trying to turn and face her cousin. “Mia, don’t give up! Stay awake, and don’t let him win!” The five armored young men watched the scene as a feeling of hopelessness began to cloud over all of them.
“Just STOP!” Ryo cried and the other four turned to see him with his head bowed, his fists quivering at his side. Ryo’s head snapped upward, to show his eyes were covered in a small film of tears. “Don’t hurt them anymore. I’ll give up, but you can’t hurt them…”
“You’re too foolish,” the demon replied and Makoto could nearly see the grin on his face behind his mask. “You’re going to risk the fate of the world for two lives?” It was a taunt that Ryo was fully prepared to answer.
“I can’t save my own life if it will take the life of an innocent person….” He said and bowed his head again, ashamed of his own weakness.
“No, no! No! NO!” Makoto cried and began to squirm again in the chains, her hands frantically pulling at anything that would allow her to wriggle free. ‘I’ve been in a situation like this plenty of times,’ she thought frantically. ‘Why can’t I get out now… and why are they just going to stand there and let him kill us?! Can’t they see he’s going to kill us?’
Mia lifted her head, taking a deep breath as she heard Makoto chuckle behind her and the gesture propelled her to ask quietly, “What’s so funny?”
“I just remembered something…”
“Anything you want to share?” the older girl asked, just as quietly as the first statement. Makoto laughed again and Mia felt the girl’s body shuddering through her own clothing.
“Just a moment,” she grunted. Mia sighed again and bowed her head.
“Take your time. We aren’t going-“ Her statement was immediately cut off as she felt the unusually cold air sweeping past her face again. It only took her a split second to realize that she could no longer feel Makoto’s body wrapped against hers and that she was falling through the air.
The feeling of pulling static swept over her body and with a loud pop she was aware of the sounds of battle once more. A scream escaped her throat at the adjustment and at the thought that she might be meeting the ground very shortly.
Before she and Makoto hit a solid surface, though, there was a sudden jerky stop and Mia felt a soft warm something beneath her. When she opened her eyes she saw and took the time to feel that it was fur.
“Mako-“ her plea was cut off as she saw her young cousin lying on the body of the tiger next to her, petting his head gently with a hand.
The young girl turned and looked at her older cousin, a soft smile on her face as she spoke, “I’m double jointed…” Makoto freed her hand from the tiger’s fur and then gestured to her free arm. For a moment her face contorted and she slammed her hand against her shoulder, sending a sound ‘pop’ into the air. Mia winced, as did Makoto, then the girl smiled and said, “Don’t let Grandpa know I did that. He’d have my head…”
Mia grinned as she unconsciously began to run her hands through the tiger’s fur and replied, “I think we can let it- WHOA!” The sentence had been abruptly cut off when the tiger began to run, only slowing long enough for Makoto and Mia to straddle it as if it were an animal that was meant to be ridden in such a fashion.
Mia threw her arms around Makoto and cautioned a glance over her shoulder to see a line of shredded asphalt where they had just been. Her eyes widened and she turned back around.
Apparently, Makoto had taken the moment to do the same thing, because she glanced up at Mia and through a grin, said, “I told you having a tiger would be cool!” Mia didn’t give herself the chance to nod as she released one hand from Makoto’s waist and dug it into the tiger’s warm, white fur. The ride was not exactly comfortable but she could deal with it.
Meters behind them, the battle continued to be fought as the demon realized that he had lost his hostages. He dodged punches and swipes that were thrown at him, but he was beginning to show the first signs of fatigue. The orange one, Kento they had called him, especially seemed interested in having his head.
When he black flipped out of the way of the ronin’s naginata he came to a stop just in front of Ryo of the Wildfire’s twin katana. His eyes glanced down to the blades that were held against his stomach and then to the face of the ronin.
“You will never get away with hurting them,” he said.
A quirky response was ready to roll off of the demon’s tongue, when Ryo suddenly leapt backward and high into the air, joining his katana at the hilts as he did so. His mouth opened wide as he stretched the swords high over his head and called out, “Flare up, NOW!!”
The other ronin, and the demon amongst them, were not prepared for the resounding boom or the nearly blinding white light that accompanied it when Ryo yelled the incantation. The light came from both sides of the hilt and moved upward into the sky and downward to the demon. The speed at which the attack erupted left the demon with no time to jump out of the way or even try to block it. His attempt would have been futile anyway. When the light dissipated nothing was left of the demon except the shriek that continued to echo through the street.
The others watched Ryo as he dropped to his knees on the cold ground, the two swords coming apart and falling into each hand.
“Ryo!” Rowen cried, and the ebony-haired young man looked up, glancing toward the bearer of Strata that had called his name. He was slightly surprised to see that the blue-haired genius was not staring at him, but rather the building that had been in the wake of his attack. The outer walls of the building were still standing, but straight through the middle it looked as though a gigantic ax had tried to chop it in half, but had only managed one blow, leaving an enormous crevice.
Ryo, himself, gaped at the scene, semi-horrified at the idea of having so much power.
“That’s never happened before,” he thought aloud as he watched a piece of marble tiling fall to the ground from the building with a loud, “thunk” sound.
Using the tip of his katana’s blade for support, he managed to stand and staggered forward, his lack of energy going unnoticed by the other ronin, who seemed awestruck by the sight.
“Not bad ronin,” someone spoke, causing them all to turn around quickly, bearing their weapons to attack. “But you’ll have to do better than that to beat the Dynasty!”
“Where’s the voice coming from?” Sage wondered quietly and turned around swiftly. He only saw the backs of the other ronin, and they seemed just as puzzled as he was.
“It sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once…” Kento added and he glanced both right and left.
“Up there!” Sai finally shouted and the entire group looked upward in the direction his armored hand was pointing. “Someone’s there!”
“Are you-“ Rowen began, unable to clearly see someone for a moment. Then as the clouds above their head seemed to become more intense a bolt of lightning struck off in the distance, illuminating a figure for a moment. “You’re right… Someone’s there…”
“Pathetic… If you can’t see an enemy then you can’t expect to win!”
“Who are you?” Ryo demanded and his voice sounded fatigued to the ears of the others. “I am Anubis of the Dynasty. I have come to claim the Earth for my master and crush anyone who would stand in my way!”
“It would almost sound funny if the dude wasn’t serious,” Kento commented and tightened the grip on his naginata as the others rolled their eyes.
Ignoring Kento’s comment Anubis continued with, “My comrades in arms are Dais the Warlord of Illusion!” There was silence, but they could clearly see a form beside the armored Anubis. He seemed bulkier, but shorter. “…Sehkmet Warlord of Venom!” Another appeared seemingly from no where. He was tall like Anubis, but bulky like the one they had called Dais. “…And Kale, Warlord of Corruption!” There were no spectacular displays of light, as there had been for Anubis, for Kale. If anything, things around him seemed darker than normal.
The thunder flashed again and this time gasps elicited from the throats of the ronin as they saw that Anubis and the other Warlords were gone.
“They just vanished?” Rowen said and his voice trailed off as he gently relaxed his guard.
“Just as the demon appeared,” Sage added and he relaxed his guard as his eyes narrowed.
“Ryo!” Kento cried and ran to the young man in red armor, the thoughts of their enemies peremptorily forgotten. “You were amazing! The attack was huge! Have you ever done the attack that size before?”
From his propped position against the wall, Ryo grinned softly up at his Kento, knowing that he was going to make quick friends with the boy. He shook his head in answer and made his way to stand. “Here let me help,” Kento said and worked his arm under Ryo’s to support his weight.
“Thanks,” Ryo said in a dismissive fashion and began to let his eyes wander.
“Besides the fact that you seem exhausted, is something wrong, Ryo?” Sai asked and leaned against his trident that seemed to support his weight easily.
“Where are they?” he asked quietly, not looking to the others.
“Who- The girls!” Rowen exclaimed and began to look around frantically, as did the others. Ryo used the distraction to untangle himself from Kento’s hold and place his swords back in the scabbards on his back. Then he pursed his lips and whistled loudly.
Before they knew it a white blur race around the corner of a nearby alleyway. On its back, a young woman and an even younger girl were straddled, the former seeming to tolerate the ride while the latter was trying not to fall off.
White Blaze stopped a half-meter short of Ryo, allowing the taller of the two girls to climb off of his back while the shorter clung to him with abandon.
A small smile made its way onto her face and she smiled as she walked forward, saying, “You did a wonderful job, Ryo.” Then she looked to the others and added, “My name is Mia Koji. I was sent here to retrieve Ryo, but since all of you are here, I would like you all to come with me.” She spared a glance over her shoulder to Makoto who was still snuggling against White Blaze’s back.
“Just a minute, now. Why do you want us to come with you?” Sage asked quickly, glancing to the girl a moment before he looked back to Mia.
Mia sighed, and explained, “My grandfather works at a university a few kilometers away, and he’s a professor of ancient lore. He saw Ryo on the television and sent me to get him. He knows all about the Ronin Warriors and the Dynasty, and he can help you in your fight.”
The ronin seemed surprised by this news, but before they could say anything, Rowen spoke, “How do we know this isn’t some kind of trap from the Dynasty? That Anubis guy just vanished into thin air, you know…”
From behind them Makoto snorted and spoke, “Oh please. Look at us.” At some of the annoyed stares she rolled her eyes. “She’s a wimpy teenager, and I am eleven years old! What can we do to you!” Makoto added, gesturing to her cousin and then back to herself. Then her voice softened as did her expression and she added, “Besides, White Blaze likes us…”
The five watched as Makoto devoted her attention to the tiger while Mia silently berated herself; ‘I have to get her away from that tiger. If I don’t, she will never be separated from it…’
“She’s got a good point,” Ryo said, and then added, “White Blaze isn’t nice to anyone he distrusts.”
“Then we’ll go?” Sai asked, looking to the face of each of his new comrades.
“We can’t go,” Sage objected quickly. He gestured to the ronin in red armor and said, “Ryo can barely stand after that attack, let alone walk, and if you haven’t noticed the cars and trucks don’t seem to be working that well…”
Makoto rolled her eyes at him after sticking her tongue out and then glanced around. As if on cue, the sound of a vehicle’s engine roared to life, causing them all to turn and stare at Sage.
“See there!” Makoto said and turned around to try and spot the car that had just come on.
“That one,” Mia said, and pointed to a large pickup truck, her eyes widening in delight. “We’re so lucky! That’ll get us all to the university!”
Sage reached out and grabbed Mia’s shoulder, saying, “I wouldn’t be so happy about it.” She glanced back at him a moment before she turned back to see the car pulling out and into the road.
“What the hell?!” Makoto cried out, causing her cousin to scowl at her before she continued with, “No one’s driving that thing!!”
“What?!” Mia exclaimed and she narrowed her eyes while she tried to make out someone behind the wheel. The headlights flared on, causing her to squint even more and draw back as she pulled a hand over her eyes.
“Look out!” one of the ronin cried from behind her, and before she knew it, she was being hefted around the waist and into the air. The ground suddenly became very far away, causing her to cry out in alarm. When she landed again, she looked over her shoulder to see Sage, but he was looking out at something else.
“Again!” he shouted, causing her to wince before she found herself airborne again. All at once, she found herself the passenger of a jerky ride that consisted of jumping back and forth between buildings. Through her squinted eyes, she watched as Sage propelled them higher by using the new momentum from each jump to push them upward again. ‘Amazing,’ she thought silently aware that they were about to reach the top of a skyscraper.
When they had stopped and she had released her death grip on his arm, she stepped on the sound surface beneath her and released a breath she had been holding.
“Put me down, put me down!!” Makoto cried suddenly.
Mia turned around quickly, gazing past Sage to where Makoto was struggling with the ronin in light blue. ‘Sai, was it?’ she wondered silently and willed her feet to move her forward. She hadn’t noticed how weak her legs were feeling until then…
Sai let go of her quickly, more so because Makoto snatched her arms away from him than he actually let go. The young girl stared up at him with wide green eyes. Her bottom lip began to quiver and she bit down on it roughly, but she could not hide the misting in her eyes. Then all of a sudden, her legs just gave out beneath her and she slumped to the floor, tears spilling over her face.
“Mako-chan, are you all right?!” Mia asked as she darted forward to help her, but Makoto slapped away the hands that were offered to her.
“Do I look like I am all right?!” she demanded, her voice already hoarse as the tears rolled over her face. “No! In the past hour, I have seen a demon! I was nearly killed by that demon! You were nearly killed by that demon, and on top of it all, I have to be pulled one hundred feet into the air with no warning whatsoever, and nearly take a shit in my pants while doing it!!” The little girl buried her face in her hands then to save herself some embarrassment while Mia glanced back to the others. Ryo was still recuperating and not paying attention to the scene. Rowen seemed slightly unnerved, but unsure of what to do. Kento was frowning, a crease in his brow to show her that he was upset over this, and Sage was watching with a blank expression. Sai seemed the most ashamed of them all, and a bright red flush was over his face, so that Mia offered him a small smile and shook her head.
She carefully leaned down and wrapped her arms around the girl’s body. It startled her when Makoto leapt into the embrace, eagerly placing her own arms around Mia’s neck, causing the older of the pair to sigh and bury her face against Makoto’s soft curling locks.
“Well, now that that’s taken care of… What do we do now?” Sage asked as he turned to the others.
“We need to find a place we can take shelter for a few hours,” Rowen spoke and moved to the edge of the building, looking over the railing. “There’s a subway station down there that I can see from here. It’s only a few blocks away. If we hurry we can make it there without much attention drawn to ourselves…”
“Like standing on the top of a sky scraper isn’t drawing attention?” Ryo wondered aloud, causing Rowen to sigh. “Sorry,” the raven-haired ronin mumbled weakly and then sighed as he began to stand again. “That sounds like a good plan, Rowen,” Ryo said and faced the others.
“So do we wait for her to stop crying or go now?”
“Shut up!” Mia suddenly snapped, her brow furrowed as she stood and held onto the girl awkwardly. “Have some compassion for God’s sakes. She wasn’t supposed to be involved in this at all…”
Sage bristled at the statements and then sighed as he chewed the inside of his mouth. He wondered, as Kento moved to take the groggy Makoto from Mia, if his words had actually sounded so insensitive, but he couldn’t understand how…
‘She’s probably just on edge…’ he consoled himself. Then he rolled his eyes, thinking silently, ‘God, aren’t we all…’
“I’ll take her Mia. I’ve got a lot of little brothers and sisters, so it might be easier for me to relate with her than the others,” Kento said as he took Makoto from her and held the, now sleeping, girl carefully.
Mia nodded and gave him a grateful smile before saying, “I admit I don’t really know how to handle kids that well. I’m an only child and Makoto and I have only been living together for a few months… She can be a real handful sometimes…”
Kento grinned at her and said, “We’ll manage.” Then he hefted his naginata over his shoulder to better support Makoto and moved to the edge of the building with Rowen.
“Are we all ready?” Ryo asked and he stood firmly without the aid of the others. Mia moved over to Rowen and pulled her arms around his neck, though she still watched Ryo. Rowen nodded as he put his arms around her waist and took a deep breath. The others nodded as well and Ryo nodded in return. “Let’s go then,” he said and turned quickly before jumping off of the building. The others followed, and this time they were silent as they plunged to the ground.
On the ground, their eyes darted around frantically as Ryo took point and began to lead them to the subway station. It was silent, save the consistent crash of thunder and the faint sound of a crackling fire.
Mia took a moment to brush her hair out of her face and glanced around, her eyes narrowing in thought and confusion… “Where are all of the other people? They couldn’t have just disappeared…” she wondered silently and turned her head slightly so that she would not run into anything as she ran. She spared a glance to Kento and Makoto to see that her cousin had woken and was clinging to his neck as he ran while her emerald green eyes darted back and forth, seeing everything that this madhouse offered to her young eyes.
‘God, there’s too much to do. How are we going to make it through all of this? I can’t even worry about my own flesh and blood, because I have to make sure that everyone gets back to grandfather…’
They darted into the subway darkness, grateful to see that the Dynasty influence had not spread to the underground and that a few lights were still on, illuminating things enough to move around. When they finally stopped running, it was at a rest area of all things and she watched as Kento carefully placed Makoto on the sitting bench before she sat herself down next to her cousin and began to pant from the exertion.
“That’s what you get for always hiding behind your computer,” Makoto said in reference to her labored breathing, but the barb was only half-serious and Mia hugged her cousin with one arm before looking to the others.
“Now what?” Sai asked, and it seemed to everyone that the question would keep popping up until some answers were in the open.
“Well,” Mia said and drew the attention back to her. “It seems to me that none of you have ever met before, right? I would think otherwise except you don’t really act as a team, and you didn’t seem to know how to handle yourselves back there…” She glanced warily to a few of the faces before she sighed. Their silence told her all she needed to know. “Why don’t I tell you what I know about the Dynasty, and then you can add what you know…”
“Sounds good to me,” Kento said from his seat opposite of Sai and shrugged.
Mia smiled to him before she placed her hands in the lap of her blue shorts and spoke, “When I translated the texts my grandfather has in his office it spoke of five human characteristics; virtue, life, wisdom, trust, and justice.” She paused for a moment as she noticed the young men bristle, but continued, “It said they would bind together to defeat an evil demon that existed in a physical form many centuries ago…”
Mia sighed and lifted a hand to her forehead as she cried out in frustration. As she dropped her hand into her lap she said, “There’s so much more, but I can’t remember all of it… Grandfather knows it by heart, though.”
“Were those the papers that you were always telling me not to touch?” Makoto asked with an annoyed expression. Mia nodded and swallowed, though she didn’t look at the girl. “Not that I wanted to touch the old musty things anyway… I’m thirsty, but I don’t know where a vending machine is, and I am not going by myself. Will you go with me?” Makoto asked Mia flatly.
“I-“
“I’ll go with you,” Kento said and stood from his seat. “I’m kind of hungry myself, and maybe there’ll be some chip machines or something if we can find a drink machine.”
“I have a few notes, I think,” Mia said and began to reach for her pockets.
“I’ve got it, Mia,” Makoto said calmly and held up a few bills that had seemingly come from no where.
“Where did you get that?” Mia asked hotly.
“Can you get me a soda too?” Sai asked, trying to intervene before a fight could break out among them.
Makoto grinned and took a few steps down the hallway before she said, “Your pocket!” Without warning she darted away, leaving Kento to grin and run after her.
Mia shook her head as she bowed it, then brought her hand to her forehead again, saying softly, “This is beside the point. Let’s just try and get out of this with all of our limbs intact… Is there anything you guys can add?” Mia asked, looking up to them with haunted cerulean eyes.
They all gave negative responses and Ryo went as far as to say, “What you told us is more than I knew,” causing Mia to nod and then sigh.
“There’s something else,” Mia said and then lifted her eyes. She added, “Did any of you notice how barren the streets are? There’s not a soul out there…”
“Yeah,” Sai said and then glanced in the direction they had come from. “They’re all gone. Do you think they tried to take some shelter?” He glanced to the others with hopeful eyes, but their expressions caused him to falter. Sage finally shook his head and Sai released an agitated breath.
“No, I don’t,” Sage said angrily and glanced in the same direction. “I think the Dynasty took them.”
“Why?” Rowen asked quickly, looking to the others. At their empty shrugs he continued, “Anubis said that the Dynasty was here to take over the world. What if they imprisoned the people as a first step…? Sort of as to make them prisoners… or worse…” His voice trailed off as the weight of the statement sunk in, and he sighed, lifting a finger to push the headband on his forehead upward.
“We have to consider it a possibility,” Mia replied after a moment. “We also have to consider that at least a few people made it out of the city. After all, Makoto and I are here and we aren’t really tied into this as you five are…”
“Yeah,” Ryo said calmly, a small smile on his face. “Some people had to have gotten out, or at least hid somewhere…”
The solemn air was broken when Makoto and Kento returned, each holding a number of soda cans and bags of confections. “You found ‘em, huh?” Ryo asked and the pair nodded. Makoto resumed sitting next to Mia and set her haul in between her cousin and herself.
“We found soda, chips, candy bars, gum-“
“Why did you waste money on gum?” Mia asked Makoto.
The girl stared at her for a moment then glanced to Kento, and then back to Mia with a shrug before saying, “You’re right. I mean after we eat all of this junk we can just breathe on the guys and they’ll be down for the count, right?” Mia sighed as Makoto opened a bag of chips and a soda can, but she said nothing. After swallowing the first mouthful, Makoto said, “Ryo, you feeling better?”
Ryo glanced over to her and nodded with a smile before he said, “Yeah, thanks.”
She nodded before taking another gulp from her soda and looking around the room. The others had helped themselves to the sodas and chips that she and Kento had retrieved and Mia seemed to be contemplating something.
‘Mia, I feel like I should yell at you to loosen up, but what can you say at the end of the world?’ the young girl thought silently and then looked away. ‘I want to hug you and make you feel better, like you did for me that night…’ Makoto sighed, catching her older cousin’s attention.
“Are you all right, Mako-chan?” the older girl asked, causing Makoto to glance back to her. Makoto balked as she stared at the girl, then smiled and nodded, trying to comfort her in a way she could.
“I’m just wondering where White Blaze is, that’s all,” Makoto said and began to look around again.
“Oh,” Mia said and then looked around herself for the white tiger.
“He’s over here resting,” Sai spoke and side-stepped to show the tiger that had occupied another resting bench. A community sigh was released from them all, and then they all began to laugh.
Afterward, silence reigned for a short time, interrupted only by the combinative crunching and slurping sounds. Each silently studied the other for a moment and then turned back to their food, finding nothing appropriate to fill the silence.
Finally Makoto asked, “Are you guys going to be able to do it?”
Rowen looked up from his second bag of chips and asked, “Do what?”
Makoto rolled her eyes and then threw her hands over her head in exasperation before she cried, “Save the world?! You know, work as a team to kick some bad guy ass and look good the whole time you do it?!”
Her outburst received a few incredulous stares while Mia bowed her head and covered her eyes. The youngest of the group didn’t seem to mind, though she was well aware of the gazes locked on her. After another moment of silence she added, “I’m waiting…”
“I don’t know,” someone finally spoke. They were surprised when all heads turned to Sage. He had seemed to be the confident one. Was he a realist too? Sage looked around at all the stares of disappointment and he continued, “What if we aren’t strong enough? Ryo barely beat that demon, and it nearly wiped him out to do so… Then Anubis showed up, and he laughed as if the whole ordeal was child’s play…” By the end of his speech the look on Sage’s face reflected his own misgivings. Then he clenched his fist for a brief moment and released it, unable to show his anger otherwise.
Makoto sighed and allowed her head to lull back against the wall behind her. The others didn’t seem enthused with Sage’s vote of confidence, either, and secretly she wondered if things were as bad as they seemed.
She wasn’t surprised when Mia spoke forcefully, “Then you’ll have to get stronger. You have to beat the Dynasty, and never give up!”
“Hey,” Kento said quickly, and a frown was on his face, “No one said anything about giving up…” He strode over to the trash can and dropped his soda can into it with a sigh. “But are we going to have time to get stronger?”
“Only time will tell…” Sage spoke and mimicked Kento’s own movements of depositing his garbage.
“If Ryo’s feeling better, then why don’t we go see our Grandfather now?” Mia asked and stood, partly because she couldn’t take the monotony of sitting any longer. Makoto mimicked her movements and waited for an answer from the five.
“Are you up to it, Ryo?” Sai asked gently, looking to the ronin in red.
He nodded before he spoke, “Yeah,” and then stood up straight. “I just have to-“ A grunt escaped his tightly pulled lips and before anyone could say anything else the bulky armor he had summoned nearly two hours ago vanished in an explosion of cherry blossoms.
“How-“ Mia began, but she was cut off as another burst of cherry blossoms swept past her. Rowen seemed pleased with the discovery. He lifted his arm into the air and flexed the white and dark blue under armor that covered it. The other three quickly followed the example and moved their limbs as well, testing the smaller armor as Rowen had.
“Is it more maneuverable?” Mia asked, her eyes wide, but her head clear.
Makoto sighed, uninterested in this commentary. Part of her knew that it was important, even for her, but she could not help feeling bored. She twisted between the bodies that moved around and to White Blaze’s side. The young girl reached a comparatively small hand to the large tiger’s ear and scratched just behind it gently. Under her soft touch the tiger began to purr, turning his head into the ministrations and pressing against her hand.
A soft chuckle followed by, “He likes you,” made its way into her ears. It was Ryo that had spoken she thought after a moment and a small grin crept onto her face.
“Duh,” she mumbled and she was surprised when White Blaze quickly trotted off of the bench to her level and began to nuzzle her hip with her shoulder. Makoto glanced back to Ryo, a confused expression on her face, and watched as the bearer of Wildfire motioned for her to climb onto the tiger’s back. Her eyes bugged out of her head for a moment and she turned back to the tiger. His dark eyes were watching her, almost expectantly.
“Oh what the hell,” she said with a grin and stepping onto her toes, threw her right leg over his back. The youngest of the seven used her hands to steady her body and then leaned forward and pet his head. “So we’re going?” she asked, smiling to the others as she did so.
Mia smiled and nodded to her before she said, “Yes, we’re going. I am ready to be home, too.”
“Me too,” Makoto said with a sigh before she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around White Blaze’s neck.
“Let’s go then,” Ryo said and began to lead them toward the exit.
The sudden rumbling stopped them in their tracks, each looking around for what could be causing it. Makoto didn’t feel it as much, but she could feel White Blaze tense beneath white coat of fur on his body. Then the tiger began to growl, softly, but audibly.
Makoto clutched at his fur and asked quietly, “Is it an earthquake?”
“No,” Sage replied, moving beside her and the tiger quickly. He placed a calming hand on the tiger’s brow to quiet it. Then as White Blaze quieted, so too did the rumbling.
“What was it?” Mia asked, but the others were quiet.
“The exit, hurry!” Ryo shouted and made dash himself, grabbing Mia by the waist as he did so. White Blaze took off with a break neck speed that nearly sent Makoto flying as he bounded toward the steps.
Before they made it a meter, red beams of light lanced through the roof of the subway station. The hit the floor, creating holes where they hit and then they remained in place. The beams permeated the room, filling around them in every different direction, and creating a maze that a spider would have been proud of.
“What is it?!” Ryo demanded, only to have his query met when the beams of light solidified. They became blackened chains that created webbing throughout the room, successfully entangling the group. Then the slack in the chains was pulled, trapping them so they could not move.
“White Blaze calm down!” Makoto said, and reached forward to pet the head of the struggling tiger. He did calm, but did not cease his ministrations of trying to break free.
The small brunette slid from his back, releasing some of the strain off of him and fell to the floor, landing nimbly.
She had not been forced to run away from anything in a long time, but her leg muscles still worked well and before she could even feel the sting of the fall she was running again. This time, though, she was running to help her older cousin. Mia had been caught the same way as the others, and was hanging from two crisscrossed chains by her neck, struggling desperately to get free and not having much luck.
“Mia!” Makoto cried, running forward. She reached up and placed her hands under Mia’s thrashing feet to give her some leverage. After a moment of continued struggling, the older girl got the hint and pushed herself off, gasping for air as she did so.
She gave Makoto room to back up as she dangled from the chains, but the others were suspended too high for Makoto or Mia to move and help them. Mia stared upward at the young men while Makoto dropped to the ground and then gasped.
The action caught the attention of her older cousin and Mia called out, “What is it?” while she too stared at the young men.
“He’s coming,” Makoto said, her eyes once more widening in the presence of such power. Mia looked over her shoulder at her cousin and she was torn by the need to run and comfort her or to run and to try and help the young men that were out of her reach. She glanced back to them and saw they were still struggling as well.
“If they can still struggle they can still breathe,” Mia thought and made her way to her cousin’s side. “Who’s coming, Mako-chan?” she asked as she knelt down next to the girl. Makoto swallowed and continued to stare at the ronin that were suspended from the ceiling by the large black chains.
“I don’t know who he is, but he’s not nice…” she said and her voice was still quiet, almost a whisper of apprehension. Mia glanced to the staircase that they had entered through, but she saw nothing, Her brow furrowed and she turned back to Makoto only to have the girl shake her head.
“Not there…” she spoke calmly. It was unlike Makoto to be so reserved. Mia stared at her with wide eyes. She didn’t need this to affect her cousin anymore than it already had.
Before she could say anything the younger girl groaned and placed a hand on her forehead. Mia was going to inquire on her well being when Sage suddenly shouted out a warning.
“Someone’s coming!” the single blond of the group shouted, and began to pull at the chains even more. Makoto and Mia stared up at the ceiling that was beginning to rumble like the entire station had been only minutes ago. When a chip of the tiled ceiling fell at Makoto’s feet the girl knew something bad was about to happen. More and more of the chips began to fall, until some slack was given in the chains, allowing the ronin to slip from their entrapments to the ground.
It was only a moment later that the ceiling caved in, sending them all sprawling to the floor and Makoto with the shrill scream of, “MIA!”
The dust settled quietly and slowly and after the last few pieces of ceiling and asphalt had fallen to the floor the silence fell. Rocks lay heaped everywhere in uneven places and even with the hole in the ceiling, only slight light filtered through onto the rocks. A deep and resonant chuckle filled the cavernous station, and though it echoed there was no response to it.
Sage heaved from his spot on the ground. Rock was covering his body, but no large pieces had managed to catch his head and he couldn’t see over his shoulder. There was a low moan from his arms and he looked down to see Mia cradled protectively within them. He swallowed as he watched her face contort.
“Are you all right?” he asked in a low voice and she nodded lightly.
“Just bruised,” she whispered and took a deep breath, opening her eyes to take in the position the rocks had put them into. After a heartfelt sigh she swallowed and then glanced up to Sage, saying, “If we move the rocks we risk endangering the others as well.”
The ronin of Halo glanced back up gently as far as his head would allow and he realized that he almost had enough room to sit up before his head hit a rock. Then he frowned and swallowed again, still panting before he looked back to Mia.
“We’ll have to risk it,” he said gently and Mia closed her eyes before she nodded. It happened faster than she would have thought, but Sage had held her close to him with one arm, while his other arm began to pound furiously at the rocks over head. It didn’t take much pounding. They were soon out of the rock trap almost as fast as they had entered it, though with double as many scratches.
They glanced up to the sinkhole where an armored man was standing with a kusari-gama, while he laughed down at them. Sage felt his teeth clench and he heard Mia gasp before he glanced to her out of the corner of his eye. He could already tell she was intelligent, but frightened people could make stupid mistakes. ‘I’ll have to remember that the next time I’m staring straight in the face of the demon,’ he thought silently, but then he saw that Mia wasn’t looking at the armored man at all.
She was staring at an armored hand that was poking through from the rubble in the ground. It was covered in orange and white armor and it was groping around for something to hold onto. “Kento…” Sage thought and dashed forward when he saw that Mia was not going to be enough to get the young man out. He grabbed hold of the armored hand and felt gratified when the orange gauntlet closed around his hand tightly. He pulled up as hard as he could and Kento came up almost with one tug.
In his other arm, Makoto was held securely, her held rolled back onto his forearm. The normally rambunctious girl was silent and her eyes were closed. A small drop of blood was running from the edge of her eyebrow and down the side of her face.
“Mako-chan!!” Mia cried out desperately, taking the girl from Kento as he sat back on the ground trying to catch his breath. Immediately the older girl began to check for pulse and wounds. When she found the first and few of the latter she looked to Kento for an answer.
“She just bumped her head on the way down,” he explained and took a deep breath while Sage turned back to the armored man that had jumped down to the rubble with them. He wore a darkened, almost black armor that was covered by an orange cover gi. It looked more like a family crest; something ancient, but Sage could not place it…
“Guys, we have company,” he spoke solemnly, his eyes not leaving the demon. Sage’s sixth sense was tingling as the man landed and he looked over the crest that covered the man’s armor.
“So we do,” Ryo’s voice came and Sage glanced over his shoulder quickly, thinking that the raven-haired bearer of Wildfire would still be trapped under the remnants of road and ceiling. Sage grinned as he saw that Sai and Rowen had been able to liberate themselves as well.
He looked back to the armored man, but the demon seemed unimpressed. The five young men moved forward in their sub-armor and created a line in front of the two young women and White Blaze who stood between them.
“Anubis…” Ryo said, his eyes narrowed dangerously. At this simple statement the armored man laughed.
He replied with the same resonant voice that had carried his laughter through the broken station, “That’s correct, Ryo of the Wildfire, and since this is war…” He stopped and glanced them all over, his eyes stopping on Mia and Makoto for a moment. Then he continued in a drawl, “We’ll fight. So let’s not waste time with pleasantries.”
“You heard the man,” Ryo said, glancing to all of his friends with a grin on his face that matched the glint in his eye. “Let’s armor up, shall we?”
“What about Mia and Makoto?” Rowen asked.
“We can’t leave them here without any protection,” Sai added and Kento nodded, giving his approval on their statements.
“We’ll form the circle then…” Ryo said and without hesitation they nodded. Mia watched from her spot on the ground as White Blaze moved to stand next to her rather than in front of her.
‘The circle?’ she thought silently as they formed such a circle around Makoto, White Blaze, and her. It looked more like a pentagram than a circle. With one hand she reached up and wiped her eyes gently then continued to look around at all of them. ‘They all know what it is? If they just met, how could they know?’ Mia thought as she watched and heard them all cry out.
“Armor of Wildfire, tao jin!” Ryo cried in lead off.
“Armor of Strata, tao inochi!”
“Armor of Halo, tao chi!”
“Armor of Torrent, tao shin!”
“Armor of Hard Rock, tao gi!”
She had not seen the display the first time and it startled her to see it this time. Cherry blossoms filled the air around her, bringing a pleasant and fragrant scent, but just as quickly they vanished, turning into what looked like glimmering sparkles of light that surrounded the forms of the ronin. It all happened so quickly that she couldn’t be sure about anything but the cherry blossoms, and that was due mainly to the smell. Mia cautioned a glance at the armored demon in their midst and saw that he seemed even more unimpressed than he had been originally.
The demon Warlord wore the armor of a samurai but she could not see his face because it was hidden behind a mask in his helmet. His eyes, though… She inhaled sharply.
‘They almost look human,’ she thought silently and then looked back to Makoto. ‘But if he hurt you, Mako-chan, I can’t forgive him.’ She hugged the girl tighter as the ronin around her continued with their spell of some sort another. ‘Something about a circle,’ she thought absently as she hugged Makoto again, this time tighter.
“Mia…” the eleven-year-old spoke in a half moan half whisper as she began to regain consciousness
“Mako-chan?” Mia asked calmly as she looked down at the girl’s face. Mia could see, as her tears splashed onto Makoto’s face and ran downward, how dirty she was. The tears left clean trails, but Makoto seemed annoyed by them and she reached up to brush them away.
“Mia, you’re crushing-“ but her words were abruptly cut off as she glanced up and saw the ronin circling around her. “What are they doing?” she asked gently and reached up to clutch Mia’s shirt. The five had separated themselves from their armors and yet the armor remained in front of them, moving identically with their movements.
“It’s amazing,” Mia thought aloud, but quietly as she watched. Then all at once, beams of light shot from the armors, conjoining with each of the other armors to form a perfect pentagram around Mia, Makoto, and White Blaze. Without another word after the circle had been completed the five ronin leapt out of the sinkhole, disappearing from view.
Only Ryo stuck his head over the edge and called back to Anubis, “Come and get us, if you want us, demon!”
The armored man grinned up at Ryo and called out, “Gladly, Wildfire!” He clutched the kusari-gama tightly in his hand before he pressed his knees to jump, but before he did, he spared a glance down at the trio that remained. Makoto stared at him defiantly, but even as she did she clutched at Mia’s shirt. Anubis merely grinned and leapt upward to deal with the boys.
When he was gone, Makoto released a deep sigh and leaned forward. Her breath came in heaves for a few moments as she began to relax. Then she reached up with her hand and felt around the back of her head, wincing as her head came over a tender spot.
After dropping her hand she sighed and jumped to her feet, saying, “We’re going to miss the fight, Mia! Let’s go!”
“Makoto!” Mia said angrily, and grabbed the girl’s wrist before she could dart out of the circle. “They went through the trouble of making the shield to protect us, and do you remember what happened last time?! We ended up being used as bait to try and get the guys killed!” Makoto’s eyes widened as she listened then she snatched her wrist out of Mia’s grip.
“That’s only because you had to go and open your big mouth!” Makoto snapped back, causing Mia to back up, though she did not back down. “You don’t know anything about taking care of yourself in a situation like this! You stay quiet, you mind your own business, and you always take care of yourself first!” Her eyes were, though green, nearly on fire in her anger. Makoto’s entire body was tensed together and she continued. “No one cares about anyone in this world, Mia! You think that just because you’ve been cared for you whole life that you will be for the rest of your life, but it won’t happen like that!”
Mia listened in silence as Makoto finished. Then she stood and loomed over Makoto. The younger girl waited for some sort of blow to come, her body tensing as she stared up at Mia defiantly.
Mia, herself, watched the younger girl that had become like a sister to her. Some of the girl’s words had been true, but others had been false. She knew a good deal about the world, and she didn’t expect to be always be cared for, even though she had always been pampered.
“I should spank her, or slap her one, but she’s justified in her anger. Or is she scared?” Mia thought silently as she watched the girl tense before her. Using Makoto’s slight confusion, the taller girl swooped forward and hugged her cousin tightly. At first she seemed surprised, then she struggled against her, but Mia only held on tighter and after a moment Makoto went slack again.
“I can take care of myself, you know…” Makoto mumbled against her pink sweater.
Mia laughed lightly, but said, “I know, Makoto. I know better than anyone.”
Above them the ronin had begun to attack Anubis, but he dodged every attack effortlessly, and those that did come into contact he brushed off as if it were a small insect trying to bite him.
“Is this the best you can do?!” he goaded, causing Ryo and Kento to both growl in anger. The other three seemed to remain calmer, but the frowns in their faces deepened.
“I’ll show you the best I can do!” Kento shouted angrily and leapt into the air. He quickly lifted his arms over his head and crossed them at the wrists, preparing to strike Anubis down with sheer strength. The demon didn’t even try to move out of the way! At a quarter of a meter away, Anubis suddenly lashed out with the blade of his weapon, catching Kento’s wrists were the segments of his armor met.
They were locked that way for a time, neither giving ground or able to take it. Kento growled angrily, but Anubis simply smirked.
“You think you’re so tough, don’t you?” Kento asked between tightly clenched teeth while he pushed harder against the kusari-gama.
The demon grinned at him before saying, “Brute strength will only get you so far.” Then to demonstrate his point, he lifted an armored foot to Kento’s stomach and kicked off sharply while he pushed the warrior’s arms away with his kusari-gama. Kento yelped as he was sent reeling backwards and into the ground.
“Kento!” Sai cried out, moving to help his downed friend.
“My turn!” Rowen cried and this time gave a full on attack, charging him with a clenched fist. At the last moment, before he swung his fist, he slid downward and into the ground trying to catch Anubis off guard so he could clip him. The warlord simply laughed and jumped over the sliding bearer of Strata, coming face to face with Sage of the Halo. Sage barely had time to react before he found himself struck down, facing the sky while the warm and wet feeling of blood trickled down his cheek.
“Damn, he’s fast,” Rowen muttered as he flipped off of the ground into a crouch position. “And strong…” Kento added as he began to stand up.
“Child’s play!” Anubis called as he pressed his knees once more and leapt into the air. In mid-jump he raised the kusari-gama over his head and called out, “QUAKE WITH FEAR!!” only to throw the chain’s end toward the ground, a small mace-like weapon attached to the end of it.
The ronin’s made no attempt to move, unsure of what was going to happen, but they quickly realized and began to move out of the way. The anchor penetrated the ground, burying itself down until there was no slack left in the chain to pull. Then all at once the familiar beams of red-orange light shot from the ground in all different directions materializing into chains as quick as they were formed.
“Damnit!” Ryo cried angrily at his position. “We’re getting beaten to a pulp! We’re not ready for this fight!” he thought angrily and wished he had his swords.
Mia and Makoto watched, both with wide eyes, as the ronin were trapped again in mid air. They were no longer being strangled, but their limbs were constricted in strange positions that they could not move.
“Too bad they aren’t double jointed like me,” Makoto thought silently. She glanced over at Mia, thinking better than to antagonize her with the statement. Instead she asked, “Mia are they going to die?”
Mia shook her head and sighed, saying, “I hope not…”
Things seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace. Anubis watched from the ground, and the girls could only see the top of his helmet from the cavernous subway station inside the circle of armors. The ronin were hanging like insects caught in a spider’s web trying to get free, but making so little progress that even Mia was becoming discouraged. Anubis was laughing at his own progress and Makoto was clutching White Blaze’s fur coat tightly as if to shut out the madness.
“If you break the circle around your friends,” Anubis taunted with a suave voice, “You might stand a chance against me.” The ronin looked at him, their struggling stopping momentarily as they did. “But if you don’t then you’ll die for sure, and they might as well be dead.” Then he laughed, causing them all to frown and added, “I’ve always had a thing for brunettes…”
“You’re not going to touch them!!” Ryo snarled and resumed his quest to break free, though he knew how hopeless the situation truly was. Around him Kento and Sai continued with the same motions, but Sage and Rowen had begun to calm, seeming to be resigned to fate.
“Someone!” Makoto called up, cupping her hands around her mouth while she called upward. Her voice carried rather well, they noticed… There was no response and she gently lowered her hands, but her eyes remained wide as she stared into the overcast sky.
“Pretty little child,” Anubis thought aloud, quite aware of the protests he received at his comment. He smirked, chuckling lightly and turned back to the Ronin.
“Someone’s there…” Makoto whispered, looking out to all of the buildings. Anubis’ comment did not affect her. She could see no one out in the darkness, but she didn’t need to. Something within her told her what she was feeling. “…Someone,” she spoke again, causing Mia to turn to her. White Blaze seemed passive about the words.
Then all at once a bright golden something shot down through the sky, its origin unknown to Makoto as she watched it. It zoomed downward, faster than an object that was just falling could have, and went straight past the ronin and Anubis. Bright liquid gold filled the cavern Mia, Makoto and White Blaze stood in, making night into day as the object, now clearly discernible as a staff, buried itself in the red tile of the subway floor.
The two girls gasped and watched while the glow became brighter. It was bright enough to make them turn their heads away from its origin.
Above them they could hear the alarmed cries of the Ronin calling their names out but nothing was harming them and after a moment their fears dissipated.
When the light dissipated both turned back to see the still faintly glowing staff. Mia studied it for a moment, noting the golden bauble at the very top of the black staff from which two hand-sized wings fanned out. Beneath each wing were three golden rings that chimed rather melodically despite their elemental base. In the wake of the staff’s landing, the six rings attached to the staff were ringing loudly, filling the silence that had accompanied its appearance.
“Mia! Are you three all right down there?!” someone cried from directly above her head. Mia didn’t respond for a moment. She was too busy noticing that the ronin armors had disappeared completely. Then she looked up sharply to see Sage directly over her head looking down from one of the edges of the street, no longer suspended from the chains.
“Were fine, Sage! Go and fight that demon!” she said quickly and then looked to Makoto. The girl was staring at the staff; it was a surprising addition to the already growing madness. Her mouth was slightly ajar, and her green eyes were wide. But the most surprising thing, other than the fact that Makoto was silently staring at the thing was the green light now shining directly from her forehead.
“Makoto?” Mia asked and the girl turned her head toward her so that Mia could see the origin of the symbol there. It was indeed her forehead projecting the symbol, and for a moment Mia thought that it was some ancient rune that she could not understand, but then the green light faded slightly and Makoto could see the rune clearly. It was the astrological symbol for Jupiter, sitting right in the middle of her cousin’s forehead. After a moment the symbol completely faded and Makoto glanced away, saying nothing of it, and instead running toward the black and gold staff.
“Mia, what is this thing?” she asked. Mia took a moment to assess the situation and then decided it was against her better judgment to ask Makoto about it at the moment.
“A… It’s a shakujo…” she said after a moment and Makoto merely nodded, though Mia would have thought she didn’t understand… Makoto reached up and cautiously poked the staff with one finger before drawing back almost as quickly, as if to test it. When it did nothing she poked it again and drew back again. Mia stepped forward while her younger cousin was testing the shakujo in this way. When Makoto was about to poke the staff again, Mia reached forward and plucked it effortlessly from the ground, listening to the pleasant sound of the rings clinging against themselves. “The rings on the staff are use to scare bugs out of the way of a monk’s path because the monk learns the value all life, even a tiny bug’s…” Mia explained, looking over the staff, as if the rest of the world had faded away.
“Yeah, whatever… You just grabbed it because I made sure it was safe… Where’d it come from?” Makoto thought aloud and reached up to touch the body of the staff. It was comfortably cool to the touch, despite the fact that it had just been surrounded by golden light.
“I don’t know… It came from above, so it might have come from that demon…”
“If it did, then get rid of it!” Makoto said and began to grab for the staff, but Mia pulled it out of her reach before she could and the girl had to catch her balance so not to trip over the large pieces of rubble beneath her.
“I said it might have, I didn’t say it was for sure. Besides, I don’t know… Let’s hold onto it for now,” Mia finally ended and began looking around. She sighed and looked up to still hear the faint sounds of battle over her head. The combatants seemed to be moving away from the sinkhole… Thank goodness… “Let’s get out of here, Mako-chan. I don’t want to risk the roof falling in on us if they get any more intense up there…”
“That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard all day…” Makoto sighed and then looked over shoulder to the stairs that were covered nearly two meters, she would guess, by rocks that had caved in from the ceiling. “Mia, let’s go that way and get out of here,” she spoke and began walking that way without waiting on her older cousin.
Mia sighed. She was beginning to think that until things really began to heat up, that Makoto would do whatever she wanted to and anyone who got in her way would be damned… Mia just hoped that it wasn’t going to get much hotter than things already were. She followed after the girl while the staff chink-chinked all the way behind her.
Far above them the battle had been moved to the top of one of the standing skyscrapers, a joint effort of the ronin to get the battle away from Mia and Makoto. They were not faring better, despite the fact that they had been able to acquire their armors. And yet, even though they were being hard-pressed to fight Anubis, their resilience was proving trustworthy, because they found it easier to keep fighting rather than to give in.
“I guess proper motivation deserves some credit for that as well,” Rowen thought as he strung another arrow in his bow. For some reason, Anubis seemed to be goading Ryo the most. They would often lock weapons and exchange a few quiet words, only to break apart again, sending one of them into a scowling fit while the other would smirk.
The two came together again with Anubis so close to the edge that he was nearly falling off under Ryo’s assault.
“So, Wildfire,” as Anubis had taken to calling them all by their armors instead of their names, “do you really think you can win? What are you willing to lose if you don’t?”
“I’m not staking anything, because I won’t lose!” Ryo snarled in their newest battle of words. Ryo pulled back one katana while still holding Anubis off with the other, preparing to slice him open with the free one. Anubis chuckled and before Ryo could blink, he found Anubis’ foot in his gut. He was kicked back a few meters and Anubis stepped forward to regain his footing and sighed before he lowered his hands to his sides and squeezed them together tightly.
The four ronin had gathered behind Ryo, unwilling to pursue Anubis until they were certain he was all right. The bearer of Wildfire began to pick himself off of the floor, using a katana as a prop while he took a deep breath through gritted teeth. His narrowed eyes stared at Anubis while the man just smirked at him.
“You might want to rethink those words, Ronin,” Anubis spoke with a grin and then bent his knees in preparation to strike. Ryo’s own eyes narrowed even more at this fact and before any of the others could stop him he was on his feet and charging the demon again.
“Ryo don’t do it, man!” Kento shouted out as he saw the obvious madness in this attack.
Ryo paid him no heed, though and continued to charge, before he leapt into the air.
The two attacks were shouted simultaneously:
“QUAKE WITH FEAR!”
“FLARE UP NOW!”
The red light from Anubis’ attack moved to encompass Ryo while the white light of Wildfire’s attack moved to encompass Anubis. There was loud crackling and thundering that caused the four other ronin to back up a few steps as they watched the bright energies battle one another. It was a bright light show, red and white combating for superiority while the two that had released the energies poured all they had into each attack.
The ronin could hear both combatants grunting and groaning as the thunder began to die away, and after a moment the only sound was a shrill cry from Ryo that caused them all to cry his name out simultaneously.
The two energies faded away to show them that Ryo was suspended in midair from the chains of Anubis’ attack. He was hanging limply from the chains. His katana, previously joined at their hilts, came undone as he began to slowly lift himself upward, causing one of the swords to fall from his grasp and to the floor.
The Warlord was panting from the strain of Ryo’s attack, his kusari-gama still held in the air, though the slack from the chain was pooling on the floor. He lowered the weapon a moment later, obviously not expecting such an attack from the green warriors. As he stood up straight the front cloth cover of his armor suddenly split in half and fluttered to the ground, causing his eyes to narrow.
“Ryo of the Wildfire,” he half spoke, half panted, as his eyes glanced down to the sliced gi. Then he turned to Ryo who was still suspended from his chains. “You’ll pay for that…”
The ronin watched Anubis, each sneaking a glance. Alone they couldn’t move against him and win, but they still had to get Ryo down. Again they were torn between what they had to do and what they were able to do.
“Oh hell,” Kento mumbled and jumped upward, grabbing of the chains that held Ryo in place. To their surprise, Anubis made no move against them. He remained standing still, as if hearing something that they could not. Kento paid no mind to the Warlord, simply raising his naginata to break the chains. The blade sliced through cleanly, though he nearly caught the long staff in another part of the chain web.
Ryo slipped down, caught under one of Kento’s arms and they fell back to the ground with a loud thud.
“Where’d he go?!” they heard Rowen shout, and Kento looked back in the direction of the Warlord.
“He ran?” Sage offered, looking around for the Warlord. He couldn’t feel anything with his sixth sense, and despite that a feeling of dread was quickly coming over him.
The others continued to talk about his disappearance, while Sage turned toward the castle that was hanging in the sky. From this viewpoint he could see it clearly with its distinct feudal Japanese designs and spire towers. Beyond it, a gray mass was taking form. His eyes narrowed as his mouth opened slightly. Something definitely wasn’t right with whatever it was.
“Guys…” he spoke softly, but none of them heard him. It was moving faster now and he could all too quickly see that it was taking the form of a great cyclone. Fear began to rise within him and he barked out harshly, “GUYS!” but he did not face them. His face was on the quickly approaching cyclone.
They did not have time to cry out before the fierce storm was upon them, scattering their bodies from the top of the massive skyscraper.
From the ground level, Mia and Makoto sat atop the massive white tiger that belonged to Ryo. Two pairs of widened eyes stared at the event from the ground.
“Oh my God, what is that?” Makoto murmured, glancing over her shoulder to her older cousin. The young woman’s wide eyes were fixed on the tornado that, despite its size and ferocity, did not cause the wind to blow her hair around. It was fixed in place on top of the skyscraper, spinning with a speed that caused Mia’s eyes to lose focus as she stared at it. Only her cousin’s shouting broke her trance, and even then she could feel fear eating at her.
“Five big lights just shot across the sky while you were in la-la land, one for each of the guys!” Makoto shouted and clutched another hand full of White Blaze’s fur, causing a low rumbling purr to fill the tiger’s throat and vibrate through his body and into her legs.
“So they guys aren’t on that building anymore…” Mia said and it was almost a question, but the faint tone in her voice made her sound faraway.
“That would be my guess. I think…” Makoto said and then spared a glimpse back to the monstrous black tornado before looking back to her cousin. “I think that we should get out of here… Don’t you?”
Mia shook her head to break out of her stupor and nodded fiercely, saying, “Yes. We need to get out of here, and see Grandfather. He’ll know what to do. Come on White Blaze. Can you get us out of here?”
With, what seemed like, human understanding, White Blaze took off, slowing when Mia instructed and turning back in the direction of their jeep. Mia was wondering if the jeep would even work because of the more adverse conditions that had struck them when they had first come into the city. The engine had just gone dead. It had to be Talpa, though; him along with his Dark Warlords.
Makoto stroked White Blaze’s head gently while her eyes roamed the street in front of them. Her body was tense and she was preparing for an attack from someone suddenly, not that she would have been able to defend herself.
“Good boy, White Blaze,” she murmured appreciatively to the tiger, and then allowed him to continue with his run.
Go to Part 02
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