New Blood
by Saber Alexander
McConnell
Rated PG13
CHAPTER 22: Destruction
September seemed to go by quickly. Nohano spent the days rehearsing, sparring, and performing. The San Francisco Renaissance Faire ended, and No Quarter began its season playing at the Jolly Roger theme restaurant. It was a huge difference playing indoors, with the dingy lighting and with tiers of tables surrounding the performance area.
They performed in the hour before the actual show began, watching people filing in from outside, talking amongst themselves, or cheering the group's singing. Nohano, who had been singing lead far more often since Robert's death, was a little intimidated by the amount of people the place held.
When the show started, the "captain" of the place introduced No Quarter, then the rest of the acts that would take place. He treated the guests as if they were the scurvy crew of a ruthless pirate galleon, to their delight. There were duels with swords and reenactments of famous pirate battles. The whole place looked like the lower deck of a sailing ship, with the music stage at the bow.
It was definitely different! Nohano preferred the faires, especially since they were outside, but he still enjoyed their performances.
Killian got his citizenship papers, giving him dual citizenship with the United States and Australia both. After living a few weeks with Killian and Nohano, Xan began relaxing his tough, defensive mask more and more, and they soon became a trio rather than a pair. When they had spare time, which was admittedly not too often, he would often compete against Killian on the Nintendo Centurion they'd bought with their wages. Or he would watch Killian and Nohano roughhouse, sometimes cheering, sometimes joining in.
Tarun had discovered that his school had a Kabaddi team, a sport that came from Asia and had become very popular in the United States over the past fifty years; he had played it at the orphanage where he'd lived. It was a strange sort of sport, something between tag and wrestling. It was fast-paced and used massive amounts of energy, which made it perfect for Tarun. The boy was thrilled to make the team, and spent a half-hour one day speaking happily of their first practice.
Killian discovered unexpectedly that not only could he breathe underwater, but he could cleanse it, as well. During one of the group's training sessions, he'd been out in the water sparring with Demetrius, and run into some kind of oil spill. Demetrius had recoiled in disgust, but Killian had not. After practice, Killian said that when he saw the creatures the spill had killed, and the oily birds that flapped about in the water, he almost literally saw red. "I just sorta went out there with my armor on, and swam through that filthy gunk. I dunno how, but when I was done, the oily crap wasn't there anymore."
"That's great," said Suisei with a grin. "Our own personal water treatment plant."
Everyone laughed, and Killian had chased Suisei around the stretch of beach until he was able to tackle him to the sand.
"I wonder where that slick came from, anyway," said Nohano.
It could be from anything, said Rashida. Pollution dumped from a ship weeks ago could have made it here. Or a damaged boat. Or factory waste. She sighed quietly. That is the reason most beaches are off limits now. Except the ones they've been able to clean up and shield from the ocean proper. She walked over to the backpack she'd taken to bringing to their sparring sessions and grabbing a small package of crackers. When she'd nearly fainted during one of their training sessions, she decided she needed to bring nourishment, even if it would be a few hours.
"That's really a shame," said Nohano quietly. "How could people dump that crap into the water? Aren't there laws against that kind of thing?" He noticed Demetrius wasn't entirely thrilled, either; his white hair was streaked with black, and he'd banished his oily armor, his blue eyes narrowed in disgust.
"Sure," said Killian disgustedly. "But they're hard to enforce, and companies get sneaky. It's worse than ever. I'm tempted to go into one of these places sometime with my armor on and wreak a little vengeance for the hundreds of creatures they've killed."
"Hey, if I thought it'd do any good, I'd be right there with ya," said Nohano, and everyone else agreed.
I hope that won't be there when I next summon my armor, Demetrius grouched.
"Hey!" said Tarun suddenly. "Next week's our first kabaddi game! You guys will all come to see it!" His tone left no room for argument.
Laughing, Nohano crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. "And just when did we decide this, hmmmm?"
"Just now! Besides, you'll all be glad to see me using up all my energy."
No one could argue that! Suisei laughed and said, "That's not possible, Tarun. You don't run out of energy. You know, if I am Comet, you should be Meteor. Fast and short."
That seemed to tickle Tarun, for he spent the whole way home giggling about being a meteor. By the time they reached Suisei and Tarun's apartment, everyone had agreed they would come and watch the boy's first kabaddi match. Nohano was intrigued by the sport, and didn't really have much of a clear idea of it from the kid's descriptions.
Everyone was glad to take a day off from training to watch the game. The seven of them entered the elementary school stadium to several odd looks. Nohano supposed they did make quite an odd assortment, what with all the nationalities, and Demetrius's albinism. Still, no one seemed unfriendly, so Nohano didn't mind being peered at by a person or three. In San Francisco, different nationalities weren't too uncommon, anyway. He was surprised at how many people had shown up to watch an elementary school game, but remembered that kabaddi was a very popular sport. Probably half the school had come to watch.
The group got a seat in the aluminum bleachers, near the front row, and Nohano looked the field over. It was all beach sand, with lines marked on the sides, that Nohano assumed were out of bounds, or something similar. Seven adults in striped shirts came out, and Nohano realized these were the officials. "Seven officials?" he asked, surprised. "Does kabaddi always have that many?"
Suisei laughed. "Yes. It's a difficult sport to judge. The raider of one team is sent out to tag members of the other team. The officials have to determine who gets tagged. The raider also has to chant 'kabaddi-kabaddi' the whole time, because he has to tag the other team and get back to his own team before his one breath runs out."
Nohano gave Suisei a very strange look, suspecting he was being had. "He has to do it all without taking a breath?"
"Yep!"
"That's really bizarre!" laughed Nohano. "Sounds pretty fun, though. Hey, we should get up a game, all eight of us."
"A good idea," said Demetrius, grinning. "Of course you know that I must win such a match."
There erupted a barrage of good-natured protests to this boast, until one of the officials blew on his whistle, grabbing the attention of the spectators. "Welcome to our first match of the season! We welcome our opponents from Southside Elementary!"
The crowd broke out into polite applause as a team of kids Tarun's age ran out onto the field, dressed in shorts and tight-fitting, sleeveless shirts. The official then announced Tarun's team, the Hitchcock School Pounders. Nohano cheered as Tarun's team ran out, with Tarun in the lead, his eyes searching the bleachers. When he caught sight of Nohano and the others, he waved enthusiastically before joining his team on one end of the field.
The game was interesting, to say the least. The Southside team won the draw to go first, sending out as the raider a burly boy who began muttering under his breath, one of the seven officials running right beside him. Nohano wondered at first why the boy was being so quiet until Rashida pointed out that being quiet would save him breath.
Tarun's team linked arms to form a human chain, dodging around and trying not to get tagged. When the opposing boy managed to tap one of them on the arm, that person broke from the chain and lunged at the boy, tackling him to the sand. The boy kept chanting, though Nohano could see he'd gotten a mouthful of sand, and the two fought. Finally, the raider had to gasp in a breath, slapping his fists down on the sand as Tarun's teammate stood up. He gave the opposing raider a hand up and the boys shook hands, each retreating to his side of the field.
There was very little variation in the game, but it was a lot of fun to watch all the same. There was a lot of amusing-looking dodging and wrestling, and plenty to cheer for. Nohano laughed as Tarun was selected as raider, and the boy dashed to the opposite side, tagging two of the others and making a sprint for his home side. But now he had two people trying to keep him from returning home!
He nearly made it, but one of the boys tackled him around the legs near the home base, and Tarun gasped in air. He laughed as the other players helped him up, and staggered back to his team in an exaggerated show of fatigue.
The game was close, but ultimately, Tarun's team lost to their opponents. No one seemed too put out about it; it was clearly a sport that was easy to enjoy, no matter who won. The boys and girls (there were a couple) all shook hands before walking off the field and joining parents and friends in the bleachers.
"Hey, you did great!" said Suisei when Tarun ran up, laughing and lifting the boy into the air.
"Yeah, you did," said Xan, grinning up at the kid. "You'll have to teach us all to play."
"I can do that!" said Tarun as he was set back onto the ground, shaking sand from his clothing. "It's really easy. All you--" He cut off suddenly, snapping his head up to look at the sky. Nohano followed his gaze and was uneased to see the clouds rolling in, fast. He had gotten used to the sky clouding over at odd times in the weeks past, seeing nothing of whatever had caused it, but this time, there was something different. The clouds were thicker, darker, blanketing the entire area.
Other people were beginning to notice, too, as the day grew dimmer and dimmer. "I don't like this," murmured Nohano, all trace of cheer gone from his face. "Come on guys, let's get back to the car, quick. I got a bad feeling about this!"
Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the suddenly black skies with a haze of unnatural red light.
"Shit," Nohano hissed.
The lightning seemed to have spooked everyone, because the entire crowd broke into a quasi-trot, moving towards the exit like a giant creature with dozens of legs. Nohano and his group were towards the tail end of the "creature", Nohano glancing upwards every once in a while, wanting to know ahead of time if something was going to happen.
"Nohano, Nohano!"
As Tarun's alarmed voice, Nohano looked at where the child pointed. Towards the center of the city, the form of an enormous castle began to glow faintly among the roiling storm clouds. Nohano stopped dead, feeling his knees tremble, as he recognized the awful shape of the pagoda-like fortress. He had dreamt of it in his nightmare. It was upside down for some inexplicable reason, and not quite in focus, but it didn't look silly; in fact it made the whole thing even scarier.
"What the hell is that?" Xander demanded, sounding more baffled and indignant than fearful.
'Of course he's not afraid. He's never seen it before.'
"The Dynasty," whispered Amaya, coming up to stand near Nohano. "The Dynasty is here—forget the car! It will not start! We must take cover!"
Nohano shook his head violently enough to make it ache, realizing that the others were all looking to him for a decision. "We take cover!" he called. "We—we armor up, and—and get ready to fight. We gotta protect the people! Just the riot gear for now, we don't want to use the armor's energy until we have to!"
Taking a last look at the malignant pagoda, hovering from the air like some kind of horrible tumor, Nohano sprinted for the bleachers, which were now deserted.
As the eight Ronin crouched behind the bleachers, the wind gusted hard enough to nearly knock Tarun onto the ground. The dire wail of a nearby air raid siren suddenly shrieked, making everyone jump, and Killian clamped his hands over his ears, looking terrified. Nohano suddenly remembered the hurricane in Darwin, Australia, the air raid sirens, and the laser weapons.
As the others began summoning their riot gear, Nohano ran to Killian and grabbed his shoulder. Killian started, turning horrified eyes on Nohano—it was the sirens, Nohano realized suddenly. 'The sirens, just like in Australia. He knows now, knows with every fiber of his being, that we're to go to war.'
Nohano hated seeing that look on Killian's face, and hated that Killian had to fight in a war against a country that wasn't even his own. Using the mind link, Nohano poured all the sincerity he could muster into one statement: 'I'm right here.'
Killian began to cry, looking suddenly years younger, and Nohano put his arms around him. He started as it began to rain, looking up at the storm clouds in distaste. He glanced at the others, then looked back to Killian. "Hey," he said as quietly as he could and still be heard above the sirens. "You don't have--"
"I do," said Killian, clenching his fists and looking back towards the city. "I do have to...I know I do. I—I just--" The boy took a big breath and held it, while Nohano did what he could to reassure him. "Let's—let's go."
With a burst of pride for Killian, Nohano nodded and stepped back. This was it. All they'd been training for, everything they'd prepared for would begin that day. Nohano tried very hard not to think about it as he grasped the armor sphere in his pocket and clutched it, feeling the comforting, warm weight of the riot gear settle on his body. 'Boy, they thought this was a weird-lookin' group before,' he thought with giddy amusement, 'they should see us now!' But there was no one around to see—everyone had either fled quickly or vanished into thin air, and Nohano wasn't quite sure which.
At first, he was at a loss as to what they should do, but then he caught another glimpse of the pagoda, which seemed to have sparked itself over San Francisco. "Come on," he said shakily, pointing. "I get the idea we gotta head towards that."
"Oh, fantastic," he heard Xan utter, and heard something muttered in Russian. Demetrius, who had been doing very well with his English and who now had the Ronin' mental link to use, had not brought his translator, but Nohano had the idea that he was swearing.
Nohano set a fast walking pace towards the middle of the city, not wanting to run and use up his energy before they even got anywhere near the place. "Don't get split up," said Nohano tensely. "Whatever happens, everyone has at least one other with him."
"Or her," said Rashida in a feeble attempt at humor.
Nohano laughed weakly, but looking at the girl's fearful expression didn't make him feel much better. It was discomfiting to see the usually stoic Ronin looking afraid.
"Am I big enough to count as one?" Tarun asked in all seriousness.
"Yes," said Nohano with another shaky laugh. "Yes, you count as one."
"So what do we do if we encounter one of those damned warlords?" asked Xan. "Do we attack them outright, or—or what?"
"If we come across them," said Nohano as they marched towards the town, "I get the idea they'll attack us first. Keep yourself safe, keep—keep the people safe as best you can. We need to find that Talpa jerk. He's the one behind all of this. You remember when I described him, right?" He'd realized that Talpa and the demon from his nightmare were one and the same, able to remember a basic description.
"He will be difficult to miss," said Rashida, and added a rather vicious curse that Nohano recognized.
"If he's got the guts to come out, anyway," said Xan. "Seems kind funny we've only seen his miserable goons."
"We'll find out, I guess," said Nohano grimly.
It could not have been later than five in the afternoon, but it was so dark out it nearly seemed to be nighttime. The streets were deserted, and the sirens still wailed, sending a chill through Nohano's body. He'd always hated those air raid/tornado sirens, partly because they foretold disaster, but mostly because their sound was so different than anything else. They didn't sound like police or ambulance sirens—they revved up into discordant, multi-tonal peals that echoed around the whole city. Nohano shuddered, especially when he realized the sirens were the only electronic things still working. "Power source must be far underground," me muttered.
The first group of soldiers took the Ronin by surprise. Huge, hulking suits of empty Oriental armor, riding horses and chariots. An entire patrol of them thundered across their path, and Nohano saw in horror that they had hold of several terrified people, all fighting to free themselves from their ghoulish captors.
Nohano didn't have to give the order; the others were already calling their armor, and the flashes of colored light made the strange soldiers flinch back for just a second. Nohano called out in a voice that shook, "Armor of Wildfire!" His heart beat quickly and his limbs shook as he watched the creatures turn, some throwing down the people they'd held, some fleeing with their burdens. Nohano didn't even want to think what they were going to do to those poor people! "Be careful of the people! Get them free!"
He cried out in pain as something hit him from behind, and he spun around, dismayed to see half a dozen more soldiers rushing them, and he yanked his katana from their sheaths on his back. With a furious double swipe, he cut a great slash in the soldier's armor, loosing wisps of vile, pinkish smoke. He blinked for a moment in surprise, pushing his helmet up a little to better see, and realized that there was nothing inside them. "Automatons," he murmured. But they were fueled by magic, he supposed! They must be the soldiers Amaya tried once to describe!
The important thing was that they were not difficult to defeat; they were more frightening than deadly.
He gave a yell and charged a second group of them, slashing at one's back and watching him fall to the ground, the spinning around to block the attack of two more. For the next few minutes, Nohano hardly thought; all was a whirl of slashing blade, clanging steel, and an occasional cry of attack or pain from his companions. He shielded the people from weaponry, and he saw Killian and Xander both dashing into the fighting to help the people away. But they weren't getting all of them, Nohano realized in horror. Several had gotten away with their captives.
Very soon, a large pile of empty, smoking armor lay on the darkened streets, and Nohano stared at them, feeling stunned. He suddenly laughed in amazement; their first real victory as a team! He turned to the others, who all looked just as shell-shocked, and asked if they were all right.
"Yeah, we're good, mate," said Killian, his voice far calmer than it had been back at the elementary school. "But we gotta get these people out of there. I-I couldn't-we didn't get them all."
"We must take care of Talpa," said Amaya grimly. "The people he has will be freed then." Killian's haunted expression lessened then, though he clearly wasn't happy about the situation. He turned then to the huddle of people cowering near a deserted video store, staring at the Ronin as if they were demons from hell.
They probably think we're one of them, said Nohano sympathetically. They're out of their minds with fear. Gods, I don't blame them.
Killian frowned, signaling for the others to stay back. Cover me, all right? I'm going to armor down.
Nohano almost stopped him—he didn't like the idea of Killian exposing his identity, but then held back at the last minute, only acknowledging Killian and watching his back. These people were in no condition to remember anything about them, and even if they did, what were the chances of meeting them again in the streets? There were only about twenty of them.
Killian banished both armor and riot gear, and once he was clad only in his street clothing, he was not nearly so intimidating. He spoke quietly to the people, though Nohano could not hear what was said, and slowly approached. Most of them cowered back some, but of all the Ronin, Killian was best at dealing with frightened human beings. Where do we send these guys? asked Killian. We can't take them with us, and if they leave on their own...
Nohano sighed, not sure how to answer. But Rashida made a suggestion. Direct them to one of the shelters, she said. Make sure they know how to avoid the notice of these soldiers, give them some information about how they operate. Give them as much of an advantage as you can. I think that is all we can do.
Okay. Even Killian's mental voice was strained, as he began talking once more with the people. Eventually several of them began nodding, and a few of the adults seemed to be taking charge of the group. Nohano noticed furiously there were half a dozen children in among them, and vowed revenge for the terror the poor things had endured. And how many had been captured?
Once the citizens had disappeared into the shadows, heading for the nearest public shelter, Killian armored up once more, looking a little shaky. Nohano pt a hand on his shoulder.
A sudden, massive crashing sound from several streets away caught their attention; a rise of debris-smoke puffed into the air, taken immediately by the wind, and Nohano realized that an entire building had been destroyed, or at least very badly damaged. He stared, horrified, as another rending sound echoed in the streets. Whatever the main commotion was, they were getting close. "Come on!" he cried, breaking into a run. He prayed silently that no one had been killed. He knew that the officials would be getting people under cover—but he hadn't seen any officials! No cops, no National Guard, no Anti-Terrorist squads!
"Look!" cried Demetrius as the group ran towards the sound of the crashing. They all stopped short as a huge skyscraper that Nohano recognized as the First National bank building, rent in half as if someone had taken a giant sword to it. The building half collapsed, spewing rubble and broken glass onto the street. To Nohano's horror, half the buildings on the street had suffered the same fate. There were no people still around, and Nohano could only hope that meant they'd made it to the public shelters.
The sudden sound of helicopters sounded overhead, and Nohano watched, sudden hope spreading from his chest to the rest of his body. "Take cover, guys, it's the military!" There was no mistaking the camouflaged pattern on the whirlybirds, and for just a few moments, Nohano thought it would be all right.
The eight youngsters darted beneath a abandoned subway kiosk, peering out from beneath the dubious shelter of its roof to see what happened. Nohano didn't know what the others did when they saw it, but he fell to the ground, sitting on his hind end and gaping in horrified fascination.
There were things floating in the air. Things. Nohano didn't know what they were, but they were magical, that was all that he could tell. The choppers that approached fired on them, but did no good whatsoever—for a few brief moments there were machine guns and laser weapons crashing overhead, and then the horrid sound of crashing metal, and the deafening roar of a sudden explosion. Another burst of gunfire, a flash of unnatural lightning, another crash... The military was being shot down as easily as if they were made of paper, and it was then that Nohano truly realized the enormity of the situation he'd been thrust into. "We don't have a chance," he whispered. "Dead, all of them..." The motors, he realized dazedly. Their motors had stalled, just like the cars.
He almost didn't feel the small hand on his arm through the armor. Tarun stood there in his bright armor, his face solemn and scared, but determined still. "We do," he whispered. "We have a chance. We have to! We'll get them. We're the good guys...we have to win."
Nohano could have said that being the "good guys" didn't mean anything, but he didn't. In fact, Tarun's determination gave him some of his resolve back. "Thanks, kiddo," he said, standing up and breathing deeply. "Let's go, guys. I dunno what we can do, not against this, but—we've gotta do what we can. And maybe we can take a few of them out with us!"
Suisei raised a fist in the air. "Let's go," he said with a wild sort of grin. "They'll be sorry to mess with us!"
Nohano would never forget that day. The eight Ronin ventured out into the city proper once more, encountering several patrols of the empty armor-soldiers, and defeated them as they went on. They managed to save several of the people, though Nohano didn't know if they ended up all right or not once Killian had sent them on their way. Nohano fought more that day than he had ever fought at one time.
Lightning from the clouds overhead and dark energy from the strange figures floating in the sky had, in the space of an hour, destroyed half the city. Nohano had never, ever walked through a city that had been so badly ruined, not even in his Australia dream. Even without the armor-soldiers to fight, their journey was awful.
Hulks of once-towering skyscrapers and the burnt-out, demolished shells of strip malls and shops loomed everywhere, destroyed by dark magic. Cars, useless in the power that had blanketed the city, sat abandoned where their drivers had left them, some having run into others or turned over. The streetlights had gone out, leaving the only light from the lightning and a sickly glow from the magic-things floating overhead. Even the streets themselves looked as if they had been torn up by laser fire, and Nohano figured some of the military's lasers must have hit ground. But not all of it looked like laser damage. Some was less identifiable.
Then there was the pagoda, hovering like death above the skyscrapers. Somehow that was the worst, so impossible, and vile. And over it all, spreading like a bruise, the greenish pallor of the clouds and the darkness they cast.
"I wonder if the guys're okay," said Nohano glumly hours later, thinking of the rest of No Quarter. It had been over an hour since they encountered the last patrol of armor-soldiers, and everyone had gone back to wearing their riot gear. Rashida and Tarun in particular had said they were beginning to feel their power weakening, and Nohano realized that there was nothing nearby to energize them. It was evening, which meant that Tarun couldn't re-energize until morning, and Rashida needed light, which they were quite short of.