New Blood
by Saber Alexander McConnell
Rated PG13

CHAPTER 23: National Emergency

By the time night had fallen, distinguishable from day only in the drop of temperature, Nohano announced they would need to find a place to camp out. "I don't know where these Dynasty bastards are," he said, "but we're worn out. We need to find some place safe to hide out in, get some rest and re-energize, and then...then we go back out, I guess."

"We'll find them, Wildfire," said Amaya, smiling a little at him. "We'll find them, and make them pay."

Nohano managed to smile back at her unexpected encouragement. "I hope so. I wonder where everyone is—have they all made it to the shelters?"

"Many, likely," said Demetrius. Hie pale face was far grimmer than normal, and it was a striking difference from what Nohano was used to seeing. "I think some have died. But many have been taken.."

"Taken?" said Tarun, sounding both tired and scared. "You mean prisoners?"

"Yes," said Amaya, her tone unhappy. "My father—he said once that the Dynasty would take people prisoner, hundreds of them at a time. But they wouldn't kill them."

"Why?" asked Xan, frowning.

"I don't know."

'Perfect,' Nohano thought as they marched into a residential area. The idea of the townspeople being held prisoner in some dark, dank dungeon pit did not encourage him any, and he hoped again the ones they'd saved had made it somewhere safe. Scowling, he peered into the nearest of the half-fallen houses, a one-story cottage with a cellar. He decided it would make a decent shelter, as the basement was not exposed, and would shield them both from sight and other dangers. "In here, guys—we can wait out the night in here."

"What if it comes down on us?" asked Suisei doubtfully.

"We should be all right," said Nohano. "It's mostly wood, and it's half down, anyway. With our armor, we should be safe enough."

"You mean the riot gear?" asked Suisei. They'd all adopted that term from Nohano.

"Yeah. Come on." Nohano crept into the house through the back door, treading carefully on the debris-strewn floor. He located the stairs to the basement easily enough, and tested them, finding them to be made of stone. "Okay, it's down here. It seems okay."

He heard the clatter of the others' boots on the stairs behind him as he crept down, feeling around for a light switch. He wasn't all too surprised to find that the lights did not work.

"I've got a little flashlight on my key chain," said Suisei. Nohano heard the sound of jangling keys, and wondered how Suisei had gotten to them with his riot gear on. A moment later the question was answered, when a surprisingly bright light shone in the cellar, and he saw Suisei didn't have the armor on. "I'll get it back on in a minute," the older youth said.

Nohano nodded, looking dispiritedly around. He felt numb—he'd never thought he would ever see what he'd seen that day. He never thought to see his own city in ruins, and himself one of the only things that could save it. His breath caught in his throat and he closed his eyes for a moment, wrenching his thoughts to anything but that.

"Seem okay," said Rashida. "And a strong table for cover if things fall." She nodded her head towards what looked like a pool table with the felt ripped off. It made Nohano feel a little better; like she'd said, it would be good cover. He wondered who had lived there, and what they'd been doing with the table. Was it used for pool, or something else? Were they refinishing it? Was it salvaged from the dumpster? Nohano suddenly hoped that its owner would someday be able to return to his project.

"And look, a little radio." Tarun trotted over to the far end of the little basement and brought out a hand-held radio, turning it on and trying to get it to work. Unsettlingly, there seemed to be nothing on the air at all, only blank noise, and sometimes static. Nohano was a little relieved at hearing music blaring from one of the stations on the satellite bands, however, since most of those were not in the city.

"Try the emergency station," said Amaya.

Tarun obediently flipped the switch in the back to the emergency frequency, and Nohano listened to a grim-toned woman reporting that the airforce had been sent in to "deal with" the terrorist attacks on the city of San Francisco. "There are reports pouring out of the city of mass hallucinations, bombings, and illegal laser-weaponry. Several squads of anti-terrorist soldiers have been sent in, but no word has come from San Francisco of their progress. All routes into the city have been blocked, and no one is being allowed in. Any managing to escape are being taken into the protection of the government, sent to refugee shelters until they can be relocated. Citizens are urged not to try calling friends or family within San Francisco, as the airways must be kept as clear as possible; many electronic devices are not working properly as it is."

"That doesn't sound so hot," said Xander.

"We have reports from those who managed to escape the city of a masked...entity, whose image appeared over the city, in front of City Hall, declaring San Francisco a part of his new empire. Reports being too numerous and identical nearly to a word, authorities were not able to dismiss this so easily as mass hysteria. People are urged to get away immediately if they see anything like this, and to report it directly to authorities. As of now, only San Francisco, California seems to be affected, but all fifty-one states have been put on yellow alert."

Tarun scowled and moved as if to change the station, but Nohano caught his arm. "Leave it," he said. "I want to know what's going on and what's being done. At least some people have gotten out of San Francisco."

Tarun shrugged agreeably and started a wrestling match with Demetrius. Nohano set the radio on the bare pool table and listened.

There wasn't much to report that he hadn't heard or seen already. The newswoman reported the sightings of the strange armor-soldiers they'd encountered, and the strange weather that seemed to be only affecting San Francisco and the surrounding areas. "A masked hologram," said Nohano, scowling. "Amaya, is that the demon? The one in control of this damned Dynasty?"

"I think so," said Amaya unhappily. "It makes sense. He wants to control everything."

I don't believe it, said Rashida through the mind link. The military is being crushed by this Dynasty. Those things in the sky, I think they're some kind of...spirit or demon.

Nohano shuddered. "Whatever they are," he said, "They're bad news. If the military can't even fight these guys, how can we?" He felt overwhelmed by the massive power of the attacking Dynasty. They'd cleared an entire city in only a few hours.

'They have technology,' said Demetrius mentally. 'Technology does not work well with this Dynasty. But we have magic. We can fight them because we use the same weapons as they do.'

Somehow, Nohano wasn't all too reassured. "Look. We should get a few hours' sleep. We need to be at our best tomorrow. I have the feeling we're gonna need all the energy we can get."

Despite the late hour and his logic about needing the rest, Nohano had trouble falling asleep. The riot gear was not comfortable, and he was more scared than he'd ever been in his life, and not for himself. The empty streets, the wrecked buildings. Surely not everyone had managed to get away before the attacks happened. And where was everyone? In the shelters? Evacuated? Dead? Surely the Dynasty could not kidnap an entire city...could it? And what about the guys in No Quarter? Had they gotten away. Nohano laughed quietly, though there was no humor in it. 'Guess our gig at the Jolly Roger is null and void.' He didn't even know if the restaurant still stood.

When he finally slept, he dreamed of the Renaissance Faire.

The next morning, he was shaken awake by two small hands that for some reason made a clicking sound when they connected with his body. The riot gear wasn't quiet. Nohano groaned and opened his eyes, trying to make sense of Tarun's face hovering above his. "Hi," the boy said cheerfully, and Nohano wondered where hell he'd gotten the cheer.

Nohano sat, rubbing his eyes, and saw that everyone else was awake, and that they were still in the dingy little basement. "Wonderful."

Enchanting, isn't it? said Demetrius wryly, standing and stretching. These metal pajamas are no good for sleeping in.

"What is our plan for today?" asked Rashida in careful English.

Nohano sighed, feeling surly all of a sudden. Why was it up to him? Just who had decided that he was supposed to be the leader, anyway? He scowled down at the bright red of his riot gear, wondering why the armor he wore made a difference of whether or not he was supposed to lead. He didn't even know how to go about it! "Suggestions?" he finally asked with a sigh.

"It's kinda hard to know where to start," said Suisei. "I suppose we need to track down the demon—Talpa, right?"

"Arago, in Japanese," said Amaya.

"Right. Either way, he's behind all this."

"You can bet the bastard won't just be lounging around the streets," said Xan disgustedly. "He'll send his peons after us first. Like those soldiers we saw marching the streets."

Nohano shuddered, trying to imagine how the citizens must have felt, seeing the frightening specters in grim formation, destroying anything they saw. "Definitely gotta get rid of those," he said. "They're not even creatures, or people. They're not even zombies, for hell's sake!"

Animated armor, said Demetrius.

"Sure wish we could find somethin' for brekky," said Killian sleepily, making several of the others blink at him.

"What's a brekky?" asked Suisei.

Killian blushed a little, but Nohano managed to grin. He'd heard the phrase before. "Breakfast, if you insist on being picky," said Killian with a short laugh. "It's an Aussie thing." Rashida said the she, also, needed something to eat.

"We'll see what we come across. For now let's just...get an assessment on how bad things are up there."

The answer that was: bad.

The eight bedraggled youths extracted themselves from their ruined shelter, and Tarun grabbed the radio to take with them, just in case. It was always good to know what was happening elsewhere, and how much those outside the city knew. They gazed on the ruined street, now a mess of concrete chunks and broken glass, and other various bits of debris from the half-collapsed buildings.

"How?" Amaya asked, scowling darkly. "Their magic did this? Their weapons? The warlords?"

"Probably a combination of all three," said Nohano, looking up into the stormy skies. The rain had stopped, but the threatening clouds remained. As he watched, a streak of lightning illuminated the sickly cloud cover. "I don't see those spirit things."

"We should start searching for survivors," said Killian.

Nohano nearly smacked himself in the forehead. Why the hell hadn't he thought of that? Of course they should look for people that might need help! "That's a good idea," he said. "All right. Um, Demetrius. You and Rashida be ready to lift crap if we need to free anyone." Demetrius was the strongest of all of them, and Rashida's burly strength nearly matched his.

Got ya.

"Killian, you know some first aid, right? You'll have to be ready to help tend people. Gods, if only one of us could heal with these powers."

Amaya frowned, cocking her head. "I think we might be able to," she said. "If I remember the legend, they say one of the armors have healing powers. At least one. I don't know which." She looked to Suisei. "Your virtue is "life". It may be you."

"I can try it," said Suisei.

"But it might be Torrent, too. Waters are healing."

"Guess we'll find out," said Killian.

Nohano took a big breath. "Okay. Be ready to armor up, and everyone keep a watch for ambush. Those cowardly wretches aren't above sneak-attacking us."

Nohano felt a lot better now that they had an actual goal; to seek out and help people that might be hurt or trapped. He led the group in patrolling the streets, half on one side and half them on the others, listening and calling for anyone who might be nearby.

It's odd, said Suisei through the mind link. I can sense people nearby. Us only, for now. But...it may be that if we meet someone else I will be able to sense them too.

Try, urged Nohano from across the street. He looked over to see Tarun climbing on a fallen I-beam, and peering down into a half-exposed cellar. To him, Nohano directed, Don't fall on your head there, kid. Might do more damage to the building.

Tarun turned to give him an indignant look across the street, then filled his mind with the weirdest sense of giving him a raspberry, though through mind speech. Nohano laughed, glad of the amusement.

After about an hour, Nohano was starting to get discouraged. Everyone seemed to be gone! They'd not even found any bodies, yet. Had everyone gotten away? Were the young Ronin the only ones stupid enough not to flee? 'For that matter I doubt we could flee. They have everything blocked off, and if the Dynasty found we were trying to leave, they might follow.' The last thing they needed was to encourage the Dynasty to spread elsewhere.

After several blocks' worth of searching, the Ronin did find several crashed choppers from the military assaults the night before, but no one in them lived. They saw the first bodies in those vehicles, most of them charred by the fires and explosions. Tarun, normally cheerful and optimistic, burst into tears. Suisei held him, and Nohano took a step back, feeling faint. His hands balled into fists as he gazed at the body. 'You can't even tell what he looked like,' he thought furiously. 'Or even if it's a he.'

"Come on, mate," said Killian softly. Nohano turned to see Killian had cried, also.

"Right." Nohano reluctantly left the wreck, feeling it was somehow wrong to just leave them there. But what else could they do? The chopper pilots weren't in danger any more. "Just wait 'til I see those miserable bastards!" he growled as he turned away, his teeth clenched.

"I think I can oblige, young Wildfire."

The voice did not belong to any of them, and Nohano didn't know about anyone else, but he was convinced his heart had jumped out through his throat. He turned around, not too surprised to see the warlord with the wolf armor, the one he'd seen at the faire. Flanking him were two others; the pink-clad bastard who'd first spotted Killian and Nohano, and the snake-man in his green armor and serpent mask.

"Just who the hell are you?" Nohano demanded, his eyes wide in dismay. As much as he'd wanted to pound them, to be confronted so suddenly was threatening panic in his mind. 'Damn it you're a warrior! You need to deal with this! Be Wildfire!'

The pink-clad one laughed, his voice muffled and distorted behind the facemask, which covered his mouth. "True, we've not yet introduced ourselves. How rude of us." His mock manners grated on Nohano, and he narrowed his eyes. "I am Dais, the Warlord of Illusion!"

"Nice pink pajamas," snickered Xan, earning a seething glare from Dais.

Keep an eye out behind us! Nohano sent suddenly through the mind link. If these three had managed to creep up on them unawares, others might do the same, and the last thing they needed was to be surrounded!

"I am Sekhmet," said the snake man, his voice deep and rough. "Warlord of Venom. I look forward to using my poisons on you brats!"

I'll pass, thanks, said Suisei through the mind link. Nohano could feel the others' presence there as well, all of them scared and furious both.

"And I," said the wolfish creature," am Kale, Warlord of Corruption and Darkness."

That's him! came Tarun's furious mental voice. That's the dark one that I don't like!

"Why are you here?" asked Rashida in her own language, though her thought transmitted clearly through the mind link. Nohano watched the warlord carefully, trying to judge whether not he had understood. Obviously he had, because all three of them began to laugh, a half-sane sound that chilled Nohano to the bone.

"We are here to take over this mortal world for our master, Talpa," said Sekhmet. "And, of course, to wipe you out. The master is quite irritated with your meager interference thus far!"

"Ha!" challenged Nohano. "If he's so pissed at us, why doesn't get his lousy hide out here and confront us himself!"

He had obviously struck a nerve. Sekhmet's eyes narrowed dangerously, looking even more unnatural, and he began drawing his katana.

"Shit," Nohano uttered, and gave the mental order to armor up. They shoulda done that to begin with! He called out for his Wildfire armor, watching the warlords draw their own weapons as well, and Nohano's fear began to wash away in the blaze of flame that went through his mind. He didn't think it was the armor, either. It was his own anger, the adrenaline. It was like that when he performed, too. He was scared, shaky, before he got on stage, but once the time came, the fear dropped, and he was ready.

"So, you have discovered the secrets of your armor," chuckled Kale, amused as if watching a child master riding a bike for the first time. Nohano scowled in irritation. The least these smug bastards could do was to take them seriously!

"We have!" declared Demetrius in English, seemingly not offended.

"Perhaps, then," said Dais maliciously, "you whelps would care to show what you've learned!"

Nohano's heart leapt as the man took the spider-like fan of scythes from his back, and Nohano grabbed back for his katana, backing up a step. Kale drew his longsword, almost identical to the one Rashida carried, and then everything seemed to happen at once.

Kale let out a fierce battle cry and leapt into their midst. Everyone flinched backwards, and Nohano cursed as all of a sudden, all three of the bastards had leapt into the middle of them. Kale lunged for Nohano, who brought his katana up to block the over-handed blow, dodging to the side and bringing his blades sharply down, trying to disarm him. No such luck; Nohano had the clear intuition that he was badly outmatched.

He heard a scream from one of the others, turning his head for a fraction of a second, then cried out himself as Kale's sword struck him alongside his helmet, numbing his ear and the side of his face, and knocking him aside. Nohano snarled and spun back around, this time meeting Kale's sword thrust with blades crossed. "Damn you, you miserable freak!" Nohano hissed, ducking down and jumping away from the wolf-man. It was frightening, how his anger translated to fire in his mind, but it was empowering, as well. He felt a surge of strength as Kale leapt at him again, this time soaring straight above Nohano's head and landing lightly behind him. Nohano spun—instinct--and swung both katana at Kale's side. Caught by surprise, Kale yelled and staggered back.

"I thought you said we were pathetic!" sneered Nohano. "That must make you completely useless!"

"Wretch," Kale hissed, all trace of smugness gone. "It was a lucky hit you scored. It won't happen again!" Kale raised his sword, and Nohano leapt back, expecting another lunge, but Kale didn't even attack. He shouted out, "Black Lightning Slash!"

Nohano was confused for only a second, as the air around them grew dark, and purplish lightning sparked from Kale's sword. Nohano had seen something similar from Rashida's blade when they had practiced their weapon-power attacks, but hers had been bright, hopeful. The energy spinning off of Kale's sword was dark and powerful.

And then it hit; pain like he'd never felt before, searing through his armor and into his body. Nohano screamed, staggering backwards to sprawl on the asphalt, gripping his katana more by instinct than by a conscious desire to keep hold of them. Unnatural cold pierced through his entire being, dizzying amid the heavy, oppressive air of early autumn. He heard Kale laugh, too close to him, and Nohano rolled on the ground, only barely avoiding the sword, hearing it crack the asphalt, leaving a deeply scored line.

He lurched to his feet, his vision clearing, looking into Kale's face. The warlord looked gleeful, pleased by the pain and fear his attack had caused. "Enjoy that?" he asked.

"Oh, right," gasped Nohano. "It was lovely, you cowardly jerk!" He ducked behind an overturned garbage truck as Kale called his lightning attack once more, this time letting the truck take the brunt of the attack.

The lightning sizzled through, igniting the gas tank, sending the truck up in flames. Though Nohano at first recoiled, a natural reaction, a moment later he laughed and leapt on top of the burning truck, gathering what energy he could. The fire dimmed quickly, then burned out entirely before Nohano leapt down, watching Kale's furious expression. "We're not so easy a target are we, freak?"

"Insolent whelp," hissed Kale. "You honestly think you half-trained brats can stand against the Dynasty? Look. Look at your pathetic group against Master Talpa's warlords!"

Knowing he shouldn't let himself be baited, but not able to help himself, Nohano turned to look, the sounds of their battle only now making it past the red haze in his mind. Even as he watched, little Tarun only just sprinted away from a vicious swipe of the sword-chain whip he'd seen Sekhmet using on a little girl back at the Irwindale faire. He watched Demetrius go down from a laser-pistol shot from behind, only staggering up in time to avoid a fatal blow. Killian and Suisei were knocked down by the charge of a burly warlord in bear-like armor.

Terror for his friends and rage at the warlords warred in Nohano's mind, and he turned to look back at Kale, standing in the street, what little of his face that was visible showing a self-satisfied smirk. "See? We could easily kill you."

"So why haven't you?" Nohano asked, his voice shaking, wanting nothing more then than to rip this smug bastard's throat out.

Kale laughed, clearly enjoying himself. "Orders, brat. We're to bring you to Talpa. Your fear and suffering will power him, as does the fear and suffering of the people in this city."

"No," Nohano whispered, slowly shaking his head.

"Oh, yes, there were some who made it out, and yet others who hide. But most of them, well, let's just say our master is paying them close attention. Unfortunately he cannot bring you brats across the barrier between the dimensions. Your armor protects you from that."

'Thank God,' Nohano thought.

"Of course some mortals never made to Talpa's palace, and lie dead in the street. Much like your little singing companion a few weeks ago, hmm?"

Nohano felt cold as Kale mentioned Robert's death with such casualness, even amusement! Without warning, he lunged at the man, bringing the katana back for a mighty blow at Kale's chest. Kale's maddeningly laugh echoed in Nohano's mind as he leapt from the lunge and brought his longsword round to strike Nohano in the back.

Nohano could barely think. All he could do was to go after Kale with everything he had, blocking out all of the others. He felt the sting of Kale's blade against his body, even through the armor. He felt the crippling cold the warlord induced with his mystical attack, and the searing pain of the electric-like power. But even more, he felt the fire, the fire of both his armor and his rage. Grief for Robert and the dozens of others that must have been killed in the attack only gave his anger power. Kale's mocking laughter rang in his ears.

Nohano!

The voice was Killian's, breaking through Nohano's rage. He felt a moment of panic, from Killian he realized, not his own. Nohano, we've got to retreat! We're losing here!

Nohano could not answer then, caught by a vicious blow in the side, a blow that felt like a boulder had struck him, knocking him several meters away to crash against a half-ruined skyscraper. His head throbbed suddenly, his body aching, as he fell to the street, only able to stand again with great effort, and was astonished to see he'd left a cracked dent in the asphalt. He looked up to catch sight of the burly warlord in bear armor, leering brutishly at him from beneath a masked helmet, and realized he'd been the one to hit him. "Name's Shuang," the man chortled. "Warlord of Destruction."

He stood next to Kale, and Nohano viewed them with no small degree of fear, his teeth clenched against the sudden, horrible ache in every bone in his body.

A third warlord joined them, but did not attack: Sekhmet, the snake-like warrior. "They are weakened," said Sekhmet, grinning eagerly. "Shall we signal Lord Talpa?"

"Yes," said Kale. "Signal him."

Sekhmet's grin widened, and he stepped back, shouting up to the skies in Japanese. "Master Talpa! We are ready, now!"

'Ready?' Nohano thought frantically. 'Ready for what?'

A burst of reddish-orange lightning arced overhead, and before he could do anything, Nohano found himself surrounded by the unwholesome energy, forgetting everything in a moment of pain and terror. And then there was nothing.