The Red Baron

The Morning After

Carlos awoke the next morning. He was surprised he woke up at all. The night before was filled with constant headaches, fevers, and rushes of pain that were constantly going on and off again. It was only after a complete set of sedation medicine and pain killers that he was finally allowed to sleep. However, being awake meant that they had already lost their effect and that at any moment, the pain would return.

Carlos didn't know what he dreamt of last night during his sedation but he remembered how horrible they were. What kept recurring in his mind was the dream he had before. The darkness; the giant flying ship, the ocean of blood, the war, and that girl with the sad eyes. He wasn't sure what it all was.

Carlos looked around. His mother was sleeping on the couch they had in the room for visitors. He figured that she must have skipped out of work to stay with him. She covered herself in a blue baby blanket that used to be his long ago though it's now mostly used as something to cover up with when it got cold at home. His mother always thought places like hospitals were cold so she must have brought the blanket to warm up in.

Resisting the urge to wake her, Carlos simply lied in bed, lounging and trying to gather his thoughts. He saw that he was covered in bandages from his fight and even felt a few of the bruises on him. He had an IV in him and as much as it bothered him, he tried to ignore it, having a bit of a fear of needles. In fact, it was the only thing attached to him. Now that he noticed, the room around him wasn't very sophisticated. It was actually pretty simple.

Maybe I got better. They might let me go soon after all.

The thought excited him as he felt being confined to a hospital was bad enough. He stretched his free arm out. It felt good for him to stretch and even though it might have made the bruises ever more present, it wasn't enough for him to stop taking the opportunity for a quick stretch. That's when he felt something like a button and then heard a loud, whiny beep that startled him so much, he nearly jumped off the bed.

"Oops."

His mother woke up, half asleep and scratching the back of her head. She slowly opened her eyes and began to look around. As the sounds the screeching siren of the alarm became eventually apparent to her, she shook her head and realized that she was in the hospital and the alarm was from here. She gasped a little and looked over to the bed, seeing Carlos in his current predicament. She quickly realized that he was fine and awake and could already imagine what happened to cause the alarm to activate.

"Carlos, what are you doing?! Shut off that thing before they start running and thinking that you're dead or something!"

Carlos didn't have time to respond when an entire crew of nurses rushed in and began going back to heavy work of checking his stats and monitoring his vitals, all the while he stood up feeling as fine as usual. It was soon after one of the nurses turned off the alarm that everyone in the room seemed to calm down. They quieted down and looked at Carlos. Carlos grinned, eyes closed and scratching the back of his head as innocently as he could.

"Sorry about that. I was just stretching and moving my arms and then I felt that button and …"

Everyone in the room sighed and dispersed, leaving a few to make sure everything else was secure, including the alarm. With the rustling down, Carlos' mom was able to walk up and sit next to Carlos. She gave him a warm smile and as usual, he returned it. She stretched out her arms to give him a hug and he reached for her as well. Suddenly, a hand smacked across Carlos' face, startling the two nurses in the room. Carlos' mother had given him a hard smack to his bandage-less right cheek.

"OH MOM! What was that for?!

She gave him a look only an angry mother could give. Carlos' angry reaction was quickly shut down and turned into a face of fear of his mother.

"What do you think? I told you that just because I left you join that club with Hefley didn't mean you could go off and fight random kids on the street. That wasn't the point of going there nearly everyday and us spending money to have you go!"

Carlos realized that now that he was better, he should have realized that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Getting into a fight was the last thing his protective wanted him to get into.

"But Mom, it wasn't like I had a choice! They picked a fight with me. I totally stayed calm."

As Carlos told the tale of his encounter, he sat straight up in bed, waving his arms around, acting as if he was doing an interpretative dance of the scene. All the while his mother was in shock of the tale, her thoughts more focused on the violence and the fact that Carlos was involved at all.

"And my workout paid off! I was moving around and fighting with this one guy and I was hitting him and knocking him around Hefley was behind me taking another guy or guys but I don't know, I was just focused and trying to stay calm and get out of there in one piece…"

"Much good it did ya, huh?"

Hefley walked into the room. Carlos and his mother turned around. There he was, standing tall and almost unhurt. Though he had been knocked out, he seemed to have recovered quickly, only slight bruising was left and a small bandage on his forehead. He was all smiles as he took a seat right next to Carlos, laughing.

"Now the way I remember it was that you totally got "powned" out there. I was fighting of like 3 of them and you got taken down by one guy."

Carlos' mother turned back to her son, her eyes squinting and signaling another rise in anger, making Carlos unconsciously gulp while attempting to fight of a grin."

"And then when you finally beat the guy down, he gets up and smacks you in the back of the head with that metal thing and all, knocking you flat. If that hadn't distracted me, I would have totally taken out the guys, ya know."

Carlos spoke up in some attempt to keep his mother cool.

"Well, it's a nice thing we're still alive then, huh?"

It didn't work; his mother fed him another slap to the face, following a helpless yelp from Carlos.

As Carlos nursed his new injury and Helfey attempted to control his laughter, two more walked into the door. Josh noticed them first as he was facing the door and waved to them.

"What's up?!"

In the door came Devyn and Dawn. They were friends from the same school as Carlos and Carlos regularly hung around them and their group of friends when he wasn't around Hefley. Devyn was a fiery red head with fair skin which seemed almost a missed match to Dawn's much darker skin and hair. Nevertheless, they were two of Carlos' closest friends and they came to check up on Carlos. It was Devyn, holding a get well card, who approached him first.

"Hey Carlos, how's it going? Feeling any better?"

Dawn chimed in as well, having heard the story from Hefley himself. Out of the two girls, she had known Carlos the longest and was actually impressed to see him awake.

"I can't believe that you're even awake. Hefley said you got all beat up real bad."

Carlos sighed. He looked to Hefley was sad eyes.

"Is that how you told the story? You made me sound real bad, you know man. You probably made it sound like you did all the work."

"Of course I did! I fought 3 guys to your 1."

Devyn laughed.

"You only fought one guy? Jeez, Carlos. And Josh is the one walking around like all he did was trip. Such a loser."

Even if it was sarcastic, he still felt the sting. But that was all the conversation they were going to get on the subject. The story of her son being beaten up was just too much for one short sitting.

"Okay, I think it's time we changed subjects, right?"

Dawn, at the corner of the room, was looking through Carlos' stuff, of which she had a habit of doing. It got Carlos' attention.

"Dawn…what are you doing with my stuff. I don't really have anything, remember? I was leaving the dojo when I got beaten down. All I have are my clothes and glasses."

"Oh ya, then what's this here?"

In her hand was the necklace. The light from the window reflected the strong, gold shine which came from it and filled the room. It was blinding and for a moment, everyone was closing their eyes, shielding them from the intense light. They all called for her to put it down. All except Carlos.

He had suddenly remembered the necklace and he was again begun going into a trance, only more aware this time. He felt his body stiffen. He tried to speak but couldn't. He tried to breath but nothing moved. All he could do was move his eyes.

It's like before…

Carlos fell back onto the bed. There was silence. Everyone around him soon noticed and they began to run around. It looked like his mother had pressed the alarm again but he couldn't hear it or anything else. With nothing left to do, Carlos just closed his eyes.

The Dark Baron stood alone in the warehouse. A storm was forming outside and the warehouse did everything but prevent the storm from penetrating the boundaries. But this did little to stop the Dark Baron from his business.

"Have you finally awaken, Kane?"

From the shadows of the lightly lit warehouse walked a tall, extremely muscular man. He had long, shoulder length hair and his face was rugged with a soft layer of facial hair. His right eye seemed scarred around the edges but it appeared to still be functional. He wore what seemed to leather body armor, though it did little to cover him and it seemed more for looks. He wore long pants but no shoes to speak of. And as he approached the Dark Baron, his size seemed clearly obvious as the Dark Baron only reached to mid-chest on Kane. His voice was deep and full of bass and contrary to his look, he spoke with a controlled tone.

"Yes, my Lord. The sacrifice was impudent but sufficient for the purpose of returning me to this realm."

"Good. It is about time we test the mettle of the new possessor of the necklace."

"But what of the guardian, my Lord? Does she not pose a threat?"

The Dark Baron turned to him, smile on his face.

"You need not worry about the White One. I have dealt with the warrior and the task was quick. She will not be bothering and the operation will prove to me much easier then expected."

Kane roared with joy and flexed, trying to control his excitement."

"Excellent, my Lord. Now we will be able to reclaim your former glory and obtain the power we have search long for."

"Do not excite yourself too much, Kane. Do remember that even the Red Baron does have enough power to defeat even you when at full strength. If the new master of the necklace is well trained, it may prove difficult for you."

"You must not worry about my health, my Lord. For your power is enough to take on the Red Baron even at his peak."

The Dark Baron began to make his way toward the entrance of the warehouse. The rain began to pour down. The sky had grown dark and lightning crashed, providing the little light there was.

"I thank you for your faith in me, Kane, but my own power has not reached its peak. If the power of the other necklace is at its peak, then the battle will prove interesting. Which is why we must have insurance to guarantee victory in one assult."

"Do you plan to wait and summon the others before we commence with the attack, my Lord?"

"No, to do so would drain me of energy and further delay our actions. It was enough to summon you but the extra guarantee I propose is something I can wipe up quite easily."

The Dark Baron, standing in the rain, extended his arm out from under his flowing robe. His eyes began to glow a dark purple that illuminated his face. Streaks of purple lightning began to shoot from his torso to his extended hand. Kane commentated on what he witnessed.

"Yes, I see. You are going to summon those devils you learned of in the last effort. It amazes me that your ability to command them has gone unhindered this last millennium in confinement."

The Dark Baron grinned and began his incantation.

"Spawns of the Underworld. Soldiers of Death. I hereby summon your presence from the realm of Hell in my world! Come forth my Soldatos!"

In front of them there then appeared a small, vibrating pool. Even in the dark, it seemed to be illuminated with the same purple glow that shone from the Dark Baron. What appeared to be smoke came from the pool. An arm appeared, drenched in whatever the pool was made of. Then another arm came. And soon the figure pulled itself free from the vortex. It stood up over the pool. Slowly, the ooze dripped off of it and the look of the creature came to light. It bore no face. No hair. No facial structure to speak of. It merely stood as if it were a man. Its skin was gray and it appeared slouched. It was pretty built, a solider as its name suggested. Even without eyes, it was clear it looked directly at the Dark Baron. However, Kane was not impressed, almost laughing.

"Excuse my opinion, my Lord, but perhaps your ability to summon these creatures has actually diminished…"

Before he could say more, the pool underneath the creature bust open wide, thousands of times more grand then before. The border of the pool reached the feet of the Dark Lord and Kane. Kane stood back in awe of his master ability. From the growing pool began to sprout hundreds of the Soldatos. All of them the same, with strong form and battle ready figures. The Dark Baron laughed.

"Yes, Kane, you're right. My power actually did fail me at the moment. These creatures should have been stronger and there should have been more of them."

"Ah…"

Kane's dropped jaw had to be consciously shut. He fought to retrieve his composure as to not humiliate himself. The Dark Baron only laughed him off again.

"No worries my dear servant. This band of Soldatos will be plenty for the upcoming task. As they bask in the glory of this world, they will soon be prepared to fight. By next morning, this rain will have washed away their former connection to Hell and they will be mine to control. Then, we will take this city and its inhabitants."

The storm above crashed more lightening and thunder. The Dark Baron looked up at it, letting the rain soak him. He smiled with a sinister grin.

Carlos sat up in bend and began to shout. His fever had returned and the doctors in the room began to sedate them. They had been trying for hours to cool him down but it seemed that while it was not rising, his temperature remained hot. Finally, the injection of a sedative calmed him down. The doctor who was treating him walked outside to speak with Carlos' frightened mother.

"Mrs. Figueroa, we're not sure what is wrong with him but it appears that he has stabilized where he is. It's some sort of fever but we don't know what's causing the seizures and the pain. If his condition worsens, we're going to have to move him to the hospital in the next city. Their facilities should be able to investigate."

Carlos' mother could only nod. Mr. Figueroa had just arrived and they stood together, peering into the room. Carlos laid there sleeping and for all anyone else knew, he was sound asleep. But in the farthest reaches inside him, there was something still going on. Only Carlos knew it. Only Carlos felt. And Carlos had to fight it off until something else could be done. And he slept until the answer came.