Dark Clouds

Part 4

By Amazon

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Amazon glanced up at the front door as it opened. Kinjiro, Kenji, and Yoshio filed in, never noticing Amazon. Amazon went back to lacing up her heels (you know those kinds with the strings that go around your legs). She knew that they had seen her when a book and bag hit the floor as well as three jaws.

Amazon coolly looked up to look at them. "Hai?"

Kenji recovered first so he asked what he wanted to know. "Where are you going?"

"A girls night out at the Nightingale." Amazon picked up her purse while checking her make-up in the hall way mirror. She looked at Kenji. "Is that okay with you?"

"No! Do you know how many guys will hit on you dressed like that?" Kenji said while giving Kinjiro a glare. Kinjiro's jaw was still lost somewhere on the floor. He now knew why she'd wanted that little black dress. Amazon tilted her head, thinking.

"Yes but how many guys will hit on a girl that has protection?" Amazon reached into her purse and took out a pocketknife. She flipped the blade up to show Kenji that it was a real pocketknife.

"Not many, I guess." Amazon smiled sweetly and moved past Yoshio, who started to blush furiously, to the closet. She took out her leather jacket (Shoot me! I like leather!) and put it on. With a smile she opened the door and left, with her purse. Kenji shot a glare at Kinjiro who was able to roll his jaw back into place.

"D-do you really think we should have let her go?" Yoshio asked, recovering.

"She can take care of herself." Kenji picked up his book and moved into the living room. Harry, Kinjiro's German shepherd, was sleeping on the couch. Kenji shooed him off and took a seat, resuming his reading. He could hear Yoshio talking with Kinjiro in the kitchen while he got dinner ready.

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Dark clouds hovered above Tokyo as Amazon walked down the street. She glanced up at the sky and grimaced. They were probably going to get rain tonight or a thunderstorm. God, she hated thunder and lightning. She could remember hiding under the covers of her bed in the orphanage while lightning streaked the sky and the thunder crashed.

Her parents had died in a thunderstorm, in a car crash caused by the thunderstorm. She had been hiding under the back seat when the paramedics and police finally arrived but it had been too late, her parents were already dead. They had put her in an orphanage because she had no living relatives and because in the car crash she couldn't remember her last name.

But she had been able to remember one last name that she had remembered her parents saying. It was Sanada and she had been using it as her own last name for a couple of years now. Amazon shivered as a breeze blew, something about the wind made her feel uneasy. She pulled her jacket tighter around her and put her hands in her pockets. Her hand felt a cold, round object in the pocket.

She took it out and looked at it. It was the marble that she had stolen. I thought I pawned this off... Amazon remembered handing it to Tasuki and him giving her the money for it. So what was it doing in her pocket? Amazon decided to return it the next day. She wasn't about to let some marble ruin her night out.

The wind blew again, harder this time, making Amazon bend her head and push against the wind. She was getting cold and the marble in her hand gave off heat. Amazon zipped up her jacket and brought her arms inside of her jacket so that the heat wouldn't be lost. Wait a minute...heat? Amazon nearly dropped the marble when she realized that marbles weren't supposed to give off heat.

Amazon looked up as people started rushing past her screaming in terror. She quickly pressed herself against a wall so as not to be swept up with the people. I wonder what's going on? Amazon nearly whapped the head off of whoever had grabbed her arm, but she stopped when she realized that it was only Seiji.

"Do you know what's going on, Seiji?" Amazon half whispered half hissed.

"Not really. I'm getting a really bad feeling about this." Seiji looked up and down the street trying to see who was causing this mass hysteria. Amazon noticed that one of his hands was clenched in a fist and green light was pouring out of it. When she looked at her own clenched fist, the one with the marble in it, red light was pouring out of it.

"Seiji what's going on?" Amazon continued to stare at her fist.

"I told you I don't know. This frikin' marble started glowin' when everybody started screamin'." At that instant a chariot that held two Dynasty Soldiers ran by with foot soldiers behind it.

"What the hell is goin' on?" Amazon whispered. Seiji clamped a hand over her mouth so that the soldiers wouldn't spot them, but it was too late. A group of soldiers had already noticed them. They moved over to the duo surrounding them. Seiji moved in front of Amazon, instinctively protecting her. Amazon took out her pocketknife and flipped up the blade and held it in front of her daring the soldiers to try and attack her.

Two of the soldiers grabbed her and another four tackled Seiji. Seiji tried to fight them off but ended up getting hit over his head. Amazon also tried to fight back but was unsuccessful also.

"Let go of me! Hey! Give that back!" One of the soldiers plucked the pocketknife out of her hand and quickly disposed of it. The two soldiers that had a hold on Amazon pulled her with them as they moved down the street. Behind her Seiji was flinging curses and still trying to escape.

At the intersection of the street there was a circle of Dynasty Soldiers, inside that circle were the citizens of Tokyo. The soldiers shoved Amazon and Seiji into the circle. Amazon attached herself to Seiji's side as soon as the soldier had let go of her.

"Seiji I don't like this!"

"Neither do I. What are these things?" Seiji scrutinized the Soldiers. He must have scrutinized a little too much because a soldier separated itself from the wall and came over to them.

"This one! Cut him out!" Seiji found himself being steered for the wall and then to a smaller circle outside of it. Seiji was forced into it; soon Amazon joined him. Amazon nearly retched when she saw the bodies that were strewn about the circle. The bodies were hardly human anymore, they were so torn up.

"This is like a bullring." Seiji shot a look at the corpses and then at Amazon. 'They leave the bodies here to distract us and make us fear them."

"How do you know all this Seiji?" Amazons voice was barely above a whisper when she asked her question but Seiji heard anyway.

"I've heard tales from my father and I saw a man fighting in this ring when they hauled us down here-" Seiji stopped for a Soldier, the same one that had ordered the other soldiers to put him in here, came into the ring.

"Well puny human, if you want to survive you must win." The soldier twirled its spear, showing off its skills. Seiji took a fighting stance with Amazon behind him. Amazon also took a fighting stance. Icy chills danced down her back. Only a few times in her life had she felt real, cold, pure fear, and sheer terror. This was one of them. The soldier made his move, and Seiji barely escaped the blade, just ducking beneath it. The spear carried on, and skimmed her arm, landing inches away. Another soldier grabbed it without thought and tossed it back. Now the others began attacking as well. Every time Amazon or Seiji would dodge one of the others moves someone else’s punch them back into the ring.

"Well, you're the longest ones to survive yet!" A soldier shouted as he stabbed at them again. They're toying with us now. Who knows how long before they get bored. The soldiers closed in thicker and thicker. She knew she couldn't keep this up much longer...

Then the soldiers froze, mid-thrust or punch or whatever they were doing. Just like that.

Without warning, the Staff of the Ancient slammed down unexpectedly. A brilliant light shot out, blinding both of them. Amazon instinctively blocked her vision.

"WHAT THE..." she screamed, but her voice was drowned out by the incessant clanging. The pocket she had placed the marble in began to burn with an intense heat. Seiji's pocket was also glowing a vibrant green. She grabbed the marble protectively, though she really couldn't explain why.

"You have nothing to fear, Halo and Wildfire." A timeless, resonant voice soothed.

"These soldiers from who-knows-where are hell-bent of ripping us to shreds and YOU say we have nothing to fear!" Seiji screamed at him. He turned to Amazon. "Great, first the soldiers, now a psychopath!" He obviously didn't realize, or maybe didn't care, that he was talking to a disembodied voice.

"You may not understand just yet, Halo, but you were destined for this path long before you ever tread on it."

"Yea, and that's another thing. What's with the Halo?" Seiji talked roughly, but Amazon could tell he was just as afraid as she was. For a moment she saw him in new clarity, he was just a scared little kid who doesn't have a clue what's going on and is reacting the only way he knows how.

"You will understand in time, Seiji." A flicker of surprise played in his eyes, but Seiji quickly banished it.

"I fear I cannot explain everything now, but I can revive the armors." The man's voice answered.

"Armors? What armors?!" Amazon shrieked. The marble began to glow brighter still.

And it happened.

She had no idea how, who, what or why it happened, but the next instant her vision went white. She detected the faint scent of cherry blossoms. And as quickly as it had happened, her vision returned. The first thing she noticed was Seiji. In armor. Staring at it, and jaw on the floor.

"Uh, Seiji, what is THAT?!" Seiji carried a sword as long as his body in his right hand. The rest of him was covered in emerald green armor, with white peeking through.

"I dunno, but look at yourself, Amazon." She looked at her hands in surprise, and they too were covered in armor. Hers was ruby red, like fire. But she didn't have much time to really explore it, because whatever spell had frozen the soldiers evaporated, and now another one punched at them. With lightening speed they both jumped out of the way, and almost without thought attacked the soldiers behind them. Amazon stared down at her fist in utter shock. Then back down at the empty shell at her feet, emitting a sickening black smoke. What was going on?

"Amazon, we've got trouble."

"Yea, some psycho voice tells us some crap I don't have a clue about, and gives us some freakin' armor, and you just NOW realize this?"

"That's not what I meant. Look," Seiji had finished the remaining soldiers, but more loomed ahead. Pushing towards them fiercely, there seemed to be no end. Seiji's sword began to glow intensely. He suddenly brought it over his head, it showering sprays of light all around.

"THUNDER..." his voice was laced with power. "BOLT..." he lowered the sword to his chin. "CUT!!!" At the last syllable an amazing column of pure white light engulfed him and he jumped forward, totally enveloping all the soldiers around him. As soon as the energy hit them they disappeared. When he finished he looked totally stunned, and collapsed to his knees.

But still more soldiers came. Seiji didn't notice them pressing closer as he labored for breath. Raising their weapons.... preparing to strike...

Amazon reached for the two swords she knew (in an uncanny way) were on her back. Without thinking, she jabbed them together and jumped high.

"FLARE UP NOW!!!!" Awesome heat consumed her and leapt off of her swords. The army evaporated like ice in the summer. Now it was her turn to kneel down, exhausted and confused. What had she done?

She breathed hard and looked to Seiji. He stared back. Without murmuring a word, they both got up and began to trudge home, weary. The other's would never believe this...

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The figure had watched the battle from atop his rooftop position. He had watched the Ancient appear, guiding their weapons in the way all too familiar to him. So the armors have been revived...