The Star Warriors

by C. S. Cooper

  Nathan sighed. Then he put his hand under a nearby desk and flicked it at the men. They slashed through it easily, but didn’t see their enemy in the downwind. Nathan laid out the halberd wielder with a single punch. The other thrust one of his jutte at the boy, who held up his hand without looking. The thin blade stabbed through his palm, much to the wielder’s horror and amazement. Nathan looked at him, red-faced with the pain searing through his hand and wrist. He painstakingly closed his hand over the hilt of the jutte, twisted it out of the man’s hand, and slammed its handle against the man’s temple.

  The weapons reverted to inert Kakugane beside the guards’ still forms. Nathan waited a moment for his hand to heal, before he picked up one of the talismans. He saw one of the lab technicians struggle toward an alarm switch.

  “Hey, mate, could you not?” he asked earnestly. The technician regarded him as he would a hungry lion ready to pounce. “To be honest, you’re a nice guy, and I’d rather not hurt ya. So, if you could just fall down, that’d be beaut.” The man’s lip quivered with fear, and he let out a shriek as he reached for the switch. Nathan loosed the talisman, which hit the man squarely on the back of the head. His hand missed the button and he crumpled to the floor.

  “Oh! Howzat, motherfucker!” bellowed Nathan. Part of his mind wondered whether he should be so proud of that. At the same time, he was finally out of that infernal lab, so who cares? He waltzed down the corridor and sauntered through the doors.

  Astrid stood in the remains of the lab. She was absolutely dumbstruck by the chaos and the ease with which the boy did it. Part of her was terrified that the Black Kakugane was asserting itself. Another part wondered whether it was just sheer boredom. She gazed over at the alarm switch, and considered triggering it.

  Eriol’s voice came to mind, and it said, It’d be much better if you had a leader that just said, ‘We’re doin’ this!’

  She couldn’t help but agree, albeit very reluctantly. She looked upward to the Heavens and whispered, “God, why do you hate me?” Then she gave chase.

  * * *

  The internals of the Regiment headquarters had not yet been alerted to the destruction of Nathan’s holding cell. The escapee scampered through the building as fast as he could, as if he were a streaker at Buckingham Palace. He did his best to walk nonchalantly through the halls, hiding his face with his hand whenever he saw people in the distance.

  He eventually found a locker room full of Regiment uniforms. As he scoured for one that fit him, he heard footsteps outside the room. He pressed his back against the wall, his heart thumping from excitement of escaping and the fear of capture. His hand drifted to his chest in anticipation of a fight. He heard the footsteps approach a nearby corner, and his gaze darted in the direction of the assailant. He found himself looking at Astrid.

  The boy had never seen a woman look so angry. Nevertheless, he relaxed considerably.

  “Do you realise what you’ve done?” exclaimed Astrid.

  “Broken out of prison,” said Nathan as he peeled off his hospital gown. Astrid diverted her eyes as he pulled on the uniform he’d found.

  “You also assaulted eight Regiment officers,” snapped the girl.

  “That last one wasn’t my fault,” said Nathan. “I asked him not to hit the switch, and he didn’t.”

  “Oh, so not your fault,” replied Astrid sardonically.

  “Actually, it’s all your fault,” said Nathan. Astrid glared at him, but he didn’t care. “I’m an idiot from the ’Gong8, and even I can see it. They all blame you for my situation, since you were the one who put the Kakugane in my chest.”

  “I did it because I thought your life was worth saving,” retorted Astrid. “I wouldn’t’ve needed to if you’d not been a show-off with a messiah complex.”

  Nathan grabbed her shoulders and held her firmly. He looked right into her eyes and said, “And I’m grateful. You won’t hear any complaints from me. But they … the Regiment, the scientists, even Bravo lay this all at your feet.” Astrid shifted uncomfortably. “So you got one of two choices,” Nathan went on. “You can alert them to me breaking out, and prob’ly never get your Kakugane back. Or, you can help me bust the Hell outta here, and we can go do some good while they all argue and carry on.” He regarded her with raised eyebrows, awaiting her answer.

  Astrid pursed her lips as Eriol’s voice resounded in her head once more. She even remembered words Nathan had yelled to an eagle homunculus: Some things we have to do, even if it kills us.

  Of course, she’d already made her decision. She held up a Kakugane, taken from one of the fallen guards.

  “Let’s go,” she said defiantly.

  * * *

  An officer entered the meeting between the generals. The room was still the site of an ongoing screaming match, over which the officer could not be heard. The officer finally caught Rodrigo’s attention and informed him of a situation in the containment lab.

  “Everyone, shut up!” he bellowed. When the room was silent, Rodrigo turned to Bravo and said, “Grant has broken out of custody.”

  The generals left the conference room and charged into the security control room. They barked orders to lockdown the building and post security to every access point. Bravo marched over to the surveillance cameras, where a technician sat with an embarrassed look on her face. The feed from the lab showed the place in utter shambles.

  “Why didn’t you sound the alarm?” barked Bravo.

  “Well … Commander, I was distracted,” stammered the technician.

  “By what?” exclaimed Bravo. “Too busy watching TV or something?”

  “No, sir, I was watching the conference room,” said the technician sheepishly. The other technicians around them did everything they could to conceal their grins.

  Bravo glared at Rodrigo and the other generals.

  “Death the Kid might’ve been right,” he grumbled.

  One of the technicians spoke up, “We have an unauthorised launch.” She pointed out the feed that displayed the hangar of Regiment headquarters. A small jet was already out of the hangar doors, and it was too late to close them.

  Rodrigo hit a communications widget on the panel in front of him and yelled, “Pilot, identify yourself.”

  A video feed appeared on the main screen of the control room. Nathan and Astrid were seated in the cockpit, with the latter piloting the craft. Nathan noticed the camera and waved to it.

  “Mister Grant, we must ask you to return immediately for your own safety,” said Rodrigo.

  “Yeah, nah,” replied Nathan. “I’m bored and want to go for a walk. We were thinking Hong Kong’d be a nice place.”

  Bravo butted in, “Nathan, don’t do this. If you do, you’ll be treated as a rogue, just like Victor.”

  “Hey, Bravo, I’ll be back, don’t you worry,” said Nathan. “We’ll just go, kill Moonface for ya, and bring back the Silver Key, all good and proper.” He exchanged glances with Astrid, who nodded resolutely.

  Bravo noticed a Kakugane fastened to Astrid’s chest. “Warrior Rachelle, return to base immediately.”

  Astrid grit her teeth and steeled her nerves.

  “No, Commander,” she said. “Nathan and I will get the job done, jurisdiction be damned.”

  The jet accelerated away from the headquarters building, and veered into the sky. It disappeared from view before it hit the clouds.

  “They’ve activated stealth mode,” said the radar technician. “We won’t be able to track them.”

  “We’ll let you know once we’ve finished everything in Hong Kong, okay?” chirped Nathan. He reached for a panel to cut the feed, but stopped and asked, “By the way, you guys want some Szechuan or something?”

  Bravo shut the feed off himself. He pursed his lips to contain his rage, as well as his need to laugh at the boy’s antics. Few others weren’t nearly as controlled, and the control room reverberated with soft giggles.

  Vasuman, the only one openly grinning, approached Rodrigo and whispe
red, “Mightn’t be the worst idea, really.” Bravo heard him, and shot him a look of surprise. Vasuman added, “Think about it, ya! We’ll be able to get more data on Nathan’s powers. All the better to know him with, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Bravo only shook his head with dismay, and wondered what cat had torn its way out of the bag.

  * * *

  Six floors above ground, in the men’s room, Eriol heard every single event that transpired in the secret bunker below. He even sensed the two rogue warriors who took flight without permission.

  He chuckled with excitement, while shivering with fear.

  Goddamn you, Clow, he thought.

  Then he wove his hand in front of the mirror, and the glass lit up. The cartoonish mask of the Reaper appeared before him.

  “What up, Eriol?” asked the Reaper.

  “Send them in,” said Eriol resolutely.

  The Reaper chuckled, his interest piqued tremendously.

  Chapter 7: Reunion in Hong Kong

  The arrivals terminal of Hong Kong international airport was futuristic, to put it lightly. Sakura marvelled at the sleek architecture of the well-maintained terminal. It was a stark contrast to the brown-orange of Tokyo Haneda, which had a mood reminiscent of a sepia photograph, modest but wholesome.

  Sakura nervously looked left and right. The terminal stretched seemingly forever in both directions, filled with people and occasionally marked with blue and red gate signs. She decided to follow the stream of commuters from her own plane. Eventually, she found the end of the terminal, which gave way to a two-floor complex of duty-free stores and restaurants. She looked around for the baggage claim sign, to which the push and shove of the crowd guided her.

  Sakura found her bag at the turnstile, cleared customs, and emerged into the arrivals terminal. She looked around for a familiar face, but there were far too many in the terminal. They all seemed to blur together. Slowly, Sakura started to regret ever leaving home, and she almost wanted to race back onto the plane.

  Then her eyes fell upon a sign held above the crowd: a pink shisa hugging a gold and green one. Through the forest of faces, she saw those yellow eyes, and her heart raced with joy. She advanced through the crowd, pushing toward the holder of that sign, and came face to face with her beloved Xiaolang. All self-control went out the window, and he embraced her.

  “I missed you,” mewled Sakura as she gripped him tightly.

  “I wish I’d never left,” replied Xiaolang. He stroked her cheek and kissed her softly.

  As she savoured his lips on hers, Sakura thanked God for allowing her to win that raffle.

  * * *

  The Lee mansion stood in the mid-level of Hong Kong Island, just on Stubbs Street. It was a beautiful house unlike anything Sakura had expected. A structure of traditional Chinese architecture, it’s brick walls were marked with areas of darker reds and lighter pinks. Its jade-green roof-tiles stood stark against the blue sky above, sculpted in intricate designs that could only have come from the greatest lover of his craft.

  Sakura glanced down at her simple white blouse and jeans combination. Its crinkled, off-colour appearance – owed to a six-hour transit from Tokyo – seemed almost offensive in light of such splendour. She withdrew into herself as she smelled the slight muskiness of her clothes.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Xiaolang as he carried her suitcase from the car.

  “I don’t think I’m dressed quite right,” stammered Sakura.

  Xiaolang grinned and held out his hand to her. “I think you could spend a fortune and not look better.”

  Despite her blush at his complement, Sakura took his hand and let him guide her to the front door. A man, dressed in a fine grey vest and trousers, bowed reverently, and took Sakura’s luggage from Xiaolang.

  “Lady Kinomoto, it is an honour to finally meet you,” said the man.

  “Thank you, Mister Lee,” said Sakura.

  The man chuckled, “Begging your pardon, but I am not a member of the Lee Clan. I am Wei Wong, a butler to Master Xiaolang.”

  Sakura coughed nervously and apologised fervently. Xiaolang chuckled a moment, before placing his hand on the girl’s shoulder. He issued some orders in Cantonese, prompting Wei to take Sakura’s luggage inside. After he calmed Sakura, Xiaolang led her into the house.

  The main entrance hall was breathtaking, and every step made Sakura feel as if she had defiled it. The floor was a mosaic of coloured tiles, in various patterns resembling lotuses and swastikas. The ceiling hosted a chandelier composed of jade, adorned with small glass Buddha statues. Opposite the entrance was a walkway into a garden behind the mansion. Two half-spiral staircases stood either side of the entrance, and led to the upper floors.

  Wei carried Sakura’s suitcase up the right staircase, and Xiaolang beckoned her to follow. The second floor was carpeted with red, lined with shimmering gold paint. Sakura was not required to remove her shoes, even though she really wanted to. She willed herself to follow Xiaolang and Wei down the corridor of the west wing of the mansion.

  Wei entered the third door on the left, which was the guest bedroom assigned to Sakura. The poor girl almost fainted at the sight. The room was three times the size of her bedroom back at home. Against the left-hand wall was a queen-size bed, and a small lounge suite – complete with coffee table – occupied the right side of the room. Wei indicated an en-suite bathroom, which was twice the size of the bathroom at home. It was the bed that perturbed her the most; she felt as if the mattress needed its own area code.

  Xiaolang dismissed Wei, who closed the doors behind him.

  “I can’t stay here,” blurted Sakura.

  Xiaolang looked horrified. “Is it not good enough?”

  “It’s too good, Xiaolang,” replied Sakura. “I don’t feel like I deserve something so nice like this!”

  Xiaolang scoffed and drew near to her. He pulled her into an embrace, and stroked her cheek. His touch alone was enough to calm her nerves, and she looked into his eyes.

  “For my Number One, Heaven’s Palace wouldn’t be good enough,” said Xiaolang.

  Sakura melted and she leaned into his chest. She thought about her earlier nerves, and giggled a little.

  “The house just freaked me out, is all,” she muttered. “I’ve been used to my small room for so long, I just …”

  Xiaolang chuckled, “Hey, to be honest, I prefer your bedroom back in Tokyo.” Sakura smirked and her eyes shifted nervously. Xiaolang quickly blurted, “I don’t mean … that. I just meant that your bed is nicer … bed-room! I meant your bedroom!”

  Sakura burst into laughter as Xiaolang stammered nervously. Before he could babble another apology, she silenced him with a fingertip. Then she leaned up to kiss him.

  A loud bang startled them, and they turned to the door. A woman a bit taller than Xiaolang burst into the room and glared at the pair. Her odango9 pigtails swung as she strode toward them. She ignored Xiaolang and glared right into Sakura’s eyes.

  “So, you’re this Cardcaptor girl?” snarled the woman in English. Sakura nodded sheepishly, recalling the first time she’d met Xiaolang. The woman’s expression then flipped, and she pinched Sakura’s cheeks delightfully.

  “Ain’t you a cutie!?” the woman shrieked. She glared at Xiaolang and bellowed something in Cantonese. Xiaolang rolled his eyes as the woman cuddled a very befuddled Sakura. He stepped forward and broke the pair up.

  “Sakura, this is my elder sister, Meiling,” he said.

  “Oh! Sakura, you say?” exclaimed Meiling. “You two’re already on a first-name basis. You might as well get married now.”

  Sakura shrieked, “What? Marriage?” She looked at Xiaolang with a mix of suspicion and confusion.

  The flummoxed boy raised his hands in defence.

  “I didn’t invite you here for that,” he insisted. “I wanted you to meet my family. That’s all.”

  Meiling narrowed her eyes at Xiaolang, scratching her chin as if she were an art critic analysing a Pic
asso. She then leaned to Sakura and said, “See, that face means he’s talking nonsense. He’s totally gonna sneak into your room in the middle of the night.”

  Both Sakura and Xiaolang shrieked in horror at the comment. They broke into a paroxysm of stammers and babble as they tried to explain their true intentions. Meanwhile, Meiling stood back to enjoy the chaos. A fourth figure entered the room unheard by anyone, until she stood beside Meiling, who quickly lost her smile.

  Though shorter than Meiling by half an inch, the woman’s stern expression sapped the embarrassing mood from the room. Xiaolang straightened up and addressed the woman with all the discipline of a military cadet. He bellowed something in Cantonese, to which the woman replied in a soft voice carrying no more threat than seemed necessary. The woman then glared at Meiling, who bowed and left the room.

  Sakura couldn’t bring herself to look the woman in the eye. The woman kept her gaze fixated upon the girl. She held out her hand and, in fluent Japanese, said, “Lady Kinomoto, I am Yelan, Matriarch of the Lee Clan.”

  Sakura finally looked up into the woman’s eyes. A warm sensation of kindness flowed from the woman’s face. Spurred by that feeling, Sakura accepted the woman’s handshake.

  Yelan dismissed Xiaolang, who promptly left the room, closing the door behind him. Then Yelan motioned Sakura to sit on the lounge. As she sat, Sakura studied the woman in more detail. She definitely had Xiaolang’s determined gaze. She did not, however, boast his lighter hair colour. Hers was raven, tied into a high ponytail and held in place by two golden rods.

  Her white hanfu10 swished about her form as she waved her arms. A clay-pot tea set materialised, earning a surprised whistle from Sakura. The girl sheepishly apologised.