The Star Warriors

by C. S. Cooper

  “No,” she whispered. “It’s not possible! Moonface can’t have!”

  Astrid beamed at Soul and Maka. “They did it! Nathan’s plan must have worked!”

  The core’s glow flickered as its energy readings dropped lower, until it finally hit zero and the light went out. Shaula screamed with rage, and struggled against the cable ties binding her. Astrid glanced her way and sneered with delight. The Spartan Valkyrie sauntered toward the Witch and cocked her blades.

  “Your plan is dead, and now so are you,” she proclaimed. She thrust her blades toward Shaula’s heart, but they clanged against concrete. Shaula had disappeared in a flash, and a purple iridescent scorpion scampered down a grating nearby. Enraged, Astrid slashed the grating open and plunged her blades as far down into the pipe as they would go. She found nothing.

  “Damn it!” she yelled. “She got away!”

  Maka fell to her knees and punched the ground with disbelief and frustration. Astrid slumped her shoulders and sighed away her fatigue and disappointment. Only Soul stood tall with his red irises focused on the inert core.

  “But we still won,” he said. He placed his hand on Maka’s trembling shoulder, and looked into her eyes. “We’ll get her some day, but here, we won.”

  Maka smirked and nodded reluctantly. She glanced at Astrid, who huffed, “Long bloody day!”

  Chapter 23: The Behemoth Falls

  Sakura soared down the street, and landed near Xiaolang and Nathan. She embraced her boyfriend.

  “So, what’s the plan?” asked Xiaolang.

  “You said you needed to get to the spine of a behemoth,” said Sakura. “The tower spawned one that’s heading north.”

  “We’ll have to slash its neck open first,” said Nathan.

  “What’re we doing standing around here?” exclaimed Xiaolang. “Let’s go!”

  Noticing Sakura’s fatigue, as well as his own, Xiaolang glanced around and saw a car that had been barely scathed by the battle. He raced over, slashed the door open, and hotwired it. The trio climbed into the vehicle, and Xiaolang peeled around the corner and drove north.

  “Since when can you drive, Xiaolang?” asked Sakura.

  “California,” replied Xiaolang.

  “What? Did Astrid teach you?” asked Nathan slyly. “What else did she teach ya?”

  Sakura’s eyes bugged out while Xiaolang’s face went blood red.

  “What’re you implying?” asked Xiaolang.

  “What do you think I am?” retorted Nathan facetiously.

  “No! Don’t say that kind of thing!” yelled Sakura. “Xiaolang’s my Number One!”

  “Yeah, but I’m implying that you weren’t his first one,” jibed Nathan.

  Xiaolang looked over his shoulder and screamed, “Could you be serious? Your city is being attacked, for God’s sake!”

  “And I’m in a car drivin’ to the fight,” retorted Nathan with a chuckle. “What? Would you rather I asked ‘Are we there yet?’”

  Sakura and Xiaolang let out a chuckle and shook their heads with disbelief. They turned their attentions to the city outside. They crossed an intersection, and Sakura bellowed, “There! Turn right!” Xiaolang jerked the wheel, and the car tilted as it swerved to go down the adjacent street. In the back seat, Nathan’s head banged hard against the window.

  Xiaolang looked over his shoulder with a smug grin and asked, “You alright back there?”

  “Get stuffed,” retorted Nathan.

  Xiaolang brought the car to a stop half a block short of the behemoth. The massive beast rampaged through buildings, and snarled with frustration at finding no prey. As the car came to a halt, the beast sniffed their scent, and directed its eight hungry eyes in their direction. The trio scrambled from the car and stood before the beast.

  “You focus on getting yourself ready,” said Sakura. “Make sure you can change back once you finish that thing.”

  “Got it,” said Nathan.

  Xiaolang and Sakura raced forward. Sakura sprouted her wings and took to the skies. Xiaolang launched himself into the air with a gust of wind, and fired a barrage of lightning at the creature, which stumbled backwards. Sakura summoned the Gaia Card, and willed a spire of rock to sprout from the ground into the creature’s gut. Then she and Xiaolang landed on its exposed shoulder blades and prepared to slash its neck open.

  Two boulder-like paws came out of nowhere and knocked him off. Sakura caught him with the Gale Card. They raced down the street to gain some ground against the creature, which had become preoccupied with protecting its nape with one arm as it chased them eastward.

  It’s onto us, Nathan realised.

  At that moment, he heard someone yell over the din. He glanced to a nearby alley and saw a group of soldiers. A few survivors stood with them. He raced over to them.

  “Starlight Lancer?” asked the lead soldier. He noted the lance and gauntlet.

  “Yeah, we’re tryin’ to kill these things,” said Nathan. He glanced at the rattled survivors and said, “I’m sorry we haven’t done a better job.” It did little to keep down the images of cricket balls streaming through his head.

  The lead soldier glanced around the corner at the behemoth and sighed incredulously.

  “You’re doing a much better job than we are,” he said. “I’m Sergeant Jones. We’re just getting the last survivors we could find. But that thing’d cornered us. Any chance these things’ll stop soon?”

  “We’ve got an idea on how to stop them,” said Nathan. He explained the plan in brief. Jones glanced at the behemoth again, and noted the claw covering its nape.

  “You’re gonna have to get its hand out of the way first,” he said.

  Nathan looked around and pondered a moment. His mind, exhausted as it was, couldn’t come up with any solution.

  “Can’t we just tie it down?” asked one of the survivors.

  Jones glanced at the little boy, then at Nathan, and grinned. “There’s construction going on at Martin Place. They’ve got a tonne of steel wire. You and your buddies tie it up, we hold it down, and you do your thing.”

  Nathan thought quickly, and his eyes brightened. He tapped his radio and said, “Guys, I’ve got a plan. Sakura, get over here. Xiaolang, keep the behemoth busy.”

  When Xiaolang received that message, he rolled his eyes with dismay. His legs were shaking with fatigue, to say nothing of his mental state. Never had he used so much magic in one day, and the strain beared down upon him. He darted out of the behemoth’s way as it lunged for him, and he scrambled into a nearby building.

  Thankfully, the creature was obsessed with him, and it tried to reach through the building to get him. Its claw smashed through the concrete and mortar of the building’s lower levels, and already Xiaolang could hear the building rattle. He sprinted down the building’s entrance passage and scrambled up a stairwell. He leapt and jumped as the creature’s sharp claws punctured through the concrete wall, and they narrowly missed him. He burst out of the stairwell into an abandoned office. He raced toward the window, through which he could see the top of the behemoth’s spined head. He covered his crown with his forearms and plunged through the glass, passing right in front of the behemoth’s face. He relished the surprise he saw in its eight eyes. He brought his sword across two of those eyes, and completely destroyed them.

  His speed carried him into the building on the opposite side of the road. He rolled to maintain his momentum, and raced through another abandoned office. He slid down the elevator shaft and ran out into the street. His victory against the beast had given him a second wind, and he punched the air with delightful triumph.

  “Xiaolang,” said Sakura through the radio. “Nathan and I are in position. Lure him north to a street called Martin Place.”

  “Roger that,” replied Xiaolang cockily. He turned to the creature, which rubbed its damaged eyes and squalled. Then he bellowed, “Hey, stupid! Come and get me!” The behemoth snarled and lumbered after him. He raced north, leaping over cars and darti
ng around the behemoth’s one-handed grasps. When he was close enough, he nipped the golden claws with his sword, which served to distract it from the pink-clad girl standing on a rooftop ahead. Brown energy imbued her body, and she held a length of heavy steel wire in her hand.

  Xiaolang skidded to a halt when he heard the beast roar with anger. He turned and saw the wire fastened around its wrist. Sakura welded it on with the Flare Card. The behemoth removed its claw from its neck, and brought it down on where Sakura stood, but the girl had already jumped out of the way. Nathan then leapt out from a roof on the other side of the road, and coiled another length of wire around the behemoth’s free wrist. Thinking quickly, Xiaolang unleashed a fireball that welded the wire together.

  “Do it now!” yelled Nathan as he landed nearby.

  In the adjacent streets, hordes of civilians and soldiers pulled the wires with all their might. The behemoth was no match for them, and whined as it struggled in their thrall.

  “Xiaolang! Let’s go!” yelled Sakura. The pair nodded resolutely, and raced forward.

  Sakura drew a Card. “Knock its feet out, Aqua!”

  Xiaolang drew a paper charm and proclaimed, “Shuǐlóng zhāolái!”

  Torrents of water shot from Sakura’s wand and Xiaolang’s sword. It knocked the behemoth’s legs out from under it, and it toppled forward. The pair kept running, dashing through the creature’s legs. They didn’t even wait for it to hit the ground, before they launched themselves back the other way. Sakura summoned her Blade, while Xiaolang’s sword glimmered in the sunlight. With a unified roar, they cleaved through the armour and flesh of the behemoth’s nape, exposing a pulsating blue device.

  “Do it, Nathan!” screamed Sakura.

  The Starlight Lancer soared through the air, onto the back of the struggling beast. The behemoth pulled desperately against its steel chains, but the people held it tight. Sakura released vines and shadows to bind it harder.

  Nathan gazed upon the core of the behemoth, and flexed his gauntlet. In that moment, he had a vision of Ariadne’s hand, hanging out of the stomach of a mechanical snake. The memory, and what it signified, gave him strength. He plunged his hand into the behemoth’s core, eliciting a panicked cry from the thing.

  In an instant, he felt as if he were connected to every minion attacking the city. He could see through their eyes, and smelled their desperation – Moonface’s desperation. And thanks to his intrusion, the minions could no longer feel anything but Moonface’s terror.

  Up in the Centrepoint Tower aerie, Moonface was mortified, aware of the precipice upon which his doom now hung. He desperately tried to withdraw his Arms Alchemy from the control pedestal, but it wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t escape the force field around the device either. He was completely trapped.

  Nathan heard Moonface’s panicked wails through the link and cockily murmured, “Complain all you want, you son of a bitch!”

  Then he released his mental controls. His skin turned deep crimson, and his hair shimmered fluorescent green. Every single minion across the city seized and screamed. Their bodies glimmered with red light, which melted their golden carapaces. In the tower aerie, Moonface gave a devastated wail of “Moon!” before shrivelling into a black corpse and eroding away.

  Across the city, minions fell and disintegrated, and they did not re-spawn at the tower.

  The behemoth upon which Nathan stood was the last to finally go, leaving the crimson-skinned man kneeling on the street. He clutched his heart and panted to push his Victor form down, but it had become more difficult than ever before. He sensed elated people drawing near to him, and he bellowed, “Stay away!”

  His mind swam with the image of Moonface’s final doom. Finally, the monster that had hurt so many people – including Tao and Shu Wu – was gone. The pleasure it gave him kept him from reasserting his control. He could sense energy trickling into him from the people just at the edge of his drain range. He desperately wanted them to come closer.

  Nathan, said a voice, echoing softly through the fugue. Nathan, we’ve won. You can come back to normal now.

  He listened to the voice. The ever-present image of a cricket ball, stained with his sister’s blood, spurred him on. He matched his breathing to the ebb and flow of the voice, until he found a way out of the treacherous sea. He clambered onto an island of wrecked asphalt, and looked around. Sakura stood right in front of him, her hands clasping his. Nearby, Xiaolang leaned against his sword and sighed away his own exhaustion. A crowd of soldiers and civilians emerged from the nearby streets.

  With a pant, Nathan released Sakura’s hand and fell onto his backside. He panted in long slow breaths. Every part of his body ached.

  He heard footsteps, and looked over his shoulder. There was Astrid, Maka, and Soul. They all looked completely beat. Maka was concussed, and leaned against Soul for support.

  “You did it?” asked Astrid, out of breath.

  “Yeah,” said Nathan. “You get Shaula?”

  “She got away, but we got the key,” said Soul. He held up his jacket, wrapped around the two halves of the hated device.

  “I think we won,” intoned Xiaolang.

  “Yeah,” rasped Nathan. He fell onto his back and moaned, “What a long bloody day!”

  The flabbergasted bystanders surrounded them. Their confusion lingered like a stench. Astrid, Maka, Soul, Sakura, and Xiaolang withdrew nervously, unable to look away from the wall of people enclosing them. Nathan hardly cared as he pulled himself to his feet and addressed the people they’d saved.

  Sergeant Jones pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He shook his head with bewilderment and asked, “So, what’re you six supposed to be?”

  Nathan yawned.

  Astrid and Maka exchanged nervous glances.

  Sakura gripped her wand close to her chest.

  Xiaolang held his Number One close.

  Soul stole a glance at Nathan’s shirt and Sakura’s costume.

  It’s as good a name as any, he thought.

  Then he stepped forward.

  “I’m Soul Eater,” he proclaimed. He pointed at Sakura. “That’s Cardcaptor.” He pointed at Xiaolang. “He’s Coyote.” He pointed at Nathan. “He’s the Starlight Lancer.” He pointed at Astrid. “She’s the Spartan Valkyrie.” He pointed at Maka. “We call her Scythemeister.”

  Then he held his head high and said, “You can call us the Star Warriors.”

  Chapter 24: A New World Begins

  Plumes of smoke billowed from the centre of Sydney for the rest of the day. EMTs, fire fighters, police, and soldiers worked tirelessly to find any remaining survivors of the attack. The media had gone absolutely bananas over the incident, now being referred to as January-Twenty-Six13. People were stoked over the attack of magical creatures, more so over the six extraordinary heroes who fought the beasts.

  Of course, if anyone saw the so-called Star Warriors, huddled together behind an ambulance just outside Museum Train Station, they would have been less than impressed. Soul had dislocated his shoulder and Maka needed seven stitches in her head. Astrid had twisted her ankle at some point. Sakura held an icepack to her forehead while Xiaolang had icepacks on both shoulders and knees. Nathan, seemingly unscathed, concealed an Earth-shattering migraine.

  The entire team was worn out, and were grateful when a Regiment aircraft arrived to transport them out of reach of the press. As they watched the smouldering skyline of Sydney drift away, they all sighed with minds nearly blank.

  Bravo emerged from the cockpit. He opened the case containing the two halves of the Silver Key. They lay inert as strips of ornate metal. The man clenched his fists at the torment of such power just barely outside his grasp. Then he looked at the six warriors.

  They cleaned up my mess, he thought.

  Bravo glanced at Maka, who sat beside the key case with a vacant expression. He stood before her and said, “Thank you for your hard work, Miss Albarn.” Maka nodded weakly. Then Bravo moved onto Soul, who managed the slighte
st grin.

  Then Bravo looked at Xiaolang and said, “You fought extremely well, Coyote. And I hope this won’t be the last time the Regiment works with the Lee Clan.” Xiaolang nodded.

  Bravo then knelt before Sakura and said, “I apologise for dragging your father into this. I’m also sorry for throwing all the blame on you. None of this was your fault, Miss Kinomoto.”

  Sakura croaked, “Thank you, Mister Bravo.” And though she didn’t look like it, she was definitely glad Eriol had rigged that lottery.

  Then Bravo turned to Astrid and Nathan. His chest ached with shame and awkwardness. He finally forced himself to speak.

  “I didn’t do right by you,” he said. “Either of you.”

  Astrid pursed her lips, but remained silent. The image of Bravo’s accusations was still fresh in her memory. There was also the nagging fact that Astrid’s affections for Nathan set in motion the whole chain of events Bravo had wanted to prevent. Those thoughts kept her from disagreeing with the man.

  Nathan, on the other hand, stood and wrung his hands remorsefully. He recalled the ecstasy of drawing all that energy out of Moonface and his minions. He shuddered at the powerful hunger he had felt within. Images resurfaced of Papillon’s younger brother disappearing behind the teeth of the newborn homunculus.

  “Bravo, I won’t use my Arms Alchemy until the Regiment can undo what’s happening to me,” he said. “I don’t want to be like Victor … Or Chouno.”

  Bravo placed his hand on Nathan’s shoulder and said, “We’ll figure out a way. I promise you.”

  Soul spoke up, “So what happens to us now?”

  Bravo harrumphed, “Secret’s out. The world now knows about DWMA and the Regiment, not to mention the reality of magic. This world is about to change in a major way. And you six are at the centre of it all.” He scratched his head with dismay as well as intrigue. “I guess what happens is … either you become celebrities, or outcasts. It’s for the people to decide.”