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Her eyes opened to an overcast
sky. She looked around and saw that the trees
and lake
were replaced by buildings and a non-working fountain. A blast
rocked her
surroundings
so she got up.
"Mia, we have to get out
of here!" somebody shouted at her. She turned and
saw the
Ronins running down the street. She unconsciously picked up a
spear and ran
after them.
They dodged rubble and falling
debris as they tried to get away from
something.
Suddenly, youjas started to appear above them and follow them.
Something
grabbed
Mia's arm and without even thinking, struck it down with the spear.
It was a
youja that
eventually went up in smoke.
"That'll teach you to mess with me." She kicked its head with disgust.
"Mia! Come on!"
Sage was inside a van. He beckoned for her to get to the
opened
doors in the back.
"Get them!" an angry
voice bellowed behind her. She turned around and could
use the
shadow of an armor on top a building. More youjas appeared.
"Mia!" another urgent
cry came from the van. This time Rowen had called out
to her.
He held out his hand for her to grab.
She grabbed it as the wheels
screeched. Several of the youjas grabbed the
back bumper
of the van. She got in but an armored hand caught her ankle.
"Oh, man," Kento said.
He was tending to Cye who was on the floor of the
van, injured.
The Ronins were still in full
armor and lacked mobility. Ryo and Sage were
trying to
drive through a mass of youjas in front of them. Rowen and Kento
helped Mia
with the
youjas.
"We've got to close this
door!" Rowen shouted. He shot another youja with
his arrow.
"Then back up!" Mia
stood up as much as she can in the van and swung the
spear she
held. It hit the remaining youjas hanging to the door and dropped
them back.
The
quickly closed the doors.
Some of the fallen youjas got
up and started to follow the van again. They
were stopped
by a voice.
"Let them go." A shadowy figure emerged.
"Why did you stop them,
Anubis?" another armored figure appeared next to the
first one.
"We could have ended the Ronins right there."
"There's no sense on killing
the sport while the game is still early, Kale"
answered the
one called Anubis. He knelt down and picked up something. "Besides,
I think
they'll be
coming back."
He held up the object in his
hand and it caught a glint of light. It was an
ankle bracelet
with a delicate chain that held it together. Kale took off his
helmet and
looked over
Anubis' shoulder. Anubis smiled when the light revealed a named
on the
bracelet: Koji.
"And why do you say that?" asked Kale.
"Trust me." Anubis got up and palmed the bracelet.
***
"We barely got away that time," Ryo said.
"Yeah, it's almost like they were playing with us," answered Rowen.
"Whatever it was, we're
out of there," said Mia. "And don't even think about
dragging us
back in there for food." She looked at Kento.
"So sue me," Kento defended. His lap served as Cye's pillow. "I was hungry."
"You're always hungry Kento,"
Cye said with effort. He cringed when he felt
pain go
through his side.
"Sit still will you," Mia commanded. "In case you didn't know, you're hurt."
"Calm down Mia," Sage suggested. "We're all a little on edge."
"A little?" She finished
with Cye then turned to Sage. "What do you mean, a
little? I
have been 'on edge' ever since you guys showed up. Watching the
other people
in the city
get abducted was fine, but getting Yuli killed was another thing.
Now, we're
sneaking in
to the city so we could get food. Don't tell me to calm down
after that!"
"Mia, it's okay," sympathized Rowen. "We'll get through this."
She walked off a little ways form them.
"Guys?" she asked.
They looked at her. She was holding on to the wall,
looking down at
her feet. "Where's my bracelet?"