> III <


    Home. The rain rolls over Natalie’s armor and drips from the brim of her helmet. She lifts her head, tracing the scrawl of graffiti up a nearby smoke stack. Home.


    District 43 hasn’t changed much: rain-soaked trash still litters every inch of pavement; dumpsters overflow and black trash bags writhe with maggots and rats; shacks and huts pile over one another to climb up buildings and clog streets; drains and sewer grates overflow, spilling black water over the roads; factories pollute the air, and warehouses dominate every street corner. Ankle-deep water sloshes around her boots, topped with a thin layer of floating trash and scum. The rain roars. A flash of light twists the shadows in the street—the sky grumbles and quakes. The wind shifts again and plays with the hem of her skirt.


    “Awaiting orders.” The voice is garbled and monotone. Natalie turns. Five Enforcers hold formation behind her, raised weapons panning over every corner of the environment. They’re human in shape, clad in tight black bodysuits and pristine white armor. Their helmets have no eyes, only a little blue light about where the mouth should be. The one that had spoken, however, is different from the rest—its armor is bulkier, and more black than white. Its helmet features a more prominent red light in the shape of three vertical dashes along a horizontal curve. It stands motionless, staring at her. Natalie holds back a shudder.


    “Take two and patrol the surrounding area. The other two will remain here with me,” she says. The black-armored Enforcer—a squad leader—nods. It emits a rapid series of chirps and tones. On cue, two of the other Enforcers step to its flank. The three walk away with unnatural fluidness and disappear down an alley. Now for the other two… Nearby, thick steel girders hold a corrugated roof up over a warehouse loading dock. “You two,” Natalie says, turning to the remaining Enforcers, “hold position over there. Do not come out unless I tell you.” The Enforcers look at each other for a moment, then nod and take cover behind the steel pillars. Natalie sighs. A burst of static from her earpiece makes her jump.


    “Y’know, the whole point of bringing the Enforcers was to help you hold that position…” Kokona’s voice pushes down the crackling.


    “I really don’t need them,” Natalie says.


    Yvette’s voice comes over the comms channel next. “Your chances of success increase by sixty-seven percent if you keep them with you.”


    Natalie ignores her. “Am I the only one who’s creeped out by those things? What even are they?”


    “Beats me,” Kokona says. “Maybe ask Tanya, next time you see her. All I know is that they’re good at what they do, which is why we bring them. Yvette, you in position?”


    “Affirmative,” Yvette says. “Fay and I are ready.”


    Natalie unslings a semi-automatic shotgun from her back and checks the chamber. Thunder rolls overhead again. The wind drives the rain into her face, so she deploys the faceguard on her helmet—pearls of water begin to bead on the metal and the glass screen. Her eyes narrow as she scans over the darkened huts dominating the sidewalks.


    “Where is everyone? It’s quiet…I mean, it’s usually quiet, but never this quiet,” she says.


    “The Scissors likely evacuated the area prior to our arrival,” Yvette says, “which would mean we are expected.”


    “Why would they do that?”


    “They may be terrorists, but the Scissors aren’t monsters,” Kokona says, “they care about the people of this world. I doubt they’re really expecting us, but it makes sense that they would at least evacuate the area if they were preparing for the possibility of a firefight, to minimize collateral damage.”


    Natalie lifts her head to the clouds. “Then I hope my brother got out safe…”


    “You have a brother?” Kokona says.


    “Yeah…he’s eight years younger than me, so he’d be…sixteen, now?” She chuckles. “You would’ve loved him. So bright, full of energy.” She looks down and kicks at the water. She traces the ripples that race away from her. “He was such a mess…when I left. I promised myself I’d come back for him, but I…never really got the chance. It’s been six years…sometimes it feels like I can barely remember his name…”


    “You’ll have to tell me more about him over lunch some time.” Kokona’s voice hardens. “Convoy just came into view. Get ready, everyone.”


    Natalie lowers her shotgun and lets it dangle at her side. She looks back up at the sky. I should’ve come back for you…I’m sorry…I wonder if you even remember me anymore… The hollow clack of a gun ices over her veins.


    “Drop the gun, P.U.S.”


    Natalie lets the shotgun fall into the water and lowers her gaze to the source of the voice. Standing a short distance away is a girl in a school uniform with a crimson skirt. The sleeves of her shirt have been retailored—they’re baggy and black, with X-shaped vents bolted to the fabric that burn with orange light. Slim black gloves with orange palms cover her hands—they’re adorned with little metal claws. She wears a black mask of smooth glass over her face. Curling horns sprout from the top of the mask and spew fire over her head. The forehead of the mask is branded with an unfamiliar, glowing orange sigil. Buckles and straps hang from a harness over her outfit and flutter like ribbons on the wind. She holds a black combat shotgun leveled at Natalie’s head. Natalie narrows her eyes at the girl’s messy shock of hair—it’s bright red with a layer of white dye beneath that breaks through in thick streaks.


    “Do I know you?”


    The girl lets out a small giggle. “I wouldn’t be surprised if ya’ve heard of me!” She strikes a pose, keeping her gun pointed at Natalie. “The name’s Eika! Member of the Scissors…well, volunteering, anyways… The Fire of Preton? The Invincible High School Student?”


    “Not ringing a bell.”


    Eika wilts. “Whatever. The hell are you supposed to be anyways? Did nobody tell you? Knights went outta fashion, like, four centuries ago.”


    Natalie looks down at her armor, then back up at the girl. “You’re saying this while calling yourself ‘The Invincible High School Student’.”


    “Don’t mock me, P.U.S. You have no idea what I’m capable of.” Eika grips the shotgun tighter and takes a step forward. “Now’s your chance—run away, or you’ll regret it. Better decide quick.”


    “Funny,” Natalie says, tightening her fist. “I was gonna say something similar to you.”


    Natalie’s arm flies up and she summons her shield. Eika fires. A chain of sharp reports break the air and a cloud of flaming pellets hammer the face of the shield. The impacts send shocks racing up Natalie’s arm. She ducks toward a nearby wall, keeping her shield raised. Gotta get around her…


    She plants her hand against the wall and starts to stringify. A tingling rush of energy washes through her body. Her hand flattens like paper and adheres to the wall.


    “I was hoping you’d try that…” Eika flicks her hand up into the air. A dome of fire surges from her fingertips and encages Natalie.


    Searing pain rips through Natalie’s flattened hand and up her arm. She yelps and peels herself from the wall, her fire-engulfed hand returning to its natural shape. The cage of fire begins to shrink.


    Natalie grits her teeth and growls. “Cheap tricks like that don’t mean you’ll win.”


    Eika laughs—she slings her shotgun over her back and rests a hand on her hip. “Sure, whatever ya say.” She ignites a little flame over her index finger and studies it while the burning dome gets smaller. Then, in a flash of yellow light, both her hands are engulfed in little maelstroms of fire. “Anyways, look, I need to wrap this up—I got band practice in an hour and I really don’t wanna be late, y’know? Oh, and make sure to tell whoever made your armor that they really need to update their style.”


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    “Do you always talk this much?” Natalie braces and leaps forward. Blazing pain lights up her whole body as she passes through the flaming wall. She bites her tongue to keep from crying out. Once through, she ignites her sword and surges toward her opponent.


    Eika jerks. “What the—”


    Natalie closes the distance and swings.


    Eika leaps back. “Back off!” She throws her flaming hands together in front of her. A swirling tornado of fire springs forth. The flames break over Natalie’s raised shield, suffocating her with unbearable heat. She begins to slide back under the force of the impact, but she plants her feet. Eika shouts over the roar of the storm. “I said back off!!” The force intensifies. Natalie throws her weight against her shield. Sweat pours down her face. She takes a single step. And then another. “Ugh! Just…go…away!!” Eika says.


    The force grows stronger again. Natalie’s arm screams. She grips her sword tighter. The shield projector whines and begins smoking. Just…just a little…further… Another step. And another. Every fibrous muscle in her leg is about to snap. Her bones creak under the immense pressure. Her jaw tightens—her teeth crack against one another. Just…a little…more… Eika is only a few steps away now. The girl has almost backed herself against a wall. Her masked head snaps left and right, searching for an escape. Come on…COME ON!! Another step. Another. Another. Got you!


    With a roar, Natalie swings her shield. It swats away Eika’s hands, ending the blazing torrent. Eika draws her shotgun. Natalie swings upward with her sword. The glowing blade connects with the gun’s magazine and shears the weapon in half with a shriek. Eika’s hands bloom with fire once more, but Natalie brings her sword back down. The tip of the blade lacerates deep into her opponent’s right shoulder. Pale light and blue dust fly from the wound. Eika cries out, but her cry is cut short as Natalie’s armored knee connects with her stomach and drives her into the wall. The flames engulfing her hands dissipate. She falls to her knees, clutching her wounded arm, panting, and groaning. Natalie levels the tip of the sword to Eika’s face.


    “Surrender. Now.”


    Eika snarls at her through the darkened glass of her mask. She growls between pained gasps. “P.U.S…doesn’t…belong…in Preton…” She balls her fist. “This…isn’t your…home…”


    “This is my home…and I’m trying to make it better.”


    “Make it better?!” Eika laughs then grunts, tightening her grip on her shoulder. “We were just fine before you showed up. Typical P.U.S—never there when we do need you, only when we don’t. You really think you’re saving anyone here?!”


    “We’re trying.”


    “Look around. Doesn’t look like you’re trying hard enough.”


    Natalie bites her tongue. “You two!” she shouts. The two Enforcers emerge from cover and come running over. “Secure her until transport arrives.” They step forward, aiming their guns at the wounded girl. As she turns away, Natalie glares at Eika over her shoulder. “You don’t know a damn thing about me or how hard I’m trying.” She walks a short distance. “Kokona? Flank is secure. I have one hostile down, ready for transport.” Static. “Kokona? Yvette? You guys there?”


    BANG! She flinches at the report. PLASH! She turns. One of the Enforcers collapses into the water, sparks and glowing blue petals fountaining from its head. Dozens of little black balls rain down around her. She opens her mouth to yell. The balls explode like firecrackers and erupt into black smoke with a deafening hiss. The smoke fills the street and pours down her throat. She chokes and collapses. Her body heaves with deep coughs that rend her throat raw. A shadow darts over her head. A blade rasps. Metal shrieks against metal. PRASH! The body of the second Enforcer hits the shallow water.


    Natalie begins to stand. A red glint streaks toward her through the dark fog, planting a knee into her gut. She falls back, retching and choking. The cloaked figure stands over her. They toss a green and white canister over their shoulder. Plish! It lands in the water at Eika’s feet.


    “Patch that wound, then get out of here.” Their voice is hollow and distorted.


    Eika takes the canister and limps away. The wind and rain beat the smoke down. Natalie looks up at her attacker. They’re dressed in layers of tattered rags and filthy wrappings. Their beaten, armored boots grind against the pavement as they shift their stance. A bulky mask, displaying a snarling set of glowing red fangs, covers the lower half of their face. The wind tugs at their cloak and pulls the hood from their head. Natalie’s heart trips and plummets into her stomach. Nausea presses into her chest and hot pressure builds behind her eyes.


    Beneath the hood is the dirty face of a young boy with glittering ruby eyes—they’re bloodshot and wide, blazing with recognition and bloodlust. A familiar, thin streak of fading black dye weaves through his short, messy white hair. Natalie chokes on his name as it crawls up her throat like bile.


    “Kayce…?”


    >>> ||| <<<


    BOOM! A flash of golden fire and smoke flowers out of the barrel. The young man screams and falls, clutching a wound that bleeds blue light. Kokona jerks the bolt on her rifle and pans the scope to the next target. She squeezes the trigger. BOOM! The report vibrates through her body. The rifle heaves backwards and punches her shoulder. Another enemy falls.


    The percussion of gunfire bounces off every building. People yell. About dozen nameless devotees of the Scissors remain, cowering behind shacks and stray boxes; around building corners and rusty dumpsters. A boxy yellow truck idles in the middle of the street, hovering above the cracked concrete. A woman with blonde hair shouts from cover. Another young man dives out from behind a shack. He rushes toward the mech truck. Kokona squeezes the trigger. BOOM! CRAKK! The pavement explodes just behind the man’s heel. Smoke rises from the baseball-sized crater. He dives. Kokona rechambers, but the man is already behind the truck. Satisfied with the presence of its guardian, the autonomous vehicle resumes its forward crawl. The man peers out. BOOM! He jerks back into safety as another bullet rocks the truck.


    “Swapping mag.” Kokona drops the magazine from her rifle without peeling her eye away from the scope. It clatters against the metal rooftop as she hammers a fresh one in its place.


    “Two Enforcers down,” Yvette says. A gray, bipedal grizzly bear wearing a blue helmet and harness rushes up the street. It throws itself against the truck and explodes—a sheet of ice blooms from the spot of the fallen bear’s sacrifice and coats a large area. The young man behind the truck slips. He lands on his hands and knees, his head exposed from cover. BOOM! His scream is cut short as the bullet pierces his skull and he explodes into holographic, blue dust. Another rebel sprints from cover and slides behind the truck. BOOM! Another near miss. The truck advances again.


    Gunfire. Something shreds the air by Kokona’s face and clips her bangs. KRAK! Something strikes the cinder block barricade in front of her. She flattens herself against the roof. KRAKK! KRAK-KRAK! Bullets streak overhead and hammer her cover. Her heart thrashes in her chest.


    That was too close…might be time to move…


    “We have a problem,” Yvette says over comms.


    “Now’s a really bad time for a problem, Yvette,” Kokona says.


    “The payload appears to be deviating from its predicted course.”


    “What?!” Kokona peers up over her little makeshift wall. Sure enough, the truck is mid-turn, inching around a corner and crawling up a different street. “We need to reposition, then.”


    “That’s the thing,” Yvette says. “There’s nothing up that street. Fay says it’s a dead end.”


    Another shower of return fire drives Kokona back into hiding. That can’t be right…didn’t they do any recon? They should know it’s a dead end…unless…unless they… She hoists her rifle over the barricade and peers through the scope. A pyramid of golden glass clatters onto the pavement. It rises from the ground and spins.


    Kokona’s eyes widen. “No, NO! Get in cov—”


    FWOOSH!! In an instant, the downpour of rain turns to a hurricane of biting wind. The sandstorm shreds across her face and fills her eyes. Kokona drops her rifle and falls sideways. Pain erupts from her bruised shoulder as she hits the roof. No, no, no! Not her! Not here! Not now! She claws at her eyes and chokes. More gunfire presses through the roaring storm. Kokona crawls and tumbles. Her back meets cinder blocks. She pulls her poncho over her head and coughs up a mouthful of hot sand. “Yvette…Yvette!! What’s up that street?”


    Yvette’s shout comes like a whisper through the crackle of static over the comms channel. “I told you, there’s nothing up there! It’s just three warehouses and a factory!”


    “Who owns the factory?”


    “One moment, checking…Fay says the factory and the surrounding warehouses are currently under the ownership of Polaris Labs, a weapons manufacturer.” Kokona’s stomach twists into an icy snarl. “They currently have four open contracts with P.U.S. I don’t understand, why is this relevant?”


    “Because they’re not moving a damn crystal shipment…”


    “Are you suggesting that—”


    “The truck’s a bomb, Yvette, they’re trying to hit us where it hurts. Natalie, can you read me?” Static. “Natalie?!” BAM! Bright pain flares through her fist as she brings it down against the roof. “Damn it, Natalie, answer!!”


    “The sandstorm must be blocking long range comms. We’re pinned down and cut off.”


    “Keep trying to reach her! This won’t last forever!”


    “It’ll last long enough for the truck to reach the factory!”


    Kokona grits her teeth. That’s what I’m afraid of, damn it…