The Last Crusader

11

"Where are my brother and Timmy?" Cedric asked following Devlin away from the burning building, hiding on a rooftop.

"Be quiet. I'm trying to think."

"Think about what?" Cedric asked.

"You don't feel those energy signatures? What is that coming toward us, from every freaking angle." Zenith gritted his teeth.

"It feels like Mariposa and Badger." Cedric smiled in relief, "They can help us fight that Lion!"

"I need that lion to fight them!" Zenith snaps.

"Why, no way! They're the good guys!" Cedric shook his head.

"We have to go back to the house now!" Zenith demands.

"No! I won't! I want my brother and Tim!" Cedric cries out.

"Shut your freaking mouth before I throw you off this fucking building." Zenith threatens.

Cedric shut up. Stalling for time as he looked off the rooftop, "I can't make that jump."

Devlin stopped, finding himself back a few weeks ago.

"I won't let anything bad happen to you Xico. Let's go." Devlin lifted the kid's chin, kneeling to his eye, "If you come back with me, we can make you stronger than me. I promise that. We are the good guys. We are fighting to defeat The Mafia and The Regulators. We are the righteous cause! Not them. These Masks are going to destroy the entire region."

"I can be stronger than you?" Xico asked, always getting picked on for being the runt of the litter amongst the Marauders.

"Of course, buddy. Let's go. Let's hurry." Zenith smiled, giving a thumbs up.

Zenith followed after Xico, ensuring he wouldn't try to escape with his back turned or try to get help. He tracked the boy's every stop, trying to force him to rush as the energy signatures circled his location right outside the mansion.

The once beautiful home was a tattered ruin, burned to a crisp standing by little more than the steel and concrete foundations beneath the wood, décor, and drywall. Rather than the grand hall, Enshishi was immediately by the entrance feasting and eating upon the bodies.

Zenith was relieved to find the beast still here.

"You returned?" Enshishi rose its bloodied mouth from its meal.

"I have some strong energy signatures coming here looking for me! I need you to turn this kid super strong." Zenith pointed at five-foot-one Xico, weighing nearly 100 pounds after a good meal.

Enshishi rose his head, "They have a Guardian amongst them."

"Wait, you're scared too!?" Devlin panicked.

"I fear nothing. I- I will simply sit out of this battle." Enshishi lifted his head up to the sky.

"You're afraid of some Guardian, you're supposed to be a Guardian!"

"The only thing that can kill me is another of my kind. If it was simply your kind, then it would be meaningless. I feel its energy, like a revengeful spirit." Enshishi growled.

"Dude, they're gonna kick my ass!" Zenith barks.

"Here, put on this mask, and you'll be imbued with my powers without me needing to be present." Enshishi offered, vanishing from view, dematerializing into a leather mask with a bright star on its forehead.

"Here!" Zenith holds it out to Xico.

"He told you to wear it!" Xico barked.

Zenith didn't trust a single word Enshishi had said. He needed to see what the mask would do before he put his faith in Enshishi. Zenith took a deep sigh, grabbing Xico by the throat and wrestling him to the ground. Xico cried and screamed. Zenith buried his elbow into Xico's throat, silencing the screams as the energy signatures felt as though they were only outside. Zenith had knocked Xico nearly unconscious, coughing and weeping as the mask is forced over Xico's head.