Disclaimers: We own our own characters! We don't own the Ronins.

Flash raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean something happened?"

Rekino didn't say a word. She just closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on her brother. She could feel the energy filling her body, "Perfect Virtue," Rekino's kanji, virtue, appeared on her forehead brightly. It was shining with brilliance. Then, she felt it, "Ryo's been hurt ...bad." She closed her eyes again, and tried to reach one of the girls, via telepathy. -"Josephine? Can you hear me?"-

-"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened to Ryo? Is he okay?"- Rekino could feel Josephine's resentment to answering the question. -"Well?"-

Josephine could feel the anger in Rekino. -"Well, there's Hana, Cye, and ...and ...Rowen."-

Rekino didn't know what to say just then. Not only had her brother been hurt, but Hana, one of her Guardians, Cye, one of her and her brother's best friend, and Rowen, the one she cared for the most. Not knowing how to react, she just screamed.

Josephine didn't want to die. Rekino sounded pissed. -"Aw shit! Don't kill the messenger! That's all I am!-"

Flash looked at Rekino confusingly, "What's going on, Rekino?"

"Some of the others have been hurt. Give me a minute," Rekino returned to her conversation with Josephine, -"I'm not going to kill you, Jo. I wouldn't know what I would do without you if I did. Anyways, were you guys headed?"-

Josephine let out a mental sigh. -"We're going back to the house with the others. We should be there soon.-"

Rekino smiled, -"Okay, girl! Adidas!"- She let go of the connection. She turned towards Flash and Thunder, "I've got some news. It seems like Ryo, Hana, Cye, and ...Rowen have been hurt. Thunder, can you go and heal them for me?"

Thunder didn't answer, he only nodded his head, and left back towards the house. That left Rekino and Flash alone in the woods. Flash looked at Rekino seriously, "Is it bad?"

Rekino nodded, "Josephine told me that Ryo was hurt pretty bad, but he's alive. As are the others, I hope and pray!" Just then, they both felt an evil presence. They turned towards the woods, and saw Mesu standing there with a smirk on his face. Rekino's eyes flashed, "You son-of-a-bitch! I'm going to kill you!"

Flash smirked, "Same goes for me too!"

Mesu laughed, "Well then, if you feel that strongly for me, I suggest you come and get me!" With that, Mesu ran into the woods.

"Let's get him!" Rekino started towards the evil demon, but Flash stopped her, "What's wrong?"

Flash's eyes narrowed, "I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe we should get back to the house," She said in a concerned voice.

"I don't know about you, but I'm rather pissed off! He's the one who sent those damn soldiers, and I feel like revenge! He hurt four of the people I care for the most! Now, if you'll excuse me Flash, I'm going to kill someone!" She took off towards the woods in a flash of light.

"Well, I guess she is pissed. Guess I better follow her and make sure she doesn't get hurt," Flash said, and took off after Rekino.

*~*

Josephine was the first to come in the house. She was carrying Cye in her arms, and gently laid him on the couch. She wiped some of the blood from his head, and kissed it gently. Mia then walked in with Hana, Sage walked in with Ryo, and Kento walked in with Rowen.

"What are we going to do now?" Kento asked.

Amaya walked in after Kento, and shut the door behind her, “I guess we wait. Are Rekino and the others here?”

“No,” Josephine said, “She, Flash, and Thunder took off a while ago to get into some of the action. She contacted me via telepathy. I told her what happened. She wasn’t too happy to say the least.”

Everyone turned towards Rowen, who seemed to be moaning and groaning in his unconscious sleep. He tossed and turned violently. Suddenly, his armor was shed, and he appeared in his subarmor. The others looked around and noticed that the same thing was happening to Cye and Ryo too. All except Hana were still in their full battle armor.

“What in all hell is going on?!” Sage asked. They all turned around when they heard the front door open. All eyes widened as the warrior stood in the doorway.

*~*

Rekino ran past the twigs and branches to get to Mesu. This bastard was about to find out what it was like when you made a Sanada mad. It wasn’t going to be a pretty sight. Flash was beside Rekino. She had managed to catch up to Rekino without a problem. The female warriors continued to run, not stopping for anyone or anything.

Rekino sighed, “I’m sick of running! “ She came to a stop, and brought out her hands, “Symbols of Life, Wisdom, Trust, and Justice, shine forth and envelope me in the Lady Ronin Armor of Inferno, JIN!” Rekino’s Lady Wildfire Armor shed, and she threw out her arms. In a flash of swirling cherry blossom petals, Rekino was wearing the Lady Guardian Armor of Inferno. The Spirit Swords of Fervor were sheathed at her side.

Flash smirked, “Rekino, you must REALLY be pissed!”

Rekino nodded, and then turned her attention back to finding Mesu, “MESU! I’m giving you to the count of TEN to get your demonic ass out here! If that time expires, I’m going to fry this whole area within a hundred mile radius!” Rekino shouted.

Flash couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Rekino was one hell of a fighter. She had a temper too.

Rekino frowned, “One…two…three…TEN!” Rekino powered up, and looked at Flash, “Hey Flash, light me!”

Flash looked confused for a moment, but understood what she said. She closed her eyes, and her symbol appeared on her forehead. Flash’s hair started to fly behind her wildly. She increased Rekino’s power when the temperature rose.

“Alright! Here we go!” Rekino started to feel the raw power flow through her veins. She jumped in the air, and brought the swords together. Then, she broke them apart, “SPIRIT FURY OF INFERNO!” A large pillar of fire shot it’s way through the forest. It was so large, that it could’ve been viewed from outer space.

*~*

The others were at the house watching Thunder heal each of the wounded. He had already healed Ryo and Hana, and was working on Cye. All of the groups attention was diverted from Thunder when they heard a loud noise coming from the forest. The remaining Guardians knew that was Rekino using the Lady Inferno power.

“Holy Mary mother of God!” Kento screamed, “What is that?!”

“Dear cousin, that would be the Lady Armor of Inferno,” Josephine stated, “You’ve seen it before. Why are you so surprised?”

Sage turned towards the others, “Girl, it’s not like that. The power is HUGE! I mean, HUMONGEOUS!”

*~*

Rekino fell to the ground in a daze. Using the Lady Armor of Inferno wasn’t easy for her. Considering she didn’t use it as much as her brother did. She limped to the right, and Flash caught her, “Thanks. I owe you one, Flash.”

“Don’t mention it,” Flash said. She turned her eyes upward, and grunted. Seems that Mesu had been up there the whole time. It was just an illusion, “Rekino, look up.”

Rekino moved her eyes upward and saw Mesu floating above them. His face held a smirk of satisfaction, “I’m going to kill him!” She struggled to get out of Flash’s grip, but didn’t have enough strength too. They both heard Mesu’s laughter.

“Well, well, well, I would like to thank you both for showing me the power of the Lady Inferno Armor. I had hoped you would do that. Now, with my mission accomplished, I will be going now. Ta ta!” Mesu vanished out of sight.

Flash grunted, and shook her head. This Mesu may just turn out to be a problem. She shifted her weight when Rekino went limp in her arms. She looked down and closed her eyes when the Lady Inferno Armor started to glow. Flash looked down and saw Rekino in the Lady Wildfire Armor again. She sighed, and whistled for Blaze. The wolf appeared beside her in no time.

-“Blaze, let her ride on your back. We need to get back to her house.”- Flash said to her wolf. She placed Rekino on Blaze’s back, and took off with at top speed. Blaze following beside her.

Mesu stood back in his castle, in his throne room, watching the giant wolf carry Rekino and Flash run beside him. He rubbed his chin as he mused to himself. “That new girl is fast… faster than any other being I have seen before.. I must know more about these strangers if I am to take over that mortal world.. He continued to watch them as they traveled through the woods at an alarming rate of speed. He was impressed, oh he was very impressed.

Flash and Blaze made it back to the mansion and they took Rekino inside. By now Thunder had healed everyone else and they were moving around as if nothing had happened. Sage was wishing his healing powers were that strong. That was when they all noticed Flash, and the unconscious Rekino on Blaze’s back. Rowen’s eyes widened and he rushed over to them, gently taking Rekino into his arms. “What happened to her?!” he cried. “What son of a bitch did this to her?!” His temper was going up and he wanted to kill the one responsible.

“Rowen, calm down,” Flash said, then she begin to explain everything that happened in the woods as they all gathered around. Once hearing about it, Rowen relaxed, but he was still slightly angry though. He took Rekino upstairs knowing rest would be the best thing for her.

Flash let out a sigh and sat down on the couch.

So much was going on right now it was hard to tell when it would all end. She glanced toward the Ronins and Ronin Guardians momentarily, seeing the battle scars on them. Not just on their bodies, but in their souls. They were all brave fighters, willing to put their lives on the line for each other and for those they were sworn to protect. It seemed almost amazing that there were more mystical warriors out there, but why hadn’t Master Chinook say anything about it? she wondered. He surely would have known about them at least.

“Hey, Flash,” Amaya called to her in soft voice. “you all right?”

Flash looked up, blinking a bit. Then she smiled and nodded. “Yeah, Amaya, I was just thinking that’s all.” Amaya nodded and let out a sigh and Flash cocked her head. “Something troubling you?” she asked.

“Just this whole thing with Mesu,” the Ronin Guardian of Torrent said. “Sometimes, I wish that evil never existed. That everyone could have a heart.”

Flash nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s too bad there are just some people who refuse to change at all no matter how much you want them to. I’ve learned in the past it’s best to just accept things as they are, cause if we don’t, it’ll only be more hard on us since we’re struggling against it.”

Amaya blinked a bit. “Sounds wise in a way.

“I had a good mentor.”

“Who was she?”

“He actually. He was a mystic who came from some land in this country here. He had the ability to see the future, could fight very well, he could take any herb and use it for healing. He trained us Warriors and taught us everything we know, and showed us about our armors. He even taught me how to control my pyrokinesis.”

“Control? You mean you couldn’t before?”

Flash shook her head. “No. Before any time I got upset, extremely excited, or mad a fire would appear. One time I got angry and upset I set my kitchen on fire back in America.. and ..” Flash paused as she was regretting something, “I almost set my dad on fire.”

Amaya stared at her shock, but with somber. She felt sorry for the American girl. True she could see a warrior’s spirit inside the girl and leadership skills, she could also see something else. Something she couldn’t explain and something that Flash may not tell her or anyone else for that matter.

Thunder was resting on the sofa across from them, feeling exhausted now as he had been healing almost all day it seemed. Hana watched him from nearby, but he never once glanced her way. Every few minutes his eyes would close then reopen as if he was afraid to sleep or would be embarrassed if he fell asleep on their couch. She glanced over at Flash who was talking with Amaya.

“So um.. where do you guys plan on staying?” she asked when Amaya finished saying whatever she had said to Flash.

Flash shrugged. “We were thinking of staying at some motel in Tokyo,” she said.

“Are you nuts?” Hana asked waving her hands around for added emphasis.

“Possibly,” Flash said with a slight smile. “But we really don’t have no choice though.

“Wait right there,” Hana said, then went off to find Mia.

Flash watched her go, then glanced toward Thunder. She could tell he was sleeping by the way he was still and breathing quietly. A smile came to her lips. It would be good for Thunder to get some sleep, and she was hoping that he would be able to sleep peacefully for once.

Rowen came back downstairs with his hand in his hair. His face was pale, and he looked distraught. He made his way down the stairs, and sat in an empty recliner. He was in thought that he didn’t notice Ryo talking to him, "I’m sorry, Ryo. What did you say?"

"I said, how is Rekino?" Ryo asked again, "She looked pretty tired when she was brought in here."

"Yeah," Flash interrupted, "She used the Lady Inferno Armor …or whatever it’s called. Seemed that it wiped her out after she used it!"

Just then, Hana came bounding into the room with a big grin on her face, "Guess what?"

Sage threw up his hands, "I give up! What Hana?" He smiled at his Guardian’s face.

"Oh ha ha! Very funny, Sage," Hana turned to Flash, "I talked to Mia, and she said that you and Thunder could stay here until you have to leave!"

"Really?" Flash asked, a little confused.

"Yes really," Mia said as she came into the room, "If you think about it, the fight with Mesu may take a while. So, you guys can stay here until the fight is over with; however, you must attend the school we go to."

Josephine groaned, "Man, school sucks!"

"It does to you," Rowen said, "I actually enjoy it."

"Yeah, only you would say that, Rowen. Mister 250 IQ!" Kento said.

"Okay, here’s the agreement," Mia said, "Flash and Thunder will stay here. Tomorrow, they’ll get enrolled in the school system. How does that sound?"

"That sounds good to me," Flash said.

Ryo stood up, "Okay, it’s settled then. Flash and Thunder will stay here," He turned towards Flash, "Wake Thunder up, and I’ll show you two to the guest rooms. Some of us will have to bunk together."

Rowen pointed something out, "Rekino wants to sleep with me tonight. She told me earlier that she doesn’t want to be alone."

Ryo glared at his friend, "Touch her in any sexual way, I’ll kick your ass."

Rowen nodded, and walked up the stairs. Hana agreed to bunk with Sage, Josephine with Kento, Amaya with Cye, and Mia would bunk with Ryo. The Lady of Strata was letting Thunder and Flash use her room.

"Alright, let’s hit the hay! I’m rather bushed," Kento said.

All warriors nodded. Flash woke up Thunder, and told him the situation. He acknowledged the charity. He and Flash walked up the stairs, and into Mia’s room. All of the warriors slept peacefully. Awaiting the battles ahead of them: School and Mesu.