Disclaimer: I refuse to do this again.

Unexpected Consequences

Chapter 23.

Thunder glanced at his gold Rolex watch and saw it was going on near 7:02 p.m. A frown came to his lips. The others had been gone for so long, he worried they wouldn't make it back in time for the beginning of the ball. He looked toward his parents. They were dressed in their best; his father wore a fitting black tuxedo with his dark blue tie tucked down into the ruffles of his collared shirt; his graying hair was smoothed back, and he looked actually quite handsome for being near forty. As for his mother, she was dressed in a sparkling silver and white gown that seemed to shimmer with each delicate movement she had. Her blond hair was done up in a spiral braid that wound into a bun on the top of her head. She had on light make up and her light blue eyes shone in the light, making her look younger than she actually appeared to be.

Thaitus glanced over at his son and blinked a bit. Odd, he thought. His friends were nowhere to be seen, and by now more and more people were arriving. Servants had taken the guests' coats and jackets, and people began to mingle with one another after greeting the royal family. Thaitus decided to ask his son a question. He made his way through the crowds and tapped Thunder on the shoulder.

Thunder turned around and smiled a bit at his father. "Hello, dad."

"Hi, son. Thunder, what happened with your friends? Are all of them vain about their looks?" He chuckled good-naturedly to show he meant no harm.

Thunder laughed a bit. "No, they had to go and something. Wouldn't tell me what it was."

"Ah. But they will return in time for the ball?" Thaitus asked. "All the guests are almost here."

"Yes, I know. They said they would be."

"Alright, Thunder," Thaitus said with another nod of his head. "I believe they'll show in time. You claim they've never let you down before, and I trust they won't yet."

Thunder nodded and watched as his father went back to his mother. He smiled and turned away as he glanced toward the doors, watching more people file in. And so he continued to wait for his friends.

<><><><><>

Having no luck finding the thief, Rekino and Hana made their way to the destroyed Berlin Wall. They saw the others there and immediately ran up to join the group. Both of the Lady Guardians could tell by the look on the others faced that they hadn't found anything either.

Flash looked up and saw the two missing girls run up to them, "Any luck?"

Rekino let her head fall, "No. We saw someone who looked suspicious, but we lost him in the crowd."

Hana clinched her fists, "We looked everywhere! Where in the name of God could this sleezeball be?!"

Ryo sighed in frustration and glanced at his watch. They had less than an hour to find this creep and stop him from making the news known worldwide. He look up to the sky and wondered if he would ever be able to return home and catch Mia before so she could accompany him to the ball.

"Hey Ryo," Rowen spoke bringing the Wildfire Warrior out of his trance, "Why don't you contact Kayura and get her to take you home?"

"I can't just leave you guys here," Ryo said.

Scorpio raised an eyebrow, "Dude, we can handle this ourselves. You have a woman and child back home."

Rekino smiled, "Yeah, bro! Go home and fetch Mia before I make you go."

Ryo glared at his little sister before he smiled, "I'll still feel guilty for leaving you guys here."

"Don't sweat it!" Flash exclaimed and put an arm around his shoulder, "We'll find the man and take him down, no problem!"

"Okay, I guess, but you guys promise that you won't have any trouble?"

Everyone nodded his or her approval. Ryo smiled and hugged each of his friends and took off towards the woods. He closed his eyes and concentrated on calling the last living ancient. When he felt confident, he opened his tiger blue eyes and saw Kayura standing in front of him, looking curious.

"What is it, Wildfire?"

"I need you to take me back home so I can get Mia and return here for the ball."

Kayura nodded and raised the Ancient's Staff in the air. In seconds, a white light engulfed the room and they two were sent back to Toyama, Japan. Ryo sighed in relief - it felt good to be home. He stood outside his home and looked over at Kayura, "Could you stay here for a few minutes?"

"I might as well," Kayura said, looking towards Ryo with amusement, "I suppose you're going to ask me to baby sit your child while I am here as well."

Ryo smirked, "You never know." He walked up to the door and knocked lightly. When he got no answer, he decided on ringing the doorbell instead. Maybe that would've helped from the start, but he wasn't thinking right. He heard footsteps coming down the stair and he smirked.

"I'm coming!" A familiar and missed voice said.

"Mia…" Ryo whispered.

The Strata Guardian had been inside her home tending to her young son, Hiroshi. She walked into the living room and placed the baby in his playpen, and then opened the door and stood in shock. Right there, in front of her eyes, was the one person she had wanted to see in months, and damn, it felt good to look into his eyes once again, "Ryo?"

"Hey, did ya miss me?"

"More than you know," Mia eyes clouded with tears of happiness and sorrow. She smiled, "Oh, I have someone that would like to meet you." She opened the door completely to let Ryo and Kayura in and pointed at the object next to the television, "Go on."

Ryo slowly, but surely, walked over and peered inside the box-shaped playpen. Inside, he saw his son oohing and ahhing at the little things above his head. The Wildfire Bearer couldn't help but smile and cry at the sight of his son. He felt Mia's arms wrap around him from behind, "Is that my son?"

"Yes, that's Hiroshi," Mia said into his ear, "Go ahead, sweetheart. He's not going to bite."

Okay, we'll start out by saying Ryo was just a little bit nervous. Sure, he had a little sister, but she was a year younger than he was, so he really didn't have any experience with holding babies. With shaking hands, he reached down and picked up his son, supporting his head with his arm. The strong since of pride Ryo help at that moment didn't come close to anything he had ever felt in his life as his son looked up at him with the same eyes he bore, "Hi there, Hiroshi. I'm your dad, Ryo," He stroked the baby's short, stubby brown hair as his tears fell down his face.

Hiroshi cooed up at the man and grabbed Ryo's index finger, tugging it lightly. He made a gurgling sound and laughed as he waved his father's hand around.

Mia smiled happily as she walked beside her love and kissed his cheek. "Welcome home, Ryo."

<><><><><><>

Back at the Tägliche Nachrichten, the reporting staff had just finished the evening newspaper and was ready to send the trucks to the deliver stands. Frank Heinrich stood in his office, smirking, as he looked over the paper that would write them down in history. The front cover was not only posted with the daily news of Germany, but it contained the picture of Prince Thunder kissing the blonde on a bed.

"This is going to make our company rich!" He exclaimed and started to read the article deeper inside the newspaper. His smirk grew when he noticed the picture of the King's trusted advisors.

A knock at the door startled him…

"I'm busy right now! Come back later!"

The person, or should I say, persons didn't like that answer, so, they broke down the door. Frank looked up from his chair and almost had a heart attack. Standing in front of his desk was none other than were Wendi, Missy, and Jessica, the King's maids. Missy also had the wrist of another person - it was Eric.

Frank tried his best to stay calm, "I'm sorry ladies, as I said, I'm quite busy, so could you come back later?"

Wendi crossed her arms over her chest, "No."

"Excuse me?"

Missy, who was usually the calm one in any situation, threw Eric onto Frank's desk and gave the older man a harsh glare, "Listen you son-of-a-bitch, we know that you had this little shit head enter the castle, sneak around, and gather precious information about us and Prince Thunder!"

Frank snorted, "That's ridiculous! I would do no such thing!"

Jessica slammed her hands down on the man's desk, "Don't give me that load of cow shit! If you don't give us back everyone of the pictures, or else I'll…"

"You'll what? You have no power here. You're merely servants of the King!"

Missy and Jessica both growled, and were about to strangle the older man, when Wendi stepped forward, looking rather calm, considering she was usually the ill mannered one, "I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice."

"What are you about to do?" Frank asked as his voice began to waver.

Wendi smiled innocently and looked over at Missy and Jessica. Close your ears. This may get ugly. Both of the girls nodded and the young Priestess started humming a sweet little tune.

Frank and Eric raised an eyebrow as they listened to the humming of the young woman. Soon, she started to sing her beautiful Alto voice filling the office.

"Unwavering seas of flame, how dost thou captivate me. Unrushing in a mood divine, you yourself then became mine. Take to heart of what once was said, for dost thou knowest what thine own heart contends? Unwavering seas of flame you live for what it is true, but to me you canst bear with me in a sea of pain."

Frank's head feel to the side. He blinked several times to try and stay awake, but he couldn't. His eyes soon closed as his head feel to the side. Eric had dozed off long ago, curled up in a ball next to Frank's desk. Missy and Jessica unplugged their ears and stared at Wendi, who seemed to be looking rather sad.

Both of the girls knew why.

Missy put a hand on her friends shoulder, "Why did you sing that song?"

Wendi quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked at her friend, "Honestly, it was the first one that came to my head."

Jessica looked at her friend, "He wrote that song for you, which showed his love as well."

The three friends stood there for what seemed like an eternity. The trio thought of their past lives with their husbands and children. If only they could've saved them…

The blonde priestess shook her head, "I could've done without those nasty memories."

"Well, we know what we have to do," Jessica started, "Missy, would you like to do the honors?"

Missy smirked, "Of course. I'm the only one able to possess his body, as you know."

<><><><><><>

Rekino stopped in the middle of the street, throwing her hands in the air, "Okay, that's it! We're never gonna find this guy!" She sat down on the sidewalk Indian style and put her head in her hands, "This is all my fault! God, I feel so damn stupid."

Rowen sat down beside his girlfriend and place a hand on her shoulder, "Stop blaming yourself."

Flash smirked, "Yeah. Well, that and the fact that we've searched all over the city. We're bound to find him sooner or later."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Rekino sighed again.

Hana stood in place with her arms crossed, deep in thought. She kept wondering if the pictures had gotten as far as the local newsstands or not. She felt really bad for what was happening. Even though she should blame Rekino, she was equally to blame. After all, she was the one who had kissed Thunder.

Flash sighed deeply, then grasped Rekino by the shoulder and pulled her to her feet, "Listen, were never gonna find him if we all just stand here," she said firmly. "Now lets stop bellyaching and get a move on!"

Rekino tore her arm free from Flash and walked away a few feet, shaking her head and muttering something incoherent in Japanese. Rowen, Hana, and Flash all gave her a look, just wondering what that was all about. They decided to give her a few more minutes to compose herself.

When at last Rekino was calm, she turned and walked back over to them. "Okay, lets go."

"Are you sure your okay, Rekka?" Rowen asked with concern.

"I'm fine," Rekino said. "Just ready to kick some major ass right now!" She threw her fist into the air to emphasis her point.

"Then lets go," Hana declared and immediately headed off.

The others followed her immediately, each one keeping an eye out for the thief. Scorpio began to get a weird feeling suddenly, and he immediately looked over at a busy intersection, his sky blue eyes narrowed in concentration.

Sage immediately noticed his look and cocked an eyebrow up at him. "What's the matter, Scorpio?"

"I'm not sure," the Warrior replied. "But it feels like something's telling me to go that way, toward those public buildings there on the strip."

"Why do you think that?" Rekino asked him.

"If I knew Id tell you," Scorpio said softly.

"Hey, lets check it out anyway," Rowen said. "Who knows we may find something."

And so they changed direction, walked quickly to the corner, waited for several vehicles to pass, crossed over, and walked down the sidewalk, heading toward that particular strip. The closer they got, the more Scorpio's feeling became stronger. He didn't know what was pulling him there, but he was bound to find out. He only hoped it would lead them to the one they were searching for.

<><><><><><>

The man's body jerked and grunted as Missy became transparent and floated within him. He yelled out, but his voice was quickly stifled from yelling out further. Wendi and Jessica continued to watch. The first part of the possession was always horrid. When at last Missy had full control, she then began to silently summon the prince's friends, particularly one.

"Do you think she can do it?" Jessica asked Wendi.

Wendi gave a firm nod as she continued to watch. She knew that whenever Missy possessed someone, she could no longer hear them, and so they would have to wait for her to finish in order to speak with her. "I'm sure of it," she replied. "She's done this a dozen times."

Jessica nodded and crossed her fingers.

<><><><><><>

Ryo laughed merrily as his son cooed at him. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine he would be a father. The baby seemed to have his fiery personality, and it was amazing at how intelligent he seemed for being so young. Could it be because he was the next in line for the Armor of Wildfire? Ryo was certain of it. The moment his son became old enough, he planned to teach him the ways of the Ronins and their skills. It was going to be hard at first, but in the end, he knew it would pay off.

Hiroshi yawned just then, and Ryo smiled tenderly down at him. He glanced over at the couch for a moment, and smiled more as he watched Mia sleep. She had fallen asleep earlier, filled with calmness, and that made him all the more glad. He turned his attention back to his son who let out another yawn.

"I think its time to lay you down too," he said softly. The baby blinked at him, then laid his head on his fathers shoulder as Ryo carried him out to the kitchen. There he made a fresh bottle, grabbed the receiving blanket, and went back into the living room where he sat down in the rocking chair, and fed his son as he rocked him slowly to sleep.

<><><><><><>

Missy continued to possess the editor's body, softly calling out to Scorpio, the one who was more closer to Thunder than any other Warrior, the one who felt he owed Thunder his life, had Thunder not took him home with him the first day he had met him. She could feel her unwilling host struggling with her, but continued to hold fast onto him. She wasn't letting this one get away. No way.

She could feel them coming and it would only be a matter of time before they arrived there.

Wendi and Jessica continued to watch her; always intrigued by the way she handled her victims to the full extent. Oh, she wouldn't hurt them, for that wasn't her nature to do so.

Wendi went over to the front of the large window to watch for the Ronins, Lady Guardians, and Warriors to come. She could feel the editor struggling weakly in Missy's power, but never once did she feel sorry for him. He got what came to him, and that was it. Then suddenly her eyes lifted a bit more, and she could see them. They were coming down the street, heading toward the very building they were in. She looked over her shoulder. "Sisters, they are coming."

"Good," Missy's voice echoed from within the editor. "I do not wish to hold onto his body much longer."

"Amen," Jessica said with a nod of her head.

Wendi smirked and closed the blinds to the office so no one could see in. She nodded towards Missy, "The show's all yours, sister."

Missy nodded and opened the office door, leaving Jessica and Wendi inside to wait for their sister's return. Jessica looked at her older sibling as she wringed her fingers, "Do you think she'll be able to pull it off?"

Wendi rolled her eyes and looked at Jessica's worried face, "Who are we talking about here? You and I both know that Missy will get the job done right. She always has."

"I guess your right," Jessica smiled, "But how do you know that the teenagers won't know we're manipulating him?"

Wendi smiled evilly, "Well, once upon a time there was this chicken…"

<><><><><><>

As they neared the building, Flash, Sage, and Hana stopped in their stride. All of the others looked back at their comrades. Rekino raised an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip.

"Uh…is there a problem?" Rekino asked sarcastically.

Flash closed her eyes and concentrated, "There's a spirit nearby. Something is happening in that building. The power is off the wall!"

Scorpio looked towards the building. He still felt like something was pulling him towards it, but he didn't know what it was. It felt like someone was guiding him…making him see the light. But in some cases, walking towards the light isn't a good thing.

Hana looked towards the building and frowned. She could feel it too. Like something heavy was going down inside that building. The power surged through her body, and, through the link she shared with Sage; she knew he was feeling the same thing too.

Rowen rubbed his chin, "What's happening?"

"I'm not sure," Flash started. "But the power is amazing! It's like nothing I've ever felt before."

Shades' eyes narrowed into slits, "I say we check it out. I certainly don't want to be caught off guard like last time."

All nodded their heads in agreement and hurried off towards the building, all with a fear of another enemy on its way.

<><><><><><>

Wendi tapped her foot. She was becoming quite irritated with the whole situation. What is taking Missy so damn long? She should already be done with it. She lifted up the blinds again and panicked, "Shit fire and save the matches."

Jessica raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"This isn't good," The Priestess of Songs commented. She turned her head slightly in Jessica's direction, "They're picking up pace. Missy needs to hurry the hell up and we need to get the hell outta here."

Just then, the door opened and closed, which startled the two women. Slumped up against the wall was an unconscious Frank, and besides him, Missy had both of her arms crossed, tapping her index finger lightly on her elbow, "You were saying?"

Jessica looked down at Frank. The man's head was slumped against his chest as he laid limply against the wall with his legs outstretched, and his arms hanging limply at his sides. She knew that anyone who was ever possessed by Missy would always fall into a state of unconsciousness, and when they awoke, they could never remember what had taken place. And now since the main problem was out of the way, they only had to worry about the Ronins and Lady Guardians, and the Warriors coming. It was definitely time to help them find those pictures.

Wendi's right ear lifted up a bit as she heard footsteps. Even though they were low in sound she could still pick up the slightest trace of them. She looked over at her sisters. "They're here," she stated plainly. The two other girls nodded, knowing it was time. They immediately left the room and set to work. Wendi grabbed the original photos of Hana and Prince Thunder and the copies of the film and set them within eye's sight, right on the corner of the first empty desk.

Jessica quickly contacted the other news media and arranged it so that the copies would not be forwarded it to them, putting a stop to each one, by phone and fax, while Missy got on the internet and arranged for any email that may have been sent to be instantly destroyed. How they managed to do it all in time, or even how was a mystery that was best not explained.

The door opened and Hana and Rekino walked in first, followed by the others. Rekino looked around, seeing the front office was busy. Just her luck. She wanted to find the creep who stole those pictures and beat the crap out of them. Flash walked over by the desk, immediately noticing the photos and the copies of them. "Found the photos, but where is everyone?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Rekino growled as she walked around another desk, looking up and down the room.

"Seems like everyone went out for a coffee break," Scorpio commented.

"At the same time?" Rowen voiced as he gave him a glance. The Current bearer shrugged in response.

Shades walked down a smaller hallway, her eyes searching each opened room she passed by. She couldn't believe everyone would just leave an entire office building at the same time without locking the place up. It didn't make sense to her one bit. As she passed one room she thought she saw something, and turned her head to look in a smaller office room. Nothing was there. She shrugged figuring she only imagined things and continued onward.

Inside the room, Missy sighed heavily as Wendi glanced down at her. "That was a close one," she said, placing one hand over her heart.

Wendi nodded in agreement, pressing her lips together as she was thinking. "It surprises me she saw you though. No one should have."

"Well, she did think it was just her imagination, so let's not worry about that," Jessica said quietly.

Shades continued onward down the narrow hallway until she came to the very last room on the right side. The door was opened fully, the light was on, and there was an unconscious figure slumped up against the wall. After doing a quick check, she called for the others. "I found him!" It didn't take the others long to get there.

Sage checked the man over as everyone stood around him, waiting. When he finished he looked at the others. "This man's been possessed, by what I can't tell for sure."

"Is he possessed now?" Hana asked him as she stared down at the slumped figure. Sage shook his head as Rekino came closer and inspected the guy, and then placed one hand on her hip, studying intensely. "Well, Rekino," Sage asked as he looked back at her, "is he the one?"

"If his nametag says manager and editor, then I've just died and gone to heaven," Rekino declared.

"I say that means yes," Rowen said with a smile.

"Well, now that we've found him, what do we do with him?" Scorpio asked. "Thunder has no idea of what happened, and neither does the king and queen."

"And we intend to keep it that way too," Flash said with a smirk.

"Something tells me you've got an idea," Hana said as she glanced warily at her.

Flash's smile brightened. "Don't I always?"

In just a matter of ten minutes, Sage and Rowen had placed the unconscious manager in a safer place, near the front of the office, while Scorpio, Shades, and Hana got out of the building immediately. Rekino stood near Flash, watching as the girl set fire to the back of the kitchen, near the stove, making it look as if the stove's cord short circuited. She commanded the fire to go no further than the kitchen door, and the flames jumped and danced at her order.

Then she and Rekino left the kitchen, grabbed Sage and Rowen, and joined the other three waiting outside. "Done," Flash said.

"Then let's get these pictures back where they belong," Rekino said as she placed the photos inside her pocket.