The street seemed completely devoid of civilians. A wadded up news ad tumbled over the pavement before a strong breeze lifted it up onto the hood of an abandoned car. It sat there for a few seconds, wobbling back and forth between the windshield wipers. Then the windshield and hood caved in, metal crunching and squeaking and glass snapping.

"You shall pay for that, mortal!" Chaizar howled and pushed himself off of the car.

"Send me the bill," Sage shrugged and readied his nodatchi. Chaizar glanced to either side. Balthazar had managed to put Strata out of commission, and now faced Torrent. Scar's nightmares failed on the stubborn Hardrock, so he resorted to knocking him out conventionally, but Wildfire stepped in quickly to avenge him. Two out of five seemed okay, but the Ronin Warriors were proving to be exceptionally difficult this time compared to their first battle.

"You shall suffer a thousand-fold!" Chaizar growled. Sage frowned and swung his sword downward, pointing the tip at the ground. "PUNISHING NETHER PLAGUE!" Chaizar's crescent blade glowed violet briefly then the light erupted off it and faded. He lowered his weapon and waited for Halo to collapse from magic-induced fever. His eyes widened in shock when he saw Sage standing there, sword stuck into the pavement, but otherwise quite healthy. A thin skin of emerald light covered him from head to toe, holding the violet light of Chaizar's power at bay.

"You can't hurt what you can't touch, Chaizar." The emerald shell of light cracked and fell away, taking the writhing remains of the dark energy with it. Sage swept his sword up and lunged, catching Chaizar off guard.

"Your friends are dropping like flies, Torrent! If you surrender, maybe Mistress Dygra will be merciful and afford you a place in her ranks," Balthazar taunted.

"The Dynasty has a rather poor track record of taking care of its employees." Cye spun to the side, winding up and hurling his trident. Balthazar dodged easily and grinned.

"You missed, Ronin Warrior!"

"Did I?" Cye raised an eyebrow, smirking confidently. Balthazar frowned when he heard a metallic pop and gushing sound. He looked over his shoulder and saw Cye's weapon stuck into a fire hydrant on the sidewalk.

"….oh fu-" The hydrant burst, sending a tremendous flood pressing against Balthazar. Cye moved his hands as if conducting a symphony, and the water moved to match his commands, sending Balthazar skidding into the gutter. Balthazar coughed up water and tried pushing himself up but collapsed back onto the street when the hydrant fell from the sky and landed on his head, bouncing off onto the pavement with a rattling clang.

"Well that should clean up that filth for now…" Cye muttered and walked over to where Rowen lay sprawled against a wall. He knelt down and wrapped one arm around his friend's shoulders. "Rowen? Hey, wake up mate." Cye slapped Rowen on the cheek.

"Err…whaa?" Rowen muttered groggily. Cye helped Rowen to stand.

"C'mon. Ryo's probably gonna need our help against Scar."

"Somehow…I doubt it," Rowen replied and blinked to focus on the scene further down the street.

"I would advise against you continuing this battle, Wildfire. You have no chance against my powers, as proven in our first battle," Scar rumbled in his raspy voice.

"If Kento was able to withstand your horrors, so can I!" Ryo said defiantly.

"Hardrock is in no condition to aid you. I made sure of that." Ryo held his swords close and shut his eyes. "Blocking your sight will do you no good. I can seed your mind with such nightmares you would tear out your own eyes to make them go away."

"I don't have to mess with your mind to know what haunts the Warlord of Nightmare. Fire etched a very interesting tale in your flesh, and fire keeps no secret from me."

"You will be silent, insolent mortal whelp!" Scar howled and raised his mace. "HORRIFYING HALLUCINA-!" Ryo opened his eyes and raised his swords high.

"Fear has no power over me if my heart remains true and my mind focused. I refuse to acknowledge your power, Scar, but I'll make you remember what real fear is like! It's time to face your demons, Demon of Nightmare!" Sparks formed in the air above them, flickering and growing into tongues of flame then changing into swirling globes. Scar halted in channeling his attack and gasped at the sight. A bright orange glow spread over the street as more of the flaming orbs appeared, each the size of a baseball.

Ryo remained standing still, completely unwavering in unleashing this new ability. Scar stepped back, his confidence melting rapidly at the unusual display. Ryo narrowed his eyes suddenly and one of the orbs sped down to the ground, whistling and striking the pavement at Scar's feet. Scar leapt back but more of the orbs began raining down all around him, leaving shallow craters where they hit and spraying smoking embers everywhere.

Chaizar yelped when some of the orbs pegged him in the back, while Sage remained untouched and impressed by Ryo's new trick. Balthazar had just begun to recover and tried standing up when some of the globes struck him in the head and shoulders. The other Ronin Warriors kept at a fair distance and watched as Ryo continued plugging fireballs at the Night Warlords. The air began rippling from the intense heat and dozens of craters dotted the street. Scar merely stood there, transfixed by the flames.

"Scar! Scar! Stop standing there, you dolt, and DO something!" Chaizar howled. Scar didn't respond, not even when a globe whistled past his head. "Balthazar! Arrgh! Am I the only Night Warlord with his wits intact! ACK!" Chaizar squawked when two orbs struck him in the chest. He staggered back, straightened himself, then glanced at the Ronin Leader. "I shall put an end to this affront!" He aimed his crescent at Ryo. "PUNISHING NETHER-OW!" Ryo seemed to have directed his attack at Chaizar's position, the meteors striking his outstretched arm.

"The others will recover soon and overwhelm us! Chaizar, we have to retreat!" Balthazar didn't even wait for Chaizar to reply before grabbing Scar by the wrist and fading from view. Chaizar growled deeply in frustration and glanced at Ryo one more time before himself darkening and fading.

Ryo lowered his swords and sheathed them, dismissing any remaining fireballs. Smoke drifted up from the marks on the pavement and embers glowed faintly before eventually dying out. Ryo surveyed the damage then turned around to where Kento had collapsed after being knocked out. "Kento? You awake?" Ryo nudged his friend then hauled him to his feet. "Poor guy, Scar knocked you out completely."

"He'll be fine after we get home and he's had a good solid meal," Rowen commented as he and Cye approached.

"Damn, Ryo. That was some attack," Sage remarked.

"Yah, it was pretty cool, wasn't it? I'll have to think of a name for it later. I think we're finally getting the hang of these new Armors. They let us control our elemental powers more directly without having to use our ultimates off the bat."

"RYO!" The Ronin Leader turned around when he heard someone scream his name. The others looked down the street through the wafting smoke at a pink armored form sprinting towards them. "RYO! RYO!"

Tanya stopped a few feet away and immediately keeled over, both hands on her knees to support herself and keep from toppling over. Her body heaved as she panted heavily, coughing periodically. "Ryo! What the fu-*pant* what the fuuuu*wheeze*" She tried standing up but staggered to the side, falling against a newsstand. She panted a few more times, closed her mouth and ran her tongue over her lips, then began panting again. She pushed herself away and lifted a finger, ready to speak before she keeled over once more. "What the fuuuuooohhhh-"

Ryo kept quiet and watched his sister, an eyebrow raised in confusion. Tanya puckered her lips and her jaw moved from side to side as if swishing something around. Then she spat a large glob of saliva out and panted some more.

"Deep breath," Sage advised. Tanya nodded rapidly and her chest and shoulders rose as she inhaled. She closed her mouth for a few seconds before releasing all that air in a heavy sigh then straightened herself.

"Damnit Ryo, what the hell!? You always go off on me about 'sticking together', but what do you do? You and the guys go portin' without me! You should practice a little of what you preach and…" Tanya paused and looked around. "….where's the Dynasty?" Ryo didn't say anything and smiled. Rowen chuckled weakly and Cye smirked. Tanya blinked and glanced from the smoking pavement to the busted cars.

"…They're gone…you beat them!" Her expression immediately changed to one of joy and she clenched her fists. "You actually beat them! And you didn't need help!" Ryo nodded and exchanged a high five with Cye. Tanya folded her arms over her chest and tilted her head to one side. "They grow up so fast these days…"

"RYO!" Ryo hummed and looked past Tanya. Anubis ran up to them and keeled over from the same exhaustion that plagued Tanya earlier. "Ry-Ry*cough* Ryo! You should bear in mind *huff* that not all of us can teleport-*huff* like you can! …at least not anymore," Anubis wheezed and grimaced, clapping a hand over his chest.

"Well, we're sorry Anubis, but I think you're the one that taught us how important it is to respond to a threat as quick as possible. Right?" Ryo teased. The guys broke out laughing and Tanya let out a burst of squealing laughter.

"I'm…getting too old for this…" Anubis continued panting, trying to catch his breath.

*****

"That makes the third failure this week. If this had been a mission sanctioned by Dygra, she'd flay us to the bone for sure," Balthazar grumbled as he, Chaizar, and Scar walked down a narrow corridor within the Citadel.

"Indeed, like a virus, the Ronin Warriors are becoming increasingly resilient to the powers of the Dynasty. Not only that, they seem to be further developing their own abilities. Did you see how Halo, Torrent, and Wildfire displayed such direct control of their elemental powers?" Chaizar asked.

"No kidding. If Scar hadn't frozen like that we could have crushed them easily. What the hell was up with that anyway, Scar? You're supposed to be the Warlord of Nightmares and you're afraid of fire?" Balthazar threw over his shoulder.

"Wildfire merely disoriented me. I let myself lose focus."

"In other words you froze." Chaizar paused and the others halted behind him. "Oh look, our newest recruit," Balthazar sneered at the person seated on a window ledge.

Black Hawk didn't even look up from where she sat, legs crossed and wings folded behind her. She had a magazine spread across her lap and leafed through it lazily.

"What the-that is an item from the Mortal Realm! Such diversions have no place in the Dynasty!" Scar scolded and reached out to seize the magazine. Black Hawk rolled it up and yanked it away and looked up at him.

"Well…you're not supposed to be getting your butts kicked by the Ronin Warriors, but you do it anyway," she chided. The Night Warlords exchanged glances.

"She's got us there," Balthazar muttered.

"What excuse do you have? You have yet to leave the citadel since your first defeat," Chaizar demanded.

"Dygra said I needed a little training," Black Hawk shrugged and hopped off the ledge, her talons clicking against the floor. "So I knocked out a few sparring matches with that zombie guy…what's his name? Ryan…Rupert?"

"Rujek. And the correct term is lich. Zombies are mindless animated corpses. Liches retain most of their original intelligence," Balthazar snorted.

"Whatever," Black Hawk rolled her eyes and whapped the magazine against her thigh. "If you three are having such a hard time, why don't you ask Dygra to give you powers like she did with me? I'm sure the Ronin wouldn't be any match for you then."

"She forbids it," Chaizar shrugged.

"How come?"

"She requires human agents for infiltration, so we can walk amongst mortals freely without our armors," Scar replied.

"Yeah! Like this one time, like a hundred years ago, Chaizar charmed this entire village into pledging their souls to the Dynasty! It was pretty fun. Oh, and then there was the time I went back to my home colony and got half the women in town executed as witches," Balthazar recounted and quivered from excitement. Chaizar glanced at him then back at Black Hawk.

"Hrm..that makes sense…but if you guys are gonna be going out on the town you should at least catch up on the latest trends," Black Hawk opened up the magazine and held it up for the warlords to see. "Like you, what do you say if you wanted to take a girl to dinner?" she gestured to Chaizar. Chaizar glanced up and to the side and bit his lip.

"Do as I say or else I shall draw and quarter you!" he growled and clenched his fist. Black Hawk blinked slowly.

"….noooo…you say 'I know this great place downtown. Wanna come?'. See, this is where I could really help you three. Talking your way will set off alarms for sure, but if you learn from me, no one would notice-What the HELL is wrong with you anyway?!" Black Hawk snapped at Balthazar suddenly. "You trying to pass a brick or something?" Balthazar blinked and ceased shuddering. Chaizar cocked his head to the side.

"You bring up a valid point. There is indeed much we can learn from each other. In fact, I could help train some time. Undead such as Rujek cannot respond as quickly as someone of the living. They rely on strength and endurance more than reflexes."

"I'd love that. Rujek really is a total stiff anyway, so boring and not very talkative," Black Hawk mumbled and shrugged. Balthazar glanced from her to Chaizar, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. He opened his mouth slightly, about to speak...

"I could not help but overhear your conversation," a deep voice rumbled. The four nearly jumped upon hearing the stentorian voice and whirled around to see the large form emerge from the shadows further down the hall. The towering blue skinned humanoid grinned and folded his thick arms over his chest.

"What do you want, Pharaohn?" Scar growled.

"I merely wish to express concern over your dilemma. It is rather unfair that Dygra deny you power necessary to defeat the Ronin Warriors, is it not?"

"If you intend to propose the same thing you did decades ago, you know just as well as I Dygra would never permit it, even if we wanted to," Chaizar sneered.

"Ah, but my techniques have improved since then." The Egyptian armored giant leaned down slightly. "What if I told you I could enhance your strength while allowing you to retain your…'humanity', to a degree?" he whispered temptingly. "My new formula would allow you to change at will from your puny human bodies into powerful beast forms, more than capable of overwhelming the Ronin Warriors. You would be able to revert to your human form with ease, a fair compromise to Mistress Dygra's edict, yeeesss?" The Night Warlords looked skeptical and whispered amongst themselves. The three finished consulting one another and turned to face Pharaohn.

"What do you want us to do?" Chaizar asked. Pharaohn's lips spread in a wide grin.

"Cast away your armors. Return them to the Citadel armory. They would merely be a hindrance to you, and pale in comparison to the power I shall bestow upon you."

"And then?" Chaizar raised an eyebrow.

"Leave the rest, to me," Pharaohn chuckled.

*****

"Pharaohn! Pharaohn, answer me NOW!" Dygra's voice echoed through the room. "I know what you are up to. I did not grant permission for you to access the Transatia. Come face me and your punishment now."

"I will face you, dear Mistress, but my actions do not warrant punishment," Pharaohn spoke as he moved out from behind a column. Dygra turned towards him and curled her fingers, black energy arcing between the shiny claw plates. "Now now, be not hasty Milady," Pharaohn grinned and batted his hands slightly.

"I specifically stated the Night Warlords were not to be turned into Demon Warriors. I require their human appearance for various reasons. You deliberately disobeyed me!"

"But…The Night Warlords remain quite human," Pharaohn said and gestured to a shadowy space between two columns. Dygra paused in unleashing her attack and frowned when she saw three figures emerge from the shadows.

Chaizar, Balthazar, and Scar looked very much human. Instead of their armors of Pestilence, Famine, and Nightmare, they wore simple cloth and leather garments similar to that worn by Pharaohn himself.

"What trickery is this? I saw them drink from the Transatia."

"It's no trick, Mistress," Black Hawk spoke up as she entered the room. "Go on boys, show her what you can do."

"Remember what I taught you. Search deep within for your inner savagery. Let your hatred for the Ronin Warriors and all who would oppose you fuel your rage, and that in turn fuel your transfiguration!" Pharaohn goaded. Chaizar and Balthazar nodded then clenched their fists, growling in concentration. Suddenly, Scar gasped and his eyes snapped open, the pupils narrowing into those of a reptile. He arched his back and cried out as his body shifted. His skin rippled and thick, broad scales grew on his arms, chest, and legs. He looked at his hands as his nails lengthened into sharp claws. His fingers curled as they lengthened and tendons stood out on the back of his hands as they gradually grew. Scar roared with a voice no longer that of a human.

The other warlords felt their bodies change into forms that suited their tainted personas. Balthazar's skin sprouted smooth scales like those of a snake that shimmered and rippled as his body contorted, becoming stronger and sleeker than any mundane serpent. Chaizar's eyes became those of a predatory cat. He grinned in anticipation and his teeth lengthened into sharpened canines. His fingers thickened and fur erupted from his skin as his muscles swelled under his attire.

Dygra's initial disappointment quickly changed to elated joy as the Night Warlords finished their transformations. Pharaohn folded his arms over his chest, proud of his work and the look of wicked satisfaction on Dygra's face. Black Hawk hummed with pleasure. If she thought Chaizar a handsome man before, he looked demonic now.

Dygra chuckled to herself. Now, the Ronin will fall!

*****

Mia scurried downstairs, dressed for work with her book bag in hand. She wanted to snag a quick breakfast bar before her stomach purr became an embarrassing growl. She paused when she saw Kento standing at the counter stirring something. He heard her footsteps and looked up, smiling a greeting.

"Hi Mia. Mornin' to ya."

"I see you're back to your old self after yesterday's battle."

"Yup. Just fixin' myself some tea to wake me up," Kento explained and tapped the spoon on the rim of the cup and set it aside. Mia rummaged through a cabinet and fetched herself a granola bar. She turned around and peeled the wrapper open but paused in taking the first bite when she saw Kento squeezing honey into his mug. He didn't stop at the first glob, he kept squeezing. His powerful grip almost crushed the plastic bear until the nozzle started making wheezing sounds.

Mia put a hand on her hip. "You want some tea with your honey?"

Kento closed his eyes and chuckled. "Just the way I like it: naturally sweetened!"

"Saturate is more like it." Just then the doorbell rang and both of them glanced towards it. "I'll get it. I'm out the door anyway," Mia said and jogged out of the kitchen. She shouldered her bag and stuck one corner of the bar in her mouth and grabbed the knob. She pulled her hand back in time to catch the bar as it dropped after she took a healthy bite in her mouth. "Hello, can I help you?" she asked, keeping the granola chunk neatly hidden in one side of her mouth. She almost choked as she screamed upon seeing the Dynasty Soldier standing there.

"What?!" Kento dropped the honey bottle and bolted out to the foyer where he saw the Nether warrior standing on the doorstep. Mia had dropped her bag and breakfast snack and held a metal coat stand in her hands like a weapon. Kento darted between her and the soldier and clenched his fists. "What d'you want, Dynasty scum!" Kento growled. The soldier raised one arm and Kento readied himself for an attack.

He scowled, puzzled by the yellowed scroll the soldier held out to him. It looked bound with a thick black ribbon and marked with a wax seal imprinted with a evil sign, but otherwise just a roll of parchment. The soldier stood there quietly, arm raised and hand extended. Kento blinked and glanced from the scroll to the soldier before taking it gingerly.

"I come to deliver a message. The Night Warlords have issued this formal challenge to the Ronin Warriors. Meet them at the appointed location and at the appointed time. Farewell, Ronin Warrior." The soldier bowed and teleported away. Kento stared at the doorway, baffled. Mia set the coat stand back down and walked over to him and peered over his shoulder as he pinched the wax seal off and unrolled the scroll. It didn't unleash a vile spell, but indeed contained harmless text inked on the paper with a reddish color.

"We'd better call Ryo and the others…" Mia whispered.

*****

"A 'formal challenge'? What the bloody hell for? The Night Warlords have already proven themselves to be shoddy replacements for the Dark Warlords. Heck, fighting them actually makes me miss fighting the Dark Warlords. The Night Warlords seriously want their butts kicked two nights in a row?" Cye scoffed, incredulous.

"For all we know this could be a trap," Sage cautioned.

"If that's the case, why'd they ask for Tanya to come? She's immune to Dynasty power and stronger than any three of us put together," Ryo said and jerked a thumb at his sister, who closed her eyes and shrugged innocently.

"It's true…"

"Anubis, what do you think?" Rowen asked the former warlord. Anubis stood off to one side, head bowed in thought and eyes narrowed.

"It'd be wrong not to go. The challenge is legitimate despite the Dynasty's tendency to discard courtesy. Where did they want to meet again?"

"One of the shopping centers close to downtown, plenty of room to knock them around," Kento snickered and studied the map. Rowen leaned over and glanced at it.

"Ryo? It's your call." The Ronin Leader didn't respond at first, mulling over whether to venture out or not.

"We'll go. If the Night Warlords think they can beat us again, let'em try! Tanya'll come with us for insurance. Anubis, hang back just incase something goes wrong. If we're not out in half an hour, back us up." Anubis nodded understandingly. "The rest of us will head out to the city. We've got some warlord ass to kick tonight!"

*****

The six of them had followed the directions given on the scroll and waited on a street corner. Tanya sat astride a lamppost, swinging her legs back and forth lazily. Rowen and Sage sat on a bench to the right while Ryo sat perched atop a newsstand. Cye leaned against the lamppost while Kento sat on the curb to the left of Ryo. The large clock on a nearby billboard read 11:55.

Tanya bobbed her head and sang to herself like a bored girl. Sage leaned over and whispered something to Rowen, who snickered and jerked a thumb at the idle Lady Ronin. Sage nodded at him and Rowen crouched and sprang up towards her quietly. Ryo saw this out the corner of his eye and watched, curious. Tanya didn't seem to notice the surprise attack.

Tanya abruptly clamped her thighs around the metal bar of the lamppost, shifted her weight to the left, swung upside down then lashed one leg up and tossed Rowen over, sending him crashing back first onto the sidewalk. Ryo grimaced awkwardly.

"Jeez, Rowen, what was that about?" he asked as Rowen sat up and rubbed his backside.

"I made a bet with him to see if he could get the jump on Tanya. As you can see, he failed miserably," Sage chuckled and looked up at Tanya. The guys watched as she executed a complex series of maneuvers, swinging up and around the bar and finally holding her weight up on both hands before plopping back into her seat.

"You sure that part of the Typhoon Verses that says 'she conquers foes with words not wrath', wasn't supposed to be the other way around?" Rowen commented and stood up shakily. Ryo and Cye burst out laughing and Sage snickered quietly.

"Yeah, Tanya's got senses like a cat," Cye joked. Tanya smirked then all of a sudden appeared very drowsy. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Her lips peeled over her teeth and her mouth hinged wide as she uttered a tremendous yawn.

"BwwwaaaAAAAAAauuuuuugh…"

"Yawns like one too!" Cye exclaimed, arching both eyebrows.

"Trying to do your impression of Whiteblaze?" Sage teased.

"Sheesh, sis. You didn't get enough sleep last night or what?" Ryo asked.

"More like I got too much. I spent so much time roughing it while training, I'm starting to pick up bad habits now that I'm back in civilization," Tanya half yawned and flicked sleep out of her eyes.

"How long did you sleep?" Sage queried.

"Ten hours." The guys' eyes popped open upon hearing that.

"….whoa…I'm fairly sure that broke a record of yours, Rowen." Ryo said.

"Eh…it comes close," Rowen shrugged and wagged his hand. The four of them teased Tanya about sleeping on the roof again like she had her first night and the morning after when Mia found her and complained profusely. Tanya commented that it might actually help since she claimed sleeping in a comfy cozy bed made her sluggish. All through this Kento had his knuckles braced against his cheek and looked up at her with a curious expression.

"Hey Tanya, were you a guy in a past life?" he asked absently.

Sage fixed him with an odd look and Rowen blinked several times in surprise. He heard Cye's breath catch and the slow metallic creak as Tanya slowly turned in her seat atop the lamp post. She brought her left arm to the side and very slowly placed her knuckles on her hip and stared at Kento with an expression he couldn't quite describe. Ryo whirled around in his seat atop the newsstand and glared down at him with a more intense version of that same expression.

"Wuh oh…" Kento gasped and his eyes widened.

Across the street, three large shadows lurked behind parked construction vehicles. Breath came out of large mouths in deep, grating gasps and fogged up nearby windows. Predatory eyes fixed on the six Ronin as they made their way towards the other side of the street, keeping to the shadows in the sparsely lit site.

Ryo still sat atop the newsstand only he leaned to the left, almost hanging off the top as he held Kento in an inescapable headlock, squeezing so tight it seemed as if he wanted to pop the burly Ronin's head off his shoulders. Kento gurgled and pulled at Ryo's arms in an attempt to escape. Tanya cheered her brother on, growling warnings to Kento as well. Rowen and Sage watched, amused, while Cye winced sympathetically. Rowen blinked when he saw faint movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at the opposite side of the street. He saw three shadowy figures walking towards them.

"Hey Ryo, they're here," Rowen called. Ryo looked at him and suddenly released Kento from his death grip. Cye and Sage stood up and Tanya dropped down from the lamp post. Ryo took a step forward to greet the new arrivals. Kento stood up behind him and rubbed his throat, coughing and wincing before straightening himself.

"So you've arrived? That's good. Dynasty isn't known for being professional," Ryo said smugly. The figures stopped just outside the range of the light. "You wanna get this started?" Ryo taunted and took another step forward.

"Shouldn't we armor up?" Sage asked. Ryo shook his head.

"Nah. We need the challenge. We didn't even have to use our ultimate moves last time," he replied and returned his gaze to the Night Warlords. "Are you gonna stand there all night or we gonna fight?" he taunted again. Despite being shrouded in darkness, the Night Warlords appeared slightly different, somewhat wider in the shoulder and their eyes glinted with an eerie light. "We're waaaiting," Ryo drawled and drummed his fingers on his waist. The foremost of the warlords moved fully into the light, followed by the two others. What the Ronin saw caused some of them to gasp and recoil in shock. Ryo remained in place, eyes wide.

The first being reared up to a height of seven feet and had the head of a lion with short golden fur covering its skin. Its muscular furred arms ended in large furry fists, clenched at first but it occasionally splayed and wiggled its fingers, sharp curved claws poking through the fur. It wore Egyptian-style armor on its arms, legs, and torso with a skirt of leather straps about its waist. The other two wore similar armor, except one had the features of a crocodile and the other resembled a snake.

The Ronin Warriors didn't say anything at first and stared at the hulking creatures. Then Ryo burst out laughing richly.

"What is this?! What are you trying to do? Make us laugh ourselves to death?" behind him the other Ronin snickered quietly. "Halloween isn't until next month. Chaizar, is that you?" Ryo asked the lion-man. "Take off that stupid mask and fight like a man." Ryo reached up and grabbed the lion's muzzle. He squeezed and tugged sharply, Chaizar growling softly in protest and closing his eyes. Ryo's eyes widened when his fingers sunk into warm flesh, and hot breath pressed against his hand through the clenched fangs. He pulled his hand away and backed away a step. The crocodile-man snapped its jaws shut and let them hang open menacingly, and the snake-man spread a hood and hissed, tongue flicking between its fangs too fast to be anything but real.

"Uhh…those aren't masks…are they?" Ryo asked meekly. The lion-man chuckled.

"Right you are, Ryo of the Wildfire!" Chaizar rumbled and pulled one furry fist back and slugged Ryo in the chest, sending the Ronin Leader skidding and tumbling back until he bumped against a wall, arms splayed against the sidewalk and legs curled up before dropping down to rest on the concrete. He pushed himself up and blinked several times, shaking his head. He winced when he felt cool night air on his chin, which had been scraped raw from the impact. The other Ronin had turned horrified gazes at Ryo. Dust still drifted up from where Ryo had skidded on the ground.

Kento acted first and whirled around then lunged, aiming his left fist for the crocodile's stomach just below where the ribcage should be. He threw all of his force into the blow, but his armored fist collided with muscle as hard and unyielding as a metric ton of granite, and even that would have broken. Kento roared from the searing pain in his knuckles and scrambled back in time to avoid a savage swipe of the thick tail.

Cye and Sage attacked the cobra, Sage springing up to strike at the smallish head while Cye braced both hands against the pavement and kicked at the legs. The cobra seemed at most irritated and reached down, ducking beneath Sage's attack, and grabbed Cye by the ankle and swung him around roughly, bashing him against the street a couple times before tossing him away, sending him spinning down the sidewalk, ankle cruelly twisted. Sage clenched his fists together and swung down, preparing to bash the cobra in the skull. The cobra-man whipped its head back, deftly avoiding the blow, then lunged and sank its fangs into Sage's left arm, the teeth puncturing the metal mesh and armor plate. It held Sage's arm in its jaws tightly then flung him away lazily.

"AUGH! OH WHOA! He bit me! Bastard bit me!" Sage howled and rubbed his arm.

"Gee, and I forgot to brush my teeth," the cobra hissed with the voice of Balthazar.

Tanya and Rowen double teamed against Chaizar, with Tanya coming in from the front and Rowen attacking from behind. Chaizar glared at Rowen from the corner of his eyes and braced his feet against the ground then flung his weight backwards, catching Rowen in the chest and crushing him against a wall. He didn't stop there as he grabbed Rowen by both ankles and swung him around, slamming him into a lamp post back-first. He released Rowen and let the Ronin Warrior drop to the ground. Tanya paused her attack and sprang back out of range of Chaizar's lunge.

"Enough of this! Armor of Wild-whoa!" Chaizar pounced toward him quickly, forcing Ryo to spring away. "Armor of-" Chaizar pressed his attack, driving Ryo back and back, not giving him more than a few seconds of rest, his monstrous speed keeping match with Ryo's own.

"See how you like being interrupted!" Chaizar snarled, furry lips curling up over thick canines.

The crocodile made no effort to attack Kento, merely walked towards him while Kento stepped back, clutching his wrist. Tears ran down Kento's cheeks from the dizzying pain in his hand. The crocodile hissed deeply and swished its thick scaled tail.

"*tweeeeet!*" The crocodile-man swung its head to the side slowly. "If the kitty cat is Chaizar, and the snake is Balthazar, you must be Scar," Tanya stated.

"Correct!" Scar rumbled and snapped his jaws shut.

"You're actually a lot easier on the eyes now," Tanya smirked and cocked her head to one side. Scar opened his jaws wide and hissed angrily and turned away from Kento. Tanya pulled down one eyelid and razzed Scar then started back-flipping, luring him towards her. She wedged herself between two scaffolding poles and braced her feet against the wall. Scar lashed his tail and stalked closer. Tanya scrunched up tightly then launched herself like a missile, arms crossed infront of her head and elbows pointed forward. The powerful blow caught Scar in the gut, sending him staggering. Tanya grinned confidently.

She gasped when Scar reached down and grabbed her by her shoulders, recovering quickly from a technique she dubbed the "Suicide Slam". Scar glowered down at her, weighing whether to eat her in one gulp or tear her arms out of socket. Before he had a chance to act on either impulse, Tanya tucked her legs close to her chest and swung herself up despite Scar's powerful grip. She hooked her legs around the crocodile-man's neck and shrugged loose from his grip in that brief moment of surprise. She took a deep breath and swung her torso up, bashing him in the snoot with her forehead. Scar bellowed in rage and staggered backwards, clutching his large hands over his rugged scaly muzzle. Tanya herself landed on her shoulders on the pavement.

Kento stared in awe at the fallen beast. "Wow, Tanya, way to go!" he cheered then frowned when he saw Tanya lying on her side with her eyes closed. He knelt down beside her and nudged her gently. "Uh oh…that's definitely not good. RYO! Hey RYO! Tanya's out cold! We gotta get her out of here!" he called out.

"Ryo! I'm no good either. I've lost all feeling in my arm," Sage said, holding his left arm up by the wrist. Ryo took a few moments to glance at the others. Cye did his best to fend off Balthazar, though he kept his weight on his left ankle, maintaining a defensive stance. Rowen lay on his stomach a few feet away, his face contorted with pain. Chaizar waited patiently for Ryo to attempt to summon his armor. If Ryo so much as uttered "Armor!" he would strike. Ryo ran his tongue over his lower lip to soothe a split from his initial tumble then took a deep breath.

"PULL BACK!" Kento and Cye looked at him in disbelief. "That's an order! We're in no condition to continue! Retreat! Fall back!" he repeated and lashed his arm to the side.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Cye grumbled and sprang away from Balthazar, who leapt after him, trying to grab him by the ankle and yank him down again, only Cye escaped that time, grabbing a lamppost and springing onto a windowsill then scrambling onto the roof, all the while favoring his right ankle. Kento scooped Tanya up in his arms and made a full jump to the roof with Sage following close behind.

"C'mon Rowen, I got you," Ryo slipped his arm around Rowen's shoulders and tried to help him stand. Rowen got to his feet and tried to stand up straight then doubled over.

"AAH! My back!" he yelped and put a hand on his back. "OW OW! MY BACK!" Rowen yelped, grimacing.

"Take it easy, we're outta here." Ryo assured him and supported him as he jumped to join the others on the roof. The creatures that had been the Night Warlords merely watched as the Ronin Warriors retreated. Ryo spared a last glance at Chaizar before fleeing.

"Run little Ronin Warriors! Run like the scared little sheep you are! AH HAA HAAA!" Chaizar bellowed triumphantly then belted out a series of animalistic roars. Balthazar and Scar joined in, the beastly chorus echoing through the city.

*****

"Hmm…mmhmm…" Shannon hummed as she shined the tiny penlight into Tanya's unresponsive eyes. She kept the left eyelid peeled back with her thumb then let it slip back shut then pulled back the right eyelid. "No sign of hemorrhaging. Breathing's regular…I'd say she's just got a mild concussion. She'll be fine after a day or two of solid rest." Shannon patted the Lady Ronin on the head then stood up, pocketing the penlight. Cye sat on the floor with his back against one of the sofas. Brianna tended to him with several icepacks clumped over his ankle. Rowen lay on another sofa on his stomach with icepacks layered over his lower back.

"Okay let's check up on you now," Shannon said and walked over, carrying the Ronin Cross in sword form. She set the edge on the floor and swiveled the hilt around, aiming the Strata Sapphire at Rowen's injured back. Shannon peered into it, using the gem like a magical x-ray. "Hrm…you've got a lot of bruising around L-4 and L-5. Jeez…if you were a lesser man you could've been snapped in two," Shannon remarked grimly.

"Sure does feel that way," Rowen grumbled and winced.

"I want you to sleep the night like that, don't try standing up for another day or two," Shannon said. Rowen sighed heavily and set his mouth against his arm. Roxi flipped the icepacks on his back and rubbed Rowen's shoulder reassuringly.

While Shannon tended to each of the seriously injured Ronin, Ryo leaned against a wall, arms folded over his chest. Dried blood caked his chin and his gaze remained distant.

"Cye, for gosh sakes I'm just…picking it up a little!" Shannon scolded as she tried to turn Cye's right leg to the side to better examine his ankle. Cye, meanwhile, whined and blubbered about his ankle burning since Shannon moved it and that Balthazar nearly snapped his leg in two. Shannon examined it with the sapphire and saw no broken bones, not even a hairline fracture. She rolled her eyes then looked at Brit. Brit nodded then took a pillow and shoved it against Cye's mouth. Cye squirmed and let out several muffled protests before quieting down and relenting.

"Can't you just use the Ronin Cross to heal'em up good as new?" Kento asked. He stood against the wall a few feet from Ryo. He held his left hand up with his right and kept massaging his palm.

"I will after I've assessed everyone's injuries. I can use the Halo Armor's healing powers, but I've never had to heal this many people before. Or injuries this serious." Ryo squeezed his eyes shut upon hearing Shannon's frustrated remark. "I don't want to over-exert myself since channeling the power of the Cross requires a great deal of focus. I'm still fairly new at this myself, remember?" Shannon stood up after she felt confident Cye had no more than a badly sprained ankle. She glanced at Kento then narrowed her eyes. "You sure you're okay? I can't help but notice how much you're favoring your hand," she asked.

"I'm allright," Kento chuckled. Shannon bit her lip and walked over.

"I'm not too sure about that. Here, lemme see," Shannon took Kento's hand by the wrist and pulled it towards her, ignoring his "awww" of protest. She pinched each of his fingers between her thumb and forefinger and squeezed gently. Kento didn't do anymore than grimace each time. Shannon hummed again. "Okay, extend your fingers like this," she said and splayed her own fingers. Kento obeyed. "Now make a fist."

"NGYAAAAAAGH!" Kento involuntarily threw back his head and howled in pain. The other injured Ronin looked surprised by the outburst and the cry even jolted Ryo out of his brooding. Anubis, who stood by the window, wrinkled his brow in concern. Shannon quickly took Kento's hand by the wrist again and spread his fingers gently over her palm then lifted the Ronin Cross and moved the sapphire into position.

"Ohh! Awww, you've got some cracked metacarpals. Ohh, I'm sorry…look, I'll get back to you after I finish looking at Sage. Just…try to keep it steady," Shannon advised and walked over to where Sage sat. Tears streamed down Kento's cheeks again, and while he wanted to wipe them away, he couldn't without moving either hand. Shannon glanced at him then knelt down to face Sage.

"You've been quiet. Taking this all in stride, huh?" Sage said nothing and kept his arms across his lap and gaze to the floor. Shannon placed the back of her hand against his cheek. Her eyes went wide when she felt a disturbing level of heat. His breathing sounded regular, but labored, and he swayed back and forth slightly. Shannon took out her penlight and peeled up one of Sage's eyelids. "Gah…Sage, your pupils are the size of saucers. Sage, how do you feel?" Sage remained quiet. "Hey…does anyone know what happened to Sage?" Shannon looked over her shoulder at the others.

"I think he got bitten, by Balthazar," Cye replied, worried.

"Yeah, I heard him telling Ryo he couldn't feel his arm," Rowen added.

"Bitten…?" Shannon grabbed Sage's right arm and looked it over then examined his left arm. She saw four puncture marks: two on the top green armor plate and two in the black metal mesh. Sage made a soft wheezing sound and turned his head towards Shannon slightly. "Sage…Sage! Listen, I need you to take off your armor. Sage? Can you hear me? Take off your armor! Take it off! NOW! Sage!" Sage blinked slowly and let out a raspy breath. Shannon shook him by his shoulder roughly. "Sage! Take off your armor! Sage!...I said take it off NOW!" Shannon squeezed her eyes shut. A burst of green energy erupted from the Halo Emerald and suddenly Sage wore normal attire.

Rowen and Cye gasped, and Roxi clamped a hand over her mouth while Brianna turned away from the sight. Kento-much to his further embarrassment-keeled over and vomited onto the floor. Anubis and Ryo looked horrified by the condition of Sage's arm.

It looked like two sticks placed close together with a cloth draped over it, muscle completely deteriorated and skin draping loosely. The veins running underneath looked a sickly dark red and the skin a deep purple, almost black. Shannon threw up her arm and buried her nose and mouth in the crook, trying to block out the stench. As if sub-armor had been the only thing keeping him up, Sage tilted over, resting against the arm of the sofa, breathing increasingly ragged.

"Poor guy, no wonder he didn't say anything; he was so out of his mind with pain he couldn't speak," Roxi whispered.

"Oh….ugh…Sage…hang on, I'm going to do what I can to draw out the poison," Shannon mumbled and brought the Ronin Cross about, holding the end that contained the Halo Emerald over the withered limb. Shannon closed her eyes and her brow furrowed in intense focus. The huge gem glowed bright green, emanating light that seemed to layer itself over Sage's arm. The disgusting shade of his skin lightened, but the emerald seemed to darken, as if drawing the effects of the poison into its facets. Shannon's face showed increasing levels of strain as she channeled the healing powers of Halo. By now the emerald looked almost black, and Sage's arm appeared healthier, although still frail-looking. Shannon let out a sharp gasp and collapsed against the sofa. The handle of the Ronin Cross slipped out of her limp fingers and clattered to the floor.

"Whoaaaa…..oh maan….I was…not ready for that," Shannon slurred and blinked several times, trying to stay conscious.

"Shannon?" Anubis asked, alarmed.

"You guys…I can' do the rest of ya…that took too much outta me."

"But, I thought the Ronin Cross's powers were almost limitless. Healing Sage couldn't possibly have drained all its power," Brianna commented.

"The Crosh has unlimited powar, I don'. I'm sorry guys…you gotta heal up the ol' fashunned way….zzzzzz…." Shannon trailed off as she settled into a deep slumber against Sage's knee, while Sage slept quietly, back against the sofa cushions. The room went silent for a few moments, the remaining conscious Ronin exchanging looks.

"Guess that means we're thoroughly screwed," Rowen muttered. Roxi glanced at each of the Ronin then looked at Ryo, who hadn't budged from where he stood.

"What about him? I don't think Shannon got around to him yet," she asked.

"Ryo's fine…the only thing he hurt out there was his pride," Rowen grumbled.

"Ryo? Hey there. I notice you scraped your chin real bad. Let me clean it up for you, don't want it to get infected, do we?" Brianna said cheerfully and dabbed a cotton ball with some alcohol and held it towards Ryo's face. Ryo turned away to the side.

"No thanks. I'm fine," he mumbled in a sad tone. Brit rolled her eyes.

"You say that but I know you don't mean it. Just let me clean out any dirt that might be in the wound," Brit scooted around infront of him. Ryo turned to the other side.

"Look, I just want to be left alone, okay. I don't need any help."

"It's just gonna sting a little bit, surely you can handle that," Brit held the damp cotton close to Ryo's neck, the open bottle of alcohol in her other hand. She didn't see the way his brow wrinkled, the way his upper lip curled in a furious snarl, the enraged look in his eyes. He slowly turned to face her and uncrossed his arms.

"I said NO!" he bellowed throatily and backhanded the bottle out of Brianna's grasp. The bottle flew in a high arc before falling onto the floor and bouncing a few times, one side split open. A stream of alcohol splattered onto the floor in a straight line, leading from the wall to the ruined bottle. Cye's mouth hung open, appalled at the display. Ryo glared at Brit then stepped past her, walking out of the room. Anubis pushed away from his wall and followed him. Brianna remained where she stood, shuddering slightly after experiencing the Ronin Leader's fury first-hand.

"Okay then…uh….I...I guess I'll tend to someone else…" she stammered nervously.

Anubis found Ryo in the other room, leaning against a wall again, brooding once more. "I'm not quite sure I saw the necessity of that, Ryo," he commented levelly.

"Anubis…we shouldn't have lost," Ryo whispered.

"I know! You shouldn't have! That wasn't thirty minutes, it wasn't even fifteen! By the gods, what happened out there Ryo? I haven't seen you and the others suffer such a defeat…" Anubis bit his lip, searching for a better choice of words. "Well, since back in the day. How could the Night Warlords have done this?"

"They're not the Night Warlords anymore…they turned themselves into…monsters. They weren't human at all," Ryo recounted. Anubis nodded solemnly.

"I see…so Dygra has resorted to using her dark powers, giving the Night Warlords even greater strength….even so, they shouldn't have been so difficult with your armors."

"We…we weren't wearing Armor," Ryo said. Anubis narrowed his eyes.

"…Why…?" he half-growled. Ryo shook his head, trying to think of some other way to say it. They didn't have time, they got caught off guard, but he couldn't lie.

"I-I-I told them not to because I didn't think we would need them," Ryo admitted and closed his eyes. When he opened them he saw Anubis glaring at him icily, understandably so.

"Well, Ryo. I see age has done little to cool your brashness," he growled softly. Ryo squeezed his eyes shut. He deserved every bit of that…

Anubis sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, furrowing his brow and squeezing his eyes shut. "The others will need time to recover their full strength without Shannon's help. In the meantime these…'mutant' Warlords, remain at large, free to cause havoc in the city as they please." Anubis looked at Ryo. "Ryo, where did the others go after the war?" Ryo didn't reply right away. "Ryo, we need help. We cannot let this go unanswered!"

"I know what you're suggesting, Anubis. I just don't think the guys are gonna like it," Ryo commented. Anubis snorted in contempt and grinned.

"Well that's the thing, isn't it? They're not supposed to have to 'like' it," he snarled and stalked out of the room. Ryo watched him leave with sorrowful eyes then turned his gaze to the floor again, shame and guilt weighing heavily on him.

*****

The doorbell rang twice before Ryo answered and opened the door. "Come on in," he invited solemnly and nodded towards the interior. He led the guests upstairs to the living room quietly and nudged open the door and gestured to an unoccupied sofa. Rowen still lay on his stomach on another sofa, with Sage sitting at one end, his arm in a sling. Cye sat on the third sofa with his leg bound in a brace and propped up on the coffee table. Tanya had been taken to her room earlier, and now Kento sat beside Cye, his hand also covered with a brace. Ryo took note of the uncertain looks on his friends' faces then glanced at the three guests.

It hadn't been easy to accept after that final battle, when they saw the men behind the monsters. Anubis earned his redemption, but these three had clung to their evil ways despite the truth, only changing sides when the master they'd served without question betrayed them without a second thought. Like Anubis, Sehkmet, Dais, and Cale appeared of a similar age as the Ronin, but in fact hailed from a time of chaos and turmoil, and they'd chosen to secure their future with the Dynasty.

The former Dark Warlords eyed their former nemesis, returning the glares from Cye, Sage, and Kento. Cale slouched in his seat. He looked like a biker, but unlike Anubis' casual wear, wore mostly black and grey. Sehkmet wore a thin knit sweater with diamond patterns and plain beige slacks. He glanced at each of the Ronin, his odd colorless eyes darting back and forth rapidly. Dais had his hands clasped in his lap and leaned back against the sofa cushions. His gaze remained fixed on Kento, though a lot calmer than the accusing glare Kento gave him. He wore a light green t-shirt with a maroon vest over that and faded jeans.

Ryo didn't want to start right away asking for help. He wanted to let his friends get used to the presence of their former enemies first. Dais tilted his mouth in a frown and raised an eyebrow, keeping his single eye on Kento. Then the corner of his lips turned up in a repulsed look and his expression turned to sympathy.

"WOW...you got fat!" he said abruptly, pressing his upper row of teeth against his lower lip, enunciating the "f".

"Hey! You want to say that to my face?" Kento growled and stood up suddenly, jerking a thumb at his chest. Dais looked at him, baffled.

"I just did," he said innocently. Kento growled deeply and looked like he wanted to throttle Dais. Ryo stepped infront of him and held up a hand.

"Kento, don't start," he ordered.

"But he-"

"DON'T…start," Ryo said firmly. Kento sputtered angrily in protest but Ryo narrowed his eyes in warning. Kento sat back down to sulk. Ryo didn't blame him. Kento and Dais had more grief between them than the others combined, but if they wanted to beat the…"Mutant Warlords", as Anubis termed them, they had to put their differences aside. Ryo took a deep breath, composing the words in his mind before speaking.

"I called you here because we need your help. The Dynasty has decided to make their presence felt in the world again and-Sehkmet, is there something wrong?" Ryo paused and asked, annoyed when he saw the ex-warlord sniffing the air repeatedly.

"Was someone poisoned?" he asked. Sage lifted a hand.

"Yeah, me," he said quietly.

"Did it hurt?" Cale asked suddenly and bared his teeth in an almost gleeful wolfish grin. Sage glared at him, annoyed by the warlord's mocking tone. Sehkmet didn't seem to care as he stood up and walked over to Sage.

"Whoa, what are you doing-" Sage asked when Sehkmet grabbed his bandaged arm.

"Just hold still," Sehk admonished calmly. Sage hissed in protest but stopped. Even after Shannon had healed him, the sensation of hot needles in his skin remained, but after Sehkmet finished whatever he did, the feeling vanished entirely. Sage's arm felt stiff, but otherwise fine. Sehkmet pulled his hands back and stood up, brushing his sleeve absently.

"What did you do to me?" Sage asked, bewildered.

"You had trace elements of venom in your system. I could smell it before I entered the room. Virulent stuff, pretty much turned your flesh to mush."

"But, Shannon used the Ronin Cross on me. She healed me earlier!"

"Your friend was good, but not good enough," Sehkmet snorted and slapped his hands together and returned to his seat. "Where'd you get that from anywho?" he queried and tilted his chin towards Sage.

"Got up close and personal with Balthazar," Sage replied.

"He couldn't kill a cockroach, how'd he manage to injure you?" Dais scoffed.

"Because Dygra turned him into a snake. Literally," Rowen said. Their disdainful expressions vanished.

"Oh… Well, if anyone were that desperate just to get an edge over you guys, it would be those three," Cale commented.

"Says the pot," Cye snorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dais demanded.

"GUYS! Cool it!" Ryo shouted. Cye closed his mouth and leaned back. "Long story short is we answered a challenge thinking we were gonna fight people. Instead we fought a pack of juiced-up monsters and…well you can see how that turned out."

"I know what Pharaohn did to the Night Warlords. He once proposed to Talpa to do the same to us," Cale snorted.

"How come you didn't pounce on that?" Ryo threw Cye a sharp glare. "During the war, that is," Cye added hastily.

"You kidding? And get turned into freaks? Screw that!" Cale said scornfully. Rowen raised an eyebrow, surprised. "I may have hated your guts, but I'm too vain to trade in my rugged good looks for power." Sage chuckled, amused by the claims.

"The Night Warlords shouldn't have been able to defeat you with your Armors," Sehkmet said and shifted in his seat. Ryo opened his mouth to speak.

"We didn't have time!" Cye interjected. "They hit us like a ton of bricks! Before we knew what happened we had Rowen down with his back almost broken, Kento with a busted hand, Sage with his arm injured, and Tanya knocked out cold." Ryo silently thanked Cye for saving him from explaining their embarrassing defeat.

Dais wrinkled his nose in confusion. "Tanya?"

"She's my sister, and the Ronin of Typhoon," Ryo answered.

"You have a sister?" Cale asked, arching both eyebrows.

"That's what we said," Rowen, Sage, and Kento said simultaneously.

"So there's a new Lady Ronin? Huh. Well guess ol' Mardrena would've kicked the bucket long ago," Cale shrugged.

Anubis had hid himself in the room down the hall, waiting until the other warlords had taken their seats before walking over to the doorway. He had planned to make his grand entrance soon after Ryo started his petition, but paused and kept quiet, listening to the often humorous exchanges between them and the Ronin.

"You knew Mardrena?" Ryo asked, curious

"Knew her? She spanked us!" Sehkmet exclaimed. Anubis blinked and glanced at the doorway. "Talpa ordered us to kill her one time and she sent us back with our asses in a sling!"

"No, wait; She spanked us, then hung us out to dry. By our toes!" Dais added.

"OOH! Even worse! She spanked us, then hung us out to dry by our toes, then put jumper cables on our-," Sehkmet began.

"There were no such things as jumper cables back then!" Cale argued.

"Oh…what would be the next bad thing then?...Ooh! I know! Torture screws!"

"Yeah! She spanked us, then hung us out to dry, then put torture screws on our-"

"ENOUGH!" Ryo shouted and rubbed his brow. "Apparently just mentioning her name brings up some…really bad memories for you guys, so forget I asked!" Cale and Sehkmet exchanged glances, probably still thinking of more horrific ways to describe their encounter with the first Lady Ronin. Dais glanced at the door when he thought he heard a sound, almost like a muffled snicker. "Will you help us or not?"

"Why should we help you again?" Dais queried, as if he needed a refresher on the subject. He folded his arms over his chest and cocked his head back slightly.

"Because most of us are in no condition to fight, fighting the…Mutant Warlords would provide you with a good opportunity for revenge, and you three are more experienced in combat-" Ryo said tightly, trying not to growl in frustration.

"And have no qualms about being brutal with our opponents," Sehkmet added.

"…That too. Will you help us?" Ryo repeated. The three exchanged glances again, silently consulting each other. Dais nodded at Sehkmet and Cale then looked at Ryo.

"I suppose we owe you a favor or two," he began in a cocky tone. He paused when he heard a sharp barking laugh, all too familiar to him, and his eye widened in shock.

"You owe them far more than a single halfhearted favor, Dais, Sehkmet, and Cale," came the smug, purring voice. "You owe them eternal gratitude for saving you from eternal slavery, and thus should offer your skills freely and fully," Anubis said after putting his shoulder to the door frame and pivoting lazily into the room. He looked at his former comrades and grinned. The three sat bolt-upright in their seats upon seeing him.

"Anubis! B-but-"

"You're alive?!"

"How? You died in the Dynasty War!" Sehkmet cried. Anubis chuckled and walked behind the sofa. He placed one hand on Cale's shoulder. Cale eyed it nervously, as if it belonged to some horror from the grave.

"Dygra saw fit to disturb my final rest and resurrect me to serve as her mindless pawn, but fortunately," he glanced at Ryo, who nodded and smiled. "The Ronin liked me so much they went through the extraordinary trouble of freeing me from her control. I live again now and help the Ronin in their battles, as should you," Anubis stepped back and walked around the sofa to stand by Ryo. The ex-warlords slowly relaxed in their seats.

"Well, I suppose it is good that you are alive," Sehkmet admitted.

"Yes," a feminine voice spoke from the doorway. "It is good that you are here in this manner, Anubis," Lady Kayura said as she entered the room, Mia following at her side. The other Ronin except for Ryo looked surprised by the Staff-Bearer's attire: tank top with a leather vest over that and very very short shorts and tennis shoes, all in white.

"Whoa…" Kento breathed. Ryo rapped him in the shoulder with his knuckle when he saw Kento gawking. Kento glanced at him and shrugged in protest.

"I see you traded in the Ancient's robes for something more…becoming of you," Anubis commented, masking his surprise. Kayura shrugged and brushed a hand through her long dark hair idly.

"They clashed with modern day fashion," she commented smugly and smiled at Anubis. "I thought I'd stay downstairs and chat with Mia, but when I sensed a familiar Power I decided to investigate. I was quite surprised to sense the Armor of Cruelty in this household when I arrived. Perhaps I wasn't meant to wear it for long…just keep it warm for you."

"Perhaps…one never knows what threads comprise the tapestry of fate…Now then. We shall issue a counter-challenge to Dygra's new pets. I will accompany you to the battlefield and…." Anubis began. Dais let out a bored sigh then sat up abruptly.

"Will you put a sock in it, Little Fire Head! No one asked for your two cents!" he snapped. Eyes popped wide and jaws dropped upon hearing the unusual insult.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Anubis shrieked, face and neck flushing quickly.

"There's three Mutant Warlords and three of us. We alone should be able to handle them without having you tag along," Dais sneered and waved a hand dismissively.

"Technically I am still your leader!"

"Bah, I never understood why Talpa designated you leader. I had more victories than you, I deserved it more."

"None of you were fit to lead! Dais, you wasted so much time on your 'elaborate schemes', yet you always failed. Cale, you cowered behind your shadows and obsessed about Sage too much. And you Sehkmet!" Sehk blinked when Anubis jabbed a finger in his direction. "Every time Talpa told you to 'capture' someone you took it to mean 'mangle and maim so badly they'd go comatose'!"

"Oh yeah! Well *censored* you!" Sehkmet stood up and stepped infront of Anubis.

"Well *censored* you back!" Anubis leaned forward, bringing his face inches from Sehk's.

"Well *censored* you harder!" Now they all but butted heads, glaring at each other intensely. Mia tried to intervene and placed gentle hands on their shoulders.

"Now guys, now's not the time. Lets just settle down and let cooler heads-"

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" Anubis and Sehkmet yelled at Mia simultaneously, who yelped and recoiled. The bickering between the two former warlords continued.

"….Were…were they always like that?" Ryo asked.

"Ohhh yeah," Dais muttered.

"Yup," Cale nodded. "You have no idea how badly we ripped on each other during the Wars." Rowen and Cye watched Anubis and Sehkmet toss insults back and forth. Kento growled and stood up and walked towards the door.

"I've had enough of this…" he snarled.

"Whoa, Kento, where are you going?" Ryo protested.

"Look, Ryo, I respect what you're trying to do here, but I think we can do better than this," Kento gestured to the warlords. "We can handle the Mutant Warlords ourselves."

"We already tried that, in case you haven't noticed, and look where that got us!"

"Maybe if we had attended the battle properly prepared," Sage stated coldly.

"And maybe if you were the warrior you're supposed to be, you wouldn't be needing our help," Dais commented. Kento paused in the doorway and looked over his shoulder.

"What?" he growled in warning. Dais placed his hands on his knees and stood up slowly, inhaling deeply and closing his eye.

"I'm saying the rocks you draw your powers from would fare better in combat than you," he commented smoothly. Ryo gaped at him, appalled by the insult.

"That does it! You want to start something, Dais! I can take you with one hand tied behind my back!" Kento challenged and inadvertently clenched his injured hand, wincing from the flaring of pain it caused.

"You couldn't even beat me with both back in the Wars!"

"Guys! Please, I didn't bring you here to start a fight, we just-" Ryo began.

"I agree with Kento. We can't fully trust the Warlords. Yeah, they helped us in the final battle, but only because Talpa betrayed them," Rowen said from where he lay.

"We believed in the Dynasty's ideals as much as you believed in yours!" Cale argued and jumped to his feet. All of a sudden they all stood, quarreling violently. Kayura and Mia tried their best to mediate and soothe hot tempers, but things quickly got out of hand. Ryo shouted above the rest, trying vainly to get the situation back under control, only to have his pleas drowned out by a fresh round of arguments. Kento's anger threatened to boil over into an all out fight with Dais, and Cye struggled to keep his friend restrained. Dais didn't help, making snide remarks about the Ronin of Hardrock. Rowen, Sage, and Cale remained locked in a heated debate and Anubis and Sehkmet hadn't budged from their glaring contest.

"THIS IS NO TIME FOR SUCH PETTY ARGUMENTS!" a deep voice boomed. The arguments died down when each the Ronin recognized the voice as being not of their own. The room went quiet and Ronin and Warlord glanced about, uncertain.

"Blackblaze?" Ryo saw the tiger standing by the doorway. The Nether Tiger had his back arched, fur bristled, and growled deeply. At first Ryo thought he sensed some threat from the warlords, but then the tiger's armor started to glow, followed by his entire body. Blackblaze snarled as the glow brightened, changing hue from white to gold. The humans in the room watched in awe as the glowing form reared back on its hind legs. The arms stretched out and the paws changed into human-like hands, fingers still thick and furry and claws protruding from the tips. The legs and arms lengthened and fur rippled as muscle swelled beneath the skin. The shoulders moved back and the spine readjusted. The armor creaked as it settled over the new form.

Blackblaze stood nearly ten feet tall now, and while he still retained feline features, his body had a more human build. He shifted his weight on his hind legs and stretched his thick forearms. He shook his head then opened his golden eyes.

"Blackblaze?!" Ryo exclaimed, startled at the sudden transformation. Blackblaze craned his head around and looked down at the Ronin Leader.

"Master?" he replied in a deep rumbling voice.

"How'd you-what the-"

"This is a power that was," Blackblaze paused for a moment, eyes narrowing and upper lip curling slightly. "Bestowed upon me centuries ago. I have kept it hidden, until now." The tiger took a step towards him and stood to his full height. "I will contact Pharaohn and issue a formal challenge. He and I have unfinished business, and it is only fitting to dispose of him and his pets in the same battle. I will lead the Warlords to the battlefield," he said matter-of-factly, and cast a glare at Dais and Anubis, silencing any objection they had in mind. He then turned around to the doorway and lifted one paw/hand, extending a single claw. The claw seemed to pierce the air and he pulled downward, slicing through the air and creating a large glowing tear. Blackblaze moved his finger to either side, nudging the tear wider and wider. The face of Pharaohn appeared in the small swirling portal.

"Why, Blackblaze! I am surprised that you have deigned to contact me! Even further that you decided to use my little…gift."

"Can the formalities! Myself and the Ronin Warriors wish to battle your Night Warlords." Blackblaze waved his palm over the portal and the image of a landscape appeared. "This will be the arena. Be there tomorrow night when the moon is at its peak."

"The Ronin Warriors? Challenge me? And the Night Warlords! Oh ho! If they wish to let their overconfidence get the better of them again, then so be it! My warlords defeated those pathetic Ronin whelps easily. Even the mighty Lady Ronin fared poorly against their superior might. Come then! Come to the battlefield. We will be waiting…" Pharaohn sneered and the image vanished. The tear sealed up, leaving no trace.

"Wait, you can't be serious. You told him the Ronin Warriors would fight. We're in no condition to fight so soon," Rowen protested. Blackblaze shook his head as he turned back around to face those gathered.

"I am not referring to the six of you. I am referring to them," he stated and pointed at the warlords, who blinked in surprise.

"Ronin Warriors? Us?" Dais raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"That is what you are, is it not? A Ronin Warrior serves no master. You four are Ronin now, like it or not, and you will come to the battle with me." Blackblaze turned to the side then glanced back at them. "Assuming you retain your fighting skills."

"We still train," Cale muttered sullenly.

"I'll go with you," Ryo spoke up. Blackblaze and the older Ronin looked at him. "I'm the only one that didn't get mutilated out there. I owe it to the guys to finish the fight!"

"Let us handle this. Blackblaze said we're Ronin Warriors, time we start acting the part," Sehkmet said enthusiastically and clenched a fist. Ryo relented and folded his arms over his chest.

"There will be other battles. Tomorrow is ours. Let us rest tonight and prepare. Pharaohn and his ilk will not have long to celebrate…" Blackblaze sneered.

*****

After a quick empowering meal, the four elder Ronin and Blackblaze trekked off into the countryside. Blackblaze led the group, constantly looking from side to side and testing the air with his nose and whiskers.

"So where are we going again?" Cale asked. He wore full armor, as did the others, but had retracted his face plate, probably for the first time in centuries.

"The cliffs where Ryo and Lord Sabrestryke fought, as well as where I defeated Whiteblaze," Blackblaze said with a grin.

"Ah….so…there, ah, some history between you and Pharaohn?" Cale asked, trying to be conversational. Blackblaze growled, but not at him.

"Indeed…Pharaohn and Lord Sabrestryke loathed one another. Sabrestryke believed in the strength of spirit, not perverted flesh. While Ryo meted out justice upon Talpa, this final grudge remains. What better way to extract revenge for myself and my late master than by striking down Pharaohn and his vaunted monstrosities," Blackblaze bared his teeth in a cheerful grin.

"…does...doesn't this make you one of Pharaohn's tainted creations?" Cale queried and cocked his head to the side. Blackblaze looked over his shoulder and snarled at him. Cale squeaked and cringed slightly. Blackblaze snorted and returned his gaze to the front. He tried to focus his senses again but his sensitive hearing caught wind of the furious exchange of insults between Anubis and Dais. He tried to block it out, but their bickering sounded so juvenile. He could even smell the tension…