Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait. This chapter really kicked my butt. Also, just a quick thank you to those who are still reading this. I know there are very, very few these days, so thank you to those who are still taking the time. It's much appreciated.

Warriors Still

By: Ghost of the Dawn aka Ty-Chou

Chapter Eight: The Last Gate

Ryo was surrounded as they came at him on all sides. Claws and teeth, grinning, rictus mouths dripping blood. Rancid breath and rotting flesh, great hulking darkness boxing him in, suffocating him. He tried to fight it, but his body was heavy, weighed down and useless. He had to get out of there! He had to find his friends before they all died! Before he—the claws, the fangs, they snatched his flesh, tearing him open, and he screamed.

"Gah!" Ryo's eyes shot open with a gasping cry, suddenly torn from the torture of sleep. His first reflex was to fight, to thrash and swing at his attackers. He felt his arm collide awkwardly with something much softer than he expected. Not oozing, chitinous shells, but soft flesh and material.

A cold hand pressed to his bare collar and another at his burning forehead. The firm but gentle touch calmed him, as well as the soft female voice.

"Easy, easy. You're okay. You're safe, calm down. No one's going to hurt you."

Ryo stared at the pale ceiling above him as his chest rose and fell with the aftershocks of panic. The most primitive part of his brain acknowledged he was no longer out on those nightmarish streets, but safely inside somewhere. That knowledge allowed his body to calm as he swallowed and closed his eyes. The threat was gone. For the moment, his life was not in danger.

The soft voice shushed him gently and light fingers brushed away damp strands of hair from his sweaty forehead. "It's going to be alright."

Ryo tiredly glanced over at the owner of the voice and his eyes popped open wide. "Robyn!" His first reaction was to sit up and he immediately regretted it, clutching his side as pain shot through the wound where he was shot.

Robyn immediately leaned forward to grab his shoulder. As he allowed her to press him back to the bed, he felt the rest of his strength leave him. He couldn't tear his gaze from her face. He found her. Despite that horrible nightmare of monsters he had just lived through, she was here and whole.

"Careful, you're hurt. Don't move so much," the redhead fussed, fiddling with his blanket and pulling it up to his shoulders.

With a weak smile, Ryo said, "Robyn, I'm so glad I found you. All of us were worried."

She blinked at him, an indiscernible expression on her face. "Robyn? Is that my name?" She leaned forward. "Do you know me?"

"Is that guy awake?" came another female voice from the hall. "Did you tell him not to move or he'll tear his stitches?"

A tall, dark-skinned woman walked into the room, her hair an unruly mess of curls that nearly seemed to swallow her whole head. She looked to be in her late 20s. Tight skin on high cheekbones made her striking at first glance. She paused at the redhead's wide-eyed look, the color draining from her already pale complexion.

"You okay, hon?" the woman asked.

"Cindi, I think he knows me," she responded in a shaky voice.

"No shit?" The woman named Cindi raised a dainty brow in Ryo's direction. "He knows my Little Bunny?"

"Little Bunny," Ryo protested. "Robyn, do you... not remember me?"

"He speaks English," Cindi announced as she came closer. "Thank God. Finally someone where Bunny doesn't have to translate for me."

Robyn didn't pay attention to the last comment, she was more focused on Ryo's question and his lost expression.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember you. I don't... remember a lot of things."

Ryo put a hand on hers as she fiddled with the edge of his blanket. He looked her right in the face. "It's okay, I remember you. People have been looking for you—your friends. We'll find them and we'll get you somewhere safe."

Robyn had such a desperate look of hope in her watery eyes, Ryo had the urge to pull her down and hold her tight until she remembered him, remembered them all.

"I'm going to check his wound," Cindi announced. "Bunny, go get this guy some water and something to eat, okay?"

Robyn finally tore her gaze away from him and seemed happy to be of use. "Okay." She gave Ryo one more smile before scampering off out of the room. "Be right back."

As she left, another, much larger body padded into the room. He walked around to the other side of the bed as Cindi sat down in the chair Robyn abandoned. A massive white tiger head, along with two paws, appeared over the side of the bed.

"White Blaze," Ryo smiled, patting the tiger's head. "It's good to see you, boy."

The big cat rumbled a heavy purr, leaning closer to rub his face against Ryo's head.

"I guess you must be telling the truth about knowing my Little Bunny," Cindi said. "You know her tiger's name."

"Actually, he's my tiger. And what's with the 'Little Bunny'?"

"That's how I first saw her. I was running around this Godforsaken city, trying to make sense of it all, trying to stay hidden. I turned a corner and there she was, eyes wide as anything. Like a trapped little bunny. Terrified. Despite the fact that she had that big, ridiculous thing with her." Cindi nodded toward White Blaze. "She couldn't remember her name, so she was just my Little Bunny."

"How long ago was that?" Ryo asked, his mouth feeling dry.

Cindi let out a long breath as she tried to figure out the time. "It's been at least two months... maybe eight weeks?"

"She's been here that long," Ryo sighed, feeling like scum. How had they allowed her to be alone in this horrible place for so long?

"So, you're her boyfriend or something?"

Ryo balked at the sudden question. "No, what makes you think that?"

The darker skinned woman smirked. "Cuz, you kinda act like you think she's your Little Bunny."

Ryo flushed a little, but sat in sulky silence.

"Alright then," Cindi then announced and flung the blankets off his top half.

"What are you doing?" Ryo demanded.

"Chill, I'm a nurse, okay? I'm the one who saved your life last night. You're lucky I'm a universal donor, you were pretty much out of blood by the time Bunny and White Blaze dragged your sorry ass to me."

Ryo let out a breath through his nose and allowed his head to fall back onto the pillow. "I see. Thank you for that."

"You're welcome. Now I'm just going to check this wound for infection. It won't take long." Cindy put on a single latex glove before hunching over to get a better look.

"And thank you for taking care of Robyn," he added.

"We've been taking care of each other. Nice abs, by the way."

"Uh... thanks." Though Ryo sounded less than grateful for the weird compliment. "What are you even doing in Japan if you don't speak Japanese?"

Cindi pulled back. "Looks good, but I want to clean it again." She fiddled around with some other equipment and Ryo noticed for the first time that he was in an actual hospital. One no doubt abandoned with all the other buildings, trapped and useless on the Inside.

"Came out with my girl for our five year anniversary. Her family's from Japan." Cindi retrieved a folded, abused picture from her back pocket and handed it to Ryo. It was a picture of her with an Asian woman, a happy Cindi hugging her from behind. Both were clearly wearing wedding bands. "Our first day in Tokyo, she was still sleeping off the jet lag, but I wanted to look around. I was pretty proud of myself for navigating the town until just suddenly... I couldn't get back to the hotel. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get any closer to those buildings out there where the sun shines brighter."

By then, she had some gauze and antiseptic and began cleaning Ryo's wound. "Lots of people were trapped here at first, but then they kept disappearing. And there's... things out there. Weird, scary shit skulking around, hunting us. Slowly getting us all." She suddenly looked up from her work into Ryo's face. "And if you aren't who you say you are, I swear to God I will cut you into little pieces if you ever try to hurt her."

Ryo met her gaze, his deep blue eyes serious. "Believe me, I care about Robyn. I wouldn't do anything to hurt her. Now that I've found her, I'm taking her home. I'm going to get everyone home."

That last statement surprised the older woman. Nobody talked like that on the Inside, like there was hope. Like they even knew what the hell was going on with all of this. Who was this guy?

"Well, good. Cuz all it took was one night of watching over you and she's smitten. Thinks you're the cutest thing she's ever found half-dead in the street."

Ryo's mouth ticked up a little. "Yeah?"

Just before Cindi could give him another talking to, Robyn popped back in with a bowl of warm soup and a bottled water. She pulled the bedside tray over so she could set the meal on top and gently helped Ryo sit up by propping pillows behind his back.

"Sorry, it's not very much. We've been stuck here for a while and food is getting harder to find."

Ryo began to take in her current state. Both girls seemed to be keeping clean well enough, but there was something haggard about them, in the eyes and the sunken cheeks. They had the look of someone used to being chased, used to having to hide and watch their backs. Robyn had clearly lost weight, something Ryo loathed to take note of when she had looked so healthy before.

"So, you said my name is Robyn?" she asked as he sipped his soup. The warmth felt good in his empty belly. His body had already used up all its reserves just trying to stay alive.

"So, Little Bunny is really a Little Birdy, instead," Cindi grinned after she finished cleaning and dressing the wound.

Robyn smirked at her.

"Yes. Your name is Robyn."

"And what's your name?"

"I'm Ryo. Ryo Sanada."

Robyn repeated his full name out loud, rolling it around on her tongue. Was it familiar? Was there an echo of it somewhere in her subconscious, just waiting to be found? She didn't know.

"Our other friends are here, too: Cye, Sage, Kento, Rowen."

Robyn thought about those other names as well, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't remember anything. I'm not sure what happened."

Ryo gave her such a soft, affectionate smile she nearly melted. "Don't worry, as soon as we're all back together, we'll figure it out. I just have to go find the guys."

"Which won't be at least for another day or two," Cindi insisted. "You got a whole lot of surgical thread holding yourself together in there. You rip something good enough, you'll be back in the same predicament as when we found you."

Ryo frowned at that, furrowing his brows. He was not happy to be out of the game for any period of time, but Cindi was right. Just sitting up was quite painful. He could feel every stitch. There was no way he was even going to make it out of the parking lot in this condition.

He momentarily considered sending Robyn out to find them- or at least White Blaze. But one glance her face and he knew that idea was foolish. Ryoushi would be looking for them all. No doubt if he picked up anything suspicious, the demon's monster hoard would be dispatched in an instant. Ryo had no choice but to wait and hide until his body had healed. Hopefully, his armor power would help accelerate the healing process, but it was probably still going to be another day or two until he could get on his feet. Until then, he was helpless.


Rowen gazed out at the pleasant valley. The early morning sun shone down upon his shoulders and back as he leaned on the railing that skirted the house. The birds sang their daily tunes and a friendly breeze played with his hair. Inside, Rowen felt cold, hollow.

"You hardly touched your breakfast."

Rowen's head jerked around at the sudden voice to find Cye approaching him. "You didn't have much at dinner, either. What's eating you?"

There was a pained look in Strata's eyes, something he tried to mask. But Rowen had never been adept at hiding his feelings. Instead, he looked away.

"Something I promised I wouldn't talk about."

"Promised who?"

"...Suzu."

Cye smirked. "Now I know why you're having such a hard time. You can't keep a secret to save your life. This has got to be eating you up inside."

Rowen smiled mirthlessly at the view. "You don't know the half of it."

"So, what's the secret?"

"Well, she-" Rowen paused and then gaped at Torrent's wide grin. Cye almost got him! He was losing his touch in this crazy future. "Nice try."

Cye just kept grinning.

Rowen's expression darkened and returned to the scenery. Cye eventually copied his somber mood.

"Is it... something bad?"

Rowen breathed loud out of his nose. "I dunno, maybe. Maybe not. She says not, but I don't like-"

"Good morning, boys." Suzu stood above them, balanced easily on the rail as if she weighed no more than a sparrow. Neither Ronin witnessed her entrance, as if she were one with the breeze until she decided to manifest herself. Her face was still hidden beneath the unrelenting hood of darkness.

"Suzu, good morning," Cye greeted with enthusiasm while Rowen looked almost haunted in her sudden presence. "I heard that you were hurt yesterday. I hope you're feeling better. I would say we missed you at mealtime, but I don't believe you've ever eaten with us... that is, if you eat at all?"

"I had a bit of a fever last night, but I am much better now. And yes, I do eat. I am really not as different as you might think me to be."

"In that case, perhaps I'll cook for you sometime before we leave."

Suzu's grin could be heard in her tone. "That sounds lovely. Hopefully, time will allow it."

Rowen frowned at Cye's captivated smile. Torrent was smitten with her, as was Kento. Sage, of course, was still highly suspicious and angry with her. And Ryo, who even knew where the hell Ryo was?

"As for you, Strata." Rowen balked in his thoughts when Suzu put her foot on the crown of his head. "I have a feeling you'd like to have a word with me."

Rowen tried to swipe at her ankle, but she removed it too fast. "More than just a word." He went for her again and she flipped backward on the rail, the fingers of one hand lightly brushing the polished wood, before landing on the rail again a few feet away.

Strata's eyes narrowed at her while his jaw set tight. "You enjoy teasing me, don't you?"

"You're being so dire, I can't help it. I thought you had a better sense of humor."

"What? I have an excellent sense of humor!" He tried to stalk after her, but Cye grabbed the back of his shirt.

"What are you doing, Rowen?"

Strata's eyes remained fixated on the woman standing above him. "Just having a little conversation."

Suzu made a beckoning gesture, her voice laced with challenge. "You want to go, Hashiba? Let's go."

With a flick of his arm, he slapped Cye's hold from him and leaped away. Strata's power surrounded him at once, making him weightless as he easily vaulted the height of the rail, landing on top as well. However, no sooner had his feet landed, Suzu grabbed him, pulling him forward as she fell back, sending them both tumbling before he could ever find his balance.

Rowen tensed for the fall and the sudden collision with the ground. Instead, in a blink, both were laying in the plush, green lawn at the opposite end of the house, faces watching the clear sky.

"What the-" Rowen managed to get out.

"A warning," Suzu said next to him with good humor. "You don't want to start something with me. You won't finish it."

Rowen looked up, wondering what Cye's reaction had been when they suddenly disappeared. It wasn't enough wonder to concern him with getting up and his head flopped back down on the grass. "How do you do that?"

"With Cale's armor," she said as if it were so easily explained.

"With Cale's- you mean he just lets you use it as you want?"

"He doesn't seem to mind."

Rowen furrowed his brows and then glanced her way. "You can use my armor power, too, can't you?"

Suzu's reply was to swirl her finger, making a miniature dust devil dance above her.

"How can you just take from them like that?"

"There is no stealing from the armors. They allow me to use what I need. That's all."

"What if I don't want you to use my armor's power?" Rowen asked.

"Then tell it to stop if you wish to cut me off from it—from you."

Except, that wasn't what he wanted at all. Instead, he changed the topic. "How's your face?"

"Swollen. Ugly. It will heal, though, in time." Despite the fact that her face was already completely hidden, Suzu pulled the hood further down.

"Not that ugly, I'm sure," Rowen said gently with a smirk.

"You want to tell them," she suddenly accused. "You can't even handle keeping it to yourself for twelve hours."

Now he frowned, nearly growling under his breath. "That's why you're here, because you don't trust me to keep quiet."

"I don't. And you're already falling apart around your friends. How about you keep your shit together, Rowen of Strata?"

He instantly sat up, leaning on one palm as he looked at her. "Can you really blame me? What I know doesn't give me answers! All I have is questions, so many more questions, and you won't answer them, and you won't even let me tell the guys. You should let me tell them, they deserve to know!"

"You are probably right." Suzu sat up, then stood, and dusted off her pants. "But it's not more important than what we're trying to do right now, is it? Look how distracted you are and you've barely hit the tip of the iceberg. The whole of you will be so utterly useless if I let you jump down this rabbit hole now.

"Finding the gate should remain your main focus, defeating this monster. After we've won, then there will be time for questions, not before."

Rowen stood up as well. "There's time for one question, where is Ryo? We're stronger if everyone fights."

"Ryo's in the city. He will come when we fight again. I can't tell you any more than that."

Rowen stared into the dark hood. His eyes narrowed as if trying to see what was hidden within. "I don't know if I believe you."

Suzu reached for his face, cupped it in her cold hands, and pulled him closer to her. He stubbornly fought her, not so much physically, but he was clearly trying to block out that calm aura she was attempting to bestow on him. Rowen was not in the mood to be calm.

"I will truly miss how difficult you are to deal with," she said to him before her lips brushed the side of his chin.

All fight left Strata in an instant.


"Tower's still there, but so much angrier than before," Cindi said as she gazed out the hospital window. Ryo's mobile bed was wheeled closer so he could look out and gauge the current status of the city. "Been that way since yesterday, when the shit hit the fan. The ghosts finally fought back and that tower showed us all what it can really do."

"Ghosts?" Ryo asked. He suddenly recalled Robyn had asked him if he were one of the ghosts the first time he ran into her in this city.

Cindi leaned her hip against the low frame of the window, eyes still on the tower. "We call them the ghosts, but we don't know what they are. They look like people, but they have powers. They fly across rooftops, they stalk the tower as the tower stalks them. They must live in a different world than we do, because they don't see us, they can't hear us. They don't know we exist. They're like phantoms to us."

"They know now," Ryo said, causing the darker-skinned woman to glance at him in surprise. "They see you—we all see you. And we're trying to stop that...thing up in that tower. That's what we were doing yesterday when everything went crazy."

Cindi schooled her expression again. "Yeah, and clearly you didn't win."

"Doesn't mean we're going to stop trying. The rest of us are still out there working on the next plan, I know they are."

Cindi watched the tower again, then rubbed her face tiredly. "I don't know if it's better or worse to know that someone out there is trying to beat this thing and losing, or if it's just better to think there ain't no one at all."

"We are not. Done. Fighting," Ryo said with that whole-hearted conviction he was so terribly good at. He tried to sit up once more and experienced the same wrenching pain in his side. He growled in frustration as he flopped back on the pillow.

"Well, you got fire in you, I'll give you that. And I got no doubt you've seen some crazy shit yourself. Probably more than I ever wanted to know." Cindi nodded to the other body in the room. "She's probably seen it, too, hasn't she?"

Ryo gazed over to Robyn's form, curled up in a chair, fast asleep. White Blaze napped at her feet. According to Cindi, Robyn had stayed up the entire night taking care of him while he had been trapped in his fever-induced nightmares.

"Yeah," he said softly.

"I don't blame her for wiping that memory slate clean. It was probably the only way she could stay sane in this place. I hear the people on the Outside, they don't even know a chunk of the city is missing. It's like they forgot it all, too. Does that mean they forgot all the people inside? Did my Yuki just wake up that morning, wondering what she was doing in Japan? Did she wonder why there were extra suitcases in her room? An empty seat next to her on the flight home? Or is my memory still with her and I just walked out that hotel room and never came back? Again, don't know which one is worse."

"It will get better soon," Ryo promised. "As soon as I can walk out of here, I'll get both of you out of the city and someplace safe."

"You take care of my Little Bunny, too," Cindi insisted. "You protect her. Not just from this place, but from whatever haunts her dreams. Whatever causes her to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, thinking she's covered in blood. Whatever she's forgotten that still terrorizes her dreams, you protect her from that, too."

Ryo glanced at the sleeping redhead again, heartsick and overwhelmed. He had no idea what she had been going through, how long she had been there. He should have taken her with him the first time he found her. What was he thinking? How was he going to make this right?

Cindi's hand fell on his head, her nose a mere foot from his as she bent over the bed. "That face. That's a sincere face. I think I will trust you to take care of her and to get us out of here, Ryo Sanada."

He nodded. "I'll do the best I can for you."


Even though the design of the estate and many of its rooms were traditional and old fashioned, not all rooms were that way. One room in particular was quite the opposite, filled with the technological advancements of the time. In the center was a large, rectangular light table, producing a holographic model of the city of Tokyo.

Sekhmet frowned, distracted by the fact that the ronins kept poking at the replica, trying to feel out the technology they weren't used to. Kayura and the other two warlords hadn't noticed as they focused on the layout of the city. The sites where the first three dynasty gates had been discovered were marked by red dots, of which seemed to be in very random locations.

Everyone had a different opinion on where they should be looking for the fourth. The ronins as well, though they weren't as familiar with the city. Cye and Sage were both trying to figure out if there was some sort of pattern to the placement of the first three that could lead them to the fourth. Kayura and Cale were doing much the same, trying to get into Talpa's head, trying to guess where their former master would place that last pesky door.

Rowen skulked into the room, plopping down on the floor in the closest open spot around the table. As a sulking gesture, he swiped his hand through the projection of the city, causing the entire hologram to spin. Everyone protested as if he had ruined the entire thing. But as soon as the projection stopped moving, all buildings and red-dot locators were still in the same location.

Suzu stepped in a few moments later. Several pairs of eyes on the ronin side looked up for various reasons. Very few on the warlord side bothered to acknowledge her entrance. Still, she sat herself silently between Cale and Kayura. The scarred warlord leaned back to speak to her quietly. Suzu's response of touching her face when she spoke indicated he was inquiring about her injury.

"Well, we're not going to find out anything for sure until we go back there," Sekhmet was saying. "If we can narrow it down to the most likely locations, we can go in teams. We hit the ground running as soon as we enter the city, investigate points of interest, and, if we don't find anything, get the hell out of there. Hopefully, Ryoushi won't have a clue what we're doing until we find the gate."

During all this, Dais had been quiet, doodling in a notebook. When finished with his picture, he held it up for Kento to see it. The scene depicted two stick figures caught in a crude sexual act. The arrow pointing to the one at the top said "ME". The arrow to the one on the bottom said "YOUR MOM". Rowen nearly snorted when he saw it. Hardrock gave Dais a silent 'what the hell?' face. The Warlord of Illusion just merrily went on doodling on the next page, satisfied in his work.

"If we do find the gate," Kayura then said, "We need to decide what we're going to do with it."

"Why are we not getting rid of it the second we find it?" Sage asked. "It clearly seems Ryoushi came to this city for the gates. If they're all destroyed, maybe he'll go back to whatever dark hole he crawled out of."

Cale raised a brow at him across the table. "Have you known darkness to always give in that easy, Halo?"

"It will at least buy us time. If we uproot his plans, he's going to think twice about how hard he really wants to defend that tower."

"We still don't even know why he wants the gates," Kayura put in. "Even if the gates are all destroyed, we don't know if he has other plans because we have no idea what he's after in the first place."

"The only way to find out for sure what he's going to do with it is to let him do it," Dais said, though his main focus was still on the doodles in his notebook.

"Yeah, but what if we can't stop him once he gets the gate, Dais?" Kento countered in an accusatory tone.

"What if we can?" the warlord challenged back.

"We might as well just go get Ryo first if we can't agree on anything else," Cye put in.

"Thank you!" Sage said.

"If we find the gate," Cale spoke, "Ryoushi has to come to us to use it. When he does, we'll make him tell us what he plans to use it for, or we'll kill him. Or both."

"Except he's going to flood us with monsters first," Kayura reminded. "He's not going to show up all by himself."

"All the more reason just to destroy it when we find it," Sage said.

"I hate to bring this up," Sekhmet cut in, "but it's very possible that gate is your only way home. All of our time-travel tech is gone, along with most of my notes and schematics."

"What? Can't you just make more?" Cye asked.

"I could, maybe—eventually. But I'd be starting nearly from scratch. Those last prototypes took me about a decade to develop, and they barely worked. The gate is your best bet to get home safely and while you're still in your twenties."

"Then we don't destroy the gate until they go through," Suzu announced with authority. "Even if it means the rest of us have to finish this fight without them."

Kayura narrowed her eyes at the other female in the room. "That's ridiculous. The whole purpose of bringing them here is because we haven't been able to do this without them."

Suzu's voice took a lower tone, challenging Kayura's authority. "That's not their problem. Getting them home safely, however, is everyone's problem."

The women stared down each other for a moment.

"No," Sage broke the silence. "We're not going anywhere until this city in this time is safe." He looked around the table at his teammates. "Right?"

"Right," Rowen agreed. Sage was surprised it was Rowen who now disagreed with Suzu, but Strata nodded at him. Rowen was never shy about expressing himself. "We don't leave business unfinished. We stay until it's done."

Cye and Kento nodded. Kayura looked quite pleased with their answer and squared her shoulders before looking at Suzu.

"Then our only option is to play to win," Suzu announced, seeming to be unphased when the tide turned against her. "What we should do is send a second party to the tower after Ryoushi has dispatched his hoard. If we kill him, it doesn't matter who has possession of the gate."

Sekhmet blinked a few times in the silence. "That's... that's actually quite a good plan."

"No frontal attack on the tower this time," Cale added. "We sneak in and catch him by surprise. The bastard won't know what hit him."

"If it's possible," Kayura said stiffly. "There's no guarantee that Ryoushi won't see any of us coming a mile away. He's clearly had ways of keeping an eye on the entire city. And can we hope to hold our own against that demon army when a few of us are missing?"

Suzu, who had been drumming her fingers in irritation, leaned forward. "I don't know, Kayura, can you?"

"Ooh, shots fired," Kento whispered to Cye. Torrent quickly shushed him, not wanting to be dragged into this argument.

Kayura instantly huffed at the insinuation that she wasn't strong enough to hold her own. That ego from her Dynasty days was still there and it was now bruised.

"I'm just thinking of your Ronins, Suzu. I wouldn't want you to have to live with one of them getting hurt or, God forbid, dying because of some poorly-conceived plan you put together."

Suzu was instantly on her feet and the emotional surge that came from her was palpable throughout the room. "You just don't want to commit to this plan because it was my idea. And if you think for a moment that I want any harm to come to any of them-"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Cale cut in, grabbing the hooded woman's wrist. "Down. Everyone calm down. We're all on the same team. Don't make me sit between you two."

Suzu plopped back down in a huff, Kayura still glaring at her, but the tension of the situation had mostly dispersed.

Rowen leaned toward Dais, nodding at the two females. "What's up with that?" he whispered.

Dais glanced up from his idle doodling. "Eh, Suzu thinks she knows what's best for you five and Kayura thinks she knows what's best for, well, everyone. Just keep your mouth shut when they get like that and you'll be fine."

Rowen nodded in agreement.

"Suzu's plan does have merit," Sage said. It was clear from his tone he also wasn't too happy it was her idea. "A two-pronged attack will increase our chances of success."

Kayura sighed and looked at Suzu. "I suppose you'll want to go to the tower."

She nodded. "Just as you are better equipped to handle the gate. I'll take Cale and Kento with me."

"No, I need Kento," Kayura insisted.

"You still have everyone else!"

"I'll go with Suzu," Rowen volunteered.

"No." Suzu shook her head. "We'll be in close quarters. Your skill set will be much more useful to Kayura's team. Same with Cye."

"Take Sage, then," Kayura offered.

"I am not taking Sage and Cale. They'll just bicker the whole way."

Both aforementioned ronin and warlord were offended by that statement, but simultaneously realized Suzu was probably right and said nothing.

"What if you took Sage and Sekhmet?" Kayura then suggested.

"What if you took Cale and Sekhmet?" Sage interrupted flatly, clearly not thrilled with the idea of being on Suzu's team.

The room fell silent for a moment as Suzu turned her shrouded face in Sage's direction. "If it were that easy for me to take a team of warlords to the tower and beat the bag guy, we wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to bring you here in the first place. You are the Ronin Warriors, you are the ones who tip the scales. Therefore, I need at least one of you on my team or my mission is doomed before we even get started, Sage."

Her tone was level, calm and polite in her explanation. But the way she said his name sent an strange tingle up Halo's spine, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge. That voice, speaking the tones of his name, niggled somewhere in his memory, or, perhaps in his sense of things to come. Sage was suddenly sure that, sometime in his future, they would meet again and she would say his name and he would recognize this feeling. Perhaps in that future time, he would see her without the hood.

Suzu then looked at Kayura. "I need Cale because the two of us together have the best chance of getting into the tower undetected with the Darkness armor. Though I will happily take Sekhmet as well, if you're offering. But, I'm also taking Kento. I call dibs."

"There's no dibs!" Kayura thundered back. "I told you, I need him!"

The argument started all over again with a few extra people this time putting in their two cents. Rowen, however, was not paying attention to the verbal altercation. His attention was riveted on Dias' notebook doodles, doodles of Dynasty gates. He blue-haired young man was suddenly whisked away to days of his youth. Back when his parents were still married and they all lived together in Tokyo. Back in the day when he himself used to doodle Dynasty gates.

His hand instantly clamped on the warlord's wrist as an epiphany struck him. Dais looked down at the hand touching him.

"Hashiba, I do like you, but not in that way."

"No," Rowen announced. Though his voice was low, his statement caught everyone's attention and the bickering stopped. "I know where the last gate is."


White Blaze had been gone for a while. Cindi had been concerned at the tiger's disappearance. Normally, he never left Robyn's side. This was the first time the big cat had been absent from his charge for so long. Ryo wasn't worried though. White Blaze could now widen his prowling territory with Robyn now under Wildfire's care.

Despite the fact that Ryo was still in a hospital bed, he knew they would be fine. White Blaze wouldn't have left if there was immediate danger to the building. Since they were safely hidden for the moment, the tiger was probably out prowling the city, trying to get a fix on what was going on out there. Ryo didn't worry about that, either. White Blaze seemed to have a few special abilities of his own which helped him cover large distances quickly and without being noticed. Ryo hoped White Blaze would find the guys.

The other Ronins had to be okay. While they may have temporarily retreated, they must not have been defeated completely. This city would be a lot different if evil had won, Ryo was sure. The Ronins hadn't won either. Everything still felt the same, there was still a festering stalemate engulfing the Inside of the city. Everything was on alert, but everything was still.

It wouldn't last long, Ryo thought as he gazed at the tower once more through the large hospital room. By now, the guys would have had time to rest and regroup. They would try again soon. The Ronin Warriors would always try again as long as they had strength to try. Even without their signature armors, they were Ronin Warriors still, and they would always fight.

And Ryo hated that he could not join the battle. Not for the first time he tried to send mental messages to Wildfire's essence, urging it to heal him faster. The armors helped all of them to heal a little quicker than normal. Though Halo's healing power could heal them faster still.

However, Ryo wasn't sure if even Halo was enough to get him back on his feet as fast as he wanted with this much damage. He still couldn't believe the closest thing to ever do him in was a bullet. For some reason, he still found it the most absurd part of this entire time-traveling demon-infested misadventure. And he was still very irritated with himself that he let it happen.

A sharp intake of breath caught his attention and Ryo swiveled his head away from the window to watch the other person in the room. Robyn was still curled up in the large, plush chair where she had fallen asleep a few hours before. Unlike earlier, her peaceful face had stiffened in distress, brows furrowed as she twitched. Cindi had mentioned Robyn often woke up screaming from nightmares. She was clearly in one now.

"Robyn," Ryo called. "Robyn, wake up."

She didn't hear him, her body tightening as her breath picked up in panic.

"Robyn," Ryo yelled louder. And when that didn't work, he yanked out one of the pillows tucked behind his back and tossed it at her, flinching in pain as he did so.

The redhead was startled awake as it landed on her. Her body jerked from sleep and she glanced around.

"Sorry," Ryo said. "You looked like you were having a bad dream. I was trying to wake you up."

Her expression instantly softened. "Thanks. Sometimes I get stuck in bad dreams and I can't make myself wake up."

"What do you dream about?" his voice was soft, hesitant, as if he was afraid to ask.

"I don't know," she replied just as quietly. "I can't really describe what's happening. In the dream, I seem to know what's going on, but when I wake up, I forget. Just like the rest of my memories. I'm just... not in the place where everything should make sense, I guess."

"That's more truthful than you know." Ryo winced as he sat up and painfully attempted to slide his legs over the side of the bed.

"No, don't get up yet," Robyn fussed, sitting up herself to aid him.

"No, I really do need to get up," Ryo insisted, glancing at the bathroom.

She then smirked at him. "Sure you don't want to use a bedpan? Looks like fun."

"Yeah, no thanks."

Robyn helped him slide his legs over and get to his feet with minimal discomfort. Once standing upright, Ryo found it a bit easier to move around. After he was finished in the bathroom, he insisted he was done laying in bed and the two walked side by side around the hospital floor. Walking wasn't so bad. As long as Ryo kept his back straight and his strides short, he could get around with very little pain. Robyn had his arm as they strolled. Though Ryo didn't need to her to help carry his weight or keep his balance, he didn't say anything. He quite enjoyed having her so close and had no plans on allowing her out of his sight until she was in a much safer situation.

"So, Ryo Sanada," Robyn said as they walked. "What exactly do you do when you're not being shot at?"

"Well, I like to play soccer. In fact, I'm on a sports scholarship. And I've nearly finished up my first year of college." Ryo suddenly wondered if any of them would be able to recover their schooling once they made it back. He had no idea how long it had been since they had been home.

"What about me? Do you... know what I like to do?"

For a moment, Ryo felt trapped by the question. He hadn't seen her in nearly a year. He had no idea what she did with herself while she was gone. But that, he reminded himself, didn't mean he didn't know things about her.

"You like playing soccer, too. I saw you play once. You also like cats and cute bakeries. You like big, warm sweaters. You keep taking them from Cye's closet. I can't believe you don't remember him."

"Who's Cye?" she asked innocently.

Ryo actually laughed at the oddity of the question. There was no way Torrent was erased that easily from her memory. "I'm sure you'll recognize him when you see him."

"That would be nice," Robyn gave a wistful smile, "to recognize something."

Ryo was beginning to perspire from the exertion of walking around with his wound. He wouldn't make it far if he tried to leave now, but perhaps by tomorrow, he could get them out of this place.

He gave her a confident smile. "Don't worry, just stick with me and I'm sure you'll soon remember everything."


Kento was thrown into Cye as the van lurched around a sharp corner, the seat belt doing very little to keep their frames from crashing into each other. Cye braced for the impact of the heavier body, then they hit another turn, now throwing Cye into Kento.

"Can we take it easier on the turns?" Hardrock requested from the back. "We're in a van. It's not made for street racing."

"Oh, come on, this is fun," Sekhmet insisted from the driver's seat. "No traffic anywhere, how often does one get a chance to do this?"

"Now you know what it's like to drive with you," Cye told his friend and Kento was thrown into Torrent once more.

Any retort Hardrock had was cut off as the van suddenly swept into a spin and Kento clutched the back of the seat in front of him. It felt the vehicle was nearly going to tip over on its side before they finally came to a stop. Even Rowen and Dais looked a little green as they climbed out of the middle seat and onto solid ground. The only one who seemed unphased with the haphazard driving was Kayura, who hadn't flinched at all during the ride.

There wasn't much more time to complain about the mode of travel. They were now right outside the subway entrance and it was anyone's guess when Ryoushi was going to attack them. Would he wait to see what they were up to or would he straight up try to push them out of the city the second they stopped?

The group of six hurried down the concrete stairs to the subway platform below. It was dark as pitch down there, no working lights to be found. Each carried a flashlight, lighting up the area in various directions to make sure they were alone down in the dark. Dais shined his light one way down the subway tunnel while Kento checked the other end. It seemed, so far, they were alone.

"Clear," each warrior called as they inspected their assigned area and found it to be empty.

Rowen was the only one who hadn't searched the place for enemies. Instead, he turned to look up the large entrance way in which they just came.

"So, where is it?" Dais asked.

Rowen nodded to the grand archway built into the wall of brick and concrete. "Right there."

Several flashlights flickered up to illuminate the area. The archway was covered with signs and billboards, but beneath it all, there was a familiar ornate wooden arch.

"Well, I'll be damned," Sekhmet said in the stillness.

"The doorway was found in the 1930's when they were building the subway," Rowen said as he walked over to the wall. "Instead of attempting to excavate it, they built this station around it. My mom and I used this station all the time when we lived in Tokyo." With the elbow of his coat, Rowen brushed at the dusty plaque on the wall that gave historical information about the doorway, now completely forgotten by the modern masses. "I couldn't have been more that five, but I kept insisting to my mother that this gateway was magical. Even back then, I knew somehow."

"But it doesn't have any doors," Kento protested. "It's just the archway. People have been walking through this thing for a few hundred years now. It's gotta be broken."

"The doors aren't important as long as the archway is in tact," Kayura said. "And it has to be activated first, otherwise people can walk through it without consequences, just like they have been."

"So, what are we going to do with it?" Cye asked quietly as he gazed at it.

"I suppose we should let Ryoushi know we've found it. And I doubt I speak for just myself in saying I would rather not defend this thing down here in the pitch blackness. Kento?"

"Right," Hardrock said, cracking his knuckles as he stepped forward. He then stretched forth his fingers, getting a feel for the area around him. He felt deep into the earth, discovering how the rock molded around the gateway, how everything fit together.

When he was ready, Kayura hit the butt of the staff against the ground, causing the mystical rings to clang and glow with a golden light. The staff's energy surged and Kento called upon Hardrock's power to do its thing. The ground shuttered all around them as the gate wrested itself from the ground and tore through the concrete ceiling of the subway. Everyone scrambled out of the way of the debris, fleeing for the safety of the ground level and the light of day.

Upon reaching the surface, the group was treated to the majestic sight of the last Dynasty gate jutting straight and proud from the ground. It was still missing its doors, but its ornate archway was intact.

"There's no way Ryoushi missed that little demonstration," Dais said. "I'm sure he'll be coming for it any second."

Sekhmet reached for his radio.


Outside the city, the second team waited for correspondence. Hopefully, they were still far enough away from the city to escape Ryoushi's ever-watchful eye, and maybe he would forget that a few members of the tiny army were missing in the wake of finding the gate.

"We got it," Sekhmet's voice sounded over the radio. "Gate's up for all the world to see. Just waiting for our guy to take the bait. Stand by."

"Understood, we're ready," Suzu replied over the radio, her gaze transfixed toward the location of the tower. The magical shroud around the building rendered it invisible even to her at this distance, but she could still feel exactly where it was. The thing radiated power and danger.

At either side of her stood Cale and Sage. It seemed she would have to be in the middle of the light/dark feud after all. Though the two had promised they would be on their best behavior for this mission.

Suzu looked over to Sage, who was also watching the haze where the tower was hiding, his entire boy rigid and tense.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you came with us," she told Halo.

Sage turned his head slightly, clearly not expecting such a statement. "Why is that?"

"Because out of the five of you, I trust you the most to stick a blade in this guy the first opportunity you get."

Sage found merit and truth in her words and didn't argue. He did, however, release a deep sigh. "I wish Ryo were here."

"Me, too," Suzu agreed.

"Then why wouldn't you let me try to find him?"

"Because even if you had, he would be no use to us. Ryo was wounded in the last battle. And before you get after me for leaving him, I can promise you that he's going to be fine. His life is not in danger, but he is hurt bad enough that he would be useless for this battle. If we would have found him and brought him back, you and I both know, Sage..."

"That he would insist on coming anyway," Halo finished for her. "And probably get himself killed."

"We'll retrieve him and bring him home after the battle is won, I promise."

Sage nodded slightly, his suspicions around this mystery woman lessening. He was sure he would never fully trust her, but at this moment, he was satisfied enough that she would watch his back in the fight to come.


Kayura looked up at the fifteen-foot tall gateway, old and dusty, but still impressive as it stood out among the modern buildings. She was glad Suzu wasn't here. Despite the earlier affirmation that they had no chance of winning without the help of the ronins, Kayura knew Suzu would be pushing them through the gate the first second she could, whether the battle had been won or not.

Once the ronins had entered their time, their world, Suzu no longer had any interest in the here and now. Only they interested her, only their survival was her concern. That was not how one was supposed to treat heroes. At least she was elsewhere with only one Ronin Warrior to fuss over. In order to make sure they all returned to their time safely, Suzu would give it her all against Ryoushi, of that Kayura had no doubt. She did doubt, however, that Suzu would return from this battle alive. She also doubted Suzu cared about that.

"Kayura," she spun when she heard her name spoken a mere foot away from her. Rowen stood in her personal space. The others were scattered around, keeping watch from all sides for Ryoushi's next move.

"Kayura, may I talk to you about time?"

"Time?" she repeated with a raise of her brow.

"Time, and the future. More specifically, changing it."

Kayura gave him a knowing look. "Dais has mentioned to me you know more than you should."

Now it was Rowen's turn to give a curious look. "Dais confides in you often, does he?"

"More than I wish him to at times. His concern was that you would get yourself so distracted with problems you cannot solve that you're going to get yourself killed."

Rowen glanced around the empty streets, finding them to still be empty. "Dais underestimates my capacity to multitask."

"You overestimate your own capacity to understand what you are asking for."

"How so?" Strata challenged. "I haven't even asked yet."

"I know what you're thinking, Rowen Hashiba. You want to fiddle with our past- your future. You want to see if you can change anything. But in order to do that, you need information. You need to know what happened if you have any hopes of changing it. And you want to change it for Suzu."

Rowen flushed a little at the insinuation, but didn't allow it to deter his train of thought. "Something happened to her, something bad. That's how she ended up here, with you."

"Right, because it is our group where people end up when bad things happen to them," Kayura shot back in annoyance.

"Exactly," Rowen insisted. "And I want to know what happened. I need to know what's coming in our future. What can I do to fix it?"

"There's nothing to fix, Rowen. Everything that happened in the past happened for a reason. It happened because it was supposed to."

"This was what was supposed to happen?" Rowen demanded gesturing to everything around him. That action caused Cye and Kento to glance curiously in their direction, and for Dais and Sekhmet to pretend they hadn't heard at all.

"None of us should be here!" Rowen continued. It was a statement that he just realized himself. "None of us should be in this time, not us, not you. When the world is in danger, the armors choose new warriors to fight. They didn't chose anyone because something changed." He looked Kayura in the face. "Maybe it was your fault, maybe it was ours. But someone screwed up. That's why we're here in this city, out of our world, out of our time. But this can't be the answer. What if in 100, 300, 500 more years something else comes? Will you still be alive to haul our asses to that future? Or does mankind finally see its end there?"

"Rowen, are you having some sort of emotional crisis?" Kento called to them. "Because you picked a hell of a lousy time."

Rowen ignored Hardrock, his focus completely on Kayura. "Tell me what happened. I'll go back and change it."

She fixed him with a hard stare. "You can't, Rowen. Your path is already fixed, your golden string drawn tight and you cannot deviate."

"You can," Strata said lowly. "If you sent me back with instructions for your past self, she could change this. She doesn't have any strings."

Kayura's mouth fell open for a moment, eyes wide with surprise. Perhaps, even hope. Then she closed down again. "No. As I said before, you don't understand what you're asking."

"I will if you explain it to me!" Rowen cried even as Kayura turned her back on him, trying to end the conversation. "There is always a solution when given the right information. How does keeping us in the dark help anyone? At least tell me how I can help Suzu. I doubt I'm wrong in assuming whatever happened to her has a lot to do with this mess."

"What happened to Suzu was her own fault, her own choice," Kayura said, her voice softer. She continued to keep her back to him.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Rowen demanded, grabbing her shoulder. "Tell me how to save her!"

Kayura snapped around her, eyes angry and dangerous. There was power in her words. "Because it's not your job to save her, Rowen!"

He looked at her with such utter perplexity at the idea that there was someone-with all his power, his purpose, his destiny-he was not meant to save. Perhaps Kayura did not know how to treat heroes any better than Suzu did.

Still, she continued. "We are here now because of decisions we all made. You, us, all of us. Time will not change them merely because we want them to change. Otherwise, what is the point of the tough decisions, the sacrifices, if we do not have to live with the consequences of our actions?"

"What on Earth are you two even arguing about?" Cye demanded as he approached them. "Don't we have more important things to worry about right now?"

"Speaking of which," Dais called, "those more important things are here."

Near the ancient doorway, a new portal formed, one nearly as big. A gaping maw of black cut through the very fabric of their reality. From it spewed forth countless bodies, foreign and malformed, full of teeth and claws, armed with weapons.

The small band of warriors readied themselves, prepared to defend, to fight to the death, as it felt as though the full army of Hell had fallen upon them.