Disclaimer: I'm not saying this again.. *crosses arms stubbornly*

                                    Peace Is Threatened.

Chapter 25.

The Ronins stood up one by one, all breathing hard. Some of their armors were damaged, and they felt a bit weak.. They had to fight though. They glanced around.

"Son of a bitch," Ryo cursed and curled his lip in disgust.

They were all back in the Dynasty, and surrounded by a horde of soldiers with Mesu at the front. And what was worse, the Guardians were all unconscious. Oh were they?

"Ryo…you shouldn't…swear." Amaya said with a soft groan as she opened her eyes and got to her feet.

Ryo sighed in relief to see the others waking up one by one. Together they accessed their damages. Thunder was still out though. Flash frowned a bit and shook him. She got no response.

"Flash?" Rekino said worriedly. "Can't you wake him up?"

"He won't wake up. It's like he's in a coma."

Rekino frowned more, and then tightened as they heard Mesu howl in rage.

"TODAY'S THE DAY YOU ALL DIE!!"

"Guys!" Cye cried. "We better get a move on! Mesu's attacking fast!"

"Ronins, we'll hold them off the best we can," Ryo ordered and unsheathed his katanas.

Rekino looked toward the other Guardians. "Do your best Guardians! We need to keep the soldiers from getting to Flash and Thunder!

"Thunder didn't wake up?!" Sage hollered back with concern.

"No, but I'm working on it!"

Sage frowned. He had to do something. Yet there was no time. Mesu ordered his soldiers to attack, and the Ronins and Guardians had no choice but to defend themselves and fight back. Flash continued to try to wake Thunder up. It was no use though. She bit her lip.

I wish Blaze was here Flash thought to herself.

The battle raged on almost out of control. More than five soldiers attacked each Ronin or Guardian at the same time. Weapons struck against weapons, sparks flew, tempers rose, surekills were called. More soldiers took the places of the last ones. Rekino was grabbed by three soldiers suddenly, and was punched several times in the face by a fourth one. She struggled with all of her might, trying to at least get one arm free so she could fight these monsters. Several arrows struck the soldiers holding her though, and she got free, bringing her sword up and beheading the soldier who had been punching her. She leapt into the sky and called her surekill against several more.

Mesu watched with a laugh, sending power balls against them now. They found themselves running and dodging, but it seemed to be no use to them. Cye was struck in the back, and he screamed in pain. That set Kento's and Josephine's temper off. They both called their surekills at the same toward Mesu. But to their surprise, it didn't work on him.

"What the?!" Kento's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Damn! He's like totally…juiced?" Josephine wasn't quite sure of what word to use, but something wasn't right. It was like their attacks had no effect on Mesu now. What was going on?

Ryo screamed in pain suddenly as he felt a spear enter through his armor from his back. He struggled to reach the spear, but the pain was so much. He heard Mia cry out his name as he went down. This was all very, very bad. Flash's eyes filled with tears. So far they were losing, and hope was diminishing quickly for them. She couldn't wake Thunder up either. And she couldn't even set Mesu on fire. She figured that perhaps Mesu had found her weakness though, how she wasn't sure. Finally she brushed her tears away and stood up.

With a silent force of a cry she called for her wolf, "BLAZE!! WE NEED YOU!!"



A bright light suddenly filled the area. Mesu swore and covered his eyes as the light paralyzed the soldiers, keeping them immobilized. Ryo felt himself being healed, Thunder woke up. And then all of them saw Blaze standing before them, the crystal glowing around his neck. And then what they heard next shocked them all.

"Listen well Guardians, protectors of the Ronin Warriors. You each have a non-magic armor inside of you. Close your eyes and concentrate on the force within. Rekino to call yours, you must say Wildfire's Flame. Amaya, you must shout out, Torrent's Tsunami. Hana, call forth Halo's Light.  Mia yell, Strata's Stars. Josephine shout, Hardrock's Crystal Rock," Suddenly the light of the crystal struck each Guardian in their chest. They each felt a new power rising up within them. Their eyes were swirling with their elements, and they each glowed a much brighter color than they have ever glowed before.

With a loud cry Rekino shouted, "Wildfire's Flame!" A solid stream of fire erupted from her index and middle finger and wiped out a hundred soldiers.

"Torrent's Tsunami!" Amaya cried. A huge wave exploded from the ground and drowned another hundred soldiers.

"Halo's Light!" Hana called out. A hundred soldiers were instantly blinded and staggering around giving the Ronins more opportunity to wipe them out.

Mia cried out, "Strata's Stars!" A horde of stars appeared and struck at hundred soldiers, paralyzing them from being able to move. She and Rowen both took their bows and finished them off.

Josephine cried out, "Hardrock's Crystal Rock!" She leapt into the air, and touched soldier after soldier, turning them into pure crystal. The crystallized soldiers stayed in that form for about three seconds before disintegrating.

"Would you look at that," Cye said in awe.

"They've gotten stronger," Sage said softly, his eyes wide.

This must have been what the Ancient had told me about in my dream Ryo thought to himself. But how did the wolf know? And more importantly, since when could the wolf talk?!

Thunder was battling nearby Flash, calling his surekill repeatedly, and swinging his sword in graceful battle movements, sending soldier after soldier to their doom. Flash lit a hundred soldiers on fire, and then took out the rest with her sword. She could see the change within the Guardians and sighed in relief. At last they're getting somewhere, she thought. She turned her mind back to the battle and continued to fight.

Mesu howled in anger, now more than angry. The entire sky turned pitch black and everything around them grew dark. The darkness began to take away Sage and Hana's energy and each of them felt weak.

Thunder frowned deeply. He could see pretty well in the dark, and he saw a soldier throwing a spear right for Hana, "Hana! Look out!" He leapt into the air and knocked Hana down, covering her with his strong masculine body. The spear zipped over them and took another soldier out instead of catching Hana.

"Guys! We have to do something!" Josephine cried. "I can't see shit!"

"Stop swearing!" Amaya pleaded, not wanting to admit her fear.

"Its too bad Ryo can't remember to junction!" Rekino said crossly.

"Give me a break!" Ryo said in annoyance.

"Well, we need you to remember how!"

Damn Ryo thought. He couldn't see anything at all. He was fighting for his life. And he couldn't remember the one thing that could destroy Mesu once and for all. And then he heard Blaze speak to his mind.

"Listen well, Wildfire. To junction you and your sister must stand before one another in perfect formation.. Close your eyes and concentrate on your symbol's power. You both must say in perfect harmony, Virtue. Send them to one another. Then draw that power back within you. Only then you will junction with each other."

Ryo was wondering how they could possibly do that when they couldn't even see. Then he gasped as he suddenly could. Blaze stood off to his right, watching him calmly, the crystal glowing around his neck, creating a light that enabled all of them to see.

Despite their situation Hana couldn't help but feel excited. Thunder actually had a nice touch to him, she thought with a dreamy smile.

"Sis!" Ryo called. "I know how to junction! Thanks to Blaze!"

"Well, then hurry up!" Rekino ordered.

"Yes, mother," Ryo said, and somersaulted over the soldiers to join her.

Rekino rolled her eyes at that comment. Ryo stood before her then and got serious. He quickly told Rekino what he had learned and his younger sibling nodded her head. Then they were ready. Each of them stood facing the other, their eyes closed. They concentrated on their symbols and called them in unison, each one saying, Virtue. Ryo sent his power of Virtue into Rekino, and Rekino sent hers to Ryo, then each of them called them back. A bright light began to form between them, so bright only their figures could be seen. And then it happened, the two lights combined into one, and one voice, that sounded remarkably like Rekino's and Ryo's put together, called out "Golden Armor of Infernory!"

The other Ronins, the other Guardians, and the two Warriors all watched in shock. White Blaze suddenly transformed himself into a golden tiger with dark golden stripes, his armor turned dark golden, and he let out a mighty roar that shook the realm.

Rekino and Ryo felt themselves becoming one person inside the ball of light. The newly formed siblings extended her/his arm. It kicked swiftly into the air. When the light died down, the rest of the warriors stood in shock. When the combined siblings opened their eyes, the Ronins, Guardians, and two Warriors saw that one was tiger blue and the other was amethyst purple.

"I'll be a monkey's bare assed uncle, they did it!" Kento said.

Amaya sweatdropped, "For the last time…"

"Stop swearing. Yeah, yeah. We know," Kento replied and kissed Amaya gently on the lips, "My little French Tartlet."

Rowen started at them. He blinked, "You two get a room."

"Kiss my ass," The Hardrock warrior said.

"KENTO!" Amaya screamed.

Mia kept looking at her newly formed best friend and lover. This was strange, "What should we call them?"

Josephine shrugged, "Hell if I know."

Amaya frowned, "JO!"

Hana was in thought, "How about Rykino?"

All of the others looked at her with a blank expression on their faces. They sighed and shook their heads. Sage spoke first, "What kind of name is that?!"

Hana's shoulders slumped and she sniffed, "You don't like it?"

Cye put a hand on Hana's shoulder, "Let me think about it…NO!"

"I do," A voice said. They all looked to see 'Rykino' with its arms crossed, "It suits us. Both of our names combined," All of the Guardians and Ronin could see that the junction combined their voices together. Rykino smiled, "You see, with this new armor, Infernory, I'll be able to defeat Mesu, but I'll need some help from you guys. Hold of the soldiers while Mesu and I engage in battle. Flash, I want you to help give me more power when I give you the signal."

All of the remaining warriors nodded and set off to do what they were orders. Rykino turned towards Mesu with a frown. She/he walked towards him with steady steps while drawing the swords of Soul and Spirit. The Demon Lord huffed and drew out his sword.

"Well, what do we have here? A couple of teenagers ready to die! I have to say, the junction didn't improve your looks at all," Mesu laughed.

Rykino smirked, "You were so ugly when you were born your mother said, 'what a treasure' and your dad said, 'yeah, let's bury it!'"

Mesu screamed in rage and flew at Rykino with lightning speed. Rykino in turn met him half way. Sparks flew as the weapons collided with one another. Mesu then jumped back and fired a ball of energy at Rykino, which bounced right off of her/him. Rykino smirked and sent a fireball back at Mesu, which he quickly dodged. The warriors stood staring at one another before Mesu lunged at Rykino. The battle had started again.

On the other side, the Guardians, Ronins, and Warriors were fighting along with Blaze and Gold Blaze. They were destroying soldiers after soldiers as more kept coming. The Lady Guardians were glad that they could use their non-armor magic's. Since Rykino had their powers, it sure made it easier in battle.

"Strata's Stars!" Mia hollered. She raised her hand above her head and stars appeared in her hand. She unleashed her fury by throwing them hard the soldiers and taking them out while they were paralyzed.

"Torrent's Tsunami!" Amaya called her magic as she unleashed a wave of destruction on the battle field.

"Hardrock's Crystal Rock!" Josephine leapt over several soldiers making sure to touch them. They crystallized zombies turned to dust shortly after.

"Halo's Light!" Hana shot her arm out and blinded her enemies. It also healed some of the others that had been hurt.

Kento stuck his naginata into one of the soldiers and kicked another one, "Why do the girls get all the good stuff?"

Rowen shot off arrow after arrow. He turned towards Kento, "I don't know. I guess the Ancient One liked the girls better than us."

Sage took down five zombies with one swift motion, "At least we got the good looks."

Hana looked at Sage and shot him a rather seductive look, "In your dreams, Coco Puff."

Once all of the soldiers were dead and gone, they turned they attention to the fight between Rykino and Mesu. The two were moving so fast it was hard to keep up with them. Thunder smiled slightly and spoke, "Mesu's getting weaker. His power is decreasing due to his rage and lack of knowledge of the Infernory Armor."

"Since when did you become mister know it all?" Josephine asked.

Thunder shrugged and continued to watch the battle with interest. Rykino dodge an attack by Mesu just in time. She/he received a cut across her cheek, hers/his first battle scar. She/he just smiled and swung one of her swords at Mesu, cutting his armor. She/he brought up the other sword and cut Mesu's face where he cut hers/his.

"Look at them go," Mia muttered.

Rykino jumped back and landed on one foot gently. Mesu was growing weaker by the minute. The warriors of Infernory smiled, "It's time to end this battle, Mesu."

Mesu smirked and wiped the blood from his lip, "Then let's end it," His hands went out in front of him and he started to chant. A dark ball of energy spread throughout the area, "Now you…DIE!" He shot it towards Rykino.

"Don't speak too soon. Flash, NOW!" Rykino yelled.

"Right!" Flash concentrated all of her powers on Rykino. Suddenly, the wind picked up and her hair was flying everywhere. Her symbol shined on her forehead with brilliance.

Rykino felt the power and brought the spirit sword and soul sword together. She/he jumped into the air surrounded by the fire and energy that Flash provided, and called the armor's surekill, "SPIRIT RAGE OF INFERNORY!" The fire column shot out and collided with Mesu's attack. The Infernory warrior held off as much as possible. The attack still stayed.

"THE END IS NEAR!" Mesu cried and strengthened his attack. The dark energy seemed to be over powering the Infernory's attack.

The Ronin and remaning Guardians stood there in horror. They're friends were about to die and they couldn't do a thing. They all closed their eyes and thought of something. The image of them winning appeared in their minds and they knew what to do. They all joined hands with one another, even Flash and Thunder, and gave whatever power they had left to Rykino.

"Life!"

"Wisdom!"

"Justice!"

"Trust!"

"Faith!"

"Knowledge!"

The powers of Mia, Rowen, Sage, Hana, Kento, Josephine, Cye, Amaya, Flash, and Thunder came together in one huge power ball. The combined energies came joined with the Infernory's attack. It strengthened it beyond compare to Mesu's. In one quick motion, the Spirit Rage of Infernory overpowered Mesu's attack and went hurdling towards the demon lord. His body was engulfed in the fire and he vanished into thin air.

Rykino landed and separated back into Ryo and Rekino. They both fell to the ground from lack of energy to do anything. Before anyone could do anything, the ground started to shake and the scenery started to crumble. Rowen ran over to Rekino picked her up. Kento picked up Ryo.

"What's going on?" Hana demanded.

Rowen steadied himself, "The dimension's crumbling. Since Mesu's dead, no one is here to keep it stable."

Sage lost his balance and fell right on his butt, "I don't mean to be a party pooper, but I say we pull up out skirts and run!"

Flash nodded, "BLAZE, GET US OUTTA HERE!"

The wolf jumped in front of all the warriors. The crystal around his neck started to glow and a portal opened for them to get back home. One after another, they all jumped in and left the nether realm for good. When they all arrived back at Mia's place, Blaze closed the portal for good.

Mia stood up from where she landed and dusted herself off, "Well that's a relief. None of my property was destroyed."

Josephine grumbled and powered down into her clothes, "Speak for yourself, Mia. I'm hungry and my ass is killing me!"

"JO!" Amaya screamed.

Sage climbed out of the tree he had landed in, "Blaze can't aim for shit with his portals."

"SAGE!" Amaya screamed.

A groan from Rekino got everyone's attention. She had landed on the porch next to Ryo, Rowen, and Kento, "Stop the damn yelling!"

Amaya hung her head low. No one was going to listen to her. Fine, let them be that way.

Hana stood up and looked at Sage, "By the way Sage, since when did you start wearing skirts?"

"I DON'T!"

"STOP YELLING!" Ryo screamed. His head was pounding. He sat up and rubbed his temples. He grabbed on of the porch banisters and tried to stand up.

Mia ran over to Ryo and helped him try to stand. He was heavy, "Since when did you get so heavy, Ryo?"

Ryo smiled, "Since you started to stuff me full of food," He laughed when Mia slapped him lightly on the arm.

Rowen had gotten up and picked up Rekino since she couldn't stand by herself. They both powered out of armor and went inside followed by everyone else. The Strata warrior sat Rekino down on the couch and then he seated himself next to her. Josephine and Kento headed straight for the kitchen. Mia sat Ryo down on the loveseat and she went to the recliner and hit the vibrate button. Hana sat down next to Rowen on the couch. Sage, Cye, and Amaya sat on the other couch while Flash sat on the arm of one and Thunder got the other chair. Blaze and White Blaze laid down next to the fire.

"Man, I'm bushed," Cye said, "I don't think I'll be able to move for a week."

Rekino looked at the Torrent Warrior, "You? How do you think I feel? I just had to junction with my brother to defeat some evil bastard who did nothing but talk. So, don't you even begin to tell me how you feel! Do you know how weird it is to feel like you have the body parts of the opposite sex?!"

"No…" Cye mumbled.

"I rest my damn case then," Rekino said and laid her head down on Rowen's shoulder.

Ryo looked at his sister, "I know how you feel, Rekino. Don't forget I was there too."

"You were a part of me, jackass!" Rekino shot back.

"I know that, dork! That's why I said it!" Ryo replied.

Before I fight broke out, Hana decided to calm things down, "So Rekino, how did it feel to be a man."

The raven-haired woman gave the Lady Halo a look that meant: "What the hell are you, stupid?" She shook her head, "It was horrible. If I ever complain about being on my period again, remind me of this day please. I'll just shut my mouth."

Sage closed his ears, "Okay, women's monthly cycles I don't wish to hear about!"

They all got a good laugh out of that. Once everything was calmed down, they all just sat around and talked. Josephine and Kento came back in with a mountain of sandwiches and some potato chips. The ten others in the room gave them a look. The two Hardrock Warriors just shrugged and sat down in the floor and ate their 'snack'. When the clock chimed, which signaled to everyone that it was one in the morning, they all frowned.

"My god, we have school tomorrow," Amaya said.

Everyone groaned in reply to her comment.

"School is such a drag…" Sage said.

"It sucks…" Josephine said.

"It's not so bad," Rowen said.

Rekino grabbed a pillow from the couch and hit her boyfriend in the head, "Shut up."

"It's time for bed," Mia said. She got out of the recliner and helped Ryo stand. She smiled when he smiled at her. Mia helped Ryo climb the stairs and up to his bedroom, where she slept that night as well. Rowen picked up Rekino and went upstairs to his bedroom where they would sleep. Amaya and Kento went upstairs to their bedroom as well as Josephine and Cye. Hana and Sage went to their respective bedrooms for the night. The only ones that stayed awake were Flash and Thunder.

"When do you think we should leave?" Thunder asked his comrade.

Flash shrugged and sat down in the recliner Mia was in, "Do you really want to leave that bad?" She smiled, "Now I know why Mia likes this recliner so much! It has heat and vibration!"

Thunder smiled, "It's not that I don't want to leave, I'm kinda homesick. I miss my grandparents and the others a lot."

"I know. I miss them too, but I kinda don't wanna leave. I've grown to like this place and the people here," Flash said with a smile on her face, "The girls are fun to hang out with."

"Yeah, they're a little rowdy though," Thunder said, "Especially Hana."

"You're only saying that because she likes you."

"The same goes for Sage liking you."

Flash picked up a pillow and threw it at Thunder, "Oh, you hush!" She laughed when he threw it back. Silence came upon them and they sat there. Flash looked at Thunder and smiled, "We'll leave in a week. That okay with you?"

"It's fine," Thunder replied. He stood and stretched his muscles a little bit. He yawned.

"Tired?" Flash asked.

"A little."

"So am I. Let's go to bed. We'll tell the others after school tomorrow," Flash said. She saw Thunder nod and they headed up stairs to their respective bedrooms to get some rest, which left Blaze and White Blaze alone to talk.

You're leaving in a week? White Blaze asked.

Yes, we are. It's time we get back home and be with our friends and family. Blaze replied.

Well, we're really gonna miss you guys when you leave.

I know, my friend. I know.