Happy New Year!! In this part, the Ronin Warriors make their grand appearance! So, sit back and enjoy the next part in The Ronin Warriors' Bustrip.

***All characters, both Ronin Warriors and Fushigi Yuugi, are not my original creations***

The five Ronin Warriors, White Blaze, and a sleeping Yulie sat in a red jeep that sped along the winding road at a terrifying pace. Inside, Mia and Rowan sat in the front. Rowan lay stretched out over the dashboard, taking full advantage of the space the author had written in for him. The back, however, was slightly cramped.

"Why did we choose Kentou, of all people, to sit on our laps? He's so heavy!" Cye complained (in his British accent.)

"Well, if we got a bigger car--" Sage began.

"It's a jeep, Sage." Mia corrected.

"Well, if you want to get technical, it's really a ..."

"Jeep! It's a jeep!" Mia shot back. "And it's my jeep, so if you don't like it, then get out!"

"Kentou, you big oaf, get off of me!" Cye cried.

Kentou shifted restlessly, causing a huge scratch to appear in Ryo's armor. Ryo sighed. He had just finished polishing his armor that morning. It had taken all night, then fatty over there couldn't keep still...

"You lookin' for a fight? HUH?! Answer me!" Kentou bellowed into Sage and Cye's ears. suddenly a loud growl was heard.

"Kentou, that your stomach?" Rowan called from the front (in his cute Australian accent. I'm not biased, really, I swear.)

White Blaze growled threateningly. The humans kept shifting, disturbing his sleep. It was bad enough that he had to aid them in battle, now he had to put up with their antics? The loud-mouthed one in orange...he would be eaten first...and what a large meal it would be. White Blaze's mouth salivated at the thought.

Mia glanced back and sighed at the stupidity assembled there. The "warriors" had insisted on wearing their armor in the car; "it was more intimidating to passengers in other vehicles." If they happened to get into an accident, and she was lucky, she'd be able to identify the smashed bodies by their colorful armor. She looked over to Rowan, who was using the side mirror to look at himself. He was searching fro that perfect "hair-over-the-face-yet-still-able-to-see" look. At least he had enough common sense to not have his armor on. Mia frowned. Maybe she should stop throwing herself at Ryo and try hitting on the intelligent on of the group.

"Hey guys, isn't it crowded back there with your armor on? Why don't you get out of it?" she asked.

"Yeah, it is a little cramped," Ryo commented as he narrowly missed getting one of his eyes gouged out by one of Kentou's helmet horns.

"But Mia," Kentou cried, "the armors are stuck on us. And I haven't found any zippers or buttons that might help us get out of it!"

The car fell silent. Everyone stared at Kentou, who had just proven to be the epitome of stupidity.

"Don't worry guys," Kentou added, further digging himself into a hole, "I'll find them soon."

Kentou shifted again as he searched for the buttons and/or zippers. Metal scraping against metal was heard. Everyone cringed at the sound. The three warriors in the back looked down and found a new scratch on each of their armors. Ryo then decided to take charge and spoke.

"Rowan, give Kentou something to eat."

Rowan, who had full control of the snack bag, leaned forward and dug around in a paper bag. Finding an open package of Ahoy Chips (tm), he tossed it back. Kentou caught the bag with both hands. Pulling it close to him, he nibbled on the cookies quietly and became still.

"Now, power down!" Ryo said. "Jin Tao!" Several minutes passed, and nothing happened.

"Wait, Ryo, isn't it Tao Jin?!" Rowan asked.

Dark blue energy collected around Rowan. Floral cloth unfurled and Rowan's armor appeared on him.

"Shoot! I guess that was the power up saying." He looked at his armor, which was now making his shotgun seat very uncomfortable. "Stupid strata armor," he muttered.

Meanwhile, the boys in the back flailed around, trying to extract themselves from the floral cloth that had appeared during Rowan's power up.

"Oh, now I remember; nij oat!" Ryo announced, pulling a hot pink floral pattern off his helmet.

"Is that some sort of Pig Latin?" Sage asked.

"No, it's Tao Jin! backwards," Ryo replied.

Red energy collected around Ryo's armor, re-energizing him. The jeep began to get very warm.

"Ryo, contain your armor! It's burning me!" Cye whined.

"Alright, now that we remember the saying, can we power down?" Sage asked.

"Armor of Wildfire, NIJ OAT!"

Ryo's armor disappeared, but it took several minutes and several different screen shots before he was back in regular clothing.

The other four warriors stared at him blankly.

"What's wrong? Aren't you guys going to power down? It will really give us more room," Ryo asked innocently.

"Are you done stealing the show?" Cye asked sardonically.

"Technically, this is a fanfic..." Sage corrected.

"Be quiet, Sage! All you ever do is correct people!" Cye retorted.

"But I don't correct--"

"See?! there! You just did it!'

"Did what?"

"There! You did it again!"

"Cye, did wha--?"

"I want milk!" a voice, who had been silent for some time, announced.

"Kentou?" Ryo asked.

"Milk!"

"It's the Law of the Hungry Mouse..." Rowan drawled.

"What?!" cried the three non-large warriors.

"Haven't you ever read the book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie...? It was my favorite book when I was little..."

Ryo made a face. "Rowan, that was too much information."

"Give me milk!"

"I see," said Sage, over Kentou's incessant bellowing. "If you give a mouse a cookie, it'll want a glass of milk."

Rowan nodded, glad someone was finally smart enough to reach his higher level thinking. Maybe Sage wasn't so bad...

"I wouldn't consider Kentou a mouse, though," Cye said, interrupting Rowan's thoughts.

"Still, it will all end the same way. Kentou'll drink the milk, then he'll ask for..." Rowan began.

"It's the genius convention. And today's topic is 'Kentou: mouse or lard ass?'" Mia muttered to herself, a touch of annoyance appearing in her voice.

"MILK!"

"Ryo," Yulie said, waking up from his afternoon nap, "Why is Kentou yelling?"

"How did Yulie manage to sleep with Kentou's big mouth flapping?" Sage whispered. Ryo shook his head. "I have no idea," he whispered back.

Mia stopped the car. "That's it!" she yelled at Kentou. "Either you shut up or I'm leaving you here on the side of the road! I can't drive with this racket!"

"But Mia..." Kentou whimpered.

Mia glared at Kentou, who shuddered and cowered behind Ryo.

"I have an idea, Mia..." Rowan said, as Ryo tried to shake himself free from Kentou's grip.

Five minutes later:

"Hey, guys, this isn't fair!"

"Wow, now there's a lot of space, and we haven't even all powered down yet!" Cye exclaimed.

"Good idea, Rowan," Ryo said. "Now I can stretch my legs out."

"What if the roof collapses?" Sage asked as he suspiciously eyed the ceiling of the jeep for signs of structural weakness.

"Guys..." Kentou yelled from outside, strapped to the roof of the jeep.

"Let's power down!" Cye announced. The others nodded.

"Armor of Strata!"

"Armor of Torrent!"

"Armor of Halos!"

"NIJ OAT!"

All armors disappeared and each warrior was now wearing his regular clothes.

"Hey, I can move my arms freely now!" Cye exclaimed.

"Ryo..." Yulie said, tugging on Ryo's shirt.

"Yes, Yulie?"

"Ryo...."

"What is it Yulie?"

"Ryo..."

"Can't you keep that kid quiet, Ryo?" Cye asked as he put cotton in his ears.

"Ryo..."

"That's definitely a Ryo complex," Rowan commented. He propped his feet up, placed his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.

"Ryo..."

White Blaze growled. The large one in orange was gone, but he had been replaced with one with an equally annoying noise level. He would definitely have to be eaten. Probably gamy, but...

"Uh, Ryo?" Sage tapped Ryo on the shoulder. "White Blaze has a hungry predator look."

White Blaze rose to his feet.

"Quick, Cye!" Sage yelled. "Grab White Blaze!"

White Blaze crouched and....

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP, BEEP!*

Will Yulie be eaten? Does Kentou ever get the privilege to ride in the jeep again? And what's beeping? Find out in the next part of The Ronin Warriors' Bustrip. All comments are to be sent to the review box at the bottom of the page. Thanks!