Chapter Eleven: Kojiro of the Icefire

I nearly broke down crying then and there. "Ariel! No!" I cried out, falling to my knees. I felt my forehead kanji go off.

TRUST.

I looked up with teary eyes. Nothing. Unless Dais was playing one of his many illusions, but I doubted that. I stood up on shaky legs and leaned up against a wall. I saw her stuffed whale doll had lost a fin, and I prayed that I wouldn't find any blood in the room. I looked around and found none. "Lord, don't let her be hurt!" I said, falling down on my hands and knees. I prayed for a good ten minutes before I stood back up, ran a brush through my hair, did a two minute job in the shower (water = power boost- duh) and slipped on a pair of boxers before grabbing my armor orbe.

"You'd better still work," I said, looking at the armor orbe. "Armor of the Torrent, Tao SHIN!" In a flash of light blue, I found myself in the familiar, metal/plastic/spandex material once again. I looekd at myself. I looked just like I did five years ago, only I was older, wiser, and I saw maturity in my eyes I had never seen before. What had these past four years done to me, anyways? The long, sleepless nights that started from the night of the rape, then the nights from Ariel's first few months. The hardships I faced as a sixteen year old teenage parent. The long, little sleep nights that I spent studying, just so that I could finish high school and give Ariel a better chance in life. The concerns I had as a parent. The worries, the love, everything was so different. They all added that maturity I was seeing. I was changed.

I pulled a hooded sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers on over my subarmor. I hid the hand gauntlets and flexed my arms before checking the clock. 3:58. I looked outside of my bedroom window. Not even close to sunrise. I went into the living room and went outside-

And walked right into Kojiro.

"Where you going this time of night?" asked Kojiro. He was wearing a white T-shirt and plaid pajama bottoms. He yawned, looking at me somewhat sleeping.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To get some ice from down the hallway," said Kojiro.

"Why?"

"Got the urge for a cold glass of water and the freezer's busted," he replied. "Now, why are you out?"

Oh great, how do I explain this? "I, uh, I need-"

"GRAGH!"

"What the hell is that thing!?" asked Kojiro. That was a surprise. Kojiro NEVER swore so why now? I turned on my heels to see a Dynasty youja guard staring us down.

"All right, ugly, you want a fight?" I said. It nodded. "Do you know who you're messing with?"

"An idiot and his wonderful, charming, handsome friend, Cye, what the heck are you doing?!" said Kojiro. "That thing's evil!"

"Just let me handle this," I said. I slammed my feet into his chest on a sidekick, sending smoke spewing from the carcass as the armor faded away to nothing.

Kojiro's jaw probably reached the floor. "How did you do that?! Cye, is there something you haven't told me about your life before we met?"

I nodded. "Let's get outside, it's not safe here," I said.

"What about Ariel?"

I cringed. "That's a very small, recent part of it," I said.

"So you're saying that you're some mystical warrior that's destined to save the Mortal realm from the Evil Dynasty, your four friends are captured, some dead guy talked to your in your dream, and these Dynasty idiots captured Ariel?" said Kojiro.

"Basically, yes," I said.

"That is the most explicit piece of crap I have ever heard," said Kojiro.

"Why don't you believe me?" I asked. "You saw that thing."

"Actually, I think I had a beer that I don't remember and I'm drunk as a frat boy on Spring Break, I'm dreaming, or I'm going crazy."

"You're not crazy, you're not dreaming, and-" I took a whiff of his breath. "You're not drunk, but lay off the garlic."

"Ha, ha, very funny," said Kojiro, giving me a look. "Okay, so maybe it is true."

'That's what I've been saying all along!" I said.

"Wait- if you're a Roman Warrior-"

"RONIN Warrior," I corrected.

"Whatever, then how did some girl manage to get you in bed when you didn't want to be there? Explain that, Mr. Ronin Warrior!" said Kojiro.

I was taken aback. THAT hurt. "One, she was an incredibly strong girl and two, I didn't have access to my powers," I said. "And that really hurt, Kojiro."

"Sorry," said Kojiro. "I forgot how sensitive you were about that."

I sighed. "No, you just saw something you're having trouble believing. Either way, I've got to rescue Ariel and my friends."

"Uh huh- Uh oh, more ugly dudes," said Kojiro. I jumped up into a high back flip and shredded my clothes, leaving me in subarmor. "Cool!"

Three Dynasty goons. Easy as pie. Course every time I knocked one down, two more popped up. I probably had about sixteen or so on me and I was getting tired. I couldn't keep it up forever!

I heard the clanging of rings in the distance. Anubis was on the way! Then, I heard Kojiro scream as he was covered in ice. How, I wasn't sure at the time. I was thinking that whoever did that to him was going to die slowly and painfully. "Kojiro!" I cried, barley missing a hit from a youja guard. I continued fighting when I heard the ice crack. I turned my head and gasped.

There, in white and purple subarmor, stood Kojiro, the kanji CREATIVITY on his forehead.

"Yup. Now I believe you, and it's time to kick some serious boo-tah!!" said Kojiro. He charged the youja guard and started taking them down. Man, for a beginner, he was pretty good. But it wasn't enough. "Man, where do they get these things?!"

"I don't know, just keep fighting!" I said.

CLANG. I saw the Ancient's Staff land in the middle of the street as the bright light consumed us. The youja guards disappeared and Anubis appeared next to the Staff. He twirled it around and blew it. "I've always wanted to do that."

"Um, who's this guy?" asked Kojiro.

"Anubis, he's the stand in Ancient," I said. "Thank you."

"Not a problem, even though it wasn't exactly a smart idea to run away like you did, but I accept your reasons," said Anubis. He looked at Kojiro. "Icefire, I see."

"So I'm a Ronin Warrior, neat!" said Kojiro.

"Not really neat, you do realize we're going to be up against some pretty difficult enemies," I said.

"Cye, when I spoke to you, you mentioned your daughter, is she all right?" asked Anubis.

I could almost sense the tears coming. "I'm assuming that she's been taken by the Dynasty, her bedroom was empty when I woke up," I said. "There wasn't any blood or anything, but if they hurt her, I'll kill whoever did it."

"You care about her, I see," said Anubis.

I nodded. "I know," I said. "I've got to get her and the guys back."

Anubis nodded. "And find Chrono."

"Chrono, that doesn't tell us too much about where to find the person," said Kojiro.

"What's the virtue?" I asked.

"I believe Chrono's virtue friendship," said Anubis. He turned to Kojiro. "Your virtue is that of creativity, making you excellent in creating plans and works of art."

"Plans?" asked Kojiro.

"Basically, you'll know just how to completely and utterly humiliate the Dark Warlords."

"COOL!"