-Next Day, June 12th, 1999-
"Are my prisoners ready to receive the treatment?" Queen Metallia asked one of her servants. The female servant bowed and said, "Yes my Queen, they are ready. They've been put in separate rooms upon your request." An evil grin spread over Metallia's face at the thought of the Ronin Warriors, who were imprisoned. Now her plan was going to go into action.
She figured that the best way to beat the Ronin Warriors was to lure them over to her side by playing on their greatest weakness: the Mystical Warriors.
"Good," Metallia murmured, "I will begin my plan now. I'm not to be disturbed, is that understood?"
"Yes my Queen." The servant gave one more formal bow before leaving Queen Metallia in her throne room. Queen Metallia closed her large, blue eyes and concentrated her power, sending a bit of herself to each place where a Ronin Warrior was.
***
Cye awoke with a splitting headache.
Opening his eyes, he groaned in pain as his sensitive eyes picked up the
light in the room. He immediately closed
his eyes, trying to block out the light, but that didn't make his head feel any
better. He was pushing himself off of
the ground and was about to attempt standing when he heard a low, sultry laugh. He opened his eyes, squinting against the
harsh light, and looked around his surroundings.
He was in a huge chamber, which had a long hallway extending from behind it. Blocking that hallway was a woman. She was absolutely gorgeous with her long, wavy blonde hair and curvaceous body. And she was completely see-through. Cye blinked a couple of times to check that he was seeing right, but he soon convinced himself that his eyesight had not failed him and that the woman in front of him was not real, but a hologram. "Who are you?" Cye asked, testing the waters. He didn't know if she was evil or if she was on his side.
"You mean you haven't guessed, Cye of Torrent?" she asked.
"No, I honestly have no clue as to who you are."
"Well, since you're so unable to figure out who I am, I will tell you. I am Queen Metallia."
"Metallia," he growled, recognizing the name of their enemy, "I should have known it was you. Where is Mina and what have you done to her?"
"Mina? Oh, you mean the wearer of the Heavens armor. She's just fine," Queen Metallia lied.
"Where is she?" Cye asked again.
"I don't know why you want to know. You don't have a chance with her." Queen Metallia crossed her arms across her chest and let out a small smile at Cye's shocked look, which was quickly covered up by a scowl. "What do you know?"
"Oh, I know plenty. Why would she want someone like you? You aren't much of a warrior. You're too nice and too friendly. Mina wants someone strong, someone to show her the passions of life. You're too sweet to show her those things. You can't be strong. You're just a weak warrior. You're the weakest warrior out of your group. Mina doesn't want a weakling like you. So, why don't you spare yourself the pain and give her up? You could always come join me. I could make you strong, stronger than you can ever imagine. Then you could go after Mina. You would be everything she wants."
Tears sprang to Cye's eyes as he heard Queen Metallia's words. Maybe she was right. Maybe Mina would never want someone like him. She deserved someone who was stronger than him and who could show her how to live, someone who wasn't him. Maybe I would be better off leaving Mina until I could be the man that she wants.
Cye was about to accept Metallia's offer to stay with her when a flurry of images sprang to mind. Images of Mina smiling at him, laughing at things that he'd said, watching her face contort into a look of concentration as she did her homework, images of them having fun together, relaxing together and Cye then realized that no matter what Mina thought of him, Cye could never abandon her. His resolve to save Mina became stronger as he faced Metallia with a stony look on his face.
"No, that's not true. No matter what you say and no matter what Mina thinks about me, I'll always love her. I couldn't leave her in your clutches. I'd rather love her from afar then give her up completely and let her get hurt. I love her too much to let her get hurt. Now, out of my way." Picking up his fallen weapon, Cye used his power to destroy the hologram. "SUPER WAVE SMASHER!" he cried out. He watched triumphantly as his power destroyed the hologram and the hologram faded, leaving Cye alone in the huge chamber.
Seeing that as his chance to find Mina, he ran down the long corridor, looking for a way out of there. He was searching down the long corridor, not finding a way out until he got to the end of the corridor. When he reached the end of the corridor, he found a large door with no handle. Finding no other way to get out, he pushed the heavy door open and looked into the room on the other side. He gasped at what he saw.
Looking directly in front of him, he could easily recognize Mina's limp, armored form. "Mina!" he cried out as he rushed over to her, kneeling beside her unconscious body. He moved her body until she was lying on her back and Cye propped her up so he could see her face. Gently shaking her, he called her name over and over in an attempt to wake her up.
When she didn't wake up, tears welled up in his eyes. His gaze roaming over her bruised and scarred face, he muttered, "I'm so sorry I couldn't get to you in time, Mina." Raising a gloved hand, he gently caressed her face and was shocked when her closed eyes twitched. "Mina?" he whispered, hoping that she was alive and awake. Slowly, but surly, her bright blue eyes opened to see Cye looking down at her, his hand still cupping her cheek. "Cye?" she croaked, her throat incredibly dry and scratchy from screaming in pain earlier.
"Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling?"
"I don't know," Mina said, "Everything hurts, Cye. Everything hurts so bad." She looked up into his eyes, which were shining with tears, and said in a pleading tone of voice, "Can you get me out of here? I just want to go home." Cye could hear the tears in her voice and there was nothing he wanted more than to get her out of there. "Alright, we'll go home." Scooping her into his arms, he stood up, holding her close to him, not wanting to let her go for fear that something might happen to her. His eyes looked around the room, searching for a way out. He saw two doors, the one he came through and one that he just discovered. Not wanting to go back the way he came, he moved towards the other door, Mina still in his arms. As he pushed the door open, he said to her, "Just relax Mina, we're going home."
***
Rowen moaned lightly as he woke up. He
knew that later, the pain would kick in once he was fully awake. His hand closing around his bow, he slowly
pushed his way up off the hard ground he was laying on so that he was standing
on his own two feet, albeit shakily, and he looked around the room, which
looked much like the one Cye of Torrent was in.
"I hope you're alright, Rowen of Strata," a female voice said.
Rowen, who still didn't know where he was and how he had gotten there, looked towards the source of the voice and found a holographic image of a beautiful woman. But not as beautiful as Ami, Rowen thought. "Who are you and where am I?" Rowen asked. Giggling slightly, she said, "I'm surprised a genius like you hasn't figured that out yet." Rowen scrutinized her for a moment, taking in her appearance and the look in her eyes, before it dawned on him. "You're Queen Metallia, aren't you? And I'm in the Negaverse."
"Correct. So, you are a smart one. I was worried there for a moment."
"You don't know the first about me."
"Oh, I know plenty about you. Including your feelings for, what's her name? Oh yes, Ami, the girl who wears the Artic armor. I'd give up if I were you," Queen Metallia drawled.
"Why?" Rowen said.
"Because, why would she want someone like you? Why would she want someone with a family background like yours? She wants a person with a normal past and yours is anything but. Did you think you actually had a chance with someone like her? She's way above you. You don't deserve her and she deserves better than you. She could never love you for who you are."
"That's not true," Rowen growled, "You lie."
"How do you know that's not true? She could just be being nice to you because she feels sorry for you and what you've gone through. That doesn't mean that she loves you back. You might as well stop loving her because you have no chance with her." Queen Metallia paused at the shocked look on Rowen's face and said softly, "How could she love somebody like you?" Rowen froze. She had a point. How could Ami love someone like him? He sighed in defeat, his body slumping, before a thought flashed through his head.
No, she's lying to me. I have more of a chance with Ami than she thinks. And, even if I don't, I'd rather love her from afar and be her friend then to give up on her completely. "I see what you're trying to do," Rowen said, "You're trying to lure me over to the other side. Well, I have news for you, lady. It's not going to work." Pulling a golden arrow out of his quiver, he shouted his attack. "ARROW SHOCKWAVE!" Pouring all of his power that he had, he watched as the arrow hit the hologram and the hologram disappeared.
"Well, now that she's gone, let's see about finding Ami." In a manner that resembled Cye, Rowen rushed off down the long hallway that had been behind Queen Metallia's hologram, hoping that it would be the way to finding Ami. He moved down the hallway in a light yet almost urgent jog as he looked for ways to get out of the hallway.
He finally came upon a large, metal door, the only door that Rowen had seen in that hallway. He took a few steps back and examined the door, finding no handle whatsoever. Deciding that it was the only way to do it, Rowen leaned against the door and pushed it open using all of his weight and a little bit of his power as a Ronin Warrior. He entered the large chamber that was on the other side of the door and he looked around, looking for any clues about where Ami went.
Surprisingly enough, he found Ami's body on the ground in front of him. She was still fully armored, but she was unconscious. Rowen collapsed his bow and put it in its place by his quiver before moving over to Ami. She was on her stomach, so he turned her over to get a look at her. Her face was full of scratches and tear marks from where she had obviously been crying. He didn't know what other wounds she had and he wouldn't be able to know until he got her home. But, for now, he wanted to make sure that she could wake up. Gently shaking her, he murmured her name. "Come on, Ami, wake up. I know you can do it." Ami moaned and slowly opened her eyes to see Rowen's face not 2 inches from hers. "Is that you, Rowen?" she whispered.
"Yeah, it's me. Are you ok?"
"I'll live," Ami said ruefully. Actually, at that moment, Ami doubted she could.
"Well, you better for me," Rowen said. Ami closed her eyes to ward off the tears that were threatening to come. The sound of his voice was heavenly to her at that moment. Opening her eyes again, she looked up at him and said, "Rowen, can you get me out of here? All I want is to go home."
"Sure, I'll get you out of here."
"Did you have a hard time finding me?" Ami asked.
"No, not at all," Rowen lied. He knew that if he told her the truth, then she would freak out and think of him before her and right now, she needed more attention than he did. He would tell her later. As he knelt beside her, he put his arms underneath her body and picked her up. Holding her close, he said, "Just hold on Ami. I'll have you home before you know it."
"Knowing you, you'll make that happen," Ami said with a slight smile on her face. Rowen only smiled down at her before going through the only other door that he had seen when he first walked into the room.
***
Sage winced. He had just woken up from
being knocked out and he hurt all over.
It wasn't intense, but it was like a low, throbbing pain all over that
made him feel miserable. All Sage wanted
to do was go back to sleep, but something in his mind was screaming at him to
stay awake. He could feel the danger
surrounding him and he knew that if he happened to go back to sleep, that he
might not wake up again.
He was just about to get up when a throaty, female laughter reached his ears. His eyes snapped open and he looked up from his position on the ground to see the source of the laughter. What he saw, he couldn't quite believe. What he was seeing he knew to be a hologram for he could see right through her as if she was a spirit. Or maybe that's what she was. He couldn't be sure. One thing he did know for sure was that she was absolutely beautiful, except for the cold look in her eyes, a look that he didn't trust at all.
She looked down at him and said, "Oh, get off the floor, Sage of Halo. I don't like the people who are supposed to be fighting to be lying down on the job. It looks rather pathetic." Sage quickly got off the floor and assumed a standing position as he glared at the figure in front of him.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Do you really need to ask that question? You're a smart boy. You can answer that question for yourself." Sage thought about it for a moment when where he was dawned on him. "Well, since I'm in the Negaverse, I'd say that you're Queen Metallia."
"Very good," she purred, her lips curling into a smirk. Sage returned that smirk with a scowl. "Cut the histrionics, Metallia. Since you know who I am, then you must know why I'm here."
"Yes, I do. To rescue that girl, that Raye girl. I assure you that she's still alive."
"Where is she?" Sage demanded. He needed to find her and fast; he needed to see her alive with his own eyes.
"Do you think me a fool, boy? Do you really think that I'd tell you where she is? The only thing I'm telling you is that if you want to get to her, you're going to have to get through me to do it."
"Well, then, let's…"
"Not so fast," Metallia said, interrupting Sage, "Are you so sure you want to rescue her? I mean, with baggage like hers, I sure wouldn't."
"What are you talking about?" Sage asked. Queen Metallia smiled at him before asking, "Have you ever heard of a person named Chad?" Sage felt his heart fall into his stomach. He had heard of Chad, the guy who used to work at Raye's temple until he was killed by a monster. Even though he had never had the chance to meet him, he still didn't like him. He could tell that Raye had been in love with him once and he was jealous of the guy who captured Raye's heart before he even had a chance to. Sage was scared that Raye was still in love with Chad.
Sage gulped before answering. "Yes, I know who you're talking about. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I just wanted to know if you had heard about him. I just wanted to warn you. I mean, it's obvious that she's still in love with him because if she weren't, then she would be with you, now wouldn't she? I can't imagine her not wanting to be with someone like you. If she's not with you, then she must still be in love with him. Do I have a point?"
"Yes, I suppose you do." Sage just wanted to crawl into a small hole and die.
"Then, why do you want to rescue her if you know that she's in love with somebody else? I sure wouldn't. If I were in your situation, I couldn't stand knowing that the person I love was in love with someone else. You would just be better off letting her go. There's no reason for you to rescue her. Instead, you could stay here and work by my side. Without Raye, what do you have left?"
Sage could feel his heart skip a beat at her question. What did he have left without Raye? To him, Raye was everything. She had entered his life and practically took over. But, without Raye, he still had his friends. "I still have my fellow Ronin Warriors," Sage yelled.
"No you don't. They're working for me now. If you want to be with them, you're going to have to join me," Metallia snapped. Sage refused to believe that, or anything that Metallia had said. Then he realized that everything she had said was a lie. "You lie," Sage accused, "My friends would never join with you ever. You're just trying to get me to work for you. Well, it's not going to work. I'm going to rescue Raye no matter what. I love her and if I don't rescue her, then you'll only hurt her!" His rage at its zenith, he pulled out his sword and let his power flow into it.
Using his power, he called out, "THUNDERBOLT CUT!" and charged for Metallia's hologram, slicing through it with his attack. Once the light from his attack faded, he no longer saw Metallia there and breathed a sigh of relief. Now, he just had to find Raye. He didn't know where to go since everything was clouded in darkness, so he knelt down on the ground and centered his mind, reaching out with his power to find Raye. While he sat there, time had no meaning. It could have been seconds or days, Sage didn't know. All he knew was that he had to find her.
When his power finally found Raye, his eyes snapped open and a smile crossed his face. He knew exactly where she was and she was still alive. He ran into the darkness, knowing that there was a way to Raye through the darkness. Since he couldn't see where he was going, he figured he was running down a large hallway. Eventually, the darkness started going away and he could make out the walls of a narrow hallway. He came to the end of the hallway and found himself looking at a tall doorway that was as wide as the hallway. He knew he had to go through the door because he knew that Raye was on the other side. As he went down the hallway, he could feel Raye's presence getting stronger and stronger until he could practically feel her next to him.
He pushed the door with all of his might until it the huge metal door opened enough for him to get through. He got through the opening that he had made and found himself in a room about as big as the one he woke up in. Once in the room, he could hear the sounds of sobbing. His eyes scanned the room, looking for the source of the sobbing and then his gaze settled on Raye. If he had been thinking with his right mind, the sight of an armored warrior, curled up against the wall, crying, would appear weird, but, instead, he was filled with worry.
Rushing over to her, he knelt besides her and put both hands on his shoulders, shaking her gently. "Raye, are you ok? Answer me!" Raye, not recognizing the voice as Sage, pushed him away, hard, and he landed on the ground hard. "Ow!" Sage exclaimed as he landed on the ground and only then did Raye recognize his voice. "Sage?" she said weakly.
"Yeah, it's me," Sage said, moving back over to Raye. She looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes, before detransforming into her sub-armor and throwing her arms around him. He hugged her back to the best of his ability in his armor as she cried. "It's going to be ok, Raye," he said comfortingly.
"Just get me out of here, Sage. Just get me out of here," she whispered. Sage pulled away and looked at Raye's face. On her right cheek was a huge red mark with four scratches running through it, like someone with sharp nails had slapped her. "What happened here?" Sage asked, cradling that cheek.
"The person who was torturing me slapped me when I passed out. She said that I wasn't allowed to pass out while she was torturing me."
"Oh Raye, I'm so sorry," Sage whispered as he tucked a strand of hair behind her hair.
"It's not you're fault," Raye said with a tender smile, "Just get me out of here, please?"
"Ok, I'll get you out of here."
"Thanks," Raye said meekly as she started swaying slightly. Before Sage knew it, Raye had passed out, obviously from both pain and exhaustion. Making sure she was still breathing before he did anything, he picked her up and looked around the room for a way out. His eyes spotted a closed door on the opposite side of the room where the door he came through was.
Confident that it was the only way out of the room that he was in, he walked over to the door and, leaning against it, pushed with his body until the door creaked open. Hold on Raye, we're going home, Sage thought as he walked through the now open doorway.
***
Kento groaned in pain as he awoke to find himself lying facedown on the
floor. He knew he had been knocked out,
he could feel the pain from it; he just didn't know how he was knocked out. He stood up and looked around the room that
he was in. The room was a circular shape
with no obvious way in or out except for a long hallway that was across from
him. "Where am I?" Kento asked out loud. When no one answered, he began to walk
towards the hallway when something started to appear in front of him. He froze and waited to see what it was.
The figure shimmered and faded slightly before appearing fully and coming into focus. Kento couldn't believe his eyes. He was seeing the hologram of one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Well, she's not as beautiful as Lita is, that's for sure, Kento thought as he looked over the woman's long blonde hair and perfect figure. Blondes aren't my type, Kento thought as he asked, "Who are you?"
"Do you really need me to tell you or are you that dumb?" she asked with a honeyed voice that sounded sweet, but underneath the sweetness, Kento could tell that her words meant to hurt.
Kento gave her a grin.
"Well, sometimes I'm a little slow and I need a little help. Why don't you just tell me and we can stop playing games?"
"Since you don't want to guess, I'll just tell you then." She paused and flipped her hair over her shoulder slightly before saying, "I'm Queen Metallia." In a flash, Kento had his weapon ready to attack and defend himself if necessary. "Queen Metallia," Kento growled, "I should have known. Well, I hate to be a party pooper, but I gotta go save my friend."
"And how do you expect to find your 'friend'? Did you honestly think that you could just waltz in here and find your 'friend' just like that?" Queen Metallia said with a snap of her fingers. "No wonder she doesn't want you."
"What do you mean?" Kento asked, ready to attack.
"That girl you like, your friend, Lita…is that her name? Yeah, that's it."
"Why wouldn't she want me?" Kento asked in a shaky voice.
"For the obvious reasons," Metallia scoffed, "Look, I don't know how to put this delicately, but you're not the smartest and most mature person out there."
"Yeah, I know that, but what's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, do you think that Lita's going to want someone like you? She could do so much better. Like someone with much more maturity than you
with more intelligence to boot. You're
nothing compared to how she could do.
You don't have a chance. If you
were to be with her, you'd only be holding her down and I don't think you want
to do that to her. I think you love her
too much to do that to her. Besides, she
could never love someone like you."
Kento didn't believe her. Instead he got pissed off. Anger boiling up inside of him, he cried out, "I don't believe you, you liar!" Readying his weapon, he called out, "IRON ROCK CRUSHER!" taking his anger and frustration out on the hologram. When his power faded and he was by himself in the large chamber, he finally calmed down, though silent tears were running down his face.
He was afraid that Metallia was telling the truth, that he had no chance with Lita at all. He shook his head as if to disregard it. "No, she's lying. That would never happen." Besides, I have to go find Lita and get her out of here. There's no telling what could have happened to her, Kento thought as he looked down the long hallway.
Seeing no other way out than that, Kento rushed out of the room and down through the hallway, searching for some way out of there. He ran down the hallway, his eyes looking for any doorways leading out of the hallway. He ran until he reached the end of the hallway and finally found the only door leading out of the hallway. "Well, that was a waste of space. All that hallway for this one door," Kento said as he looked at the single door leading out of the hallway. With little effort, seeing as how he was the warrior of strength, Kento pushed the large door open.
Walking through the doorway, his eyes scanned the room, looking for any signs of Lita, when his gaze settled on a body. He slowly moved towards the body, wondering if it was Lita or not. When the color of her armor suddenly became clear, Kento sighed with relief. He walked over to Lita and knelt down by her, gently shaking her as if to wake her up.
When she didn't wake up or show any signs of stirring, Kento started shaking her harder. "Come on, Lita, wake up. Wake up, damn you!" Kento started to panic; she was responding to anything. Suddenly, a rare moment of genius was bestowed upon him. Kento put his fingers to her upper neck and felt for a pulse, finding it quickly, but it was weak. His face taking on a mask of worry, Kento leaned over and put his ear to her mouth, listening for signs of breathing. His eyes widened as he realized that she wasn't breathing. Kento started to freak out, but something in his brain told him that panicking was not the best thing to do.
Ok, I learned about this in Health class. I can do this. Kento tipped Lita's head back and started administering CPR, trying to get Lita breathing again. As he breathed into her mouth, he started to lose hope. She's not breathing. I've lost her. Just as Kento was about to stop, he felt Lita take in a huge gulp of air before coughing like crazy as she started breathing on her own again. She opened her eyes to see someone right above her. Her eyes refused to focus for a couple of seconds, so she squinted in order to get a clearer view. "Kento?" she said as he came into focus.
"You betcha," Kento whispered, "Welcome back."
"Where did I go?" Lita asked, "What happened?"
"Well, when I found you, you weren't breathing, so I had to do CPR." Pausing for a moment, Kento took in a deep breath before continuing. "You almost died." Lita's heart faltered for a minute at those words. I almost died? Lita wondered with numb shock.
Holding her tears back at the thought of dying, she threw her arms around Kento and hugged him tightly. "Thank you for bringing me back," Lita said.
"Hey, I would do it for any one of my friends." Kento winced at the word "friend". He wanted to be so much more with Lita, but he didn't have the courage to tell her. Little did he know that Lita had the same problem. Pulling away from Lita a little, he said, "Can you walk?"
"I think I could if I had help." Kento helped Lita into a standing position, one hand on her arm to make sure she didn't fall over. Testing her ability to stand, Kento took his hand off of her arm and watched as she almost fell over. Kento grabbed her arm again and said, "Alright, you're not walking."
"Then how am I…" Lita started to say, but was interrupted as Kento picked her up, one arm underneath her knees and the other underneath her back.
"Kento, put me down," Lita said.
"No," Kento said resolutely, "You almost died. You need to rest. I'll get you out of here." Lita only smiled as Kento walked out of the room through the only other door besides the one he came through. If anyone can get me out of here, it's Kento, Lita thought as her experience through the last through hours finally hit her and, out of exhaustion, she passed out.
***
Ryo opened his eyes to see a high ceiling and then immediately shut them. He could feel the beginning of a headache
coming on. It's a headache caused by when someone uses
their power against me, I can feel it.
I've gotten enough of those to tell by now, Ryo thought as he pushed
himself up into a sitting position. He
struggled to remember where he was and why he was there for a moment before he
finally remembered about Mia.
He sprung to his feet, his Wildfire swords in hand, and was prepared to find anyway to get to Mia. He was about to run off down the only hallway that led out of the room he was in when a figure appeared in front of him. She came into focus and Ryo's guard came up. The woman was too beautiful to be trusted. "Well, well, where do you think you're going so fast?" she said.
"It's none of your business, lady." The woman tsked.
"One, that's no way to talk to a woman, and two, I'm not just any ordinary lady. I'm Queen Metallia, ruler of the Negaverse."
"And I suppose that makes you special?" Ryo growled.
"Oh, it makes me very special, in fact. I have power that you've never dreamed of. Power to do anything that I want."
"Yeah, well, I don't care. All I want is to find my friend and get out of here."
"Oh, you mean that girl, Mia of Soul. The woman you're in love with, right?" Ryo nodded slowly.
"Well, I'll tell you now, you don't gotta chance with her. Did you really think you had a chance with her? She's four years older than you. She won't want someone as immature and unsophisticated as you. You'll only be a burden to her. You might as well give up on her."
"You know, for some reason, I don't believe you," Ryo said, thinking about his instincts on Mia's feelings for him.
"Well, if I'm not mistaken, you kissed awhile back, right?" Ryo nodded again.
"And then she ran away afterwards. Why would she run away if she loved you? Answer me that." Ryo didn't have an answer.
"I thought so. You think you may know what's going on, but you really don't. Mia could never love you. You're a fool to think otherwise." Ryo not only didn't believe her, but, quite frankly, he was getting annoyed. "Oh, shut up!" Ryo yelled before gathering his energy.
Using his annoyance to spur on his anger, he called out, "FLARE UP NOW!" sending a stream of fire towards the figure, not knowing that it was a hologram and not really caring. When the fire disappeared, Ryo was breathing heavily from the exertion, but he was happier because of it. It's because she's gone, Ryo thought to himself. "Now, about finding Mia…" Ryo said as he looked down the hallway that had been behind the figure of Queen Metallia.
He knew he actually hadn't killed her, but something like a powerless clone. Quickly dismissing any thoughts about Queen Metallia, Ryo concentrated on finding Mia. Finding no other way out of the room than down the hallway, Ryo took off in a run, watching the walls of the hallway go by in a blur. Even while running, Ryo could tell that there were no doors that he hadn't seen yet. He ran until he reached the end of the hallway and was immediately confronted with a large door. Shrugging slightly, he pushed the door open and walked into the room on the other side, struggling to see through the semi-obscurity.
His eyes finally adjusted to the lack of light and once they did, he could clearly make out the shape of a body on the ground, an armored figure. Ryo somehow knew it was Mia instantly and, putting his Wildfire swords back in their scabbards, rushed over to her. She was unconscious and the look on her face looked drawn and exhausted, like she had been in a long, tiring struggle and had just come out of it. Making sure that she was breathing and had a steady pulse, Ryo decided to let her stay unconscious, figuring that the sleep could do her some good.
He smiled down at Mia, relieved to see that she was at least alive. He scooped her up into his arms and then started looking for a way out of that room. His eyes saw the door that he had come in through and he ignored that door, looking for another way out. He finally spotted another door that was closed and figured that it was the best way to go for the moment. His mind made up, he walked over to the door and pushed it open, walking into the next chamber.
***
The Ronin Warriors looked at each other with surprise
sketched all over their faces. "What are
you guys doing here?" they asked at the same time. They were silent for a few moments before Cye
said, "I guess we got the girls back, didn't we?"
Rowen looked around the small cul-de-sac, where the 5 doors that the guys came out of met, looking at all of the guys, who were each carrying one of the Mystical Warriors, all of them armed except for Raye, who was in her sub-armor. He nodded to himself slightly as he said to Cye, "We sure did. Now, we can go home. And I know how." Setting Ami down on the floor, he gently shook her as to get her attention. "Hey, Ami?" She opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"What?" she asked.
"Do you think you could find a portal that'll take us out of the Negaverse? I'm not as good at doing it as you are." Ami gave him a small smile.
"I suppose I could. Hold on a minute." Ami closed her eyes, while still lying down on the ground, and reached out with her power. The group of Ronin Warriors waited in silence as Ami focused her concentration and looked for a way out of the Negaverse. Minutes later, her eyes snapped open and she looked up at Rowen. "I found it," she whispered weakly.
"Can you stay awake long enough for us to find it?" Rowen asked.
"I'll try. But, once we get close enough, you'll be able to sense it. I'm telling you that just in case I slip into unconsciousness."
"Ok, I got it," Rowen said as he picked Ami up again. Looking at the other Ronin Warriors, he said, "Ok, let's go." The others nodded at him and began finding a way to get out of the castle.
***
Queen Metallia, back in her throne room, collapsed onto the ground. A hand clutched to her throat, she struggled
to regulate her breathing. Almost
simultaneously, her holograms, which were a part of her, had been destroyed
with the Ronin Warriors' power. The blows to the holograms hurt her as well,
weakening her. "Queen Metallia!" General
Talpa exclaimed as he rushed to her side. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm fine Talpa. Just give me a minute to recover my strength."
"What happened?" he asked.
"The Ronin Warriors destroyed my holograms, which I had created with my power. Using their power against my holograms also affected me as well."
"Do you want me to get them for you?"
"No, let them escape. There will be other times in which to hurt them, I can guarantee you that. No need to worry, General Talpa." Talpa backed off as Queen Metallia shakily returned to her feet and sat down on her throne. "Now, leave me," she commanded. Talpa gave Metallia a low bow before moving out of the throne room. Once Talpa left, Metallia's fist came in contact with the armrest of her throne. "The Ronin Warriors will pay for this, mark my word," she growled, vowing revenge on the Ronin Warriors for what they did.
***
"They are so dead."
"Serena, calm down. I'm sure they're alright," Darien said, putting his arm around her as the rest of the Mystical Warriors sat in the front hall, waiting for the Ronin Warriors to return.
"Yeah, I'm sure they're alright, but they went into the Negaverse against my wishes and my orders. I told them that we'd all go in together later today, but did they listen to me? No, they didn't. They ran off into the Negaverse without knowing what they were doing."
"Oh, Serena, you've got to remember that you've done things as foolish, if not more so, than the Ronin Warriors," Luna said as she curled up on Serena's lap.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Luna."
"I know she's right," Artemis chimed in as one paw scratched the area behind his ear.
"But that's still no excuse for what they did," Alex said, "They went into the Negaverse without knowing the dangers of what they were doing. I say you're justified in your anger, Serena."
"Thank you Alex," Serena said, smiling at the warrior of the earth and sky. The conversation disappeared as they waited for the Ronin Warriors to return home, if they would even return at all.
After another hour of waiting, Serena was about to give up hope when she heard the sounds of metallic footprints echo throughout the house and she knew that the Ronin Warriors had returned. Now came her chance to yell at them. Serena stood up and strolled over to the center of the front hall, where she stood waiting. She smiled in anticipation as she waited for the Ronin Warriors to appear in front of her.
As she expected, the Ronin Warriors walked into the front hall, still in their armor, but with something that Serena didn't expect: the other Mystical Warriors. Each of the Ronin Warriors was carrying one of the girls. Serena's anger faded as she saw her friends home safe and sound. "You got them back?" Serena said, tears in her eyes.
"Yes, we got them back," Ryo said, "Why, did you doubt us?"
"Actually, I did," Serena admitted rather sheepishly.
"Well, you didn't have to worry," Kento said, "I knew we'd get them back."
"Oh, you did, did you?" Cye said, smiling at his friend, "I seem to recall you telling me that you didn't think that you were going to get out of there alive at one point, Kento." Kento blushed.
"Oh, yeah, well, except for that one time, I had a feeling that we'd get out."
"Hey, do you guys seem to notice that good luck always smiles down on us?" Rowen said.
"Yeah, it's like someone is watching out for us," Sage said.
"Well, whatever force that's out there that's keeping us alive and safe, that doesn't excuse that you went into the Negaverse against my orders. I'm the leader of this team and you're supposed follow my orders."
"I don't think that really matters right now, Serena," Heather said as she pushed past Serena and stood in front of the guys. "Could you put them down on the ground so I could check their wounds?" The guys complied reluctantly, putting the girls down on the ground.
Heather began checking their wounds, using her power to scan their bodies. She healed the external wounds on all of their faces and most of the internal ones that she could, but she couldn't heal all of them. A little weakened from healing 5 people, she stood up and said, "Well, I've healed most of the wounds I could heal. But, there are certain wounds that I'm not going to be able to heal and that are going to have to heal on their own. They've each suffered extreme power loss and no amount of healing is going to fix that. They're just going to have to build up their strength own their own over time."
"Will they be alright though?" Sage asked. Heather nodded quickly.
"Oh, yeah, they'll be alright. They just need to rest and build their strength back up, though."
"Alright, then let's get them in bed," Serena said.
"Before you do anything, I would recommend leaving them in their sub-armor," Heather said, "It'll help them build up their strength faster."
"Well, Raye's fine the way she is," Sage said, "I'm going to take her up to her room and put her to bed. Then I'm going to sleep myself. I'm dead tired. I'll see you all later." Sage, still in his armor, picked Raye off of the ground and started to walk upstairs. The others started to wake up the other girls, trying to get them to detransform out of their armor.
Eventually, they succeeded in getting Mia, Lita, Ami and Mina out of their armor and into just their sub-armor. The Ronin Warriors and the rest of the Mystical Warriors then went upstairs, putting the 4 wounded girls in bed, before disappearing off to bed themselves.