Chapter Six - It Begins Again

Through the dark pits of the Nether Realm the evil energy flows without restraint. Soldiers are forming rapidly, Spirits collecting in power. "Evil could be tasted in the air here," Anubis remarked as he walked the pathways. As soon as he reclaimed the Ancient's staff, the entire situation flooded his mind. The two years since his defeat, the capturing of the Warlords, everything. "It's so desolate and calm, yet I can feel the pain of the others. The evil menace is forcing his will upon them once more. I can feel their wills have grown so much stronger, but they alone cannot hold out against Talpa forever. Until I find you there is not much more I can do, but for now... feel my strength upon you!"

Raising one hand with side alignment to the center of his face, he raised the staff with the other and drove it into the ground. The rings gave an echoing effect in the isolated area but the sound was not the only effect. In the dank catacombs under Talpa's palace, the three Warlords being abused by the Evil Emperor's power, suddenly felt a power of their own. Cale was the first to awaken. It was soon obvious that his will had been refreshed as a spirit tried to drive itself into him and had the effect of crashing into a brick wall. Soon Sekhmet and Dais arose as well, also fending off spirits.

"What is this?! How can they be resisting me?!" Talpa bellowed from his balcony overseeing all.

A light laugh followed from behind him. "You will not win, Talpa. Your former Warlords have grown too strong with the power of the Ancients to be turned by your twisted evil again."

As soon as Kayura had finished that sentence Talpa erupted into a fit of rage. "Silence! I will not hear anymore of this blasphemy! They will not resist my spirits for long! And the Ronin Warriors will not have a reprieve either!"

Angered, the black-armored demon turned back to the balcony and outstretched his hand. In an instant, he had clasped all six of Sekhmet's swords that had risen to his grasp. "Dynasty Soldiers, come forth! Your master beckons you!" Within a few seconds, six Dynasty soldiers approached and kneeled in front of Talpa. He presented each with one of Sekhmet's swords and with one swipe of his hand they vanished as quickly as they had arrived.

"As for your ancient power, Kayura, I shall eliminate him as soon as he is foolish enough to make himself known," Talpa threatened with an insidious cackle.

Kayura gasped in fear. "How did he know?!" she wildly asked herself.

"He was easily vanquished once before, nothing more than a mere menace to the Dynasty. As soon as the Warlords are again in my power, they shall eliminate him and the Ronin Warriors!" Talpa seemed to be more reassuring himself than gloating over the wall-bound Kayura.

Elsewhere in the Dynasty grounds, Anubis could feel the venom of Sekhmet's swords passing through to the other dimension. As the other Ronins could feel the entrance of Nether Spirits into their realm when they are fully armored, Anubis felt it but more. The power, the strength, the evil ambition. "The Warlords have regained their strength, thankfully. Talpa still sends his minions to assault the Ronins. Perhaps it's time they knew the full story."

With one thrust into the ground, the blueish beam rose up from the ground as it filled with white lightning. As it towered into the sky, Anubis huffed heavily. He somehow always managed to survive what killed the Ancient. Without a second thought, he leaped into the lightning pillar.

Back at Mia's mansion, all except Ryo and Mina were gathered into the living room. "It's been two years; last time it was two months. Is he going to keep coming back to haunt us?" Mia stated quietly. The others all sat in a tired and disgruntled manner staring at the floor.

"Why does he want to fight us so much? We defeated him before..." Sai trailed off.

"You know something, you're right, man. We did beat him before! We can do it again!" Kento said, trying to show confidence, yet he feared it most of all. The room fell silent once more.

"You don't suppose they're leftovers, do you?" Rowen questioned solemnly.

"He had Cale's sword. Either someone has defeated the Warlords, or they are trying to take control for themselves," Sage answered.

"Why can't we just go in there and bust up Talpa like we did before?" Yuli asked curiously.

"It's not so simple, Yuli; we can't just go barging into the Dynasty looking for a fight, and we don't have the Ancient or Anubis here to help us."

"The Staff!" Sage cried out as soon as Mia finished. "Kayura had the Ancient's Staff! She went off into the Nether Realm! What happened to it?!"

Rowen put a hand to Sage's shoulder as he was jumping out of his seat. "Relax! I'm sure it's in a safe place, otherwise they would have attacked with more than one soldier with Cale's sword." Sage seemed to accept Rowen's explanation as he retook his seat.

"Mia, could you do us a favor?" Sai asked politely.

"Sure, what is it?"

Sai looked at the coffee table and something seemed to pop in his head. "Could you get us some tea or coffee please?"

Mia looked at him oddly but didn't question. "All right, I'll be out in a moment." She walked off quietly. She seemed to know that Sai had something else on his mind other than coffee. The others knew it as well.

"You know, the Dynasty knows who we are and that we stay here," he stated quietly. The others seemed to recall the information and became more staid. Kento looked at everyone in the sedate manner and was starting to feel uncomfortable. He never liked serious situations. He always tried to lighten things up. It earned him a reputation of being too careless but he didn't care as long as he could make his friends feel better.

"Hey, what do you think Ryo is telling Mina?" Kento asked with a slight chuckle as he looked out the window. The others turned their attention to the couple sitting by the lake. Ryo had his arm around Mina's shoulder as she was laying into him.

"Knowing him, he's trying to think of a way to keep her hidden away. He never liked anyone getting involved that wasn't already," Rowen added on Kento's theme.

"That does bring up another problem," Sage inserted. "If the Dynasty goes after her, Ryo would be pretty much useless."

The others looked at him oddly. "What is it with you today? You seem to be attacking Ryo all over," Kento asked in an annoyed fashion.

"I'm not attacking him, I'm simply stating fact. If he's too worried about Mina to focus on the fight at hand, one of us might get seriously injured." At that, they all fell silent. They knew he was right, what more, they couldn't do much about it.

In a loud shriek "Oh my God!" was heard from the outside. They all jumped from their seats just in time to see six Dynasty soldiers appear on the scene and charging where Ryo and Mina were sitting. Luckily enough, Ryo had leaped out of the way with Mina in his arms as the others rushed out. They surrounded Ryo with a panicked Mina in his arms. They took fighting stances but were reluctant to don their armor.

"They have Sekhmet's swords, guys, be careful!" Ryo instructed, grasping Mina tighter.

"We'd need to go..." Rowen began but stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked back to see if Mina was listening. Indeed she was; however, Rowen cleverly covered. "We'd need to go all out to stop them this time."

Ryo got the hint and started to drag Mina inside, but she was too paralyzed with fear. Ryo didn't want to force her, which led him to simply stand there and plead.

The soldiers advanced and the warriors were getting rather nervous. Their respect for Ryo and his relationship with Mina kept them from transforming and thrashing the enemy. Ryo bowed his head. He knew there wasn't enough time to shove Mina in the house, offer a cheap explanation off the top his head and rush out to battle. It was time he was fully honest with her. He feared her repercussions but he feared for her life even more. "Ronins To Arms!" he called out as the others looked back in shock. Their expressions turned to smiles as he pulled out his armor orb, donning his sub-armor. "Armor of Wildfire! Ta-o Ji-n!"

"It's about time!" Sage exclaimed with pride. "Armor of Halo! Da-o Chi!"

"Here we go again! Heyeah!" Sai prepared himself. "Armor of Torrent! Da-o Shi-n!"

"Oh yeah, it's can crushing time!" Kento bolstered. "Armor of Hardrock! Dao Gi!"

"Let's do it!" Rowen stated simply. "Armor of Strata! Dao Inochi!"

Fully armored, standing tall, ready to fight. Mina looked on at the multicolored warriors standing defiantly against the unknown evil. Was this Ryo? How can this be Ryo? What is this? Who are these men? Look at them. Standing there before your eyes and you can't seem to accept it. Ryo? What's going on? she said to herself in her mind.

The red armor-clad Ronin turned and faced her as his face guard separated. "Mina, please! Get out of here, it's not safe!"

She just stood there, not blinking, not moving, and within a flash the battle had begun. The clashing of mettle and steel. These Dynasty soldiers were proving to be fiercer by the moment but there indeed was strength in numbers. As it seemed one solider was about to be destroyed, the remaining soldier intervened. "Guys, this isn't working! We need a double team!" Ryo cried out.

"Right!" Kento hollered in agreement as he lifted a soldier overhead and drove him to the ground. Before the soldier could retaliate, Kento leaped away and pulled the legs out of another that was in a standoff with Sai. The minion fell to the ground and immediately regained balance and it hipped up and started to return fire to Kento. Sai, however, would have none of it. Twirling his trident above his head skillfully between his fingers, he came down forcibly slashing a gash into the soldiers back. The soldier turned to its former assailant which gave Kento the opportunity to spearhead the demon from behind.

The evil spirit mist seeped out as the soldier fell to its knees then to the ground. Its body disappeared but the sword remained. "Yeah, buddy!" Kento exclaimed, slapping Sai's hand in the air.

Immediately the two were bull rushed by two soldiers from behind. Kento and Sai rolled to a safe distance for they knew Sage was right behind. Swinging his mighty blade down upon them it took the both of them to keep the blade of light from tearing them in half. While holding off the blade, one of the demon guard was hit with a gaddling of arrows forcibly slamming it into a tree. From the large amount of arrows driven into its chest, its evil spirit seeped out and the sword fell for the hand that held it disappeared.

It became a standoff between Halo and the demon as the two engaged in an amazing duel. Despite the immense size of Sage's blade, he moved skillfully and cunningly yet he didn't seem able to accurately strike down the demon. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of another soldier edging his way behind the Warrior of Light.

"Little help here, guys!" Sage cried out, frustrated.

"I'm on it!" Ryo stated, doing the best he could to defend himself from two soldiers at once. Sage smirked as he could refocus his full attention at hand. Ryo had successfully deflected a simultaneous strike from the soldiers with his twin katanas, made a standing somersault leap over the soldiers and before he ran off to aid his companion, he fiercely drove his elbows into their backs.

Ryo dashed off towards Sage when a blood-curdling scream caught his ears. "Mina?!" He turned. Sure enough, two demon soldiers were advancing on her. Without thinking, Ryo rushed to her aid.

Sage was grinning as he was getting the upper hand in his duel. However, a scream cracked his focus. He heard Ryo yell Mina's name but before another thought entered his mind, his vision broke into an uncountable number of pieces. He felt a hot stinging pain crash into his body and gather at his right side. Sage dropped his sword and fell to his knees and one hand as the other clasped his side. He could feel his body bleeding under his armor. The katana of Sekhmet had become less potent with venom as he abandoned his evil ways but in return had sharpened and became even deadlier. The pain was tremendous and spreading through his body.

"Sage!" three voices called out at once. Reacting on instinct he looked up and saw two Dynasty Soldiers towering over him ready to strike him dead. He let out small gasp in fear as he was in no condition to do anything about his situation even if he could think of something in that split second.

The strike never came however, for two blades had emerged from their faces from behind. The evil spirit evaporated away and the two fell with large staffs protruding from the back of their heads. He looked up to see Kento and Sai in stances the showed they had completed a toss of their weapons.

Ryo was fighting off the two soldiers he had prematurely abandoned but with more vigor than before. He was defending the woman he loved. Deflecting the quick strikes it eventually came to Ryo holding off twin deathblows with one blade each but with only one hand. His adrenaline was keeping his arms strong but it could not keep safe in this stand off. Ryo fell to one knee gritting his teeth.

Suddenly the force on his left arm was suddenly gone as the soldier fell to the ground. As it fell face-first Ryo saw that its back was turned into a pin cushion and Rowen taking aim at the other soldier. With his hand freed, Ryo crossed it high and with all his might slicing the demon guard's torso in half. The last of the Dynasty Soldiers had fallen.

Ryo breathed heavily for a moment then stood up and looked over the area. He saw the light burn stains on the ground and trees the soldiers had left. He saw the venomous swords laying on the ground. Worst of all he saw Sage, having to be lifted off the ground by Rowen and Kento. Clutching his side, Sage winced and lifted his head to face Ryo. "Sage... I... I'm sorry, I... " Ryo stuttered. Sage seemed to look down at the ground in disappointment.

Ryo looked into the eyes of his friends who also seemed to have let down written in them. Sai however wasn't looking at Ryo or the ground. His concerned expression was aimed towards Mina. Ryo quickly turned his head to see Mina almost hyperventilating at the scene. The others looked up as the other disgraceful situation arose. Ryo wiped his face with his armored hand and let out a sigh as he approached Mina. All eyes turned to them. "Mina...?" Ryo asked, looking into her paranoid eyes, so vacant.

She turned her head to look up at him. "R-Ryo? Is th-that you?" she asked shakily. Ryo lifted his helmet off his head as his long dark hair flowed down his back, the sweat on his brow and the blood trickling down his face didn't take away the fact that it was Ryo.

It was silent, not a single bird was chirping or drop dripping. Ryo was face to face to Mina with only a hidden lie between them. Mina jumped and wrapped her arms around Ryo's neck giving him a deep kiss. Before Ryo could return the gesture, Mina leapt off his shoulders and sternly slapped him across the face. The other warriors cringed as the smack echoed throughout the foreground.

"Just when were you planning to tell me about this?!" she cried out.

"Mina, I... it's just that..." Ryo stuttered in reply.

"Who are you, Ryo Sanada?! You are definitely not the man I met those years ago! The Ryo I knew wouldn't keep something like this from me! Just what the hell are you?!" Mina's fists were clenched and throbbing at her sides as the veins in her forehead pulsed.

Ryo stepped back, he had never seen Mina this angry, in actuality he was hoping she'd faint. He sighed in defeat. "Mina, I am known as Ryo of the Wildfire. I am a Ronin Warrior," he stated simply as if that were enough to settle her nerves.

"That's it?! That's all you have to say?!" she shot back.

"Mina, please, I'm sorry, but you have to understand," he pleaded.

"No! I don't have to do anything! I think I know you for seven years and you turn out to be Ronin Man the comic-book hero! How could you keep this from me?!"

Ryo's eyes were filled with repent. He always thought he was protecting Mina when he lied to her. "Mina, I'm sorry... I just thought..."

Mina cut him off mid-sentence. "No, you didn't think! You lied to me! I... I... I don't even want to look at you right now!" And she stormed off into the house fuming.

Ryo raised an arm as if to stop her but no words escaped his mouth. The door slammed hard behind her, which was one last slap in the face to him. Ryo's shoulders dropped and he hung his head. "Damn it..."