AUTHOR NOTE 1: I forgot to say this in the first chapter. There is NO Hariel. Those damned dubbers screwed up the whole thing, because the toy company needed a name for the Inferno/Ryo action figure. Now you see why we couldn't get the OAV's until years later? We screwed the plot up so much that the continuations wouldn't fit. We should just REMAKE the whole thing. That way we could fix the voice mistakes in the second episode (that one was just awful). And we could fix the plot and make it right…But one can only dream…Anyway, I don't like the "Hariel" thing (unless the writer is really creative with it, like Reona!), so forget he was even mentioned in the dub. I'm going with the Japanese version.

AUTHOR NOTE 2: I'm having a bit of trouble just doing Ro's accent. I'm trying but it seems to be coming out funny. :shrugs: Gomen but I hope you guys are understanding him enough to know what he's saying….It just looks so much better on paper….

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The Test of Strength

Chapter 3: Final Preparations

The first thing that registered was pain; his whole body ached with every breath his lounges managed to pull in. The second thing that struck him was coldness, due to the wind around him. All he wanted to do was go home, take painkillers, curl up close to the fireplace next to Whiteblaze, and sleep while listening to the guys talk. With that thought, the boy drew his legs closer to his body. The fact that he could move shocked him beyond belief.

Ryo's eyes shot open, and he quickly realized that he was no longer hanging in the dark room, but was on the ground lying near a cave. When he went to get up, every injury he had made itself known. Once he was standing-after nearly falling on his face several times-he looked himself over. His wrists and ankles were red and swollen, due to the wound in his side he had dried blood all the way down to his foot; his head, chest, and stomach hurt from the bruises and cuts on them; and his shoulders and hips hurt from being in the same position for so long.

He was snapped out of his mental check when Soylaberst appeared in front of him. They stared at each other, neither wavering under the others glare. Then the armor gave Ryo a mischievous grin and winked.

"If you want Halo to live, you had better hurry, Wildfire. He's starting to look a little pale," he said then vanished.

Ryo didn't hesitate as he ran into the cave. He didn't care if it was a trap; he had to help Sage. He ignored the protest his body gave him, as he pushed himself further into the depths of the cave. It didn't take long before two soldiers attacked him. They were similar to that of the Dynasty except for they their colors were black and brown, instead of green and purple. He did his best to dodge their attacks, but soon found himself trapped between them. Both raised their weapons and charged. At the last second Ryo jumped out of their way and turned to see them crash into the other, impaling themselves on the other's weapon.

The boy quickly pushed himself to his feet and continued his search for Sage. He soon spotted the blond tied to a rock. Ryo wanted to run over, but his instincts kicked in and he cautiously approached.

"Sage?" he asked; his throat burning from all the screaming he had done, and from breathing so heavy during the previous fight.

The blond lifted his head, his hair falling away from his eye. "Ryo? Is that you?"

"Yeah. It's me," Ryo assured, as he got closer.

The slumped figure straightened, eye's glowing black, and gave a wicked smile. "Good," a harsh voice said. Ryo was shocked into immobility as the figure before him changed into a Soldier. The chains around it dissolved quickly and the soldier ran for the paralyzed Ronin. Ryo snapped out of his shock a second before the soldier's scythe was able to cut his head off. The Warrior rolled away to a safe distance and quickly got back to his feet. Rage tried to fill him, but Ryo knew it would just drain his energy; and he needed all he had to get through this.

He held his arms up as the scythe came down again, blocking it from his face. He managed to shove the weapon away, then preceded to kick the soldier in its stomach. It recovered quickly, laughed at the boy's attempts to harm it, then proceeded to throw Ryo into the nearest wall.

"Ah," Ryo moaned as his back came in contact with said wall. He pushed himself up and ran for the soldier, tackling it to the ground. While it was stunned, Ryo grabbed the scythe and plunged the weapon into its chest. He jumped off when the spirit left the shell.

Ryo's fell back to the ground as he was hit in between his shoulder blades. Before he could turn around, he felt painful electricity coarse through his body, causing him to scream out in pain.

When the pain subsided, and he was able to open his eyes, Ryo found himself in a desert. Sand blew around him, making it hard to see too far ahead. He rose to his feet and looked around. It didn't take long for him to spot Kento, who was also tied down with restraints. The Warrior of Justice was bleeding from a cut on his forehead.

Knowing that it was probably another trap, Ryo still ran to his friend. He couldn't risk it if it wasn't; so he pushed away the doubt in his head. With only twenty feet left, Ryo was forced to stop as three Soldiers came out of the sand. The boy once again dodged and tricked two into killing each other. The third one had stayed out of the fight, just watching how Ryo moved. Once the other two were dead, it stepped forward for its turn. After a few blows to his stomach, Ryo decided enough was enough. He ran for the soldier, but instead of tackling it, he jumped over it then tripped it. The soldier fell on its own weapon, killing itself.

"Ryo?" Kento called.

"I'm here," Ryo said and ran to the boy's side; only to back away when the boy's eyes started to glow black and his body morphed into that of a Soldier. Ryo dodged as it dove for him. He had to get the soldier's weapon or he was a goner. Ryo punched 'Kento' for all he was worth, and was rewarded when the soldier went down, its weapon flying from its hand. The soldier stood up, looked at Ryo, then at it's weapon, which was off to the right between them. Ryo's eyes followed its to the same object. They both ran for it at the same time, but Ryo rolled, grabbed the sword, and cut the soldier in half as he rose to his feet.

"W-What's…go-going…on?" he gasped, breathing heavy. The sword fell to the ground from limp fingers. Before he could receive an answer, another electrical shock went through his body, sending him to the ground with a cry of pain.

The next thing Ryo knew was that he was in front of a lake. Something pulled him up from the ground and threw him into the shallow water where it then tried to drown him. Ryo struggled against the hand until he was free. He ran out of the water and kicked the soldier off its feet. He then tripped another one that had tried to sneak up on him. It landed on the other, causing death to both of them from the impact. Ryo grabbed its bow and blocked the swords of two more Soldiers.

Ryo summoned the strength to knock both Soldiers away. Then, while they were stunned, he rammed the bow through one's stomach, pulled it out, and rammed it into the other's chest.

Sai appeared before him, but quickly became a soldier like Sage and Kento had. Ryo blocked its attacks as best as he could; but his body was becoming tired, and hurt all over. The soldier took advantage of the boy's distraction by knocking Ryo's feet out from under him, sending him into the shallows. Ryo arched his back in pain. He waited until the soldier was close enough, and then sent his legs up to kick the soldier. As the soldier went flying, Ryo got up and threw the bow, which penetrated the soldier's side, causing the spirit to exit the shell as it fell to the ground.

Before Ryo could think to do anything, another shock coursed through his body, and nearly passed out from the pain. He shut his eyes and waited for it to go away, and then opened his eyes. He gasped when he saw that Rowen was chained near the edge of a cliff.

"Ryo!" Rowen shouted. "Ah need ya'ah help, Buddy!"

"Hold on!" Ryo shouted back as six Soldiers attacked him. 'Where the hell are all these things coming from!' he thought. When he looked over his shoulder, Ryo watched as Rowen also morphed into a Soldier and as he ran towards him. Ryo dodged and watched as the morphed 'Rowen' rammed into three of the soldiers. Two of them died as its scythe cut into them.

"You'll pay for that," the soldier said, dropping the accent of the Ronin it had imitated.

Ryo didn't have time for a come back; he was surrounded. As they closed in he dropped to the ground, stuck one leg out, and turned in a full circle. All the soldiers fell backwards and one died due to landing on another's scythe. Ryo jumped over them and ran towards the cliff. When he looked down, he noticed there were jagged rocks at the bottom. 'That should take care of them.'

"That all you got?" he mocked them.

All four rose and ran for the boy, blinded by rage, and hating him. At the last second, Ryo flipped over them, kicking two of them in the back to make sure they at least went over. Luckily, they grabbed the other two and pulled them along over the edge. Ryo looked over to see four spirits exit the shells.

The boy collapsed to the ground out of pure exhaustion, only to be shocked again. He cried out in pain and pulled into himself. He didn't know how much more he could take. He could feel the fresh wound emptying blood, along with the hole in his side. His heart felt like it was bleeding each time one of his friends had changed and attacked him. He felt alone now more than ever, even though he knew it had all been a trick. And he hated himself for falling for it.

Ryo wished for unconsciousness again, but instead, Soylaberst picked him up by the collar of his torn shirt and threw him into another scene. He fell into a snow-covered forest. His body quickly became numb, making him barely able to feel his limbs anymore. He got to his feet and staggered through the snow with rage as he heard a cry of pain being carried in the wind. Ryo knew the cry belong to Whiteblaze.

When he came to the clearing, he saw the tiger chained to the ground and being beaten by three Soldiers. Ryo's blood boiled as he threw himself at them. It was like all his strength returned to him. He threw one soldier into another and watched as they died from the force of the impact. His tiger blue eyes fell on the last remaining figure, and without hesitation, attacked it, delivering successful punches and kicks. He took its sword and slashed it in half; and when it's spirit left, so did his anger. He felt dizziness wash over him and fell to the ground, staying there until it passed.

Ryo slowly rose and cautiously approached the chained animal. He took the sword and cut the chain, which caused them to disappear. The boy slowly knelt down next to the tiger.

It's brown eyes glared at him and a threatening growl came from its throat. Startled, Ryo backed away, falling to the ground as every bit of strength left his warn out body. He sat there staring at his friend as hot tears streamed down his face. The animal gave him a look of that blamed Ryo for all its pain. And with it Ryo felt another stab at his heart.

Soylaberst appeared next the Whiteblaze, grinning wickedly. Ryo tried to get to his feet, but Ky and Zual grabbed his arms. He struggled to get free; to help his friend as Soylaberst let wave after wave of electricity hit the tiger. Whiteblaze roared in pain before going limp, breathing and heart stopping at once.

"NO!" Ryo screamed in agony, still trying to jerk himself free.

Soylaberst stepped in front of the captive boy and shocked him. He had found the boys breaking point, but he still wanted to see the boy suffer. So the blood-red armor continued to shock Ryo until he saw blood coming out of the corner of Ryo's mouth and his eye's beginning to glaze over. Ryo soon went limp in Ky and Zual's arms.

stststst

The next thing Ryo knew, he was back in the dark room, suspended off the ground in the same position he had been. He could taste blood in his mouth, but didn't really care about it.

"Face it, Wildfire, you're a murder. You killed your family, and caused hatred in your own father. No one cares, trusts, or loves you," Soylaberst laughed. "You always bring harm to those around you."

Ryo hung his head in acceptance, but part of him denied it. He knew his friends cared. He would protect them with his life. And he refused to believe that his father didn't care, even if he acted like it at times. But that part of him was quickly being cover up; even if he didn't want it to.

"You have lost everything," Ky repeated.

"You are alone in this world," Zual agreed.

"You have no one to turn to. No one wants you around," Soylaberst added. He was holding some paper and an old-fashioned feather pen, which he used to cut across Ryo's exposed stomach, making blood seep out.

Ryo felt the burn from the new wound, but didn't cry out; for he was too drained to do so. He didn't have the strength to do anything but watch as Soylaberst used his blood to write something. His vision was too blurry to make out the words though.

When the blood-red armor was finished, he shocked the boy enough to make him go limp in the chains. He then left the room with a smile plastered on his face.

stststst

For the past two days, the other Ronins had been training nonstop. They knew something was up and it wasn't going to be good. They hated not knowing where Ryo was or what was going on.

Mia had buried herself in her computer; looking for any clues that would tell them where Ryo was. Yuli roamed around the house. He would either watch the television or the guys as they trained. He stayed away from Whiteblaze, though. The tiger seemed to be very angry and ready to lash out at the slightest irritation. The tiger kept going to the mountain; trying to find clues, but returned with nothing, and automatically went upstairs, grabbed Ryo's jacket, and curled up on the Warrior of Virtue's bed.

Whiteblaze was going crazy. He had failed in protecting his friend. He should've tried harder. Ryo couldn't use his armor, for some reason unknown to the tiger. Whiteblaze could feel something was wrong, but he didn't know what. All he wanted was to hear Ryo call him a stupid tiger, even though the boy never meant it. Ever since Whiteblaze moved in with him, Ryo had called him it when they were playing around. The tiger let out a sigh; he would die if they didn't find his charge soon.

At three they all gathered in the living room to see if Mia had any luck with the computer. Rowen and Sage occupied the couch, Mia and Yuli sat in the loveseat, Sai sat in the recliner, and Kento sat on the floor. Whiteblaze was alone in the corner.

"Any luck, Mia?" Sage asked.

She slowly shook her head and the others released heavy sighs at the same time. It was all so frustrating, for the four Ronins could feel something was really wrong; the bond between them was strong enough to give them that. They could tell he was still alive, but they had a feeling that he wouldn't be much longer.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Sai asked.

"Well, we can't just sit here on our asses all day. We need to go out and look for him!"

"And where would we look, Kento. We don't have a clue of where to begin!" Sage snapped.

"Anywhere! Everywhere! Who cares! We aren't accomplishing anything by sitting around. We should be out there looking for him! He would have been on the first day!"

"Calm down, Kento."

"No, Sai. You know I'm right. If it were one of us, Ryo wouldn't stop until he found us! Why can't you understand that?"

"But he's not here, Kento. We don't have him here to lead us. He has a gut instinct that none of us have. If we tried to do things Ryo would do, it wouldn't work. It's like making Ryo fight with Sage's style; he would get his ass kicked. No one can fight like Sage. Just like no one can fight like you. Or me. Or Rowen," Sai mediated.

"But-"

"Couldn't we use the arm'ah t' locate 'im?" Rowen mused.

"Nani?" the others three asked.

"Well, didn't ya say, Sage, that Ryo used his arm'ah t' locate ya in the cave?"

"Yeah. He couldn't see. He had to use his armor power to find me," Sage thought aloud.

"Then all we have t' do is use ou'ah arm'ah, find 'im, save 'im, and be back home befo'ah my show comes on," Rowen smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

Suddenly, the house began to shake and thunder sounded outside. The occupants screamed when the lights went out. As quickly as it began, it stopped; the lights returned and the house quit moving. The group looked around to make sure everyone was okay.

"That was freaky," Sai breathed.

"I'll say. What do you suppose it was all about?" Kento asked.

"T' deliv'ah a message."

"What do you mean, Rowen?" Sage asked. He watched as his blue-haired friend stood up and reached for an envelope that was sitting beside a tape on the coffee table. The others watched as he opened it and pulled out a thick piece of paper. Rowen's eyes went wide and he dropped the envelope, along with its belongings, to the floor as he backed away.

"What's wrong?" Sage asked, and lent down to pick up the letter.

"Bl-Blood," Rowen gasped.

The others exchanged wary looks, then settled their eyes on the blond.

"What does it say, Sage?" Sai asked.

The blond took a breath to calm his nerves. Then began to read. "'Ronins, This letter is written in the blood of a close friend of yours. The one who considers you as brothers. The one you consider your leader. The one who made it easy for you to kill Talpa. Twice. The one we have waited to kill. Why? Because his death is the key to killing the rest of you Ronin brats. With him out of the way, the rest of you will be easy to dispose of. To deny him your friendship takes away his will to fight. As well as to live. His cries of agony fill every room from the torture we have inflicted upon him. Your images are still with him, but not for much longer. He is beginning to loose hope. We have recorded the events for your viewing-be it for pleasure or pain. If you watch it, you will be able to identify where we are keeping your precious Wildfire. But you must watch the whole way through. Even if you decide to come for him, you will meet the same fate. Death. You've been warned. But I can assure you it won't be as painful. In fact, I doubt you'll feel a thing. Soylaberst.'"

Anger grew with every word he read. Yuli held tighter onto Mia, and she finally placed him on her lap. Kento grabbed the tape and shoved it into the VCR and pressed the play button.

They watched as Ryo was captured, not believing his armor wouldn't work. Whiteblaze turned his head away in shame; blaming himself again for Ryo being taken. The others watched as Ryo beat the green armor, then jumped off with bloody knuckles. Then as he was grabbed from behind and was knocked out by the bluish-gray armor.

Then Ryo was then hanging in the middle of a dark room. He had a light shining down on him, which didn't spread to the rest of the room. A blood-red armor came out and attacked the chained boy. They watched Ryo's eyes widen at the sight of his mother and as the portal showed how she died. They were shocked when his father came out and lashed out at him, and at the images the portal provided.

They heard his cries of pain, but couldn't hear what the armors said to him. It was obvious they could speak due to the reactions Ryo gave them. The others couldn't believe all the bruises that covered his body. Ryo wasn't a person who bruised easily. It took a lot to get him to look the way he did now.

The next part of the tape was of Ryo fighting for each of his friends only to have them morph into soldiers and attack him.

"Why does he keep fighting? It's obviously they're all tricks," Kento said angrily.

"Whad if one was real? Ryo wouldn't risk it. He knows, but that question is what's makin' 'im continue," Rowen replied.

They watched as Ryo collapsed after fighting 'Rowen' and how the blood-red armor attacked him again. Whiteblaze wanted to jumped through the television. To do something to help Ryo. But once the next scene came on, the tiger was shocked by what he saw.

He lay there, covered with chains, and was watching Ryo fight for him. He watched Ryo's anger come to life and take over, fueling him to beat the enemy and save his friend. And for his success, all Ryo received was a growl and face that blamed him. Whiteblaze's heart broke as he watched Ryo fall to the ground and silently cry. 'It's not me, Ryo,'he thought. 'I would never blame you.' He whined as tears came to his own eyes. He watched as Ryo tried to help him when the blood-red armor attacked him. Then Whiteblaze's blood boiled as the same armor turned on Ryo.

When the picture went black Mia and Yuli were crying, Kento put his fist through the wall, Sai came back from the bathroom again, and Sage and Rowen were trying to figure out where on earth they were holding Ryo. Just as Rowen's finger was one centimeter away from the stop button, the screen came alive again. The blood-red armor was standing in front of an abandoned building in the old part of town, which was also abandoned. He smiled and stepped to the side, jestering an arm towards the building behind him.

In front of the building, Ryo was chained, suspended in the air, just like he was in the dark room. He was unconscious; his head against his chest that was slowly rising and falling; he was shirtless, showing off his deep cuts, a stab wound, bruises, and blood that covered his entire body; his pants had holes and slashes in them, and were covered with blood stains; he had no socks or shoes; and his feet dripped blood onto the ground.

Sai ran into the bathroom again, slamming the door behind him. Yuli screamed and buried his face in Mia's shoulder, while she just cried out and squeezed her eyes shut. Kento added another hole in the wall. Rowen buried his face in his hands as tears flowed down his face. Sage's face became hard, except for the tears rolling out of his eyes.

Whiteblaze roared and jumped to his feet. He grabbed Sage's hand and pulled him off the couch but the boy was frozen. The tiger got behind him and shoved him towards the door. It was enough to snap the blond out of it. "Let's go!" he shouted to the others.

Sai came out of the bathroom, which snapped the others out of their daze like states. They ran out the front door straight to Kento's van. The Ronin of Hardrock started the engine and raced the tiger to the abandoned part of town.

TBC

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Dunduhdundun! Ahhhhhhhhh! I'm so good, I scare myself. Sorry, it was short, but the next chapter should be longer….Maybe. I don't know. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me what you think.