AUTHOR NOTE: …HA! There is no note!…Okay, forgive my stupidity and enjoy the fic.

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The Test of Strength

Chapter 8: Return of Something Evil

Ryo could feel a dull pain coursing through his body as he slowly came back to the world of the living. When he finally managed to get his eyes open, he swept his gaze around his room. His kanji orb was lying in its normal spot on the bedside table; his room was clean, like he usually kept it; the lights were off, and a big white tiger was sleeping on the rug near the bed. Ryo smiled when he noticed the corners of his friend's mouth were turned up. 'I wonder what's up with that,' he thought. 'Man, I have so got to get up and get moving again'

When the black haired boy tried to sit up, he had to lie back down due to his left side protesting against the movement. Since he couldn't sit up, Ryo gently rolled off the right side of the bed onto his feet. He felt dizzy and could barely feel his legs, so he stood there, holding himself up by using the bedpost, and remained there until the dizziness passed.

Whiteblaze woke up due to the noise his charge was making. The tiger quickly looked Ryo over; the scratches had completely vanished; the scabbed-over cuts still remained; the bruises on his face and body were still dark purple and made Ryo look paler than he was suppose to be. Whiteblaze knew the boy's body was weak; it had been severally beaten; and had spent the last week, since Ryo got out of the hospital, in a bed not really doing much of anything. The times Ryo was conscious, however, the boy managed to use up all the energy his body had gathered, so he remained exhausted.

Ryo looked down to see that he only had red boxers on. He knew, vaguely, that they weren't the color Dais and Sekhmet had put him in after they had given him the shower. 'Well, I better get some clothes on,' he thought. As he began to step towards the dresser he heard a soft growl come from the tiger on the floor.

"Blaze, I have to get dressed. I can't go downstairs like this," Ryo argued as he gestured to his body.

The tiger shook his head, then moved to the dresser himself. He opened one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of black jogging pants. He took them to Ryo, who smiled as he took them. The tiger watched the boy as he put them on, and then went back to the dresser for a shirt. He brought Ryo back a long sleeve, faded red, shirt; which Ryo put on slowly due to his left side flaring with pain when he moved his left arm over his head.

Once Ryo was dressed, he slowly walked to the door and opened it. He held his right hand up against the wall as he made his way down the hall, with Whiteblaze by his side in case the tiger was needed. It was a good thing the tiger was, because six feet from the stairs Ryo's legs decided to give out on him. The tiger jumped in front of the boy and bent down, effectively letting Ryo fall across his back. They stood motionless for a moment, only Ryo's heavy breathing penetrating the air. Once the tiger was sure the boy was okay, he motioned for Ryo to get on. The boy did as he was told and road the tiger down the stairs and into the living room.

Whiteblaze walked over to the fireplace where there was a fire going. He bent down to let Ryo off, then he lied down. Ryo slowly sat down up against the large cat, which quickly curled around him. Ryo turned to his right, burying half his face in the warm fur and instantly fell asleep.

stststst

"Why don't we call it quits? Mia should have dinn'ah started by now," Rowen said as he helped Sai up off the ground. The others agreed; it had been a long day, seeing as how all they did was train. Once they reached the mansion the Ronins headed for the living room, while the Warlords headed for the kitchen to see if they could help.

"Isn't that the cutest thing you ever did see?" Kento joked as he saw their leader curled up against the white tiger by the fireplace.

"Shh. Ya'll wake 'im," Rowen whispered with a smile.

They left the sleepers alone and went to sit down. Sai and Kento sat on the couch, Sage sat in the recliner, and Rowen took the love seat.

"It's good to see him up and moving," Sage replied as he watched Ryo curl into a tighter ball and bury his face farther into the tiger's fur.

"I know. He recovers quickly," Sai said.

"His armo'ah's helpin' 'im. But Ah'm still worried 'bout his left side. Ah watched Mia change the bandage this mornin' aft'ah Kale and Dais gave 'im a show'ah. It looks like it hasn't even begun t' heal," Rowen announced. "Ah think that Ky guy did somethin'."

"We could ask Ryo later," Kento suggested.

"No way. He doesn't need to think about it. Besides, with everything that's happened, I doubt he remembers much of what happened at the hospital," Sage argued.

"Right, we don't need him to worry about it; not in his condition," Sai agreed.

Mia entered the room just then and her gaze fell upon the duo by the fire. She couldn't help but smile at Ryo's boyish look, curled up like a little boy. She quickly turned her attention to the other boys in the room who were busy conversing, softly, with each other.

"Hey, guys." She waited for them to look at her before continuing. "Kale is finishing up in the kitchen, so dinner will be served shortly."

"Great, I'm starving!" Kento exclaimed.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" the other three boys commanded.

Kento shrugged sheepishly and gave them a lopsided grin. "Gomen."

Kayura stuck her head through the door, smiled when she saw Ryo curled up against the tiger, and then turned her attention to the others. "Dinner is ready," she said, then left. Mia smiled at the guys and followed Kayura.

The boys got up and began to head for the door, but stopped when they came to the two by the fire.

"Should we wake him?" Sage asked.

"Well, he's been living on those drink things for a week. I'd say it's about time he got some real food in that body," Kento answered. He bent down next to the sleeping boy and gently shook his shoulder. Whiteblaze lifted his head and watched the Warrior of Justice.

Ryo stirred, unconsciously uncurling in the process, and opened his eyes. He turned his head to see his friends standing around him. He rubbed his right eye, trying to get it to focus, and asked, "What's up?"

"Dinner. You want some?" Sai asked.

"Na, I'm okay," Ryo answered.

"Come on, Ryo! You haven't eaten all day. I know you're hungry," Kento said and began to pick his leader up.

"Kento! No! Put me down. I'm not-" Ryo stopped arguing when he felt a stab in his left side. He resorted to glaring at the bigger boy as he was carried into the dinning room, and placed into a chair Sage had pulled out. Whiteblaze settled down behind the said chair like he always did.

As the Warlords brought the food in from the kitchen Ryo fell asleep with his head resting on his arms. The others just smiled and shook their heads.

stststst

After they cleared the table, Kale and Kayura moved Ryo back to his room, the faithful tiger followed close behind. Kayura opened the door and stepped aside to allow Kale and Whiteblaze to enter. Then she moved to the bed, fixed the pillows, and straightened the blankets.

"This one is certainly a stubborn one," Kale remarked out of nowhere.

"I agree, but he's pushing himself too fast. He needs to rest and regain his strength," Kayura said as Kale placed Ryo in the middle of the bed. They stripped him down to his boxers once again.

"I just don't see where he gets the strength now."

"His heart. You saw how he had fought against Talpa. I guess he's doing what he thinks he has to."

"But we're here now, Kayura. He doesn't have to try so hard," Kale argued.

"Strata told me a few nights ago that Ryo isn't one to sit back and do nothing. He always has to do what he believes his share is. And he hates to burden anyone with anything; especially himself."

"This must be hell for him, having everyone watching over him all the time," Kale nodded.

Kayura pulled the covers up to Ryo's chest and moved his arms over the tops of the blankets. She smiled at Kale and they left the room. Whiteblaze jumped up on the bed and curled up next to Ryo. He let out a soft growl before he fell asleep.

stststst

It was two o'clock in the morning when Sage woke up sensing something was wrong somewhere in the house but wasn't sure what it was. He got out of bed and put his robe on. Even though he knew how hard Rowen was to wake up, he still remained as quiet as possible, just in case. Once the door to his room was shut, he made his way quietly down the hall. Rowen may have been hard to wake up but the others weren't. He was at Sai and Kento's door when he noticed Ryo's light was on and the door was closed.

Sage quietly made his way over and opened the door. Ryo, who was wearing only boxers, was standing at his window with his back to Sage. The only movement the darker boy made was his stomach inflating and deflating, proof that he was breathing. Ryo was just standing there, looking through the curtain into the night. Whiteblaze was beside him, with what looked like concern etched into his feline's features. Sage's own concern grew as he watched his friend.

The blond walked over and stood beside the two. When he looked into the tiger blue eyes, Sage began to worry. The usually bright eyes were now dull, empty, and glazed over. Sage decided he needed to snap Ryo out of whatever hole he was in. "What are you looking for, Ryo?"

Tiger-blue eyes met with pale purple ones for a minute. "Nothing," Ryo said as his eyes went back to the window.

"You need to rest, Ryo. You can't get better if you don't."

"I'm fine, Sage." It was said in a whisper. Sage noticed that he didn't move his body in any way, holding it perfectly still as he spoke.

"You look pale," Sage said, trying to prove his point and get the thickheaded boy to listen to him.

"How can you tell," he mumbled bitterly.

Sage saw the pain and anger that crept into his friend's eyes. The memory was flooding Ryo's mind, and it came back to Sage as well. He reached out a hand and cupped Ryo's face, and then gently turned it to face him. Their eyes locked and Sage could see how exhausted Ryo really was. "You can't fool me, Ryo. I know you're tired, so why are you out of bed?"

Ryo knew Sage wasn't going to leave the matter alone, so he answered him truthfully. "Heard something. Had to…check it out," he answered. He hated how he wasn't able to hide the waver in his voice; now Sage would now he was in pain. He didn't want to see the look of disappointment in his friends face, so he pulled his face free from the hand and turned away. And he regretted the move. "Argh," he gasped as he began to collapse. He had forgotten that the reason he hadn't moved in the last hour was because his side was killing him; moving only made it worse, and he wanted it to subside before he moved back to his bed.

Sage watched as Ryo began to fall forward and before he could move, Whiteblaze had caught the youth and was now purring and rubbing his head against Ryo's leg for comfort. Ryo was bent over the tiger; his head resting on his left arm, which was on the tiger's back, and his right hand was over the bandage on his left side. The black haired boy was also breathing hard and shaking from the pain.

"Ryo!" he whispered, not wanting to wake the others and have them rush into the room. Sage helped Ryo up from his position and placed the boy's right arm around his neck, and put one of his own around the boy's waist, quickly noting that there was blood seeping through the bandage. "Let's get you into bed, okay?" he asked gently.

All he received in answer was a slight nod. Once Ryo was in his bed, Sage went to get painkiller and the med-kit. When he came back, he saw Ryo was reaching for the covers that were at the foot of his bed. "I'll get that, you just lie down."

Ryo did as he was told. It just took him a few minutes to do it, and then he had to get comfortable. He sighed when he was finished and watched as Sage pulled the covers up to his hips and stopped there. Then the blond pulled out a syringe and a small bottle.

"It's your painkiller. Your doctor gave it to Mia. Does it help?"

Ryo just nodded, too tired to really say much of anything. The painkiller did help ease the pain, except for his side. Ryo was beginning to think that Ky's "gift" was never going to heal. So, technically, he wasn't lying; but then again, in a way he was. He looked up at the ceiling when Sage poked him with the needle. It hurt a little, then subsided to almost nothing; at least until he pulled it out, then it felt as if someone had just punched him. He flinched when a hand massaged his arm where the needle had been.

Sage gently moved Ryo's arm away from his body and began to remove the bandage. The other boy's body jerked a few times as he did this. The wound had stopped bleeding, and Sage moved his head only a few inches away to see if it was getting better. He cleaned the blood off of Ryo's skin. Knowing that it stung, since Ryo was breathing harder, he blew on it. He glanced over to see the tiger blue eyes were closed.

"You okay?"

Ryo looked at him and nodded. "Where's Yuli?…Is he okay?"

Sage nodded. "He's at home. When you're up to it, we'd promised to bring him over." He finished putting the new bandage on, then looked at Ryo's face to find his eyes were closed, and his mouth was slightly open. The bruise was still very visible, like all his bruises were, but it was lighter than it use to be. Sage hated not being able to heal his friend. Ryo would be back in action if he could have helped. He pulled the cover the rest of the way up Ryo's body and tucked the sleeping boy in. "Good night, Ryo," he whispered as he moved Ryo's locks away from his eyes. They fell right back into place, which caused Sage to smile. He rose from his place, turned out the light, and left the room heading back to his own.

stststst

The next morning, Ryo made his way to the couch, with a bit of help from Whiteblaze. Once he was seated, the tiger placed its head in his lap. He rubbed his friend's ears until he fell asleep against the back of the couch. Whiteblaze jumped up on the couch, putting his fore paws and his head in Ryo's lap.

An hour later, Sai came down stairs and smiled at the scene. Ryo was now leaning over, resting his head on both his arms, which were on the tigers neck. Sai shook his head as he continued walking into the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone.

The others came down shortly after Sai; Rowen being the last, as usual. He walked over to the two sleepers and gently shook the boy awake. Ryo groaned softly and opened his eyes.

"Rowen?" he asked as he looked up through blurry eyes.

"Yeah. Come on. Breakfast is ready," the blue haired boy smiled kindly.

"Be there in a minute," Ryo said as Whiteblaze got off him.

"Need a han'?"

"Thanks, but I got it. You go ahead."

Rowen shrugged and left the room. A few minutes later, Ryo joined them at the table. He was using Whiteblaze for support, which the tiger seemed to be insisting he do and the boy humored the huge cat. Ryo sat in the empty chair beside Sekhmet and across from Sage, Kento, and Rowen.

Sai, Mia, and Kale entered and served the pancakes Sai had spent the last hour making. Once they were done serving, they sat down and began to eat. Sai sat by Rowen, Mia sat at the head of the table, and Kale sat by Dais.

While he ate, Ryo could tell the others were tense. He felt bad, because it was his fault they were like this. If only he had been more careful. They needed to get out and do something fun for a change. With his decision made, Ryo sat his fork down and looked at them.

"Guys, I was thinking-"

"You need something? More syrup?" Sai asked, suddenly going into mother mode.

"No, Sai, but thanks. Anyway, I think you guys need to get out of the house."

Everyone stopped eating and looked at him. "But-" the Ronins began.

Ryo held his hand up. "Let me finish. You all are too tense; you need to relax for a while. Go to town and find something fun to do for a few hours," he said gently but firmly. Before they could protest again, he continued. "No butts, you're going. I need you to pick Yuli up on your way back. I just got through talking to his mother. You have a few hours before he's ready to come, so go do something. I'll be fine."

"Besides, we'll be here. So you don't have to worry," Kale announced.

Sai, Kento, Sage, and Rowen glanced from themselves to Ryo. They could tell he wanted them to get out of the house. He was probably feeling guilty. So to make him feel better they would do it. When they nodded their consent, though they were reluctant to a point, they watched their leader get up and leave the room with his white tiger. They all noticed he had only eaten a fourth of his breakfast.

stststst

An hour later, the Ronins were headed to town; the Warlords were training in the back yard; Mia was upstairs doing research on her computer over Ky again; and Ryo was lying on the floor in the living room. The dark toned boy had been on the couch but decided to move down to the floor beside Whiteblaze. He was flat on his back, with his head turned towards the television. When he opened his eyes, a light from under the TV table caught his attention. He crawled over, with some protest from his side, and reached under the table. He pulled out a VHS tape and a letter.

Fear rose within him when he noticed the letter was written in blood, for it made Ryo remember something he didn't want to. As he read the letter, he began to panic. 'What all did they see?' he thought. 'What all did they hear?' He pushed the tape in and watched the entire thing. He saw his capture, his mother's death, his father's neglections, a little bit of the beatings, when he fought for his friends, and then he saw himself in front of an abandoned building.

He hadn't heard the armors words from the tape, but he remembered them. The intensity of the pain, he remembered. Everything that wasn't on the tape flashed through his head. Those three days of hell flooded his mind, making him feel every blow, cut, and everything Ky had done to his left side. Ky's hospital visit also showed itself to the distraught teenager. Ryo felt all the pain that visit had caused.

The black haired boy turned the tape off, ejected it, stood up with the letter in his other hand, and headed for his room. It had taken four hours to watch it, and no one had even entered the room.

Whiteblaze looked up at Ryo as he walked beside his friend. He saw the boy's eyes were filled with pain and glazed over. He entered the room with his charge and watched the boy put the tape and letter into a bag, and then shove them into one of the dresser drawers. Ryo then went to his bed and lied down, curling into a ball like he did when he was little. The tiger curled up on the bed next to him and watched as his friend tried to push all the pain away.

stststst

The Ronins road to town in Kento's van, which was an experience all in itself. Their first stop was the mall, where Rowen dragged them to the nearest bookstore. They looked around for a while, but none of them bought anything. After that they made their way to the arcade room. Sage won at the racecar driving games, which the others soon came to the conclusion that he wasn't allowed to participate in, in the future. Sage merely shrugged and smiled. For lunch, Kento drug them to an "all you can eat" buffet. That took almost two hours. Sai then took them to the Aquarium and they watched the fish swim around in their tanks for an hour.

When it was time to pick Yuli up, they didn't even have to get out of the van. Yuli and his mother were waiting by the front door, and Yuli ran to the van, tossed in his bag, and jumped in himself. They waved goodbye to his mother as they backed out of the driveway, and then they headed home.

stststst

In the darkness of a building, blood red eyes snapped open. Their owner felt refreshed from the days it had spent sleeping. 'Wildfire,' it thought. The blood red armor rose from the bed and walked out of the room.

Ky and Zual smiled when their companion came into the room. They rose from their chairs and greeted him.

"Good to see you up and moving," Zual replied.

"What of Wildfire? Did Halo heal him?" Soylaberst asked, not wasting any time.

"Yes, but only your last blow's damage. He's still alive though, even after everything else we did to him. But don't worry, that little bastard won't be getting any more help. I put a stop to that, and left him a gift," Ky smiled and held up his index finger. "Let's just say his left side will be bothering him longer than it should."

"If we decide to let him live," Zual smiled.

"Of course, but I can hurt him without touching him. So our next meeting should be fun."

"So what is our next move, Soylaberst?" Zual asked, turning to his leader.

"We're just going to let them know I'm back," the blood-red armor answered wickedly.

stststst

Kento pulled the van into its parking spot at the mansion. As they got out of the van the sky darkened and thunder roared. Before they could move, Ky and Zual appeared in the distance.

"Yuli, stay here," Sage ordered as he and the other Ronins ran towards the threat, changing into their subarmors along the way.

"Hello, Ronin Warriors," Zual greeted them as they approached.

"Wait! One is missing. Why, where ever is Wildfire? I want to see how his side is doing," Ky said mockingly.

"Ya'ah not getting' anywhe'ah neah Ryo!" Rowen shouted. "Armo'ah of Strata!"

"Armor of Halo!"

"Armor of Torrent!"

"Armor of Hardrock!"

"Dao Chi!" they all yelled in unison. Seconds later they were clad in their full armors.

"Prepare to meet the same fate as Soylaberst!" Kento shouted, running for the armors. The other Ronins followed close behind.

stststst

The Warlords heard the commotion and ran to the front of the mansion. They saw the Ronins, in their armors, battling the two enemies. They ran to help but when they got within seventy feet they were thrown backwards.

"It's a barrier!" Dais shouted then tried to teleport. "We can't get through!"

"Shit!" Sekhmet hissed when he couldn't teleport in either.

"Don't worry; they're doing pretty good," Kale said as he watched Halo and Torrent knock Ky to the ground.

"Let's just hope they can keep it up," Kayura agreed.

stststst

Whiteblaze licked Ryo's face, hoping he would come out of the daze he had been in for the past hour. Nothing the tiger had done had received any reaction, and he was beginning to worry about his friend. He nuzzled Ryo's hair, whining softly.

"Blaze?" Ryo whispered as he came out of the trance. He uncurled, slowly setting up. He winced as the pain his body intensified.

Before the tiger could move to comfort his friend, Soylaberst appeared in the far corner of the room. Whiteblaze jumped to his feet, growled, and stood protectively in front of Ryo.

"No…" Ryo gasped when he saw the intruder. His nightmare had come true; Soylaberst was alive, and back in action.

"Oh, yes, Wildfire!" the armor laughed wickedly and moved forward. Whiteblaze leaped at the intruder but they vanished. The tiger landed and turned quickly when he heard Ryo gasp. Soylaberst was behind Ryo, one hand clamped over the boy's mouth, and the other squeezing his wounded left side. Whiteblaze roared and leaped again but the armor vanished, taking Ryo with him.

stststst

Mia was nearly plowed over when Whiteblaze ran down the hall. Knowing something had happened, she ran after him out the front door.

"Mia!" Yuli called as he ran to her from the van.

"Yuli? Where are the guys?" she asked when he had reached her. She looked in the direction the young boy pointed. Whiteblaze took off running, with Mia and Yuli following as fast as their legs could carry them.

stststst

Ky and Zual hovered in the air; they had just knocked the Ronins away. They smiled wickedly and vanished and Soylaberst took their place.

"What the hell!" Sage shouted.

"Oh, shit!" Rowen replied.

"It can't be," Sai gasped.

"How the fuck?" Kento said.

"I'm glad to see you as well. Yes, I'm alive; just like you're leader. You're not the only one who can heal others, Halo!" Soylaberst laughed wickedly at the looks on their faces. He was holding Ryo behind him, out of the others' view. Ryo couldn't move or speak at the moment, so he couldn't warn them. "But we'll see what we can do about your precious Wildfire."

"Go to Hell!" Sage yelled. "Thunder…Bolt…Cut!"

"Arrow… Shock…Wave!"

"Super…Wave…Smasher!"

"Iron…Rock…Crusher!"

They all fired their sure kills at once, making them mold together and become one. When the blast was halfway to him, Soylaberst vanished, leaving Ryo to take the combined attacks. The boy put his hands up to guard his face and called upon his subarmor, which wrapped protectively around his body.

"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" everyone yelled as they watched Ryo get hit by all the sure-kills.

TBC

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Mwwwhhahahahahahahahahahahaah! I'm good!..or evil depending on how you look at it. I hope you guys liked this one.