AUTHOR NOTE: In one of the OAV's, they boys gain a certain ability. Let's just say that I borrowed the idea…

xyxyxyxy

The Test of Strength

Chapter 9: Finishing the Link

The others watched in horror as Ryo's body was thrown backwards. When he landed on the ground, his subarmor disappeared and he lay there unmoving. Instantly, the other Ronins were by his side and Sage checked him over for injuries. The Warlords, Mia, Yuli, and Whiteblaze ran to join them as soon as they noticed the force field had disappeared.

"He's still breathing," Sage announced as they approached. "I think he'll be okay."

"Then let's get him back to bed," Kale suggested.

Dais bent down, gently took the unconscious boy from the blond Ronin, and headed towards the house. Whiteblaze and the other Warlords followed close behind, while Mia and Yuli went to get the boy's bag out of the van.

"How could you let this happen!" Kento demanded when the others were out of hearing range.

"Me?" Rowen yelled. "Ah'm not the one who started it!"

"I was trying to protect him!" Sage shouted defensively.

"And you did such a wonderful job," Sai snapped.

"Oh! Well, excuse me, but I recall four sure-kills. I wasn't the only one involved!" Sage exclaimed before he stormed off into the woods.

The three remaining Warriors looked at one another with disgust, then walked off in different directions.

-+-+-+

The next afternoon when Ryo woke up, his entire body was racked with pain. His mind was also trouble for he couldn't believe Soylaberst was alive. 'How did he survive? Did Ky and Zual heal him? But how? This is so confusing,' he thought.

"Yeah! Well, Ah didn't ask ya t' do it!" he heard Rowen yell from another room. When he heard more yelling he sat up and instantly regretted it as a wave of nausea washed over him and his side flared with pain. Ryo fell back onto the pillows and let out a groan.

"You shouldn't be moving, Ryo," a young voice told him.

Ryo opened his eyes to see Yuli standing beside his bed with Whiteblaze. "Yuli? What's going on?" he asked confused.

"The guys have been arguing since after you got hurt yesterday. Last night, Sai and Rowen slept in the other guest rooms," Yuli added. "It's like they can't stand each other anymore or something."

Ryo frowned, and nodded, which he regretted as soon as his head complained of the movement. "Could you go get me some Asprin?"

"Sure! Be right back."

Ryo smiled at the boy's eagerness to help. A few minutes later, Rowen came in with the pills and a glass of water. Ryo gave him a confused look as he took the items from him. "Ah ran inta Yuli in the hall. He said ya asked fo'ah these, so Ah got 'em," Rowen replied. "How ya feelin'?"

Ryo finished taking the pills before answering. "Better," he lied as he sat the glass by his kanji orb.

Sai came into the room with a bowl of soup in his hands. "Here, Ryo. I brought you some dinner," he said, but then noticed Rowen. "What are you doing in here? Surely you weren't trying to poison him with your cooking?"

"Back off, Fishboy. It's none of ya'ah business why Ah-" Rowen began but was cut off when Ryo's door opened again.

"Hey, Ryo! I smelled food; what are you eatin'?" Kento asked, using it as a conversation starter.

"Well, of course, you'd smell food, fatso," Sai snapped.

"I'm not fat!" Kento yelled defensively.

"Keep tellin' you'ahself that," Rowen laughed harshly.

Sage stormed into the room at that moment. The other boys stopped arguing, deciding glaring at the blond was a better idea. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" he exclaimed. "Ryo needs to rest, not to listen to all of you argue!"

"Look who's talking, Mr.-Leader-Wanna-Be!" Kento snapped.

Ryo looked at Whiteblaze, who was still by the bed, when a new argument broke out. He frowned at the tiger, and then watched the others yell back and forth at each other. After five minutes of none stop arguing, Ryo decided he'd had enough. He wanted to know what was going on now. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, pushing away the pain the movement caused.

"Get out!" he shouted. The other four Ronin Warriors stopped arguing and looked at him confused. Before they could say anything, Ryo continued. "Get out and meet me downstairs in ten minutes." When they didn't move he yelled, "NOW!"

The boys ran out of the room, nearly trampling each other in their haste to obey.

Ryo slowly got up and put some clothes on. He opened his dresser and pulled out the bag he had place in there the day before. He had a feeling he was going to need it. He made his way downstairs with Whiteblaze and entered the living room. The first thing he noticed was that his friends were sitting as far away from each other as they could. Kento was in the recliner, Sai on the loveseat, Rowen on one end of the couch, and Sage was on the other end of said couch. They were all looking at the floor, not even bothering to glance up when Ryo entered the room. Ryo walked over and sat the bag on the coffee table.

"What's wrong, guys?" he asked gently as he leaned on Whiteblaze. "Why are you fighting?"

None of them answered, not even bothering with a shrug of their shoulders. Ryo began to feel like he was losing them. They still hadn't looked up at him. "Kento?…Sai?…Rowen?…Sage?" he asked as he looked at each of them. Anger began to rise but he tried to keep it under control. This wasn't the time for it. "What's going on?"

Still, they didn't answer.

"How am I suppose to help if you won't even tell me what's wrong?" Ryo asked. He stood up straight and stepped forward, looking at his friends. When they didn't answer, he lost it. "What the hell is doing on!"

They all seemed to snap out of whatever they thinking. When they looked up, they saw a mixture of emotion on Ryo's face. His bruised face.

"We failed you, Ryo," Sai said sorrowfully.

"The only thin' we'ah good for is-" Rowen began.

"Making the Inferno," Sage finished.

"What are you saying?" Ryo asked confused. The anger fled, being replaced with worry. 'How can they even think such a thing?'

"Ryo! We couldn't even save you when you needed us! You've always come through for us, saving our asses every time we turn around, but we couldn't save yours!" Kento exclaimed.

"How can you say that?" Ryo asked, trying not to let tears come to his eyes. "You don't kno-"

"We do, Ryo! We know what happened!" Sai yelled, cutting him off.

"Because of this?" Ryo asked. The anger came back as he picked up the bag and tossed it to Sai.

Sai caught it, looking confused. The others watched silently as the boy opened the bag and pulled out a tape. "Where did you get this?" Sai asked softly. His own anger left him as he thought of Ryo finding out about Soylaberst's tape. He was now filled with fear of what his leader might do. Ryo wasn't in any condition to be arguing or getting upset. And especially not seeing himself being tortured again. Sai could only imagine what Ryo was thinking.

Ryo ignored Sai's question. "That's not even half of what I went through. You don't know what they said! So don't sit there and tell me you know, because you don't!" He had to lean on Whiteblaze again. This was taking everything out of him but he had to make them understand, and the only way to do that would be this.

"Ryo, the tape doesn't matter! We-" Sage began.

"'Doesn't matter'!" Ryo's anger flared and he stepped forward again. "My life story was laid out in front of you, and it doesn't matter? The one thing I've never told another soul, except for Blaze, and it 'doesn't matter'!" His friends saw the flames in his eyes explode. "It mattered to me! I didn't want you to find out that way," Ryo said, calming down.

"Well, what 'bout the part whe'ah ya we'ah fightin' fo'ah us?" Rowen demanded.

"They weren't you," Ryo corrected.

"You thought they were, and if not, you couldn't take the risk," Sage insisted.

Ryo couldn't say anything. He just looked at each of their faces, their accusing faces. 'Did they hate me for fighting for them? For saving them in the past?'

"You were already beaten to a pulp," Sai said, "and you still managed to save us!"

"But we couldn't do the same for you!" Kento added.

Ryo looked at the ground, tears coming to his eyes. "But you did," he mumbled. He held the tears in as he looked up at them. "I…I wanted to die." When they gave him shocked looks for his confession, Ryo quickly looked at the floor. "I thought I had nothing left to fight for. That I-I had already lost everything. That I was alone." He paused and looked at them again. "But when you came, I knew I was wrong, that I hadn't lost everything. And I still have so much more to lose. You did save me, just not the way you'd planned," he explained truthfully.

The four silent boys looked at each other, then back at their leader, who was leaning more on the tiger than he had been. They couldn't believe Ryo had given up. Ryo never gave up! Maybe they didn't know what all he'd went through. Looking at him, they could tell he was exhausted from this. It had been an emotional roller coaster.

Rowen was the first one to rise from his place on the couch and approach Ryo, holding out his hand. "Gomen, Ryo. I didn't realize…"he trailed off as Ryo grabbed his hand, and gently squeezed it in understanding.

The other three stepped over and placed their hands on top of the clasped ones.

"I'm sorry for everything I've said, guys. I didn't mean any of it," Sage apologized.

"Me two," Sai agreed.

"Me three," Kento nodded.

"Me fou'ah," Rowen echoed.

"Me five. I didn't want to be left out," he added when they looked at him. The other four returned the smile.

"You guys know you're like brothers to me, right?" Sai asked out of nowhere.

"Yeah, dude. We're family!" Kento laughed.

They all heard a growl from behind Ryo, and looked over to see what the tiger wanted. They all began to laugh as Whiteblaze curled around Ryo as if to say 'mine'. Ryo just rubbed behind the tiger's ears.

When they calmed down, Sage looked at them seriously. "Let's not fight like that again. We're stronger than that," he said.

The others nodded in agreement.

Sai looked at Ryo, quickly noticing his friend's eyes were almost completely glazed over. "Ryo? You okay?" he asked, stepping closer.

Ryo just gave him a slight nod.

"C'mon, mister. You're going back to bed," Kento said and gently picked his leader up. Ryo passed out once his feet left the floor.

"I'll go get his pain killer," Sage said. He ran to the kitchen, got the medication, then caught up with the others as they headed up the stairs. Whiteblaze led the way to Ryo's room.

stststst

"I see it now," Kale said to no one in particular. He, the other Warlords, Mia, and Yuli were all gathered at a door, listening in on the Ronin's conversation. They had heard the arguing, then Ryo saying something, and finally four of the Ronins walking into the living room, refusing to say anything. Since the boys wouldn't tell them what was up, the others in the house decided to find out for themselves.

"See what?" Sekhmet questioned.

"Why they chose him to be their leader." He looked around and continued. "It's not because he has the Wildfire or the Inferno armors; it's because he has the heart and understanding it takes to lead. He never stops fighting for what he believes in."

Mia and Yuli quickly agreed; they knew Kale was right. The other three Warlords had to think about it for a minute before they agreed as well.

"Come on," Mia said to them. "We have things to do." With that said, they all went their separate ways.

stststst

Sai and Rowen straightened the bed while Sage gave Ryo, who was still in Kento's arms, his shot. Whiteblaze stood in the corner watching them. When they got Ryo down to just his boxers and back into his bed. The tiger curled up on the floor and rested its head on his paws.

"I think I like him better this way," Kento joked as he looked down at his sleeping friend.

"I know. He can't fight back," Sai agreed.

"Well, Ah'll be glad when he's bett'ah," Rowen sighed. "Ah don't think he really likes us babyin' 'im."

"I'm still in shock from seeing tears in his eyes. Emotional tears, anyway," Sage said softly.

"Yeah, I've never seen that before. To think we caused it," Sai said. "I'm sorry, you guys, for everything I said. And Kento, I'm sorry for throwing your Twinkie stash in the toilet."

"Don't worry about it, Sai. I deserved it actually. I mean, I shouldn't have put that shrimp in your stew. It was harsh, and I'm sorry," Kento offered.

Seeing as how the others were apologizing, Rowen turned to Sage. "Ah wouldn't use ya'ah shampoo, Sage; it'll turn your hair pink."

Sage's eyes grew wide with anger, but then he just shrugged. "Thanks. It's a good thing I came in here earlier then. I was on my way to take a shower."

"Man, Rowen! Why'd you have to go and tell him!" Kento whined. "I wanted pictures!"

"Kento!" they all hissed, then laughed at themselves.

Ryo snuggled deeper into the bed and curled up into a ball as he listened to his friends. He felt at peace for the first time in weeks. They would make it through this together, as long as they remembered how much they meant to each other.

stststst

Mia heard the boys laughing from downstairs. She was glad they were back to normal but Ryo needed to rest. She made her way upstairs and into Ryo's room.

"Guys!" she whispered. "Keep it down if you're going to stay in here. He needs rest after what just happened."

"Ya heard?" Rowen asked.

"We all did," Kayura said as she entered and stood by Mia.

"How much?"

"Considering we were standing by the door, Halo, everything," Kale replied as he, too, entered the room.

"You were ease-dropping!" Kento shouted.

"What else were we supposed to do? None of you would say anything," Dais answered as he stood by Kale.

"It was a private conversation! You had no right!" Sai threw back.

"Please. Since when have we cared if we had the right or not?" Sekhmet hissed as he joined them in the room. "And anyway, you listen in on other's conversations. I've seen you all huddled by a closed door. So don't stand there and tell us off when you do the same thing."

"Besides, it's important for a team to know what's going on within itself," Dais added.

"Team? You're not a Ronin Warrior!" Kento snapped.

"We can form the Inferno," Kale mentioned. "So in a way, we are."

"You can form the Inferno?" Sai asked confused.

"Yeah," Rowen answered before the Warlords could. The Ronins looked at him for an explanation. "When Kayura was trying to take over Ryo's body by using some kind of dust and Nether Spirits, the Warlords and I created the Inferno with Ryo. After that, they protected him while he tried to get rid of the Spirits."

"So he doesn't need us?" Sage asked.

"Of course he needs you," Kayura answered. "We may be able to form the Inferno, but it isn't as strong as when the five of you do it. You're more pure than we are. We will never be able to replace any of you."

"She's right," Dais agreed. "The power isn't the same. Don't ask me why, maybe it's the bond between you."

The Ronins blushed and looked at the floor. They hadn't expected the Warlords to practically praise their powers. They usually only got put down by their former foes, but now they were being nice.

'Talk about a total turn around,' Kento thought.

"C'mon, let's go watch some TV while he rests," Mia suggested and left the room. The Warlords followed close behind her.

"You know guys, I was thinking," Sai began as the other began to leave.. The others stopped and walked back over to their friend. "He watched the tape. The whole thing. I thought he was going to go crazy down there."

"Tell me 'bout it," Rowen agreed. "Just imagine havin' t' live through that twice."

"I for one, don't want to," Kento objected. "I saw the look in his eyes. No thank you. I'm surprised he stayed sane after the first time."

"He thanked us for that, remember?" Sage reminded them.

The others nodded in agreement then headed for the stairs to join the others, leaving the black-haired boy and white tiger asleep in the dark room.

stststst

The next two days passed by quickly. While Ryo slept off and on, the others trained. With Soylaberst back in action, they knew they'd have to be ready. It would take everything they had to defeat him, and they prayed Ryo would be able to help, but they didn't know if they could count on it. Using the Inferno could kill Ryo in his current condition. They'd have to find another way.

It was late morning when Sai, Kento, and Yuli ran into Ryo's room. Yuli jumped up on the bed and gently shook his hero in an attempt to wake him up.

"Ryo! Wake up, Ryo! C'mon, we have to get going!" the eight-year-old shouted excitedly.

Ryo groaned softly, moving a little. He slowly opened his eyes when the shaking didn't quit. "Yuli?" he asked, seeing his little buddy loaming over him.

"Get ready, sleepy head," Sai smiled. "We're going out for a picnic. Even the Warlords."

"So get up, get dressed, and try to hurry. I'm starving!" Kento laughed.

"Kento!" Sai exclaimed. "We'll meet you downstairs. C'mon, Yuli." He pushed Kento out of the room and dragged the little boy with them.

Ryo pulled himself out of his bed, careful not to tick off his left side, and got dressed. Whiteblaze insisted that Ryo get on his back, which, after protesting, he did. 'Blaze can be so stubborn at times.'

"What took you so long?" Kento asked when Ryo arrived down stairs. "I told you I was hungry."

"Gomen, but Blaze wouldn't let me out of the room until I got on," Ryo explained.

"I want to ride with, Ryo!" Yuli exclaimed. "Can I? Please, Ryo?"

"If Blaze says it's okay," Ryo replied. Whiteblaze nodded in approval. Sage picked Yuli up and sat him in front of Ryo, then proceeded to get on behind him. "Sage?" Ryo asked as he looked over his shoulder at the paler boy.

"If you think I am going to let you fall off a tiger, you're crazy," was Sage's answer.

Ryo just smiled and turned back to the others. "We'll follow."

Mia and Kayura road in the jeep with the food, while the other Ronins and Warlords road in Kento's van. They went twenty miles into the woods before they put both vehicle in park and everyone got out.

stststst

"Man! That was good!" Kento said while stretching and rubbing his stomach.

"How would we know? You ate most of it," Dais said dryly.

"Why do you think we packed so much?" Sai teased.

Everyone began to laugh, even the Warlords. It was like they fell into place amongst the teenagers. It was a nice comfort for all of them to have.

"C'mon, guys. Ah'm up fo'ah a game of football," Rowen announced as he stood up.

"Great idea," Sage agreed and got up.

"Count us in!" Sai and Kento exclaimed.

"And us," Kale said, pointing to himself, Dais, and Sekhmet as they stood up as well.

"You?" Kento laughed.

"Against you," Sekhmet hissed.

"But that's four on three…Hey, Ryo, you up to playing?"

"Kento! He can't in his condition!" Sai snapped.

"Thanks anyway, Kento. But I just want to sit here," Ryo smiled.

Kento perked up, knowing that he hadn't insulted his friend.

"Besides," Dais began, "we don't need another player. We'll do fine all on our own."

"If you insist, twinkle toes," Sai laughed.

"Men," Mia muttered as she watched the seven males run to a clearing.

"Tell me about it," Kayura giggled. "Living in the Nether Realm with those three is no picnic. They're always arguing."

"Trying living under one roof with five teenagers, a tiger, and a kid. Need I say more?" Mia smiled.

"Yeah! Go Sai!" Yuli shouted from his seat beside Ryo.

Ryo leant back against Whiteblaze and watched his friends play against the Warlords. Sai had just made a touchdown. He smiled as his friends began dancing around, looking like idiots.

The group went back to the game, due to the Warlords yelling at the Ronins to "shut up and play." The group of three had the ball this time. Dais passed it to Kale, who avoided being tackled by Sai and Sage. He tossed it to Sekhmet right as Kento tackled him to the ground. Rowen ran after the Warlord of Venom, and leaped to take him down, but instead wound up being dragged along. Sage and Sai ran over to help their friend, but they, too, were dragged along as Sekhmet made his way to the end zone. When Kento joined them, Sekhmet was struggling to proceed forward.

Dais and Kale ran to his side, and slowed down to a walking pace. They began to laugh when he wouldn't hand them over the ball. Sekhmet wasn't about to give the Ronins the satisfaction of seeing him give up, so he slowly made his way to he to the goal line.

Mia and Kayura gathered all the food into their proper containers and began to put them away in the jeep. When they sat back down, Mia looked over at Ryo to see how he was doing. His eyes seemed to sparkle, like what he had told the others three days ago made him feel better.

Ryo felt eyes on him and turned to see Mia was looking at him. He always got nervous when people looked at him; so naturally, he began to blush.

Mia grinned as he began to blush under her stare. He was way too easy to embarrass half of the time. But at least he was back to his old self, again. "You-" she began, but stopped as huge black clouds filled the air, and thunder sounded all around them.

Ryo got to his feet as fast as he could when he, Mia, Yuli, and Kayura were surrounded by Soldiers like he'd faced during his capture. He quickly noticed the three armors had appeared near the other Ronins and Warlords, who instantly stopped their game and called upon their subarmors.

"Hello again, Ronins," Soylaberst greeted them. "I see Wildfire managed to live again. No matter, we'll see if we can fix that."

They quickly turned to see hundreds of Soldiers surrounding their leader.

"Go protect, Ryo. We'll handle these guys," Rowen ordered the Warlords, who hesitated before running to help Kayura. "Let's do this! Armo'ah of Strata!"

"Armor of Halo!"

"Armor of Torrent!"

"Armor of Hardrock!"

"Armor of Cruelty!"

"Armor of Corruption!"

"Armor of Illusion!"

"Armor of Venom!"

"Dao Chi!" they all shouted as one. Cherry blossoms filled the air as the armors formed around their respective barer.

"Are we supposed to be scared?" Zual mocked. "We were playing with you last time, but no more!"

"Then shut up and fight!" Kento snapped.

"As you wish," Soylaberst smiled and charged.

stststst

Whiteblaze stood in a guarding position in front of Ryo, who was being held back by Mia and Yuli. He watched the Warlords defeat the soldiers, but his friends needed his help. They were getting tossed around like rag dolls. Ryo was one to take an opportunity when it came along, so when Whiteblaze was distracted by a couple of Soldiers, he pushed Mai and Yuli away as he stepped forward and called upon his subarmor.

'Kaosu, please help me help them,' he thought. Ryo might have been one to do drastic things, but he wasn't stupid. He knew he wasn't in any condition to fight and would only get in the way, or get someone hurt. So being who he was, he decided to do the next best thing.

"Ryo, no! You can't go out there!" Mia pleaded as she grabbed his arm.

"Please, Ryo, stay here!" Yuli added, tears running down his cheeks. He stood by Whiteblaze, who, surprisingly, didn't make any move to stop his charge.

"I'm not going out there, Yuli. But I have to help them; they need Wildfire," Ryo said and removed Mia's hands from his arm.

He turned away from them and walked a couple steps towards the battle taking place. "Armor of Wildfire, Dao Jin!" he called. He felt the heat and safety the armor offered as it wrapped around him. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the center of his being. His armor began to glow and soon a red sphere surrounded him. He then began to concentrate on his friends, which caused the sphere to divide into four separate ones that shot towards their targets.

stststst

The four fighting boys began to worry that Soylaberst had placed another spell over them when their armors flashed red for an instant. They looked at their hands, then up at each other.

"What just happened?" Sai asked.

"I don't know, but I didn't feel anything," Sage offered.

"Me neither," Rowen agreed.

"Come on, Ronins! We're waiting!" Ky called to them from where he was standing by his comrades.

"Can it!" Kento shouted. "I'm sick of playing games. Iron…Rock…Crusher!" The sure kill erupted from the ground where his staff had landed, only Ryo's 'Flare Up Now' was whirled around it. "What the hell!" Kento demanded.

"It's Ryo's su'ah kill!" Rowen stated the obvious.

"The red glow, it was Ryo giving us his sure kill," Sage mused aloud.

"Then let's waste no time. Super…Wave…Smasher!" Sai yelled. Just like Kento's, Ryo's was wrapped around Sai's, and they hit their target.

"My turn! Arrow…Shock…Wave!" The three armors were thrown back into some trees, from Rowen's.

"Thunder…Bolt…Cut!" Sage called.

stststst

Mia and the Warlords watched as Ryo was zapped with each call his friends made, taking the young warrior down to his hands and knees. Sekhmet ran to Ryo's side, kneeling down once he was there. All the Soldiers had been destroyed, so he didn't have to worry about them.

"Stop this now, Wildfire! You're not strong enough! We'll help them," he shouted, then he and the others ran to help the Ronins.

Once again, Ryo divided his power between the four Warlords. They didn't stop, even when they flashed red; it was like they knew he was going to do it.

Sending his sure kill through them was the only thing he could do since they couldn't form the Inferno. They needed all the power they could get, and Ryo was willing to give them his.

He was zapped repeatedly as each of the Warlords called upon their sure kills. With Ryo's wrapped around them, the enemy was driven closer to defeat.

Mia watched as Ryo's armor began to fade in and out of existence, but the boy held on, refusing to let it go. Tears streamed down her face as she stood there, helplessly, as he endured the pain. She held Yuli back as he screamed for Ryo to stop, the words being drowned out by Ryo's, every time he was zapped.

stststst

"Winds of Ebony!" Zual cried out.

Most of the Ronins and Warlords managed to get out of the way. However, Rowen, Kale, and Sai were caught in the blast.

/Ryo/ Rowen thought.

/Rowen/

"Nani? Ryo?" he asked as he heard Ryo call his name; only it sounded like it was in his head, but that was impossible,…wasn't it?

/Use your sure kills at one time, guys. Do it now. I-I can't keep this up/ Ryo told them.

Rowen could now feel the presence of the others in his mind. He could also feel Ryo's pain, though he, himself, didn't hurt at all. /Are we using telepathy/

/Never mind that, Rowen; just do what he asks/ Sage thought to the blue-haired boy. Rowen could feel the others agreeing.

"Let's do it!" Sage shouted aloud. "Thunder…Bolt…Cut!"

"Arrow…Shock…Wave!"

"Super…Wave…Smasher!"

"Iron…Rock…Crusher!"

"Quake…With…Fear!"

"Black…Lightning…Slash!"

"Web…Of…Deception!"

"Snake…Fang…Strike!"

'Flare…Up…Now!'

All the sure kills, wrapped with Ryo's, mixed together and hit all three armors, which flew through the air. Once they hit the ground, all three armors vanished.

stststst

With one last scream of pain, Ryo fell to the ground unconscious. His armor vanished, along with his subarmor, leaving him in his street clothes.

"Ryo!" Mia exclaimed as she ran to his side. She gathered him in her arms, gently rocking back and forth, while stroking his hair.

"Is he okay, Mia?" Yuli asked as he knelt down.

"I don't know, Yuli," Mia said truthfully through her tears.

Whiteblaze joined them and nuzzled Ryo's limp hand. Part of him was angry with Ryo for doing this, but the other part of him understood it had to be done.

The other Ronins and Warlords ran over, shedding their armors as they came. They noticed Ryo's shirt had blood stains on its left side.

"What happened? How did he get like this?" Sai demanded.

"When he gave you his power," Kayura answered. "Every time you called upon your sure kills, he was zapped and weakened."

"You knew and didn't tell us!" Sage exclaimed.

"It had to be done, Halo. Wildfire knew that. We tried to get him to stop but he's too stubborn. When we went to aid you, he did the same thing to us, and I, for one, refuse to waste such a sacrifice," Sekhmet hissed.

Everyone fell into silence after that for a few minutes. During that time, Sage took Ryo from Mia and began to check him over for any other injuries.

"So what's up with the mind talking thingy?" Kento asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know, but I could feel y'all's presence stronger than before," Sai replied.

"I guess when Ryo used us to deliver his sure kill, it caused the mind link," Sage suggested.

"It's reas'nable," Rowen agreed.

/Do you really think that's what happened/

Sai was weirded out when Kento invaded his mind. /Yes, Kento. Now get out of my head/

/Well, it is kinda neat, if ya ask me/ Rowen joined in, since he had felt Kento ask the question earlier.

/I wonder if it works long distance/ Sage mused. He too had felt Kento's invasion.

/That'd be great! When we go back home, we won't have to use the phone anymore/ Kento exclaimed.

/And we'll know if anyone's hurt. Ah could feel Ryo's pain earli'ah, but Ah didn't hurt at all/ Rowen added.

/Bonus! We can ask Rowen questions on a test when school starts/

/Kento/ they all yelled when he started laughing. They could tell he was joking, though.

/Are you four done yet? We'd like to get Wildfire back into his bed/ Kale's voice penetrated through their minds.

"Excuse us, then," Kento snorted. "Do you think we'll ever learn how to block out anyone?"

The other boys just smiled at their friend's remark.

Sekhmet took Ryo from Sage and loaded him into the van. Dais, Kale, and Yuli road with Mia and Kayura in the jeep, while the others loaded up in the van. Whiteblaze ran along side the van all the way home.

Once they arrived, Sekhmet and Sai changed the bandage and got Ryo back in bed. They both noticed he was still fairly pale but not by much, and he had a slight fever which they gave him medicine for.

stststst

After everyone was in their respective rooms, Yuli snuck out of his and went to Ryo's. He quietly opened the door and peeked inside. Ryo was sleeping on his right side, and Whiteblaze was on the rug by the bed. The young boy walked in, dragging his blanket along, and shut the door behind him. He climbed onto the bed and curled up next to his hero. As Yuli pulled the blanket over his shoulders he whispered, "Be okay, Ryo." Then he fell into a deep slumber.

stststst

Late into the night, Sage decided that since he couldn't sleep he would go check up on his injured friend. He climbed out from under the warmth of his blankets, pulled on his robe, and made his way to the door. When he reached Ryo's room, he entered and sat down on the extra bed. Ryo's back was facing him, and Sage watched as the teen's side rose and fell with every breath.

'What are we going to do with you, Ryo?'he thought to himself. 'You can never not do anything, can you?'

Sage was brought out of his thoughts when Ryo turned onto his back and released a soft moan. The blond rose and went over, successfully avoiding the tiger on the floor, and stood by the bed. He studied his friend's features, trying to see if something was wrong- like another nightmare- but quickly dismissed all concerns of such when Ryo settled back down with a sigh. As Sage pulled the cover back up to Ryo's chest he noticed the younger boy sleeping soundly next to him. Smiling, the blond stroked Ryo's hair once before he turned and left the room.

TBC

xyxyxyxy

So how many times have I abused Ryo now? Hmm. Quite a few. But they're all good. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the last part in this fic. Sage is just so sweet when he wants to be. I just love him!