Disclaimer: I do not own the Ronin Warriors/Yoroiden Samurai Troopers. That's all folks!

A/N: I really have to apologize to those of you who had been following this story. I'm sooo sorry for not updating; I've been under tremendous stress with college work and all. Good news is that I have another semester to go before I graduate. Yay me! I'm really trying to make a conscious effort to write longer chapters and to eliminate my horrible grammatical errors, but until I get really good, you'all have to bare with me, K? And so, hope you enjoy the chapter and please review.

Heroes' Plight (Part Five):

The auburn haired boy was already showing his fatigue as he raised a hand to rub his face. He had been so tired from watching his two normally calm and rational friends acting like they had lost all kind of rational thought. Cye had been so preoccupied with his current predicament that he hadn't noticed he had walked all the way from the kitchen to the stair case at the front of Mia's mansion. Suddenly, as though gravity had gained more force upon his body, Cye's legs buckled and he landed on the lower most step of the stairs. It was here that he would wait for his two other fellow ronins to come back from searching the woods. Something just didn't feel right to Cye, but then again, he was always somewhat in tune with the feelings of others around him.

In the nearby living room, Rowen and Sage slept in separate chairs buried under several blankets each. They had eaten the food Cye had prepared earlier quickly and had proceeded to jump off of any tall piece of furniture they could find and run throughout the house trying to break the sound barrier with their screams. After which they tried to see if they could break the speed barrier as well. Cye had been glad that they hadn't remembered that they could use their armor to accomplish that task and when they had spent a couple of hours doing that, they had immediately felt the lure of sleep as the sleep they had gotten the night before wasn't really as restful as one would like.

----Elsewhere----

Kento was seriously worried about Sage and Rowen. It was this feeling of worry that drove him to look under every stone he came across, literally, for any sign of foul play be it a Dynasty soldier or an evil demon. He was desperate to find anything......something... "Ahh, Ryo! There's nothing here! This is terrible, why can't I find those creeps when... when I need to?" Kento yelled out as he kicked a nearby tree. The frustration of their situation finally reaching him.

Following close behind his friend, Ryo walked up to Kento and placed a firm hand upon his friend's shoulder. "I know what you mean man, but..." he hesitated a bit not wanting to admit it to himself either, "But we have to think about the possibility that the stress of all that we've been through has finally gotten to those two and that they may have lost it." Ryo tried to sound comforting but he wasn't good at this type of stuff.

Kento looked back at the ronin of fire and smiled slightly as he questioned the other, "So that's the best you came up with huh?"

The two teens had been searching the grounds around the mansion for a good three to four hours with no luck. There was no sign of anything. Feeling a bit defeated, the both of them decided to head back to the mansion to tell Cye of the bad news and figure out what to do next.

----Back at the mansion----

Cye was minutes away from falling asleep himself, his head kept drifting to a tilt every now and again. He was all too ready to allow himself to slip into a nice comforting dream where he'd be swimming in a vast ocean with various sea life dispersed throughout said ocean and he'd have all the time in the world to swim and stare at the sites with his sea friends. That is until the calm state of the house was cut with a shrill cry.

"No!, Get the hell away from me!!!" Rowen cried out as he began to thrash about where he slept.

'I know that voice!' Cye thought to himself. "Oh no, Rowen!" he cried as he jumped to his feet rushing to his friend's side to see what the problem was. When Cye entered the room that Rowen and Sage had been sleeping in, he froze as he never thought he'd see anything as horrendous as he was now viewing.

Rowen had awakened and was now clawing at his arms and neck with his fingers coming seriously close to drawing blood in some spots as he complained to Cye to get rid of the shadows that were climbing up his legs, chest, and arms all the while yelling for them to leave him alone.

Sage on the other hand had been merely sitting up in the chair he was in rocking back and forth as he cradled his head in his hands.

Cye could barely hear anything other than Rowen's terrified screams but in between those screams when the blue haired teen needed to regain his breath, the warrior of the water could faintly hear Sage murmuring to himself, "Stop it, stop it, stop it...Not again, not again." It hadn't even occurred to him that the two had lost their childhood demeanor from earlier and seemed to be back to normal or at least closer. He really didn't know what to do, the whole scene was quite disturbing for him. One thing was for sure, he needed to restrain Rowen or else the warrior of the sky would slice open a vein or something more serious with his repeated scratching.

What concerned Cye even more was what was attacking his friend and why couldn't he see it? Taking a few steps closer to his target, Cye barely caught sight of the severe panicked expression on Rowen's face before he was assaulted with a gut wrenching kick to the stomach. Cye's eyes widened before watering as he fell like a rock, doubling over in pain on the floor besides Rowen. The kick the blue haired teen had dealt him had left him gasping for air, but at the same time wanting to push all the air out of his lungs as the muscles contracted violently in his stomach leaving him hyperventilating somewhat.

"Get off!!!" Rowen yelled louder. With each passing minute he could feel the shadowy creatures digging into his skin with their claws not aware that they were only in his mind and he was doing all the damage himself as he tried to remove the devilish things. The wispy appearance the creatures had did nothing to make Rowen feel any better as he felt like he was being sucked into their darkness and was now gasping more and more for air. He had been alternating between yelling, trying to pull the shadows off, and flailing his arms and legs in an attempt to get them off.

For the most part, he was all out panicking and Cye knew that if he didn't at least get Rowen restrained, he could do a lot of self damage. Sage didn't seem to need his attention at the moment; not that he could give it to him, he had more important things to worry about. When the initial shock of being kicked in the stomach had worn off and some of the pain had left him, Cye rolled away from his friend to put a little distance between the two of them. Clutching his gut with his left arm, Cye reached out with his right hand to grasp the nearby coffee table in an effort to stand up. In a sudden rush of adrenaline and emotions, Cye rushed Rowen for all he was worth. Forgetting about the pain the sudden movement had caused to his already aching muscles, Cye tackled Rowen in a type of bear hug and held on for dear life.

----Outside the mansion----

Ryo and Kento had been walking back to the mansion side by side in silence, not knowing what to say. They couldn't believe that Rowen or Sage could possibly lose it when they've all come this far in their lives.

Stepping up to the front door to the mansion, Ryo placed a hand on the door knob and turned it feeling as frustrated as ever that they didn't find anything when suddenly a loud crash of glass and Sage's desperate pleas for someone or something to 'Stop it!' assaulted his senses. One look told him that Kento had heard it too and both rushed into the house suspecting some type of Dynasty attack.

It was somewhat pointless to think that anyone from the Dynasty would be attacking them or trying anything, because once they had defeated Talpa, everything just stopped and the only ones that did try anything were minimal Dynasty flunkies that could be scared away just as easily as saying 'Boo!' But anything was possible.

As they reached the living room, they found Cye sprawled on the floor gripping onto Rowen as the other screamed and flailed about leaving a few broken vases all around them. Cye was bleeding from the various cuts he had received while wrestling with Rowen on the floor. Sage was screaming louder than before at no one in particular to 'Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!' All while clutching his head as though he were in an extreme amount of pain. The tears falling from his normally calm blue eyes reinforced the point even more so.

Ryo was just as shocked as he could be. He was about to ask what had happened when Kento interrupted him on his way to aid Cye on the ground.

"Hey Cye! What the heck is going on around here? What did you do to Rowen and what's wrong with Sage??!" Kento piped up trying to carry his voice over Sage's and Rowen's frantic yells.

Cye was getting beyond angry at this point. He had been rolling around on the ground with Rowen for a good five to ten minutes amongst shards of broken glass and to be questioned what he had done to Rowen or any of his friends was drawing him closer to wanting to punch someone. Well, that and the pounding migraine that had been gaining momentum in his head.

"Just get him off of me!! He was trying to hurt himself so I had to restrain him!" Cye yelled at Kento who now had the very energetic, blue haired boy in a binding hold.

Kento was surprised at the amount of strength Rowen had for his size, 'Maybe it's just that he's a crazed loony right now...' he thought to himself. At the moment, said warrior of the Earth had his arms locked around Rowen's arms and neck preventing the smaller ronin from going anywhere. He had no idea what to do; all he could do was wait with Strata in hand for someone with some sense to tell him what to do.

While Kento was struggling with Rowen, Ryo had been helping Cye up from the living room floor.

Cye winced slightly as he was aided in his efforts to stand, blood slowly trickled down his temple. The deep red liquid had been seeping into his shirt just below his neck and chin where the blood had dribbled down and accumulated. 'Oh just great! I've got a gash on my head. That's gonna be one hell of a headache to deal with later.' Cye mused oblivious to the pounding that was already occurring in his head. Looking over, he had caught sight of Ryo attempting to talk with Sage. Now that they had Rowen somewhat contained, it was a perfect opportunity to find out what was bugging the blond. Taking a step forward, he noticed the room seemed to be spinning or rather he was losing his sense of balance and fell into a nearby chair.

Noticing Cye's uneven movements, Ryo extended his arm in a halting fashion ordering Cye to stay where he was. "Cye, just sit down, we'll take it from here." Ryo ordered. He had caught a glimpse of Cye nasty little head injury and was worried that he might have some type of concussion. It was apparent that Cye's little episode with Rowen was no easy task and this concerned him somewhat.

Slumping down into the chair he had collapsed into, Cye closed his eyes and pulled a hand up over his eyes to block out the blinding light of the lamps in the room while rubbing both of his temples with his thumb and forefinger.

Rowen had given up screaming as he had been straining his voice to no end with no effect. Instead, he just settled for growling and trying once again to escape his captor's hold. But it was no use, Kento was still stronger than him; they didn't call him the warrior of strength for nothing. Suddenly, the imaginary creatures Rowen had been fighting with so desperately earlier seemed to be falling away, one by one from his body. And with each shadow that fell away from his body, Rowen seemed to grow a little more weaker as he was beginning to slump in Kento's arms.

Not knowing what else to do and not willing to strain his arms by holding his friend up rather than just restraining the confused boy, he opted to slide to the floor with a now sobbing Rowen. He released his hold on his friend slightly and allowed Rowen to curl up into the fetal position he was now in.

Hugging his legs to his chest, Rowen closed his eyes and softly cried, "Make them go away....Keep them away from me.......please..."

Kento responded to the other's pleas, "Huh? Keep what away?"

Rowen just started to shake even more with Kento's lack of understanding to his situation

Sighing, Kento placed an unsteady hand on his friend's arm and comforted, "Don't worry buddy, I wont let anything hurt you again." Whatever he had said had done the trick as the troubled youth was apparently sleeping now or rather had passed out from exerting himself so much. At this point, Kento began to see all of the scratch marks covering Rowen's arms and neck. Reaching out his other hand in curiosity, Kento stopped just short of a rather deep scratch along one of Rowen's upper arms. It was clear that the deep pink skin was ready to open and allow the crimson liquid underneath free passage given one false move. Suddenly a heart wrenching scream caught his attention; raising his head, Kento wiped the sweat from his brow, adjusting his gaze to see what had interrupted him.

Sage really wasn't aware of what was going on around him. All he could see through his tears was an endless darkness that seemed to be edging its way into his very soul. All around him, he could hear voices taunting him with every thought and emotion he expressed. He couldn't take it anymore... 'Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Why was it so dark? And who were they??' The blond let his mind wonder over and over. He was seriously getting scared. Normally he could think a situation through and felt confident enough to stand his ground and defend himself when the time came. But now, he was losing what little of his sanity he could grasp on to. He couldn't feel or see the sources of any of the voices that came inches away from his ears, in front of him, or behind him; it was incredibly unsettling to say the least. Feeling phantom hands grabbing at his shoulders, he screamed out, sliding his palms over his ears trying to block out the eerie voices. 'I have to get away! What are you?!?' Sage feared as he felt more hands grabbing at him thinking that the owners of the creepy voices had finally come to make good on their threats and taunts.

'You're ours boy!' a sickly man's voice called out to light warrior.

Another screamed, 'Why don't you just kill yourself, then I wouldn't have to work so hard..........' A wave of cold air engulfed the teen as he could literally feel the voice deepening or was it his lungs slowing, as the same voice only more menacing spoke mere inches away from behind his left ear, '.....at ripping that juicy heart out of your chest!'

Ryo was getting worried with each passing minute. He had tried shaking Sage by the other's shoulders only to be completely ignored by his close friend. Something else that had unsettled him was the fact that Sage's normally vibrant azure eyes were glazed over and a look of utter terror blanketed the boy's face. Trying again, desperate to get Sage's attention, Ryo stepped in front of the sitting teen and firmly grasped the figure in front of him as he yelled out in frustration, "Arrgh, come on Sage tell me what's going on! Answer me!" Releasing one of his shoulders, the fire ronin was about to strike some realization in his friend when a sturdy yet soft hand held his own back. Surprised, Ryo turned to face the one that stopped him so abruptly.

"That's not going to help matters any Ryo." Cye breathed out still tired, unaware of the tears he too was crying.

Taking one look at his friend, Ryo relaxed slightly before replying, "I know Cye, I just... I just don't know what to do! He isn't responding to me and I can tell that something has him scared to death."

Cye sighed deeply feeling utterly helpless. "Ryo, we have to call someone. This isn't normal behavior a-and..." Cye spoke lowering his head allowing his auburn bangs to cover his eyes as he hesitated, unsure if he should continue.

"And what Cye?" Ryo spoke up snapping Cye out of his thoughts.

"And I haven't felt any evil presence or any kind of dark magic at work here! We have to face the possibility that maybe... that maybe Rowen and Sage have seriously gone crazy." Cye grumbled.

Kento stared at Cye in complete shock; he couldn't believe that Cye of all people was ready to give up on his friends like that. Of course he had been thinking the same thing for quite some time, to hear it pronounced aloud still stung.

Ryo was about to mount another argument against Cye's reasoning when he was cut off.

Turning his head to face Kento, Cye called out to the other to look at the list of numbers near the phone and dial the number for the local hospital. He just knew what was going to happen once his two friends were examined by actual doctors. His mind reeled over the possibilities as he watched Kento leave the room as instructed. In the background he could hear Ryo's desperate attempts to get Sage to acknowledge his presence. 'What have I done?' Cye could feel his conscious weighing down on him. 'Those blasted doctors have no idea what we have been through, what the Ronin Warriors have been through. My god! What if there is an evil presence behind all of this? I'm sending my friends to a bloody nut house. What's wrong with me? Ryo and Kento haven't given up on the idea... why is it so easy for me to accept it?' Cye continued to argue within his own mind.

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AN: Wow, that took a lot out of me. Normally I can type very expressively and write like that too, but for some reason I can't bring myself too with this story. (Nervous laughter) bet you couldn't tell with how many times I repeated so many of the same words over and over and over again. I think I'll wait till I get a bit more reviews to see if I should continue this fic. HA! I know I've been so stressed lately..... I mean the other day I had been watching the last episode again of the Ronin Warriors cartoon and when the scene came up in which the guys were all in there jackets and I stared at the letters on them, I couldn't for at least a few minutes understand why Kento, Cye, and Rowen had the letters 'S' and 'T' on them. But then I remembered....teeheehee, I feel stupid....don't even get me started on the idea that I don't even think they were wearing the jackets before they put on their armor for the last time but it made for a cute ending. Okay okay, I do hope you all have enjoyed this update and as always, please review and tell me what you think or I might just let this fic blow away with the wind.