Zell pushed the bush aside and soon Mia was next to her.

     "We shouldn't be here," said Mia, trying to pull Zell back. Zell shook her head and pointed to the scene in front of her. There were five men in armor and they were facing a man in jeans and a tee shirt, who was standing on top of a mound of titanium.

     "What are you silly Ronins going to do about it?" asked the man with curiosity.

     "You just wait and see," said the one in red.

     "Whatever, hothead. You don't even know who your dealing with."

     "Then who are you?" asked the one in green.

     "My name is Fox. And if you think you can pull a fast one on me, you're wrong." With that, a portal opened up behind him. He jumped down and whistled.

      "Ardour, let's move it," he yelled and a girl in blue pants and an orange halter appeared from the portal. She proceeded to pick up the stack of titanium.

     "Fox, I don't see why I can't play with them. Please?" she begged.

     "No, we have to stick to the plan," said Fox. Ardour sighed and walked the titanium through the portal. Fox turned his attention to the fighters below. He pulled out his sword. "Now, if you excuse me," he said, charging up for his sure kill. Mia knew what was coming and she stood up.

     "Guys, he's using a very powerful sure kill. Watch out! I don't know what kind of magic it is!"

      "Mia?" asked the one in red.

     "Get of here!" said the one in orange. Fox then shouted,

     "Mystic Saber Strike!" Black energy fired, not at the Ronins, but at Mia and Zell. Mia pushed Zell out of the way, but was hit in the process. Mia's body slammed into a tree. Zell stood up and ran over to her.

      "Mia? Mia! Come on, speak to me!" Zell looked hopelessly at the body. She turned to look back at the battle.

     "Now it's personal," said the one in red. The other four warriors started to glow. They all merged and formed the Inferno armor.

     "What's this little trick? It won't work on me," said Fox with amusement.

      "Rage of Inferno!" yelled the man in white. A great fire energy fired. And Fox, sensing the power of the attack, jumped over the attack and landed next to Zell, who was clutching the light blue amulet around her neck. Fox grabbed her and placed the sword up against her throat. Zell stood there and tried to escape.

      "I wouldn't squirm if I were you. One false step, and this blade will slice through your skin with ease." Zell immediately stopped moving. Her pale blue eyes were full of fear.

     "Let her go," said the man in light blue. The one in dark blue strung an arrow.

     "You kidding? You could hit her!" said the one in green.

     "And we wouldn't want that, would we?" said Fox with a smile. He started walking slowly toward the portal and Zell had no choice but to match his steps. Tears fell from her eyes. Fox suddenly stopped.

     "Wait a minute, I thought there were five . . . " strangely enough, the orange one was missing. He felt something hit him across the head and his eyes closed. When his grip loosened, Zell ran out of it. The one in orange flung his body back into the portal, which closed. Each of the five returned to sub armor and then to their normal clothes. Ryo ran over to Mia's body and cradled her head in his arms. Zell looked from them to Mia and back to them in shock. Had she seen what she thought she saw? She decided not to find out. With a bolt, she ran through the bushes and back to Mia's car. She jumped in the car, and finding the keys there, drove off.

     "You okay, Ryo?" asked Sai softly.

     "Just leave me alone."

     "You sure?"

     "Just leave me alone!" yelled Ryo, staring at Sai with tears in his eyes. The others sighed and walked off.

             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Arashi looked down at Fox in dismay. His head was sore and he kept rubbing it with his hand.

     "It wasn't my fault. He did a sneak attack on me," explained Fox.

     "That's not like you. You must have been having a bad day," said Ardour, nodding her head, concluding that this was the cause.

     "No matter. We will just have to get rid of these Ronins. Wildfire, Halo, Strata, Hardrock, and Torrent. For now, move on to phase two," said Arashi as she left the throne room once more.

     "What's phase two?" asked Ardour, thinking hardly.

     "Just read the list that's in your room and get what's on it," explained Fox.

      "Oh, like groceries?"

     "Nevermind."

              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       Zell parked the car in front of a red brick house. Why had she driven here? To home? She opened the door to her car and closed it softly. She could go back, but she hadn't seen her mother and wanted so dearly to be held in her arms. She had reached the doorway. She pressed the doorbell. Please don't be home, please. The door opened and a tall man stood there. Her father looked down on her in dismay.

     "What do you want?"

     "Is mom here?"

      "No, she's out shopping."

     "Okay, I'll leave then."

     "Where were you?"

     "Huh?"

     "There's grass stains all over your jeans."

     "Out."

      "With who?"

     "None of your business."

     "Don't talk to me like that!"

     "Why?"

     "Because I'm your father and you'll do as I say."

     "I'm 20 years old. I don't have to listen to you any more."

    "You used it, didn't you?"

    "What are you talking about?" said Zell, placing the amulet back into her shirt.

     "The amulet. You had it out. Why?"

     "It was an emergency."

     "Doesn't matter."

     "She would've died!"

     "She still died!"

     "Shut up!"

      "How many times have I told you about the danger of using that thing?"

     "Millions. I don't care."

     "We'll see if you change your tone when I'm through with you, young lady," said her father, grabbing her arm. Zell automatically pulled back, trying to get away.

     "Don't! No, Daddy!" Her father flung her inside the house.

              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Ryo didn't touch his breakfast the next morning. He walked up the stairs, slouched, and back into his room.

     "I'm getting worried," said Sai, putting Ryo's pancakes in the freezer. Kento leaned back in his chair.

     "Yeah, I guess I am. But Ryo's cool. He'll get over it."

     "That or kill that Fox guy with his own hands," said Rowen.

     "We should be careful, then. If he's emotionally tense like this, then who knows what he'll do," said Sage.

     "Exactly. He might do something stupid," said Sai in agreement.

     "When's the funeral?" asked Kento.

     "Next Saturday. We're all invited," said Sage.

     "We should be, we're paying for it," said Rowen. The doorbell rang. Everyone looked from one to the other. Who knew where they were staying?

      "Kento, you pig, did you order pizza, after that huge breakfast?" accused Sai.

     "Dude, I'm innocent. I haven't touched the phone," said Kento. The doorbell rang again. Rowen stood up.

      "I'll get it. It's probably some door-salesman. If he's selling hair products, we shouldn't let Sage get the door," said Rowen with a smile. He ducked under a pillow that was hurled at him and jogged to the door.

      "Listen. I really don't think we're intereste- Oh, hey Zell." Zell kept her eyes down.

      "The dorm's out of hot water. I found this address in Mia's book. Do you mind if I use your shower?" She pulled her coat tight around her, even though there was no wind.

     "No problem. It's right down the hall," said Rowen, pointing in that direction. Zell hurriedly walked in and shut the door.

     "Why is she here?" asked Sage as Rowen sat down.

     "Said her dorm was out of hot water."

     "And how did she find us?" asked Sai, sitting on the couch next to Kento.

     "She said she found it in some book of Mia's."

     "Why was she going through Mia's things?" asked Ryo, who had just entered the room.

      "I don't think we get what your saying," Sai questioned.

     "What if she's with those people who stole that titanium?" The others looked at one another.

     "Well, it is a possibility," said Sage, "but doubtful. Why use one of your own as a hostage?"

      "Guys, look at this," said Rowen, who had just turned on the morning news. He increased the volume.

      "In a series of strange events, several scientists that had worked for the government have mysteriously disappeared. Authorities have no real leads to the disappearances. A total of nine have been reported missing since early this morning. Each of them specialized in a sub-field of engineering," the lady said. She paused as she was handed a piece of paper. "This just in. In three of the disappearances, the same man is assumed to be involved. He is about 5'7" with aqua hair and dark eyes. He was last seen wearing jeans, a black tee shirt with red stripes, and Nike sneakers. Stay tuned to Channel 5 for live updates. Back to you in the studio."

     "This is just getting weirder," said Sai.

      "First titanium, then Engineering scientists. What are these people up to?" asked Rowen.

     "Whose turn is it to do laundry this week?" asked Sage, noticing the clothes thrown about the room.

     "Don't look at me, I did it last week," said Kento, holding his arms up in defense.

     "I think its your turn, Ryo," said Sai. Ryo jerked his head up.

     "What? Oh. Okay, I'm on it," said Ryo, standing. He walked into his room and picked up the laundry basket. After picking up all the laundry in their rooms, the kitchen, and the living room, he walked past the bathroom. He stopped in his tracks.  All of the guys are in the living room, and there's no one else here. He grabbed the handle and opened the door. He dropped the basket. One of the last things he expected to see in their bathroom was a person, let alone a girl standing half naked in a towel, but that wasn't what shocked him. His eyes were drawn to the huge bruise marks along her arms and legs. He then blinked, blushed and quickly slammed the door shut.

     "You guys didn't tell me that she was here," said Ryo, whose face was as red as his shirt.

      "No, you didn't," said Kento. Sage was holding back on laughing out loud.

     "Where is she now?" asked Rowen, trying to be serious, but obviously finding the situation hilarious.

      "It isn't funny," said Ryo, blushing even deeper.

     "Why's that?" asked Sai, wacking the laughing Sage and Kento on the head with his spatula.

     "Well, she was there, and, well, was covered in these, um, spots," said Ryo, trying to explain without embarrassment to both him and Zell.

       "You don't have to explain," said Zell. She had put on a pair of jeans and had her jacket zipped up to her chin. Her wet hair was pulled back.

     "Explain what?" asked Kento, curious about what Ryo had saw. Sai wacked him on the head again.

      "Will you stop doing that?"

      "No. Now shut up." Zell took the empty chair and sighed.

     "I've never told anybody this. I know Mia trusted you, but can I?" She looked at each of them in the eye and when satisfied, she continued.

      "Ever since my parents started arguing, which was when I was eight, my father became an alcoholic. He would go out every night to the local bar. Then he would come home. The trouble wouldn't start until morning. Mom always left early because of her work. So that always left me and him alone." Zell stopped. She felt really nervous. A car door slammed outside that made her jump. She swallowed and continued on, figuring it was best to get it over with. "Nothing was ever right. My shoes were never tied right, my jeans uneven, my hat not straight. Anything would tick him off. And then," she stopped as the doorbell rang. Nobody rose to answer it right away. It rang again. The person outside became impatient and rang the bell in quick succession. Then the person started banging down the door. Ryo ran to the door.

      "Hold on, stop before you break it down." He opened it to see an angry man, in his forties. He tried to look behind Ryo, but Ryo blocked the door.

      "Can I help you?" The man stopped and stood straight, swaying a little. Ryo thought he could smell the faint scent of whiskey.

    "Sorry to bother you. See that car, the black Mountaineer? My daughter owns that car and she ran away from home earlier. Have you seen her?" Ryo stared blankly at the man.

      "Can I ask who you are?"

      "Sorry. I'm Mr. Misora." Ryo felt the anger boiling inside him.

      "No. I haven't seen your daughter. If you'll excuse me," said Ryo, starting to close the door. Mr. Misora caught the door with his foot.

     "Please. Could you call and let me know if you see my little girl?"

      "Whatever." The man stared into his eyes. He let his eyes go beyond Ryo into the apartment. He looked at the picture in the hall. He thought he saw something purple in the reflection. No, not something, someone. He shoved the door open and barged inside.

     "Where is she? I know she's here!" He turned the corner and saw four boys sitting there. Zell sat there, with her head down, at the far end of the room.

      "You are coming home now, young lady. Let's move it," he barked. Zell sighed and stood. She walked over to Mr. Misora and he pushed her out the door. He shut the door behind him.

     "What the heck do you think you were doing, you little whore?" he hissed.

     "Nothing. Just talking," said Zell.

      "Oh really, then why is your hair wet, huh?"

      "I used their shower, okay?"

      "Okay? I know what you are, you little witch. We feed you, we give you a roof to live under, and we pay for your college. And they you run off to be a bunch of guys' play thing."

     "That's a bunch of lies, and you know it!" Zell felt the sting before she saw the hand move swiftly through the air. She clutched her face, and the stinging burned her face. She felt hot tears form in the corner of her eyes.

      "Don't you talk back to me. You know what happens."

     "I am sick and tired of your rules. I'm 20, I don't live with you and I don't have to take this stuff from you!" She stood there defiantly and saw her father prepare to hit her again. She closed her eyes as she saw him prepare to strike. But she felt nothing. His punch had been blocked. Rowen punched Mr. Misora in the face.

      "You disgust me. You and people like you don't deserve to live. If you come near us or Zell, be prepared. You think you're so tough, we'll see. Try and see if you can hurt her or anyone again. Now, get out of my sight," said Rowen.

     His eyes glowed with anger as he watched Mr. Misora rise from the ground and scramble into his car. He sped off. Rowen took a deep breath. He turned toward Zell. "You okay?" Zell stood there and felt like breaking down. She collapsed to the ground and began to cry. Rowen sat down next to her, and let her rest her head on his shoulder. She broke down and sobbed.

     "It's okay, really. It was nothing," said Rowen, blushing, but cradling her in his arms.