Chapter Three: The Armor of The Cosmos

  "I am very disappointed in you, girls. I send you out to do a simple task. And what do you do? You lose to a man!" said Scarbna angrily. We took it well, and didn't speak up. Well, I did.

  "Forgive me for saying this, mistress, but the Inferno armor is strong. Is there any equal that we could have?" I asked sheepishly.

  "Crystal, you dare to speak to me? Punishment is necessary. But I will grant your request anyway," said Scarbna. She lifted her hand. Six gems formed and floated in the air. Then, a gold chain appeared with six spaces. Each gem entered a space. The bracelet floated over to Crystal's wrist, landed on it, and locked its clasp.

   "With this bracelet, you can now form a special armor. Each gem in the bracelet represents each of you. There is a purple one for the Armor of Psyche's power. There is a light blue one for the Armor of Tidal Force's power. There is a dark blue one for the Armor of The Comet's power. There is an orange one for the Armor of The Cavern's power. There is a red one for the Armor of Volcano's power. The sixth is for the power that combines the five. Now go and destroy them," commanded Scarbna.

  "May I ask a favor, mistress? Could we have extra protection for ourselves for when we are not wearing our armor?" asked Rose. Scarbna flicked her hand at us. Under our outfits, a skin tight, leotard looking, body suit appeared, of a lighter color then the outfits themselves. Around our lower arms, from the wrist to the elbow, metal armbands formed. On our feet, up to our knees, black boots made out of sub armor material formed. Finally, in front of our feet, hair bands appeared.

  "It has been granted. Use these hair bands to at least straighten your hair up," said Scarbna in an embarrassed tone. We bent down, embarrassed at the fact that we were a mess from our last fight. Rose pulled her back in a high ponytail. Amy pulled it back into a half ponytail. Lita put it into a normal ponytail. Selene, who had long hair like mine, pulled into a ponytail, and then looped it around, forming a loop. I just pulled it back and made a tight braid all the way down.

  "One other problem. What should we do about the other four?" asked Rose. Scarbna looked at Rose harshly. Scarbna turned her head. Behind her, five hundred Dynasty soldiers appeared.

  "That should keep them busy," said Scarbna as she laughed evilly. I stood up and the others followed me down the hall. The soldiers followed us.

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  Ryo powered down the Inferno armor. The five tired and beaten warriors sat down to rest. They had just sat down, when Kayura's voice was heard.

  "Hey guys! We found a great place to . . . Hey, what happened?" she asked as she changed the subject.

  "We were just attacked by five warlords from the Dynasty," said Ryo.

  "And we were creamed," said Rowen.

  "I say we just went easy on the chicks," said Kento.

  "Let me get this straight. You were attacked by five girls and were creamed," summarized Kale.

  "You guys get all the fun," said Dais.

  "How strong were they?" asked Sekhmet.

  "Very strong," said Sage.

   "Glad to hear you guys think that," I said.

  "You wanted to know how strong they are, fight them for yourselves," said Sai. The girls and I jumped down into the light. The nine of them faced us as we smiled.

  "Look at this, nine vs. five. I don't think that's fair," said Selene.

  "I agree. I think we should let our new friends fight, too," said Lita, looking at Kayura, Dais, Sekhmet, and Kale.

  "But who should we ask to fight with them?" asked Rose, mockingly.

  "How about the five hundred men we have right behind us?" suggested Amy.

  "I agree. Go, fight soldiers!" I commanded as five hundred green armored soldiers ran after Kayura, Dais, Kale, and Sekhmet.

  "Don't worry. We've got this covered!" shouted Kale.

  "To Arms!" shouted Kayura.

  "Armor of Corruption!"

  "Armor of Venom!"

  "Armor of Illusion!"

  "Tao Chi!" Kale, Dais, and Sekhmet armored up and Kayura just pulled out her swords. Ryo and the others watched them and the five hundred soldiers disappear over a hill. After taking a deep breath, Ryo said,

  "Ronins, to Arms!"

  "Armor of Wildfire!"

  "Armor of Halo!"

  "Armor of Strata!"

  "Armor of Torrent!"

  "Armor of Hardrock!"

  "Tao Chi!" The armor formed around the five warriors. They drew their weapons and we drew ours. I nodded and the girls took their respective places.

  "Form the Inferno armor, Ronins, or your own attacks will be used against you!" I shouted. Rowen, strung an arrow and said,

  "Arrow Shock Wave!" A massive amount of energy formed before he let the arrow fly. I sighed as I picked a Ronin in my head. I gazed at the massive energy and it mad an U-turn, heading for Kento.

  "Kento!" yelled Rowen. It knocked him back a few yards, but he stood up and began to spin his staff.

  "Iron Rock Crusher!" said Kento. The ground ripped apart as it headed for us. I just made the energy turn toward Rowen.

  "Oh man, Rowen!" yelled Kento. Rowen was tossed up and landed hard on the ground.

  "Who's next?" I asked mockingly.

  The soldiers surrounded the four former warlords.

  "I say its about 125 men to one of us," said Dais, a little worried.

  "I like those odds. Star Sword Scream!" said Kayura as five stars in the sky sent down five energy bolts, knocking out about 100 soldiers.

  "Remind me never to be on the other side of that attack," said Kale. He ducked under an attack by a soldier and said,

   "Black Lightning Slash!" A black bolt of electricity shot out of his sword and destroyed about fifty soldiers.

  "I hope the others are faring well," said Dais, as he ducked under an attack.

  "You hurt my friends, and now you're going to see stars. Thunder Bolt Cut!" said Sage angrily. A green energy bolt fired at us. I, now tired with this game, had it turn at Sai.

  "Watch it, Sai!" said Sage. Sai, ducked in the nick of time. He stood and said,

  "Bad move, girls. Super Wave Smasher!" Water started to form at the tip of his man catcher. It shot at us, or it was supposed to. It ended up hitting Sage. He was forced back and landed about fifty feet away.

  "Sage!" yelled Sai.

  "That's it. I'm ticked off! Flare Up Now!" said Ryo as he connected his katanas and jumped into air. A huge blast of fiery energy charged us. I just broke it into two beams of fire that hit Sai and Kento. They fell back into some nearby trees. Ryo looked at us with hate in his eyes.

  "Snake Fang Strike!" said Sekhmet as six of his swords sliced through 50 dynasty soldiers. He stopped and turned watching them drop to the ground from the poison.

  "Web of Deception!" said Dais. His six extensor blades shot forward and knocked out fifty more soldiers. Then, he used his powers of illusion on the soldiers. Soon, the remaining 150 were destroyed at their own hands.

  "Gee, you think they were smart enough to tell the difference between themselves and the enemy. Guess not," said Dais jokingly.

  "This is no time to joke. Ryo needs us, I can feel it," said Kayura. They ran back toward Ryo.

   Sai, Sage, Kento, and Rowen turned into balls of colored energy. These balls merged with Ryo. After a blast of fire, he was in the Inferno Armor.

  "Now, let's finish you off," said Ryo.

  "Not so fast, it also seems we have a new trick up our sleeves as well. Girls, to arms!"

  "Armor of Psyche!"

  "Armor of Tidal Force!"

  "Armor of the Caverns!"

  "Armor of Volcano!"

  "Armor of the Comet!"

  "Tao Chi!" We appeared in our armor. I smiled as the bracelet on my right arm began to glow. The four other girls started to glow as well. Soon, they turned into energy balls that merged with me. A new armor appeared on me. It was a silver armor. I pulled out my swords. The gems on my bracelet seperated and three went on one sword and three went on the other, forming the Cosmos Swords.

  "I present to you, the armor of the Cosmos," I said. Just then, Kayura, Dais, Kale, and Sekhmet appeared.

  "What's happening?" asked Kale. Kayura said slowly,

  "I don't know, but we shouldn't butt in." Ryo ran at me and slashed his Soul Swords of Fervor at me. I blocked them with my swords.

  "Impressive, but it won't last," I said. Ryo smiled and brought his knee up to my stomach. I staggered back and Ryo used this opportunity to strike. He landed an upper cut to my face. I fell back, but flipped up. I blocked his roundhouse, but missed his punch to the stomach. I lost my breath and while I was catching it, Ryo slammed his sword hilts into my back. I landed on the ground. I didn't get up.

  "That was easy, too easy," said Ryo. He was right. I jumped up and grabbed his throat. I lifted him off the ground, which was tough, because he's taller then I. I slapped him one good.

  "Don't ever touch my face again," I said. With that, I dropped him, and did a spinning kick to his head. He fell backwards and regained his footing, only to be kicked again in the head. He fell back again, almost to his knees. I delivered another kick to his head, but he caught my foot. Then, using his strength, he tossed me across the field. I stood up.

  "Sorry, but I had to do it. Rage of Inferno!" Red energy fired at me after he touched the tips of his swords together. I gazed at it and was able, with the armor's added power, to get it to bend into the sky. I looked at Ryo, who was in shock that I could do that.

   "My turn. Rein of the Cosmos!" Above Ryo's head, tiny balls of energy pelted him. I raised my swords above my head. The little balls stopped coming. Ryo laughed at how tiny the attack was. He stopped laughing when I lowered my swords quickly. Above his head, thousands of tiny balls of energy formed one big ball of energy. It hit Ryo and exploded. As the smoke cleared, I inserted my swords into their sheaths. I saw Ryo lying in the dirt. I knew he was not dead.

  "Ryo of Wildfire, I leave you with this defeat. Remember it well. It is a fate worse then death itself," I said as I left the battle field.

  "Ryo!" shouted the others as they ran over to him. He was unconscious. They picked him up and took him back to the place where they had found earlier. I watched as they left.

  "The armor of Inferno is powerful. It would be a powerful adversary. But why didn't I kill him and get it over with? I'll ask Scarbna why I still can't kill," I said as I teleported myself to the palace of Empress Scarbna to tell her of my victory and of Ryo seeming so weak compared to us.