Chapter Six: Volcano's Variation

  Ryo walked up the volcano's slope. He remembered it being steeper, but it's been a thousand years. He stuck his hands into his pockets, as he thought about how he needed gloves. As he neared the top, he noticed that the temperature was rising. He pulled out a silver ball from his pocket. Closing his hand around it, he transformed into his sub armor.

   "Whoa, look at it. This thing's going to blow soon," said Ryo as he peered into the volcano.

   "If it's too hot, then go home," said Lita as she appeared on the opposite side of the crater. Her black hair, which was pulled back, swirled around her face from the hot air that was rising.

   "Come and get me, then, sweetheart, if you think you can take the heat," said Ryo.

  "Fine then, I will," said Lita as she jumped over to Ryo. Lita faced Ryo and looked into the volcano. Then, she looked at Ryo, impatiently, as if she was waiting for something.

   "Why don't you fight?" asked Ryo.

   "I'm waiting for you to get fully armored," said Lita.

   "Ok, why didn't you say so? Armor of Wildfire, Tao Chi!" said Ryo. His red wildfire armor formed around him.

   "Armor of the Volcano, Tao Chi!" said Lita. She appeared in her armor. Twisting her staff around so that she held both ends, she charged Ryo. He made an X with his swords and blocked her attack. She released her staff and quickly did a sweeping kick that knocked Ryo down. She tried to slam her staff into Ryo, but he rolled out of the way and flipped up. He slashed at her with his swords, but she blocked them with her staff. He brought his knee up and Lita jumped back. Though she dogged that, she couldn't dodge Ryo's uppercut. She crashed into some boulders a few feet away.

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  "Crystal, please explain to me why you haven't attacked the Ronins at their base and why you haven't brought back our kidnapped fighters," said Scarbna.

   "Well, mistress, to tell you the truth, we can't find them. We've tried every type of scan and can't get a reading. And until we find them, we can't rescue the others," said Crystal.

   "Plus, Lita is battling Wildfire as we speak. Ryo is naive to think that the volcano will power him up and not Lita. She is drawn from fire, am I right, and lava as well. Ryo will loose, and we will have the key to the Inferno armor," said Rose. Scarbna and I looked at her.

   "She has a point," I said, amazed that Rose said something intelligent. Scarbna produced a viewing screen. She searched the surrounding area. She gave a gasp as a green dot was seen traveling up the volcano.

  "I've always hated Halo. Crystal, keep him from interfering," said Scarbna. I nodded and left.

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   Ryo jumped back from Lita's attack and faced her. He connected his Katanas and jumped into the air.

   "Flare Up Now!" said Ryo as fiery energy blasted down at Lita. Lita closed her visor and blocked her face with her hands as fire swirled around her from the blast. Ryo landed and looked around. He didn't see Lita anywhere. A twig snapped behind him and he turned around.

   "Thanks for the fire, hot shot, but now that I'm fired up, I'll show you how to play with fire," said Lita.

  "Try me, babe," said Ryo. Lita hated that word and glared at Ryo. She slammed her staff into the ground as she said,

   "Volcano Eruption!" Lava from the volcano shot into the air. Several towers of lava surrounded Ryo. As they slammed down on Ryo, he closed his visor and faced the heat.

   "Gee, it's a shame I did that," said Lita as she started to power down her armor. She quickly called it back, when she saw that Ryo was still standing. He faced Lita as a voice behind him said,

   "Nice defense, Ryo. But can you take on two of us?" Ryo looked over his shoulder to see me standing in my armor of psyche. He gulped and hoped for a miracle. Rose charged Ryo from the front and I charged from the back. I didn't make it, for out of the corner of my eye, I saw green energy blast at me. I fell to the ground.

   "Nice fireworks, but mind if I rain on your parade?" asked Sage as he jumped behind Ryo, facing me.

   "Thanks, man. Hold Tinky here, while I deal with the firefly," said Ryo as he jumped into the volcano.

  "Right," said Sage with a smirk. I was mad, but I controlled my temper and nodded to Lita for her to follow Ryo. She jumped in after him. Sage looked at me and I looked at him.

  "So, Halo, ready to join our side?" I asked.

   "Not really, honey, but I think you'll be on our side sooner then you think," said Sage.

   "Wrong, blondee," I said as I brought both my swords down on him. Sage blocked it with his one sword. I kept applying pressure, and he kept holding his ground. The ground exploded behind us as the pressure kept on rising. I released my swords and tried a spinning kick. Sage grabbed my foot and threw me down to the ground.

  "Sorry, I really am against hitting girls, but you're the exception. Thunder Bolt Cut!" said Sage as green energy shot at me. I teleported behind Sage and kicked him to the ground.

   "My turn," I said as I was about to use an attack. But I saw Scarbna's image and stopped.

   "Crystal, return. I have a new plan for you," said Scarbna. I nodded and said to Sage,

   "You're just lucky she stopped me." I disappeared.

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   "Ryo, give it up, you can't win," said Lita, between gasps of breath.

  "Never," said Ryo in the same manner. It had been an intense battle. But with both people getting equal power from the volcano, it was a draw. Ryo had used a powerful flare up now, but it was no good on Lita. The same was with Lita's attack on Ryo.

   Ryo pulled out his swords. There was one chance left. He ran at Lita, with a sword aimed at her throat. He smiled as Lita took the bait. She ducked. While she was down, he used his free hand to pull the choker off. A black mass left her body. She collapsed to the ground. When she was down, her armor powered down. Ryo picked her up and jumped out of the volcano. Once out, he looked around for Sage. He saw him on the ground.

   "Sage, you ok man?" said Ryo as he powered down to his sub armor and placed Lita on a rock.

  "Yeah. I guess so. Did you pull it off?" asked Sage. Ryo nodded. Lita, meanwhile, slowly opened her eyes.

  "How did I get here?" She said, sitting up. Ryo and Sage turned and walked over to Lita. Sage powered down as Ryo explained what had happened.

   "Oh. That explains a lot. Did you say it was near one? We should get back. Besides, I'm tired. Guess you can call it heat exhaustion," said Lita as Ryo groaned.

   "Enough with the fire cracks already. Let's get back. Something tells me the others will be interested in finding out what we have," said Ryo.

   "Ok, but lead the way and let the fire be your guide," said Sage sarcastically.

   "Sage!" said Ryo, laughing.

  "Couldn't help it," said Sage.

  "Don't worry Ryo. He's just seen the light," said Lita as she burst out laughing. Ryo joined in.

   "What's so funny?" asked Sage as he didn't get the joke. They walked down the volcano's slope. Ryo glanced over his shoulder, noticing that the volcano was no longer going to erupt.