After leaving Warriors Universe and Saturn, along with Naomi Armitage and Ross Syllabus, not to mention Warriors Scorpio, Night, and Callisto in 2080 on Mars, the New Ronin Warriors hopped a portal back to their own time. A flash of light lit the sky, which was soon followed by a tremendous crash of thunder. From this came a fairly organized group of people dressed in varying sizes and colors of mystical samurai armor.
     This group of people stood on the top of a tall building, surveying the city of Chicago, which was their home. They hadn’t been gone long and the portal was supposed to return them to their time not more than five minutes after they left. Yet the city appeared to be partially destroyed, the area devoid of life and sound.
     “Who put the shhhhh in shytown?” Tony asked, his senses straining to hear any sign of life or movement.
     “The wind is gone from the windy city,” Bill Baker said, taking off his helmet and running his fingers through his hair.
     “What could have happened in the few minutes that we were gone?” Lizz asked, adjusting her robes so that they fit better.
     “Trouble,” Alex said. He had taken DEREK, his hand held computer, from his belt and was in the process of scanning the area.
     “Do tell,” Dan said, taking off his own helmet and setting it on the ground at his feet. He then sat down and hugged his knees.
     “The portal didn’t take us five minutes into the future, or five hours, or even five days, but five years.”
     “WHAT?!” everyone exclaimed.
     “We’re in 2083, five years after we left,” Derek said, reading the information from NICOLE’s screen, “everyone left the city a few months after we vanished. With nobody to protect the city from attack it was easy pickings for any and all takers.”
     “This is really bad, isn’t it?” Cathy asked. Alex and Derek nodded.
     “We might as well explore the city and see if we can find anything of interest,” Matt said, shouldering his axe.
     “That would probably be a good idea,” Deborah said, sending her armor back into subspace. She was now clad in a pair of tight blue jeans, white sneakers, a white blouse, and a black windbreaker.
     “I’m going to go without my armor since it’ll make me lighter and more agile,” she said, leaping from the rooftop to one lower down.
     “I’m going with her,” Steve said, shouldering his lance before leaping down and landing next to Deborah.
     “Wait for me,” Jess said, her light weight armor giving her more agility than Deborah’s bulky yet form fitting armor of Illusion. She leapt from the rooftop, performed several somersaults, and landed in a crouch next to Steve and behind Deborah.
     “I’ll stay here and keep and eye out for anything big,” Alex said, taking his helmet off and setting it on a nearby outcropping, “if you find anything make sure you radio in and let us know.”
     “I’m going with them as well,” Nathan said, leaping from the rooftop and landing behind the other three, who had already begun a rooftop dash. He leapt into the air in an attempt to catch up with the others. After several great leaps he managed to catch up with them.
     “We’ll go in the opposite direction,” Tod said, indicating himself, Thomas, Dan, and Shawn. The four leapt from the rooftop and landed on one lower down, just as the other four had done, only traveling in the opposite direction.
     “Make sure to report in with anything you find,” Cathy shouted at the rapidly vanishing forms.
     “That’s eight of our stronger warriors who just went on a rather dangerous mission,” Bill said, punching the air to keep himself occupied.
     “This is crazy,” Lizz said, leaping onto a higher part of the building. She sat down, dangling her legs over the edge.
     “You see anything up there?” Derek called up a couple of minutes later.
     “Not a thing,” Lizz called back as she scanned the horizon, “wait a minute,” she said a moment later.
     “What do you see?” Alex asked, trying to find the same point.
     “Cherry blossom petals, lots of petals,” Lizz said, “vector... north by northwest, near Twenty Seventh Street and Forty Second Avenue.”
     “I see it,” Alex called back. A moment later an energy bolt struck the area, which was followed up by an energy wave which blew the street out to the north and south of the strike point.
     “Think that was Jess’ attack?” Cathy asked.
     “Without a doubt,” Ryan said, “the only attack I know of that couples cherry blossoms and energy like that is her star sword scream.”
     “To the south,” Lizz shouted. The others turned to see a brilliant light followed by a blinding flash and an explosion into a pillar of energy.
     “Definitely Tod’s armor.”
     “West by southwest,” Lizz called down. Everyone turned to see black ice cover several buildings. A moment later several explosions rocked that area.
     “That was Steve’s power,” Joss said.
     “Something is trying to separate our friends,” Bill said, putting his helmet back on.
     “To the north,” Lizz said. Everyone turned to see several buildings surrounded by a violet haze. A moment later the buildings crumbled.
     “Definitely the armor of Venom and Nate,” Derek said.”
     “You think they’re testing them?” Lizz asked, leaping from her perch and landing next to Alex.
     “If they are, they’re trying the more deadly attacks,” Tony said.
     “East by southeast,” Bill shouted from the corner of the roof. They all turned that way as a massive explosion tore that section of the city asunder, blinding them with a brilliant flash.
     “Dan and the Nova Armor,” Alex said when he regained his vision.
     “Musta been some major blast,” Ryan said, drawing the pair of samurai swords which were holstered on his back.
     “I think that may have been one of his more powerful attacks, like the Nova Blast,” Alex said, putting his helmet back on, “chances are we will be tested soon.”
     “You think those aliens we encountered on the Event Horizon 2 are responsible for this?” Richard asked as he stood and began to pace around.
     “Quite possible,” Derek said, scanning the surrounding area with NICOLE. After a moment he said, “We have incoming on all sides.”
     “Our guys or the bad guys?” Cathy asked.
     “The bad guys. Visual confirmation in thirty seconds.”
     “Which direction?” Alex asked, floating above the others.
     “All directions, varying heights.”
     “I see them,” Joss said, also floating above the others.
     “They’re here!” Derek exclaimed, closing NICOLE and drawing his sword of darkness. From all sides came wave after wave of green armor clad aliens with spears and lances and chains & sickles.
     “We’re in serious trouble,” Bill said, blocking several spears with a rapidly spinning staff.
     “Tell me something I don’t know,” Alex retorted, deflecting spear after spear with his crossed swords. When he had a clear shot he joined his swords together at the hilts, leapt into the air, and utilized a Wildfire Flare, felling several ranks of the soldiers. Once he landed he was immediately swarmed by soldiers.
     “I don’t know what to do,” Lizz shrieked, dodging any attack that came her way and countering with a well placed lightning spell. When a spear landed at her feet she grabbed onto it and used it to vault herself onto a higher platform.
     “Use a high level spell,” Richard said, deflecting thrust after thrust with a pair of energy swords. He dissipated the swords, leapt into the air, and kicked a soldier in the face. He utilized the momentum to flip backwards, rebound off of a wall, and vaulted higher into the air, where he lobbed several waves of plasma time bombs into the ranks of the soldiers. The bombs exploded a moment later, blowing out their footing and sending the soldiers careening through the floor. Moments later, though, more soldiers appeared from through the floor and began attacking as hard as ever.
     “Now is when I wish Ryo and the others were here,” Joss said, cracking a pair of skulls with his pike.
     “We don’t know if they’re still around,” Ryan said, driving the end of his swords into a soldier before he hefted the body over his head and then catapulted it behind him. The body sailed through the air and struck several soldiers, taking them out and hurling them over the edge of the building.
     “Forces of water, come to our aid,” Lizz chanted, performing some complicated movements, “Hexagon Myst!”
     Twin triangles of water energy formed above the crowd of soldiers, spinning before joining together and forming a six pointed star, which spiraled over the soldiers before vanishing. A large group of soldiers fell following the end of this attack.
     “Where are our friends?” Alex growled at the soldier who he was holding by the throat. When the soldier refused to answer Alex began shaking the soldier. “Tell me where they are!” The soldier disintegrated into a pile of armor pieces, a green - black smoke escaping.
     “They’re empty armor with an evil spirit inside,” Cathy said, jabbing the end of her sickle into one of the soldiers before leaping into the air with the soldier in tow. She swung the chain over her head, sending the soldier in an arc which crashed into a smaller group of soldiers, felling them immediately. She landed and snapped the chain, returning the sickle to her hand.
     “Time to finish this,” Ryan said, his swords glowing with energy, “Rage of Inferno!”
     Ryan crossed his swords, flames erupting from the blades. He then spread the blades apart, sending wave after wave of searing flames at the soldiers, burning a group of them to a cinder.
     “Shadow Counter!” Derek shouted, slashing his sword downward. Around himself and his target the world went dark. A moment later his target fell, a large gouge in the head armor.
     “Blast Bomb!” Richard shouted. A large dome of energy formed around him, expanding and destroying anything evil it touched. A wave of flames erupted from the center and engulfed the evil soldiers before him. The spell ceased a moment later.
     “And now for the coup de gras,” Alex said, leaping into the air, performing complex moves with his swords, lightning crackling about him, “Ultimate Storm Breaker!”
     He swung his swords downward, releasing a pair of lightning bolts which struck in the center of the remaining soldiers before exploding in an energy wave which electrocuted each and every soldier. Alex landed a moment later, resheathed his swords, and said, “now we need to find our friends.”
     “According to NICOLE they are all concentrated in one area,” Derek said, “in the center of the city there is a large space craft which is unable to break free of Earth’s gravity due to a lack of sufficient power.”
     “They could be using our friend’s armor to produce the power needed,” Lizz said, leaping down from her platform.
     “That is a great possibility,” Richard said, “and a very grim one.”
     “Don’t forget that Dan is also Sailor Sun,” Alex said, “which poses double the power.”
     “And double the danger,” Tony finished, “since he’s one of those with a powered up armor. Too much power given or taken from him could mean one heck of an explosion.”
     “Well, if that’s the case we shouldn’t stand around any longer,” Bill said, shouldering his staff, “which direction is the craft?”
     “West of here, about half a mile,” Derek said. Half of the people didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence. They just waited for him to say “west” and then leapt from the rooftop to a lower one and took off in the direction of the craft. Those remaining shrugged and leapt from the rooftop as well in an attempt to catch up with the others.

     ‘Where the hell am I?’ Dan asked himself as he awoke. He was standing, his feet shackled to something. His arms were spread, also shackled. Around his head was a circlet of some sort.
     “I have to get out of here,” he said to nobody in particular. After testing the strength of his shackles he decided the best course of action would be to utilize a plasma bomb. He chanted a mantra which allowed him to channel his element into a sphere of energy in his left hand. He did his best to aim for his shackle, yet as the sphere flew the short distance it shrank in size until it expired in a small flash of light.
     “Well, at least someone else is awake,” Jess said from off to his right. “We can’t use our attacks due to some sort of magic drain that’s set up in here.”
     “You tried, didn’t you?”
     “Hell yeah. The highest level of Starstorm I could summon didn’t even dent it.”
     “Any thought as to why we’re here?”
     “Probably to act as a power source for their craft,” Nate said from his left, “at least that’s what I gather from these circlets.”
     “Think there may be a way to bust out?” Steve asked from across the room.
     “I’m thinking, I’m thinking,” Deborah said, also across the room. Dan took a moment to look around at his surroundings. The room was round, almost spherical in shape, with a door down across from him. Set into the walls were cross shaped spaces, in which they were set. In the background was the faint hum of machinery and the constant hum of the magic drain.
     “We could always try to overload the system,” Shawn said from off to the left.
     “I’m for it,” Tod said from the right hand side of the room, “What else do we have to lose?”
     “Same here,” Thomas said from the left hand side of the room, “we should at least try to get out of here.”
     The eight closed their eyes and chanted their mantras, summoning their elemental power. Auras in the colors of each person’s element glowed around them, activating the magic drain. Their strength waned a little, but they redoubled their efforts, filling the chamber with light and energy. In a giant puff of smoke the magic drain shorted out. Their energies combined, exploding into a pillar which blasted through the ceiling of the ship and out into the open. The pillar of energy dwindled as each person passed out from exhaustion. Dan was the last to fall into unconsciousness, falling limp against his shackles, his head drooping.

     Elsewhere in the city the remainder of the armor wearers and their two friends were rapidly closing in on the ship that sat in the center of the city. A pillar of energy exploded from their destination, illuminating the sky a brilliant silver - blue, not to mention illuminating everything else in different colors.
     “What’s that?!” Lizz asked, shielding her eyes with her right hand.
     “It feels like several elements combining,” Alex and Richard said in unison.
     “It’s coming from the center of the ship,” Derek said, looking at the readouts that NICOLE gave him, “NICOLE, map the inside of the ship, locate where the energy is coming from in relation to the nearest entrances.”
     The holographic grid whirred as the images whirled and spun on the screen. The blueprints of the ship were downloaded to the 3D grid, a smaller image of the spherical room where their friends were being held popped up above the main image before spinning down to the main blueprint to be highlighted in red. The most direct route was outlined in white with alternate routes outlined in green, fucia, yellow, and orange.
     “According to this the most direct route would be going through the hole in the top of the ship the energy pillar is making,” Alex said. A moment later the pillar dwindled until it completely vanished.
     “I’d say that’s the best route to take,” Ryan said, unsheathing his swords.
     “Woah, hold on a minute,” Richard said, “we don’t know why the energy output just ended like that. The aliens could have found out what they were doing and....”
     “Don’t even think things like that!” Tony said, pointing his spear towards Richard.
     “We’re not getting anywhere by just standing around,” Alex said, taking off towards the craft.
     “That’s mister impulsive for ya,” Cathy said, following Alex. The others shrugged before running after the first two.
     By this time Alex had reached the last line of buildings before the ship. As he approached, a line of auto cannons emerged from tactical points and began to fire on him. A green energy dome formed over the ship as well as part of the defense system.
     “Bloody hell,” he cursed, dodging enemy fire, “freaking defense system!”
     “A good reason not to go charging in,” Lizz said as she caught up to him. She leapt into the air, her right index finger glowing red, “Point Flare!”
     A beam of red energy leapt from her finger, raking across the auto guns before them. A split second later the guns were engulfed in flames in excess of 10,000 degrees Kelvin. Unfortunately the defense program upgraded itself and brought out several larger auto cannons.
     “Stupid alien technology,” Lizz mumbled under her breath.
     “Tornado Hammer!” Bill shouted, spinning his staff at an incredible velocity. The winds around him increased in speed, a whirlwind forming at the center of the staff’s spin. Once the tornado was large enough it exploded into a monstrous whirlwind which caught the autoguns in the gale force winds and tore them from their moorings.
     “Upgrading program to level three,” a computerized voice said as several large plasma cannons emerged from the rooftops and took careful aim. As they warmed up to fire, Alex collected what little sunlight he could and formed an aura barrier. The cannons fired, the beams striking the aura barrier and being deflected off into the sky. Alex fell onto his butt from the shockwave created when the beams struck and said, “I can’t take another blast.”
     “I’ll take care of this,” Matt said, unclasping his axe from his back and extending it to its full height. The edge of the blade glowed red as he held it above his head. From behind the auto guns came a wall of magma, which rose many stories in height. Alex and Lizz looked over to see a look of deep concentration on Matt’s face. Matt’s eyes snapped open a moment later as he called out his attack.
     “Supreme Magma Wave!”
     Matt slashed his axe through the air, a beam of energy cutting through the air and the wall of lava. The magma above the cut arced downward and covered the auto guns, melting them and covering them. The molten rock hardened a moment later, sealing them in. The remainder of the magma seeped back into the crack through which it came in the first place.
     “Scratch the auto guns,” Matt said, giving a thumbs up.
     “And now for the force shield,” Lizz said, performing the motions and chant for a spell. The sky darkened immediately. She shouted, “Skygate!” and several cascading sheets of lightning split the sky and struck the force shield, forming full circles where they struck.
     “Come on, damnit, over load all ready,” Lizz grumbled under her breath as she worked the spell.
     “Ultimate Storm Breaker!” Alex shouted from above, his attack striking the shield with a gigantic lightning bolt from the heavens.
     “I don’t think they have enough power,” Cathy said.
     “I’ll give this shield a kick that it’ll never forget,” Tony said, his armor glowing with energy. Lizz and Alex broke off their attacks and formed a protective barrier around their friends. The group watched as Tony channeled his energy into his hands, forming a large sphere. He shouted, “Frozen Rage Laser!” and the sphere exploded into an energy beam which struck the force bubble and covered it in a quickly expanding wave of ice, which stopped when it reached the edge of their own force bubble. Alex and Lizz dropped their bubble and recommenced their attacks.
     “Skygate!”
     “Ultimate Storm Breaker!”
     The thunderbolts struck the frozen barrier, shattering it instantly and overloading the shield projectors. Several small explosions rocked the area as the shield projectors self destructed, wisps of smoke welling up from where the shield projectors had been. The warriors stood still, holding their breaths and waiting to see if they had defeated the defense system or if the system would upgrade to level four. After many tense moments a computerized female voice said, “Threat to personal systems great. Sentinel program now powering down. Have a good day.”
     In one explosive sound everyone released their breaths and thanked their lucky stars that the defense program’s AI program was smart enough to see that it couldn’t win against them. Once they collected themselves they moved to the edge of the building to look down upon the ship.
     “It’s the Event Horizon 2,” Lizz gasped.
     “Coupled with the remains of the Resolute 3,” Alex added, looking at the front section of the ship and the ill fitting patches that held the front to the back, “What the hell happened?!”
     “You wish to know what happened here?” a familiar voice said in an English accent from behind them. They turned to see Cye of Torrent, his armor cracked and broken, his spear dulled by many battles, his face unshaven and caked with dirt.
     “Cye, what happened here?” Cathy asked, shocked by his appearance.
     “After you guys were whisked away the aliens thought themselves victorious. They took over Chicago, then moved into space to call their friends. The Resolute 3 decided to try to stave them off and failed miserably, but managed to knock the front half of their craft off and break it apart. Unfortunately the front part of the Resolute 3 was also knocked free. The aliens who survived managed to patch the front section of the Resolute 3 to their own craft, but some crossed wires meant a loss of power. They managed to crash down in the center of the city and there’s when the real trouble began.
     “They brought about cloning themselves and also instilling evil spirits into some old armor, which they soon began to mass produce. Ryo, the guys, and I teleported here and began fighting them. We fought a good fight, but in the end they were captured and their armor’s power drained. Now only I survive and I’ve about lost this fight.”
     “How horrible,” Lizz said, tears welling up in her eyes.
     ‘Something about Cye isn’t right,' Alex thought, ‘I’m getting a funny feeling from him, and these feelings don’t lie.’
     From behind them came another familiar voice, this one with a bit of a Brooklyn accent. “Don’t listen to him. He’s not the real Cye!”
     The group turned to see Rowen of Strata, as clean cut as ever, a golden arrow notched in his golden bow.
     “Now I’m confused,” Bill said, looking from Cye, to Rowen, back to Cye, and then to Rowen again. From behind Rowen stepped Sage of Halo, Kento of HardRock, Ryo of Wildfire, and the real Cye of Torrent.
     “I knew it,” Alex said under his breath, “my feeling never lies.”
     The fake Cye’s eyes glowed as he held his spear before him, the tip glowing with energy, “Super Wave Smasher!”
     A large bubble formed at the point of the spear, which grew in size until it exploded in a column of water and bubbles which moved at an incredible velocity.
     “We’re screwed!” Lizz said as he own water attack failed to sway the beam from its intended course.
     “No we’re not,” Tony said, joining his swords together at the hilts. He leapt into the air, spinning the twin blades above his head as a blizzard began, “Blizzard Sword Strike!”
     A beam of ice and snow fired from the blade, meeting the column of water head on. A battle of power began between the two as both poured their energies into their attacks.
     “Who do you think is going to break first?” Alex asked Derek. Derek shrugged.
     “Think we should help Tony?” Lizz asked. Everyone immediately struck battle stances.
     “Here comes a heat wave,” Alex said, joining his swords by the hilts before leaping into the air. Lightning crackled around him as he copied Ryo’s Wildfire Flare attack. A wave of flames arced overhead before striking the evil Cye’s spear. The copy Cye moved his spear upward, catching Alex’s attack with his own.
     “Shadow Counter!” Derek shouted as everything between himself and his target went black. Derek slashed downward and a moment later several slashes appeared on copy Cye’s armor.
     “How? How is it possible he managed to hit me?” copy Cye asked.
     “Shadow Counter can’t be blocked,” Derek said, a smug grin on his face.
     “A bit of help would be welcome,” Alex said, his own Wildfire Flare losing the battle to copy Cye’s attack.
     “Coming your way,” Cathy said, spinning the chain which was attached to her sickle before hurling it at copy Cye. The chain wrapped around copy Cye’s arms and held them by his sides. Copy Cye dropped his spear, the attack breaking off. Alex dropped back to the ground in a crouch, splitting his swords apart at the hilt and resheathing one of them.
     “What are you doing?” copy Cye asked, his voice becoming a growl.
     “Taking out the trash,” Sage said as he held his sword of Halo above his head, the blade glowing with green energy, “Thunder Bolt Cut!”
     Sage leapt into the air, engulfed in green light. As he came down he slashed downward, releasing a blade of thunder which struck copy Cye, draining much of his energy.
     “Iron Rock Crusher!” Kento shouted, raising his left hand, palm up, towards the sky. In his right hand he spun his pike around, waves of heat flowing around him. Kento stopped the spin, holding the pike and bringing it down as if to smash it to the ground, but stopping short. The ground beneath copy Cye split and crumbled, great rocks lifting into the air before being broken, the fragments crumbling to the ground. The energy released from this attack enveloped copy Cye, crushing him and destroying him. Once copy Cye was destroyed everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
     Ryo and the other four Ronin Warriors leapt down to the rooftop the other warriors were on and joined them. Both groups had some questions that needed answering.
     “Ryo, what happened here?” Lizz asked.
     “Copy Cye pretty much told you the story,” Ryo said, “except we got here and fought to a standstill. Our armors are incredibly strong now, but not strong enough to vanquish them.”
     “We’ve been on the run for quite some time, “Rowen said, “they want our armors to power their ship.”
     “Unfortunately they have eight of the stronger members of your group,” Cye said.
     “Screw eight.... Dan alone could power their freaking ship,” Richard said, “he’s Sailor Sun, and on top of that he now wears the Nova Armor, the upgraded form of the Flare Armor.”
     The five original Ronin Warriors gasped when they heard this. They turned toward the ship, which was now illuminated by the setting sun in shades of crimson, orange, and yellow. Without another word Ryo, Rowen, Sage, Cye, and Kento leapt from the rooftop onto the outer hull of the craft. The New Ronin Warriors shrugged before leaping the gap to join the original five. From their vantage point they could look into the hole of the craft and see what was below.
     “This is bad,” Lizz said, “this is bad, bad, bad, bad, BAD!”
     “You’re not just whistling some fancy tune,” Kento said, gazing into the hole at a green energy field below, “What is it?”
     “Bio disintegration field,” Richard said without looking up, “really nasty if you run face first into it.”
     “Which means we need to use one of the alternate routes,” Derek said, booting up NICOLE and calling up the map program, “we can scratch out going down through the hole.”
     “There’s an access point forty feet down the ship,” Joss said, looking at the holographic representation.
     “We’ll take that route,” Ryo said, indicating himself and the other four Ronin Warriors.
     “O.K., that’s one route that’s taken care of,” Derek said, highlighting that route with a silver line, “keep going down and straight and you’ll eventually reach the engine room.”
     “I’ll go with Joss, Tony, Lizz, and Matt,” Alex said, “we’ll go in one of the side entrances.”
     “That’s another route taken,” Derek said, marking that route with a gold line, “you can access your computer to call up the map.”
     “And that leaves me, Cathy, Bill, Derek, Ryan, and Brian,” Richard said, “and we’ll take the direct route through the front of the ship.”
     “Sounds like a plan to me,” Kento said as he and the other four Ronin Warriors ran for the access point.
     “We’ll see you guys around,” Matt said as he, Alex, Lizz, Tony, and Joss produced ropes and began rappelling down the side of the ship.
     “Good luck!” Alex called as he vanished down the side.
     “And now for us to get into position,” Ryan said as he, Brian, Derek, Rich, Cathy, and Bill ran down the main corridor of the ship, past the open access point, past the rudimentary patches, and after producing ropes and grappling hooks, rappelled down the front part of the craft and kicked in one of the hanger bay doors of the Resolute 3. They entered a moment later, beginning one of the greatest alien battles of all time, for they were immediately mobbed by battalion after battalion of alien soldiers.

     Elsewhere in the craft the original five Ronin Warriors had since shed their armor since the junction tubes they were crawling through were so small.
     “This really bites,” Kento said.
     “Keep your voice down Kento,” Rowen hissed, “you want them to find us?!”
     “No, but...”
     “Be quite Kento,” Sage said, a little harsher than he meant to.
     “There’s another ladder up here,” Ryo said from the front. One after the other they made their way down the ladder, delving deeper and deeper into the ship. Moments later the floor below them dropped out, sending them on a wild trip deeper and deeper into the craft. A couple of minutes later they were deposited in the middle of an army of soldiers.
     “Any ideas of how close we are to our friends?” Cye asked, dodging a spear blow before retaliating with a well placed kick.
     “Judging by the size of the army, I’d guess we were very close to them, “Sage said, grabbing hold of a spear and, utilizing the momentum, hurled the soldier at the other rend over his head and into the ranks behind him.
     “But which way do we go?” Rowen asked, noting the four junctions around them.
     “The most soldiers seem to be built up to the left, so I say we go left,” Ryo said.
     “But first we get armed, right?” Kento asked, punching a couple of soldiers across the room.
     “Oh yeah,” Ryo said, beginning the motions to summon his armor, “Armor of Wildfire.... Tao Chi!”
     “Armor of Halo... Tao Gi!”
     “Armor of Torrent... Tao Shin!”
     “Armor of HardRock.... Tao Inichi!”
     “Armor of Strata.... Tao Enoki!”
     There were five flashes of colored light and out of that stepped the five Ronin Warriors in their mystical battle armor, weapons drawn and all ready for a fight.
     “Let’s do this for our friends, the city, and the world!” Ryo shouted, slashing his way through the army of soldiers.
     “For the future of the entire world!” Rowen shouted, his thought echoed by Kento, Sage, and Cye as they went into battle against the army of soldiers.

     Jess awoke, completely drained of energy. She looked around the room, noting that the other seven were still completely out of it. She looked up at the hole in the ceiling, barely able to see the green glow of the bio disintegration field against the moonless night sky. From beyond the exit she heard shouts of battle, most of them from the soldiers, but some from Ryo and the other four Ronin Warriors.
     “The guys,” She said, her voice not much above a whisper, “they’re still alive. They came to save us.”
     She then attempted to utilize a starblast spell on her restraints, but found she was still too weak for such a low level spell. Exhausted of strength she let her head droop to sleep and recharge.

     Meanwhile, the second group of warriors, Alex’s group, had since made their way into the ship through one of the utility entrances on the side of the great ship. As they crawled through the access passages and made their way through the craft they concentrated only on locating their friends. Their footsteps echoed as they walked through the large corridors of nothing but pipes, other corridors, access panels, and empty space.
     “Does this seem too easy to you guys?” Lizz asked, looking around and noting how nobody even tried to attack them.
     “Almost like they want us to be off guard,” Matt said, the butt end of the handle of his axe thumping against the floor. Each strike caused a hollow sound to reverberate through the entire passageway.
     “Are we even traveling in the right direction?” Joss asked. Everyone turned to Alex to see him engrossed in the map program on his computer.
     “I’m sure we’re going in the right direction,” Alex said, running scan after scan of the area, “this is the map that I downloaded from NICOLE.”
     “I think we could continue walking,” Lizz said, “I have a feeling we’re getting close to our friends.”
     Alex closed DEREK and clipped onto his belt and the group continued to walk on through the empty passages. After many minutes they came to a large wall and a dead end. According to their scans the wall was several meters thick, heavily shielded, and on the other side was a spherical shaped room.
     “Lizz, think you can melt through it?” Alex asked, knocking against the wall in an attempt to find the thinnest point. Upon locating this point he took a piece of chalk from his pocket and made a mark on the wall.
     “I can try,” Lizz said, “but it’ll take a lot of power to do this.”
     “I can pitch in if needed.”
     “O.K.,” Lizz said, facing the wall. She chanted a spell under her breath to increase the power of her attack. Pointing at the wall she shouted, “Point Flare!” A beam of fire flew from her index finger, striking the point of the mark and burning into the wall.
     Alex held his hands with the palm towards the wall and chanted a spell. His palms glowed as he shouted, “Skygate!”, sheets of lightning cascading around the Point Flare, cutting into the wall. A moment later the hole began to widen in size, allowing them to cut deeper.
     “Blizzard Sword Strike!” Tony shouted, joining his swords together at the hilts and releasing a large beam of ice energy which joined with the Point Flare and Skygate and cut the hole large enough for them to begin to walk through. After half an hour of continual burn Lizz, Alex, and Tony both needed to stop and rest.
     “Think this is getting us nowhere?” Tony asked, leaning against the wall.
     “Totally,” Lizz said, brushing a lock of hair from her forehead before wiping her brow with her sleeve, “How much further is it?”
     “Another five feet,” Alex said, still gasping for air.
     “Should we give it a go?” Joss asked, indicating Matt and himself.
     “Save your power,” Alex said, regaining his feet, “we’re going to use a Delta Storm to break through.”
     “What?” Tony asked, “Are.... are you serious?”
     “We’re strong enough to do this if we believe in our armor and its power.”
     “I’m in,” Lizz said, “what do we have to do to initiate this kind of power?"
     “My element is lightning, Tony’s is water... we just need fire and that’ll initiate the attack.”
     “I hope you’re right about this,” Tony said, standing next to Alex.
     “I’ll cast the fire part of the attack,” Lizz said, standing on the other side of Alex.
     “Concentrate your powers at the central point,” Alex said, closing his eyes and, after raising his right hand, pointed the palm towards the center. Lizz and Tony followed in suit.
     “Fire.”
     “Lightning.”
     “Water.”
     “DELTA STORM!”
     Beams of elemental power concentrated in the center of their tunnel’s forward wall, joining and forming a twin pyramid of elemental energy. The shadow beam which resulted burned through the wall faster than their prior attacks had done. A couple of minutes later they burned through the wall and into the room. Once the breach was complete the three collapsed from exhaustion. Joss and Matt lifted the three over their shoulders and dragged them through the hole and into the spherical room. Once inside they set their friends down and gazed about in awe.
     “Where are our friends?” Joss asked, looking around at eye level. Matt gasped loudly, drawing Joss’ attention up toward the ceiling. Close to the pinnacle of the arch were their friends. held in by some device in the shape of a cross, their heads drooped with sleep and unconsciousness.
     “Are they.... are they dead?” Joss asked, his voice echoing through the room. When Matt didn’t answer he shouted, “Noooooooo!!!”

     “Dark Mist!”
     Derek’s defensive power created an inky fog which reduced visibility to nearly nothing. This allowed their forces to regroup long enough to formulate an attack plan.
     “Volcanic Eruption!” Brain shouted, plunging his daggers into the ground. The air about the soldiers turned red as plume after plume of magma erupted from the floor, hurling the soldiers about and burning others.
     “Rage of Inferno!” Ryan shouted, crossing his swords before waving them apart, releasing a wave of flames which mowed down a large portion of the remaining soldiers.
     “Quake With Fear!” Cathy shouted, hurling the chain portion of her weapon towards the army. A beam of red energy fired from the end, splitting and solidifying into many heavy chains, which cut a swath through the ranks of the soldiers, clearing a path towards the door.
     “Dragon’s Breath!” Richard shouted, hurling a sphere of blood red energy towards the army. The sphere exploded into a wave of dragon flames, mowing down all but a handful of the army before dissipating.
     “Showoff,” Bill said, spinning his staff around before him, a tornado forming, “Mega Wind Blast!”
     A small sun formed at the center of the tornado, heating the winds to intense levels. The tornado struck the soldiers and toasted them to a cinder before the tornado dissipated. With the soldiers gone they finally left the hanger bay and slowly made their way through the winding passage ways of the interconnected ships, meeting resistance at every turn, and overcoming it without batting an eye. They eventually reached the same corridor where an army of soldiers were engaged in mortal combat with the five original Ronin Warriors.
     “Hey, it’s Ryo an the others,” Cathy exclaimed, “Hey guys!”
     “Hey Cathy,” Kento shouted back, dodging blow after blow, “I’ll get back to you in a moment.”
     “Not a problem,” Cathy said, mowing down a large swath of soldiers with her chain and sickle.
     “Arrow Shock Wave!” Rowen shouted, charging a golden arrow with energy until a sphere formed around the arrowhead. He released the arrow, energy consuming it and cutting a large swath through the soldiers until it exploded, an expanding energy column forming and mowing down more of the army until only a few soldiers remained. These remaining soldiers uttered something in their native language before running away with their tails between their legs.
     “What a bunch of cowards,” Richard said as the soldiers ran off.
     “Where are our friends?” Bill asked.
     “Good question,” Cye said, “Where ARE our friends?”
     “They’re down this way,” Alex’s voice called from behind. Everyone turned to see Alex, Lizz, and Matt standing in the showers.
     “We can’t tell if they’re dead or just out cold,” Matt said.
     “What do you mean?” Sage asked as the other two groups joined with these three.
     “Come, follow us and you’ll see,” Lizz said, leading on. The others followed her lead down a long and silent hallway to the spherical chamber. Upon entering they looked around the room, eventually looking toward the ceiling and their friends.
     “Are they dead?” Cathy asked.
     “No, they’re still alive,” Richard said, forming a psychic sword. He leapt into the air and slashed Dan’s bonds, cutting him free. He caught the body as it pitched forward, slowing his fall with the aid of a levitation spell. When he landed he set Dan’s body on the floor, stretching him out flat on his back. Alex leapt into the air, swords in hand, and cut Tod loose of his restraints. In a blink of an eye he had one sword resheathed and Tod’s body draped over his left shoulder. A moment later he landed, setting Tod next to Dan.
     “Will we be able to revive them?” Joss asked.
     “I believe so,” Richard said, leaping back into the air. He cut Steve free, catching the limp body before descending back to the ground. The moment he set Steve’s body down the remaining bonds broke, the other five bodies pitching forward and falling from the perches.
     “Oh crud!” Bill said, leaping into the air and catching Deborah’s body.
     “Figures it would be booby trapped,” Tony said, leaping up and catching Thomas’ body.
     “I got it, I got it,” Lizz said as Shawn landed on top of her.
     “Boy, did she ever get it,” Alex said, wincing, “Ouch.”
     “I got her,” Kento said, catching Jess just inches from the ground.
     “I got the last one,” Derek said, catching Nate under the arms as he leapt into the air. He rebounded off of the walls before landing next to the other bodies. He set Nate down as the other four bodies were set with the rest.
     “How can we bring them back?” Matt asked.
     “Like this,” Richard said, taking hold of Lizz’s hands. Lizz resisted at first, but quickly realized that her magic power was needed. An aura of white surrounded the pair, expanding and surrounding the fallen warriors. A moment later the aura vanished and the eight warriors began to awaken.
     “What hit me?” Steve asked, sitting up and rubbing his head.
     “You’re... better off not knowing,” Cathy said.
     “The last I remember was the blast that overloaded the magic draining system,” Deborah said.
     “You did more than overload the system,” Matt said, pointing out the hole in the upper levels, “you sent a signal to us. Whether you meant to or not is unknown.”
     “We were successful,” Jess said, stretching all the assorted kinks out of her body, “I only wish I could remember how we got here in the first place.”
     “We got split up,” Tod said, “they wanted to challenge us separately to see how strong we were. They found us to all be incredibly powerful and decided we would be perfect for whatever they had planned.”
     “But what do they have planned?” Kento asked.
     “I really have no idea.”
     “How long until the magic drain will be back online?” Dan asked, rotating his left shoulder into its socket.
     “According to my calculations it won’t be online for quite some time,” Deborah said, “we toasted it.”
     “Yes, but you will never escape,” a voice said from above. The Ronin Warriors looked up to see a familiar alien flanked by several others.
     “It’s Bob,” Cathy said, pointing to the alien and calling him by his Earth name.
     “Aaaah.... young warriors. You are all here,” Bob said, “your armor shall be useful in powering our craft so we can go home.”
     “I don’t think so,” Rowen said, notching a golden arrow. As he drew back the string the arrow head burst into flames, “Arrow Shock Wave!”
     Rowen released the arrow, which sailed through the air before exploding in a massive shockwave. Unfortunately the platform that Bob was on was equipped with a magic drain of its own, which absorbed the power of the attack. Rowen fired off a barrage of golden arrows, all being deflected by a force shield.
     “No way,” Kento said, “that bites.”
     “Powers of shadow and flame, come together and burn this evil from the earth,” Lizz chanted, performing complex moves for a spell, “Shadow Doom Flare!”
     Lizz finished the motions with her hands cupped together, a sphere of dark flames forming. An energy beam emerged from the sphere, cutting across the space beneath the platform. A wall of super heated dark flame erupted from where the beam cut, flowing over the platform in a massive burst of flames. When the flames passed a moment later the platform was still there, but its finish was melted off. Bob and the scientists raised their heads from behind the wall of the platform a moment later, all surprised by the power of the attack.
     “Where could a mere human learn that kind of attack?” an aqua haired scientist asked, a female.
     “How could she break both the magic drain and force shield?” an orange haired scientist asked, another male.
     “The same way we’re going to wipe you from the face of the world,” Cye said, holding his spear before him, “Super Wave Smasher!”
     A bubble formed at the end of his spear, growing in size. Cye pushed his spear forward, bursting the bubble and sending a stream of water and bubbles rushing at the platform. The attack severed the platform from the wall, bringing Bob and the scientists down to the level of the warriors.
     “So, mister high and mighty,” Ryo said, stepping up to Bob, “tell us your evil plan or else.”
     “You have all ready fulfilled your part of the plan,” Bob said, grinning evilly as the hole in the ceiling, the hole in the wall, and the door were sealed over. Bob and the scientists vanished a moment later as the walls of the room began to glow.
     “We’re in the freaking engine!” Nate exclaimed.
     “They replaced the gravity drive with a magic drain,” Sage said, holding his Halo sword before his body. The sword glowed a brilliant white - blue as he channeled energy into it. “Thunderbolt CUT!”
     Sage leapt into the air, his sword above his head. He slashed downward, striking the wall, only to have the force reflected back upon himself. Sage sailed into the air and landed in a heap behind the others.
     “Woah.... that was some kick,” Sage said, regaining his feet.
     “I’m starting to feel a little drained,” Kento said, dropping to one knee.
     “This was their plan all along,” Tod said, “to use all of the armors to power their ship.”
     “Which means we didn’t put the magic drain completely out of commission,” Jess said, “Damnit!”
     “Think the power of the inferno can help us break out of here?” Rowen asked.
     “I don’t know if we can really do anything,” Ryo said, “Ryan, think your inferno power can bust us out?”
     “I’ll see what I can do,” Ryan said, drawing his swords and joining them at the hilts. He quickly disconnected them before crossing the blades before his body, flames engulfing them. He called, “Rage of Inferno!” while swiping his blades about, a massive column of fire bursting forth from the swords. The flames struck where the door was, and were quickly absorbed by the magic drain, which switched into overdrive to keep up with the power output.
     “Super Wave Smasher!” Cye called, a large bubble forming at the end of his spear. He lunged forward, the spear tip striking the bubble and bursting it. A massive column of high pressure water and bubbles joined the inferno power in trying to burst through the door.
     “Ultimate Storm Breaker!” Alex called, performing the motions for his attack by first crossing the blades of his daggers before his body, then holding the crossed blades towards the sky. He then slowly traced a circle in the air with the hilts of his daggers, a faint circle of energy forming. At the bottom of the circle he joined his daggers by the hilts. He quickly turned the blades upward, crossing them one more time before slashing to the sides, a large bolt of lightning issuing from the slash point and combining with the other attacks in the attempt to break free.
     “I think it’s working,” Lizz said as smoke began to fill the chamber, “the magic drain is overloading.”
     Ryo joined his swords together at the hilts, forming a twin blade which he held above his head as he leapt into the air. Lightning crackled around him as a large wave of energy flowed from his blade. He shouted, “Flare Up NOW!” before swinging downward, releasing the power of the Wildfire Flare. The energy wave struck the area the other attacks were focused on and a moment later the wall melted clear through to the main section of the ship.
     “We did it!” Jess cheered moments before the army of soldiers charged into the room. The warriors drew their weapons and charged into the fray, hacking and slashing the army to ribbons.
     “Time to take out the trash,” Thomas said, his axe magically extending to a greater size. The blade glowed and became engulfed in flames as he held it before his face. He then held the blade above his head before spinning the axe around one time in his hands, a large circle of flames forming. He shouted, “Blazing Cutter!” before slashing the circle across the middle. A pair of energy blades cut a large swath through the army before exploding in a pillar of flames, which expanded a little before fizzling out.
     “This is going to take more time than we have,” Shawn said, opening a massive vortex beneath the army of darkness, which sucked them into a parallel dimension where they were destroyed by liquid energy.
     “There’s no end to them,” Richard said, slashing through the army with a pair of energy blades.
     “We need one all out attack to slag them for good,” Dan said, notching a golden arrow into his crossbow. Energy flowed into the arrow, causing it to glow and the arrow head to burst into flames, “Sun Flare!”
     Dan pulled the trigger, releasing the arrow, which sailed through the air and landed in the center of the army. The energy exploded into a massive wave of solar intensity heat and flames, which vaporized half of the soldiers in one shot. The remaining soldiers saw what the one attack did before turning and running for their lives.
     “Hey!” Deborah shouted, “Come back here and let us blow you away!”
     “Looks like our path is clear,” Rowen said, “what do we do now?”
     “We should go to the bridge and see about shutting this ship down,” Steve said.
     “We should also see about destroying the gravity drive,” Kento said.
     “You mean the magic drive,” Cye said. Kento groaned when his friend corrected him.
     “Half of us will go to the bridge and stop Bob from continuing his evil plan,” Tod said, “the other half will find the main controls for this magic drive and put it out of commission.”
     “Why don’t the rest of you go to the bridge and we’ll take care of things here,” Ryo said. When Alex began to protest he said, “Just do it. We belong in this time period.”
     “O.K.,” Alex said as the New Ronin Warriors ran for the bridge, “good luck Ryo.”
     “Thanks my friend,” Ryo said as Alex ran off, “but you’ll need it more than me.” Once Alex and the others were out of sight, Ryo turned to the others and said, “Where do we start?”
     “We start right here,” Rowen said, notching a golden arrow before aiming it towards the ceiling. Energy flowed into the arrowhead a moment later, a large sphere of energy forming. He called, “Arrow Shock Wave!” before releasing the arrow. The arrow sailed through the air before striking the wall, the energy detonating and tearing a massive hole in the chamber. Outside of the chamber they could see the main power coupling, magic energy causing it to glow an eerie lime green.
     “Looks like we hit the jackpot,” Kento said, “so what do we do now?”
     “We wait for the others to stop that evil scientist,” Cye said, “that’s all we can do for now.”

     “Sir, the warriors have broken free of the magic extraction chamber and are on their way here,” a blue haired female scientist said from a nearby console.
     “How long until they reach here?” Bob asked from the command chair on the battle bridge of the Resolute 3.
     “Moments,” the scientist said, “they’re cutting through the troops like an unstoppable force of nature.”
     “Sir,” a female with violet hair said from a second console,” the main power coupling has been exposed from inside the magic drive.”
     “By whom?” Bob asked.
     “By the original five Ronin Warriors. They’re still inside the drive and are powering up to blow us out of the sky.”
     “Are they crazy?!” Bob exclaimed, his grip increasing on the arms of his seat, “if they blow that out then we’re all doomed!”

     As the New Ronin Warriors charged through the halls of the ship they relied on Lizz and Richard, their two powerful spell casters, and Alex’s Siren Song magic, which worked wonders on the troops, but left him mentally drained from maintaining his concentration. The occasional attack from an armor helped to clear their path as well. Several minutes later they stood outside the doors to the bridge, which was guarded by heavily armored troopers.
     “What do we do now?” Steve asked, blocking an incoming blade with his lance.
     “We kick their butts,” Cathy said, swinging the sickle part of her weapon towards the troopers. The blade missed the first before embedding itself in the chest of the second trooper.
     “We just scored one,” Cathy said, tearing the blade from the chest of the fallen trooper. A green haze floated from the cut. The second trooper hurled shuriken towards the New Ronin Warriors, all which missed their marks. Lizz utilized a multi - fireball attack, roasting the remaining trooper to a cinder and blowing the doors off of their hinges.
     “What the bloody hell?!” the violet haired crewman exclaimed as the doors fell inward.
     “We’re here to end your rule of terror Bob,” Tod said, stepping onto the bridge. Two armored troopers moved in to attack him, but met their ends swiftly thanks to Jess’ starlight swords.
     “I’m surprised you made it this far, Ronin Warriors,” Bob said, turning in his seat. His eyes glowed red and a force wave picked Jess up and tossed her back out into the hall.
     “What in the world?!” Alex exclaimed as Jess collided with him.
     “He’s some sort of a psychic,” Richard said, hurling an energy beam at Bob. The beam struck a barrier before Bob being redirected back at Rich, who ducked the beam, allowing it to strike a nearby wall.
     “How do we defeat something like that?” Dan asked, setting up a defensive barrier as several energy beams were fired in his direction, “he’s incredibly powerful.”
     “Lucent Laser Run!” Tod said, holding his sword above his head. The blade glowed as he slashed downward. At the bottom of his swing a beam of light was released which raced around the bridge, cutting through everything in its path until struck the helm control station, destroying it instantly. Bob turned around, his eyes glowing. Tod sailed through the air, striking against everything in his path until Bob became bored and hurled him into the hallway. A moment later the ship pitched forward, hurling everyone into disarray.
     “We’ve got trouble!” Matt said, digging his axe into a nearby wall to avoid being hurled about.
     “Tell us something we don’t already know,” Derek said, digging his sword into a nearby wall and holding on for dear life.
     “You fools,” Bob cried, holding onto his chair, “without helm control we’re all going to die!”
     “Correction,” Shawn said, teleporting the New Ronin Warriors out of the ship and back to the planet. Inside the magic drain chamber the five original Ronin Warriors took aim with their attacks and let fly.
     “Arrow Shock Wave!"
     “Super Wave Smasher!”
     “Iron Rock Crusher!”
     “Thunder Bolt Cut!”
     “Flare Up NOW!”
     The five attacks struck the main power coupling, destroying it with a flare of passion. The magic drive exploded, beginning the downfall of the Event Horizon 2. From the drive section on the ship exploded in a beautiful blossom of flame, ever expanding, ever blooming, ever destroying. By the time the explosion struck the bridge everyone was ready to die, Bob especially.
     On the ground the New Ronin Warriors watched as the ship detonated in the stratosphere. The explosion was a beautiful one, for it opened out like a beautiful flower, one with red petals and a yellow and orange center.
     “Is it over?” Deborah asked, leaning her head on Matt’s shoulder.
     “For this future, yes,” Shawn said, “but we need to return to our time and make sure this future never happens.”
     “I can open the start of a portal, but I’m drained after using all of that magic that I did,” Alex said.
     “As long as you can open the start of one I can get us home,” Shawn said, pooling his powers. Alex waved his hand, a doorway opening in space. Shawn dumped his power in and a firm portal finally formed. One by one the warriors stepped through the portal from the ruined Chicago in 2083 to their Chicago in 2078, where the Event Horizon 2 still floated above the city. The portal opened in the hallway they hadn’t left but five minutes earlier.
     “Where the hell were you?!” Bob asked, the troopers near him brandishing their weapons.
     “We’re going to end this for once and for all,” Dan said, his armor glowing as he began to pour all of his energy into his forbidden attack.
     “And make sure you don’t come back,” Steve said, spinning his lance about, a ghostly palm tree forming before bombs began firing from it, “Coconut Bomb Spread!”
     A wave of explosions tore through the ship, wiping many of the troopers out of existence.
     “You shall die!” Bob said, his eyes glowing. A shockwave tore through the hallway, but was blocked by a twin shield created by Richard and Lizz.
     “Hurry up and finish him,” Richard said, strain showing on his face.
     “Here goes,” Alex said, taking out his transformation pen. Joss, Tony, Derek, and Dan also took out their power items. “Saturn Planet Power!”
     “Uranus Planet Power!”
     “Neptune Planet Power!”
     “Pluto Planet Power!”
     Four flashes of light brought forth four of the five sailor soldiers of the future. Even as Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto struck stances for battle, Sailor Saturn reversed his transformation back to normal street clothes. As he stepped to the front the others could sense a strange power coming from him. The dragon crystal and dragon dagger pendants glowed, as did his three rings and the bracelet of wind he wore on his right wrist.
     Bob got one look at Alex’s power reading before he turned blue in the face.
     “On behalf of the spirits of fire I shall burn you from this plane of existence,” an ethereal voice said from Alex’s body. Alex stretched his left hand out, palm up, and a sphere of flames formed. He swirled his hand about, drawing a design in the air until the flames which surrounded him leapt forth and attacked Bob, wrapping around him and burning him to a crisp. With his right hand Alex gave a signal to Dan, who released the accumulated energy.
     “Nova Blast Wave!”
     The resulting explosion tore the craft apart, nuking every bit of it before any of the debris could reach the ground. From the sky came many bubbles of energy in every color of the rainbow. Inside of these bubbles were the New Ronin Warriors, their two non armor wearing friends, three Sailor Soldiers, and the supposed leader of this strange group. Once they landed on the roof of the apartment building where they lived they all collapsed, sighs of relief and yawns of exhaustion emanating from each person.
     “We did it,” Alex said, “we’re home and we saved the future.”
     “And now we need a vacation,” Derek said, yawning and stretching.
     “I’m going to sleep for a month,” Joss said. Everyone turned to him to give him a death stare. “What’s wrong?”
     “You didn’t do hardly anything this entire episode!!” Lizz growled, getting Joss in a headlock, “Even those who were captured did more than you did!”
     As the two wrestled the others entered the building and headed for the apartment. Once inside, those wearing armor sent it back to sub space and those who were transformed reversed their transformations. Thomas plopped down on the pit couch, followed by everyone else. Before he sat down, though, Alex checked his messages.
     *beep* “Hey Alex, it’s Cye. I have great news. You and six of your closest friends are invited to come to Japan for a major sight seeing trip. Ryo, the gang, and I are going on a bus trek across the country to check out some of the scenery and we think it would be a good idea if you and some of the guys from the states came with us. Call us back as soon as you can. Oh, Ryo and the gang say hi. We hope to hear from you soon. Later.”
     Alex plopped down on the pit couch, his mind working rapidly. Who would he take with him on the trip?