Chapter 16
By LirinStar

        "How can the evil Dynasty still be kickin'?!" Kento yells.

        Kento, Mia, Sai, Sage, Rowen and Lirin were gathered in the living room discussing the battle between Rowen, Lirin and Sarenbou while Ryo was taking a nap in his room. Rowen and Lirin still have their sub-armor on.

        Mia thought and rested her chin on her hands. "This Sarenbou knows of Ryo's White Armor."

        Sage closed his eyes and said, "Yeah, and Ryo wiped out Talpa and Taros." He opened his eyes and raised his head slightly. "That must mean that Ryo will be Sarenbou's target."

        "All right guys, we're going to have to keep Ryo cool and under wraps!" Kento told the group.

        "Yeah." Rowen agreed. "Sarenbou would destroy us all if he got a hold of Ryo's White Armor."

        Kento made a fist. "Hey, we don't even know the full scoop on that armor, now do we?"

        Sai put his hand on his chin. "It has great power, but it takes at least four of our armors to work."

        "And Ryo is too exhausted to fight right now," Mia pointed out, "so you've all got to protect him."

        The boys and Lirin all nodded. They all knew that Ryo had still not quite fully recovered from using the White Armor to defeat Talpa, even though he had spared with Rowen when he and the others had gone to Sage’s. Then he had to use the White Armor again to defeat Taros, which they all knew had drained him even further. But, to keep up his façade, he had sparred with Lirin. He had been hiding how weak he was from them so they wouldn’t worry, but they could all see it.

        Lirin, who had remained silent all this time, listening to the others, reassured her. "Don’t worry Mia, we'll cover him."

        "We can lure Sarenbou to us. Ryo will never have to know." Kento suggested.

        "Alright." Rowen agreed. "We'll lure Sarenbou to us. Sound good?"

        "Oh, it works for me!" Said told him.

        Kento raised his fist into the air. "Well then, let's go put this plan into action!"

        "We'll thrash him before Ryo finds out." Sage said.

        "The fight won't be easy without Ryo," Mia began, "but you must guard the secret of the White Armor from Sarenbou." All the Ronins stand up and she continues. "It's very important for you to protect Ryo right now. He needs time to recover from those last battles."

        Lirin nodded her head in agreement. But deep down, she had a really bad feeling about all of this.

 

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        Battleground where Lirin and Rowen fought Sarenbou…

        Kento, Sai, and Sage are now in their sub-armor and were standing on the road where Lirin and Rowen had previously fought Sarenbou.

        "It's right here," Sai pointed out, "this is where Sarenbou appeared."

        Kento had his arms crossed in front of him. "Now we wait for him to come out." He looked back to where Rowen and Lirin were waiting in the shadows of the nearby trees by the side of the road in their full armor.

        Unknown to them, Sarenbou looks down at them from above. "Ronin Warriors, you think I will fall easily. I will show you my boldness. You will see that you have made a grave mistake."

        Lirin looked up to see the moon. She smiled as it gave her comfort, but her smile quickly became a frown as dark clouds quickly began rolling over it. A clap of thunder was heard as well as the cries of the birds. "Rowen?"

        Rowen looked up after he heard her say his name. He too saw what she had seen. "Huh?"

        Sai, Kento and Sage looked around them. "It’s him." Kento announced.

        A small dot of light appears before him and Sai and Sage. Soon, it begins to take the shape of Sarenbou and he starts to approach them. The three Ronins take up their battle stances, preparing for anything Sarenbou might through at them.

        "Look out!" Sage told them, on his guard against Sarenbou.

        "One of you holds the armor that defeated Talpa." Sarenbou began. "Step forward, and face me."

        "Fight us and find out!" challenged Sai.

        "Yeah, you think we're going to tell you?" asked Kento.

        Sarenbou laughed and then disappeared. Kento, Sai, and Sage looked around for him frantically.

        Lirin pointed frantically to the top of the cliff behind them as Sarenbou’s shadow rose up, his eyes glowing red. She and Rowen started to run towards the others to help them out.

        "Hey, Kento, Sai, Sage watch your back!" Rowen yelled.

        Kento, Sai, and Sage turned around just in time to see Sarenbou’s halberd flying towards them. When it struck the ground between them, it produced a powerful energy, throwing them all back.

        "Show me the armor I seek now or I will have to test you!" Sarenbou yelled, becoming impatient.

        Rowen decided it was time to take this guy out. He drew his bow and an arrow and jumped high into the air. "Armor of Strata! ARROW…SHOCK…WAVE!"

        Lirin followed his lead by taking out her Cosmic Star Swords. "Armor of Cosmos! CELESTIAL…BLAZING…COMETS!"

        The power of the combined attacks engulfed the area around Sarenbou, destroying much of the cliff and leaving a cloud of dust and dibrie. As the dust begins to settle, they saw Sarenbou, laughing at them and unharmed.

        Lirin walked over to where Kento, Sai, and Sage were with disbelief in her eyes. Rowen landed from his attack next to her, also in a state of disbelief.

        "Sarenbou!" Kento exclaimed.

        "How?" was all Sai could say.

        Rowen couldn’t believe his eyes. "He's still standing!"

        Lirin stared at Sarenbou. She could tell he was planning to do something. She furrowed her brow. "What's he up to?" she asked aloud, taking a step forward and looking around. Then she gasped. She was no longer looking at Sarenbou, who was standing before them, but had her eyes cast upward. ‘So, the Sarenbou Rowen and I attacked was a decoy. Clever.’ she thought to herself. ‘I’m surprised I didn’t realize it before now! I should have!’

        Upon hearing her gasp, the guys looked at her and then looked up to see what she was looking at. There, in the face of the moon, Sarenbou, who now was upside down, hovered. Again, Sarenbou’s eyes glowed red and darkened. The evil rays came out of his eyes and struck four of the Ronins. Lirin had managed to dodge them in time.

        "I've seen through your deception." Sarenbou tells them. "You have no secrets from me." He began to study Kento, Sai, and Sage, looking for the White Armor. Outlines of their armors appeared over them. "The armor I seek is not among you, but I sense there is still one left."

        Rowen tried to fight through the pain and raised his bow and arrow. "You won't find it!"

        Sarenbou sent more blasts of energy to him and Rowen cried out in agony and lowered his bow.

        "Rowen!" Lirin cried. She had to dodge again and Sarenbou sent out another ray of energy towards her.

        "You can not defy me for long." Sarenbou told them. "Since you each hold a key to the power of the armor I seek." The moon began to cloud over again. "I will find the remaining Ronin Warrior and bring him here. Then I will claim the power I crave!"

        "No! I won’t let you get Ryo or his armor! And I won’t let you hurt my friends anymore!" She ran towards Sarenbou with swords unsheathed. She leaped high into the air and called upon her strongest attack. "FURRY…OF…COSMOS!"

        Sarenbou looked on in surprise as an immensely powerful attack came his way; it was much more powerful than her other attack had been. He was barely able to dodge the attack.

        ‘Oh, no! He dodged it! I can only do that attack once before I pass out.’ Lirin thought worriedly. ‘I’ve got to try and stay conscious! The others need me.’ She tried to stand steady and act as if she was just as strong as she was before she did the attack, but Sarenbou saw right through her façade.

        ‘She is weak after that attack and can barely stay conscious! But, I should not underestimate her. She is desperate and will do anything to save her friends. I’ll take her down now, that way I won’t have to deal with both of the armors that killed Talpa.’ Sarenbou thought to himself. He pointed his halberd at Lirin and let a wave of power escape from it. Having no energy left to dodge the attack, Lirin was it head on and slammed hard into the cliff. She was knocked into unconsciousness and slumped down to the ground with her back against the cliff.

        As Lirin was knocked out, the clouds over the moon darkened more. "It is now time to find my new armor." Sarenbou said aloud and disappeared.

 

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Mia’s house, Ryo’s room…

 

        Ryo was sleeping peacefully in his bed, with White Blaze sleeping on the floor by him. White Blaze woke up just then though, feeling something evil in the air around him. He stood up and let out a low growl. The silhouette of Sarenbou flashed behind the curtain of Ryo’s sliding class door. White Blaze growled again, louder this time. This woke Ryo up.

        "White Blaze? What is it?" Ryo looks at the glass door as White Blaze lunges through it, shattering glass all over the place. Ryo immediately got out of bed and grabbed his kanji orb from the nightstand beside his bed. "White Blaze!" He changed into his sub-armor and ran out to the tiger’s side. "What is it?" he asked the tiger.

        White Blaze continued to growl and was looking up at something. Ryo looked up to see what the tiger was looking at when he saw a dot of light rise up. Soon the light transformed into Sarenbou.

        "What’s this?" Ryo asked. "A Dynasty Warrior?"

        "You missed the battle Ronin Warrior. While you slept, your friends were fighting."

        "What happened?!" Ryo asked, worried about the others. Ryo moaned as his knees threatened to give way beneath him, but he caught himself. ‘I shouldn’t have sparred with Lirin! Now I’m gonna regret it!’

        "Ahh! I sense you are weak. You have not recovered from your battle with Talpa. [he doesn’t know about Taros since Taros didn’t serve the Dynasty, but only himself.] "That would explain why your friends launched an attack without you."

        Ryo looked surprised. ‘So they knew I was weak all this time! Why didn’t they say anything?!’

        "Well, hear me now, boy." Sarenbou continued. "Your friends have left you and your armor is coming to me!"

        "No way!" Ryo yelled.

        "Ryo!" Mia cried holding aside the curtain to step out on the balcony with Ryo and looking down at the shards of glass everywhere. After she had heard the glass shatter, she had come up to see what the matter was. She looked up to see Ryo in his sub-armor and then turned and gasped as she saw Sarenbou.

        Ryo turned to her. "Mia, quick, get out of here!" he ordered.

        "Ryo, you're too weak to fight." She countered.

        "The guys NEED me! I have too."

    "Please, Ryo." she begged.

        "Mia-" Ryo began, but was cut off by Sarenbou’s laughter.

        "Your friends are nearby, and they are dying. Perhaps you should try to find them, Wildfire." Sarenbou sneered.

        "White Blaze, let's go!" Ryo ordered, and jumped on the large tiger’s back. White Blazed jumped off of Ryo’s balcony and started running towards where the others were.

        "Ryo." Mia breathed. She looked in time to see Sarenbou disappear again. Then she darted back inside the house and ran to her Jeep to follow them.

 

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        Ryo, now in the full Wildfire armor was riding atop of White Blaze.

        Sarenbou was close behind them and laughing gleefully. He was having fun with this. "Ready to give up your armor, little man?" He swings his halberd at them a few times, but they dodge each attack. "My power outweighs yours. You will need the help of your friends to defeat me!"

        "Oh yeah?!" Ryo asked him angrily. "You're toast!"

        Once again, Sarenbou tried to hit them with his halberd, but they dodged out of the way. Ryo jumped off of White Blaze’s back and pulled out his katana blades as he saw the other Ronins in front of him surrounded by dark energy. He saw Lirin slumped over against the wall of the cliff behind him, unconscious. Ryo’s face grew dark with anger.

        "There's nothing you can do." Sarenbou told him. "If you try to use your armor now, it will kill you."

        "Ryo!" Sage called out.

        Kento raised his hand and in a barely audible voice tried to warn Ryo. "Ryo! No! Look out!"

        "Ryo!" Sai yelled.

        "Leave us here, Ryo!" Rowen ordered, but was hit with more energy. "Ahh!" he yelled as he felt the pain course through him.

        "Why do you hold on to something that gives you so much suffering?" Sarenbou asked Ryo. "Give the armor over to me."

        "Never! I am a Ronin Warrior. I MUST protect my friends."

        Sarenbou angrily swung at Ryo and knocked him into the cliff. Ryo cried out in pain. "Then I have no choice but to eliminate you and take what I please!" He continues to swing at Ryo, slicing into his armor and bringing forth more cries of agony.

        "Ryo!" the other Ronins call out to him.

        Sarenbou swipes at him again and slashes the front of his armor, knocking Ryo back. Suddenly Ryo felt an immense power well up inside of him as the White Armor started to take over. The guy’s four armors start to glow and soon, they became four balls of light, one dark blue, one orange, one light blue, and one green. The balls of light flew over Sarenbou's head and hit Ryo one at a time. Ryo’s Armor of Wildfire disappeared to be replaced by the White Armor.

        "ARMOR OF INFERNO!" Ryo yelled.

        "So, he IS the one!" Sarenbou said aloud to himself.

        Ryo had definitely had enough of this guy and with his new armor, did his sure kill. "FLAIR…UP…NOW!"

        The blast of white fire hit Sarenbou, or so Ryo thought. But, in reality, Sarenbou had played the same trick he had on the other Ronins. The real Sarenbou hovered in the air upside down again a little distance away and laughed.

        "So, I was right! It is Ryo of Wildfire's armor that absorbs the armor of the other four, in order to make him stronger." With that thought, he soon faded out of sight.

        Mia pulled up in her Jeep and screeched on the brakes. She got out of her car hurriedly. "Ryo!"

        Ryo’s energy having been spent, transformed back into the Wildfire Armor. Hearing her call his name, he looked at her and smiled. "Ah, Mia." he moaned, then sank to his knees and collapsed.

        Mia was at his side in an instant. "Oh, Ryo." she cried and held him in her arms.