Ryo rushed out of his bedroom as fast as he could, nearly slamming into Sage and Kento who were also running for Mia's study room. All three boys burst through the door, and saw Mia sitting there safely at her computer, staring wide eyed at the computer screen. All three gave a huge sigh of relief

"Thank goodness," Ryo breathed. "I thought you..."

"Guys, get over and read this!" Mia ordered excitedly. All three gathered around her computer and stared at the screen.

"Another poem?" Kento inquired with disbelief. "Who's it about this time?"

"Kento, just read it!" Mia urged.

Kento sighed in defeat and turned to look at the screen.

Weakness. It comes when you at least expect it. It does not cease to exist. Feelings are hid and grief held within. Anger shows through to hide what one has on the inside.

Destruction. It can be deadly if let loose. Without one to control it, it will overwhelm. It wants what it cannot have. Struggles are met and hardships can be won. It teaches. It rebukes. It reaches out to you. Listen and be wary, for you know not what it can do.

Kento shook his head. "Weird!"

Sage stared at the poem, reading it over and over again. He looked back at Mia. "Mia, do you think you could print this out? I want to show it to Rowen. He'd want to take a look at this."

Mia nodded and set his printer up. As it printed, Mia saw the thoughtful look on Ryo's face, and knew he was thinking about his battle with that warlady. The printer was finished, and she handed the freshly printed page to Sage, and he left the room as quickly as he could.

"Ryo, what's on your mind?" Mia asked.

"When were fighting earlier, I only fought with that one new warlord," Ryo said. "And it turned out to be a girl. This poem's in two parts right? So what if there is another one out there like you mentioned earlier?"

Mia looked back at the screen and reread the poem. Kento was silent, thinking of his best friend, and hoping he was all right. Somehow he doubted that. He looked at Ryo, then at Mia, wishing someone would say something.

"Ryo," Mia said as a thought came to her, "that warlady you fought. What was she like?"

"Well, she seemed very disturbed," Ryo answered.

"Yeah, a psycho chick," Kento broke in. Ryo gave him a look, ad Mia rolled her eyes. Typical Kento.

"Anyway," Ryo continued, "she seemed to have a lot of anger inside, especially when she was fighting me. I fought a lot of Dynasty scum, and none of them seem to have that much anger in them. Why do you ask?

"Because she may be the Warlady of Weakness," Mia said. "And I'm betting the second part of this poem speaks of another Warlady. The Warlady of Destruction."

Kania sat at her little vanity, running a brush through her hair. Though her body was moving, her mind was far from what she was doing. She was in deep thought, thinking of the prisoner downstairs in the dungeon. From some reason she could not help feeling sorry for him. Yes, she was good to cover her feelings up, but she didn't use hatred and anger the way Delia did. Just what was Delia's problem anyway? Just because the boy did not want to eat. He had a reason to be suspicious! He was being held prisoner by his enemies, and would expect that. One thing for sure, the boy wasn't stupid.

But what was it about him that attracted her to him? Granted he was good-looking, there was something more. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She had never felt this way at all before, and didn't know quite what to call it.

Kania lowered her brush and stared vaguely at her reflection.

She wished she could remember her life before she had come to work for Talpa, but she didn't remember much at all. She was sure she had a family once, but she didn't know who they were. She was glad Delia was there with her, even though Delia could be so difficult at times.

Kania sighed softly as she stood up and headed for her bed. As she laid down, she let her thoughts wander, having no explanation for what she was feeling. And it had to with the prisoner.

Sage waited patiently as Rowen read the poem over and over, analyzing each phrase. Rowen was always this way. He liked to take his time reading things carefully before coming up with a direct answer.

Finally Rowen broke away from the poem, and Sage looked up. "Well?"

"There are two of them," Rowen said flatly, as he let his gaze fall onto his dark blue comforter. "Ryo fought with one of them, right? "So I'm betting that the other one helped Sekhmet capture Cye."

Sage's eyes widened. "Do you really think so?" he asked. Rowen nodded and ran a hand through his hair. His thoughts turned to Cye. Even though Cye was absent, he could still feel him. It must be the armor.

Sage backed away toward the door. "I'm going to let the others know about this. Maybe they figured out the same thing you just did."

Rowen nodded, and Sage slipped out. Once he was gone, Rowen laid his head back on the pillow, and wiped a single tear away.

No one was sure they'd be able to sleep. Cye was gone, the Ancient was dead and so was Anubis. Nobody knew where Kayura was. So there was no way they could get into the Dynasty to rescue Cye, even though Ryo was trying to figure that out.

Mia worked constantly at the computer, trying to gain new information about the Dynasty as well Talpa's newest recruits.

Sage and Rowen were both asleep in their beds, and Kento and Ryo had bunked together. White Blaze had decided to bunk with Mia for the night. After earlier, the tiger wasn't sure if anything else wouldn't happen. Better safe than sorry.

The next morning, everyone was up early, including Rowen, which was a surprise. As Kento came into the kitchen he caught Rowen sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal, and jumped back a little. "Whoa!"

Rowen looked up at him through half closed eyes. "What?" he slurred sleepily.

"You must be sick!" Kento exclaimed. "You're never up this early!"

Kento, go away," Rowen muttered as he returned to his cereal.

Kento headed for the fridge. "Can't. Starving." He opened the fridge and took out enough food for three people and began to make his turkey and salami sandwiches.

Sage walked in just then. He was still dressed in his green pajamas. The only thing he had done was brushed his hair. He stared at Rowen in surprise.

Rowen looked up. "What?"

"Alright. Who are you, and what have you done with Rowen?"

Rowen rolled his eyes as Sage headed for the bread that Kento so graciously left out. He put two slices of bread in the toaster and grabbed the butter and a knife.

"Where's Ryo and Mia?" Sage asked, staring calmly at the toaster. His toast popped up and he spread butter on both slices, before taking a bite out of one, and turning around to look at Rowen.

Rowen swallowed the last of his milk. "Ryo is out practicing again. Been out there since I woke up. And Mia is still sleeping.

"Mia's still sleeping!" Kento said in surprise. That was strange. Mia was usually the first one up besides Cye or Sage.

"Kento, shh!" Sage scolded, his eyes drifting upward. Kento turned red and finished off his breakfast. He did not want to wake up Mia with his loud manly voice. The last time he had done that... He refused to think about *that*.

Ryo waved his katanas through the air expertly. He was dressed in his armor, and wanted nothing more than to fuel off his frustration and anger. Kento was trying to hide it, but Ryo had heard him crying softly last night. That was the first time Ryo had ever heard him cry. As for Sage and Rowen, yes they cared about Cye as well. Sage hid his feelings most of the time, and no one was sure exactly why. As for Rowen, he usually let his actions take over his feelings. Body movements speak louder than words. And apparently Rowen was very worried about Cye, because as far as Wildfire was concerned, Strata was never up this early.

"Ryo of the Wildfire."

Ryo dropped both blades on the ground, recognizing that voice. His eyes widened with disbelief, and he slowly turned around, his eyes narrowing at the figure dressed in the monk's clothes, and holding the familiar staff standing before him.

"Anubis?"

Ryo was shocked to see the ex-warlord of Cruelty standing before him. Wasn't Anubis dead? But here he was standing there, dressed like the Ancient, in a black and white robe, and carrying the Staff of the Ancients.

"Say aren't you...?" Ryo began.

"Yes, but I'm alive again. Please don't ask how or why. We must go inside and speak with everyone. This concerns Cye."

Ryo wasted no time. He shed his armor, then his subarmor, and led Anubis inside the mansion. "Hey, guys! Got some news!"

Rowen, Kento, Sage, and even White Blaze came out into the living room. The three boys stopped and stared at the figure standing next to Ryo. Their eyes widened and their mouths hung open.

"A GHOST!" they all screamed.

Anubis cracked a wide smile. "Surprised?"

"Oh no," Kento said sarcastically, "we just wanted to see how loud we could be!"

Just then Mia stormed downstairs, and boy was she hacked! She glared at Rowen, Kento, and Sage as she came down. "You three are really going to get it! You're loud enough to be heard in America! Have you no resp..." She suddenly trailed off when she saw a very familiar person standing in the living room. "Anubis?!"

Anubis smiled at her. "Hello, Mia. Good to see you again."

Mia frowned, hardly daring to believe what was she was seeing. She glanced back at Sage, Kento, and Rowen. "So that's why you three screamed. I'll let it go *this* time."

All three hung their heads.

Ryo looked back at Anubis. "Um, Anubis, you said you had something to tell us."

"Yes," Anubis replied, making himself comfortable on the couch. Everyone else sat down and gave him their full attention.

"As you may already know, Talpa has Cye within his stronghold. He has a certain plan for your young friend that will effect all of you. It is important that you rescue him as soon as possible. But it will not be easy. Talpa's newest recruits are very powerful."

"Yeah, we figured that one out already," Sage said.

"Yes, but one of them has feelings for Cye," Anubis continued. "If she were found out, she could be in danger as well."

"I hope it's not the psycho chick," Kento muttered.

"OK," Ryo said. "I think it's time we come up with a plan to rescue Cye. He's our friend and he trusts us. Right?" He looked back at Anubis. "Anubis, can you get us into the Netherrealm?" he asked.

"Yes, but it may be difficult. All four of you should be wearing your armor before you cross the bridge. Talpa's Netherspirits will keep you from transforming if you are not wearing them."

Ryo nodded, then looked at Rowen. "Rowen, can you draw a diagram of the Dynasty's castle, and figure out a way for us to get in?"

Rowen nodded and left to get what he would need. He returned minutes later and spread out a long roll of flat paper over coffee table. He took a dark blue magic marker and began sketching out the inside of Talpa's castle and the area around it.

"OK, here is Talpa's main throne room," he said as he sketched. "Over here would be the first hallway where the bedrooms are kept. Somewhere inside this castle, there has to be an air shaft, but Talpa will be expecting us to either go above, or just come on through."

"OK," Kento said, not really sure where he was getting at. He peered closely at the diagram as if trying to decipher it.

"So what I'm thinking is that we go underground and pop up through the floor and into the dungeon."

Ryo nodded his head. "Not a bad plan, Ro. Just one question. How do we get underground without them seeing us?"

There was silence. Ryo did have a point there. Kento still did not see why they couldn't just go right in and kick some Dynasty butt and free Cye as fat as possible. Sage folded his arms, something he always did while he thought. Mia just stared straight ahead, still numbed. She still refused to believe that Anubis was in this very room with her and four of the Ronins. It seemed impossible!

Rowen's brows wrinkled as he tried to think of a good way to get into the Netherrealm and underground before the Dynasty's minions found them out. Finally he brightened. "What about decoys?"

Everyone snapped their heads up at him. "Decoys?" Sage echoed. Rowen nodded like a little boy eagerly awaiting a gift promised. His dark blue eyes went from Sage to Kento to Anubis to White Blaze, who was just laying there on the floor, pouting, to finally Ryo.

Ryo was thinking this all through. He bit his lip, wondering how it could possibly be done. He looked toward Anubis. "Can the Staff make copies of us?" he asked.

Anubis smiled. "The Staff is capable of doing many things, Ryo. So yes, in other words it can."

Ryo nodded, then addressed everyone. "OK, here's what we do. We send the decoys into the Netherrealm before us. Once the soldiers are busy fighting against them, we take Rowen's plan, and sneak in and rescue Cye. Oh, and Mia, you have to stay here."

Mia nodded, knowing she would only get in their way if she tagged along.

Anubis smiled. "I will stay with her. But first let us go outside and get this started."

All four Ronins nodded and followed him outside.

Cye was awake and feeling more miserable than he had ever felt before in his entire life. His muscles were sore and the cuffs cutting into his wrists added to the torture. And being very hungry did not help much either.

He was alone in the dungeon, the other cells having no prisoners at all, so he felt pretty lonely. Once in awhile Cye would see a Dynasty soldier march pass. He shook his head, getting his bangs out of his eyes. He let out a sigh and wondered when his friends would show up to rescue him. He hoped it was soon. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take hanging around, and he wasn't putting that phrase as a joke either.

He heard footsteps and lifted his head to stare through the bars. "Kania," he said quietly.

Kania smiled, almost warmly. She was holding a tray of eggs, bacon, and toast. "You remembered my name, Torrent. How sweet." She unlocked the door and sauntered inside.

Cye stared hungrily at the food. He suddenly wondered if this was how Kento felt whenever he got one of his hunger attacks. Kania approached him, steadily balancing the tray with ease.

Kania slowly reached for a fork while eyeing the young boy. "You will eat won't you?"

"It's not poisoned or enchanted is it?"

Kania took a bite out of everything. Cye watched her carefully. When she acted no different, he accepted the food. Kania fed him patiently, noticing how he chewed with his mouth closed.

You're polite," she said, causing him to blush. She laughed gently. "Relax, fishboy. I'm just surprised to see a teenager who has more manners than an ancient warlord."

Cye could not laugh, nor could he smile. He was miserable and wanted to go home. He let Kania feed him until all the food was gone. Cye was full now so that was one less problem there. Now if only he could get out of here.

Kania tuned away and stopped when she noticed Cale and Dais standing behind her. "Oh, you two startled me!"

Cye looked past her, and his eyes narrowed angrily at the two Warlords. What did they come down here for? he wondered bitterly. To beat me? That's just what I need right now. More misery.

"Master Talpa wants Torrent in the throne room. "Dais said as he and Cale moved past Kania. Kania only smiled and nodded once before taking her leave.

Cye eyed the two wryly. He did not trust them at all. And he did not trust Talpa either for that matter. Yet, there was little he could do. He wasn't wearing his subarmor, nor his armor, his orb was gone, and Cale and Dais were incredibly strong right now. But still it wouldn't hurt to try.

As if sensing his attempt before it happened, Cale grabbed Cye's arm and held it tightly while Dais loosened the cuffs. Cye frowned, now realizing his situation before him.

The two warlords marched him through the dungeon, up the stairs, through a hall, past a corridor, and into the throne room.

Cye took one look at Talpa and screamed loudly. He broke free of Cale's and Dais' grasps and turned tail and ran for it!

Talpa calmly lifted his hand and Cye stopped short. He was stunned. Talpa held him tight as if he were a puppet. He couldn't move! He felt himself being lifted into the air and drawn quickly back with incredible force.

Talpa rudely dropped him on the floor, right on his back. Cye groaned and lifted his eyes to look up at the evil Dynasty master.

"Did you really think you would be able to escape Torrent?" Talpa bellowed angrily as he stared down at the poor boy. "You are gravely mistaken. I will not give you the chance to get away. I have big plans for you, boy, and I will not see them wasted!"

Cye was getting a bad feeling. He knew that Talpa was up to no good, but what could he do? He was paralyzed from the neck down. Where had Talpa gotten this new power of his? And what plans did he have?

He could try anything, Cye realized with fear. I can't give him the chance to control me or my armor. He could use me to hurt my friends, and I don't want that. There has to be a way to keep him from achieving that goal. If I only knew how.

"Badamon!" Talpa suddenly bellowed out. A floating blue spirit suddenly appeared, calmly floating over to Talpa. Badamon was the high priest of the Netherspirits, and he obeyed Talpa without question.

"You called, Lord Talpa?" Badamon said as he bowed.

"Yes," Talpa said. "Now is the time for my plan to come out into the open, something my Warlords and Warladies had been waiting so patiently for."

Dais, Cale, Sekhmet, Delia, and Kania all stood at attention, looking very curious indeed. Badamon let out a smile and slowly turned to looked down at Torrent.

Cye's gaze met with Badamon’s, and the young Ronin suddenly knew he was in trouble.

Badamon raised both hands, and Cye rose into the air. His eyes widened with shock as the floor left him. His heart started pounding against his chest, and he could not keep his fear away.

Badamon began chanting. The words were unfamiliar to Cye, but they were sure doing something to him. He began to glow a light blue, and his kanji of Trust appeared on his forehead, shining brilliantly.

Cye suddenly let out a long scream of pain.