Tutock smiled smugly at the girl who stood before him. He could feel her anger and he laughed haughtily. He was rather pleased seeing a pissed off Firestarter before him, and now that he had the boy’s power he could defeat her and take her power as well. It would all be a matter of time before he had the whole world under his grasp of power.

“You’ve come at a bad time, girl. You know you’re going to die, don’t you?”

She answered back with calm anger that would have made almost anyone shiver with fear. “The only one that is going to die today will be you, Tutock. And I don’t mean that as a threat. That’s a promise.” She drew her Firestarter sword, a pure sword made from fire itself with sharp cutting edges that cackled and flickered with power, the heat rising off the flames of the sword.

Tutock laughed in mockery. “You dare attack me now, when I am this powerful?!”

“Don’t be so cocky. You have no idea how powerful I can be.”

“You should remember your own words, girl!”

“Then remember the poem concerning the Firestarter Warrior! Born with fire, immense in power. Ultimate speed and strength and the ability to handle many at once. A fierce warrior with leadership attitudes. Impossible to be defeated by any, faith does lead this one to defeat any and many!”

Tutock stood there, glaring at her with a deep hatred. He knew the poem far too well, and it irked him. He wanted nothing more than to destroy this girl and be rid of her once and for all. To be rid of all of the Warriors, with the exception of Storm.

He raised his giant S shaped sword and suddenly charged, with a loud war cry. He attacked Flash and she brought up her own sword for defense. The two of them were moving so fast they were unseen, but their energies and powers were felt by the entire realm. Again and again the swords met creating fire and lightning sparks. Tutock caused his sword to grow out, hoping to wrap her around the neck with it and choke her to death. She dodged out of the way and somersaulted right over his head, kicking him in the face as she did so.

He grunted and reached for her, at the same time bringing his sword down over his head toward her own. She barely had time to get away and the sword sliced open her left arm, leaving a nasty cut.

Tutock laughed evilly. He would win, he could feel it within himself. All he had to do was attack once more, and the world would be his. He charged again, and again the swooshing and whooshing of swords met again and again.

“Give up, girl!” Tutock shouted with rage.

“I never give up!” she snapped back with rage.

Tutock grunted angrily, and vanished from her sight. He reappeared next to Ryo’s unconscious form, and suddenly lifted him up, holding his sword against Ryo’s throat. He gave a smirk. “Say good-bye to your lover!”

Before Flash could move, he had suddenly rammed the sword through Ryo’s throat, causing it to come out through the back of his neck. Flash stared in horror at the suddenly blood that gushed forward both from the torn throat and from Ryo’s mouth. She could hear Tutock laughing evilly, and all the rage grew within her, boiling dangerously like magma in a volcano that was more than ready to blow. She shook with anger, tears running down her cheeks. She threw back her head and screamed. “RYO!!!”

Tutock laughed evilly again, the sound of his laughter echoing throughout the castle. Suddenly he felt powerful heat, more powerful heat than he had ever felt before in his lifetime. He stared in shock at Flash who was glowing a brilliant blue now, her hair blew wildly behind her, more uncontrollably than it had ever blown before. The flame in her forehead, her symbol, was flaring brightly with power and pulsing as if it had a life of its own. The temperature rose dangerously. In an instant all forms of liquids, both wet and solid, evaporated, statues melted into nothing. The floors became so hot that anyone else would have caught on fire just from walking on them. Tutock could feel the rise in power, and could feel his feet burning with pain. He ignored the pain and focused on the power he had stolen from the boy. He brought it to the surface, causing more heat to be added to the situation. But then suddenly he realized what a mistake he had made. Instead of weakening the girl as he had hoped, the power only made her stronger.

Flash could see his shocked, disbelieving look on his face. “You should know your enemies better, Tutock!” She suddenly jerked her head, and gave a silent command to Ryo’s power. The power obeyed instantly and suddenly Tutock exploded literally.

From their watching spot, all the Ronins and Warriors could feel the incredible blast. They watched in horror as the giant castle of Tutock suddenly exploded as if an asteroid had slammed into it at full speed and force. The ground shook violently, creating giant craters within the ground. Sage was awakened from the force and he too watched in horror. And now all of them believed that Ryo was dead. And how right they were. Minutes after the explosion, they could see a figure walking toward them, and when it got closer they could see it was Flash, carrying Ryo within her arms. Tears streamed down her face, and when she finally made it to them, the Ronins panicked and screamed with horror. They were stunned and shocked. Memories of Ryo being alive flew through their minds in an endless race. How could this have happened?

“Please calm yourselves,” Blaze said.

“Our friend is dead, and you expect us to be calm?!” Rowen snapped.

Blaze stared back at him unmoving, unblinking. “Getting upset will not help the situation anymore than it already is. Have you all forgotten what Storm can do?”

None of them knew who Storm was at the moment, and none of them cared. Their main thoughts were on Ryo.

“Thunder?” Flashed looked toward the tall Warrior with hope in her eyes.

Thunder stepped forward and placed one hand on Ryo’s deceased body. He closed his eyes and stood there as a red aura glowed around him. The lightning bolt appeared in his forehead, glowing brightly, and he fed all of his healing and energy into the boy, healing all the damage both internal and external. The glow surrounded Ryo as the Ronins watched in amazement, and yet with doubt. They could not actually believe he could bring Ryo back, but they said nothing and continued to wait.

A few minutes passed, and then suddenly Ryo took a deep breath. He coughed once, and tightened his fists at his sides. Thunder stepped away, his healing powers dying down as Ryo’s eyes fluttered several times, and a gasp came from him. Finally the bearer of Wildfire opened his eyes.

“RYO!!” Rowen, Sage, Kento, and Cye shouted with joy and relief.

Ryo managed to smile back at them, and then he heard a soft whisper from above him. “Ryo..”

Ryo turned his head and looked up into Flash’s arms. It was then he realized that she was holding him in her arms. And Ryo turned as red as his Wildfire armor.

“Hey look he’s blushing!” Ice laughed.

“I think someone likes someone!” Chilie said with a grin.

Ryo blushed even more, but to his relief, Cye said, “I hate to break our moment of joy, but shouldn’t we get back now?”

“Torrent’s right,” Blaze said.

“Just how do we get back?” Rowen wondered.

“I’m afraid you won’t be going back!” came a voice. All of them turned to stare at the eight Guardians who stood there side by side. Tension rose up between the two forces. Ryo was let down by Flash, and the two stood side by side.

“Come on, let’s take these losers!” Shades snarled viciously.

Flash nodded. “Right. Time to make them pay!”

All of them armored up except for Flash. The battle began. Weapons crashed against weapons, powers against powers. Surekills were called, met, and sometimes canceled. This was one tough battle and it was hard to tell who would win and who would lose.

Finally all of them but Flash called their surekills at the same exact time.

“FLARE UP NOW!!” Ryo shouted.

“THUNDER BOLT CUT!!” Sage roared.

“IRON ROCK CRUSHER!!” Kento cried.

“SUPER WAVE SMASHER!!” Cye shouted.

“ARROW SHOCK WAVE!!” Rowen hollered.

“EARTH SHOCK WAVE!!” Ice hollered out.

“WINTER FREEZE ENERGY!!” Snow yelled.

“LOVE SURRNENDER!!” Chilie shouted.

“MAGIC ARROW SHOCK!!” T-boz cried.

“WATER TORRENT POWER!!” Scorpio shouted.

“LIGHTNING BOLT STRIKE!!” Thunder hollered.

“BOOMERRANG POWER ATTACK!!” Shades shouted.

Flash did not need to shout to send her power outward. She sent her power through her blade and increased it by tenfold. The powers of the thirteen warriors went out and met with each other, combining in force, growing in strength and energy. The Guardians had no time to scream as the incredibly combined force of power slammed into them. In seconds, it was over, the Guardians were gone, and the Ronins and the Warriors had won.

The thirteen teenagers, the two mystical animals, and the elderly man stood together at the airport. Flash was getting ready to go back to Japan with Ryo, Rowen, Sage, Cye, and Kento, and her friends, Shades, T-boz, Thunder, Scorpio, Chilie, Snow, Ice, and Chinook were all seeing her off, knowing she would not be back for another few months.

“You will call won’t you?” T-boz asked her friend.

“Of course I will,” Flash replied with a smile. “I can probably call at least once a week, if Mia doesn’t mind.”

“Mia?” Scorpio asked with a confused look on his face.

“That’s the woman who we’re all staying with,” Rowen explained. “She’s Flash’s host.”

“So all of you are exchange students?” Ice asked.

“No,” Cye said. “Our parents let us stay there so we can go to school together.”

“Oh,” Ice said with a nod of his head.

“Hey, you should all come out to Japan sometime,” Sage offered.

The Warriors looked at one another as if trying to decide on that. Finally they looked back at the Ronins.

“Only if you guys come here sometime as well,” Chilie said, flashing Sage a flirting smile. Sage smiled back his own flirting smile. Coming back to America just to see Chilie was good enough for him.

“Yes,” Chinook added. “There is plenty of room at the mansion for all of you and your tiger.”

“Will do!” Kento said with a laugh.

“Flight 797 is now boarding!” came the announcement over the speaker. “Flight 797 is now boarding!”

Flash shifted her duffle bag as she hugged all of her friends. “I’ll see you guys again. Take care of each other.”

“We will, Flash,” Thunder promised.

“You take care of yourself too,” Shades said.

Flash smiled. “I will.” She turned and left with her new friends, dragging Blaze’s portable cage along with her.

The seven Warriors watched them go until they could see them no more.

“Do you think we’ll see them again?” Scorpio wondered.

“I’m sure we will,” Thunder said softly.

“That would be great,” Chilie said dreamily.

The Warriors just shook their heads at her, and followed Chinook out of the airport. They boarded the bus waiting for them and took their seats among the other passengers. Thunder had a side window and he was glancing out of it. They all heard an airplane taking off, and Thunder turned his gaze to where the plane was. He saw it rising up into the air, ascending higher and higher into the air. And he knew that Flash was waving good-bye to all of them. He smiled softly and faced forward, listening to the excited chatter of his friends, thinking that it was good to be free again. He leaned back in his seat as the driver started the bus and drove out of the parking lot of the terminal and onto the freeway.

A week later the Talent Show had come again. Flash was not really surprised that she had been chosen to participate in the act again. And Cye, Kento, Sage, Rowen, and Ryo were in the act again, as well as several other people. Once again, the Ronins sang a song which they got another standing ovation for. They didn’t realize how good they sounded, and even Flash thought they should start a music group. That had made them blush, even Sage who hardly ever blushed. Finally it was Flash’s turn to take her act on stage. As soon as the audience saw her, they started cheering expecting good laughs from her.

“Whohoo! I’m glad to be back! Did you miss me?” she started. They hooted and cheered on. “That’s great to know someone missed me. Several months ago I was out walking around in my hometown. I was gone oh say like five hours or so. So anyway I turned home expecting to get hugs and kisses from my little brother and sister. You wanna know what they said? Did you bring us back something?”

The audience chuckled at that as she continued. “Now in my opinion, young kids today have respect for no one and nothing. You give them something they tear it up. You give them something to write with, you see graffiti on the walls. Even in your home. They also break things! Like this one day, my little brother Sammy tore up our little sister Cammy’s doll. And the way it looked, you just groan and go, “Oh no.. Now here’s a murderer in training. Now don’t take me wrong. I love kids. They adorable, sweet, they make you laugh. They also make you cry too. Like when they take the baseball and whack you against your knees with it. And trust me, you’ll be limping for weeks on straight. And you can’t tell anyone your little brother or sister of four beat you up. You’d be the laughing stock of the town! And you can’t hit them back half the time, because it’s called child abuse, or you get the, Well you’re older and bigger! You’ll hit harder and hurt them, from your parents. And you’re thinking the whole time, that’s the idea, mom and dad.”

The audience laughed again.

“Now you all know that I hate snakes. But lizards, oh boy.. These are nothing but snakes with legs. And I know you’re all thinking I’m a wimp. Heh, you’re right. I am. There’s this one lizard who can get on its hind legs and run. Can you imagine seeing that thing. You’d be watching it run across the road just like a person would. And you’d be glad you weren’t high on drugs. Otherwise you’d go up and talk to it. Hey, what’s your name? Are you ill? Sure look green! What no shoes? Better put some on, man! Okay, you’re gonna get blisters in your feet!”

Laughter came again as the audience could barely control themselves. The five Ronins were clutching their sides, unable to stop laughing long enough the take a break and rest their ribs.

“Hey, guys!” Thunder shouted as he stood in front of the television back in America. “Flash is on TV!”

“Say what?!” Shades cried, dropping her math book and running out into the living room. She stood in shock at the TV watching Flash give off her comedy. They were quickly joined by the others and all of them sat or laid down in front of the television watching their friend and their leader, and soon they were all laughing as well.

“Now my opinion stupid people should given signs. And no I’m not saying that to be cruel. Some people make no sense whatsoever to me. Which is why warning signs were made. They’re not for smart people, they’re for stupid people. Like on the back of a deodorant it says, Do not apply this to your eyes. Now how many of you have had dates, and they were good looking but their eyes smelled? Or how about this? On a shampoo bottle it says, Wet, lather, wash, repeat. Some idiots are still washing their hair! Cause it doesn’t say, dry your hair and try again the next day. And also when you get a package of an electronic there’s this little packet in there that says, do not eat this. Did anyone of you ever thought there might be something to eat there? Well lookie here! I got a Sega Genises and a pack of steaks! I got a stereo and a bag of chips!”

Ryo almost fell out of his seat with laughter. Kento practically fell over on Cye, and Cye didn’t even notice because he was laughing so hard. And across the world as people watched the Talent Show on TV many people were also laughing as the girl continued.

“Now on the back of a hair blowing dryer it says, “Do not use this while sleeping. Now I can’t remember how many times, I’ve been sound asleep, then woke up to find out I was doing my hair. Oh crap, I was sleep styling again! And not to mention the fact what people say back to you when you either tell them something or at what you’re doing. Like a few years ago, my family was moving from the north side of San Francisco. We had several boxes packed. Our next door neighbor comes over and asks, hey are you guys moving? Nope. We decided to start packing our stuff up to see how many boxes it takes us. Here’s your sign.”

The audience and viewers world wide laughed hysterically at this. Some of them could remember being in the same position as that before.

“And another day one of my friends and I were moving some fish to a safer area, because he’s really into that sort of thing, protecting fish. This baka on the dock asked us if we had caught them all. Nope. We talked them into giving up. Here’s your sign.”

Even more laughter came again, as the audience could barely control themselves. The act went on for another ten minutes or so and Flash finally finished and received encores and standing ovations, including whistles and lots of cheering and laughing. She stepped down off the stage and joined her friends.

“That was so funny!” Kento said.

“Thank you,” Flash said with a smile.

“Well, now that’s it over, we should get back to class,” Rowen stated.

“Um, I hate to disappoint you, Rowen,” Cye said. “But school is over.”

Rowen pouted a bit, but then got over it, and followed everyone else out. The students of Hana High grabbed their belongings and went their own ways, leaving the school, and heading for home.

Flash was walking beside Ryo, Cye and Kento were in front of them, and Rowen and Sage were behind them. She had a calm look on her face as she walked along with them. She looked up at Ryo and smiled, a smile of relief, gratitude, and pure happiness. Ryo was alive again, and it was thanks to Thunder he was. She would have to thank him when she returned home. And as she looked at Ryo from the corner of her eyes, she could admit that she loved him deeply.

End.

A/N: Yes! Finished! Hooray!! *dances around* Okay, I’m calm. Now to clear some things. The comedy Flash had given came from a great comedian known as Bill Engle. I’m not using his comedy to make money off of, I’m only borrowing it. I think everyone should listen to his comedy. You’ll roll around laughing your heads off. Although some of the comedy is mine, like the baseball bat thing, and the that’s the idea mom and dad. In the meantime, feel free to review and all! See ya, minna-san!