Ryo sneaked the down the hall, following the whimpers coming from behind a locked door. He came to the door and struck the lock open and checked the area before going inside. It was dark inside, but the light from the torches lining the walls out in the hall, shined through, and he could see a giant dragon at the end of the small room. His mouth widened in surprise as he beheld it. He heard the soft whimpers of a boy and looked up to see a young boy slightly younger than he was, with long orange brown hair, one long forelock hanging over his nose, an earring in his left ear, and a few pale freckles across his face. Ryo grimaced. He could see the boy was in bad pain, and it seemed as if the boy would give up his life at any moment, by the way he was breathing. Each breath seemed to be getting less and less.

“Hey!” Ryo called up to him, hoping the boy would have enough strength to realize he was there. There was a long moment of waiting, and for one moment Ryo feared the boy was too weak to reply. Finally the boy managed to lift his eyes up to him. A soft moan came from his lips, and his head dropped again to his chest as he was too weak to keep it up.

Ryo knew he couldn’t wait any longer. He had to get him out of here. He brought his swords together, ready to strike at the jewel in the center of the dragon’s head. His eyes suddenly narrowed though as he caught the boy’s lips moving. He blinked, wondering what he was trying to say, then finally began to understand. “Guardian… behind…. you.”

Ryo spun around quickly and saw a tall man in a black and purple armor, holding two swords comfortably at his sides. His hazel eyes narrowed at Ryo, and a cold cruel smirk came to his lips.

“So you are one of those boys who came with Firestarter to save her friends, are you?” He chuckled as he stepped closer toward Ryo. “Well, I’m here to tell you, you won’t succeed. Emperor Tutock is far too powerful to be stopped, and the Warriors will be destroyed with Storm remaining a slave for his whole life.”

Ryo’s eyes narrowed. “No one will be destroyed here, and no one is going to be a slave. I made a promise to Flash that I would fight with her against you and your master. And we will beat you.”

The armored man laughed. “Are you so sure, boy? Do you honestly think you can defeat a Guardian of Tophet?” He smirked and brought his swords together. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

Ryo’s eyes widened as the Guardian had suddenly attacked him with more force than he had ever witness during any battle he had ever fought. He fought back the best he could, striking the Guardian where he could, and receiving blows. He grunted in pain as he landed against the wall, then dodged and kicked him with all his might, sending the Guardian flipping backward.

Ryo leapt to his feet and attacked with more fierceness. Their blades met again and again, creating sparks within the cell. Ryo eventually began to have the upper hand as he sent the Guardian flying against the opposite wall, where he hit it hard and slumped to the ground.

“Hey,” Ryo said softly to himself, “These guys aren’t so tough after all.”

The Guardian suddenly opened his eyes and struck his swords against each other, pointing them both toward Ryo’s forehead. “Pain of Fright!” he suddenly cried.

A horrible image struck Ryo’s mind as he witnessed horrible scenes of his father being mutilated by a lion. He screamed in terror as he clutched his head and sunk to his knees, shaking with fright as he tried to get the horrific image out of his mind. There seemed to be no end to it, and tears ran down his cheek.

The Guardian watched him, a cruel smile on his face as he slowly approached the boy. And then suddenly his eyes widened as a strange symbol appeared on the boy’s forehead, glowing red and bright. He stared at it in curiosity and even with slight worry. Every time the Warriors’ symbols, their powers always came forth from their attacks. But this symbol was different as it was not really a picture, but a symbol of another language perhaps.

Ryo continued to hold his head as his kanji glowed brightly. “Virtue!” he whispered. The image suddenly vanished from his mind and his eyes snapped open, glaring at the Guardian who stared back with a cold smirk. Ryo brought his swords together and attacked without warning. “Flare Up Now!” he cried, sending the attack against him.

The Guardian tried to dodge, but the attack struck him, and he screamed, feeling his armor burn against him. The attack sent him flying across the room and out the door, where his back hit the hard stone wall in the hall. He slumped to the ground, and became still.

Ryo watched him for a few minutes, but when he gave no signs of coming to, he turned around and aimed for that jewel. “Flare Up Now!”

The attack went out again and struck the jewel, and the chains released the boy. He fell forward, tumbling head over heels, coming closer to the ground. Ryo sheathed his swords in an instant, and leapt high into the air, catching him safely in his arms, then landing neatly on the ground again. He brought him away from the dragon and gently lowered him to ground. He checked him for injury and winced seeing the burn marks on him. It was amazing how he was still alive, suffering from the effects of the torture, wearing no armor to protect him. But from the way he looked, Ryo feared the boy might now make it anyhow.

He grabbed the flask of water that he had been given and poured the water into the boy’s mouth, gently coaxing it down, and watching to make sure the boy did not choke. The boy seemed to drink thirstily until the water in the flask was gone. Ryo could hear his quiet breathing, wincing as it sounded ragged. Finally the boy’s eyes opened and beheld Ryo as he smiled weakly.

“Thank you,” he whispered, before slumping, passing out.

Ryo bit his lip with concern as he stood up, holding the boy in his arms. Without a second thought, he carried the boy out.

Sage thought it was strange that they had not run into any opposing forces. He did not know whether to be happy or concerned, because there was always that chance that someone would appear, someone against them. He checked on Chilie and saw she was doing okay so far as she followed him. They continued down the hall, cautiously, as they kept their weapons ready.

Footsteps suddenly echoed from around the corner, and the two pressed against the wall, in wait. The footsteps got closer and closer. Then just when they were close enough they leapt out to attack, then suddenly stopped as the two figures dodged them expertly.

“Sage!” Kento cried.

Sage let out a sigh of relief.

“Thunder!” Chilie cried happily.

Thunder smiled the best he could. “Thought we were the Guardians or soldierknights, did you?”

“Wasn’t taking any chances,” Chilie said. “I’m just glad it was you and not them. Are you all right?”

Thunder nodded. “Yes, thanks to Kento here.” He looked toward Sage, and the two warriors stared at one another. For a moment it was as if seeing oneself in a backward sort of way. They could each sense healing powers from one another, but Sage realized that Thunder’s healing powers surpassed his own.

“Um, I hate to break up the little party, but we need to get going!” Kento said.

Sage and Thunder stopped staring at each other, and Sage nodded. “Right. We need to find your other friends, plus our own friends.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard,” said a voice familiar to Sage and Kento. The four of them turned to see someone walking toward them, a figure in a red armor, carrying an unconscious boy in his arms.

“Ryo!” Sage and Kento cried happily.

“Scorpio!” Thunder and Chilie gasped with worry. They ran to meet them.

Ryo quietly watched as Thunder took the unconscious boy from his arms and laid him gently to the ground. A red glow surrounded the boy as a lightning bolt appeared in his forehead. The light soon surrounded the boy, and the three Ronins watched in surprise as his body’s wounds began to heal up faster than snow would melt on a extremely hot day. Not even Sage’s healing powers worked this fast.

The healing power died down after awhile, and the unconscious boy opened his eyes. Thunder helped him to sit up. “Are you okay, Scorpio?” he asked with concern.

Scorpio nodded with a smile. “I’m fine,” he replied as his friend helped him up. “Thanks to,” he turned to Ryo with an apologetic smile. “I didn’t get your name though.”

“Ryo,” Ryo said with a smile. “But right now there’s no time to talk.”

“That’s right,” Sage agreed. “We need to rescue the others.”

“Well, then,” Kento said with impatience and concern in his voice, “what are we waiting for?”

Scorpio armored up, knowing he would need his armor to protect him. He kept his spear staff in his hands as he followed the others down the hall, his seablue eyes searching for any place a soldier knight or a Guardian might hide. He could only hope that the other Warriors were being rescued as well. Who knew when Tutock would appear before they all had the chance to escape?

Flash made her way through the dark hall, her sword held before her, her eyes piercing in every direction, searching for any hidden enemy. She knew her friends were somewhere in this dark castle, and she was determined to find them.

She heard a noise from the left and quickly glanced toward it, waiting and watching as she kept on going. It came quickly. She flipped backward, holding her sword outward as it slashed through the air, connecting with metal as it went through the neck of the soldier knight. It dropped to the floor, lifeless as the spirit inside rose up. She quickly took her dagger out and slashed again at the spirit, killing it before it had the chance to get away. Had she let it go, it would have most likely found one of her friends and possessed them.

She continued onward again. Faintly she could feel one of her friends nearby, suffering, and she winced. Her jaw was set with anger, but it was controlled anger. She could not lose her temper. She could end up blowing the entire place up, endangering her friends even more. Ryo would be the only one able to stand the heat, but the others, especially Scorpio and Cye would not be able to.

She gritted her teeth in an angry way as she kept moving forward. She was going to save the rest of her friends, find Tutock, and destroy him once and for all, this time making sure he would not come back.

Tutock stared angrily at his guardians as he seemed to refuse to believe what he had just heard. “What do you mean the Warriors are escaping?!”

Karma spoke up. Of all the Guardians he was Tutock’s number one and the best of them all. Half of his face was badly scarred by an incident that had happened long ago, between him and Flash. But that was before…..

“Master Tutock, it seems five young boys have joined the Warriors’ side.” Tutock seemed interested in this, and the Guardian continued. “Apparently they have been brought here by Flash to help her save her friends.”

Tutock scratched his chin as he stared down at his Guardian. “Hm. Peculiar. I would have thought Flash of the Firestarter would have been much stronger than to need help. Tell me what do you know about these five new warriors?”

“They also bear mystical armor as well, but they seem to carry a different energy than the Warriors. I feel they are strong, Master Tutock. I have been studying them closely and have learned that four of the five have the same elements as four of the Warriors.”

Tutock raised his eyebrows. “Oh? And what are those? Explain your discoveries, Karma!”

“I have learned the boy with the black hair bearing the red armor is a fire elemental just as Firestarter is. The boy with the light brown hair and light blue armor is a water elemental just as Current is. The boy with the dark ash blue hair, wearing the orange armor is an earth elemental as Shock is. And finally the boy with golden hair, the one who could be a twin to Storm, who wears a green armor, is a light elemental. I also believe this blond haired boy has healing powers like Storm does.”

Tutock sat there quietly for several long moments as he thought this over carefully. He replayed Karma’s findings over and over in his head as his Guardians stood quietly, awaiting for him to speak.

Finally after a long moment of intense silence he looked at them directly, focusing his eyes on each one present, before settling back on Karma.

“Your news impresses me. I am most pleased. Karma, I want you to find the boy in red armor and bring him to me. Perhaps I will be able to use his powers instead of Firestarter’s. As they say, fight fire with fire.” He turned to four more Guardians present. “Surge, Claw, Suicide, and Sin, seek out Storm, and this “twin” of his. Bring them both to me. Storm is the main one I want because his healing powers are great. But this “twin” of his will come in handy when Storm is unable to heal directly.”

The five Guardians bowed and abruptly vanished without a single trace to give them away. All that remained in the throne room were soldierknights, and Tophetian Spirits. Tutock looked toward the spirits and spoke to them. “Look for my missing Guardians, Cain, Razor, and Malice and bring them to me.”

The Tophetian Spirits nodded and vanished.

Tutock sat on his throne, smiled once, a rather smug smile, and continued to wait.

Rowen was in the darkest room he had ever seen. He wished for once that he had brought a flash light with him, but then he wondered if it would have worked in this place. He let out a sigh, trying to see something, trying to see anything. It seemed hopeless, and he sucked on his lip worriedly.

He decided to trust his instincts and stepped forward, holding his breath. Of course if there was a drop off somewhere he could summon his Strata bubbles to save him. They never failed him before why would they now?

He kept moving, expecting any time to suddenly fall. He was holding his breath, anticipating that one moment that was sure to come. He didn’t even realize he had held his breath for so long until he heard painful breathing coming from somewhere above him. He let out in one whoosh as he spoke.

“Hello? Anyone there?!”

There was a moment of silence and the painful breathing was heard again. He tried again, but there was still no answer.

“Listen! I’m here to get you out of here! You can trust me! My name is Rowen! I’m another friend of your friend Flash’s!”

There was another moment of silence, before a weak voice spoke. “Help me………”

And from the sound of it, Rowen knew he did not have much time.