Chapter 18.  School Interrupted.

          On Monday, Flash found herself signing several forms to enroll into Hana High. Her friends were in the auditorium, waiting for her to be introduced to the entire school.

          Flash stared at the form as she filled it out. Name- Flash Dawn Michaels. DOB- Aug, 19, 1985. Age- Do the math. Place of Birth. San, Fransisco, CA. USA. Mother- Star Angel Michaels. Father- Keith David Michaels. Last School. Aridian High School in San Fransisco, CA.

          Flash narrowed her eyes as she continued to fill it out. Geeze, they're nosy! she thought. By the time she finished filling them all out, she noticed that it was 20 after 7. She turned the forms in, then had to answer a few questions, before she was finally able to go the auditorium.

          "Where is she?" Kento muttered.

          "Kento, relax," Cye said calmly. "She'll be here."

          "Yeah, she has to sign all those boring forms," Ryo added.

          Kento nodded and folded his arms. The principal soon came out onto the stage. "Students of Hana High, we have a new student, an exchange student from San Fransisco, California. Please make sure you welcome her."

          He stopped talking as the young girl stepped up to the mircophone. Everyone got a good look at her. She was tall, beautiful with tanned skin, shoulder length brown hair, her bangs hanging past her eyebrows in sharp points, and cerulean eyes. Several boys immediately found themselves in love.

          "Hiya!" the girl greeted with a bow. "I'm Flash Michaels, and it's pleasure to be here."

          

          She found herself in her first class. The sensei was nice, and so were the students, except for a few, who Flash called snobs.

          Cye was in her class and so was Rowen. They were in health class, and the sensei was going over the muscular frame.

          The students paid attention and wrote down notes. As school went on, Flash made friends, and enjoyed most of her classes.

          At lunch time Flash found the cafeteria easily, thanks to a sweet girl named Shia. As she walked through the cafeteria a hand grabbed her arm, and she stopped.

          "Yeah?" she said, looking at a jock with pure ice hair and dark blue eyes. Across the room Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Cye were watching. All of their eyes narrowed. They knew *who* this kid was.

          "Hey, babe, why don't you sit with us?" the kid said with a leering smile.

          Flash's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Babe?" She suddenly threw him over her shoulder, and pinned him down with her foot to his chest. She glared down at his shocked face, as every student's mouth dropped open. "Don't ever call me, Babe!"

          She walked away from him.

          Rowen came into the cafeteria a few minutes later just as Flash was getting her lunch. He joined her line and smiled at her. Flash smiled back.

          "Hey, do you know who that guy is?" she asked him, pointing to the boy she had tossed to the floor moments before.

          Rowen nodded. "That's Rufane," he said. "He's a jerk. Has to have the prettiest girls in school. He's jealous of Sage bcause most of the girls hang around him."

          Flash looked over at the table where the other Ronins were sitting. Several girls were around Sage. She smirked. "Flirt King!"

          Rowen nodded as they got their lunches. "Rufane won't fight Sage though. He's all talk mostly."

          "Why am I not surprised?"

          They paid for their lunches, and went to their table.

          By the time fourth period rolled around, the school allowed the students to go outside and get fresh air. It was about 1:00 in the afternoon. Sage was talking with some girls, Ryo was talking to a few other boys who were on his soccer team. Cye was doing homework, Rowen was reading, and Kento and Flash were goofing off.

          Then the sky turned dark. The monitor looked at the sky, and began to call the students inside. "Let's go, students! It's going to rain soon!"

          There were several grumbles as they got up and began to file inside. The Ronins were frowning though.

          "This ain't storm weather," Rowen said.

          "Dynasty!" Ryo grumbled.

          "What do we do?" Cye asked worriedly.

          "We have to get away from here," Ryo said. He threw his armor ball and was in his subarmor. The others followed suit, and Ryo led all of them a few blocks away from the school.

          "You know, I am *not* happy!" Flash growled. "They just have to ruin my first day of school!"

          They were suddenly surrounded by a hundred soldiers. They jumped into action. Ryo pummeled his fists against several soldiers, right in their faces. Rowen spun through the air, doing his famous flying kick. Kento grabbed a soldier and began swinging it around, destroying other soldiers in the process. Cye stole a soldier's weapon and leapt through the crowds, taking them out one by one. Sage leapt through the air, landed on a soldier's shoulder. When another soldier came for him, Sage jumped out of the way, and the soldier he had been standing on was destroyed.

          "Thank you!" Sage saluted, then took out that soldier.

          Flash was rolling along the ground, heading right for four soldiers. She was on her feet, and did a round house kick, taking all four out at the same time.

          As the fighting continued no one knew of the army approaching. That is until Flash's symbol went off, and she felt a presence.

          She whirled around, staring into the sky. "What are those things?!"

          All five Ronins looked up, and groaned.

          "Netherspirits!" Ryo hissed.

          "Aw, man, they're playing those blasted flutes again!" Kento grumbled. "We won't be able to call our armors!"

          "What?!"

          "What do we do?" Cye asked, worriedly.

          Before Ryo could come up with a plan, the spirits suddenly attacked Flash, going right through her body. She jerked violently.

          "NO!" Sage hollered. All of them tried to run for her, but they were frozen in their tracks. None of the could move.

          "What is this?!" Ryo demanded.

          "I.. I can't move!" Kento yelled.

          "AUGH!" Rowen screamed. "It's them spirits! They're keeping us from moving!"

          "No, really?" Cye asked sarcastically.

          "FLASH!" Sage hollered. "Oh, no! She's possessed!"

          "That's right, Halo!"

          "Cale!"

          Before their eyes, the three Dark Warlords and Kayura appeared, laughing their heads off.

          "Your friend will soon be ours, Ronins!" Sekhmet said with a laugh.

          "And there won't be anything you can do either!" Dias laughed.

          "Soon, she will be Master Talpa's!" Kayura sneered.

          "Say good-bye to your friend!"

19. Firestarter's Faith.

          Flash could feel the evil presence within her. They were trying to control her! This wasn't good at all. She was fighting with all her strength. She would not let them control her!

          Come on! she thought impatiently. Think! Your friends are in trouble! And then she remembered something.

          Her body froze and became still. Everyone thought the spirits had finally taken her over. The Ronins hopes dropped. They felt terrible that they couldn't help her.

          This is my fault! Ryo thought. If only I had us armor up, none of this would have been happening! Now Flash is possessed, and there's nothing we can do about it!

          Looks like Talpa won. That bastard! Kento snarled silently. I hope he rots in hell for all he's done.

          Fight it, Flash! Cye thought desperately. I know you can do it!

          Rowen bit his lip as he watched Flash. Sage's head was down and his eyes were closed. He was ashamed and afraid for her.

          It was Ryo who first noticed the change in her. Flash glowing a bluish white color. Her symbol was glowing brillantly. He heard a silent, but firm word. Faith!

          Flash's eyes suddenly opened."Get the hell out of my body!" she screamed angrily.

          Several spirits suddenly flew out of her. Flash was taking several deep breaths. They were finally out, thank God! she thought. Then she looked up at the three Warlords and Lady Kayura, and her eyes narrowed angrily.

          "Evil spirits tried to possess me," she growled. "Know what? THAT PISSES ME THE HELL OFF!!!"

          Instantly her power went into action. The heat suddenly increased, and her symbol grew bigger and brighter. Her hair flew behind her as if in a fierce storm. Ryo suddenly felt strengthened. Cye felt the opposite, and could only hope Flash would get this done and over with as soon as possible.

          Everyone was sweating, and Dias, Sekhmet, Cale, and Kayura were afraid. They were backing away. Several spirits suddenly exploded into flames and were gone.

          "Whoa!" Kento exclaimed.

          Rowen finally figured it out. "Her symbol is faith! She can destroy spirits with her power!"

          "So that's why they couldn't possess her that easily," Sage said.

          Flash was walking toward the Talpa's Warlords and Kayura. She was very angry. Cale took out his nodatchi, preparing to run right for her and strike her down. He suddenly dropped it, and yelped in pain, and then his arm was on fire!

          "AUUUGGGHHH!" he screamed, racing about and waving his arm like a mad man.

          Dias grabbed Cale's cape and used that to put the fire out. His feet began to feel hot, and he looked down, and then let out a terrifying scream. His feet were on fire!

          Kento bust out laughing. He knew that fire wasn't funny, but Dias was hopping around, one foot slamming against the other, trying to beat the flames out.

          Sekhmet vanished from sight, and suddenly appeared a foot behind Flash. Cye saw him. "FLASH, LOOK OUT!" he cried.

          Sekhmet charged for the young girl, his swords held out. He reached her, and then suddenly regreted doing so. The heat from her body was too much! He backed away, glaring angrily and cursing.

          Without turning around, Flash growled, "Unless you want to be a turkey in an oven, I suggest you *LEAVE*!"

          Sekhemt was thinking fast. He knew his master would be furious if they didn't return with her. What could he do?

          Kayura was thinking fast. It was too dangerous to get the girl now. She had a plan of her own, but first Master Talpa would need to learn of it. "Let's go!" she called to the Warlords.

          For once none of them argued with her. Surprising, uh? Only when they were gone, did Flash let down her power.

          "I can't believe they left so quickly," Sage said.

          "I can't believe we can finally move!" Kento said happily.

          Rowen only rolled his eyes. We've been able to move ever since Flash destroyed them spirits, and he realizes it now?

          Ryo noticed Sage's worried look. "What's up, Sage? You look worried."

          "I am," he admitted. "They'll come up with something, you know. Talpa never gives up."

          They all knew that he was right. Somehow, someway they had to keep fighting, and hopefully destroy Talpa once and for all.

          

Chapter 20. Homework is Torture!

          School was over, finally, and luckily for the Ronins and Flash, none of them had detention. They did have a lot of homework though.

          "Man!" Kento groaned. "I can't believe they gave us so much homework! "

          "Aw, poor Kento!" Cye teased as they walked on, heading for home.

          "Yeah, Kento, do you want some cheese with your whine?" Flash smirked at him.

          Kento was puzzled, and the others snickered.

          Sage shifted his dufflebag on his shoulder, and sniffed the fresh air. It's such a beautiful day, he thought. Too bad I have all this homework, otherwise I'd go meditate.

          As they walked along Flash said, "OK, here's a joke. A few minutes before church services start, the devil comes in. Everybody sees this evil creature, and they all scram for it. All but one man. He's sitting there calmly. The devil sees this and is puzzled. He looks at the man, and says, do you know who I am? The man goes, sure do. You're the devil. Well, aren't you terrified of me? The man goes, nope. The devil says, you do know that I have the power to hurt you? The man goes, I reckon you do. And the devil says, and you're not the least bit afraid of me?! The man says, nope! And the devil asks, why. And the man replies, been married to your sister for 45 years."

          The Ronins burst out laughing. When they finally managed to stop, Ryo looked over at her and asked, "Where do come up with these?"

          "I make them up," she replied with a shrug.

          Ryo nodded and covered his mouth again. The next time I'm in a guilt trip, I've got to get her to tell me a joke. She's hiliarious!

          They walked on, talking about school, families, and anything else. By the time they made it home, it was after 3.

          White Blaze and Blaze greeted them with sloppy kisses. Flash hugged her wolf, and Ryo hugged White Blaze.

          Mia came out. "Hey, guys, how did school go?"

          "Went well, actually," Rowen said. "Flash made a few friends."

          "Really? That's great!"

          "Yeah, and Rufane got thrown over her shoulder!" Kento said with a laugh.

          Mia looked at the young girl. "What did he do?"

          Flash was taking out her homework. She looked up. "He grabbed me by the arm, and called me babe. I hate being called babe."

          Mia nodded slowly. She smiled. "Well, the jerk deserved it then. I've heard of Rufane. Jealous of Sage." Sage flashed a huge smile.

          "I know. Rowen already told me."

          Mia nodded again, then left for them to do their homework. She decided since all of them had so much homework, she would cook instead of Cye.

          Cye was rather relieved. He felt it would take him all night to get his homework done.

          Ryo was shaking his head as he did his homework. "Man, I used to think fighting the Dynasty was bad. This is pure torture!"

          "Personally, I'd rather do this than fight the Dynasty anyday," Rowen said.

          "You would, Mr. High IQ Man," Kento said.

          Rowen stuck his tongue out.

          Sage glanced down at his algebra and sighed. Mr. Lei sure likes to give alot of this. A hundred problems! Sheesh!

          Homework was done in silence. The only sounds in the living room were the scrapings of pencils, papers rustling, pages turning, and an occasional sigh here and there. An hour past. Rowen was already finished. No surprise there, but Flash was impressed.

          Ryo was finished Science, finally. He took out his next homework. Literature. All he had to was just read and answer the questions on the review. Not complicated.

          Kento's stomach was growling. How could anyone expect him to do his homework when he was wasting away?! He was so hungry! Even his homework looked like a burger.

          Cye ignored Kento's stomach as he worked on his geography. His mind was completely on his work, and he wanted to get it done as soon as possible. Still, it was nice that Mia offered to cook so he could complete this large pile.

          Yulie came in just then. "Hi, guys!" he greeted.

          They all waved hello to him, and White Blaze and Blaze greeted him happily. Mia came from the kitchen. "Hello, Yulie. You have homework?"

          Yulie shook his head.

          "Well, go outside and play so they can do theirs."

          "OK! Come on, White Blaze and Blaze!" The two large animals followed him outdoors.

          That was relief. Yulie could be loud when he played. Ryo was finished with his homework a few minutes later. Kento decided to take a break and see how dinner was coming along. Luckily for Mia, Cye made Kento finish the rest of his homework.

          "When it's done, she'll call us, Kento. Finish your homework."

          Kento grumbled, but he sat down.

          Flash only snickered. Kento reminded her of one of her friends.

          A few minutes later a wet Yulie and two wet animals came in. They stared at him in surprise.

          "When did it start raining?" Cye asked.

          "A few minutes ago," Yulie said.

          Cye set down his homework. "Come on, Yulie, let's get you dried off and into some dry clothes." Yulie nodded and followed him upstairs.

          Flash got up to. "Blaze, just drip right there. I'm gonna get your towel."

          Blaze nodded his head which shocked Kento. Sage was oblivious to everything. He wanted to get his homework done!

          Flash went upstairs and hollered for Ryo. He came out of his room, dressed in a pair of jeans and red sweater. "Yeah, what's up?"

          "Other than the sky, birds, and outerspace, your cat needs dried off. Poor thing's soaking wet."

          Ryo nodded, and Flash left. By the time she got downstairs with her wolf's towel, Ryo was already down there, drying off an unhappy White Blaze.

          Flash dried off Blaze the best she could. She would have to give him a bath later.

          By the time both animals were fairly dried off, and the mess on the floor moped up, Yulie came back downstairs with Cye, dressed in dried clothes. Cye and Flash returned to their homework as Yulie sat on the floor and ran his hands along both White Blaze and Blaze.

          Sage closed his algebra book with a snap. "Finally! Man, I hate algerbra!"

          "Then why do you take it, Sage?"

          "Because, in order me to graduate, I have to, Yulie. You'll have to take it one day too."

          Yulie shook his head furiously. "The way you guys complain about it, no way!"

          Sage only shrugged and turned to his next homework. English. Oh, what fun.

          A half hour later, everyone else was finished with their homework as well. Once everyone was dressed in street clothes, Mia announced it was dinner time.

          "YES, FOOD!" Kento shouted.

          "Heads up, Mia!" Flash called. "You've got a rhino heading your way!"

          The others just laughed at that as they followed Kento into the kitchen.