warning! these contain long chapters and some profanity.

Chapt. 21.  Kayura's Plan.

          Talpa sat there, glaring at his Warlords and even Kayura. He could not believe what he had just heard. "Are you saying that girl destroyed my netherspirits?!" he bellowed as his eyes flashed red.

          "Yes, Master Talpa," Kayura answered as she lowered her eyes. "It appears she carries the faith symbol, which means she can cast out spirits out of herself and probably out of someone else as well. We don't know. She's a formindable fighter, sire."

          "Yes, I know that. And her power could be stronger than the Inferno. I must have that power!"

          "Well, there is one way to get the girl," Kayura said with a sly smile.

          "Lady Kayura, what are you talking about?" Dias demanded.

          "We cause her and the Ronins to fall into a deep sleep. Once they're out, we take her. I'm sure Badamon can cast a spell that will make her unable to use her powers."

          "It would be difficult, but I can try," the high priest replied.

          "Find a way!" Talpa ordered sharply before turning his attention to Kayura. "Carry out your plan, Lady Kayura. And bring that girl and the Ronins back. We can get the Ronin Armor back as well."

          "Yes, Master," she said with a bow, and then vanished from the room.

          It was in the evening now, and everyone was relaxing. Rowen was reading a book on Astronomy, Sage and Ryo were playing chess. Mia was watching television and sipping tea, Cye and Kento were both playing a card game of Rumme 500, Flash was going through some of her family photos, and Yulie was watching.

          "Hey, who are those kids?" he asked, pointing to a boy and girl with light brown hair and blue eyes. They were about four years and looked alike, except the girl's hair was longer and in pig tails.

          "Oh, those are my half sister and brother, Cammy and Sammy. They're twins."

          Ryo turned around and stared strangely at her. "Half?"

          "Yeah. Remember when I told you about my mother's and brother's deaths?" They nodded, hearing the melanochy in her voice. Well after my dad remarried Susan, it wasn't long before she gave birth to the twins."

          "They look cute," Cye commented.

          Flash snorted. "Try babysitting them sometime. They are bad! They love to run from you, and get into all sorts of danger, and Sammy is worse than Cammy!"

          "How's that?" Sage asked.

          "Well, Sammy's got these Ninja Turtles, and he can't pronounce it yet, so he calls them Inja Urtles. I remember one day he comes up to me and goes, Flashy, where's my Inja Urtles? I'm like, look around! They're everywhere! Don't ask me how many bruises I got just from tripping over one of them. We keep picking them and putting them in his toybox, and he just keeps dumping them out again.  And another time he comes up to me, and goes Flashy, kitty's got my Inja Urtle! I go, well get it from the cat! And then I hear, reower! Get it from the cat, don't kick it from the cat. Wanna know what he said? It was an accident!"

          They chuckled at that.

          "And another time I was just doing some homework, and I hear Cammy screaming at the top of her lungs. Sammy had broken her favorite newborn baby doll. Boy were my dad and Susan hacked! So was I! I bought her that doll! So while they were comforting Cammy, I look at Sammy and go, why don't you tear your own stuff up, Sammy? Get that Barney and those teletubby dolls out of the house. Have you ever seen their videos? They'll make you want to commit suicide! Sammy loves to watch them, and it took a full month just to convince my dad to let me have my own TV with cable in my room."

          Kento nodded his head. "Yeah, my little sister, Chua's the same way."

          Flash smiled and placed the album away.

22. Talpa's Victory.

          Outside, Kayura and the three Warlords stared down at the mansion from the perch above on the trees. All four of them were silent for now. They could see into the living room through the window. Halo and Wildfire were playing some kind of board game, Hardrock and Torrent were playing a game of cards, and from the look on Hardrock's face, it was apparent that Torrent was winning. That infolady they called Mia was watching TV, while Flash and that little brat sat on the couch, watching TV as well.

          "So how are we going to do this?" Cale asked.

          Kayura smiled. "Sekhmet, you break in and head for upstairs. Take out the first person to come up there. If it's the brat or that woman take them out, but don't kill the girl or the Ronin(s) who comes upstairs. Use this sleeping powder. Sekhmet nodded, took the small bag, and vanished. Kayura turned to Cale. Hide out behind the house, and make some noises. One or two of them should come out to investigate. When they do, use this to put them under." She handed him a small bag of sleeping powder. Cale vanished.

          "What about me?" Dias asked eagerly. Kayura smiled and handed him a small bag of sleeping powder as well. Use one of your illusions to bring out the Ronins. And then put them under with this."

          Dias nodded and then frowned. "What of Wildfire's beast and that girl's wolf?"

          Kayura only smiled. "Don't worry about them. I'll handle them and the girl. That tiger and that wolf will make two beautiful fur coats." As Dias vanished, she laughed softly.

          

          Cye looked up at the clock and frowned. Kento gave him a look. "What's wrong, man?"

          "I have to feed Bubbles, Goldie, and Suikus," Cye replied as he climbed to his feet.

          "Those are your fish right?" Flash asked as she looked up.

          Cye nodded and headed off upstairs.

          "Checkmate!" Sage called as he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

          Ryo looked surprised. "What?! You know Sage I really hate you."

          "Thank you, Ryo. I love you too."

          At the same Kento and Flash began to hum. "Da dum dada dum da dum da da!"

          Sage covered his face with his hands and mumbled, I am not that way!"

          Ryo turned as red as his armor, but manage to answer, "Ditto!"

          "Aw, relax," Flash said. "We were just teasing you."

          Mia snickered.

          Rowen headed down the hall toward the library room where all the books were kept. He had just finished reading his astronomy book, and now he wanted to something else to read. As he searched the shelves looking for something he hadn't read (good luck, Rowen. You probably already read all of them!) he heard a noise coming from the backyard. He listened very closely, tilting his head to the side. He shrugged after a bit. "Must been an animal." He turned his eyes back toward the books. Shakesphere, Hummingway, 1000 Ways For a Man to treat a Woman. Ancient Greek Mythology. He scratched under his nose, and continued searching. Finally he found something worthwild. Galaxies and Neighbouring planets.

          He took the book, then frowned. "There was that noise again! And it was much louder than before. Without thinking he left the library room and went out the back door to see what was making that noise.

          Just as suddenly some kind of purple dust was thrown at him. He tried to dodge it, but he suddenly felt very sleepy. He hit the ground with a soft thud.

          Cale stood over him, grinning from ear to ear.

          Cye walked into his room and right upto the fish tank. He looked down into the tank and gasped with shock. His fish was dead! "NOOO!" he cried. "Bubbles! Goldie! Suikus!"

          He heard the door shut, and assumed that Kento had come in, but then he heard the lock turn and felt the evil presence. He whirled around.

          "Hahahaha! Well, Torrent, how do you like the present I left  you? They fed so well on my poison! Hahaha!"

          Cye's face went from complete shock to eternal rage. In less than two seconds he slammed Sekhmet up against the wall, ready to rip him to shreds.

          "You sonofabitch!" Cye snarled as he clawed as the Warlord's face. "You killed my babies!"

          Sekhmet punched Cye right onto the floor, then held him down. He remembered the small bag and opened it, pouring the purple powder onto Torrent.

          Cye was suddenly exhausted. His last words were, "I hope you rot, Snakeface," before he had fallen into a deep sleep.

          Sekhmet quietly laughed as he lifted Torrent and escaped through the window.

          Downstairs, Flash was looking up toward the ceiling with her eyebrows raised. "What was that?" she asked.

          "What was what?" Ryo asked.

          "I thought I heard a noise."

          They all listened closely. When they did not hear anything else, they just shrugged, figuring it was imagination. But still Flash was certain she had heard something.

          Sage was thirsty. He got up from the second round of chess and walked into the kitchen. He got a drink of water from the sink, then caught something out of the corner of his eye. He looked out the window.

          A deer! It appeared hurt too. He set the glass down and went outside. As he neared the deer, the deer watched him, moving just slightly, and he was afraid it would run away.

          "Shh, I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly and gently. "It's OK." He got near the deer and just when he was about to reach out to it, it suddenly vanished.

          Sage jumped a little. "What the!" He looked around, puzzled. And then he felt something fall on him. He looked up, seeing Dias grinning at him. He felt very tired. "Dias," he mumbled. "Figures." He hit the ground in a deep sleep.

          

          Kayura smiled down at the sleeping animals before her feet. She had caught them coming back from the woods. They had seen her and charged, and just when they were inches from her face, she blew enough purple powder on them to put them in a heavy sleep. She summoned a vast of Dynasty soldiers to take the animals into the netherrealm, then she turned and headed for the manor.

          Somehow she was able to sneak inside without causing anyone to notice. She was in the basement. She found the airshaft right beside her and an idea popped into her head.

          Ryo suddenly yawned. "What time is it?" he asked.

          Mia yawned too and looked at her watch. "After 8:00.

          Ryo raised his eyesbrows as his eyes started to close. "Really? Dang."

          "Looks like Yulie fell asleep," Flash said with a smile. He was curled up, his head resting on her lap.

          "He seems to like you," Kento said with a yawn. He heard a soft snore and looked to see that Mia had fallen asleep in the recliner. Ryo fell asleep then, and so did Flash, and finally Kento zonked out too.

          Talpa was laughing as he stared at his viewing screen. All five Ronins, and the girl, and those beasts were in the Dynasty dungeon, locked tightly in seperate cells, and chained very tightly. Kayura had succeeded. He had won. Victory was his!

23. Awakening with Shock.

          A few hours passed before everyone began to wake up. Ryo tried to grab his head, only to find that he couldn't move his arms. 

          "What the hell?!"

          "Ryo, you shouldn't," Sage stopped when he realized that he was chained up. "Uh?!"

          "Where am I?" a British voice groaned. Cye glanced sleepily around. "Oh, I've got metal bracelets." He closed his eyes. They snapped open. "Metal bracelets?!"

          "Guys, stop yelling," Rowen muttered. His opened, and then he jumped with surprise. "I don't believe this!"

          "Uh?" Kento woke up now and saw that he was chained. "Fuck!"

          Flash's eyes slowly opened and she looked down at her wrists. "Crap!"

          It was then they knew where they were. Talpa's Dynasty Dungeon. At first none of them could figure out how they were captured, until Sage remembered that Dias had poured some kind of dust on him.

          "I bet that was sleeping potion!" Ryo said angrily. He tugged at the chains. He was going nowhere

          "Well, well, well, Ronins. Welcome back to the Dynasty."

          All six of them looked up and glared at Kayura. Kayura had a a huge smile on her face. She turned to Flash. "And welcome, Firestarter."

          Flash smirked. "Nice place you've got here. Great view! Tell me when's the last time you decorated? My little brother's room is way cleaner than this place!"

          "Silence!"

          "Yes, mother!"

          Kayura glared at her, but then smiled. "I am sure you'll enjoy your stay here, Ronins and Firestarter."

          "Not really," Flash broke in. "We asked for soft beds, we got bricks. We asked for a room with a view of the mountains and the sea. I want a refund!"

          "If you don't shut the hell up, I'm going to stuff a cloth in your mouth!"

          Flash's eyes narrowed. "Try it."

          Just those two words alone was enought to make Kayura think a little. She backed a way some, then suddenly smiled evilly. "That reminds me. I had your wolf killed."

          Flash smirked. "You liar."

          "Uh?!"

          "Blaze isn't dead."

          "He is too dead!"

          Flash just smiled. "I know something you don't know. I know something you don't know!"

          "Humph! Well, he may be alive, but mark my words, he and that wretched beast of Wildfire's will become my furcoats."

          Ryo heard that and all rage leaped out. He lunged foward, the chains jerking him back. "You Dynasty bitch! If one fur is missing from White Blaze, I'll have your head on my trophy wall!!"

          Kayura just smiled. "We'll see, Wildfire. Ta ta, Ronins! Enjoy your stay!"

          She turned around and began to head for the stairs.

          "Um, Kayura?" Rowen called.

          Kayura stopped and turned around to look at the Strata bearer. "What, Strata?"

          "Since when you did start smoking?"

          Kayura frowned at him. "I don't smoke! You boys are pathetic!" She turned on her heel and went up the stairs, leaving the Ronins and Flash alone.

          Flash was counting. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

          "AUUUUUUGGGGHHHH! I'M ON FIRE!!!"

          The Ronins all looked at Flash. She had w icked smile on her face. "Barbecued Kayura anyone?"

          "How did you do that without her noticing until just now?" Rowen asked.

          "I had to focus on the power, and concentrate just enough so my symbol wouldn't show up on my forehead. I just kept thinking about her back, and willing the fire to go there, and it did."

          Rowen nodded, and Kento said, "Look out, Flash. He'll want to use you as an experiment!"

          Rowen frowned as Flash said, "Goodie! I get to play a labrat! Tell me, do you have a costume big enough?"

          There was some laughter, until Flash said, "That's it! I'm getting tired of hanging around here. How about you guys?" There were five affirmitive nods.

          Flash stared straight ahead and concentrated. The cuffs on her wrists were getting hotter and hotter until they finally popped open. She did the same thing to the cuffs on her feet. She was free.

          The Ronins watched in slight surprise as she walked toward the cell door, and watched as she snapped the lock open with her power.

          "Cool!" Ryo said. Flash looked toward him and then suddenly he was free. Next was Rowen, then Kento, then Cye, and finally Sage.

          Except for Ryo, the other four were rubbing their wrists and ankles. Flash smiled sadly. "Sorry, about the burns, guys."

          Sage reached out to heal them of their burns. "I can take care of this." He glowed green as he concentrated and healed Rowen, Kento, Cye, and himself.

          "Now we should see about getting WhiteBlaze and Blaze," Ryo said.

          And they sneak off down the hall, keeping themselves ready for anything.