Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Warrior Call ❯ Two Down ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ronin Warriors
Warrior Call
By Janime
Part Nine - Two Down
**********
Dayus opened his eye. Slowly and painfully he brought himself to his knees and removed his helmet. Dayus touched his cheek and looked at his blood-covered hand.
"Kayura," he whispered terrified.
Looking around the room, Dayus saw his wife lying on her side, the Ancient Staff next to her. He crawled over to her. Gently, he pulled her helmet off and cradled her in his arms.
"Kayura," said Dayus. "Kayura, wake up." He shook her lightly. "Please, sweetheart."
He sighed as Kayura moaned and opened her eyes.
"Dayus," she said and touched his cheek. "You okay?"
"I'm all right," he answered. "You?"
Kayura nodded and smiled. Dayus kissed her tenderly.
"You two never quit, do you?"
They looked and saw Cale sitting up. He took off his helmet and wiped the blood from his face with his cape.
"As I said before," said Sekhmet. "You're not in the Dynasty."
"And as I replied," Dayus said, "your point?"
One by one, the Ronins and the girls woke up.
"That hurt," said Rowen.
"Really?" Twyla asked sarcastically. "I didn't feel a thing."
"Where's Jessie?" Casey demanded. "I'm going to strangle her."
They looked around the room, but saw no sign of the female Ronin.
"Sis?" Joana called, standing up.
"Is it just me," said Kento. "Or does this room look a lot bigger?"
"It's bigger," said Gwen.
Actually, the room was double the size.
"Look, there's more passages." Cye said.
"Worry about those later," said Kayura. "Find Jessie."
"Finding her will, unfortunately, be easy." Sekhmet said. His helmet was off and the look on his face was not a happy one.
"And you're saying that because?" Sage asked.
Sekhmet held up one of the Wildfire Swords.
"Start looking." Kayura said urgently.
"No need to tell us twice," said Cale. "Jessie!"
"Sis!" called Joana.
"Where are you?" Twyla shouted and stepped on something. Leaning over, Twyla picked up the other Wildfire Sword.
Joana and Cye were over by one of the passages. Cye heard her whimper.
"What is it?" he asked.
Joana held out the Wildfire helmet.
"Guys!" Cye called.
They hurried over and saw the helmet.
"Oh no," Gwen whispered.
"Where did you find it?" Kayura asked.
"Right here." Joana said, her voice shaking.
Sage and White Blaze ran down the passage.
"Wait, Sage!" Kayura called.
"I'll go," said Dayus and he ran after them. Dayus was down the passage a few meters when he saw Sage kneeling next to Jessie. She was lying face down and White Blaze was nudging her head.
"She has a pulse," said Sage, looking at Dayus as he knelt down.
"Help me turn her over," Dayus said. They rolled Jessie onto her back and looked at her blood-covered face. Not good, Dayus thought.
"What's going on?" Casey's voice echoed down the tunnel.
"We found Jessie." Sage said.
"How is she?" Kayura asked.
"She's unconscious," Dayus answered his wife. "And she's hurt pretty bad." He picked Jessie up and walked out of the tunnel with White Blaze walking between him and Sage.
"Still want to strangle her, Casey?" Sage asked.
"I'll wait till after we get out of here." Casey said.
Dayus set Jessie on the ground. Kayura put her hand on Jessie's head. She whispered a chant and the blood faded away.
"She'll be all right," Kayura said. "It's best if she keeps the Armor on. It will help heal her wounds." She looked at the other Warlords. "We should keep ours on, also. Just in case. The rest of you get some sleep. I'll watch over Jessie. We'll alternate until she wakes up."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Jessie walked down the long, dim tunnel towards the light at the end. She entered a large, white room. In the center of the room, on a circular platform, was the Armor of Wildfire. Jessie looked at the Armor. She heard Ryo's voice.
"Virtue."
Jessie walked around the Armor and saw a large red crystal behind it. Someone was inside the crystal and she walked over to see who it was.
"Ryo," Jessie said and touched the crystal. "Come on, Ryo, wake up." She pounded the crystal. "I can't do this. I'm not a Ronin. I can't lead. I can't do this. I…" She lowered her head. "I just can't."
Sage shifted his position, trying to get comfortable as he watched Jessie. Sleeping on the living room chair was a hell of a lot better than what he was going through right now.
"Ryo…"
Sage looked at Jessie.
"Come on, Ryo, wake up." Jessie said faintly.
She's talking in her sleep, Sage thought, I wonder if this is a common occurrence?
"I can't do this," Jessie continued. "I'm not a Ronin. I can't lead. I can't do this. I…I just can't." She groaned and covered her face with her hands.
"Hey," Sage said and he shook Rowen.
"Wha…?" his friend asked sleepily and the others stirred.
"What is it?" Twyla asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Jessie's waking up," said Sage.
"How do you feel, Jessie?" Kayura asked.
"Okay, I guess," Jessie answered. "You didn't happen to get that license plate number of that truck that hit me, did you?"
"J-e-s-s-i-e-twenty-two," Casey said.
"Ha-ha, very funny, Casey." Jessie sat up. Her face paled and she put her hand on her stomach.
"Are you okay?" Sage asked.
"If I had anything in my stomach, I'd hurl," Jessie said. "Speaking of stomachs, Kento hasn't complained that he's hungry since we left the house."
"You know something," said Kento, "I'm not." He looked down and slapped his mid-section. "Hello? Are you working?"
"After four hundred, fifty years," said Dayus, "I can now say it: I have seen it all."
"So this means you can die now," said Kento. "I'll help."
"Hold it," said Jessie. "Would someone please explain to me what happened? How long was I out? And why did the Flare double back? It's not supposed to do that."
"No, it's not," Kayura said. "You were out for quite a while, Jessie. We all took turns watching you, starting with me and ending with Twyla. You woke up during Sage's second shift. The four of us already went through our second shift."
"Oh man," murmured Jessie.
"As for the Flare," Kayura went on, "you're right. It's not supposed to double back."
"And it was never that strong," said Dayus. "I believe the eight of us can agree to that."
"Not me," said Cale. "I never had a major battle against Ryo."
"The Wildfire Flare," said Kayura, "felt almost as strong as the Inferno Fervor Rage Flare." She looked at Jessie. "Whatever made it that strong and caused it to double back, it was you, Jessie."
"Nice going," said Casey.
"Well excuse me for living!" Jessie snapped. "I didn't ask for this to happen to me and they didn't either. So, shut up, Casey. I've had enough of your bullshit already. I'm sick of it."
"How do they stay friends?" Kento whispered to Gwen.
"I don't know," she whispered back. "I've tried to figure it out, but I can't."
"It's not Jessie's fault," said Kayura. "But, Jessie, you do have to prevent your power from combining with Wildfire. And you're going to have to learn to work with Wildfire."
"How?" Jessie asked.
"We'll teach you," said Cye.
"Maybe it'll be better if she learned from us." Cale said.
Oh no, Jessie thought.Here we go again.
"Why? Because you can wear your Armors?" Sage asked disgusted.
"That and the three of us have over four hundred years worth of experience," Sekhmet said.
"Yeah, but you didn't understand your Armors until six years ago," said Rowen. "So we still beat you by one year."
"He has you there," Kayura admitted.
"Honey, stay out of this," Dayus said.
"As you wish, sweetheart."
This is getting ridiculous, Jessie thought as she watched the seven men argue. She looked at White Blaze who was sitting next to her. He grabbed the sword sheaths attached to her back and tugged gently. Jessie looked at the tiger and smiled. She looked at Kayura and her friends, who had grouped together away from the others. Jessie pointed to the guys, touched her swords, and winked. They caught on and nodded eagerly. Jessie took a deep breath.
"FLARE UP NOW!" she screamed.
The guys jumped and looked at Jessie. She was laughing so hard at their frightened expressions that tears ran down her cheeks. "I really wish I had a camera," she said laughingly.
"That was not funny," said Dayus.
"Yes it was," Kayura said.
Dayus looked at Kayura. She and the other girls were still laughing. "Just wait until we get out of here," he warned his wife.
"Before your mind conjures up anything," Jessie interrupted. "As to who will be teaching me, I will choose. Okay?" They nodded in agreement. "Kayura, will you teach me, please?"
"And she chooses a Warlord," said Cale.
"I didn't choose her because she's a Warlord," said Jessie, "and I didn't choose her because she's from Ancient Clan. I chose her because she's the only other woman wearing Armor."
"And we can relate to each other on things we can't with you." Kayura said.
"What's wrong with us?" asked Kento.
"Two words," said Jessie, "male ego."
"Or one word," said Twyla, "testis."
Jessie put her hand over her eyes as everyone just stared at Twyla. No wonder you were called Garbage Mouth at Brooks, Jessie thought.
"Uh, Jessie," Sage said, changing the subject. "You were talking in your sleep about Ryo."
"I saw him," said Jessie. Everyone looked at her. "I was walking down a tunnel and went inside a white room. The Wildfire Armor was in the center. I heard Ryo say 'Virtue'. I walked around the Armor and Ryo was inside a red crystal."
"That's all?" asked Kayura.
"I think he was naked," Jessie blurted out.
"Jessie!" exclaimed Gwen as the others gaped at her.
"Well, wait a minute." Jessie paused to organize her thoughts. "I saw Ryo from waist up and he didn't have anything on. Waist down was covered by a convenient dark spot. Kinda like Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII."
"That's not too bad." Twyla said.
"Drop it, already," Kayura said. "Come on, Jessie. Let's start your training."
"Okay," said Jessie, picking up her helmet and followed Kayura.
"Where are you going?" asked Cye.
"Let's just say that this has to be a private lesson," said Kayura. "No distractions whatsoever."
"Oh no," said Rowen. "You're staying within our sight so we can still see Jessie."
"Will you stop fighting and shut up for once!" Jessie begged. She sighed and looked at the ceiling. "For the love of Anubis."
"'For the love of Anubis'?" Casey asked. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
The other Armor wearers stared at Jessie. "What?" she asked.
"You acted like Ryo, just now," Kento said.
"I-" Jessie stopped herself, realizing that he was right. "I did, didn't I?"
"What do you mean that she acted like Ryo?" asked Twyla.
"He said the exact same thing when we were fighting a few weeks before you came to stay with us." Sage said.
Ryo, Jessie looked at the Wildfire helmet, I know that you're still alive. Where are you? We need you.
"Jessie?" asked Cale.
She looked up from the helmet to Kayura. "That lesson sounds pretty good, right now."
"This is starting to get boring," said Kento.
"Would you rather be on patrol with the Warlords?" Cye asked.
"It's starting to sound tempting, I might do it."
"No, stay here," said Gwen. "Protect me."
Kento smiled and put his arm around her.
Her knight in shining Armor, Joana thought, feeling happy for Gwen.
In March, before Jessie was released from the hospital, Gwen had suffered a bad breakup with her fiancé. He had left because Gwen had gone with Joana, Twyla, and Casey, to see Jessie in the hospital, saying that she was ignoring him. Less than two weeks after the breakup, there was a picture of him with another girl in the newspaper under the wedding announcements.
"He was a bastard," Gwen had said. "It wouldn't have lasted that long anyway."
Joana sighed, looked around, and noticed that they were one short. "Where's Casey?" she asked.
"Nature called." Twyla said.
Cale walked down the corridor back to where the others were. He didn't see anything unusual and there weren't any signs of Nether Soldiers. He stopped at the faint sound of movement. Cale remained hidden in the shadows, placing his hand on the sword hilt. Casey walked by. Cale let out a sigh of relief.
"Casey," he said quietly.
She jumped and turned around; a frighten look on her face.
"It's all right, it's me," Cale said, taking his helmet off.
"You scared the crap out of me," said Casey.
"Pardon?"
"It's a figure of speech, but you did scare me."
"Oh, sorry."
"It's okay. I'll see you back with the others." Casey walked away.
Cale smiled as he watched her leave. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Okay, get your mind back to more important things," Cale muttered to himself. "You're old enough to be her ancestor."
But he couldn't ignore the feeling that he hadn't felt in over four hundred years.
"Look deep within your soul," Kayura said, "and see if you can find it. When you do, tell me. I'll see if I can help separate your power from Wildfire."
Jessie nodded and shut her eyes. She let her body relax and opened her mind's eye. "Wow," Jessie whispered. "It's so pretty."
"Try to find your power." Kayura said.
"Okay, don't worry. I'm going." Jessie started to look around. "Does everyone has lights like these in their souls?"
"Yes, they do," Kayura answered. "Some people have more than others. Like me, you, and the other Warlords and Ronins."
"Aren't we so lucky?" Jessie asked and Kayura smiled. "Found it. It looks like there's red shimmery thread wrapped around it."
"That's Wildfire," said Kayura. "Try unwrapping it from your power."
Jessie reached out to take the orb with her mind's hands, but it drifted away from her. "It won't let me near it."
Kayura thought for a moment. She took Jessie's hands and started to chant.
"I don't know what it is you're saying, but keep talking. The orb is letting me near it." Jessie took the orb. "Got it."
"All right," said Kayura, letting go of her hands. "Start separating Wildfire from it."
Jessie turned the orb in her hands, found an end of the thread, and started to unwrap it. "So what do I when I'm done?" she asked.
"I'll tell you," said Kayura. "In the meantime, keep separating it."
Jessie gasped and opened her eyes. She looked around the room franticly.
"What is it?" Kayura asked. A dark wave passed through her.
"Company's coming," Jessie said, putting on her helmet.
"Highly unwelcome," Kayura said. "Get back to the others."
"Not without you, sensei!" Jessie grabbed Kayura's arm and they ran back to the rest of the group.
"Why do they attack all of us at once?" Casey asked, ducking behind the Ronins with the rest of her friends.
"Hey," said Kento, "all for one and one for all."
"Quiet!" snapped Kayura. "Jessie, did you separate your power from Wildfire?"
"Not all of it," Jessie said, "more than half, though."
"Is that enough?" Dayus asked.
"I hope so," said Kayura.
"Jessie, no offense," said Cale. "But try to prevent yourself from using the Flare unless it's necessary."
"None taken." Jessie pulled out one sword.
"Why don't you use both of them?" Sekhmet asked.
"Because you taught me how to use only one so far," Jessie said.
"Sounds like a personal problem, Jess," said Twyla.
"For once in your life, Twyla, get your mind out of the gutter."
Nether Soldiers came running out of some the passages.
Well, Jessie thought,let's see if I pass the Ronin Training 101 test.
The Armored ones attacked. Jessie was fighting remarkably well, blocking the Nether Soldiers weapons and cutting them down. She turned around. "Cale! Behind you!" she shouted.
He turned around in time to see Jessie strike a Nether Soldier. "Thanks," said Cale. "You're fighting very well."
"You know what the scary thing is?" Jessie asked. "I feel as though I've done this before."
"Must be from Wildfire," Cale said, dodging a Nether Soldier.
"True," said Jessie. But why do I doubt it?
"I swear, these things double every time you kill one of them!" Kento said, kicking a Nether Soldier, grabbed its spear, and stabbed it. "Do they have a factory around here, or what?"
"I'd say 'what'!" Gwen said. She ducked behind a large rock with Casey and Joana.
"I need company," Casey said, "and Prozac."
"Sorry, but I left mine home next to the Nytol." Joana said.
"Where's Twyla?" Gwen asked.
They looked around and saw her standing behind Rowen and Sage as they battled Nether Soldiers.
"Twy! Over here!" Joana shouted.
Twyla made a mad dash for her friends. A spear struck the wall in front of her. Twyla screamed and ran in another direction.
"Get back here, you dope!" Casey yelled at her fleeing friend. "Uh-oh."
A Nether Soldier loomed over them. He reached out to grab Joana.
"Get away from her!" Cye shouted, kicking the Nether Soldier so hard it slammed into another one.
"You three okay?" Kento asked, joining them.
"Yeah," said Gwen. "Twyla ran off! We don't know where she is!"
"We'll find her," said Cye.
"But what if the Nether Soldiers get her first?!" Joana cried.
Twyla ran around the room, hoping to find Jessie or one of the Ronins or Warlords, and avoid being captured by Nether Soldiers.
If I ever get out of here, she prayed, I promise never to make Jessie sing Luau until-
Twyla's mind was too occupied with the silent deal she was making that she tripped over a few rocks and fell. Cursing at her foolishness, Twyla raised her head and saw a Nether Soldier coming at her.
A sword flashed and the Nether Soldier fell to the ground.
"Jessie!" Twyla called.
"You okay?" Jessie asked.
Twyla nodded and gasped. Jessie turned around and saw Nether Soldiers running towards them.
I'm sorry, Cale, Jessie thought, pulling out the other sword. But it's necessary. "Twyla, get out of here! Move it!" She put the sword ends together.
Painfully remembering Jessie's first attempt with the Flare, Twyla quickly stood up to run and stopped with a jerk. She looked down and saw her foot stuck between two rocks.
Oh no! Twyla thought franticly. She tried pulling her foot loose.
Jessie raised her swords. "FLARE UP-"
"NO, JESSIE! WAIT!" Twyla shrieked.
"-NOW!"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
Once again, the room was filled with a bright light and heat. When it disappeared, the Nether Soldiers were gone and everyone looked at Jessie.
"It was necessary!" she said.
Kayura held out the Staff and closed her eyes.
"Well?" Dayus asked.
"All clear." Kayura opened her eyes, letting out a relieved sigh, which was echoed by everyone else.
"Hey, I'm getting better." Jessie said.
"You must be," said Casey, "we're not fricasseed. Where's Twyla?"
"I don't know. She was standing right next to me before I-" Jessie looked down and saw Twyla's smoldering shoe. "OH MY GOD! I KILLED MY BEST FRIEND!"
"Jessie!" Sage grabbed her shoulders. "Listen to me! Calm down. The special attacks don't kill humans instantly. Twyla's still alive. Okay?"
"Okay..." Jessie whimpered through tears.
"Then where is she?!" Gwen cried.
"She might have been knocked down one of the passages." Cale said.
"But which one?!" Rowen asked, panic in his voice.
"Jessie!" said Joana. "Track!"
Uh-oh… Jessie's eyes widened. "I really wish I had told you this sooner…"
"Jessie, you have been practicing, haven't you?" Gwen asked.
"I, uh, well…" Jessie stammered. Then meekly, "No."
"YOU!" Joana lunged at Jessie, but Gwen and Casey held her back. "You said that you were practicing!"
"I didn't think I was going to need it!" Jessie defended herself. "If I knew this was going to happen, I would have!
"When was the last time you practiced?" demanded Gwen.
"Before the fight with Michael."
"That was almost a year ago!" Casey yelled.
"This means she can't Track?" Cye asked.
"No, I can," said Jessie, "I'm just extremely rusty."
"And we just got you to Track correctly instead of backwards!" Gwen shouted.
"I still don't believe that crap Michael told us!" Jessie shot back.
"That doesn't mean that you stop practicing!" Joana hollered.
"Shh, listen," said Sage.
"…Help…"
"Twyla," Jessie whispered.
"…Help…"
"Down here!" Rowen said, running down the passage.
"Rowen! Wait!" Jessie called. She ran after him, knocking down Sage, Cye, and Kento in the process.
"And again she turns us into road kill!" said Kento.
"With good reasons, though." Sage countered.
Sage, thought Cye,you'd better marry her, before I decide to kill her.
Rowen heard Jessie calling him, but he ignored her and continued running down the passage. He spotted Twyla lying on the ground a few meters ahead. Rushing to her side, Rowen cradled Twyla in his arms. Her lavender kimono was burnt in several places and a little blood covered her face by her left eye.
"Twyla?" Rowen shook her gently. "Twyla!"
He watched her eyes opened and she looked at him distantly.
"Rowen?" Twyla asked weakly.
Jessie arrived and looked at them. "Twyla?"
"Jessie?" Twyla looked at her Armored friend.
"Yeah?"
"You suck…" Twyla's eyes closed and her body slumped.
"Oh no! Twyla!" Jessie cried as tears flowed down her cheeks.
"She's not dead," said Rowen, laying Twyla on the ground. "Jessie, what did Ryo do when he gave you his Armor?"
"He held my hands, fingers interlocked," she said. "He said his kanji and…Rowen, what the hell are you doing?!"
"I'm gonna save her life!" Rowen held Twyla's hands.
"No, Rowen! Wait for Kayura!"
"There's no time!" Rowen closed his eyes. "Life."
A bright light filled the area. Jessie shielded her eyes and felt a pull and something else put in place. The light faded away.
"Rowen?" Jessie lowered her hands. "Ah! Rowen!" That's a side of you I NEVER wanted to see!
From the brief glimpse, Jessie saw Twyla wearing the full Strata Armor and Rowen wearing his birthday suit.
"Jessie," Rowen said. She lowered her arm just enough to see his face. "Don't worry," he continued, "it's not your fault."
Jessie looked at him confused. Rowen's kanji began to glow and he started to fade into a dark blue outline.
"Rowen!" Jessie cried, reaching for him, but he vanished completely. "Oh no, Rowen, not you, too. How am I going to tell the others?"
"Ow, my head…" Twyla groaned.
"Are you okay, Twy?" Jessie asked.
Twyla opened her eyes. "You are such an idiot!" She stood up and glared at Jessie. "You almost turned me into a barbecue!"
It then occurred to Jessie, that Twyla hadn't realized that she was now wearing the Strata Armor. Jessie said nothing as Twyla ranted and raved about Jessie's insane idea of using the Flare.
"And another thing!" Twyla pointed at Jessie.
Jessie watched as Twyla's face pale and her eyes widened as she looked at the white and dark blue Armor on her arm.
"Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-what the hell am I doing with Rowen's Armor on?!"
"Because he gave it to you." Jessie said casually.
"Why?!"
"To save your life."
"This is all your fault!" screamed Twyla.
"My fault?!" Jessie yelled. "Why were you standing so close? I told you to move!"
"My foot was stuck! I yelled at you to wait, but you didn't hear me!"
"I did not know that you were still next to me." Jessie said, her voice lower now. "So don't blame this one on me."
At that moment, everyone came running towards them.
"Hey, look," said Kento, "Rowen's wearing his Armor."
Twyla pulled the helmet off. "DO I LOOK LIKE ROWEN TO YOU?!" she screamed.
Kento jumped back and everyone else stared in shock at the new female Ronin.
"Twyla?!" Casey exclaimed.
"What are you doing wearing Rowen's Armor?!" Sage asked.
"Gee, I don't know," said Twyla, sarcastically. "I gave him my kimono to wear so I could try on his Armor. What the hell do you think?!"
"Great! That's two Ronins gone!" said Dayus.
"Jessie, why didn't you stop him?" Kayura asked.
"I tried," said Jessie. "He wouldn't listen to me."
"You should have knocked him away!" said Twyla. "Then I wouldn't be in this predicament!"
"I'm sorry, all right?" Jessie snapped. "I can't change the past! You know I would if I-"
Don't…
Jessie groaned and put her hand on her forehead.
"Are you okay?" Cale asked.
"I think so." Jessie said. "Don't worry. I'm all right."
"So what happened to Rowen?" Kento asked.
"He did the same thing Ryo did." Jessie explained. "Rowen took her hands, said his kanji, there was a bright light, the Strata Armor appeared on Twyla, and Rowen……disappeared."
"Why the long pause?" Casey asked.
"What pause?" Jessie asked innocently.
"Between 'Rowen' and 'disappeared'." Cye said.
"Nothing."
"Spill it, Jessie." Joana said.
Jessie looked at her. "Why can't I ever lie to you?" Joana smiled.
"What happened?" Kayura asked.
"Please don't make me say it!" Jessie begged. "I want to leave the poor guy some dignity!" And I've been scarred for life!
"Jessie, I need to know everything that happened," said Kayura.
"Fine," Jessie sighed. "Rowen was butt naked before he disappeared. There, are you happy?"
"What?!" Twyla shouted. "And I missed it?! Damn!"
"Twyla!" exclaimed Gwen.
"Oops. Don't tell him I said that."
"Finally!" said Jessie. "I can berate you! This is gonna make up for all those times you tortured me about Teknoman!"
"Oh, grow up!" Twyla said.
"Stop it! Both of you!" shouted Kayura. "We better go. Now we have to find Ryo and Rowen, too."
"All right," Twyla sighed. "Only this time, Jessie, Track, will you?"
"Didn't we go through this already?" Kento asked.
"Twyla," said Gwen, "brace yourself."
"Don't even tell me that you haven't been practicing." Twyla said, glaring at Jessie.
"Okay, I won't," Jessie said. "Twyla! Wait a minute! Let me explain!"
But Twyla ran at Jessie, knocked her down, and proceeded to strangle her. Sekhmet and Cale ran over and pulled them apart.
"Killing her is not going to make this situation any easier!" Sekhmet yelled.
"But it'll make me feel a hell of a lot better!" Twyla shouted, trying to free herself from Sekhmet's hold.
"Oxygen," Jessie gasped as Cale helped her to stand up. "Friend. Good friend."
"Jessie," said Twyla, a little calmer now. "What insane excuse do you have for not practicing and how long has it been?"
"I have only one word," said Jessie. "Michael."
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Twyla sighed. She looked up at Sekhmet. "Will you please let me go?"
"Promise not to kill her?" he asked.
"I promise I won't kill Jessie," said Twyla. "Yet."
Sekhmet released her and she walked over to Jessie. "I still don't even understand why you had to fight with him," Twyla said.
"If you want to believe that line of bull he told us, Twy," Jessie said, taking her helmet off. "Be my guest, because I don't."
"I didn't say you had to. But the three of us said that we would keep practicing and help Gwen and Joana find theirs."
"I know."
"What did Michael say?" Cale asked.
"I don't remember the exact words," said Jessie, "but he said something along the lines of his status and not telling us." She looked at Twyla. "You know as well as I do that he's hiding something."
"Yes, he's hiding something." Twyla agreed. "But that's the way he is and that's no excuse to stop practicing."
"We'll argue about that later," Kayura said. "Let's get moving."
"Hold on a sec," said Twyla. "What about me?"
"What about you?" asked Dayus.
"Welcome to the club, Twyla," Jessie said smiling. "Make sure you say 'Armor of Strata' loud and clear."
"I am not wearing this!" Twyla shouted. She held out the helmet. "I refuse to wear an Armor that has a helmet that looks like a blue banana!"
"Tough," said Cale. "Get use to it."
"On second thought," Jessie said. "Maybe you should take Strata off of her."
"It's bonded to her," said Kayura. "It'll come off when we get Rowen back, like you with Wildfire and Ryo."
"Sorry, Twy," Jessie said, putting on her helmet. "I tried."
Twyla sighed, also placing her helmet back on. "How do you guys stand wearing this?" she asked. "It's a little uncomfortable."
"You get used to it," said Cye as they walked out of the passage.
"Hey Twyla," whispered Jessie. "Look on the bright side. It has a built in sports-bra."
"I'm not talking to you," said Twyla, quietly. "But you're right."
Had any of them turned around before leaving the tunnel, they would have seen the dark robed figure step out from the shadows behind them. His eyes glowed and he grinned evilly behind his mask.
"Two down," he said, "three to go." He stepped back into the shadows and disappeared.