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"I'm free!", said a deep, ominous voice.

Dark eyes glowed as they scanned their new surroundings. The light they emanated was filled with bitterness and hatred. A horrible rage burned behind them, a fire fueled by revenge.

"For centuries…no millenniums, I have been imprisoned in this barren and forgotten realm."

He remembered it, as it had been when he first arrived. There was no light, only darkness, and no sounds except his screams of anguish and torment. It was an endless void of nothingness. No matter how far he walked or ran it always lead to no where. He was always right where he started. Many times he wondered if he really was condemned to rot away in this empty tomb. Well, his mind at least. One thing he did know was that he could never leave and nothing could ever enter, not even time.

"Freedom!", he laughed maniacally, "Freedom to do as I will. To shape all existence into whatever I want. I will become a god!"

He gazed down at the pendant he wore around his neck. It was a purple gem suspended by a thick gold chain. At one point during his imprisonment he had thought of the pendant's chain as similar to shackles. At least that's what Kala would have liked him to believe. He remembered the look of contempt and disgust on her face when she had sealed him in his realm.

She had had her moment of victory, but he had never forgotten the expression on her face. He had not forgotten the internal struggle of desperation that had surfaced on her face for that flickering moment. She knew he was right.

He gazed at the Asa Stone, his symbol of power and tool of destruction.

"Kala, you thought you could stop me, but you have only prolonged the inevitable. It is my destiny to acquire the three stones of Time. You can not hide them from me."

When he had first acquired the stone it had made him powerful. The skills that he acquired as a sorcerer had barely satisfied his lust for power, but with the Asa stone his thirst was quenched. It provided him with an endless source of energy. The longer he had it in his possession, the more he began to learn that the stone had other untapped sources of power from which he could reap, but it would take time for him to learn how to use the full extent of the stone's abilities. Kala knew this. She swooped down on him without haste and was able to defeat him before he could learn the stone's full capabilities. She had tried to take the Asa Stone from him, but already he had become too powerful, so she sealed him in the void.

When he first had been locked in the void he been angry. He alone possessed the great power of the Asa Stone and yet did not know how to use it. He thought of nothing, but escape. But it soon became apparent to him there was none. It took time but over the duration of his imprisonment he dipped deeper and deeper into Asa stone, allowing his self to be engulfed by its power until he was lost in it. He and the Asa stone had become one. He had become so familiar with its power that the stone was now a mere extension of his self. It was then that he knew he had obtained the full powers of the Asa Stone. Nothing could stop him or hold him back. He was now strong enough to break free from his cell. He bridged his dark realm with another. Once doing so he took over the pitiful world and engulfed it with the dark evil energy of his void. Corrupting its inhabitants and the land. They now willingly served him and him alone.

"Master Daisan" said a voice much like the sliver of a snake, "What would you have us do now?"

"Yes Master, we await your command.", said two others. All three kneeled in loyalty before Daisan in his throne room.

"I will obtain the three Gems of Time, but there will be those that will try to stop me. Kala knows that I am free. I have already gathered my army of dark followers and I know that she is in the process of gathering hers. Her Champions of Fate.", Daisan said with disgust.

"Then we will kill her for you, Master."

"No, that pleasure is reserved for me alone." Daisan said as he raised his arm and created a visual image. The three creatures turned to gaze upon it. They saw a woman dressed in emerald green.

"Besides Kala would not go and gather them herself. She has sent her flunky." Daisan sneered, "Her, you can kill. I want her dead along with the warriors she goes to summon."

"Yes master!" all three said in unison.

"No one will stop me from acquiring what is mine."

*************

"I must hurry! So much is counting on what happens from this moment forward. I can not fail.", Utori thought.

She had already gathered the chosen warriors from two of the worlds that Kala had shown her. She took them without hesitation, hardly allowing them to a word for inquiry. Unfortunately there was no time for explanations. All would be revealed to them in good time.

"Two more stops to go."

***************

"Hey, Kinto turn that radio down!", Mia demanded, "Your going to blow my speakers and I don't plan on buying new ones."

The car speakers were blaring with Papa Roach's Last Resort.

"Ahh! Come on, Mia! I'm just blasting some tunes."

Mia reached over toward the radio and turned the volume down a few notches.

"Hey, give Mia a break, Kinto. Mia's the most patient person I know, but even you are bringing her to the breaking point.", Sai said.

"Hey, you telling me what to do little man. Don't make me flick you.", Kinto responded, making a flicking motion with his index finger and thumb. He had the other hand behind his head.

" Ha, I'd like to see you try, Kinto. You big, loud mouthed, windbag." Sai retorted.

"Oh, yeah. Is that all you've got say, old chap." Kinto said imitating Sai's British accent as he ruffled his brown hair. Sai was sitting up front with Mia.

"I'll show you." Sai said as he reached back to punch Kinto.

"Oh yeah, come on!" Kinto said ducking.

"You guys I'm trying to drive here! Can you both not act like your five years old for twenty more minutes? You're both driving me nuts!" Mia said exasperated.

"Yeah, give it a rest you two." Sage chipped in. He was sitting beside Kinto.

"I just want to get there already. I can't wait to see Rowan and hear about what he's been doing these last couple of months." Kinto responded. He leaned back against the seat of Mia's jeep and let out a breath of air. Sai turned to look out the side window.

Mia let out a breath of air as well, and hoped to enjoy the next few moments of peace. The scorching weather and the crowded highway she would have to go through to get to the airport would be enough without the two of them carrying on. Sai was the quietest and sweetest among the Ronins, but whenever he got together with Kinto it was another story. They were both close friends, but could argue forever on end. She was glad she had not brought Yuli. He was sweet kid, but he could be a handful. It was a good thing he had a Kendo lesson. She just wished that the weather would change suddenly like it had been the last couple of days. Anything was better then the heat.

It had been almost a full year since the Ronin Warriors final battle against Talpa. The dark eclipse that the evil demon had opened to merge the mortal world with the netherworld had disappeared and they no longer had to worry about invasions from evil Dynasty agents. Fate had brought them together for the purpose of uniting to protect the world. During their crusade to stop Talpa and his evil Dynasty, they had fought many hard battles that had caused them to form a strong, unbreakable bond of friendship.

After the battle the guys had relaxed and spent a couple more weeks at Mia's place before separating. Before going their own ways, they all promised to get together the following summer. Sai had gone back to Britain with his mother and sister. Rowan had left to America with his father. Ryo, Kinto, and Sage went back to their families in Toyama and continued to attend high school. Yuli, the child that they had protected through out the battle against the Dynasty, had returned home with his parents and Mia, who provided them with shelter and information on their armor, had settled back into her old life. She was working towards her degree in Ancient Studies and hoped to teach on the university level. She had missed the guys. To her they were like little brothers. They all had kept in touch, but today would be the first time any of them had seen each other in a whole year.

"Ahh! I'm dying back here! Sai, quit hogging up all the AC!", Kinto complained.

"I'm not hogging anything. It's not my fault you sweat like a pig!", Sai yelled back, "Besides you could lose a few pounds you oinker."

"Yeah, Kinto give us all a break and put your arms down." Sage retorted.

"Seriously, we're dying too and it's not the just because of the heat", Ryo teased.

"Yeah man. You're killing us! It's a good thing Rowan's not here", Sage cried.

"Oh, no. Here they go again.", Mia thought. She lifted her sunglasses off her face in disbelief as she looked ahead at the cars in front of her. The freeway was packed.

"Just great!", she said aloud as she slumped against the steering wheel.

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"There they are. They are the ones I am looking for." Utori thought as she watched five young men and a woman get out of a red jeep in front of a large house in a country setting.

She gazed around at the surrounding forest and the mountains in the distance. She breathed in the fresh air and thought about how all of the surrounding beauty would vanish if Daisan succeeded with his evil plans.

"All of this will be gone and only empty darkness will remain.", she said somberly," I won't let that happen."

************

"I say we kill her now", said a serpent-like voice.

"I grow tired of waiting. Why do we follow her? Let's be done with it already", said another. His voice did not sound animal like the first creature, but it dripped with the same murderous lust.

"No. We have to wait until she has gathered the warriors from the fourth world, since we have no way of identifying them. Then we will kill them all at once.", said the third.

************

"It's great to have you back, Rowan. How long will you be staying?", Mia asked as she poured some lemonade into a glass. They had just gotten back from the airport.

"Thanks Mia. My dad said that I could stay the whole summer if I wanted. He's working on some new research for the university. They're really impressed with the work he's done so far. Oh, and thanks for letting me stay with you." Rowan replied. He had just come back from putting his bags up. Suddenly he felt a nudging at his leg.

"Hey, White Blaze! It's good to see you!" he said as he bent down to pet the large white tiger.

"Yeah, that goes for me, too, Mia." Sai added. He had arrived a couple of days before Rowan.

"No problem guys." Mia said with a smile.

She still had the same friendly aquamarine-blue eyes. She was still the same person and based on what he had seen from the noisy car ride away from the airport, so were his friends. It gave Rowan comfort to see that things had not changed much despite all of them parting ways.

"Bet your glad to be away from that genius school for awhile." Kinto snickered as he put an arm around Rowan's shoulders, " Time to rest that big brain of yours, pal. Yup, your head is looking pretty fat. Don’t worry old man. I'll help you to relax."

"I see your mouth hasn't gotten any smaller, Kinto." Rowan said with a sly smile and an arched eyebrow.

"Nope", Kinto laughed. "Ahh, look at us together again. It's gonna be great. Now all we need is a little excitement."

"Ha! I think that I've had enough excitement for a life time.", said Sai. He was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, man." Ryo agreed, "I'm fine taking on the everyday adventures of life."

"It took me awhile just to get use to normal living. Even though we beat Talpa, I always expected some other unforeseen danger to make an appearance." Sage replied.

"Yeah, every now and then I feel a little on edge. It's like I'm always expecting something to happen, but I think we can finally kick back. Things are back to normal." Ryo replied.

"Yeah", said Sai.

"Yeah", said Rowan, "Ever notice that we say yeah a lot?"

"Hmmph! Now here's excitement for ya.", Kinto scoffed.

"Well, you guys could take my jeep into town for awhile. Your bound to find excitement there.", Mia suggested as she pulled her long brown hair into a ponytail, "There's no way I'm going back into the city today. Not with that heat."

"Hey, let's go to the beach!" exclaimed Kinto.

"I'm all for that." Sai agreed, "I could go for a swim."

"Sounds good to me", said Ryo. Sage nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Sage maybe you could teach us some of your moves with the ladies." Kinto added.

"What moves?" Sage said.

He put a hand on the back of his head. Kinto's comment had made his cool demeanor disappear at that moment. The guys at school were always asking him what his secret was for attracting the girls and referred to him as a "pretty boy". But he could honestly say that he didn't have a clue why the girls were so interested in him. He usually felt kind of awkward whenever they approached him and wasn't sure what to say.

"Well, I've got a tip for you, Kinto.", Sai said, "For starters you could try eating with your mouth closed. Then maybe your dates wouldn't pretend they weren't home whenever you called."

"What dates?", Ryo teased.

"Ha-Ha, pal." Kinto frowned.

Honk! Honk!

"Alright Let's go you guys!" Kinto yelled. He was sitting at the steering wheel of Mia's jeep. He had on slippers, a T-shirt, and jean shorts.

"No way, Kinto! There's no way any of us are letting you drive!" Ryo exclaimed.

"What! Why can't I drive?" Kinto asked.

"No offense, pal, but your not all there." Rowan replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Kinto asked.

"I'll drive." Sage interrupted.

"Ah, in a rush to see the ladies. Yeah, I knew it" Kinto said to Sage. Then he flexed his arms, "Just wait until they feast their eyes on these guns".

"Oh, man, now that's just frightening." Sai said to Kinto.

"No, White Blaze, you can't come with us today. I think you would scare the ladies away.", Ryo said as he tried to nudge the tiger back into the house as though it were a mere house cat. "Besides Yuli will be here later for you to play with."

"Come on you guys! Quit fooling around." Sage yelled out the car window.

As they made their way down the road leading to the city, they noticed a change in the weather.

"Hey, look it's starting to get cloudy." Sai said.

"Yeah, it looks like it's about to rain." Sage added.

"Nah! It's just a little breezy. Nothing is going to stop us from getting to the beach." Kinto replied.

At that moment it began to rain.

"What is with the weather, lately? One minute it's burning hot and the next it's cool and wet.", said Rowan.

"Yeah, and always so sudden." Sage said.

"Well, it won't last forever. Maybe it'll stop by the time we get to the beach." Kinto replied.

"Nope, it looks like it's beginning to pour harder." Sai responded, " And it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon."

"I say we turn around and wait it out back at Mia's." Sage suggested.

"Yeah look's like were going to have do that." Ryo said. Sage began to make a U-turn.

"So much for excitement.", Kinto mumbled.

As they drove back to Mia's place they noticed that the rain seemed to pour harder and harder. When suddenly they saw a flash of light just up ahead in the road.

"Whoa! What was that?", Kinto yelled.

"It was just lightning, Kinto," Rowan said.

"No, I saw something else. It looked like a person." Kinto answered.

"A person?" Ryo looked around." I don't see anyone. I think you're seeing things."

Another flash of light bursted in the sky and this time they all saw the figure in the sky.

"See, I told you guys!" Kinto shouted.

"Sage, pull over!" Ryo yelled.

They all got out of the car and searched the sky frantically, but with the rain pouring as hard as it was it made it hard to see anything.

"There!" Rowan pointed.

They all turned to look up and saw a young woman. She was floating in the sky and seemed perfectly dry despite the rain.

"Oh!" Sai gasped.

"Who are you?", Ryo yelled.

"What do you want?", shouted Rowan.

The woman smiled, "I hear you boys are looking for adventure!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Sage. By this time they were all shivering and soaking wet.

"Hmm, why I don't get all of you out of this soaking, wet rain and take you to a warmer place. Although I don't think your dressed for the occasion.", she replied.

"Hey wait a minute! You're not taking us anywhere!" Ryo yelled back.

They all reached for their yoroi and transformed into their demi-armor. Ryo leaped forward to strike the woman. Seeing the attack the woman phased and Ryo went right through her. At that moment the smile wiped off her face and she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I don't have time for this.", she replied.

"Well, neither do we!" he answered. This time they all prepared to attack.

"Like I said we aren't going anywhere!", Ryo cried.

"You don't have much of a choice and neither do I.", she replied, "Besides I didn't come here to hurt any of you."

She raised both arms to her sides to form a T and began to glow a bright light. All of the Ronins noticed that they were beginning to glow with the same light as well.

"What's happening?", Kinto yelled.

"I don't know.", Ryo yelled.

At that moment they all disappeared.