Chapter One

Familiar Surroundings

After stepping out of the portal, Inuyasha shaking his head, obviously his body wasn't agreeing with time and space travel. I laughed as he stumbled like a drunken man. As Dark touched down, holding Yuyake in his arms and looked around.

"This world... Is familiar. Have we visited it before?" Dark asked me. I looked around before seeing the most familiar redhead and blunette I knew.

Daisuke and Satoshi!

"Dark. I see Daisuke and Satoshi!" I tugged on his sleeve, pointing to the two. The two were in high school uniforms, most likely on their senior year. I walked over, the others climbing out of the portal.

"DAISUKE! SATOSHI!" I smiled. They turned, Satoshi not having any glasses in.

"How do you know us? You aren't familiar. I'd know a hanyou brat when I saw one."

"It's me... Shinji!" I smiled. Daisuke blinked before looking at Satoshi.

"Love, do we know a Shinji?"

Satoshi shook his head. "No."

Was this before the flame pull happened?

"Do you know a Dark Mousy, by any chance?"

"Dark Mousy? Who's he? Is he a celebrity?" Satoshi asked, his brow furrowed.

I shook my head. "No, he's a phantom thief. What about Krad Hikari?"

"I should know if there was a Krad in my family, Shinji-san." Satoshi sighed.

"What about the Hikari artwork, Kokuyoku?" It should exist! After all, this Satoshi's a Hikari, he should know about it! And it's my artwork!

"You must have my family confused with another family of artists. I don't remember hearing anything from my mom."
"She's still alive?"
"Yes, why wouldn't she?"

His mom died... The other Satoshi, from the other world. Is this an alternate universe to DNAngel?

"Um..." I looked at my feet.

"What were you asking 'bout that phantom thief, Dark. I don't know him, but there is a phantom thief in Azumano that we're known for. Her name's Devil." The other Daisuke from this world turned.
"Devil?"

"Yes. She's appearing at the Azumano Art Museum tonight at ten."

I nodded. "Thank you Niwa-san." I bowed and ran back over to Dark and the rest. Yuyake laughed happily. I smiled.

"What did they say?" Krad asked. "Master Satoshi and Daisuke-kun?"

"They aren't the Daisuke and Satoshi we know. This is an alternate universe where Kokuyoku doesn't even exist." I told Krad, his eyes widening along with Dark's and Autumn's. "Another artwork was created, and I got the information from the Daisuke here... That there's another pair. A female phantom thief by the name of..."

"Psiren?" Ed asked. I shook my head.

"Devil." I smirked. "And tonight, we will find out her identity and everything we need to know about this world."

We stood outside the museum at eight, Dark and I wearing thieving clothes. The museum closes in 20 minutes, and we could get in and hide. Dark and I shared a quick kiss, romance movie style before climbing the steps. Krad and Autumn were hiding in some trees nearby, to watch the outside. I pulled open the door and proceeded inside.

Since no one in this world knew of Dark, or myself, we could easily walk in, buy our passes and continue on.

"You two, the museum closes to the public in twenty minutes, it's not the best time to go looking around here." The woman handed us our tickets.

"We know our way around museums." Dark flashed a dashing smile at the poor woman being duped into letting two skilled phantom thieves INTO the museum where a robbery was going to take place the same day they came in. Who knows, maybe we could be accomplices who are going to switch the artwork with some crappy fake that someone spent about an hour making a look-a-like to the art that the thief was going to steal!

Dark and I walked in, further towards the target. We had done our research and the article of value that Devil was going to steal was one in the highest level of the west wing of the museum.

KRAD

Autumn and I perched in the tree.
"Wonder if they got past the security without getting arrested." Autumn muttered, looking at the window we were going to open and get in. I pulled out a knife.

"Probably. Dark and I aren't known here. The Niwa and Hikari family themselves don't know us. We don't exist here." I stabbed the knife into the tree trunk. "X's and O's?" I asked, carving a grid into the bark. She nodded. I carved an X into the bottom left corner. She took it and drew and O into the top right. I smirked.

We ended up playing a couple of games, the night getting darker. Hopefully Ed and Inuyasha were in a safe, warm hotel or motel room.

I sighed as I leaned back. I noticed a figure flying towards the museum.

Autumn checked the time, on her cell.

"9:59" She confirmed. "It's either Angel, or Devil."

"Probably the thief."

DARK

I stood in the shadows, Shinji perched on an alcove above the artwork, poised to spring. We'd been hiding out in the bathroom for the last couple hours, then started our mass dash, past surveillance cameras and security guards. I heard footsteps. Policemen. They were weilding the usual flash lights. I jumped up to a beam and stood on it. I knew how much the beams could hold. I'd jumped up here back in my home world with heavy artworks ten times my weight. I heard shouting as some policemen ran through. A girl walked in, long blonde hair swirling around her feet. The way she walked, and how her hair moved reminded me of Krad's when it was down. A cross was braided into the back of her hair, a braid that circled around to the back, the cross hanging off the tied ends of the braids. I recognised it anywhere. I'd seen it for 400 years, hanging around the Hikari workshop, and off Krad's hair. And even the copy he gave Shinji for her fourteenth birthday.

It was Angel.

I could feel Shinji's heated gaze on me.

"Now." Angel spoke, her voice cold, just like Krad's when I was being tamed by Daisuke. "See that the phantom Devil does not steal this. It's the remaining Hikari artwork here." She pointed at it before turning, a cold, hard gold gaze looking at us.

KRAD! AUTUMN! I thought as she lifted her hand, white arrows embedding themselves in the vent and the ceiling. She continued the onslaught of feathered darts. I began running.

"DEVIL I KNOW IT'S YOU UP THERE!" Angel shrieked. The feathers became more vicious and I found myself almost crying out as one zipped only a centimeter away from my groin. It pinned a little bit of my hair to the ceiling. I paled instantly. I pulled my hair away and continued going. Angel screamed before Shinji dropped down and landed only the way a hanyou can, making next to no sound.

She went ninja and attacked Angel, tackling the girl to the ground and pinning her sleeves and pants to the floor using feathers, and a kunai. Angel gasped.

"Devil! No, you don't look like her."

"Shut up. You freakin' attacked my husband." Shinji growled, placing a foot on Angel's chest. "The name's The Winged Alchemist. Remember it." She tilted her head up and looked down. "Or Shinjitsu-sama, if you prefer, Miss Angel."

I paled. "Shinji..." I murmured. I jumped down, landing neatly.

I aimed feathers at the men and slowly knocked one out.

"MY MEN!" Angel shouted. Shinji growled.
"Pay attention to yourself." Shinji told her.

"LET ME UP." Angel growled, her cold eyes focused, enough to tell any experianced thief to get the hell out of there.

"No." Shinji replied, her molten gold eyes as soulless as Angel's. "Not until we catch Devil."
"Catching Devil is my job!" Angel tugged her left arm. It came free.

Shinji pinned Angel's arm back down with her foot. I heard footsteps.

"Thank you for doing most of my job for me." A voice laughed. A girl stepped into view. Her hair was the same shade as mine, her purple eyes glittering.

Devil.