It was agonizing to watch how helpless he was. He just stood there, no defensive position, no scream, no cries for it to stop... nothing. He let the blows keep coming, each one more powerful than the last. You could hear the impact to his body and it sounded like his bones were ready to shatter completely. His body jerked backwards when he was struck, causing him to lose his balance and fall. The idiot just kept getting back up. And if it were anyone else standing on the sidelines to observe, they might think he was looking for the punishment he was receiving.
No, our heroine was standing by, transformed completely into Amulet Spade. She had her oversized paint brush in hand, perfectly capable of putting up a fight. She could strike at any moment she pleased, provide a distraction, or even input some dialogue to distract the attacker. Instead, she buckled up - completely frozen in place - and stared with her mouth open and eyes wide in horror. You couldn't really blame her, though. She was, after all, watching two boys she cared about very much fighting. Well, the one was fighting and the other was taking the beating. You get the idea.
One boy stood about five foot, eleven inches. He was tall and lanky, but he was clearly strong and willful. Even though his eyes were null and lifeless, you could feel the resistance radiating off of him. He was fighting his own inner struggle, being completely counterproductive with his outer self. He wore a long black trench coat with red fur around the collar and long black boots. His navy blue hair adorned a pair of cat ears, currently folded back to show his mood. He wore white gloves and was holding a gorgeous wooden violin. And although he produced beautiful music with this instrument, the somber sound he was creating now was absolutely heartbreaking.
You could see the tension when he pulled the bow across the strings. He didn't want to be playing something so melancholy and upsetting, especially since he knew it was hurting the people around him. He caught a glimpse of the little strawberry and took notice of the tears forming in her eyes. That was one of the most tragic things he'd ever seen. And the boy in front of him, well, that was an entirely different story.
Tadase just gawked at him, completely in awe and totally broken at the sight of his former friend. The man he used to call 'big brother' was under someone else's complete and utter control. His violin, the one that used to compose the loveliest of music, was now being used to possess children's hearts eggs, thus transforming them into X-Eggs. A purple aura of energy spilled from them and they were able to harness that dark matter and use it as a weapon. The more he played, the more sorrow and turmoil he felt, the harsher their blows were. They shot and aimed for the kiddy king, hitting him every time.
Kiseki called out to him, demanding that they do a Chara Change, but Tadase didn't respond. It was like he couldn't even hear him. He floated over right by his ear and screamed at the top of his lungs for him to snap out of it, but still he got nothing. Tadase was paralyzed, whether it be from fear or shock, it didn't matter. He appeared to have lost all contact with the world.
Amu's other charas, Ran and Su, both called out to her to make a move as well, saying that a Chara Change was pointless if she refused to act. Miki even tried to reason with her, but she seemed to be just like her friend. They tried to call out to Kiseki, but he was far too busy trying to forcefully knock some sense into Tadase. They tried everything they could think of to be noticed and heard, but it was all for naught. Amu just gripped tighter her brush, bit her lip, and let a few tears roll down her face.
"Ikuto..."
Despite the fact that their charas seemed to be of no use, a card was finally played to force them to do something. If not, the end result would be gruesome and unpleasant. Ikuto stopped playing and discarded how bow, grabbing his violin by the neck. A white glow consumed it, completely enveloping it and expanding. Before anyone even realized it, Ikuto now possessed a deadly threat: a scythe. It stood about as tall as he did and he seemed eerily familiar with it. He twirled it around like it was some child's baton, before scraping it on the ground and letting some sparks fly.
That certainly got Tadase's attention, though he still wouldn't budge. Ikuto wielded the monstrosity in an offensive position and began a sudden charge. Amu's stance finally broke and she hollered as loud as she could. She begged for the madness to stop and called out to her dear friend to move. All he had to do was run away, step aside, duck... anything other than stand still! But just as she jolted to come for him, he took a hit.
Kiseki was knocked backwards, now drenched in the blood of his most loyal subject. The scythe had made perfect contact with his right shoulder, ripping right through the fabric of his clothes and tearing at his pale skin. It had cut him practically down to the bone, or at least it felt like it. Now standing behind him, Ikuto tensed up, slamming his eyes shut, and used ten times more force to take back his body. He couldn't believe that he struck a child, let alone his 'little brother.' He was fortunate enough to will his body to let up on the amount of pressure it wanted to apply to the strike, but it still wasn't enough to stop it. He hadn't missed like he wanted to.
Amu darted full-speed ahead, pounding her feet with the cement, trying to reach Tadase as fast as she could. She choked when she saw the blood spatter; the pattern it created reminded her of a crime scene that you'd see on television. It was dark and rich, a very rust-colored shade of red. It tainted the ground, a nearby bench, and his entire body. His plaid blue shirt was now soaked and ruined, forever stained red. It dripped down to his white pants and created a puddle beneath him. His face and hair had droplets of it clinging to them, but he didn't seem to care. He looked more like he was in shock about being run at by Ikuto rather than the fact that he had been injured.
But he was still frozen and the danger level was rising! Amu finally made it over to him, immediately applying pressure to his wound with her hand. Ikuto lost his fight for the moment and violently spun around for round two. He twirled the scythe again, this time looking to strike her. So in a moment that was controlled only by her instinct to survive, she rose to her feet, held out her brush, and called out for her 'Colorful Canvass' attack. The brush created a rainbow-colored stream of energy and it flew like the wind at Ikuto. He used his scythe to block it, but it sent him sliding backwards anyway. And in this heated moment, all she could do was repeat her actions. Now it was her who just hit him relentlessly.
She didn't want to fight him... didn't want to hurt him. But she had no other choice if she wanted to protect Tadase! The boy who was always so confident and strong was now in pieces on the ground behind her, desperately trying to gather himself and fight back. He didn't want to just take it, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to engage in this kind of violent fight with someone that he still cared about. Even though he hated to admit it, his love for Ikuto as a brotherly figure would never truly disappear.
However, the forces of nature deemed it now appropriate to rise to his feet, for the girl that stepped out recklessly to defend him - the girl that he was madly in love with, the girl who had completely stolen his heart, the girl who amazed him every day by just being herself - was now flying backwards with a malicious, mind-controlled Ikuto swinging at her. She held up her brush to block his attacks, but he soon knocked it out of her hands. And unfortunately for her, she had no time for another Chara Change.
"Kiseki!"
Finally regaining his ability to speak, Tadase leaped up, did his transformation into Platinum Royal, and drew his staff. Without missing a beat, he lunged himself in between his two comrades and used his scepter to defend Amu. Without a second thought, he pushed Ikuto backwards and used his 'Holy Crown Special' attack. A golden orb of light emitted itself and formed a huge barrier around him and Amu. Ikuto used his scythe to strike it, but to no avail.
Amu looked up from her position on the ground at Tadase. She grinned in pure joy that he had finally come back to reality. But her heart broke all over again when she saw that he was still bleeding. His face was laced with agony and pain as he tried so hard to keep his defenses up. A trail of blood could be seen from where he had been lying. More blood pooled around him from trying to fight. How his right arm wasn't completely useless was beyond her.
So in an effort to end things quickly, Amu bounced up, retrieved her brush and called out the command for 'Colorful Canvass Special.' Tadase caught on quickly and made his demand for 'White Decoration.' In unison, both Amu and Tadase raised their weapons in the air and the most brilliant and captivating golden light shot up from where they stood. It branched out like a fountain of pouring water, now showing all sorts of pretty colors. All of the X-Eggs from earlier were being ensnared by the powerful energy their attack created. The eggs were then purified and released.
Having found that their plan backfired, Easter released their grip on Ikuto, allowing him to transform back to normal. Yoru, who had been watching in terror from behind a bush, floated out and over to his dear friend. And before Amu or Tadase could do anything about it, Ikuto was snatched up and loaded into the back of a black van. They drove away fast, knowing that either child wouldn't be able to catch up. And with that gut-wrenching fact, Tadase finally verbalized his displeasure, fell to his knees, and transformed back to normal. He gripped tightly to his shoulder, tears forming at the brim of his eyes. He was in an ungodly amount of pain, even though the cut could have been much worse.
Amu also transformed back and flocked to his side, letting one hand rest over his and she used her other to support her weight. She tried talking with him, getting his attention, and making sure he was O.K. She whipped out her cell phone and called for an ambulance. What she was going to tell them when they arrived, she had yet to figure out. But that didn't matter, so she helped him apply pressure until they came.
With his eyes squeezed shut, all Tadase could do now was listen to the panicked charas in the background and use his other hand to grip Amu's. She was surprised at his actions, but held his hand as well. She could only imagine how much he was hurting. Not just physically even, but emotionally as well. She had cared for Ikuto on a deep level, but not nearly as deep as Tadase. They had such a long and dark history that it must have killed him inside to see him the way he was. Even though she was torn up about the whole thing, she was sure he was ripped to shreds.
And even though they knew he was being controlled - that he wasn't attacking of his own free will - it only seemed to make the whole thing worse. Amu knew the road to recovery would be long and brutal, but she silently promised herself to be strong for Tadase. He had always been the rock of their little group and now it was her turn to be at his side. She would be his shoulder to cry on, his go-to person for support, and his understanding friend who would do anything to help him through this. It was the least she could think to do.
In the distance, they could hear the sirens wailing and knew that the ambulance was only a few seconds away. Opening his eyes, Tadase forced himself to look Amu in the face. Leaning in, he whispered, "thank you." His cheeks a bright red color, he kissed her forehead before losing consciousness.
Oh, yes, she most definitely owed him.
"A/N: M'kay, just to clarify, no Tadase did not die. He made it to the hospital and was saved, yada, yada, yada. I have decided to devote my time to writing Tadamu fic's in between updating my JTHM story. I am doing this because of the still lacking good Tadamu fic's in this blasted fandom. I'm no super-awesome writer or anything, but I at least try and do something original and have a nice flow to my stories. I don't like the overused plot lines I see all over this fandom. Besides, I've been dying to write a story where Amu had to save Tadase instead of her being helpless. She is the heroine, after all. Anyway, enough of my senseless babble. Reviews are loved always."