Okay so this story is not my priority, just so you know.

Personally I like the odd crossover combination. This one was a bit hard to set up but I quite like where it's going. Hope you enjoy this intro.

Chapter 1

Jigoku X Shissō X Ketsuron

Hell.

That's the word it all came down to after they'd defeated Easter.

When all the guardians went to confront Easter they had all been prepared to come face to face with its leader. What had not been expected though was for Easter's leader to have been nothing more than a small lonely boy called Hikaru. Everything they'd fought against for the last two years had apparently been orchestrated by a single boy. But of course things could never be that simple.

Hikaru had lost his heart and ability to feel, only yearning for the completion of one thing. A stone, a one of a kind shiny stone. Everything, all their pain, hurt and troubles had been nothing more than the simple quest of a lonely boy. At the time Amu really didn't know whether she was supposed to be mad, upset, maybe even sad but for some reason all she could feel was a strange sort of calmness. Numbness even.

The little boy had looked at them with such straightforward eyes that she couldn't help but be drawn to them. The blond haired boy couldn't have been very old he barely reached her shoulder in height yet his eyes told another story. Amu could see the little boy was missing something, he showed neither fear nor any sign of emotion even when multiple X-eggs attacked them all. The lack of fear was almost unsettling to watch. It couldn't be healthy to live like that.

The answer to Amu's confusion followed quickly after. Hikaru's grandfather, Hoshina Kazuomi, was the real cause of everything.

Hikaru's grandfather was obsessed with Easter and as it turned out the man was both jealous and controlling. Ikuto's father, Tsukiyomi Aruto, would have been the one to lead Easter and Kazuomi was very jealous about that little fact. After Aruto disappeared, leaving Utau and Ikuto on their own, Kazuomi forced Hoshina Souko to marry him. It was through this method that he took control of Easter and became the stepfather of both Utau and Ikuto.

Ikuto soon turned into his next target.

The man so obsessed with Easter wanted his grandson to take over. Ikuto was forced to do his bidding and the teen became withdrawn to protect what was precious to him. With another threat out of the way he pushed Hikaru to start preparing for his future. It was his belief that Hikaru couldn't be happier than taking over his company. What the man hadn't realized was that in doing so he was slowly killing his grandson inside. The boy was unable to make friends, never having any contact with people and was cut off from the world. He couldn't barely even understand that aching feeling in his chest every time he saw happy families on the television and kids playing together outside.

The boy's first feelings of happiness came in the form of a jewel, well really it was just a shiny stone. To Hikaru though it was one of the most beautiful things ever. Hikaru could forget the strange ache in his chest whenever he looked at the pretty stone. Soon he was collecting every stone that would glimmer in the sun.

After a while though even all the shiny stones were no longer enough for him to feel better. Sure he didn't feel as bad as in the beginning but the feelings he'd had when he found that first stone were slowly fading. It was then that he met a strange man at the side of a river. The tall blonde haired man told him a story about the hearts egg. An egg that could shine so brightly that it could fulfill the wishes of anyone. Of course Hikaru declared that story to be ridiculous, but he couldn't help but think of it. Slowly he started to yearn for that egg, maybe a glimmer that bright could make that ache in his chest fade away again.

It was with that desire that he made his first decision as the head of Easter, promising the company employees a successful career should they capture this egg successfully.

Amu could clearly see that little boy in her mind, throwing away his emotions and feelings just so he wouldn't have to deal the rejections from his grandfather. Sitting in the corner of his room everyday staring at the stones just so he would feel slightly better. Watching the screen of the television trying to figure out why seeing families and friends made his chest ache so badly. Amu could picture it all as the boy explained his confusions and desires.

It hurt to watch Amu to watch a little boy describe all that unfazed.

And yet things continued to get worse.

Hoshina Kazuomi wasn't the man he used to be any longer. Kazuomi had become so obsessed that he started to lose sight of himself and what he had been aiming for. He became blind to Hikaru's plight, became blind to the terrible sins he'd orchestrated and became blind to so much more. The man could no longer see the boundaries of his actions and Amu could see no remorse as Hikaru talked to them all.

She could feel a sliver of anger, maybe even hatred as she saw the disappointed look on Hikaru face when the boy had looked up for some form of acknowledgement from his grandfather.

Kazuomi gave the boy nothing. If anything there was a strange glint in his eyes as he slowly took a few steps back. Reaching into his pocket the man pulled out a small remote control before pressing the button on it. Several machines that seemed awfully akin to stereo's rose up from the building. Before Amu or any of the others could even begin to react Kazuomi had already pressed another button on the remote. Soon they had all fallen to their knees trying to cover their ears unsuccessfully. The sound being made by several of the machines was horribly loud and almost unbearable. Amu could barely see, the noise was making her extremely dizzy. Ikuto who had been standing next to her was curled up entirely trying to do anything he could to block the noise. She could imagine this hurting him a lot more thanks to his cat like senses.

It took about three minutes for the sound to stop echoing across the building but they had to hold back their sighs of relief. The moment their vision cleared they could see the entire sky covered by X-eggs and X-chara's. Where did they even come from? Panic rose within her, that last fight had already cost them most of their energy!

"Now, you know what to do!" Kazuomi yelled. His voice was odd though and his eyes had a crazed look. They weren't focused at all. "Take these troublesome guardians down so we can get the embryo for gozen!" Amu looked at her friends. Yaya was trembling in fear, Amu could actually see the girl's knees begin to give out on her.

Rima and Nagi were barely standing, having to support one another. Tadase was trying to stay strong and hold everything together but even Amu could see the doubt and disbelief in his eyes. How were they going to get through this! Utau and Kukai were standing behind Ikuto, each holding a grimace on their faces trying to think of ways to solve this situation. In the end the X-eggs and X-chara's went for the attack.

It was a harsh battle and it didn't end well.

There were too many of them and the guardians were quickly overpowered. It was for the first time that they actually realized just how dangerous everything could be. That this wasn't a game, that things could actually go drastically wrong. That their lives were really at stake.

Yaya, Tadase, Rima and Nagi were the first. They couldn't bear it anymore and made a temporary retreat. Yaya had fainted when it all became too much and Tadase tried to drag her away from the fight.

Kukai was standing by Utau's side no matter the consequences and they were immediately surrounded. The number of X-eggs and X-chara's had increased after four of them left the battle. Amu who had been watching back then had cried out in fear as she saw them surrounded by hundreds of eggs, it was only Ikuto barely holding onto her that stopped her from rushing over to them. It was almost similar to a movie, Kukai holding Utau one last time as they prepared for their last moment together. The next time she saw them they were covered in wounds with their hearts eggs shattered next to them. El, Il and Daisuke nowhere to be found.

Amu had collapsed onto her knees and stared at her best friends. Tears slowly slipping down her face, before looking down at her hands. She could see, feel even, that they were shaking. Fear, she was terrified. It was only with that realization that she couldn't quite keep it together. A cry of despair and pain made its way through the battlefield. Around her she could feel her friends in the same predicaments but she was unable to do anything. It was only when a small hand touched Amu's cheek that she could feel a semblance of herself returning. Three more small hands stroked her cheek before she could feel the tension slowly seep out of her shoulders for a bit. It was only then that their voices finally broke through the haze of her mind.

"Amu-chan wake up! Everyone needs you!" Her eyes cleared and returned to their usual bright honey color as she slowly returned back to reality. Yelling into her ear next to her was Miki. The usually calm and centered chara was heavily panicked and was yelling her everything at Amu. But when she went to face her chara's she could only freeze up in shock and fear. Standing in front of her was Ikuto, as Black Lynx defended her from every X-egg and X-chara that were attacking them. Most of his Black Lynx outfit was ripped and his body was littered with wounds.

This time though instead of retreating back into her mind as she felt the pain seep deep into her heart. She gathered together a heartbreaking amount of determination. With renewed energy Amu stood up in one move and immediately changed from her usual uniform to a transformation with Miki who had seemed so desperate to do something. To help Yoru.

Not more than a few moments had passed when she had entirely eradicated the group of eggs. She hadn't given the eggs a second thought as she went through them protecting one of her most precious people. It was only after she finally had the room to get to Ikuto and have him moved that he realized what she'd done.

Amu had singlehandedly destroyed all the dreams the children here had and she would probably never be able to forget it.

Back then it had seemed to her as if nothing could have been worse at that moment.

She would once be proven wrong though.

Ikuto had been heavily wounded and she left him sheltered at a small bush she'd found while jumping around in a desperate attempt to get away. Leading the eggs away she flew back to the square they had been on earlier. It wouldn't do to have the eggs cause a disturbance somewhere else, though she hadn't been thinking quite as clearly back then. The only thing that had been on her mind was to get Hoshina Kazuomi to stop. Anything to bring this man down. To protect everyone.

She landed in the middle of the square facing the man as the eggs were approaching her from behind.

"Hoshina Kazuomi, stop this right now!" She yelled frustration seeping into her voice. Almost at the exact same moment a shiver in the air around her presented itself and the X-eggs ran into some kind of invisible wall at full speed. Slightly shocked Amu looked down at her hand feeling the power rushing around her.

'Amu-chan they're barriers! They responding to you, I think we made them.' Miki's voice resounded through her ears. She could feel the connection between her and the girls getting stronger as she focused on the barrier in front of her. Dia, Su and Ran all seemed to be watching anxiously from the sides and she send them a reassuring feeling, 'everything is going to be fine'. The sliver of doubt that Amu had was buried as she smiled at them before turning back to the perpetrator. The man in question only laughed in a way that had her think he wasn't entirely in the right mind. Not that anything he did made her think so.

"Hinamori Amu! The one bug in all of my plans. I should have just gotten rid of you ages ago, together with that useless step son of mine." The disgust rolled of his tongue and Amu almost cringed at it. "The only thing that idiot was useful for was keeping Utau under my thumb and he failed to do even that."

He kept on talking and belittling Ikuto in the worst ways. With every word Amu could feel the anger build up inside her. After listening to the man for a few minutes she finally couldn't handle it anymore. "How dare you! Ikuto did everything you asked, despite not even wanting to he listened! You treated him like trash and all you have to say is rubbish like this!" Once again tears streamed down her face but this time they were in frustration. Why…! Why did Ikuto and Utau have to grow up with such a.. such a horrible person!

Hoshina Kazuomi didn't seem to appreciate her talking back though, if his face darkening considerably was anything to go by. It was only after a few moments that a smirk slowly spread on the man's face. "Ooh you can say whatever you want but this time I will get what I want." Without another moment he held up his hand holding the dumpty key Ikuto was supposed to have.

The guardians had never figured out how the humpy dumpty pair worked but she'd always thought it to be something special. Those thoughts though were pushed aside forever as the key started to shine brightly, the same way it had done for Ikuto weeks back. A few seconds later she could feel the humpty lock on her chest reacting as well. But this time instead of the familiar warmth she'd come to associate with the lock she could only feel a deep pain shoot through her as the lock burned intensily against her chest.

Her knees gave out as she fell to the ground from the pain. Her transformation was undone and her Chara's immediately rushed towards her. "Amu-chan!?" Su was the first to gush in her usual worried motherly tone. Amu though didn't or rather couldn't answer as she tried to keep the pain from overwhelming her. The locket wouldn't leave her neck for some reason.

"I suppose you do not know what that locket means do you girl?" Kazuomi said in a demeaning way as if she were stupid for not knowing. She tried to glare but the pain spiked suddenly and she gasped painfully. "The locket and key are a pair as I'm sure you know, but there is a difference. The key isn't destined to be with one person, the locket on the other hand is. Now normally if the pair is together nothing much will happen, but the key and the locket are known to have influence over one another." Amu frowned, maybe that was why she'd often felt strange when the key was close by. "But together with the embryo like now I hold the stronger power." The man cackled disturbingly and Amu could only grit her teeth as another wave of pain flashed through her. "I have you guardians right where I want you. Now embryo make them disappear!" Amu's face drained of color as the special egg started to glow brightly. Unable to do anything she tried to shield herself when four tiny figures gathered in front of her.

Her head moved to follow the small movements rapidly as she recognized. Reaching out in a last effort to stop them she barely brushed Dia's hand. The little chara turned to smile at her faintly. "Remember Amu-chan, I know you felt it just before. As long as you feel the connection we are a part of you. Believe in who you can be Amu." The last part was said softly as her four little Chara's were buried in light.

"Noooo!" she yelled desperately. Not only were Utau, Kukai and Ikuto hurt, now she'd lose a part of her heart she'd come to treasure so deeply. Amu didn't know if she could go on without her partners there with her on the way.

It was only when the light finally calmed down that a sliver of hope gathered in her heart. Floating in front of the embryo were four eggs, specifically her Chara's eggs. The four eggs were gathered together and the embryo swallowed them whole before flying away as it had always one before. Amu though had calmed down a little, she could still feel a strong connection with the girls and it didn't seem to be disappearing anytime soon. They were still alive!

"No! the Embryo! This wasn't supposed to happen." The man's voice turned Amu's attention back to the scene and she looked around her. Kazuomi's wish hadn't been clear enough. Many things from around them had disappeared, pieces of walls, chairs and benches. Anything that was nearby could've been taken but nothing was targeted specifically.

She was relieved to see that even Utau's and Kukai's wounds had disappeared. It appeared that the embryo had mostly done benevolent things and Amu was grateful for it. Though when she thought of how it could have been she filled up with rage. Turning her glare upon the perpetrator she could feel the connection growing stronger until it unleashed a flood inside her. Feeling the familiar energy she stood up pushing away the extreme agony tearing at her body.

"Hop, Step, Jump." Flying through the air she neared the man and punched him in the face as hard as she could. Meanwhile she grabbed the key from his hands and jumped to move away. "Drew, Draw, Drawn." Her giant paintbrush twirled itself around the man's body. Black strokes of paint surrounded him and tying him to the ground. Kazuomi himself wasn't much of a threat, it had always been the resources he had.

Walking over to the bound man she kicked him hard and as he doubled over she grabbed him by the shirt. As a twelve, almost thirteen, year old girl she couldn't really pull him up much but enough to do the trick. Glaring at him intensively she snarled at him. "If you ever come harm anyone precious to me you don't want to know what I'll do!" With a last vicious kick she walked away leaving him bound as she called the police for an anonymous tip. On the way she rushed over to Kukai and Utau who she noticed were waking up slowly.

It was amusing and extremely calming to her nerves to watch Utau yelp as she woke up way to close to Kukai only to end up staring at the boy. When Kukai woke up he noticed this and teased the girl. As usual Amu could feel herself relax some more as she watched two of her precious friends bicker, it just seemed so normal and calming.

"Sorry to bother you two lovebirds." She snickered softly when they both became red in the face. Not giving them a chance to protest she pointed her thumb at Kazuomi and then at Ikuto. "The asshole is going to get picked up by the police in a few minutes and we need to move Ikuto if you guys could help." The tiredness in her voice was easily noticeable and both of her friends looked worried. The high amount of wounds on her body and the limb she was now walking with didn't help the matter. Thankfully though they both decided to interrogate her at a more appropriate time.

Amu watched as they all Chara changed and swiftly moved the Ikuto from behind the bushes back to his apartment. Distractedly she alternated between watching all three of her friends worriedly and the small wings on her hands and feet. Utau had promised to sing a healing song for Ikuto so she wasn't too worried but now she was freaking out a bit about her girls. She could still feel the connection with them and it was as strong as ever. Even her powers seemed to be fully operational. She already missed them though and if she had anything to say she would get them back!

As Ikuto woke up later that evening they discussed everything that had happened. It turned out that the rest of the guardians had been too overwhelmed and opted out of the fight. They had each spoken with one another on the phone and they had apologized for backing out. Amu couldn't say she didn't feel betrayed but she didn't hate them for it. The entire situation was terrifying and Amu could understand their decision. She wasn't quite as sure she would be able to trust them as before though, it really hurt that they left them like that. Especially when she didn't know whether Utau and Kukai had.. yeah.

Kukai and Utau had dragged every detail from her mouth about what had happened and they had been incredibly nice about it. By now though all of this fighting felt strangely normal to her. The stress she usually dealt with and having to overcome many dangerous situation was nothing new to her. Of course this situation had definitely been in another league entirely compared to what they had encountered before. Oddly enough though Amu didn't feel too bothered by it all. Well at least less than she probably should have been.

Kukai and Utau seemed to be slightly distressed when she confessed to feeling that way but why wouldn't she? The last two years she had been fighting to cleanse the heart eggs of people. She had been the only one who could do so at the time and there were usually more than just one or two people who doubted their dreams and ambitions. She confessed to keeping quiet about a lot of fights outside of their usual club situations. Utau nodded her head in understanding, ever since she was able to cleanse eggs her time had been filled up and she only did it part time so the amount Amu had to clean up was probably much larger.

Kukai had expressed his worries about the dumpty key. He didn't want Amu to be hurt by every person that got their grubby hands on the key. With what Kazuomi had revealed it turned out to be a very possible consequence. The lock wouldn't leave her neck for some mysterious reason and the key was still very sensitive. If anyone else touched it she felt very uncomfortable, no pain but an extreme discomfort. Ikuto had expressed the same worries when he woke up and had even pressured her into keeping the key with her at all times. She didn't know how long the influence from the embryo would last but hopefully not for very long.

Like this weeks passed by again with Ikuto slowly healing and all of them reclaiming a semblance of normalcy in their lives. The other guardians had come by several times to apologize but Amu expressed her regret and told them her feelings. The others had been shocked but understood and when she told them that she needed some time to settle her feelings and they all left silently. More than a little depressed. Amu had felt guilty but didn't regret her actions.

Hikaru as it turned out was still heir to the company despite everything but without a guardian the boy was no longer directly in charge. He was send to another relative where he would stay for a while. When the police officers talked to the little boy it became obvious in their eyes that something wasn't right.

Hikaru was taken to a psychologist and diagnosed as emotionally unstable. Hoshina Kazuomi's treatment of his grandson had advanced into psychological abuse. While the boy was in no way crazy, mad or psychotic in any way, he was definitely not in touch with his feelings and didn't know how to handle any outside stimuli. His social skills were minimal and he had trouble understanding all things that could not be rationalized.

Hoshina Kazuomi was arrested for destruction of public or private property, abuse and combined with his mental instabilities causing erratic behavior. He was locked away in a facility. It was actually thanks to the man's arrest that Hikaru was taken care of properly and put in a family where he'd be cared for. Amu had been very relieved when she discovered this.

A few days after Ikuto had fully recovered Amu, Ikuto, Kukai and Utau had gathered together. They had all briefly expressed their own doubts and ambitions for the future but now that everything was over they wanted to discuss them.

As it turned out Ikuto was planning on travelling the world and looking for his and Utau's father. Utau was taking a long tour around the country and Kukai was going to help her on the tour. Amu made the hardest decision of them all.

When she first pinpointed the location of her Hearts eggs she realized that she couldn't leave the situation like this. She could accurately locate them and feel them but when she had first found a definite location her heart had sunk with disappointment and doubt.

Area D,

otherwise known as the dark continent, a forbidden area. The town Amu lived in was actually just barely on the edge between the world where humans lived and the dark continent. Amu supposed that's why character transformations and the like might actually possible. Or maybe the reason they were common in this region. Strange things happened in the dark continent. She'd heard of nen before, that it was a strange type of energy that every human had the possibility of learning. Heart eggs though only seemed to be a reoccurring problem in the areas near the dark continent.

The dark continent was the name for everything that surrounded the human world, Mobius. It was strictly forbidden and extremely guarded. There was only one way to even get close to being allowed to enter and that is by becoming a highly ranked Hunter. And there lay the problem.

Leaving Japan was similar to leaving a highly guarded area. The chances were she would never be able to get back in without a hunters license. Something that is said to be quite the challenge.

Ikuto, Utau and Kukai had cautioned her about this and made sure she understood every risk she would be taking. Kukai's parents had already begun moving out of the country and the teen was very up to date as to the procedures. Ikuto himself was going to search within Japan first before spreading out.

Amu had made her final decision swiftly, she wouldn't leave her chara's all alone, she was going out to search for them!

She'd discussed it with her parents and was incredibly sad when they all but forbid it. Of course she understood why they would but it hurt even more when they wouldn't even let her explain her reason for wanting this. She tried to for days to get the opportunity to explain but her dad just wouldn't hear it. Even weeks after with various attempts they wouldn't listen. Midori had tried to once but her dad had firmly told his wife that their daughter needed a time out.

It was then that Amu decided she had to go. The short isolation from her parents had made her realize just how much she needed to do this, just how much she needed to get them back. She would get them back no matter what it would take and the first step to doing so would be entering the Hunter Exam and becoming a Hunter.