Roses and Thorns
Chapter One: Activation
That morning:
"At nine o'clock, I will steal the statue Roses and Thorns. ---Dark," the guard read. He stared at the note for a moment, and then rushed off. "Boss! I've found something!
Later:
Fourteen- year- old Risa Harada slipped into the circular room. She flashed her visitor card at the guard and he nodded. Hmmm…where to start first? She looked around at the twenty- something statues lining the wall. One was surrounded by security guards. That must be Roses and Thorns. Casually, she walked toward it.
"Ma'am, you can't go there. Phantom Thief Dark is supposed to take it tonight." A young guard touched her shoulder.
As if I didn't know already, Risa thought angrily. She glanced around, and then pointed at a random statue.
"Eeek! Snake! It's crawling up that statue!"
In the confusion that followed, Risa crawled into the small space between Roses and Thorns and the wall.
"I can't wait until nine o'clock!" She settled down to wait for her beloved phantom thief.
A few blocks away:
Riku, Risa's twin sister, rang the doorbell.
"Yes?' A woman answered.
"I'm Ri-"
"Oh!" The woman grabbed her and pulled her inside. "You must be Riku! Little Daisuke has been telling us all about you! Come, come." The woman ran off, leaving Riku behind. She must be Daisuke's mother. Weird, Riku thought. She ran a hand through her short hair then smoothed her skirt. Taking a deep breath, she followed the path Daisuke's mom took.
Riku entered the sitting room. Daisuke's mom was pouring tea and speaking to an old man sitting on the sofa.
"Papa, Daisuke's girlfriend is here. We'll have to entertain her until he gets back."
Riku blushed, then paused midstep. Wait, did she say, "Until he gets back?" He said he wanted me to help with his book report. And why is he out so late? Where is he?
"Um, Mrs. Niwa, is Daisuke gone?" Riku asked. Two heads turned toward her.
"Oops." Daisuke's mom gulped. Riku's eyes bulged.
"Where is-"
Daisuke's grandfather leapt in. "He's at the museum, waiting for Dark."
Before either of the Niwas could stop her, Riku sprang up and ran for the door. The old man frowned thoughtfully, and then turned to his daughter.
"Emiko, did you disengage the front door trap?"
Emiko's hand flew to her mouth. "No…uh oh."
"YEAHHHHHHH!" They heard a scream from the front door.
Much later, at the museum:
"Arghhh…when is he coming?" Risa yawned. "I wish I had brought something to do…" She moaned, and then promptly fell asleep.
8:59, after Riku finally got out of the stupid trap and arrived at the museum:
A dark winged figure appeared on the museum's roof.
"Oh, Dark!" Hundreds of woman swooned. Riku stepped out of the way of the fainting women and glared around her. Suddenly, she spotted Daisuke's spiky red hair heading into the museum. She followed.
Up on the roof, Dark and Daisuke saw Riku following Daisuke-formed Wiz.
/Oh no! Dark, we have to go get her/
"Are you kidding me? We have a statue to steal!"
/Come on, Dark. This is Ri-/
"Hey, Dai, shut up. You don't want me transforming before all these people, right?"
/Errr…/
The city clock struck nine. As soon as it rang, Dark turned and vanished.
In the museum's hall:
Riku hurried behind Wiz/Daisuke. "Hey, Daisuke, what are you doing here?"
Wiz turned around and freaked out. He took off running.
"Aiee! Wait, Dai! What are you doing? Are you looking for-" They burst into a circular room.
The first thing Riku saw was the statue. "Roses and Thorns," she whispered. A lovely maiden stared down at her arrogantly. Although she was exquisitely beautiful, there was a very evil aura about her. Riku could barely tear her eyes away. Then her eyes fell to the foot of the statue. About thirty stunned guards were lying on the ground. She paled. Then someone spoke.
"Riku?" She looked up and screamed.
"Oh my gosh, Daisuke, WHY ARE YOU HIDING BEHIND THAT PERVERT!"
Wiz/Daisuke was crouching behind Dark, desperately trying to hide. Dark was staring, stunned, at Riku, with one hand on the statue. "Riku?" he said, again.
Behind the statue, Risa's eyes fluttered. She shook her head, and then saw Wiz/Daisuke.
"Dai?" She grabbed his foot.
Poor Wiz. This last shock caused him to faint, and he turned back into his rabbit-thingy form. Risa yelped and withdrew her hand.
Inside Dark's mind, Daisuke groaned. /Risa./
"And Riku…"
/No, Dark/
"I'm sorry, Daisuke."
Before Risa and Riku's eyes, Dark transformed back into Daisuke. He fell away from the statue. Risa leapt to her feet and stared. Silence.
In an attempt to recover, Daisuke smiled weakly.
"Um…hi. Uh…what's up?"
Dark groaned and slapped his forehead. /Daisuke, you're hopeless./
The twins finally found their tongues.
"Dark! You are Daisuke?" Risa couldn't believe that she had been in love with such an ordinary guy.
"Daisuke, you are that pervert Dark?" Riku didn't think her classmate could be a thief.
From above, a new voice sounded, "Daisuke, I see that the girls have uncovered your secret. What are you going to do? Wipe their memories? Well, it doesn't matter since you won't exist soon!"
"Krad?" Daisuke managed to twist around just before a magical explosion hit him. Smoke filled the room. As it touched Roses and Thorns, the statue seemed to breathe the magic in. It blinked. It slowly moved its head from side to side. Then it lifted a stiff hand and flexed its fingers.
"I…am…alive…"
Dark felt a strangeand strong magic in the room, but ignored it. He had more urgent matters to attend to. /Daisuke! Are you okay/
"Argh!"
/I'll take that as a no. Here, let me take over./
Krad pinned Daisuke-in-the-middle-of-transformation to the wall. By the statue, the twins struggled to breathe in the thick smoke.
"Riku, where are you?"
"Stay put! The smoke will clear eventually. Just don't move."
"Okay, Sis!"
Krad wove a magical shield around Dark.
"So, Daisuke…no, Dark." For some reason, Krad seemed flustered.
"Yeah, I'm Dark now. Got a problem with that?"
"No." In Krad's hand a blue-white flame appeared. Dark started and the shield crackled. "You wouldn't."
"I would." Krad brought the flame closer. "Use your magic, Dark, or else your tamer and you die."
"Luckily for Dark and Daisuke, the flame cleared the smoke. As soon as Risa could see Krad, she threw herself at him.
"Don't you DARE hurt Dark!" she screeched as she pulled at his hair. Not to be outdone, Riku joined her and yanked out a handful of feathers. Startled, Krad stepped back…
into an ancient stained glass window…
which broke…
and he fell.
Below, someone pointed up. "Look! A white Dark!" Just then, Krad looked down, and hundreds of cameras got a good shot at his face. He spread his wings and flew back through the window.
Dark, Risa, Riku, and the statue were gone. Instead, there was a single black feather where Roses and Thorns had stood. Krad scooped it up and twirled it between his fingers.
"Daisuke and Dark," he whispered. "Daisuke and Dark."
