Amulet X

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Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara; I just hope Peach Pit can forgive me this fanfic.

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took me so long, but it was finals week and a big mess. I also had to move back in with my mother for the winter break because I still have yet to get my hands on a place to call my own in Pullman. It sort of sucks, but at least I can visit with my friends who still live in my hometown.

Anyways I hope you like this chapter of mine as I had fun writing it, though some parts were difficult to write. (*cough* lyrics *cough* hehe).

Finally, without further ado Chapter 2 of Amulet X!

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Chapter 2

Amu was sound asleep in the room Dr. Oni had kept her prisoner in, only this time it wasn't by force. Amu's heart had given up the moment she saw Dr. Oni with her sister. Her mind went completely blank after that. She vaguely recalled seeing Tadase but it was like a dream. Dr. Oni had gone to great lengths to let her know exactly how things were working out. She couldn't dream anymore.

Dr. Oni sat in his monitoring room quietly. Amulet X had gone back to X and Amu after they had returned to his little lab. He wondered why he had lost control of her for a little bit, but he figured it had something to do with seeing that boyfriend of hers. He knew Tadase was going to be the key that brings her back, but he wasn't going to give up so easily. He had spent most of the last few days working on the tuning fork and strengthening X. He felt he was close to his answer. He grinned darkly as he saw the readings on his computer screen stabilize again.

Nikaidou was sitting in his new office at Easter frowning at his computer. He knew that Utau was just as powerful as Amu was, but he hadn't counted on the sheer force of the blast. He had listened to the Guardians tell the story about what happened on top of the children's hospital the other day and still couldn't believe it. "If their story is true," he thought as he switched to a different program, "then we have a big problem on our hands." He leaned back and sighed softly, thinking deeply.

The guardians sat in their little glass building going over the resubmissions for the Cultural festival. Unfortunately it seemed none of them could concentrate on that task. The idea that Amu had turned on them was still fresh and their minds were elsewhere.

"What are we going to do," Yaya asked as she looked between the other Guardians, "Amu's gone bad…"

Nagihiko frowned lightly then shook his head, "Amu hasn't gone bad," he said, looking at Yaya, "she's being controlled."

Tadase frowned darkly as he sat back in his chair, "I couldn't protect her," he murmured to himself, though Rima heard it.

"You didn't have a chance to protect her, Tadase," Rima said looking at Tadase, "you can't win against a tazer." Rima frowned lightly but tried to maintain a cool head.

"Indeed," a voice wafted from the door, "there was nothing that could have been done."

The guardians looked towards the door as Hikaru walked in, followed by Rikka. The two "Guardians in training" walked up to the table slowly. "It is an unfortunate circumstance, but we won't be able to get anywhere if we continue to worry about it right now."

Rikka nodded behind Hikaru and pasted on her best bright smile. "Why's everyone so glum," she said, "If Amu were here she'd want us to get done with this Festival stuff. You all know she wouldn't want the Festival preparations to be ignored." Hikaru nodded his agreement with Rikka as they peered at the Guardians.

Everyone sighed softly and shook their heads.

"Your right," Tadase said putting on a smile for the two younger children, "Amu wouldn't want this to become a problem for the Festival." The others nodded putting on fake smiles and went back to their paper work.

Utau stood on a stage looking over her set up, the stage hands scurried about. She had considered putting the rest of her stage shows on hold until Amu was returned to them but Yukari had convinced her to stick to it. So Utau tried to maintain her concentration with the thoughts of Amu floating around in the back of her mind. She had often wondered why Ikuto seemed so infatuated with Amu, until she became Amu's friend. Utau understood now, Amu was a very selfless girl and easily loved. Utau found herself thinking of Amu often but she knew Amu would want her to keep going with her shows. So she stuck to them.

Ikuto jumped from rooftop to rooftop, while character changed. He didn't care about the strange looks he received from a few people who happened to catch sight of him. He had started looking for Amu the moment Yoru was able to character change again. He couldn't stand the thought that Amu was in trouble. He also couldn't figure out how Amu managed to drain him so badly. It had been like having a piece of your soul ripped asunder. He stopped so Yoru could rest a little. "How are you doing Yoru," he asked as his little cat guardian character panted heavily, "we don't have to stay changed you know."

"I know," Yoru replied as he sat down, "but I have to help Amu. She went so far to help me when I lost you; I have to pay her back, nya."

Ikuto sighed softly at the memory then looked at Yoru again, "I understand," he said softly, "when you are ready to go we can continue."

Yoru gave Ikuto a quick nod, "Almost ready again," he said with a slight grin.

Kukai fidgeted in class, he really wanted to get out of there and go check up on the Guardians. Unfortunately he had a test he couldn't miss and it had taken him twice as long to study for it. He hated having to fight Amu like they did on top of that hospital but he was determined to get her back. His feelings still didn't manage to keep him focused, though, he had sat and worried about Amu all night and now he was grumbling at the clock.

Kairi was waiting in his sister's place while the final transfer forms were finished. He decided it would be best to stick around and help find Amu. He had returned home shortly to speak with his folks and inform his friends at the school. He had simply told them that something important had come up and a good friend of his needed help. His family and friends appeared to buy it but they seemed to know it was something more than that. He sighed and shifted on the couch. "If only we had anything to go on," he thought, "there has got to be something around here." He shook his head and looked at his new/old uniform. He was going to be the new Joker for now, it was the only position open in the Guardians at this point in time.

The guardian characters, minus Yoru, gathered at the flower garden by the Guardian building. Kiseki had called an emergency meeting of all the guardian characters, he found everyone in attendance except, once again, Yoru. He slowly turned to look at everyone and sighed softly. "It's good to see some of you again," he said, "I'm glad you could all make it."

Most of the other guardian characters simply gave him a solemn nod, except El who was blubbering over by Il.

"I called you all here because of what's happened recently," he said looking everyone over, for once he looked like the regal king, "Amu has turned against us, but it's because she's being controlled." He held up a hand to stave off any interjections. "I know it's tough for us all, especially Amu's guardian characters," he continued waving a hand towards Su, Ran, Dia, and Miki, "but we have to face facts here. Amu is a threat we're going to have to face and we're going to have to protect our bearers from her attacks. I'm sure you all saw what happened to Yoru and Ikuto when Amu touched them." The guardian characters nodded. "Well, except Amu's characters," Kiseki cleared his throat softly, "though El has informed them of the circumstances."

"I believe," Musashi spoke up, "that we are thinking about this in a slightly wrong way." The other guardian characters looked at him curiously. "I do recall," He continued, "that our opponent is called Amulet X, not Amu. Amu is still around somewhere, as can be evidenced by the simple fact that her guardian characters are still around and not in their eggs." Musashi gave a small wave of his hand to indicate he was done.

"Oh," Kiseki said after clearing his throat again, "true. Amulet X is a dire threat to us all. She has some sort of draining ability as well as the ability to call the eggs from peoples' hearts and put Xs on them." Kiseki looked around the gathering to gauge reactions. "Amulet X is a serious threat to us all and everyone out there," he continued after a momentary pause, "We have to fight her with everything we have. We, also, aren't sure exactly what that 'Arrow of Darkness' does but we do know it can cause physical damage. We saw its ability to pierce the door at the hospital."

The other guardian characters nodded again with frowns on their faces.

Amu's guardian characters stood off to the side. They frowned sadly as Dia tried to get in contact with Amu. "Kiseki," she said softly as she looked at him, "I can still feel Amu but it's really weak. It's almost like she's trapped in some far off and dark place." Amu's other guardian characters agreed with Dia.

Kiseki's frown deepened as he heard that. "I see," he finally said, "then we must do everything in our power to get her back, before it's too late." The grunts of acknowledgement followed his words. "I suppose," he continued after another momentary pause, "that we should split up and search ourselves. We have a few advantages to our bearers and we should utilize them to their fullest."

"Does this conclude our meeting," Musashi asked as he began to float.

"It does Musashi," Kiseki replied, "I know you all tend to ignore me because I get a little overzealous but I assure you I want to get Amu back as much as anyone else. I hope you all can see that and are willing to take my leadership seriously while we search." Kiseki looked at the other guardian characters as they all grudgingly agreed. "Thank you," he said, "I suppose we'll call this meeting concluded everyone go look hard."

All the guardian characters flew off except for Amu's. They looked at everyone thankfully, as the others left, and then headed back to Utau's place.

Amu's eyes slid open as she sat up in bed. She hadn't been tied down this time around, of course, that was because she wasn't a flight risk anymore. Dr. Oni had made sure she was completely subservient to him when he had X character transform with her. Amu looked around the room, "X?" she asked in a monotone. She felt, oddly, alone without X nearby. She sighed softly as she got out of bed and stretched. Another glance around the room proved she was, indeed, alone. She didn't waste anymore time looking around for X, she figured X was probably with Dr. Oni. She left the room and wandered towards the kitchen. Dr. Oni got irritating if she didn't get him his lunch quickly.

Dr. Oni sat staring at his computer again, X sitting on the table with several wires dangling from her. He was bound and determined to prevent another break from his control and X was the key to controlling Amu. He grinned darkly as he switched between programs. Amu had become quite attached to X in the last couple of days. He figured it was because of the tuning fork but, during a couple of transformation checks he noted that the attachment was more than that.

Dr. Oni chuckled softly as he watched X squirm a little during the procedure he was performing. "Those three idiots couldn't read a graph to save their lives," he said as he looked down at the computer screen again, "These readings seem to verify my hunch. I can keep my dark angel longer than they thought." He glanced at the door and frowned, Amu was late with lunch again.

Amu stared at the order Dr. Oni had left with her blank stare. He wanted hamburgers again. After a few moments of making sure she had the order down she went to work. Dr. Oni was well stocked for food; she silently wondered where he got his food from. His food was always of good quality and he seemed to like American products. Everything in his cupboards and fridge was imported from America, which made it incredibly expensive. She grabbed the hamburger in the freezer and got to work, she didn't have time to wonder why he liked American stuff so much.

Dr. Oni was sitting in his desk chair staring at the door, grumbling darkly, when the smell of cooking hamburger hit his nostrils. He grinned lightly, "such a good girl," he thought as he turned to peer at his computer again, "Now that she's broken, she's such a good kid." He chuckled and shook his head, he had never wanted kids but this was working for him. He looked at X again before returning to work.

Rikka was sitting in the glass building looking board when Utau walked in. She wondered why Utau would show up there but shrugged as she stood up to greet the guest. "Hello Utau-chan," she greeted with a smile and gave a short bow, "what're you doing here?"

Utau looked around before replying, "Where is everyone else?" she asked.

"They're busy planning the festival," Rikka replied, "so I'm the only one here right now."

Utau smiled lightly, "I see," she said as she pulled a few tickets from her pocket, "I was just dropping by to deliver these tickets for my concert tomorrow night."

"Oh!" Rikka exclaimed, "You're doing a concert tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Utau replied softly, "I wanted to invite everyone; I have a new song I'm going to debut during the concert."

Rikka giggled softly, "I can get the tickets to everyone," she said, "I'm sure I'll see them after school."

Utau gave her a nod and handed over the tickets, "there's enough there for everyone," she said, "even you and Hikaru."

Rikka grinned brightly and stashed the tickets under a paperweight on the table, "that's great," she exclaimed happily, "I bet everyone will show up."

Utau couldn't help but smile at Rikka, she could see why Amu liked Rikka so much, "I hope so," she said as she turned to leave, "be sure to come too." Utau giggled softly as Rikka bobbed her head excitedly.

"I will," Rikka called out as Utau opened the door, "I'll be there!" Rikka waved ecstatically.

Utau giggled again as she waved back, Rikka's cheer was infectious.

Dr. Oni removed the sensors from X as he heard Amu's footsteps echo down the hall. He figured he'd let her see X. He quickly sat at his desk again going over some printouts.

Amu knocked on the door lightly and waited until she heard Dr. Oni tell her to enter. She opened the door and stepped in to the room afterwards. She looked around the room a moment as her eyes adjusted to the dimmer light of Dr. Oni's office. He was sitting at his desk looking at a few papers. She wandered up and set his lunch down beside him, then stepped back and waited as he looked at her.

Dr. Oni looked at Amu and sighed as he turned to face her more fully. "Amu," he said, "you're late with lunch again." He frowned at her as she looked back at him blankly. "If you can't get my lunch to me on time I won't let you see X," he stated. He noticed the slight widening of her glazed over eyes and heard the soft whimper come from her mouth.

Amu fidgeted lightly when Dr. Oni threatened to keep her away from X. She kept her eyes on him though; he hated it when she looked for X when she was waiting on him.

Dr. Oni smirked as he noticed Amu not taking her eyes off of him. "I think I can forgive you this time," he said as X floated up. He watched as Amu almost smiled, one of the few times he had seen emotions in her, and chuckled darkly. "Yes," he said as Amu took X in her arms, "remember I can keep X from you." Amu gave him a slight nod. "You can go now," he said as he waved dismissively, "I have more work to do."

"Hai," Amu replied as she turned on her heels and walked out with X. She was, vaguely, glad Dr. Oni hadn't kept X from her. He had done it before and she hadn't liked it at all. X was the only person who understood her, or so she thought.

Amu wandered back to her room and closed the door behind her. She set X on the bed before digging a Go board out from under it. She had found that X liked playing Go so she had gotten an old one from Dr. Oni. It was how her and X would pass the time between tests.

Nikaidou frowned at his computer screen. He had just gotten the results back on a test he had run on Nagihiko the day before. He had noticed an interesting trend when he had built a table on the character bearers. He hadn't really noticed the pattern when he was running tests before. Now that he had all the statistics in front of him he wondered how he could have missed it. He shook his head and sighed as he turned around to face his door. "Interesting," he thought as his door opened.

Three scientists walked in to Nikaidou's office with clipboards in their hands, the same three scientists who had taken over for him after his removal from the embryo project months before. They all looked at him as he indicated they should report. "Well," The bearded scientist said, "the equipment has been installed on the truck like you asked."

"Good," Nikaidou said, "how were the tests?"

The female scientist looked at her clipboard, "everything is running within the parameters you set."

"We should be ready to go at any time," The third scientist said, "whenever we get a reading on the long range scanner we set up at the top of the building here, we're ready to go."

Nikaidou smiled, "wonderful," he said as he waved them over towards the computer, "what do you three make of this?"

The three scientists walked over and peered at the table and graph Nikaidou had been pouring over earlier, "that's an interesting trend," the bearded scientist said as the woman adjusted her glasses and nodded, "that explains a lot."

Nikaidou nodded, "Indeed it does," he said, "It appears that those with more guardian characters can use more power." The three others nodded. "Normally, as you know," Nikaidou continued, "characters bearers can use about 120% of their guardian characters' power when transformed, but it seems that those with more than one guardian character can use up to 130% percent." The Scientists mumbled their agreements. "I'm not entirely sure why it's that way, but the data doesn't lie," Nikaidou said, "Well, I guess this explains why Amu, Utau, and Nagihiko can cleanse when the others can't."

"I don't think Nagihiko-san can cleanse," replied the female scientist, "According to his own reports it takes him and Rima-san, working together, to cleanse X-eggs."

"True," agreed Nikaidou, "but he never tried to cleanse alone, I bet he can."

"The trend here does indicate a clear pattern," said the bearded scientist, "perhaps Nagihiko-san hasn't figured out how yet." The scientists shrugged lightly.

"Indeed," replied Nikaidou, "I'll inform him of this potential. I will also inform Hikaru of this trend. This gives me an idea on how we might be able to increase everyone's power." The other three scientists nodded as they turned to leave. "Keep running tests," Nikaidou called after them as they left his office.

Dr. Oni finished his lunch and decided to surf the internet as he waited for a few numbers to get crunched by one of the programs. He lazily scrolled through various web pages, checking his e-mail in the process. His E-mail was full of spam, as he figured it'd be. He hadn't received anything worthwhile since Easter had let him go. He grumbled softly noting the spam though. He hated spam, it always cluttered his inbox. He sighed when he had finished deleting all the messages. He decided to search local music, see if he found something he liked. When the engine showed his results he noticed Utau's web page at the top and frowned.

Dr. Oni decided to check the web page anyways. He was loath to look at the web page of someone who had been dropped by Easter and still found success. It only served to remind him of how crappy his own life was. Easter had let him go and then everything went to hell. His family had left him as soon as they found out he was unemployed and no one seemed to want his expertise. His only consolation was the private lab he had managed to put together during his time at Easter.

Dr. Oni read through the web page announcements and cussed. Utau was putting on a concert tomorrow. He clasped his hands in front of his face and stared at the announcement darkly. He read it over and over again, memorizing the address. He recalled that Utau and Amu seemed to get along well and then a thought hit him. His mouth twisted up in a diabolic grin, "Now there's an idea," he thought, "Utau's releasing a new song too. Perhaps this information isn't so bad after all."

Dr. Oni chuckled vilely as he leaned back in his chair, then the program crunching numbers popped up on his screen. His chuckle became a dark laugh as he read through the figures. "Now this would be a good test," he said aloud looking at the monitor on Amu's room, "Poetic justice…" His laugh echoed down the hall loud enough that he saw Amu and X look around for a moment.

The guardians sat in their chairs looking exhausted. It had taken pretty much the whole day to get the final touches done for the cultural festival. Their guardian characters were resting in the doll house Ami had given the characters.

Tadase looked everyone over and sighed softly. "At least the paperwork is done," he said, "now all that's left is the preparations." He chuckled softly as Yaya groaned.

"Just a couple of weeks to get everything set up," Nagihiko said as he sat forward, "we're going to be really busy for a while." The others nodded their agreement with Yaya whining again.

Rima looked at the door when she heard it open. "Ahh," she said sitting up a little more, "Rikka."

The others looked at the door to see Rikka bounce in from outside.

Rikka grinned at everyone as she bounded up to the table. She tilted her head curiously when she noticed them all looking exhausted. "What's wrong," she asked looking from person to person.

"We've been busy trying to get the paperwork finished for the festival," Tadase told her as he grinned, "I hope your looking forward to it."

Rikka grinned and bobbed her head excitedly, "of course," she exclaimed before she looked at the paperweight. "Oh," she said as she reached across the table to pick it up, "Utau-chan came by to give us these." Rikka showed everyone the concert tickets underneath the paperweight. "She said she was going to sing a new song," Rikka added as she passed tickets to everyone, "she gave me one for Hikaru-kun but he isn't here."

The guardians smiled at her and sat up straighter as they accepted their tickets.

"I'm looking forward to it then," Yaya said as she looked her ticket over. Everyone else grunted in agreement. This was the first good thing that had happened since before they had lost Amu.

"How about I walk you to Easter to give Hikaru his," Tadase told Rikka as he turned to face her, "then I'll walk you home."

Rikka giggled softly, "I'm fine on my own," she said, "I walk home alone all the time." She shrugged as she picked up Hikaru's ticket and stuffed it in her pocket.

Tadase smirked and shook his head, "have you ever been to the Easter building," he asked.

Rikka blinked a few times as she thought about the question, "no," she stated slowly.

"Then how do you plan on getting the ticket to Hikaru," Tadase replied as he chuckled, "If you don't know where to go?"

Rikka frowned lightly before shrugging, "wander around until I find it?" she replied.

Everyone laughed a little at her reply, "how about we all go with you two," Nagihiko offered, indicating everyone on the room.

"Ahh," Tadase said, "now there's an idea." He grinned as he stood up, "well how about we get going then," he said. Everyone stood up and stretched as they grabbed their things.

Hikaru was sitting in his office going over some paperwork when he heard his secretary on the com. He looked at the receiver and pushed the talk button, "yes," he asked.

"The guardians are here to see you, sir," the secretary said.

"Oh," he said blinking; he hadn't expected them today, "send them in."

Hikaru looked at the door when it opened and Rikka came running in. He sighed softly noting the energy she was exuding. He hoped she wouldn't get too carried away.

"Hikaru-kun," she said as she charged at his desk, stopping just before she plowed through it. She was waving his ticket in her hand and looked around excitedly. "Your office is so big, and this building, wow," Rikka exclaimed smashing her words together in her excitement.

Hikaru sighed, "Calm down Rikka-san," he said waving his hands in a placating manner, "I can't understand what you're trying to say, you're talking too fast."

Rikka looked at him blankly for a few minutes while she processed what he had said. "Oh," she finally said as she giggled brightly, "sorry, I've just never seen such a big place. I mean, wow, this place is huge." Rikka waved her hand around to take in the office.

Hikaru sighed again as the other guardians walked in, all of them chuckling or giggling at Rikka. "Why are you here," he asked them as he set aside his papers.

Tadase chuckled again, "I'll let Rikka tell you," he said, "We're just the escort." Everyone laughed slightly as Hikaru frowned.

"Rikka-san," Hikaru began again as he tried to get her attention, "why are you here?"

Rikka looked at him blankly again, before a light seemed to click on, "oh!" she exclaimed as she waved a ticket in front of him, "we came to drop off the ticket Utau-chan gave us for you."

Hikaru looked at the ticket for a moment before reaching out to take it. "Utau gave you a ticket for me," he asked looking it over after Rikka let it go.

"Yup," Rikka said as she smiled at Hikaru brightly, "for her concert tomorrow, she said she was going to sing a new song and everything."

Hikaru looked at Rikka, "Ahh," he said.

Rikka giggled and pointed at the details printed on the back of the ticket, "I hope you can come," she said excitedly, "It'd be great to have everyone there."

Hikaru looked at Rikka again for a long moment as she smiled brightly at him. He found her to be a very interesting person, though he could do without her excessive energy. He looked at his ticket again, "I should be able to make this," he said, looking at Rikka again.

"Great!" Rikka exclaimed as she gave him a quick hug, she hadn't really planned it that way but it seemed to be a hugging moment to her. She giggled softly as Hikaru stiffened in her embrace.

Hikaru blinked and stiffened when he felt Rikka hug him, she was such an excitable girl. Though, somehow, it didn't seem too bad to him. He felt his cheeks warm slightly as he looked at Rikka's head. "I will go then," he said softly as Rikka let him go, "I'll provide the transportation."

The guardians all laughed when they saw Hikaru blush. It was even funnier when they noticed that Rikka seemed to be totally oblivious to what she had done to the poor boy.

Rikka bounced back towards the guardians grinning brightly, "Yay," she exclaimed, "This'll be fun!" She giggled again as the guardians shook their heads.

Hikaru cleared his throat some as his blush went away, "I'll pick you all up in my limousine a half hour before the concert," he said. The guardians gave him a nod as Rikka hopped about, "I look forward to it," she said brightly. Hikaru found her smile somewhat infectious and smiled himself. This wasn't lost on the guardians who only chuckled and escorted Rikka out of the office.

The next evening Dr. Oni was sitting in his office. He spent a lot of time there, but this time he had both Amu and X in it. They were both hooked up to a few instruments as he completed a few adjustments. He chuckled lightly as he stood up, "ok you two," he said as he walked over and removed a few electrodes. "It's show time," he finished.

Amu stood up and looked at X for a moment before she brought her hands to her heart. "Atashi no kokoro: unlock," she said hollowly. Darkness swirled around her and X, so deep Dr. Oni couldn't see in to it. He chuckled as the darkness cleared in a blast and he saw Amulet X again. "Welcome back, my dark angel," he said softly as he turned towards the door. "We have things to do, let's go." Amulet X floated behind him as her wings swished through the air softly.

Utau had just finished one of her hit songs on stage and paused to take a breather. It had been a great performance and everyone seemed to be really in to it. She opened her eyes again as she panted lightly and smiled out to the audience. She noted the Guardians cheering for her and she smiled warmly. She looked around the auditorium for a couple of minutes waiting for the cheering to lighten, noting Ikuto standing in the back near an exit. She was happy he was there.

She took a deep breath and stood straight, smiling at everyone again, "I'm happy you all could make it to my concert," she said, "I love my fans." She waved at everyone, which only caused another cheer to echo across the building. "Now I'd like to sing a new song," She said in to the microphone, "I wrote this song when I found out a friend of mine had gone missing. I hope she can hear it wherever she is, so she knows she's still being thought of."

Everyone fell silent as the music began to play in the background, a sad melody that increased in energy as Utau sang:

I wonder where you are today my friend,
The one who showed me the light within.
Opened my heart to the freedom I sought,
My cage gone, free like butterflies I caught.

At first I hated you, I called you my bane,
and I stole your Jewel and tainted her with my pain.
My angel left me for you, knowing I was lost,
Darkness inside, pretending there was no cost.

I wonder where you are today my friend,
The one who showed me the light within.
Opened my heart to the freedom I sought,
My cage gone, free like butterflies I caught.

Thinking I was better, the jewel's power I drew,
You never gave up though, my angel and you.
Every time I turned around, you were there;
You fought for me, and proved you care.

I wonder where you are today my friend,
The one who showed me the light within.
Opened my heart to the freedom I sought,
My cage gone, free like butterflies I caught.

I hope you can hear me, as I try to reach out,
Hear my voice; We miss you, without a doubt.
My angel returned to me, your jewel waiting,
Return with the light your Diamond is creating.

I wonder where you are today my friend,
The one who showed me the light within.
Opened my heart to the freedom I sought,
My cage gone, free like butterflies I caught.

I wonder where you are today my friend,
The one who showed me the light within.
Opened my heart to the freedom I sought,
My cage gone, free like butterflies I caught.

The song ended on a held note, while the music faded out behind Utau. She could almost swear she saw Amu out in the audience with the guardians for a moment. Unfortunately that illusion vanished quickly. She sighed softly and smiled to her audience, "I hope everyone can have the jewel I sang about," She said, "It's inside all of us, you know." She indicated the audience with a wave of her hand, "The jewel of our own inner light." She waved to her audience as she stepped back, everyone was cheering.

Dr. Oni chuckled darkly as he stood in the lobby of the auditorium, "such a lovely song," he said sarcastically as he turned to walk back outside. He stepped out in to the night air and looked to the top of the Auditorium, it only took him a moment to locate Amulet X and he smirked. He pulled out his tuning fork and struck it lightly as he hurried to his car.

Amulet X was floating above the auditorium waiting for Dr. Oni to give her the signal to start. She had heard parts of the song but really didn't care about that much. Finally she received the signal when the song was over. She glanced around and noted Dr. Oni getting in to his car. She waited for a few seconds as he drove down the street and then entered the auditorium through an open skylight.

Rikka looked around after the song; she had felt something strange just as Utau started to walk backstage. It was a familiar feeling. She kept looking around with a frown as if trying to find something.

Hikaru looked at Rikka curiously a moment, "What's wrong," he asked as she looked at him.

"I don't know," she said, "I feel something weird…it's like an X-egg but…more." She frowned again looking around.

Hikaru looked at Tadase and opened his cell phone. He waited for Nikaidou to pick up, "Nikaidou," he said in to the phone, "I think Amu is near Utau's concert."

"We'll be right there then," Nikaidou replied, "it shouldn't take too long."

Hikaru gave a nod as he hung up the phone. He looked at Rikka who was, again, looking at him curiously.

"What do you mean, Am…," Rikka couldn't finish her question as she heard thousands of whispers in her mind. She grunted and grabbed her head, as if in pain. "Too many," she gasped as she collapsed to her knees, "too many, I can't…so many voices…so much pain." Rikka groaned as her mind throbbed with the whispers of X-eggs.

Hikaru blinked as he noticed Rikka's reaction, "something's wrong," he said as he bent down to help her. Suddenly the auditorium was enveloped in darkness.

Amulet X had slipped in to the open skylight and hovered above the crowd. She looked around once again before she raised a hand in the air and concentrated. "Demon's Call," she breathed softly as the ball of darkness formed in her palm then exploded, covering the auditorium in impermeable darkness.

Everyone began to collapse around the guardians as X-eggs crowded towards the rafters. The guardians looked up to see Amulet X surrounded by X-eggs and looking at them blankly.

"Amu," Tadase called as he turned to face her, "get Rikka out of here Hikaru." Tadase glanced at the two younger children. Hikaru nodded and helped Rikka out of the building.

Utau spun around as she felt the darkness surround the auditorium and looked directly at Amulet X. Her eyes narrowed as she saw her fans collapse, "Amu," she whispered.

Amulet X looked at Utau for a moment before speaking, "My master wishes to tell you that you got lucky," she stated hollowly, "he felt this 'poetic justice' would serve you well, would serve the one Easter kicked aside." Amulet X pointed at Utau and the X-eggs turned to face Utau. "Now it is time for you to feel the pain of your fans," Amulet X said as the X-eggs shot darkness at her.

"El," Utau shouted as she faced off with Amulet X, "Atashi no Kokoro: unlock…Seraphic Charm!"

Utau shot up in to the air just as the energies shot through the air where she had been standing. She glanced around noting the guardians had character transformed, Ikuto too. "We can't go easy on her," she shouted to the guardians as she eyed Amulet X, "White Wing!"

The X-eggs scattered under Utau's attack. Amulet X flew a little higher to observe again. The white angel was dangerous.

Utau looked at Amulet X and frowned, "you're not getting away that easily," she said flying up to match Amulet X's altitude, "White Wing!"

Amulet X dodged the blast as she felt something coming from behind. She spun around just in time. She dropped her altitude, nearly falling through the trailing edge of the White Wing, as several juggling pins flew past her head. She looked at Clown Drop and saw Beat Jumper jump. She moved quickly, shooting towards Rima, "Demonic Wind!"

Clown Drop jumped to the side, barely dodging the dark winds. She heard the clatter of chairs and creaking of walls in the path of the black winds. She frowned as she picked herself up off the ground. Her juggling pins made it back to her and she looked back at Amulet X. "Too close," she thought.

Amulet X barely managed to dodge a basketball flying at her. She frowned slightly noting she was outnumbered and continued through the auditorium and outside, to give herself more space to work with. The X-eggs were hot on her heels.

The guardians ran outside, after Amulet X. They spread out as soon as they got through the doors, all of them ready for an attack. They looked around and couldn't see Amulet X in the dark sky.

"Where is she," Clown Drop said as she glanced around, she got shrugs in return.

Utau took the skylight; she figured Amulet X had flown up as soon as she was outside. It only took a moment for her to get out and start scanning the horizon. She silently wondered where Ikuto was but quickly quashed the thought.

Ikuto followed the guardians out, he knew Yoru wasn't up for a fight just yet, but he hoped he could help Amu anyways.

Nikaidou parked the truck across from the Auditorium and quickly moved to the back, "quickly get the equipment up and running," he said as he sat in front of a computer. The scientists scurried around the back of the truck turning machines on and sitting in front of their own computers. It didn't take them long before they were ready to monitor the battle.

Dr. Oni sat in his car monitoring the battle so far, he was unimpressed by what he saw. He did note, however, that Amulet X's energy levels maintained a stable pattern. He grinned darkly.

Tadase looked around before he felt it, an attack from behind. He spun around as fast as he could, "Holy Crown!" His barrier kicked on just in time to block a concerted X-egg blast and he grunted under the force. He was fighting off a couple hundred blasts and it took its toll on him quickly. He had never had to block such a powerful combined attack before.

Utau frowned lightly before she felt it, the attack from above, she quickly shot to the left. The dark winds blasted past her and she felt it suck out some of her energy. She watched the blast strike the roof and gasped when she saw it tear a chunk of roofing from its moorings. "Physical damage," she thought as she looked at Amulet X again, "she's gotten more powerful."

The guardians found themselves trying to dodge and block the X-egg attacks. They couldn't help Utau, who was in the air. They found it rather frustrating that the only one of them who could fly was Utau until Beat Jumper took a leap.

Beat Jumper leaped as high as he could to get a view of the battle taking place above them. He frowned when he noted the dark winds of Amulet X's attack tear part of the roof off. He grunted softly as he charged his basketball, "Beat Shot!" He launched his basketball at Amulet X again, hoping to score a hit then he began to descend back to the ground.

Utau saw the ball coming at Amulet X and smirked lightly. "If I time this right," she thought, "we can get her." Utau flew up a little higher, drawing Amulet X's attention towards herself, "White Wing!" Utau's attack launched at Amulet X who braced for it, "Demonic Wind." The attacks collided once again, the energies cascaded around them both. The power, again, knocked both combatants backwards; unfortunately Amulet X was knocked in to the Beat Shot.

Amulet X winced as she felt the ball hit her back, she grunted softly as she began to fall. Her back muscles were paralyzed for the moment and her concentration broken by the strike. She fell towards the ground, landing with a heavy thud and a groan.

"Got her," Utau called out, "good shot Nagihiko!" Utau flew down towards Amulet X.

Nikaidou watched the power chart spike considerably when the two attacks collided; his jaw nearly hit the ground. He hadn't seen something of that magnitude before. The sheer force and power of the collision was equivalent to a small earthquake. He saw the other spike hit right afterwards and heard Utau yell. He watched his charts, noting Amulet X's energy decrease.

Dr. Oni frowned darkly as he saw his dark angel get taken down. He cussed lightly noting her power drop considerably after the strike. Whatever had hit her was nothing to sneeze at. He looked over to see Amulet X slam in to the concrete and stop moving for the time being. He sighed softly, "I suppose now is the time to try it," he thought as he grinned evilly again, "if it remains stable this fight is ours." He reached over and turned a dial on the tuning fork holder and waited with a smirk.

The guardians cheered softly as the X-eggs stopped attacking. Apparently taking Amulet X out confused them. The eggs floated in the air, seeming to stare down at them. "We got her back," Tadase said with a grin. He didn't feel the spike in power until it was too late though.

Nikaidou watched the power curves and gasped when he saw Amulet X's spike heavily. He had thought the guardians had defeated her for sure, but here was an anomalous spike in her energy patterns. He paled when he saw how high it was going and opened the door of the truck quickly. "Get out of there," he yelled at the guardians, but it was too late.

Amulet X groaned softly as she landed on the ground, everything hurt after the rough landing. She was vaguely aware of the guardians around her. She tried to stand only to collapse again with a grunt. She had felt her energy wane when she was struck in the back. She couldn't stand. She was sorry she couldn't fulfill Dr. Oni's wish. Then she felt it, the power was immense. She growled softly as her body jolted.

"Huh," Rima said as she turned to peer at the truck Nikaidou was in. She thought she had heard him yell something.

Utau landed lightly next to Amulet X and bent down. She hoped Amu hadn't been hurt too badly, though she did wonder why Amu hadn't returned to her usual form. Her questions were answered a moment later when she felt the power surge through Amulet X.

Amulet X grunted then stood bolt upright, she could feel the power again, "Demonic Wind." The area was consumed in dark winds moments later. Her whole body radiated darkness as she simply threw her wings back and arms up.

Everyone was blown back several feet as the powerful winds cut through the area. They felt their energy getting sapped and Amulet X seemed to become stronger. The wind howled around them as the X-eggs cowered. That was before everything was lost to the blackest winds they had ever seen, the sheer volume of them consuming everything within a small radius. Everyone was stunned for a few minutes as Amulet X panted heavily and lowered her arms.

Amulet X felt weak after the blast, but it was power on a whole new level. She could still feel the dark energies coursing through her body. She looked at her hands slowly, her eyes maintaining their blank stare. "Interesting," she said aloud as she looked around, noting the guardians scattered everywhere.

Utau stood shakily as she looked around, the guardians had been blasted out of their transformations. The only ones still holding on were Rima and Nagihiko. She frowned darkly and turned her gaze to Amulet X. "Where did that power come from," she wondered as she stepped forward, prepared to protect the guardians.

Amulet X was recalled, victory was hers this time. She flew up slowly, gathering the X eggs to herself. She peered at the carnage surrounding the battle field. Trees had been uprooted by the blast, small cars had been turned over and the road looked like a boulder had rolled down it. Everything was in disarray. She looked down the street and noticed some reporters running her way. She leveled a hand in their direction before she felt the return summons again. She shrugged and turned to fly towards Dr. Oni's car.

Rikka had just gotten over the dizziness when she heard something akin to a hurricane crash through the area.

Hikaru pulled her in to his limousine with just enough time to spare before the blast hit them. It pushed the car a few feet to the side and they heard the tires pop loudly. He hadn't expected that, he peered out the window of the car to see how everyone was doing. When he saw the condition of the guardians he frowned darkly.

Rikka shook her head and winced lightly. She had felt that blast and it had scared her to death. She had never felt that much dark energy in one place before, not even when there was a large gathering of X-eggs. She looked out the window and saw Amu beginning to fly away; she couldn't even comprehend Amu betraying her friends like that.

Rikka moved without thinking. She tugged the car door open and jumped out. The whispers were coming from Amu and she had to see if she could talk to them, "Amu-sempai," she yelled up towards Amulet X, "Amu-sempai!"

Amulet X stopped as she heard someone calling a name she vaguely remembered. She turned to see a small girl standing in the street calling towards her. She listened quietly seeing if she could place the voice. It sounded vaguely familiar, but again it was like a dream.

"Amu-sempai," Rikka yelled, she smiled some when she saw she had gotten Amulet X's attention, "what're you doing?" She paused to catch her breath and firmly push down all the whispering in the back of her head. "What're you doing Amu-sempai," she yelled again, "These are your friends! I thought you were going to protect everyone's Heart eggs?" Rikka lowered her hands as she felt another wave of vertigo. She couldn't understand what was going on.

Dr. Oni looked out his window when he noticed the small girl start yelling. It took him a moment to figure out she was calling out to his dark angel and he frowned deeply. "What're you trying to do, brat," he thought as he reached for the tuning fork. He pushed a button on it and spoke quickly. "Ignore that girl," he said, "actually, just do away with her, Arrow of Darkness." He grinned diabolically as he saw Amulet X start to fly towards the girl.

Amulet X heard Dr. Oni's voice through the tuning fork. He had requested that she deal with this loud girl, so she began to fly down.

Rikka smiled brightly, "I guess I got her attention," Rikka thought as she waved exuberantly. It was hard for her to ignore the headache and the whispers but she was going to put on her strongest face for the upper classman she admired so much.

Amulet X pointed her finger at Rikka and spoke softly, "Arrow of Darkness," she said as the darkness began to coalesce at her finger tip. The small ball began to grow as the energies gathered; she even pulled some energy from the nearby X-eggs for added power. It seemed the girl didn't know what she was in for; Amulet X really didn't care though. This had been an order from her master and she aimed to fulfill his wish. The darkness finally finished collecting and Amulet X focused on Rikka.

Rikka couldn't see what Amu was doing; she could really only see movement at this point. The headache was worse than ever and she found herself wanting to scream when Amulet X leveled a gaze directly at her. She had no idea what was going on as she stumbled forward a little, towards Amulet X.

Utau frowned as she saw Rikka get Amulet X's attention, "This can't be good," she thought as she began to move towards Rikka, slowly at first. She growled some as she noted Amulet X flying towards Rikka, "this is getting too dangerous," she thought again, "We don't know what Amulet X will do." She found out what Amulet X intended to do when she saw the dark energies collecting, "Oh no," she gasped as she began to move faster, "I've felt this before! El I need more power!"

"I know," El replied from within, "I'm trying."

Utau felt the surge of energy just in time as she flew towards Rikka like a bolt of lightning. She hoped she got there in time, it looked like Rikka had no idea what was going on. Actually it looked like Rikka was barely conscious. Utau put on the speed as she saw the arrow shoot towards Rikka.

Hikaru tried to jump out for Rikka but one of the guards in the car grabbed him and held him in place, "no sir," he said gravely, "I can't let you do that." Hikaru struggled a little but quickly found he was no match for a grown man. He could only watch in horror as the bolt of dark energy shot towards Rikka.

The guardians began to wake up when they heard Rikka yelling. They all rolled over groggily to look around, what they saw was terrifying. Everything was a mess. They looked up at Amulet X and gasped when they noticed which attack she was using.

Rikka couldn't see straight and she went down to a knee, this headache was killing her. She looked up blearily only to see something streak towards her. She knew she couldn't dodge it so she braced for the impact. She had an idea this was going to hurt. Suddenly she felt someone grab her and then she was moving.

Utau flew over and grabbed Rikka; she wasn't exactly sure how much time she had to get them out of there. Unfortunately she didn't have to wonder long as she felt a searing pain shoot through her arm, right where Rikka's head would have been. She grunted and winced as she felt all her energy leave her. She could tell Rikka was pretty much out of it and cussed as she heard El scream in pain and then El was gone. She landed hard and rolled, keeping Rikka covered. She felt something trickling down her arm, just near the wound and assumed it was blood. She opened her eyes slowly and tried to focus. She noticed El's egg next to her before she lost consciousness.

Nagihiko cussed darkly as he turned around, he was too late though. He watched Utau streak by and save Rikka. He gasped when he saw Utau's form vanish and El's egg roll across the ground. He blinked a few times before he realized they had lost the one person who could cleanse. He cussed again, "Temari," he said, "switch with Rhythm." He felt his guardian characters switch and stood up, feeling rejuvenated.

Rima had tried to move towards Rikka but was still sore and couldn't keep her footing. She went wide eyed and pale when she saw Utau take the hit for Rikka. She couldn't believe Amu just tried to hurt someone. She sat there for a moment, mortified, until she heard Nagihiko calling her name. She looked towards him.

"Quickly," Nagihiko yelled at Rima, "Queens Waltz! We have to cleanse what eggs we can!" Nagihiko ran up to Rima and helped her up. "We have to hurry," he said, "quickly now." Rima gave him a nod before falling in to the dance.

Amulet X was about to unleash another attack at Rikka when she heard Nagihiko calling for the waltz. She knew the waltz could cleanse a large number of eggs and decided it would be best to go. She flew off quickly, X-eggs in tow. She didn't get them all, however, because she felt the cleansing power behind her and knew a few X-eggs were cleansed. She had gotten the majority away though, the victory was hers.

Ikuto grunted as he tried to stand, Yoru had been blown out of him again. Fortunately Yoru was simply winded this time around. He looked around the battlefield and blinked a few times before he rubbed his face. He couldn't believe the damage all around. Then he noticed Utau lying off to the side, Rikka in her arms. He paled and ran over to his little sister. She was bleeding from a wound on her arm; the arrow had pierced her triceps and went clear through. It had barely missed the bone. He picked her up, only to find her unconscious. Rikka was out cold too.

Dr. Oni chuckled as he watched the power levels on his computer stay stable. "So I can keep it stable," he said, "wonderful, so many possibilities now." He started his car and beat a hasty retreat. He knew there were news crews nearby covering the altercation. He also knew they had caught Amulet X on their cameras but he didn't care. If anything this only served to increase his ego. He drove down the streets with a victorious smirk on his face.

A few days later Utau and the guardians found themselves in Nikaidou's lab watching Nikaidou look over some printouts. Rikka was sitting in a chair with several electrodes attached to her head and looking rather sickly.
Utau's arm was in a sling but she was more concerned about El. El had been sent back to her egg after that arrow had hit her. Nikaidou had the egg in some machine he had created and was taking readings from it.

Rikka felt like crud, she still had a headache and her body felt all shaky. It had been a few days and she still felt like her head was going to explode. She looked at Nikaidou then at El's egg then at Utau. She sighed softly, "I'm sorry Utau-chan," she said quietly, "I'm sorry you got hurt because of me." Rikka frowned deeply as she looked at Utau.

Utau looked at Rikka and smiled, "it's ok Rikka," she said stepping over and patting Rikka's hand, "I'm glad I was able to save you from that attack." Utau looked at El's egg and sighed softly but continued to pat Rikka's hand reassuringly.

"Well," Nikaidou said as he looked up from his computer, "El should be fine in a couple of days. The Arrow of Darkness attack seems to completely drain the energy of whomever it strikes. If your transformed your character takes the drain." He peered at the computer again, "It's a rather nasty attack," he continued, "It can cause physical harm, as you can see." He indicated Utau. "This is not a nice attack," he finished.

Tadase looked at Nikaidou and frowned, "what can we do," he asked.

"I have the readings I needed," Nikaidou replied, "I can start on those upgrades soon. Amulet X is rather interesting, really. Dr. Onimoto seems to have come across a way to increase her power and keep it stable. The readings we received from that battle have given me a clear idea of what I need to do to mimic his discovery."

Rikka sat up slowly and looked at Nikaidou, "umm," she murmured, "what about me? I wonder if this is what a hangover feels like. My daddy complains of those sometimes."

Nikaidou looked at Rikka and chuckled softly, "not quite," he said. He typed something on his computer and looked at Rikka, "just take some Tylenol and you'll probably be fine. I have also come up with a way to keep you from having to suffer that again." Nikaidou produced an MP3 player and handed it to her. "Just listen to the music I have specially created for you," he said, "and it should cancel out some of the 'whispers' as you call them."

Rikka took the small machine and sighed; she sat quietly as Nikaidou began removing the electrodes from her head and mumbled softly. "Thanks," she finally said as she hopped off the chair she had been sitting in. "It was like listening to thousands of X-eggs trying to talk at the same time," She added.

Nikaidou gave a nod and turned to the guardians. "Rikka has a special gift," Nikaidou said after Rikka had put the MP3 player in her pocket and strung the ear buds around her neck. "She can communicate with X-eggs and she can, probably, sense Amu's exact location before our own equipment. The human mind is truly a wonder." He chuckled softly, "Here," he said handing her a cell phone, "if you ever feel Amu again call me on this. I can dispatch the guardians, Ikuto, or Utau from here. Consider yourself our locator."

Rikka smiled at him and stashed the new phone in her other pocket. "I'm really that special," she asked softly, "I mean…I never thought I could actually help Amu-sempai." Everyone smiled at her as she began to blush lightly.

Hikaru walked in to Nikaidou's office a few minutes later, followed by his grandfather, and looked at the gathered people. "Anything," he asked as he walked over to Rikka and looked her over quickly, "I am hoping to have some good news after that last debacle. The battle by the auditorium is all over the news. No one knows what's going on except us, it's a PR nightmare." He looked at Nikaidou after giving a small sigh of relief, noting Rikka seemed ok. Rikka seemed oblivious to this fact.

"Actually," Nikaidou started, "I have plenty of good news today." He turned to his monitor and pointed at a chart, "This is a power chart from the battle. It helped me figure a few things out. This curve is Amulet X's curve." He indicated a black curve that spiked a few times then leveled off. "This one is Utau's," he indicated a white curve underneath the black one. "Dr. Oni has managed to increase Amulet X's power greatly. Everyone knows that when you character transform you are using roughly 120% of your character's power, right?" He looked around to see various nods. "Good," he continued, "Dr. Oni has managed to increase Amulet X's power to 160% of the character's power." Everyone gasped.

Hikaru frowned lightly as he glanced at Utau, "I hope there is some good news with this finding."

"Of course," Nikaidou replied, "I have figured out how Dr. Oni did it. I had to look through a couple of my old designs but it came to me as I started to see the relationships." He pulled out some rough sketches and showed them to everyone, "I can increase everyone's power to about 150% with this device, but it comes with a slight risk." He indicated another chart on his desk, "the extra power can be dangerous if your not used to it," he continued again, "I'm not sure how Dr. Oni did it but I figure he exposed Amu to X-egg energy for a long period of time before having her transform with whatever character she has now. It'll take some hard work but we can manage to get you close to her power levels. Utau and Nagihiko, on the other hand, have multiple characters and this grants them a little extra power, about 10% more than everyone else." He waved a hand to encompass the two, "Nagihiko should be able to cleanse X-eggs on his own." Everyone looked at Nagihiko curiously.

"I err, can," Nagihiko stammered, "I've never been able to do that without Rima's help."

"Yes you can," Nikaidou stated, "It's just a matter of finding out what your cleansing attack is." Nikaidou shrugged, "I have a plan on how to find out, but it requires some dedication."

Nagihiko gave a nod and a look of determination washed across his face, "Dedication isn't a problem," he stated.

Nikaidou grinned, "good," he said, "every day after school I'll need you for about an hour." Nikaidou wandered over and took El's egg out of his machine and handed it to Utau, "here," he said as Utau took El's egg back, "As I said, I have figured out a way to 'upgrade' you all but it requires a special device and some training. I have a feeling that this group won't have any problems with that though." He chuckled lightly, "now the device is small so you get to decide on the design of its container."

Everyone fell silent as they considered what design they'd like to use. They were all happy that they could get the power boost and hoped it'd save Amu from Dr. Oni's clutches. They also noticed that Hikaru was standing very close to Rikka, almost protectively close. That was something to consider for another day though.

End Chapter 2

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A/N: I hope everyone liked this chapter of mine. It took me a while to type up but it was well worth it. Some of these ideas flowed easily; others took some coercion to get out, hehe.

Well, that's pretty much it for this A/N so I hope you let me know how you liked it, give me some ideas on what you liked and disliked.

I'm sorry this one is long, almost as long as the last chapter but not quite hehe. Anyways I hope you liked it and, as always, please review, review, review!