Note* I should probobly let you know, this isn't the dark part of the story. That comes later.

"So the new transfer student has a Shugo Chara?" Tadase asked when Amu told them all.

She nodded. She had just made it on time for their meeting in the Royal Garden.

"Does that mean I have more competition?" Rikka asked.

Amu chuckled. "I don't think so."

All her shugo charas floated up to say something. "His shugo chara felt... different." Ran said. "I'm not sure how, but..." They all nodded their agreement.

"Can you be more specific?" Kiseki asked.

"No more then that. Just-" Miki started to say.

She was interrupted by a "WHAT'DYA MEAN DIFFERENT?"

No one recognized the voice. Everyone immediately started looking around for who or what it was. "Over there!" Yaya pointed towards a small bush she saw rustling. Nagihiko and Amu both went over to investigate.

What they found was Theory and a shugo chara they didn't recognize. He looked like an orchestra conductor in a big blue top-hat with music notes on either side.

Once they were all seated again and the two shugo charas were standing center-table, they introduced themselves. "I'm Octave!" The one in the blue top-hat winked at everyone. He had two bright, blue eyes along with a mess of blond hair under his hat. He was wearing a pin-stripe conductor's uniform and big, black boots. "And this bore over here is Theory." Theory didn't even look up. He had pulled out a laptop and was typing something.

Yaya took this situation a little too far. "Why were you spying on us?" She said, leaning in real close to them. Pepe added "Dechu!"

Octave looked startled. "Well..." He looked over at Theory. "Blame him, not me! He made me come along."

"It's not my fault you blew our cover." Theory said back, no emotion in his voice.

"And what were you doing that required you to hide?" Tadase asked.

Octave sighed. "Theory calls it 'gathering intelligence.' Anything he doesn't know about, he studies, and I usually tag along just for the heck of it." He looked around until he saw Amu. "I recognize you!" Amu let out a confused Eh? And Octave said "I was there when you first started talking to us. It's mainly your voice I recognized. I didn't get a very good look at you from where I was." He looked up at her 4 shugo charas. "So what do you mean we feel 'different'?"

All of Amu's shugo exchanged an uneasy glance, but never said anything. They didn't get a chance to anyway. Miki flew up as fast she could to Amu. "Amu-chan! X-Egg!" She said.

"Eh? Now?" She seemed surprised. A lot was happening today, and she was having a hard time following it all. The Guardians all nodded and they headed out, following Miki's directions. They left Theory and Octave behind.

They kept running for a short while until they came to the sports fields. The sky was overcast, lending a gloomy look to the surrounding area. The first thing they noticed was a large cloud of X-eggs hovering in the center of the fields. The immediately got ready to character transform; then they saw what the cloud of X-eggs was looking at.

Derrick stood resolute, staring at the X-egg cloud with what looked like defiance. Amu shouted "Serosa-kun! Get back!"

He just held up a hand without looking away from the cloud. "Let a professional handle this."

"Prof..." She started saying. Theory and Octave both blew past her head and took their place by Derrick's side.

"Theory." He looked at Theory, who only nodded. "Steel no Kokoro (Heart of steel), Unlock!"

He was dressed in a mechanical, metallic suit, not bulky but large. His feet were covered in a pair of big black boots. A small screen was in front of his left eye, attached to an ear-piece with an antenna sticking out of it. Over his mouth was a vented plate. His skin had gone pale, and his expression vanished. A huge black pack of some kind was connected to his suit on his back. Amu seemed to feel the air around get suddenly colder. Everyone stared in shock at what he was holding: A huge, menacing scythe whose blade shown electric blue in the half-light. Unlike Death Rebel's scythe, this one was very geometric, a clear distinction between the blade and the handle.

"Chara Nari! Technical Prodigy!"

He did not hesitate. "Warpspeed." The voice was completely hollow and metallic, as though said by a machine. Everyone stared as he went to work. His speed was amazing, and he circled around the X-eggs more times then anyone could count. Yaya started to sway from side to side, obviously dizzy. Once the X-eggs were rounded in one place, he stopped and immediately said "Static Cling" Lines of electricity shot through the cloud of X-eggs, jumping from one to another, holding them in place.

Always, X-eggs were looked upon as devious and evil, but the Guardians found this to be true of Technical Prodigy. The X-eggs seemed to scream in pain as every bounce of the electricity hit them. Each time one tried to move, sparks flew and it screamed, unable to escape. Derrick left them this way for a moment, then faced his scythe toward the X-eggs. The blade rotated until it was facing them, and a few minor shifts in various wires and plates could be seen in the handle.

"X Extraction."

At this, the obvious torment of these X-eggs became ever clearer. What... what is he doing? Not even they deserve that! Amu wanted to say, but she couldn't. She was speechless, unable to move. She let out a breath she realized she'd been holding in. A quick glance at Rikka showed that she was the most affected by this. There were tears in her eyes.

The electricity in the cloud pulsed frequently, and with every pulse the X-eggs pain grew, until finally... RIP! The X and even black coloring was torn off the X-eggs to be absorbed into the scythe blade, which no longer glowed electric blue, but a ruddy red. With every X that was ripped off, the egg it occupied returned to normal. The electricity dissipated, and hearts' eggs took off as fast as they could, never looking back.

Derrick didn't say anything. He shoved the scythe blade behind his back into the top of the pack he had there. A small meter on the pack seemed to go up slightly, and when the scythe was removed, the blade was clean and glowed yet again with a faint blue light.

Rikka took off, crying, unable to bear the sight any longer.