Chapter Two

"She's gone?!" Ichigo blinked. "I got the alarm alert, but…." She sat down, and sighed.

"We tried to stop him…" Keiichiro said, frowning. "But he had some other plans and threatened to execute them if we didn't let her go."

I wonder what's going to happen to her up there now, knowing what she does about them. Ryou thought, slamming a palm on the counter. He had been afraid of this. Things had been too quiet with the cyniclons as of late. Ichigo had chalked it up to Kisshu being depressed over losing Arissa. Now Ryou summed it up to the fact that Pai had been planning Arissa's abduction for some time now.

"We'll get her back." Pudding said in a determined tone. "We have to. She won't last long up there."

"So we think…." Mint was frowning now. "Pai is not an idiot. He's proven that. He's very calculating. He has to have had a plan before he abducted her; things that we probably wouldn't have thought of ourselves." She sipped her tea silently after that.

"As sad as that is, Mint is right." Ryou said. "But we can't give up." He stood straighter. "Girls, keep a look out for any trouble out of the ordinary. I'll be down in the laboratory, trying to figure out how to get her back.

"Right!" They all left the café to start looking.

"What have you done?!" Kisshu demanded. He glared at Pai. "She can't be up here. What if Deep Blue finds her?"

"Will you calm down? She'll be fine." Pai smiled at Arissa sleeping form. The girl was lying down in Kisshu's bed. The atmosphere had been a little tense when he returned, but when Kisshu saw her, he'd insisted on her staying in his room, since they no longer had her former home ship. "If Deep Blue asks, she's one of us. That's all there is to it. She exhibits our power, so it's not a huge deal."

"But it is a big deal. We agreed she couldn't stay with us anymore." Kisshu put his foot down now. "I'm taking her back."

"No you are not." Pai said calmly. "She doesn't even know us as family anymore…that leader of theirs changed her memories around."

"No…" Tart frowned deeply. "That's so wrong. They promised…" He took Arissa's limp hand in his. "They don't deserve her."

"No, they don't." Pai replied, smirking a little. "We'll have our work cut out for us, though. I expect a rebellion on her part. But we will not tolerate that."

"I don't wanna hurt her…" Kisshu sighed. He glanced over at the sleeping girl. He wondered how much had changed. 'Is it…bad, Pai?"

"It's bad enough." Pai said, though now he was busy doing some calculations on his mini computer. "He told her all kinds of lies, and then planted them right into her brain so she'd remember them the way he saw fit."

"But Pai, you just abducted her. What makes that any better?" Tart wanted to know. "Didn't you just prove her "memories" right?"

"A small detail." Pai said dismissively. "Not to worry. She'll be fine." He turned to go. "When she wakes up, keep her quiet. I need time to think."

Kisshu muttered a response that wasn't suitable for anyone's ears, as it was rather vulgar. "Fine." He said aloud. I don't like the looks of this. Pai is acting more hostile than normal. He's a bit too excited over his computer too. Whatever he's got planned, I can't let Arissa get hurt anymore than she's already been hurt, no matter how much she might hate me when she wakes up. I have to prove to her that I'm a friend.

"Kisshu, she's waking up now…" Tart said, sounding rather anxious. "What do we do?"

"Just wait." Kisshu said quietly. "Why don't you go and rest? I think it might be better for her to deal with one of us at a time, all things considered." I want the chance to deal with her myself, just to see how bad it is on my own.

"Alright…" Tart reluctantly left the stirring girl's side. "See you later, 'rissa.." He said quietly, before leaving Kisshu's quarters.

Mmm, the air is so thick…I can hardly breathe….where am I? Is this a dream? No, it's a nightmare…Arissa finally managed to find her way to consciousness. She opened her eyes after a moment of debating whether or not she wanted to see where the alien had put her. She imagined he'd deposited her into some kind of observation tank, like they did in the movies. She was surprised to find she was in a really soft bunk. She dared to move her head slightly, to look around.

"Hey,Kitten…" A gentle voice said now. She felt someone take her hand in their rather cold one gently. "You're okay, Arissa. Relax." The voice advised.

She blinked, as the voice got more recognizable through her fog. "Kisshu…" She frowned, and pulled her hand away. She struggled to sit up, but found it nearly impossible. The medication she'd been forced to take was still in her system. "Mmm…"

"You're still weak from Pai's concoction." Kisshu stated his voice still calm, though now it lacked the warmth it had held. He didn't want to be mean or cruel, but it was obvious she would need it at first. "It could last for a while, so you better just relax…" He turned from her.

"W-what do you want with me? More experiments?" Arissa dared to ask. For some reason, she didn't feel as threatened by Kisshu as she had with Pai.

"That's not your concern." Kisshu replied. "I should tell you that Pai doesn't intend on letting you go back to them."

Arissa nodded. She had gotten the feeling Pai was of that kind of mind. "What more can he do? He's already experimented once. What more can he get?"

Kisshu had to laugh at that. "Pai's not the kind to just experiment without reason, Arissa. What you're remembering is something he did for you as a gift. He infused you with cyniclon DNA so that you would survive better with us." He turned to face her now. "Of course, he did it without asking me." He sat down next to the bed. "Look, Kitten…I know you don't remember us properly, but we'll sort that out, okay? I just want you to know that I'm a friend."

Arissa felt her stomach tighten. She remembered somewhere in unconscious state that Pai had referred to her as his "sister". Why didn't she remember? Pai seemed so violent, and angry...but Kisshu here says he isn't really like that…? It didn't make sense. Who was she supposed to believe?! Then another thought struck her. Kisshu had killed her parents. What kind of friend did that? "You're a murder." She said softly, pulling away from Kisshu now. "Ryou told me what you did."

Kisshu sighed. He had hoped that wouldn't come up. When he'd told her three years ago, she hadn't seemed to upset about it. He figured it was just as well, because she was already so traumatized, thanks to Pai. "Did he also tell you that your parents were neglecting and abusing you?" He said this sourly. "It seems to me, Kitten, he's left out some very important details about what us Cyniclons did for you." He clenched a fist angrily. It hurt him so much to see that look of distrust and fear on Arissa's face after everything they'd done for her. They are going to pay for what they've done here. I won't let this go whether we fix her or not.

"He…didn't tell me that part…" Arissa said softly. She was registering the look on Kisshu's face as hurt. "Kisshu…"

"What." The young alien looked up at her. "No, I'm not mad at you. You had no control over what he did. But we will, from now on. We will make sure that he pays for this." He stood up now. "Pai needs it quiet, so don't try and make things difficult." Kisshu said heading for the door. "Remember. No matter what happens, I'm your friend."

"Can't I at least let them know I'm okay…?" Arissa asked now, sadly. "Ryou will be so worried…"

"That's too bad. He should have thought about that before he broke our agreement." Kisshu's voice was cold again, but it wasn't meant for their prisoner. "I'll be back later to bring you some food." He left his room, and locked the door, though he doubted Arissa would try and escape. I'm turning into a heartless, cruel thing. But this is all for the good of the mission. When all is said and done, Arissa will be safer and better off with us. Pai promised it, didn't he? And I had to go and ruin it. I should've listened to him in the first place.