Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or X-Men Evolution. So sue me. No wait…don't.

The X-Evolution - Memories

Chapter 3: Trust/Twisted

"He's…He's gone?"

Storm closed her eyes and gave one small nod, keeping her head lowered. "I…I'm afraid so. He seems to have just…disappeared."

Kouji stared at her for another long while, his eyes wide, then he sank backwards into one of the arm chairs that decorated the Professor's study. He wasn't breathing well - anyone with a weaker constitution would have passed out by now - and each one came in short little gasps. He buried his eyes in his hands, hiding from the others, and didn't look at anyone.

No one looked at him, either. Takuya was still staring at Storm and the Professor, his mouth hanging open awkwardly. Kurt, next to him, was in a similar state, yellow eyes giving him a haunting appearance. Izumi had drawn in on herself, biting one finger in a shy manner, with Tomoki holding his hands over his head and Junpei gripping his fists together, trying to control the frustrated sparks that were flying from them. Kitty had her hands over her mouth in a state of shock, with Rogue gritting her teeth and Bobby looking deflated on either side of her. Scott was by the wall, trying to comfort Jean even as he kept a level head about the entire situation.

"Did you check the surveillance videos?" Cyclops asked seriously, keeping his voice carefully even. "The alarm systems records, or the monitors?"

"I'm afraid that it would not be much help, Scott." The Professor sighed, lacing his fingers over his lap. "The Institute's power was completely shut down, all except for Cerebro's back-up power generator, and it took fifteen minutes to switch over to alternate power. Kouichi…disappeared…sometime during that fifteen minutes. There are no records."

"Of course there aren't." Kouji muttered, his words harsh, but barely audible. "There never are…"

One by one, all eyes carefully traced across the room to the boy. There was something strange about his tone, something…dangerous. "Kouji…"

"Shut up!" Kouji snapped his head up, cutting Storm off in mid-sentence, and was on his feet in just seconds. "What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

Kurt slipped forward with and awkward little grin, his ears twitching brightly. "Hey, hey now. There's nothin' to vorry about, Kouji. Everybody vill get right on lookin' for him, an' ve'll find 'im in no time."

"Yeah, sure we will." Kouji growled. "If he's even still alive."

Another chill. Junpei shuddered and shook his head, raising his still-sparking hands in defense. "Hey, dude, chill out. No reason to be so glum, I'm sure your bro's just fine. They wouldn't let anything happen to him."

"Nothing they wouldn't do themselves." Kouji's eyes drifted towards the Professor in accusation. "But everybody here's been willing to do more than that. Willing to kill him." He growled a bit and gripped his hands into fists, moving away from everyone until there wasn't anyone that he couldn't see with the turn of his head. "Easier to kill him than control that thing. Better to get rid of the risk altogether. Am I right?"

Xaviar sighed, gathering his thoughts in an attempt to calm the boy's train of thought before it got too far. "Now Yang…"

"Quit playing around, you little punk." Scott pulled himself away from Jean, moving forward protectively. Kouji had always done something to rub Cyclops the wrong way, just because of his attitude, and acting like this when they were trying to help him didn't help anything. "That isn't what happened, and you know it!"

"You really one to talk, One-Eye." Kouji snarled back, glaring at him harshly. "You were more ready to do it than anybody! You would've killed him yourself!"

"We didn't have a choice back then!"

"No more than you have now!"

Kitty stepped forward, reaching out for him. "Yang…"

"Don't call me that!" He shouted, knocking her away almost violently. "Don't touch me! Any of you! Get away from me!"

He turned and locked eyes with Takuya, and for a split instant, he was calm. Flare moved, grabbing his friend by the shoulders. "Kouji, you're not thinking straight. Just calm down and think about this a bit!"

"Get out of my way, Takuya." Kouji whispered coldly, growling under his breath. His hands moved to the boy's wrists, gripping them lightly, just holding himself back from pulling them away.

"Kouji…"

"Get out of my way!"

"Rogue…" Scott began, but the girl had already started to move.

She stepped forward determinedly, pulling the glove off of her left hand as she moved towards the struggling pain. Her hand now barred, she brought it down, carefully avoiding Flare's hands, on the barred joint between Kouji's shoulder and his neck.

The boy jerked, feeling everything - his emotions, his strength, his energy - be sucked up by the girl's touch. He rolled his head back, eyes wide, and met Rogue's brown ones, which were narrowed with concentration and a certain amount of pain. She shrugged at him. "Sorry, pal."

Kouji open his mouth as though to answer her and promptly keeled over into Takuya, unconscious.

Rogue pulled her hand back, covering it again, and everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. Wolverine stepped over to relieve Takuya of his motionless burden, hoisting the unconscious boy over one shoulder and helping Flare up with the other hand.

Takuya's eyes turned to Kouji worriedly. "Is he…okay?"

"He'll be fine." The Professor assured, wheeling himself over. "He just needs to rest a bit, to…regain his composure. Logan, if you would please take him to his room?"

Wolverine nodded with a light grunt and bore his charge out the door, with a still-worried Takuya on his heels.

Storm sighed, putting a hand to her heart. Even without his powers, the state that Kouji had been in was…frightening. If he had been in control of his abilities, he could have caused some serious damage to all of them, even with Takuya standing in the way…No. She couldn't think about things like that. He just needed to calm down a bit.

She turned her attention elsewhere, to the girl who was standing just near her. The dual-colored bangs were falling into her brown eyes as she stared down at her gloved hand, processing through the information that had no doubt flooded her mind. "Rogue? Are you all right?"

"Y-Yeah…I'm fine…" Rogue shook herself lightly, looking up at them. Her eyes were lightly teary, something that was almost completely unexpected from the usually sullen girl. "He…He ain't mad, Professor. Yang ain't really mad. He's just…he's scared…"

"I know." The man patted her carefully-covered arm warmly. "I know, Rogue, and don't worry. Everything will be fine. It's just going to take a little time…"

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

The floor was cold, but it really did feel good.

Those words were the first thoughts that flitted into his mind when the boy opened his eyes. He knew what the thoughts had meant, even if they were hazy and indistinct, but for some reason he couldn't figure out why the situation seemed strange.

He planted his hand against the cool, smooth metal floor, lifting his head out of the thin, lumpy pillow, and as he picked himself up off the ground, a rough blanket slid from his shoulders. He blinked around him awkwardly, finding himself in total darkness, not a single speck of light anywhere around him. It was small - about the size of a large closet, really - but before he could take in any more details, the door slid open and the sudden addition of light burned his eyes.

A deep, sultry female voice echoed through the room, icy and sweet at the same time. "It seems that he's awake, Eric."

"Indeed," a second voice, this one male, older and quite a bit colder. "And it seems that the reports of increased photosensitivity were as accurate as ever."

He whimpered a bit, curling up again and keeping his eyes clamped shut. The sound of heavy, measured footsteps came closer, treading gently, and the male voice came again. "Here you are, Yin. These should make it easier on you."

Something cool slide against his face, slipping past his temples and hooking over his ears. Hesitantly, his eyes fluttered open to check his new condition. He now wore pair of thin glasses that seemed to have been made of pure metal, tempered into a thin, yet sturdy, substance that could be seen through, but kept the level of light at a range that his eyes could tolerate.

He blinked several times and lifted his head to see his benefactor. The man was older, much older, with a thin, pale face and white hair. He wore a royal red-purple outfit, crafted from fine, yet sturdy, material and his eyes were a cool, pale blue. Behind him stood a tall woman with red hair and yellow eyes, both of which were in perfect harmony with her violently blue skin, dressed, though not exactly modestly, in white clothes.

He turned back to the man and realized something important. He didn't know either of them.

"Who…Who are you?" He turned his head again, then realized that he couldn't even remember his own name. "Who…Who am I?"

The man smirked lightly, the light grin sliding over his face in a crooked manner. "A mind so broken even Charles could not put it back together, even after weeks of work."

The boy was very confused, turning his head to one side and blinking. "…Huh?"

"There's no need to worry, Yin." Yin…was that his name? They kept calling him that. "No harm can come to you now."

The boy…Yin, he supposed his name must be…slowly picked himself off the ground. He felt dirty, and his hair was stuck down against his forehead in wild mats, dried to an uncomfortable crisp. His clothes, thin flannel pajamas, were caked with dried mud. Part of him knew that there must be more important things to ask - where was he? Why was he here? Who were these people to him? Why he couldn't he remember? - but there was only one thing that managed to make it to his lips.

"I feel sick." The words came out as a pathetic groan, and as he said them, he sank of himself, gripping his stomach. Tears sprang to his eyes from the sheer lack of comfort, and he sniffled.

"Of course you do," said the man almost dismissively, putting a hand on Yin's shoulder to lead him kindly towards the door. "I suppose it would be natural, after what you have been through - Mystique!"

"Yes, Eric?" The woman said silkily, stepping forward like a cat tiptoeing across cotton.

The man…Eric?…gave Yin's shoulder a gentle push, which sent him into the woman's arms. "Will you help him get cleaned up, my dear? We'll be leaving soon, and it wouldn't do for him to become ill on the way home."

"Certainly." Mystique put her hand on the boy's shoulder in 'Eric's place, guiding him out the door and into a smooth metal hallway. "Come along, Yin."

The boy followed her, somewhat uncertainly, but the promise of becoming clean was too good to resist. He turned back for just a moment and met eyes with Eric. The man gave him another relatively pleasant smile and a very small salute before disappearing back down the hall.

Yin stopped hesitating and allowed Mystique to lead him to the bitingly cold, freezing, most wonderful shower he could remember.

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

"Are certain, officer? You haven't seen anyone matching his description?" Storm forced her voice to remain calm, though the news made her want to throw the phone across the room and melt it with a lightening bolt powerful enough to short out every phone line in the city. "I see. No, it's all right, officer. We'll just have to keep looking. Will you keep an eye out for him? Thank you. Really, thank you. Good night."

She hung up and sighed, running a hand through her snow-white hair before she turned to the Professor. "There's been no sign of him in town, no reports of trouble or anything."

"It was a very slim chance," Professor Xavier sighed, shaking his head. "But you did get them to file a missing person report?"

"Yes, he said he'd get to it right away."

"Good…Good."

Storm bit her lip, uncertain, angry and upset. She wasn't even completely certain who she should be angry at, but the feeling would not go away. If there had been no sign of Kouichi in town, by anyone, that could only mean two things. One, he had wandered in the wrong direction and was now lost somewhere out in the surrounding woods, or two…someone had taken him.

The last possibility sent chills down her spine.

"What do we do now, Professor?" She asked softly, keeping her eyes low.

"The only thing that we can," Xavier said, just as softly, focusing out the window at his Institute's brightly-lit garden. "We'll have to investigate every lead. Our next step should be clear enough - we have to make sure that Dusk's previous followers have not returned to take their leader back."

Storm lifted her head, narrowing the silvery-blue eyes. "But we don't even know where they are, Professor!"

"No…" The man sighed, shaking his head. "We don't."

"…I do."

Both of the adults looked up in surprise. Zypher…Izumi…was leaning against the doorframe, holding onto it was both hands in a shy manner. She was dressed, to their surprise, in her new X-Men uniform - a modified version of her old attire. The shirt was black, with long, loose sleeves and a large purple 'X' curling over the chest, coming only to the base of her ribs so that her stomach was shown. The pants were specially fit, black with purple lining, and ended with a light flare above black boots.

"I know where Marcus is," she repeated again, keeping her voice calm. "I can find them from there."

"Izumi…" Storm wavered a moment, then regained her composure. "Are you sure?"

"I was just about to leave." Zypher said shyly, stepping completely into the study. Her step was very light, even in the boots, and she seemed to be walking across air even though her feet were firmly on the carpet. "They're probably the only ones who would do something like this. If they know anything, I'll find out. I promise."

Storm's hand flew to the wind-user's shoulder. "But you can't go alone!"

"I don't have a choice." Izumi insisted, looking up at her. "If anyone else comes with me, even Tomoki, they'll think they're under attack again. They've gotten really paranoid, they think everyone's out to get them."

Storm, now at a lost for words, turned to the Professor for help. The man was deep in thought, his fingers twined together, and he remained that way for several minutes before he finally sighed. "Yes…I believe that you are right, Zypher. It would be…for the best."

Izumi's eyes lit up and she bowed with a smile on her face. "Thank you so much, Professor! I promise I'll do everything I can to help."

"I know you will." The Professor moved to his desk and opened a small drawer, pulling out a small black orb marked with an 'X' positioned on a bracelet-sized black chain. "Take this with you. This way we can make sure you stay safe."

Storm took it, crossing to the girl, and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Please be careful."

"Thanks." Izumi sighed, slipping the tracker on. "I will."

She turned away from them and moved across the room to the wide windows. She pushed open the large panes and positioned herself on the ledge. She turned back to the two adults with a bright wave, then kicked off and let the wind carry her away.

TBC…

In case you've forgotten - 'Marcus' is the real name of Mercurious, leader of Dusk's former followers and Izumi's cousin. Just to remind you.

Please forgive the lame argument scene...It was really a struggle, but I wanted it to come out.