Hey guys, I'm back with chapter 10! I'm back in school so writing's been going slower than before, but I've at least got this chapter out for you all.
And as an added bonus, you can now go check out my new story Dark's Haunted House of Fun. It's going to be a 2-3 chapter fic all about why Emiko doesn't let Dark down into the basement anymore (as referenced in chapter 8 of this fanfic). I've got chapter 1 up already so you can go take a look.
Now then on to the story!
Satoshi rested his head against the barn's wall, happy he wasn't a hostage anymore. Yes they were still in trouble, but at least a gun wasn't pointed at his head. He'd decided that anything and everything (and that included dealing with Krad) was better than having a gun pointed at him. There was something unnerving about being on the opposing end of the barrel and he never wanted to feel that way again.
The farmhouse wasn't big enough to lock everyone in a room so one of Patrick's goons, Satoshi thought he'd heard him called Zak, had lead him along with Isabella, Cassandra, Jonathan, and Gabe out to the barn for what he'd called 'safe keeping'. He had no idea where they'd taken Dark and Krad, and Satoshi had a sneaking suspicion that Patrick would soon be questioning the two angels about the treasure hidden beneath them.
What else would he be here for? His being here at the same time as they found the art and past relationship with the other four teens was no coincidence. Satoshi was curious to find out what had caused them to break apart, if indeed they had broken apart. It was entirely possible that they were all still working together and this whole charade was to get Dark and Krad to trust them long enough to find and retrieve the treasure.
"What are you so deep in thought about?" Isabella asked breaking Satoshi out of his thoughts.
"Hu? Oh," He said taking notice of the group all staring at him, "I was just thinking of how good it is to be away from your gun toting friend," He said.
"Patrick is not our friend," Cassandra said.
"He was," Satoshi said simply.
"Yes he was, he was even supposed to be a part of our recovery team." Gabe said through gritted teeth.
Cassandra nodded, "In the end he turned on us. That the slimy, rotten, son of a-"
"Biscuit eater." Isabella interjected when Cassandra couldn't find a proper word to finish her description of their old co-worker.
"Not as strong as I would like," Cassandra shrugged, "But yes. Son of a biscuit eater."
"What they mean to say is that Patrick was always in it for the money. We brought him into our confidence with the hopes that he had the same passion for the museum and art as we did. We all took it very hard when we found out he was the exact opposite," Jonathan said.
"And how did you find out? It's obvious you weren't expecting to see him here," Satoshi asked.
"I caught him stealing a painting from the museum. It was on its way to the restoration area for a cleaning when he snatched it. If I hadn't of forgotten my laptop I never would have caught him with it." Gabe said looking away from them all, his voice had taken on a distant anger and Satoshi guessed that he was trying to hold in the rage he felt about the betrayal.
"What about you? You're a lot more capable than we first took you for." Jonathan asked Satoshi.
"And what did Patrick mean when he called you police? You're way too young to be in the police." Cassandra asked.
Satoshi twiddled his thumbs, staring down at them for a moment before answering, "I lied to you all earlier. I didn't come here for the treasure, I'm actually part of a special police team set to capture Dark. We'd gotten wind that he was stealing a particular map, and with my knowledge of the art world I guessed he'd be coming after the rumored treasure buried somewhere around here."
He hoped they accepted this lie as well as they'd accepted his earlier one and continued, "Unfortunately, I got more than I bargained for when I came down to set a trap for Dark."
"But he called you commander, so you're…"Isabella trailed of before jumping up and pointing down at Satoshi, "You're the Satoshi Hiwatari? The Commander of Dark Special Forces? I've seen you on tv. You always look so cool when you're chasing Dark. Why didn't I recognize you before? I wish I had, I can't believe I didn't. I'm so embarrassed." She threw her hands over her face and turned away.
"Bells, chill," Gabe said shaking his head at her, before turning to Satoshi, "She's a big fan of your work, you know. She's even got a set of glossy prints of you at different crime scenes."
Satoshi knew only one person who'd profit from taking pictures of him at crime scenes, he'd have to have a talk with Takashi when he got back to school. It wasn't right selling photos of people without permission.
"Don't tell him that, Gabe!" Isabella spun back around with a glare at Gabe.
"Cassandra likes you too." Gabe continued ignoring the protests from his friend, "She bought two sets of the prints one for school and one for-"
"Gabriel Langdon if you value your life you will not finish that sentence," Cassandra had jumped to her feet as well and was advancing upon her troublesome friend.
"Can we all just calm down, for one moment and think about what we're doing? We are still trapped in a barn on an abandoned farm." Jonathan spoke up.
His protests like everyone else seemed to be in vain because the next words out of Gabe's mouth sealed their fate, "her purse."
With those two words chaos erupted in the barn, and it was all Satoshi could do to push himself up against the wall and wait it out, almost wishing he was still dealing with Patrick.
A tingle of amusement and concern washed over Krad, letting him know that his tamer was, for the moment, safe, and apparently enjoying himself. Which was more than he could say for his and Dark's circumstances. The two angels had been shoved inside a tiny closet with enough room for them to sit across from one another, the toes of their shoes almost touching. The closet's only light came from a single bare bulb that flickered every so often.
He and Dark had sat in relative silence for the better part of an hour before either of them had spoken.
"Satoshi seems to be alright, and by the feel of his emotions the others are with him." Krad said, more to fill the silence than actually inform Dark of how his tamer was doing.
"That's good," Dark said, "We'll need them safe if we're going to have any hope of getting out of here."
"I hope you have been formulating a plan for escape, or else this past hour has been all a waste." Krad said.
"As a matter of fact, I have." Dark said, "It should be fairly easy, especially if we utilize your unique bond with creepy boy."
Krad took a steadying breath before responding, it would not do for him to start a fight with Dark, not now that their survival relied on working together, "Satoshi is not 'creepy' as you call him."
Dark laughed, "I never thought I'd see the day where you stuck up for him."
"Do you think so little of my relationship with my tamer?"
This caused Dark's laughter to increase, so much so that he doubled over where he sat, his laughter shaking the room with it's intensity.
"What is so funny about that?" Krad demanded, "It's not like you have any better luck with your tamer."
This sobered Dark and the angel looked up at his other half with a sad smile, "You really don't get it, do you? It's things like that statement, that prove how wrong you are, Krad."
"It's not about luck, Krad. I don't get lucky to have a tamer who agrees with me. I work on a relationship, and I certainly don't abuse our bond."
"I don't-"
Dark shook his head, "Don't even go there. You've been little more than an infection to each of your tamers, ever since I've known you. This," he waved at Krad, "is as close to kind as I've ever seen you with a tamer, and it's nothing but a charade to keep your secret safe."
"You are the one who does not understand. It is not in our nature to be 'friends' with our tamer's, Dark. To them we are nothing but a curse, a mistake, handed down from generation to generation. I seek freedom from that curse, and if I must be forceful about it, then I will. But do not mistake my attempts at freedom for a hatred of my tamers, other than you they are the dearest thing I have."
Dark grimaced at Krad, "You could change that opinion, you know. The Niwa's haven't seen me as a terror for a very long time."
"You have grown too much like them. You've become soft and have forgotten your roots. You are not human, Dark. As much as you may want it you will never be," Krad scoffed.
"And you have distanced yourself too much, Krad." Dark snapped back, "I'm glad I put that curse on you, at least it's making you feel emotions other than hatred for once."
"Curse?" Krad's question hung in the air, suspended by an icy mood that had fallen over the two angels.
"Yes. Curse." Dark answered at last, "I originally intended it to temporarily mix up your emotions with Satoshi's to give you a taste of what the other side feels like." He shrugged, "I'd actually forgotten about it until now."
"You put a faulty spell on me?" Krad's fury was barely contained by the thought of not killing the only person with a plan to get them out alive.
"I thought it would be funny at the time," Dark shrugged, "Besides it wasn't faulty when I cast it. You must have done something to mess it up."
"You have the gall to blame me for your mistake? I'll show you a faulty spell," Krad formed an orb of deadly magic in his hand preparing to launch it at the thief, regardless of the consequences of launching a spell like that in their tiny cell.
"Hold on just one second, Krad. You don't want to throw that," Dark held out his hands defensively.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end you right now, Mousey."
"Think about Satoshi, using that kind of magic in the state you're in won't be good for him," Dark pointed out.
"And whose fault is that?" Krad asked through gritted teeth.
"Mine, alright? I take responsibility for the stupid spell. Now put out that orb before you end up killing us both."
A bolt of fear shot through Satoshi's side of their connection, effectively quenching Krad's fury. He had no idea if the feeling had come as a result of his using magic or of his tamer being in trouble, either way he couldn't kill Dark.
"You had better have a way repairing the damage your spell has caused." Krad said dispersing the magic with a snap.
Dark let out a held breath with a whosh of air and he fell back against the wall, "Remind me not to rile you up again the next time we're trapped in a tiny closet together," He said.
"Next time you won't have the luxury of my tamer's being separated from me to save you. Now tell me what your plan to get us out of here is."
Satoshi couldn't help but enjoy watching the four friends fight. Something about the way they chased each other and yelled told him that, while irritated, none of them really intended to hurt the other. It was a stark difference from everything he'd ever known. Sure he'd read about such friendships in books, but he'd never had the luxury to experience such a bond before.
He hoped that someday, if he could ever rid himself of Krad that he could have friends like that. He hated bottling up his every emotion so that Krad couldn't take advantage of them, before Daisuke had forced his way into Satoshi's life, he'd been so closed off he'd almost forgotten what it was like to be himself.
His enjoyment was cut short when, without warning, his hand began to glow and he felt the little energy he'd recovered sitting in the barn begin to drain away. His pulse jumped, Krad was using magic for some reason. As he felt his energy being drawn faster his worry turned sharply to fear, whatever the angel was doing, he had to stop or Satoshi would be in serious danger of passing out.
The energy syphon stopped at a jarringly quick rate causing Satoshi's breath to catch in his throat. He glanced up to make sure that none of the others had seen his hand, or strange behavior. They were still engaged in their 'Scooby Doo'-esq chase.
Satoshi pushed himself to his feet, leaning against the wall for a moment before standing straight, "Alright. That's enough," He commanded, projecting his voice as if he were scolding a group of officers for not being on guard when Dark came by.
They stopped and turned to him, looks of surprise etched on each of their faces, obviously having forgotten that Satoshi was there.
"We need to figure a way out of here, not chase one another around because of a joke." He said.
"Right." Gabe said, "So do you have a plan, Mr. Commander?"
"First of all, don't call me that. Secondly, not yet. But I'm sure if we all work together we can come up with something," Satoshi said walking over to them, "Our first means of action needs to be getting out of here and alerting the authorities."
"Uh, excuse me, but aren't you the authorities?" Cassandra asked.
"One teenage police officer is not enough to handle this crew." Satoshi said pointedly, "We need to get the police force out here."
"We can't do that." Gabe said.
"Why not?" Satoshi asked.
"If we do, they'll want to know the whole story and then we'll have to tell them that we were working with Dark to steal millions worth of treasure. All the artwork will then be confiscated and held by the police for who knows how long." Gabe said, "If we do this, we do it without police involvement."
Satoshi pursed his lips, Gabe was right. He didn't want the police finding out his or Daisuke's secret either, but it would be difficult to escape, and ensure the treasure's safety without them.
"Then I need to know about Patrick. What's his weakness? How can we trick him into letting us and the treasure go?" Satoshi asked.
Isabella shook her head, "We can't trick him into giving any of it up. He's too set on getting it for himself."
"We may be able to turn his goons," Cassandra said, "Patrick may look and speak rich, but he's just playing a part. Before he left the museum he had enough trouble keeping a roof over his head, let alone enough money to hire a set of criminals. He's got to be keeping them here on the promise of treasure."
"That's good. We can work with that," Satoshi said, "Perhaps we could lure them away with a promise of a bigger cut of the treasure than Patrick is offering. We do know where it is after all."
"If we keep divvying out the treasure, there will be none for the museum," Jonathan pointed out.
"That's just it," Satoshi shook his head, "We won't actually be giving them the treasure. Once we get them to let Dark and Krad out of wherever they are being kept we can turn the tables."
"Because we did so well last time," Cassandra rolled her eyes.
"You forget, Dark and Krad have ablilities none of us have," Satoshi told them, "They can easily knock the goons out the moment they need to."
"Yeah, as long as no one else is in serious danger," Gabe said earning him a glare from Cassandra and a stern glance from Satoshi, "What? I'm just saying. Things can go wrong, that's all."
Satoshi nodded, "You're right. If things do go wrong I want everyone to get as far away from danger as they can. It won't be possible for us to try this again."
"I think you're all forgetting something. How are we supposed to get out of here? I'm sure they've got guards at the door, and there's no way we can jump out of the window, not without wings." She pointed up at the barn's single window stationed close to the roof.
"Wings? Oh! I've got it! We can use the ducklings as a distraction!" Isabella said, "They can't quite fly yet, but they can flutter enough to soften their fall. How do you think they did so well escaping down the gutter from Krad earlier?"
Satoshi thought for a moment, "Can they really be an effective distraction?" he asked.
Isabella nodded fervently, "They're the best trained ducklings in the world. They would do anything I asked them to do."
"She's right." Jonathan said, "I oversaw their training with her, for some reason they seem to understand her."
Isabella beamed at them, "So, can we try it?"
Gabe shrugged, "I don't see why not."
Cassandra sighed, "If it's our only option, then go ahead."
"I have no objections," Jonathan said.
"Sounds like we're all in agreement. Isabella, sick the ducklings on the goons." Satoshi said giving her a smile.
"Alright, so I'm going to unlock the door with magic, and you tackle whatever guard is waiting outside for us. Then we use your Spidey Sense to find the others and we hightail it out of here," Dark told Krad.
"Spidey Sense?" Krad asked.
"You know, your ability to feel Satoshi's emotions, I'm sure you can use it to find him, somehow." Dark said.
Krad crossed his arms, "That is your plan? How exactly do you think I can just find Satoshi? It's not as if his emotions grow stronger the closer I get to him."
Dark raised an eyebrow, "But they do, don't they?" he asked with a grin.
Irritated Krad did a quick check, comparing the confidence he felt coming from Satoshi with the other feelings he'd had during their odd experience. Unfortunately, Dark seemed to be right. Satoshi's emotions were noticeably weaker than they had been while Krad had been in close contact with his tamer.
"I was right," Dark said triumphantly, noticing Krad's change in expression.
"On my count we break out of here," Dark said standing. Krad stood to follow and watched closely as Dark put his hand to the lock. A tiny bolt of purple lightning shot from Dark's palm into the lock, before an almost imperceptible click sounded.
"Three…two…" Dark whispered moving his hand to the knob, "ONE!" he shouted throwing the door open.
Krad went charging out, fists barred ready to knock out anyone in his way. He stopped, stunned when he realized the hallway was empty.
"Ooph! What the?" Dark had run into Krad from behind.
"There is no one here." Krad said, "We've been sitting in an unguarded closet for over an hour." He spun on Dark, "Why didn't you notice this?"
"Me? Why didn't you notice, o' great hunter?" Dark glared back.
Krad glared at Dark for a moment before turning back to the hallway, "Enough," he said, "This must be a changing of the guard. Let's get out of here before another one shows up."
"That's the direction they brought us from." Dark said pointing to his right, "So, unless Patrick has them with him, we probably need to go that way to find the others." Dark said now pointing down the hall to the left.
"I don't believe he has them." Krad said.
"Is your Spidey Sense telling you that, or is it a guess?" Dark asked.
"Both," Krad admitted, "And stop calling it a Spidey Sense. Neither I or Satoshi is a spider."
"Krad, you need to stop trying to kill me, and start watching some television." Dark said with a shake of his head.
Guess what? No cliffhanger this time! Aren't you proud of me? I had so many different ideas to throw one or both groups in serious danger, but for the sake of you, my wonderful readers I'm saving all of that for the next chapter. Which, I promise will have lot's more action. As always drop a review and let me know what you thought of the chapter.