The deep, sonorous sound of a diminutive gong being struck echoed throughout the halls of the large mansion, waking the handsome young man from the shallow reverie in which he had sat. His face betrayed a small frown as he sat up, then slowly rose from his comfortable chair and moved towards the large staircase at the rear of the room. Why always in the middle of my best meditation? he thought irritably. But he did not hesitate, of course, for the one who called was not one whom any sane individual would keep waiting.

Nevertheless, the conceited teen did pause to look at his reflection in the hallway mirror. He knew that vanity and attention to self were vices of which his master approved greatly, and early in their working relationship he had learned to appreciate them as well. Sloppiness and an unsightly appearance were never tolerated within the walls of that house.

The young man was exceedingly well dressed. His master's rather… unique… abilities provided the two of them with capital enough to purchase anything and everything that either of them might ever want or need. The clothes he was in now, though just something that he wore around the large house, had cost enough to feed a poorer family for a month.

His hair was cropped moderately short. He had always worn it that way, and had kept the long sideburns intact as well. But unlike before he had joined with his new partner his hair was now a stark white in color; bleached free of its darkness by the hell he'd been put through at freeing this creature from its prison. But the coloring itself was not unpleasant and was indeed rather unique, and it provided him with an air of mysteriousness that women who might have otherwise have rejected his romantic advances seemed to find appealing. Which was fortunate, because somehow he knew that the event which had caused it to become colorless would keep it that way until the day of his death.

The bleaching, however, had not affected the rest of his features. His thick, dark eyebrows still allowed his eyes to stand out among his facial traits, and now he wore a short, black goatee as well. All told he had to consider himself, and apparently many young women agreed, irresistibly handsome.

Again the diminutive gong was rung, managing somehow, though the sound had not changed, to give the impression of irritation. The young man gave himself one last glance in the mirror, flicked a nonexistent mote of dirt from his collar, and slowly mounted the stairs.

The door to his master's study creaked loudly as he pushed it opened, as had the stairs that he'd just climbed. The teen wondered, with all the wealth that his master had access to, that the less desirable traits of their home had yet to be repaired.

It was dark in his master's room. The curtains, of course, were drawn shut, his master preferring controlled, artificial light to that of the sun. A single candle sitting on the desk behind which his master sat provided the only illumination for the entire, immense room, and the darkly handsome teen had to wait for a moment to allow his eyes to adjust as the door eased shut behind him.

"Sit," the dark figure behind the table ordered.

The other did as he was told, sinking into an oversized, plush chair. "Your promptness leaves much to be desired," the master said with a scowl.

The teen frowned a question in response. His master was never, ever rushed. Everything that the creature had ever said or done in his presence was always deliberate, calculated, as if time itself would be subject to alteration to meet his agenda. The young man watched in silence as the pair of evil, golden eyes opposite him drifted to the strategic map on which the dark creature had been working as of late. The one on which figurines of the two of them sat on one side, and on the other sat a large and rapidly increasing number of other figures. Just to the side of the board were six more of the intricate figures, as of yet unaligned to either of the sides.

The adolescent opened his mouth to reply, but was silenced by a look from his master. "Spare me the excuse. I know what you were doing."

The creature's breathing was labored, his words coming in gasps. He had, his adolescent partner knew, been involved with several projects which were rapidly depleting his considerable strength. "What do you want of me?" the boy queried.

The other paused, shifting his cowl to cover more of his pale, paper-thin flesh. "In the months that we have known each other, I have provided you with much, correct?"

The teen's eyes narrowed. The answer to the question was obvious. Were in not for this creature he would almost certainly be dead now. Yet here he was, living in the lap of luxury like none but the wealthiest in the world would ever know. More, perhaps, as he had occasional access to his master's supernatural powers. The best food, the finest clothes… a nightly parade of beautiful women to his bed, nothing less than total bliss.

"And in all that time, I have asked little from you. Simply to be ready for the time when I needed you, yes?"

The other nodded a response.

"That time has now come."

The teen caught his breath. As much as he enjoyed the life of luxury which he now enjoyed, his soul was one that was born for action. And he relished that challenge that had been set for him, as well as looked forward to settling an old score. "I had thought that it was to be several more months before we did anything definitive."

"Our plans have changed," the other said, the raspy words dribbling from his lips. "That fool who fancies himself 'Kaiser' of my homeworld," he waived a clawed hand at the larger group of figures on the map," is moving much faster than I had anticipated. If we do not act now… it may be too late."

"Very well, then. What is it that you want done?"

"I want you to begin gathering the six. One at a time," and here he paused, glancing up at the other. "One at a time," he repeated, "starting with the weakest." The creature removed one of the figures from off the map and set it in front of the boy, at the same time burning that individual's image into his partner's brain with a thought.

"Gathering? Why not just kill them and be done with it?" The young man asked casually, his soul still ablaze with hatred at those in this group.

"Idiot!" snarled the creature, slamming a fist to the table. Many of the figurines, which he had to have spent hours arraigning, toppled to the floor. "If I wanted them dead I would have done it myself. I want them defeated, not dead. Angry, but not hateful. Shaken--"

"Not stirred?" the other quipped.

The golden eyes again caught the teen and held him. The creature's body may have been ravaged by two of those in the group, but those eyes still exuded power and authority. "The humor of your race continues to escape me. Just get the girl. Use whatever methods you must, and whatever powers I have given you. But remember! They must all come willingly to this place, else my power is restrained. And no more than one at a time! My task will be hard enough as it is."

The boy stood, then paused. "Are there not supposed to be eight?"

His master looked, for a moment, disturbed... perhaps even fearful. "Do nothing with the youngest. Avoid the two of them if you can. Remember, while the powers of the others are dormant, those two still wield theirs, if clumsily. Any power that you can wield on my behalf will not prevail against them."

The other nodded as he turned and moved back to the door through which he had entered. As the boy left, he heard his master muttering to himself… "As Hope and Light beget Faith, so too from Knowledge and Purity springs Wisdom…"

*****

One week later…

"Mimi!" Kari smiled as she opened the door for the last of the original eight to arrive. The older girl was, of course, dressed predominantly in pink, from her lip-gloss to her shoes.

"Hi Kari," returned the other, embracing the younger girl tightly. "Sorry it took me so long to get here. I… I'm running a little behind today."

"That's okay," Kari responded brightly. "Come on into the living room. We didn't want to start eating without you."

Mimi nodded and followed her to the room, where the other six were already seated around the table. Tai and Sora sat at the head, whispering quietly in one another's ear. Kari joined T.K., who was staring hungrily at the food, on their right. On the left, Matt and Joe, engaged in some sort of discussion which seemed to be centered around Joe's refusal to eat seafood. And sitting right in front of her, next to an empty seat, Izzy. The red-haired boy graciously moved away from the table and held the chair out for her. "Thank you," Mimi whispered, her voice subdued.

When the girl finally sat, the eyes of Tai, Matt and T.K. all met in the center of the table, and as one they all moved quickly for the food. Sora and Kari gave a quiet groan and buried their eyes in their hands as their respective boyfriends stabbed the same piece of meatloaf with their forks and tore it apart while trying to get it on to their plates.

Izzy, on the other hand, was the soul of courtesy. He removed a platter of steaming vegetables from in front of his plate and offered it to Mimi. "No, thank you Izzy," the girl murmured quietly again, lowering her eyes away from those of the red-haired boy's.

Izzy looked confused, then spooned himself a small portion and passed the dish to Joe, who was busy trying to maintain order as the three other boys engaged in a minor war over who would have access to the best dishes first. The oldest of them all gave a disparaging look at the trio. Knowing how the three were, he expected that the girl would have arranged this better.

Throughout the dinner, Izzy continuously tried to offer various dishes to Mimi, all of which the girl refused with the same, disheartened tone. The boy stared at her, somewhat confused. This wasn't the Mimi that he had known all these years, always so bright and energetic… even when bright and energetic weren't quite appropriate. It wasn't even the same Mimi that he had been out on a date with the week before. As always, both of them knew that she was scheduled to leave town at the end of the month, so they had both agreed to keep their potential relationship confined to a specific point.

Halfway through the meal, Sora too finally noticed that Mimi's plate remained clean. "Mimi? Is something wrong?" the older girl asked, always the surrogate mother to the group.

"I'm… just not very hungry," the other responded hesitantly, pushing back from the table. Now T.K. took notice of the girl's uncharacteristic reticence as well and turned, leaving only Tai and Matt to fight over the food while Joe tried to keep the peace.

Sora glanced once at Kari, who returned a nod, and together the two of them left their seats and went to Mimi's side, each of them taking an arm and leading the girl towards Kari's bedroom. T.K. blinked and then scrambled to follow them inside, shutting the door behind him. The four boys at the table watched as their youngest trailed the girls into that feminine sanctuary, then tried (and failed) to suppress their laughter as Kari firmly led him out by the shoulders. "Uh-uh, buster," she smiled, kissing him once then returning through the door.

Now that the three girls were alone, Sora sat Mimi down on Kari's bed and the two stood over her. "Okay, Mimi," Sora started. "What's going on?"

Mimi looked down, a pink flush that matched her clothes appearing on her cheeks as she studied her folded hands. "I… I can't tell you."

"Why not?" asked Kari, puzzled. "I thought we could always talk about anything together. If something's wrong--"

"You'll think it's… it's too… silly."

"Mimi! We will not!" protested Kari.

Mimi sniffled once, glancing up at Sora. "I did… when it was you…" she said.

"Oh," the older girl responded briefly. Then, as she started to understand the context, "Oh! I see!" Because several weeks ago, when Sora had been trying to resolve her romantic triangle with Tai and Matt, Mimi had been distinctly unhelpful by rushing the other girl to make up her mind. But the girl had, in the end and if unintentionally, given Sora the notion that had ultimately solved her romantic dilemma.

Kari glowed with a playful grin, picking up on the subject as well. "Ooh, is it anybody we know?"

Mimi had been hoping to avoid that question. The pink flush on her cheeks was now turning red and spreading to her ears. "Well... yes. At least, one of them is…"

Izzy really hadn't intended to hear. He was not-- definitely was not-- an eavesdropper. But on his way to check on Mimi he had happened to pause outside the door, just long enough to catch a snippet of the conversation. Apparently Kari had pressured the girl into speaking his name. And though the initial pause had been innocent enough...

The boy didn't honestly know how to feel. Mimi liked him… like that? And who was this other, unnamed rival that he had for the girl's affections? Did he even want the girl's affections?

Quietly he moved away from the door, back to where the others were sitting. Matt and Tai were still being quite unruly, and the noise was grating on Izzy's ears. He needed some time, some quiet time alone to think. "Tai," the younger boy said, standing. "I've got to go… somewhere. Tell the others I'm sorry I left without saying 'bye."

"Uh, well sure, Izzy," Tai answered, staring after the other with a confused look in his eyes. He remained that way until the red-haired boy closed the door behind him, then turned to resume his argument with Matt.

*****

'Somewhere' ended up being the library just down the street from Tai and Kari's apartment. I am not jealous! his conscious thoughts insisted fervently. Jealousy was an emotion for those in love, and Izzy was quite certain that he was not in love with Mimi. Certainly he felt a deep friendship with the girl, but it was the exact same friendship that he had for Tai or Sora or any of the others. Anything more, at this point in time, would have been simply irrational.

The boy looked up from the computer screen at which he sat, his brow furrowed. In love or not, he simply could not concentrate on what he was doing for thinking of the flighty little girl. With a deep, forlorn sigh (one which would instantly have told Kari or Sora that he most certainly was in love) he shut down the screen and left the building, first checking out with the librarian on duty.

The chill of night had descended to the air while he had been in the building, and the boy tried to slip deeper into his sweater. Almost unconsciously he gave a quick glance back towards Tai's apartment, wondering if the reunion had ended yet. And then, at that very moment and as if fate itself had decided that he was not to be allowed to banish the brown-haired girl from his thoughts, Mimi stepped from the front door and walked quietly down the street in the opposite direction.

Izzy exhaled deeply, his warm breath visible against the chill of the night air. And suddenly he was torn between what his substantial intellect was telling him that he should do and what his oft-underestimated heart commanded him to. Of course, the purely logical decision was to simply go home and to sleep on it, but at that moment, the boy surrendered to the fact that this was a time when logic would have to wait. With an almost weary look in his eyes he crossed the street and followed after the girl.

What do I say to her? the boy thought as he moved down the sidewalk. Mimi, stop! I think I'm in love with you? Ugh, no. He almost wanted to bite his tongue for thinking it. That was something more suited to Tai.

The boy had narrowed the gap between the two to about fifty feet when he suddenly stopped and ducked behind a nearby tree. Mimi had interrupted her walk, and was talking with someone on the dimly illuminated sidewalk just ahead. A very large someone, from what Izzy could see. Who…?

Izzy, still keeping in the shadows, moved a few steps closer to the pair. I am not a stalker! he thought with indignity. Just… concerned… about a friend.

As he crept closer, Izzy started to feel foolish. The person with whom Mimi was speaking simply could not be his rival for her affection. The larger figure was fully-grown, and had to have at least four or five years on the girl. Must be a family friend or something…

Then, to his shock and dismay, the older teen leaned over Mimi and embraced her tightly, covering her mouth with his own and sliding a hand down the small of her back! Izzy's brow furrowed in bewilderment. He had caught a glimpse of the other's face during the time. A beard? How old is this guy?

"Izzy?" a familiar voice from behind him queried. The brown-haired boy quickly nipped out from his hiding spot, but only long enough to cover T.K.'s mouth with his gloved hand and to pull the younger boy down beside him.

"Shh!" the older boy ordered, both alarmed that they might be heard and embarrassed at having been caught spying.

"Mmph!" was the muffled response.

Izzy silenced T.K. with a glare, then went back to his surveillance. When he finally released his grip on T.K.'s mouth, the blond boy sat up and glanced curiously at his friend. Izzy said nothing, only indicated the scene before the two of them with a nod of his head.

T.K. still looked confused, but then deferred to the older boy's judgment as he took in the scene as well. His ears flushed a deep red as again the stranger bent Mimi over for a passionate kiss, then pulled her up and moved to open the door of a nearby car for the girl. As he allowed the girl in, T.K. finally caught a glimpse of the older boy's face.

The youngest of the boy felt his eyes pop open, the moisture leave his mouth. The beard was new, the hair now white, but there was no mistaking those vindictive eyes or the arrogant stance. "No!" he shouted madly, his voice coarse as he jumped out from Izzy's hiding place and rushed at the elegant car while literally dragging the brown-haired boy behind him. "No, Mimi!"

The dark teen stopped on his way to the driver's side door and gave the pair rushing towards him a smirking look that could best be described as amused…