Chapter Three

Izzy crept quietly up to the double doors of the enormous, dark manor house on the hill. The evidence that he had garnered from his on-line search at Tai's apartment was not exactly what he'd call a sure thing, but there had been enough in the listing to make him suspect that this was the house where Roan Kuroda had fled to. And where he had taken Mimi.

The place even looked hateful. Clearly it had once been an elegant house, and perhaps it still appeared so in the daylight hours, but to Izzy's eyes at an hour fast approaching midnight it was simply horrific. Menacing, in an Alfred Hitchcock meets Dracula sort of way.

Then… confirmation? A small, pink hair ribbon lay just to the side of the walkway leading up to the front door. The boy picked it up to prevent it from being blown away by the wind, then examined it closely. Yes, this was certainly one of Mimi's. He could still envision the girl as she had sat next to him at the dinner, and could still hear her voice echoing in his head and smell her fragrant perfume. Even the memory brought a rush of heat to his face...

What is wrong with me? the boy demanded of himself. It's not like I'm Tai, drooling like an idiot over Sora, or T.K., getting flustered and embarrassed whenever Kari plays with him around the rest of us. This is Mimi we're talking about. We've got absolutely nothing in common!

Then the boy brought the notion up short. He was coming dangerously close to sounding as if he were trying to convince himself, and didn't have the time right now to come up with any other plausible explanation as to why he was there on his own. He could sweep questions of that nature to the back of his mind until later, but for now he had to determine how to proceed. He couldn't simply walk up to the front door and knock, then ask the dark teen to return Mimi to him. Plus there was the fact that, just before they went off together, getting away from Roan had seemed to be the last thing on the girl's mind.

With a derisive snort Izzy finally gave up and ordered his brain to stop thinking and to just act. That had always been hard for him, or so his friends said. Firmly setting his back he walked up to the front door, gave the knob a twist and pushed.

To the boy's utter amazement, the door eased open at his touch. Izzy peered into the narrow aperture between the doors, then cautiously stole inside when he was certain that no one was waiting for him just on the other side. To his surprise the interior of the house was a bright, immaculately furnished vision of luxury. His keen mind at once allowed him to assess the value of several of the pieces of artwork scattered about the room as very nearly priceless. How had Roan gone from the leader of a small band of misfits, living in a cave, to possessing wealth of this nature in those few short months that had passed?

The clever boy quickly reflected upon the size of the manor as he had seen it from the outside. It would take him hours to search the entire place room by room, and if he decided to take such a risk he was much more likely to run across Roan or someone else before he was Mimi. He didn't really even have a guess as to where to begin looking for the girl.

Scattered thoughts started flitting through his brain as he turned the matter over in his head once again. Just what did he plan on doing when he did find Mimi, or Roan, or worse yet, both of them? Was he being brave? Or just foolish? There had really been no reason to go without the others… but for some reason he wanted to be the one to rescue Mimi from whatever it was that Roan had planned for her. And he wanted to do it alone.

Two pairs of eyes were watching the boy from a concealed doorway just down the hall from where he waited, considering his choices. "I told you one at a time!" a voice whispered, sounding at once both supremely powerful and completely exhausted in the same breath.

"So? We're done with the girl and he was the second one that you wanted. Why not just take him now and do him next?"

"Fool! It was only sheer, idiotic luck that it was he that came. And I need a considerable amount of rest before I can even think about drawing the human soul from his body to place it with the girl's. You can't have any idea how much effort that takes."

Roan's eyes briefly went from the boy to the dark angel and back again. He was well content to be merely the muscle in this venture and to allow the other to do most of the scheming. A sinister smirk appeared on his lips he cracked his knuckles and stepped out from his hiding place. "But he did come here on his own. So I can be as rough with him as I want, right?"

The eyes of the angel narrowed on the boy. He knew well of the human's affection for causing pain among others of his race, and had seen it practiced on occasions that could not be easily counted. "Do not kill him, Roan. If you do I shall be quite... upset."

*****

Matt looked up, startled, as a quiet voice from the lips of another tickled his ear. He had fallen asleep on Tai's couch well after midnight, even after promising himself that he would wait for the resolution of the talk that his girlfriend was having with his little brother. "Shh," Rio whispered, pressing a calming finger to his lips. Matt gave the digit a kiss as he looked up at the girl. "Well?" he asked nervously.

The girl gave a brief, sad smile. That expression of hers always stopped just at the edge of breaking Matt's heart. It was as if though she could be somewhat happy for short periods of time, the ever-present sadness would always be there beneath it. "You were right, of course. That is a remarkable pair of children there, Matt. Not once did either of them hold against me anything that I had done. Even after what I had tried to do to T.K.--"

Matt interrupted her with a frown. He had forgiven the girl her attempt on his brother's life (after her tearful explanation he could hardly have done less) but he still implored her not to speak of it again. Rio nodded, knowing the reason. She paused for a moment, also looking grim. "I should go. Your friend's parents do not know me. I shouldn't stay here tonight."

Matt grabbed the girl and pulled her down until she was lying on the couch beside him. "Tai's parents called. They're staying at a hotel downtown tonight… some convention or other. And Tai said that if T.K. and Kari trusted you, he couldn't do any less. Please… stay." The words were soft, and like another balm to her tortured soul.

Rio nodded and sighed as she leaned her head against Matt's slender frame. She could feel his heart beating against the inside of his chest. Finally she had found love; a clean, true love, with someone that she inherently knew would never hurt her. The tenderness with which he treated her was like that which she had seen him only display around his brother before. So careful, so loving…

Matt's eyes blinked open from the momentary bliss that he had been dwelling in. "Wait a minute. If you guys are done talking, why aren't they out here yet?"

"I think that they were tired. They said they were going to sleep."

"Oh," Matt nodded, yawning. "That sounds like a very good… WHAT?"

"Sit down," Rio ordered, grabbing his arm and pulling him back to the couch. "Your brother said to give you a message. He said not to worry, that he has every intention of keeping his promise to you. And something else…"

"What?" Matt replied nervously.

"Oh yes. He said that, this time, he promised to keep his shirt on."

Matt's face broke into a grin, understanding the reference where no one else but Kari or T.K. would. Of course he trusted his little brother. The love that the two youngest shared was the most pure that he had ever seen, almost transcending the need for physical expressions of it. Almost.

Rio looked into the boy's eyes. She also had seen that between the younger children, but couldn't help taking advantage of Matt's evident unease about them. She forced a small frown as she stared into his eyes. "Of course, he made no promise about her shirt…"

The girl was forced to latch onto the boy's frame tightly to prevent him from bolting to the children's room.

*****

Sora awoke, bleary eyed and cranky early the next morning. The night had not been a good one, and her fitful sleep had been interrupted several times by horrific nightmares. Just after arriving home she had received a frantic phone call from Tai, telling her that Mimi's mystery lover was, of all people, Roan Kuroda. The same Roan that had tried to kill the five of them some months ago. And though Izzy and T.K. had tried to prevent the girl from going with the older boy, she had evidently made it quite clear that she wanted to be with him. And in a remarkable (and quite upsetting) coincidence, the others had also met Matt's new girlfriend… Roan's sister Rio.

And now someone was incessantly pressing the buzzer on the door to her apartment, and her mother, already having left for work, was not there to answer it. "All right, all right," she muttered, dragging herself out of bed and towards the front door. When she finally reached it she fumbled once with the knob and flung it open. "What?" she snapped with a aggravated glare.

"Ah!" a startled and pale young man shouted in response. With a trembling hand he held out a small slip of paper to her. "S…sign here, p…please."

She did so with annoyance, then snatched away the envelope that the other offered her. Quickly she tore it open and scanned the note inside as the frightened courier dashed off in the opposite direction.

Sora's mouth dropped open, horrified at what the letter said. A second time she read the short note, taking it slowly to make certain that she had not misunderstood what was written there. "No… Izzy," she whispered fearfully, then rushed inside to call Tai.

Sora,

As you must know by now, Mimi has been taken by Roan. If you're reading this and I have not called you to tell you to ignore it, it means that I have, too. Please tell the others how sorry I am for having tried to do this without all the rest you. You know the reason.

Izzy

*****

Izzy slowly returned to consciousness some time later, and the boy raised his head from his chest to relieve some of the pressure that had been building in his neck from having been bound in the same position for some hours. His left eye was swollen shut, but he was able to scan the room that he was in with just the right.

"You stupid, stupid child!" Roan shouted as he repeatedly smashed his fist into Izzy's face. "You think you love her? By the time I'm done with you, I promise, you'll be ready to rip her heart out!"

It had been just after that dire threat that Izzy had thankfully lost consciousness. Even now he could feel the blood crusted on his chin, blood that had poured freely from his nose and lip after the vicious beating that Roan had meted out upon his body. He had fought bravely, even beyond what he had thought were his normal abilities, but he was simply no match for the much older and considerably stronger teen.

Izzy struggled against the wires that bound him against an uncomfortable wooden chair, then stopped as the wiggling only made the wires cut deeper into his flesh and cause him more pain. The room was extremely dark, with only a dim, very faint light in the center of the room to illuminate it. He had no idea even if it were daytime or night. Then, as his eyes adjusted, he caught a very brief glance of another figure, bound as he was, in a chair opposite his.

Mimi? he thought as he peered at the figure. Yes, it was her. He could tell for certain because for some reason the light coming from the table in the room continued to grow as he stared. "Mimi!" he whispered urgently.

The girl gave no response.

"Mimi!" Izzy peered at her, concerned. The girl's chin was resting on her chest, making the boy certain the she was either asleep or unconscious. A rag was stuffed in her mouth, apparently to stifle any screams that the girl might have made. "Mimi!"

"Ah, so you did finally decide to wake up!" Roan circled around to the front of Izzy and stood there, glaring at him arrogantly. With a sneer he leaned over and peered closely at the boy. "A face not even a mother could love. Or recognize at this point." The dark teen's hand snapped forward and clasped Izzy's jaw in a vice-like grip, turning it from side to side.

Izzy struggled to resist, but Roan's strength was far superior to his own. The teen peered at the door through which he had just entered, as if waiting for someone. Then he leaned over and whispered in the boy's ear. "You know, love doesn't really exist. All that truly exists is lust. Sweet, exotic lust. Love, the kind that they tell you about in stories when you're a child, is a lie. Hatred sweeps it away with ease. Watch, and I'll prove it to you. Look at her!"

Roan's powerful hand forced Izzy's face towards Mimi's still figure, and with his other hand he withdrew the crest of Hatred from his breast pocket. "You think you love her? I'd bet all the wealth I have that in ten seconds, if I freed you, you'd go over there and kill her with your bare hands!"

With that pronouncement Roan's crest started to shimmer, and the strange aura engulfed Izzy's face and echoed in his eyes as the teen held the item in front of him. The young boy felt a rage growing inside of him, and desperately closed his one good eye against the crimson glare of the crest. But trying to shut out the feeling didn't help, and in seconds he was seething against his bonds, his bound hands tightening into claws…

"What are you doing?"

Roan snatched the crest away and released Izzy's jaw, allowing the boy's head to sag to his chest. "Stop it!" the mysterious voice commanded. "I don't want him to hate her! They must join together in order to give me what I want."

Roan glared furiously at the figure behind Izzy, then reluctantly obeyed the order and moved away from the boy. Within seconds a cloaked figure took Roan's place in front of him. All that Izzy could discern of his features were a pair of yellow, glowing eyes deep within the folds of a black hood. These eyes studied him for a moment, and then the figure spoke with a rasping voice. "Well, child… It appears that I have been misinformed about you. It had been my understanding that you were the coward, the apathetic one in the group. Yet now I smell the taint of courage, of love on you. How… fascinating."

Izzy stared at the creature. His head ached and his throat burned with thirst, but the glare was nonetheless defiant. "I know what you are," he challenged.

The other managed to sound surprised, chuckling his response. "Really? And what am I?"

The auburn-haired boy tried to shrug off the lethargic feeling that he knew was artificial, but still it seeped into his body from the creature's presence. "You are Despair." The boy forced a taunting smile. "You know that you can't win, can't beat all of us. Sooner or later you'll have to face Kari and T.K., and they'll do to you exactly what they did to Darkness."

The creature's eyes widened and his lips twitched once before breaking into a feral grimace. Then the angel reared his head back and sounded a maniacal scream, tearing his cloak from his body and standing before Izzy in all his horrid nakedness. The boy was appalled at the sight, but had sufficiently disciplined his mind to maintain a neutral expression. This only appeared to infuriate the angel further, as was Izzy's intent.

Then the scream ended, and Despair looked down at the child before him. "You came to save her?" it hissed angrily. Without awaiting an answer it continued, "Then I shall send you to where she is!"

Izzy closed his eyes and bowed his head, waiting for the blow that would end his life and send him to Mimi's side. Maybe then I'll be able to make sense of all this. Maybe then I'll be able to tell her how I really feel...

Again the creature's roaring filled his ears, and he felt a pain unlike any that he had ever known before. But it was not the pain of a physical blow, and instead felt as if a giant needle had punctured his brain and was slowly draining the life from his body. He heard Roan give an evil cackle, then everything went dark for the hero of knowledge. The boy never even felt his chin hit his chest.

*****

Izzy? … … Izzy?

Mimi? Is that you?

Izzy… please. I'm so cold.

The boy gladly allowed the spark of life that was his soul to intertwine with the girl's, bringing warmth and happiness to each of them. Finally free from pain, from worries and expectations and away from the eyes of his friends, he was to be allowed to let his soul express what needed to be said. "Mimi? I've wanted to tell you so much…"

"You don't have to. I know." The girl sounded so tired, so fearful.

"I do have to." It was so easy here. "Mimi? I love you."

*****

"What does he mean, 'You know why.'?" Tai snapped irritably to the girl sitting in his lap in the back seat of an extremely crowded taxi.

Sora didn't answer, only looked across past Rio to Kari, who shrugged a response. Boys were so stupid sometimes.

Rio looked back at Matt. "You know, for the situation that your friends are in you all seem remarkably calm." She glanced at Tai, who was still seething as he angrily reread the short note that Izzy had sent, a note which ended in a listing of the address where the boy had gone. "Well, most of you seem pretty calm, anyway," she amended.

"Don't worry about Tai," replied Matt, smirking at his friend. "He's sort of the one that we've all designated to throw a fit when we get bad news."

"But the rest of you…?"

Kari glanced at the girl. "It may sound silly, but we've all been through this before so many times it almost feels like we're becoming used to it.

T.K. gave his beloved a smile. "Yeah. It always seems like every time that we all get together that somebody is in desperate need of help, and we're always the ones that end up saving the day."

"Can't you be serious?" Kari asked him.

The young boy grinned. "I am being serious."

Kari tried to frown, but the look wouldn't stay on her face. Instead she leaned back and kissed the boy on the tip of the nose. "Oh, come on you two!" Tai grumbled, crumpling up Izzy's note into a ball and tossing it in their direction. T.K. blushed.

"All right, kids, this is it," the burly man at the wheel of the cab announced. At once six pairs of eyes looked out the window.

"Figures," Matt murmured.

"Roan never did anything small," Rio replied.

"Or tastefully," finished Sora, her voice daunted.

*****

Roan stared out the window, and counted the figures stepping out of the cab. Six. Wonderful. All of the rest of them followed him here.

He stepped back and closed the curtain, then walked slowly back to the room where the two captives were being held. His master had just completed the transference of the boy Izzy's soul to the crystal, and was now feverishly trying to control the power that he had harvested from the two. This was certain to upset the plans of the fallen angel.

"Master?" he whispered upon entering the room.

The creature gasped with fatigue. "What?"

"The others are here."

Despair's thin brows furrowed. "All of them?"

Roan nodded. "A car has just dropped the six of them off out front."

"The youngest two as well?"

"It was hard to discern individuals from this distance, but the boy at least was there. It's almost impossible to miss that hat. I can only assume the one holding his hand was the girl."

The angel swallowed, and stooped to pick up his cloak. He looked at the shimmering pendant clasped in his hand, a pendant which echoed the light from the crystal in the center of the room. "We're leaving. Meet me in my study."

Roan was aghast. "No! You said that you wanted two of those before we left,' he shouted, pointing to the pendant.

The angel grimaced. "Ideally, yes. But I, for one, am not so foolish as to try to go against all six of them together. The babes already have awakened their power, rendering both yours and mine useless against them. Will you wait here to find out if their leader and his bitch can rouse theirs as well? I certainly will not."

"But my revenge! You promised me revenge!"

The angel stopped his march from the room, his back still to the other. "If you wish to stay and fight them, by all means do so. I now control the power of the unity of wisdom, and so should be able to establish my rule over my homeland, so I am leaving. With nothing to sustain their bodies, those two that I have trapped will eventually die and the unity will cease to exist. I must be in control by the time that happens. You are welcome to join me, but if not, then I will bid you farewell." And without awaiting a response the angel left the room on the way to his study where the gate that he had constructed awaited him.

Roan was seething. His cared not one bit for the plans of the angel. It mattered little to him which dark faction controlled the digital realm. But he had to have his revenge. Against their leader Tai if none of the others. That child had almost single-handedly destroyed his plans for a conquest of his own, and now was forcing him to leave a life in the lap of luxury for one in a strange land where humans were far in the minority.

Roan sneered, running a hand through his fear-bleached hair. With a calculated nod he again cracked his knuckles and sat down on a chair with his captives, pulling a long knife from under his coat. He would have his revenge…