Author's Note: This is my evil chapter!!!! =P…hehe…as promised…a little chapter on only Takai and his past…it's kind of confusing…there's a lot of 'changing mind' with Takai and I didn't describe them properly…I can't exactly describe them good…so please bear with me…I hope future chapters would make up for this little chapter…R+R!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT: Extended version of Chapter 3!!!! Actually, this would throw off my whole plot by a bit. But, I prefer this way better…I was running out of idea to write the next chapter. At least now, I got something way better on my hand. Weird…this still isn't going to change my already planned ending.

Creeping Danger

By Sakura Kinomoto

Chapter 3         Evil Arise

            The dark shadow snickered as he watched Sakura destroying the snowstorm and the Chinese kid saving her through his magic circle. "If she didn't pass this simple test, then she won't be a worthy opponent and dead by now," laughed the evilness. "I'll need to think of more tests to see if this Card Mistress is worthy enough to be my adversary." The he frowned. "That Chinese kid is going to ruin things for me. I'll have to get rid of him. No one will ruin the evil Takai's plan!" The evil laugh echoed throughout the space around him.

~~**~~**50 Years Ago**~~**~~

            "Arnold, come over here to meet your cousin, Clow Reed." The little boy scowled. He had never liked his distant cousin even though he has never met him. He has already heard too much of him. Whenever he was naughty, his mother would say, "Why do you have to do this, Arnold? Can't you be just like your cousin, Clow? He is the most polite child I never knew." When he tried learning magic but failed, his mother said, "How come you don't have magic in you? Look at your cousin, Clow. He has such talent!" Every day was Clow this, Clow that. When his mother heard his cousin was coming to visit, she got so excited. It was like Clow Reed was her son and not him, Arnold Stevens. Arnold buried his head into his knees. Staying in his room was way better than meeting his awful cousin.

            Suddenly, his bedroom door slammed open. His mother stepped in and declared, "Arnold, get off that bed and come out!" The little boy shook his head. His mother sighed in frustration. She went over and pulled Arnold off the bed. As she dragged him down the stairs, she scowled, "Why do you have to be so selfish, Arnold? Thank goodness Clow is so patient. Otherwise, you'll get him mad. "Arnold frowned. Like he care. When he entered the living room, he saw a boy his age wearing a midnight-blue robe standing there. "Come and say hello to Clow."

            Clow smiled at Arnold, "Hello, Arnold. I'm Clow Reed. Nice to meet you." Arnold scowled. "Not nice to meet you," he replied.

            The matured boy ignored his comment. "I'm sure we'll become great friends." Arnold scowled yet again. Be friends? He'll never make friends with the one who ruined his life.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

            Arnold kicked a stone away in anger. Ever since Clow Reed came to visit, his life went from terrible to hell. Every day, the first thing was a lecture. Not any lecture, but a lecture about Clow Reed. You should have been nicer to Clow. Why didn't you guys become good friends? Couldn't you learn something from him? This morning was the worst. His mother just had to say this. "Why couldn't Clow be our son?" He became angry and jealous just thinking about it. Why? Why? Why?

            "When you are jealous of someone's ability, you're supposed to work harder to surpass them." Arnold looked around. Who said that? He then noticed a shadow by a tree. The boy squinted with caution, then moved slowly towards the shadow. "When you are jealous, it doesn't help you," the shadow said again.

            The boy finally got close enough to see the shadow's appearance. The shadow was a young man. He was no common young man though. He looked…dark and mysterious though his eyes showed something Arnold didn't understand. The man's clothing was different as well. It was two pieces of clothing, a short cape over a long robe. The patterns on the clothing were beautifully dark and not of this world. It looks like the patterns actually move with the light. His hair was a little wild to match his dark appearance. "Who are you?" asked Arnold timidly. He had never seen anything so mysterious and stunning at the same time.

            "You have much to learn, little Arnold," the man said. "Much, much more."

            The boy was shocked. "How did you know my name?" Arnold blinked. Wait, where was the man? He scanned the whole garden but he didn't see anyone. The mysterious man was gone.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

            A few times Arnold had seen the mysterious man, a few times he disappeared. Arnold knew he was no human being. He's someone or even something from another world and he wanted to meet the mystifying man. For some reason, he was convinced that this man would help him with his problems. It now became a habit to him to go to the garden every other day to try to meet the mysterious man. Today was no different. Arnold took a ball out with him. He threw it up and caught it as he scanned the garden. His gaze focused at one spot. Was that…yes, he was there!

            "Excuse me, mister but please stay!" called out Arnold. He had never been so polite in all his life but he wanted this person to listen to him. "You can help me, right? You'll help me get over this jealousy, right? Otherwise, you won't be here, watching me. Please!"

            The man stared at Arnold. For a while, it seemed like his mind wasn't there. Then he started to move towards the boy. "Did you know that everyone in this world have magic in them? It just depends when the power is released from them. Sometimes it could be right when they're born, during childhood, during puberty or adulthood, before or after death, or even never. That means you have magic in you as well. Everyone's magic is the same. There's no Light or Dark Magic. Light or Dark Magic depends on the person and how the person uses it. So tell me, little Arnold, what kind of magic do you want to learn?"

            For the whole time the mysterious man was talking, Arnold was mesmerized. He was telling him things he never knew before. Magic in him? Arnold was surprised and shocked. "I want to learn Light Magic!" said Arnold immediately. Really, he wanted to learn Dark Magic to oppose Clow Reed, but being a good boy might give him more advantage.

            "You are lying to me," smiled the man, "but I hope you will change. Are you willing to learn from me, little one?"

            Arnold nodded his head vigorously. "But please, Teacher, don't call me little for I am not little anymore!"

            Laughing the man patted the boy's head. "Alright, Arnold, you are not little, but are you ready to leave your family? You cannot be with your family when you study magic. Also, you must leave now."

            "I'm ready, Teacher, but may I know your name first?"

            "My name is Kusai."

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

            Once Kusai took Arnold away, he brought him into a world of darkness. It was more like a dark, empty space. The only reason why the few people there could see each other was because they become slightly luminous. Other than that, there's nothing else there.

            Every day, Arnold would practice magic spells. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Kusai said he had unlocked the little boy's power but he still has to learn how to control it. Every time it doesn't work, Arnold gets mad. Why wouldn't it work? He had tried so hard. Every time it works, he gets happy. His hopes of learning magic are getting higher. His hopes dropped down and raised again each day. The boy nearly wanted to give up but one thing kept him going. His hatred towards Clow Reed. Sure, he told his teacher he is sincere and wanted to learn Light Magic but he still wanted revenge. Each morning, Kusai would question him.

            "What magic do you want to learn, little one?"

            "Light Magic and I'm not little," Arnold would reply.

            "You're still lying," Kusai would reply.

            Arnold never figured out how Kusai knew he was lying. He was an expert at it. Maybe it was because of his eyes. They were showing something that Ksuai saw as lying. He'll need to perfect his skills. The boy knew that Light Magic and Dark Magic depended on the person so he decided to concentrate on plain magic first. He doesn't care about what Kusai would think.

            "Teacher, what place is this?" asked Arnold one day.

            "This is a place of unbalanced, a world of darkness that protects the balanced world," answered Kusai.

            The boy frowned. "What do you mean, Teacher? A place to protect the balanced world? You mean my world?"

            Kusai nodded. "There is also a world of light called the Crystals, which has the same function as the Shadows. I am the Guardian of the Shadows. The creatures you've seen here are messengers travelling through the three worlds."

            "How does this protection work?"

            "When the balance is off, we go and balance it. When there's too much dark, the Crystals give more light. When there's too much, the Shadows give more darkness. We're only allowed to add."

            Arnold suggested, "Why can't there be all darkness or all light? Wouldn't that be easier to manage?"

            The young-looking man shook his head. "That's not how the world's balance work, little Arnold. You'll soon understand."

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

            What seemed like years passed by and each day, Arnold's magic grew slowly and surely. Each morning, the question was asked. Each morning, a lie was used as the reply. Kusai was patient with the boy. He thought, "One day, he'll tell the truth."

            One day, Kusai told Arnold. "We'll have a fight, little Arnold. Let's see how good you have become."

            Arnold smiled to himself. Oh, how long he had waited for this chance. "Okay," he replied, sounding innocent. "What kind of fight?"

            "How about a mind one? You're pretty good at mind tricks, right? I've taught you how, right? Repeat the steps to me," ordered the man.

            The boy cleared his throat. "First, sit down so you won't fall afterwards from the force of your opponent. Clear your mind and let your opponent enter your mind. On each other's consent, start fighting using all mind tricks you know."

            Kusai smiled and nodded. "Let's start, okay?"

            The two sat down and began to clear their mind. The boy couldn't wait. He's so tired of Kusai. If he hurt shim, maybe he'll shut up and not bother him anymore. The quicker he could get out of the Shadows, the faster he could get his revenge. Soon, Arnold was engaged in an all-out war against Kusai and his own hatred.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

            Blood was coughed out of Kusai's mouth. Arnold has used all of his magic against him and he lost. There was something he didn't recognize in the magic. It was so powerful… It was expected though. He tried to change the results and the boy but now, it was up to her. He watched as the boy across from him slowly stood up. Arnold grinned at him. "You won," said Kusai, blood still dribbling down his chin. "You didn't use proper magic, though. I told you, you need to learn plain magic first, and then incorporate Dark or Light. You started off well but then you skipped that step. You learned Dark Magic, first thing." Kusai paused. "There's also one magic you didn't learn."

            Arnold's eyes widened. "What? What is that magic I didn't learn? I thought I learned everything!"

            "It's the magic of…" Kusai whispered the last word and took in his last breath. His eyes closed as light surrounded him. Then he was gone.

            Arnold laughed. He was gone! It does not matter now, whatever magic he didn't learn. He'll own the Shadows. He'll find the Crystals and take it over to. When he has control over the two, he'll be able to rule the balanced world! Before that though, he'll need to destroy Clow Reed. He will wait until a messenger to come and make it bring him to the balanced world. He'll succeed! He knew it. Arnold laughed, "Arnold Stevens is dead and Takai is born!"

~~**~~**Present**~~**~~

            Takai clenched his fists. He found a messenger all right but they only go to the balanced world and back to the Shadows. They interact with messengers from the Crystals. He never caught a messenger from the Crystals so he never conquered it. Right now, he'll concentrate on the girl. If he couldn't destroy Clow Reed, he'll destroy the one who own the Clow Cards. He laughed. "Be ready, little girl. Next time, no one will save you. You have to save yourself."

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

            "Maybe you should rethink your plan of destroying Sakura Kinomoto, or the new mistress of the Clow Cards."

            Takai whipped his head around. "Who is it? What do you want with me?"

            "Did I say anything about wanting something to do with you? I just said to rethink your plan."

            The man smirked. "Oh, my plan isn't good enough? Isn't magic good enough? I'm going to destroy that puny girl with everything I got and the plan won't backfire."

            "Ha! Won't backfire? You must be kidding. That plan has 100% that it'll backfire on you. You have no idea how easily that magic you didn't learn could destroy you."

            Frowning, he asked, " What do you know about me? How do you know I still got one magic I haven't learned?"

            "I know everything of this world. I was born the second the world was made and grew as the world ages. I have everyone as part of me and no one ever knew. I can easily control this world. I have their feelings and lives in my hands. Actually, I don't have hands but I could destroy anyone, any time I want."

            "Who are you then?"

            "Me?"  The voice snickered, "Even you're part of me. I am the world's greatest evil, the gathering place of hatred and pain. If you partner with me, I'll promise you the destruction of that girl and I'll be able to demolish my greatest enemy yet."

            Takai nodded his head in interest. "May I at least know your plan?"

            "We're going to hurt her with the most precious thing she holds dear to. The most precious thing in her life…or should I say the most precious person?"

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~