Chapter 11: Taking Action

Kaede paced back up the street with a hunched form, hands deep in her pockets, and wondering why the hell White Rock Avenue, that is the biggest pain in the ass to find on a map, is her job to go looking for. She had seen T.R as the controlling type that felt she couldn't do any thing on her own and needed to have her hand held all the way. Of course, he never really had held her hand before, but that was a figure of speech. No, she knew from the start something suspicious and that she wouldn't approve of was going down.

The only reason she didn't object more was due to the fact that a) T.R would have a fit b) she really needed to be alone for a while, she felt crowded with him behind her back all the time. And finally c) Javas Kaiba officially scared the living shit out of her.

Yes, he was a rich business man sort of person, but he was what Christa and Aunt Marie would call one of the most handsome men ever, and for a couple of seconds, she had ridiculous feeling he was hitting on her. Her! Of all people!

She shook her head. No, it was a trick of the mind, subconsciously you want him to like you, when in reality he just says those things to be polite. See? You're over reacting. It was easier to lie to herself than come to the truth that no, she didn't want him to like her that way, not even subconsciously, and not to be her sister in anyway at all. For her whole life, she had lived in the shadow of her sister's beauty, and it had shielded her from any sort of intimate emotions. Sometimes she hadn't enjoyed the comfort of not having important dates and just being a kid no one ever saw, someone that was never mentioned in gossip for any reason good or bad. She didn't exist. She had been a bit jealous as Christa had grown older and soaked up all the light, but as it went along it became normal, and most of the jealous feelings left.

Now all her jealous feelings were obliterated. Some sort of pressure was starting to fall over her head just from the fact that he was looking at her. She had seen a feeling up looking before, but god! This sort of look felt like she was being undressed publicly. It made her feel so dirty. How did Christa put up with such things?

T.R greeted her with a warm smile that said 'oh, your back!', making her slow down fast. Blinking a few times she looked at his smile bewildered and glanced at Javas to find him completely white and sweating, when it was about forty-five degrees out. She looked back to T.R, who eyes screamed at her 'Don't ask.' Well, maybe she didn't want to know what was going on anyway…

The time passed slowly, following after a kid many millennia older and wiser than any known person alive. To her at least. Kaede walked close behind him, looking at the miles of concrete stretching far into the sky, piercing it like a knife to a living all-seeing huge blue eye. It must have been around early afternoon, for the sun was a huge golden orb sitting like a king in the middle of that eye. Sitting like a god.

It was silly now that she suddenly realized her mind was bursting with questions, much like popping corn in the microwave, which of course as a strongly curious mind, it yearned for the answers. Especially now that a something of a walking time capsule was under her own command. She opened her mouth to begin her questions when T.R's voice broke in first.

"Power is never something to be miss-used, you know," he said carefully, not bothering to look back, "And most wise men boost about how power always corrupts in the weakest of souls…" He glanced back with a knowing glance, a certain flicker in his eyes that made her skin crawl.

"Don't take the first misstep on the long road…" He finished calmly, killing all desire to pry him open for information at the sudden feeling of guilt washing over her. So she contented herself with staring at the sidewalk and the back of his feet, ignoring Javas's bewildered look as he strolled next to her, knowing enough not to even ask. She silently thanked him for that, and noticed a slight pause in T.R's pace. For a few more blocks the same uncomfortable silence lulled between them, besides the mutter of passing strangers, the hum of passing and smoke producing vehicles, and of course the low drone of the trees speaking to themselves and shouting to each other. Kaede listened intently to the hum like an eavesdropper would, casually tilting an ear in their general direction and, as usual, not actually hearing human words, but getting the idea of what was being said. She smiled at the jolliness of the communication, something silly about entrapped cats the other day, and the wonderful story telling from the oak was greatly humorous, even to make her break out into a small pleasant grin. Of course, it was only there for a few seconds until she saw Javas staring at her. Then it shattered and was replaced by a mellow expression as the sky suddenly seemed very interesting.

Javas looked impatiently at his digital watch and back to T.R with a groan.

"We're wasting time!" He complained. He hadn't had a chance to change his record in the police's files yet. If he waited too long a dozen or so people would have glanced at it and soon it would take more than just to hack in and change some words. He couldn't afford anything like that.

"Can't we just take a taxi?" He watched T.R turn and give him an agitated look but was as silent as the grave. Javas glancing at his watch again increasingly fumingly and kept his growing anger in check. Kaede was present, after all.

She glanced at him nervously and held in a sigh.

"Can we get a taxi?" She asked in a tired voice. There was a brief silence.

"We could." He muttered. Javas raised both eyebrows. Kaede found that look as unnerving, like he was collecting data or something. Then again, everything about him was unnerving, why should that be different?

"What would you think about it, T.R?" she queried persistently. He jerked to a stop next to a shabby coffee shop, next to one of the many iron black painted tables, and turned to them with his brain working fiercely behind his calm eyes.

"Considering our problem, I think a taxi would be dangerous. I know him. He's not stupid, unfortunately. He'd probably get the cabin men under his control instantly if he figured out what taxi we were in and bang, we'd be in his grasp. Staying with a crowd would be best. That and I'm sure no one has any money to actually pay affair anyway."

"Um, excuse me, but who is he?" Kaede and T.R looked at each other.

"Umm…"

"No one that would concern you, that is if you play the game right." T.R retorted as he took a look around at the street signs. Kaede caught the flicker of unsettlement in Javas's icy cool stare and wondered again what had been said in her absence only three hours ago. They had something edgy between them; their personalities just didn't work well together. She also wondered what that was. Whatever it was, it had enough of an affect to get icy stares and spitting remarks. She continued to try to be patient with the two of them, but she wasn't sure how long she could hold her temper. And to think, it had only been a few hours!

The sound of slightly kicked up breathing shook her from her daze of thought into reality. She turned to the source of the noise, puzzled, and almost jumped at Javas's expression. He had turned an albino white, completely lacking any peachy pink it had held only moments before, his eyes were looking straight forward and wide with the look of a deer watching the approaching headlights on a pickup truck. Sweet lightly peppered his brow and his mouth was twisted as if he were in extreme shock. Instinctively, she turned to T.R and saw a completely different look embracing his face.

His eyes were sharp and filled to the brim with enormous rage and were in the same northward direction as Javas's. His face was as white as usual, and his hands were unfolded. His breathing was as a placid wave, and his mouth was curved into a devious grin. That smile was just plain disturbing.

"I was wondering when he'd call for his help…"he whispered in a cool tone, masking the rage behind a thick veil of bored ness. It didn't trick her for a moment.

She turned to the direction in which they were staring and saw only a large crowd standing in front of a book store past the intersection lights, sitting snuggly adjacent to an apartment building hogging the end corner of that block. If they were loud or not, one couldn't tell, the traffic noise was horrific at this time of day, it being rush hour, but they seemed to be happy, and you could see expressions because the coffee shop they were at was also hogging the end corner of their block, and it seemed like a sort of pleasant thing to look at. Being a booklover, she was bewildered by their expressions. What in the name of hell could have-?

She froze. In the middle of the crowd a familiar colors of purple, black, and blonde was looming about head height in giant spikes of hair a couple of inches taller than normal. She recognized Mr. Mutou in his blue office shirt and jeans and was relieved to find he had his back to them. But what if he had seen them before? He was a threat, he'd take her back home and those capped guys would have them where they'd want them. She'd rather let them get her than let anything that pointless happen. But something was amiss. How did T.R and Javas know Mr. Mutou in the first place?

She opened her mouth to ask that question when her father's friend turned and looked up at the traffic lights, turning his face into their direction and letting her see that a change had fallen over the kindly shopkeeper. It took the breath from her.

From the front, you could see now that he had a hand placed comfortably in his pocket and the other holding the Egyptian object around his neck. His face was younger; not forties but more on the lines of early thirties, his face a void of the usual casual comfort, but his eyes were the shocker. His eyes were still purple, but it held none of the cheerful carefree gaze. It was cold, darker look, one that matched T.R's. Those eyes reflected a merciless side. They spoke of a truly cunning and wise being behind his face. The situation just went from the 'be careful' stage on the meter to the 'run like hell stage'. Act with extreme caution.

Could this be a brother of his? Kaede shook her head silently, mouthing the words 'no' he didn't have any twins, Dad would have mentioned that, no, this was completely different. She blinked and glanced at T.R again, for a moment, and turned back with a short gasp.

Suddenly those shadowy purple orbs were on her, and were widening slowly. They had been spotted. Kaede felt her blood turn to ice under his heavy judging gaze and noted his foot rise and fall as he started to come closer, the puzzle on his neck swinging, a smirk spreading onto his face.

"Shit!" Javas breathed in a slight squeak. T.R responded much better. He grabbed her wrist and jerked her so fiercely she had to grab Javas's shoulder and awake him from his statue-like state to stay vertical as the ancient tomb robber used his god-like speed and took flight. Kaede had enough time to watch the smirk on the once been Mr. Mutou vanish and be replaced by an angry face before high speeding sidewalk and walls of people came into dizzying view.

"Run like you've never run before!" T.R yelled to them before he added a notch on his speed. Kaede dug her nails deeper into Javas's shirt and pulled roughly, as she was jerked forward by the grip on her arm. She would've thought they were flying instead of running if not for the horrible ache in her legs that had began at the end of the block, as they whipped around the corner and around a startled crowd of passer-bys. But she didn't dare slow. The blood pumping in her ears was deafening, but she still heard the steady footfalls behind them. The sudden deep shout to halt only made her legs pump faster. She could tell it was coming from the once been Mr. Mutou.

They ran like unspeakable horrors where after them. Kaede was sure of this in a befuddled why, from the dazed way her mind was working. She could clearly hear the loud chiming of the ring under her shirt sounding like a fire alarm, somehow louder than her gasps for breath and the frantic beating of her heart. Perhaps her running wasn't causing the ring to sound but the sure pounds from her heart, so strong they were, were actually vibrating through her chest? She let go of Javas to steady the ring on her chest and to feel her heart. Her chest burned like a thousand forest fires. She cursed herself for not trying harder in gym. The rhythmic beat of ring, heart, breath, and feet stomps were a tune she knew all too well. The classic minuet of the terrified rabbit sprinting for life it's self, as the deviously hungry fox chased after, nipping at its heels in such a mocking dominance. She hated it. She loathed it with such a passion it flared worse than the physical discomfort of just springing down these past blocks. She wanted to turn and confront him, scream a list of filthy words, to actually kick him, but the fear ran too deep, and she knew she wouldn't be able to hold herself against him. But she couldn't run anymore. And so her leg cramped in mid step, and she saw surprised and pissed off city folk no more, but the on coming sidewalk as she fell.

The painful cement never hit her face, but a painful grip around her middle made her cry out as she was hefted up above. She looked incredulously as she heard T.R swear something very filthy and placed her onto his shoulder like you'd find a pirate do in a hurry with treasure. It hurt her, but if someone else had done it she knew it would have hurt a lot more. She was speechless that he had even pulled it off. Or maybe that he even bothered. As if he knew she was thinking this he puffed into her ear through a pained voice.

"Con-tract." And everything made sense again. Still, she noted that it was going to be their doom anyway. T.R started to slow considerably, enough to be running side-by-side with Javas, who had been lacking, and was almost at the once been Mr. Mutou's grasp. Something had to be done. In the few precious minute it took her to recapture her breath she whispered between them.

"Can you make it to the next alley way? I've got an idea." Without a response they charged forward to the end of the block, adding an extra burst when his finger tips were mere inches away from their backs, until finally an alley way was in sight. For the last couple of feet, both boys gasped and ran on weak legs around the corner and somehow T.R must have had an idea of what she had been thinking because he skidded to a halt and whipped her off his shoulder. Kaede saw Javas fall to the pavement as she saw the weeds growing between the pavement and brick wall, just as she'd hoped. She feel to her kneed and whispered feverishly in English, watching the once been Mr. Mutou turn the corner and turn more wide-eyed with surprise at them waiting for him.

He didn't even have a chance to stop. The weeds jumped up so viciously Kaede was thrown back a couple of feet, left stunned as the pants constricted around the once been shopkeeper. The steams turned to thick ropes and tied around his wrists and ankles as well as his torso. Not around the puzzle. It blazed like hot iron and scorched any of the leafage to even brush against it. Still, the puzzle had only been a set back. After about thirty seconds of a struggle he stopped struggling and let himself hang there, about five feet off the ground, with his feet bound together tightly. An equally strong bond was also placed around his wrists, and his hands were placed over his head.

From the ground Kaede whispered again to the plants and soon to both the captured man, the frightened boy, and the ancient tomb robber's surprise, the thing that had once been a weed, uprooted and grew something like legs with its roots. Much like a spider, it had eight legs that scampered between the jaw-dropped T.R and Javas's scared face, toward Kaede. She struggled to stand as it approached, and slowly, with aching legs, she led it down further into the alley where no one could see it by just glancing it. She told it to go behind the building and stopped to make sure both of the boys were okay. Of course, that was a stupid thing to wonder.

"What the hell was that?!" He asked her in a startled voice.

"Only one of the most magnificent powers of this earth being used. Be lucky, boy, that you even got to see it." T.R told him, much to Kaede's worry. She looked back at Javas's red hot face.

"Er, it's something I sort of got when I was growing up…let me explain later, okay?" Javas blinked his blue eyes at her and quiet plain said.

"This day can't get anymore strange." That comment made her smile, even though she was still in a bit of shock. She hadn't even been sure of what she was doing when she started talking to the weeds in the first place. She didn't know she could even do that. And to find you could was more than shocking. Shaking she turned and put an arm to the brick, feeling very exhausted, as she patted the ring on her chest. She closed her eyes for a moment and felt the urge to sleep very strong in her mind, but she ignore it, and peeled open her tired eyes and noted T.R standing at her side, looking at her hand placed on her chest. Gripped around the ring.

She was slightly surprised to find it on top of her shirt, gleaming brilliantly, the eye staring calmly up at her. Somehow she felt less stressed, less secretive, lighter than usual. She really felt if she jumped she could fly if she so desired, as silly as that sounded it still remained there, deep in her heart. She looked at T.R and saw the smile planted clearly on his face before he turned it into a scowl and turned away.

And she found, not to her surprise, her surprise had been used up, that maybe she could free him after all this was over.

Book Dragon: "Please review!"