…
Amu took a step back, a horrified look on her features as she stared up at the dark sky.
"W-What is that?" She exclaimed.
Her Charas looked grim.
"They're called X Eggs, born from the feelings of doubt; they're pretty much the opposite of guardian eggs," said Ran, holding her pompoms close to her as she looked around warily. "We'll explain later but we have to get out of here, Amu-chan!"
The pinkette spotted a young girl collapsed on the ground nearby; she looked as if she was barely fourteen and Amu imagined it being her sister.
"I can't just leave them here," she declared hotly, looking at her Charas. "If they doubt their dreams, which was I got from your explanation, then we have to help them!"
"Amu-chan, it's too dangerous," said Miki. "You'll get hurt!"
"There's nothing we can do right now desu," added Su, looking terrified; somebody either hadn't been mothering these children's dreams properly or, worse, someone meddled with them.
Dia, however, remained silent and looked at her bearer. She and her sisters knew that there was something that could be done to help and purify the eggs, but they needed something powerful to do it and Amu would feel even worse if she knew.
Speaking of which, the fifteen-year-old was nervously biting her nails as she stared at the scene. "We need to do something, and I'm not leaving until we can help them!"
"This goes against your character mask," began Ran before she broke out into a huge grin that took over her face. "But you're being honest! Let's go; Chara Change!"
The X clip in Amu's hair changed to a heart and her eyes immediately brightened as she exclaimed, "What should we do?"
Miki looked around and that's when she realized there were eerie voices. "For now, we just have to make sure they don't continue to create any more. Listen; they're saying things like 'useless' and 'worthless' and extracting more and more X-Eggs from people around. The more it spreads, the more X-Eggs are made."
"Damage control," decided Ran. "Get all of them in one area!"
"Somehow," agreed Amu, jumping up and landing on top of a car as she pointed accusingly at the swarm of X-Eggs. "Hey, uglies!" The X-Eggs turned toward her and she decided to ignore the sudden chill that ran down her spine. "You can't just show up and take people's eggs, you hear? You better cut it out or," Amu winked, grinning mischievously. "I'll have to punish you!"
A moment later, Amu turned sharply towards her pink guardian and gave her a withering glare, making Ran chuckle nervously.
Meanwhile, across town, several people were running down the street, very much aware of all the collapsed bodies they passed. They had been working diligently in class when all of a sudden; Tadase had gotten a message from his uncle, the founding chairman of the Guardians, and passed it on to the others.
"W-What's going on?" Ami exclaimed as she and the other Guardians avoided stepping on the people. Tadase suddenly stopped in front of a large crowd of X-Eggs, making everyone else halt as well.
"Remember how the Guardians have certain duties that don't involve the school?" The blond asked, and the brunette nodded. "This is one of them; these are X-Eggs, guardian eggs that have doubted their dreams and turned into something dark. It's our job to cleanse them and now we finally can with you."
"M-Me?" Ami exclaimed, looking bewildered.
"The Humpty Lock," deadpanned Rima, looking bored even though she was eyeing the sky worriedly. "We were told that, with the right person, it can amplify the power of a guardian character by over one hundred percent and help purify the eggs."
Ami took the lock out of her pocket, expecting something amazing like for it to glow or sparkle or something, but it looked surprisingly dull and felt heavy in her hand.
"Um, what I supposed to do with it?" She asked, confused and the Guardians turned to her in surprise; they had been told by the chairman that the Lock would automatically work for the right person. But Ami was undoubtedly the Joker, he had said.
"Ami-chan, look out," Marigold suddenly shouted in her ear, and she instinctively threw herself on the ground as a horde of X-Eggs swept over the Guardians. The Humpty Lock flew somewhere into the grass nearby.
"Crap," muttered Kukai, looking up at the sky as the rest of the group exchanged worried looks. "How are we supposed to help now?"
Back with Amu, the pinkette was beginning to grow tired; no matter how many times she tried to trap the X-Eggs, they kept moving around and gathering even more.
Lightheaded, she felt the Chara Change end as she fell to the ground on her knees, out of breath.
"Amu-chan, we have to go," exclaimed Miki. "You've done all you could; it's dangerous for you to be here any longer!"
Ran and Su agreed, but Dia simply closed her eyes.
"Ran, Miki, Su," she said quietly. "Don't you feel it?" Her odd question was left unheard by her sisters and bearer, who was shaking her head at her other three guardians.
"I…I can't just leave," cried Amu, looking up, oblivious to the fact that her sister and friends were only a few blocks away. "W-What if that was Ami over there? I wouldn't just leave her there to have her dreams destroyed and I won't do that for these people either!"
She looked at her Charas, her eyes watery. It was horrible; there had been a time when doubted her Charas and suddenly, she felt empty. Now that she what they were, Amu realized that she had been on the verge of losing her Charas. What if they had become X-Characters?
"Amu-chan, desu," muttered Su, looking at her bearer with both praise and worry.
Amu shook her head again, knowing what the green guardian was going to say already.
"I cannot…I will not give up," she exclaimed loudly as she glared up at the eggs in the dark sky as they hatched into X-Characters. "No!"
A few blocks away, the Humpty Lock suddenly glowed brightly, unseen by the Guardians who were also feeling fatigued.
Dia opened her eyes and smiled as her sisters' eyes widened. The diamond Chara gently pushed Ran towards their bearer, connecting the guardian with the heart.
"My own heart…unlock?" Amu heard herself say as a warm feeling washed over. She shut her eyes and waited until the unfamiliar, but not unpleasant, sensation ended before she reopened them. "Amulet Heart!"
"Wow…" Her Charas exclaimed, minus Ran, who Amu failed to see. However, she didn't fail to see her reflection in a nearby car's window and her golden eyes widened in shock upon looking at the stranger wearing her face.
She was wearing a short, pink skort that ended mid-thigh and an equally pink tank top with a dark red, almost black, frill at the hem that ended just below her breasts. She was also wearing pink sneakers that extended to her knees, and were tied tight by dark red, again almost black, laces. In her hands she held a pair of pompoms that were pink and dark red. Her hair seemed pinker than usual and was tied in a side-ponytail with a heart shaped clip.
"Eh?!" Amu shouted, dropping the pompoms as she felt herself, wondering what the hell had happened to her. "What is this?!"
"Character transformation," explained her Charas simultaneously. "It's a powerful boost to the guardians and their bearers, and right now, you're transformed with Ran."
"Why?" Amu questioned. "How?"
"We don't know," admitted Miki. "But I think it's important that you focus on the group of X-Characters right now!"
Her bearer's eyes widened; obviously she had forgotten about their situation and she nodded before turning back to her opponent.
"Alright," said Amu, grinding her teeth as she stared at the characters. "How the hell am I supposed to defeat these guys?" They were still chanting discouraging things and suddenly, the idea dawned on Amu. "If you guys had been fed lies of doubt…then I guess I will have to give you the truth of belief!"
She jumped up to the top of a taiyaki stand, her body surprisingly light as air. "Hey, listen to me!" She exclaimed, getting the characters' attention. "Are you listening to yourselves talk right now? Why does it matter if others don't believe in you? It's your dreams and wishes; as long as you believe in yourself, everything will be alright!"
The X-Characters froze and looked at her with confusion.
Amu smiled warmly. "It's perfectly alright if you fail now and then, you know; as long as you don't give up on your dream. You can only do so much in one lifetime; do you really want to waste it on doing something you don't believe in? You'll only regret it later on in life."
The X-Characters exchanged looks with each other, doubts of their doubts evident on their faces.
"Amu-chan," started Ran. Her bearer nodded.
"I know," she assured, allowing instinct to take over as she held out her hands towards the confused characters with that same warm, vibrant smile. "Negative Heart; lock on!"
A bright light overcame the area and the X-Characters all sighed as their Xs were removed, differently colored Charas returning to their eggs as they thanked Amu before flying into the sky, back towards their bearers.
Amu descended down from the taiyaki stand and the transformation ended just as her feet touched the ground. Ran appeared by her side and the two of them received praises from the other three.
Back with the Guardians, they looked on in puzzlement as the X-Characters suddenly stopped attacking and turned a glowingly bright white as they purified before flying away.
At the same time, the Humpty Lock stopped glowing and turned back to its original white color, only to dull once again upon Ami's approach. She picked it up, staring at it for several seconds before looking back at the now clear sky.
"What…what happened?" Yaya asked, removing her hands from her face as she escaped from her boyfriend's protective grasp. "Why are the eggs all gone? Who purified them? We didn't do anything."
"I don't know, Yuiki-san," replied Tadase, a pensive expression on his face as several questions flooded through his mind. "Perhaps the chairman will know something. I do wonder why the Lock didn't react to Hinamori-san, though."
Kairi pushed up his glasses, saving a blunt response from Rima as he remarked, "I suspect that it is because the Lock does not find her to be the 'chosen one', for a lack of better words."
Ami frowned, looking at the ground. "You guys, I'm sorry; first day and I already let you down."
Kukai grinned. "Don't sweat it, Hinamori-san; everybody makes mistakes! We'll figure something out."
Rima dusted off her clothes, picking blades of grass out of her long blonde curls. Kairi went over to help. "Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the fact that the Humpty Lock has rejected her. We cannot also ignore that this attack was the biggest one we've ever seen and that something-or someone-had purified them."
"Those are very important details," agreed Tadase. "Since nobody is hurt and the eggs seemed to have returned to their owners, let's go back to the Royal Garden and discuss it with the chairman; maybe he will have some answers."
"Sounds like a plan," replied Kukai as they made their way back towards the middle school. He glanced over his shoulder, feeling someone's eyes on him, and he saw a shadow disappearing into the treetops.
His eyebrows scrunched up together and he stopped walking to turn around, looking for whoever had been there. The soccer player spotted movement across the street, and he turned sharply towards them, catching sight of something pink before it disappeared.
"Souma-kun, is everything alright?" Ami asked, suddenly appearing next to him with a curious expression on her face.
The older boy looked away from the street and turned to the Joker, smiling as he affectionately patted her head. "Huh? Oh, yeah; it's nothing. How are you feeling? How's Seiyo so far?"
The girl's honey eyes immediately lit up and she clasped her hands together as a marigold appeared in her hair. "The town is so beautiful! The people are also so nice! I miss my old town and friends, but I really like it here!"
Kukai chuckled at her sudden burst of energy and listened to her gush about Seiyo as they tailed behind the other Guardians.
…
"Wow, that was so cool," gushed Ran the next day at school. "I mean, it was our very first Character Transformation!"
"And probably our last," interrupted Miki. "We still have no idea as to why we transformed."
Her sister pouted. "You're just grouchy because you didn't get a chance to try!"
"I am not a toy that you can take turns playing with," hissed Amu under her breath as she collected her things from her locker. "Anyways, Miki's right; we don't know what triggered the transformation or if we'll be able to do it again."
Dia interjected softly, "Amu-chan, you're going to be late for music class if you don't hurry."
The pinkette nodded as she shut her locker, slinging her bag over her shoulder before she began to glide through the bustling hallway. Like usual, many people moved away so her path was clear.
Amu didn't always like her character mask, but it certainly came in handy at times. Not many people bothered her and she liked it that way most of the time.
"Hey, who do you think you are, striding down these halls like you're somebody important?"
But of course, there were always some people who seemed to envy her popularity.
And Yamabuki Saaya happened to be one of them.
The auburn haired girl stood in the middle of the hallway with her little groupies right behind her.
Amu stopped walking, staring at the girl boredly. "Do you mind? Some people are trying to get to class."
Saaya glared at her. "Exactly; so why are they stopping just to let you by? You think you're hot stuff, don't you?" She arrogantly flipped her hair as the pinkette raised an eyebrow. "You're not even cool enough to be the Queen of Popularity, nevermind date Tsukiyomi Ikuto; so stop seeing him!"
If Amu wanted to show her true self, she would have begun blushing hard while sputtering incoherent words idiotically.
However, that was not the case.
The corner of her mouth quirked upwards and she readjusted her bag. "I may not be 'Queen of Popularity' or I may not be; frankly, I don't care what these people want to think of me. And I definitely don't have any interest in dating that pervert, so help yourself."
Amu brushed past Saaya and her group, still smirking when she shot a look over her shoulder to look at the stunned girls. "Though, I doubt he'll even know your name. If I'm beneath him and you, and he's seemingly interested in me like you implied, then what makes you think that he'll want to get involved with you?"
She turned back around and made her way to her music class, ignoring the awed expressions of her fellow peers as she passed them.
"Amu-chan, that was a bit much desu," said Su, though she looked as amused as her sisters.
Miki replied, "Well, she didn't say anything outrageous; she only commented on what Yamabuki said to her."
Su frowned but stayed silent.
Amu glanced at her Charas in slight amusement as they approached the music wing of the school, stopping in front of the chorus room's door. "Tch, honestly; if I wanted to make a scene with my character, I would have. Now, I don't want you guys to get into any trouble while I'm in class so either go somewhere else or get back in your eggs for a while."
"I want to hear you sing," said Dia, already disappearing back into her egg that was inside her bearer's bag. Her sisters followed suit, not wanting to be separated.
Amu smiled as she checked to make sure they were safe before she entered the chorus room and took her seat on the risers.
A few minutes later, the rest of her classmates piled in with the teacher who stood in front of the classroom. After going through their basic vocal warm-ups, she cleared her throat and told them to be quiet.
"In a few weeks, as I'm sure many of you already know, our school will be combining with the middle school to hold our annual Spring Festival. As usual, we will be having a major concert with many of the students and aspiring musicians as our performers. Like every year, our music department will be participating as a required group assignment unless you would rather take the final assessment at the end of the year."
"This year, however, we have received word that many important people from various star management companies will be attending so I expect all of you on your best behaviors. Perhaps some of you will even get the chance to become an idol. But that is not important; what's important is that you complete the assignment I give you and your assigned partner or partners."
The class groaned and the teacher glared at them, whacking her pointer on the music stand in front of her until they silenced.
"Don't complain or I'll make it required that you take the final assessment. Now, I'm going to read off the names so listen up because you could end up having a partner in a different part of the music department."
The teacher cleared her throat and shuffled some papers.
"Momozono Amorza, you will be with Hitsugaya Kei from the band class next door."
The maroon haired girl's face was stuck between horror and joy.
"Yuko Yamada, your partner will be Kimura Rosalyn from the orchestra class."
The silver haired boy's face lit up.
"Kurosaki Madoka, you will be with Hamachi Homura from the advanced chorus class."
The pink haired girl blinked before she smiled.
The teacher continued to rattle off names until finally…
"Hinamori Amu, your partner will be Hoshina Utau."
The pinkette immediately turned to the soprano twos* in the back, her golden eyes landing on the blonde with the amethyst eyes that stared right back at her. The beautiful girl had a cold expression on her face, clearly displeased with the turnout.
Amu turned back to the front as the bell rang; Utau strode out of the room without sparing a glance towards the pinkette, who bit her lip as her Charas peeked out of her bag.
"Well, this is going to be fun."
…
I don't own Shugo Chara!
Y'ello, my dear readers; thanks for reading and, if you do, reviewing!
For those of you who didn't skip over the description of Amulet Heart, do you think I did alright with the change or should I have kept it the same as the original?
Before you answer, I just want to point out that I changed her outfit, though not by much, because in the anime/manga, it was a child's outfit and she is a not a child here so I thought a more 'mature' look was needed.
And a change of color goes a long way; trust me.
Hm, what else, what else? Oh yes, so the Humpty Lock doesn't really work with Ami, does it? I wonder why… *wink, wink* And we see the entrance of Saaya and Utau, as well as the other Guardians!
Oh, and in case you didn't notice, I kinda felt lazy coming up with names for Amu's classmates so I used some of my infamous OCs from other stories (Kimura Rosalyn from several that I'm too lazy to remember other than Fate's Cruel Decision, which Amorza and Kei were also featured in, as well as Titles Are Overrated).
I also used sorta the combination of names from both Bleach and Madoka Magica so yeah…I don't own those…
Let's see…oh, yeah the thingy I starred. For those of you who aren't familiar with musical terms (not that I am either; I know what I know from taking three years of middle/secondary school chorus and six years of forty-five minute basic music lessons in elementary/primary school), a soprano two is simply a female singer who can sing both the alto (low note female singers) and the soprano (high note female singers).
Usual yada-yada; school is awful but holidays are coming up so I'll have time to write soon hopefully and don't hesitate to tell me if you found any mistakes or what you thought of the chapter, especially if you see a place where an 'o' is missing because the 'o' key on my keyboard is acting sticky and not really working…
…
QUACK