Amulet X

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara, etc. I hope the actually authors will forgive me this story.

A/N: Hello everyone, I have been watching Shugo Chara for a while now. After seeing the character changes with Amu, Il, and El, I began to wonder. What would it be like of Amu Character Transformed with an X-character. So I wrote this fanfic to see. I hope everyone likes this story.

Happy Turkey day to my American readers!

Without Further Ado: Chapter 1 of Amulet X

Chapter 1

The computer screen flickered as someone peered at it in a dimly lit room. He chuckled darkly as he scanned over a profile. A picture of a pink haired girl smiled back at him. The innocence of childhood painted on her face even though she wore her school uniform in the punk style.

"Hinamori Amu," the man stated as he grinned malevolently, "you are the key, soon everything will be ready." The man chuckled again as he turned and placed a hand on an upturned jar. He stroked the jar as an egg floated in a dark solution. It glowed with an abyssal darkness. The large white X on the egg reflecting the light. "Now to gather the final piece of my plan," he stated as his face twisted in to a near diabolic countenance.

The light of the sun shined brightly as Amu and her friend, Rima, stood inside the glass building that was the Guardians' office. She sat talking to Rima with a grin on her face as both of them watched the two "Guardians in training" take care of the flowers outside the building.

"Rikka is so full of energy," Amu commented as Rima took a sip of her tea, "even Hikaru is working hard." Rima gave Amu a nod as she turned to look at her guardian character, Kusukusu, playing with Amu's guardian characters: Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia.

Tadase entered the building a few minutes later followed by the other two Guardians: Yaya and Nagihiko. He smiled at Amu and Rima as he took a seat in his usual spot, taking great care to set down a stack of papers.

"It's almost time for our culture festival," Nagihiko stated as he, too, sat down, "I can't believe the festival is here already." He chuckled softly as his guardian character, Rhythm, joined Kusukusu, Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia. Rhythm floated up with a grin, getting his hugs from the five female characters as Rima watched and shook her head lightly.

"Such a flirt," Rima said looking at Nagihiko, "Considering he's your true self, Nagihiko, it makes me wonder how much you're hiding from us." Rima smirked as Nagihiko got flustered; she loved teasing the poor boy. She was one of two Guardians who knew that Nagihiko had pretended to be a girl the years before, due to family requirements. She snickered softly, having fun at Nagihiko's expense.

Amu seemed rather oblivious to the teasing as she looked at Tadase, her crush, with hearts in her eyes.

Tadase smiled at Amu and indicated the papers in front of him, "we have a lot of forms to look through," he said, "have a seat everyone." He chuckled as Yaya's face fell and she whined. Tadase handed a few papers to Nagihiko as he took his seat, sliding still others towards Rima. "We have to go over these and approve them, or offer suggestions," he stated as Yaya finally took a seat, "settle in everyone, we have a lot to go through." He picked up the top paper in his stack, after sliding some to Yaya, and began to look it over.

Amu sighed and leaned back looking at everyone working hard, "I can help," she said as she reached for some papers on Tadase's stack, "There haven't been any X-egg problems the last few weeks, so why don't you all give me a little of your stacks." She looked around as everyone glanced at her. Finally Tadase sighed and gave a nod; everyone gave Amu some of their papers.

Hikaru and Rikka walked in soon after everyone started reading through their papers. "What's going on," RIkka asked as she walked up to the table and peered over Amu's shoulder. She looked at the papers and blinked, "we're that close to the festival already," she asked as she looked between all the Guardians.

"Yes," Tadase said looking at Rikka, "you can go home, now that you're done with your work." He watched Hikaru walk up to the table, "we're going to be here a while."

Rikka pouted at him, "I can help too," she said, "just give me some of them." Rikka reached for some papers and tried to grab them. Rima moved the papers just out of her reach. Rikka frowned at her.

"You two are Guardians in training," Tadase said looking at Rikka, "we haven't taught you how to do this paper work for one thing. You are also third graders, you don't have to work on the paper work end of things yet."

Rikka pouted again as Hikaru simply shrugged and turned to head towards the door. At that moment everyone heard a knock at their door and looked up. There was a man in a black suit and sunglasses standing on the other side of the glass. He looked at Hikaru and then looked at Tadase. Tadase indicated he should enter and went back to the papers.

The man entered the building and looked at Hikaru, who walked over. "What is it," Hikaru asked looking at the man. The man bent down and whispered in Hikaru's ear.

"There's been a breach of computer security at Easter sir," the man whispered as Hikaru tilted his head to hear better, "we are unable to trace the hacker yet, but your grandfather thought it was best to have you come in."

Hikaru nodded as the man stood erect again and turned to look at the Guardians, who were looking at him curiously now. "I must go," He stated. He turned around again and began to follow the man out the door.

"Alright," Tadase called after him, "have a good day then." He waved at Hikaru as the door closed and Hikaru vanished down the path leading to the glass building.

Rikka sighed and looked everyone over again. Tadase looked at her and chuckled, "go home RIkka," he said, "we can handle it and we don't want your folks to worry." Rikka pouted a little more but found it ineffective. "Fine," she replied with a sigh of exasperation, "I'll go home then." She walked out, after saying her goodbye's, and waved.

The Guardians chuckled softly as they went back to work. Kuseki called a guardian character meeting.

Hikaru looked out the window of the limousine that had been sent to pick him up as they pulled in to Easter's parking garage. The headlights played against the concrete if his VIP parking spot as the driver parked the car. The man in black got out and opened his door, ushering him in to the corporate building quickly.

Hikaru walked in to his office and sat in his chair, "tell the chairman I'm here," he told his secretary over the speakerphone. "Of course sir," came the prompt reply as he sat back in his chair.

Hikaru didn't have to wait long as the chairman walked in to the office, "what's going on grandpa," he asked the chairman.

"We had a security breach in the computer system," the chairman replied as he sat down across Hikaru's big oak desk, "we've been able to trace the breech to a few days ago." The chairman opened up a folder he had been carrying and opened it to a page. "One of our security personnel noticed something as he was doing the weekly maintenance on the system." He flipped to another page, "He reported it as soon as he found it, he says the hacker was very good and used some of our security codes to gain access."

Hikaru nodded, "So," he said, "it was an employee?"

"It seems so," replied the chairman, "we launched an immediate investigation, but all of the current employees have been cleared."

Hikaru frowned softly as he thought a moment, "So it was an ex-employee?"

"Yes," the chairman acknowledged as he flipped to another page, "it seems it may have been an ex-employee, unfortunately we don't know which files were accessed yet and we've had to let go of a few employees in the last month." The chairman closed the folder and set it in front of Hikaru. "I felt it would be best to have you here where we have security personnel until we know more," he said, "as a precaution."

Hikaru sighed and gave a nod as he turned to look out his window, "how long has this been investigated?" he asked.

"The investigation started today," The chairman replied, "the culprit is incredibly hard to track."

Hikaru turned back around to face the chairman, "Get Nikaidou in here then. I'm sure he will be able to trace it."

"He is busy with his teaching job sir," Replied the chairman with a frown, "and I'm unsure if he'd be willing to help us out."

"He had access to all the computers and he even designed a few of the security protocols in the system," Hikaru said, "if anyone can trace it it's him. Send a few men to talk to him, perhaps those three scientists he was working with during the Embryo Project."

The chairman sighed heavily and gave a nod, "of course sir," he said before he stood up and excused himself. Hikaru frowned again as he turned to peer out his window, which had a good view of the city.

Yaya stretched as she looked outside. She hated working on the paperwork end of things but she knew she was going to be the only one left in a year so she had figured it was about time for her to learn how to do these things. That still didn't prevent her from taking short breaks every five minutes though. "How many more do we have to go through," she whined slightly as she looked at Tadase.

Tadase glanced up, "not many more I think," he replied looking everyone over, "just about ten more, I guess."

Yaya pouted and looked outside again, "it's getting dark," she said pointing to the glass walls, "I got to get home soon, or my folks are going to kill me." She sighed and looked back at everyone else, who were looking outside now.

Tadase frowned lightly and nodded, "you're right," he said, "it is dark, I hadn't noticed." He looked at everyone again, "Alright why don't you all go home now, I'm sure you have things you need to do," he said. Everyone gave a nod and began to stand up, stretching. "I'll stick around and finish the last few off," he added.

Amu grunted as she felt her back pop and looked at Tadase, "I can stick around and help you Tadase," she said, reaching for her cell phone, "I'll call my folks and let them know I'll be a little late today. My family eats late anyways." Amu smiled at Tadase as he began to protest. "Really," she said giggling softly, "it's no big deal; we didn't have anything planned at home, for this evening."

Tadase sighed and nodded, "I'd appreciate the help," he said giving Amu a warm smile.

Rima and Yaya grinned mischievously as Tadase and Amu smiled at each other.

"Oooh," Rima said, "alone, together eh?" She snickered as Amu and Tadase began to turn red at the implications.

Yaya snickered, "I wonder what you two will do," she said giggling as the two got brighter.

"N…nothing," Amu stammered out, a look of embarrassed indignation on her face, "We're going to finish the paperwork and go home, right Tadase."

"O…of course," Tadase sputtered, "Paperwork then home." Tadase gave a nod as Yaya and Rima giggled again. Nagihiko seemed to find it somewhat humorous but went about collecting his guardian character from the others.

"Well," Nagihiko said as he turned towards the door, "I'll see you all later." The others gave him a nod and a wave as he headed out the door.

Everyone said their goodbyes as Amu contacted her folks. It took her some convincing to get her dad to let her stay at the school a little longer. In fact it had taken Tadase promising her mother that he would walk her home and then her mother telling her dad to allow it. Amu sighed as she hung up and shook her head, "Dad's way to overprotective," she said as she sat back down. Tadase chuckled as they began looking through the last few documents.

Hikaru turned around in his chair as he heard the door open and close. "Well," he asked as he watched the chairman walk up to the desk.

"Nikaidou will be here in the morning to work on the problem," the chairman said as he leaned on the desk, "I suppose we'll have to wait until then." He looked outside and sighed, "Well let's head home," he continued as Hikaru got out of his chair.

Tadase and Amu stretched as they set aside the last paper they were working on, "Ung," Amu said as she looked at Tadase, "I can't believe we had to leave suggestions on all the proposals."

Tadase shrugged and stood up.

"Well," Amu continued as she, too, stood up, "I hope all our suggestions help everyone."

Tadase chuckles and gave a nod, "so do I," he said as he wandered over to the doll house the guardian characters used as a home at the school.

"Time to go Kiseki," Tadase said as he looked in to the top room, "we have to walk Amu home." Kiseki peered at Tadase from his throne as Amu's guardian characters floated to Amu.

"Indeed," Kiseki finally said as he floated up and hovered over Tadase's shoulder.

Tadase and Amu grabbed their bags and smiled at each other again.

"So," Tadase said, "shall we?" Tadase extended his hand to Amu and smiled warmly at her.

Amu blushed brightly as she looked at Tadase's hand. Amu still wasn't totally used to holding hands with him, but it made him happy and made her feel warm and safe when they did. She smiled after a moment and hesitantly took his hand in hers. "You really don't have to escort me home," she said as she fidgeted, "I mean my folks are just overprotective, they probably won't even notice you're not with me."

Tadase, his smile still warm and inviting, looked at Amu as he closed his hand around hers. "I promised your mother," he said, "besides I like escorting you home, it gives me a chance to spend more time with you." Amu blushed again as Tadase started to lead them to the door. He stopped short of the door and turned to Amu, "and another promise I made," he said, "I love you, Amu." Amu's blush deepened as he opened the door and led her out.

The night breeze was crisp as they began to walk down the path, it came in small gusts that lifted the leaves from the ground and swirled them in circles.

Amu watched the multicolored leaves swirl around and smiled, "Pretty," she said as some leaves blew past her and Tadase.

"Yes they are," Tadase said as he stopped, "so many colors."

The two stood and watched the leaves swirl about for a few minutes before Tadase started to lead Amu home again, "Can't stand out here all night though," he said, "Your folks would worry if we were too late." Amu gave him a nod as she followed him down the path to the school gates.

Tadase sighed as he looked at the street light they were walking under, "I'm sorry we're so late, Amu," he said as he looked at her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Their guardian characters chatted jovially above them. Kiseki was telling the other four a story.

"That's Ok," Amu replied squeezing his hand back, "I don't mind and my folks know I'm going to be a little late today." Tadase nodded as they passed the pool of light from the streetlamp. It was a dark between the periodic lamps and their pools of light. Tadase felt uneasy as he walked and glanced around often. He almost missed a man walking down the other side of the sidewalk, huddled in to a long trench coat. Tadase kept an eye on him, not that Tadase expected the man was dangerous but he just couldn't shake that uneasy feeling.

Amu giggled softly as Tadase glanced around. He seemed paranoid to her, it wasn't like the street was dangerous. She had walked the street several times on her way home and had yet to come across a problem. She had even walked home alone this late a few times before, though every time she got home her father would come rushing in and give her a hug. Her father was definitely a little paranoid about his little girls. Amu glanced up as she noticed Tadase looking ahead intently. A man was walking towards them with a trench coat on. Amu shook her head, in this weather it wasn't uncommon to see people bundled up when they walked at night.

The man wandered by, shivering in his jacket as the two kids watched him. Once the two kids weren't paying attention he grinned darkly and turned around. He flipped up his jacket to reveal two jars with about four x eggs each and popped the lids.

Ran stopped short and gasped, "X eggs," she exclaimed as she turned around to look behind them. Just as Tadase and Amu were turning around they heard a malevolent voice behind them, "too late," it said as they felt a blast from behind and all their energy was drained. The guardian characters, caught in the blast, fell to the ground with groans. Tadase and Amu collapsed to the ground and grunted, peering up at the man.

"You should pay more attention," the man said as he chuckled cruelly, eight x eggs floating above his head, "this little thing is so helpful." He showed them a small tuning fork that was glowing a dark color.

"What do you want," Tadase growled as Amu looked at the man with narrowed eyes.

"Oh," the man replied sliding the fork in to a small holder and setting it on the ground, "Just Hinamori Amu." The man reached for his pants pockets.

"What," Amu growled at him as she tried to stand up and found herself too weak to do so, "what do you want with me?"

"You can't have her," Tadase said as he struggled to his feet, "call for help Amu."

Amu reached in to her pocket, finding her cell phone and pulling it out. She numbly flipped the phone open and attempted to call the police. Her hands shook though and she called someone else instead.

"You can't have her," Tadase shouted as he started to walk towards the man, anger fueling his movements.

"You've lost kid," the man said as he withdrew his hands from his pockets, a tazer in each hand, "one for you." He said as he shot one at Tadase. "Hit those characters again," the man said as the x eggs shot their dark energies at the guardian characters, "and one for you," he said looking directly at Amu.

Utau was sitting in her apartment going over the next concert plans with her Manager, Yukari, when her phone rang. She looked at her phone with a frown, debating on answering it at all. The ring tone got her attention though, "Amu," she said as she reached for the phone, "what's she calling so late for?"

Yukari shrugged slightly and shuffled to the next paper in the stack, detailing how the speakers needed to be set up.

"Hello," Utau said in to the phone, "Amu, what do you want this late?" Utau was unable to continue when she heard two screams echo out of her receiver. "Amu," Utau said as her eyes went wide and she grabbed the phone with both hands, "Amu, Amu!?"

Yukari looked at Utau, surprised at Utau's tone, "what's going on," she asked scooting closer to Utau.

Utau began to speak louder as she didn't get a response from the other end, her voice rising in pitch. She heard another voice on the other end, "no calling for help girly," the voice said as she heard the phone begin to crunch and the line went dead. "Amu, Amu!?" Utau yelled before dropping the phone and looking at Yukari, "We need to go, now!" Utau shot up and headed for the door with Yukari asking questions behind her.

The man chuckled heartily as he looked over the two kids and their characters, "Told you kid," he said nudging Tadase's limp form with his foot, "you lost." He chuckled darkly as he bent over and picked Amu up, "won't need those," he said looking over her guardian characters lying weakly on the ground. The man smirked evilly as he turned and walked towards the corner of the street. He put Amu in the back of a car and left, a diabolical cackle rising from the back of his throat.

The next morning Utau found herself sitting in a chair across from Tadase's bed in the local hospital. Yukari and she had found Tadase lying on the ground unconscious and barely breathing after they had left the apartment the night before.

She sighed and shifted in the chair, rubbing the fatigue from her eyes. She hadn't slept since the night before last, it had come as a shock and she hadn't thought to call the police when she heard the screams.

When she had found Tadase lying there on the ground, the guardian characters strewn about him, she had nearly cried. Tadase was like a little brother to her and Amu was one of her best friends. It had taken Yukari's voice calling her, to call her back to reality and call the police.

Utau looked at Tadase with the breathing mask on his face and various machines beeping in the background and leaned forward, placing a hand on her forehead and rubbing. She had been too late to do anything. The doctors weren't sure how long it'd take Tadase to recover after what happened. They had said something about his body shutting down before he was exposed to an electrical shock.

Utau shook her head looking at Kiseki, who was still out cold. She had placed him on the pillow next to Tadase's head.

She leaned back in the chair and went over the events of the previous night in her mind again.

The police and ambulance had gotten there quickly, after she had called. The police taped off the scene and began to ask her questions after calling for a forensics team. It was hard to keep everything straight in her mind as she went over the events. The police had asked her where Amu lived at the end. She gave them the address and they told her they'd contact her if they had more questions. She felt sorry for Amu's parents, they were both doting parents and this would come as a great shock. She also recalled the police mentioning that they needed to contact the parents and prepare for a ransom note of some sort.

Utau shifted in her seat again before standing up and shaking her head to clear it. She had a feeling that there would be no ransom note. She looked at her cell phone and sighed, stepping in to the hallway. She had to call her brother in Europe and let him know what was going on.

Nikaidou walked in to Easter and sighed rubbing the back of his head, "why did they have to call me here," he thought as he looked across the lobby, "I quit this job." He sighed again and walked towards the security guard on duty. "Hello, I'm Nikaidou," he said as he leaned on the counter.

"Mm," the security guard mumbled as he looked through his computer, "Ahh you're expected. Hmm, the boss' office." The guard looked at Nikaidou curiously as he fished a guest pass out of a drawer and handed it to him.

Nikaidou shrugged and took the pass, clipping it to his lapel, "Don't know," he said as the guard buzzed him in and entered some information in to the computer.

It only took a few minutes for Nikaidou to get to the office in question, the elevators being fairly fast in the building. He walked up to the large doors that separated the secretary's office from the head's office.

"Please go right in," the secretary said as she waved him by, not even looking up from the paperwork stacked on her desk.

Nikaidou grunted and opened the door, walking in to the office. "You wanted to see me," he said as he wandered up to the desk.

"Indeed," Hikaru said as he turned to face Nikaidou, "we've had a security breech and I feel you are best suited to figure out by whom and why." Hikaru indicated the computer on his desk and got out of his chair.

Nikaidou blinked and gave a nod, "alright," he said a little dumbfounded as he took a seat and began to type on the keyboard.

The chairman stood to the side peering over Nikaidou's shoulder as Nikaidou worked.

Ikuto put his violin in to its case after a thorough cleaning, finding his father was proving more difficult than he had originally thought. Yoru, Ikuto's guardian character, was cat napping on the window sill. Suddenly Ikuto's phone rang and he glanced over, "Utau," he said curiously as he walked over to his duffel bag and began shuffling through it. He recognized the ringtone.

It only took him a few minutes to find his cell phone and open it, "Hello," he said, an eyebrow raised.

"Ikuto," Utau said over the phone. Ikuto frowned at her tone, "what's wrong Utau," he said.

"Ikuto," she said again, "Tadase's in the hospital…Amu's gone."

Ikuto blinked and shook his head, "what," he asked thinking he had misheard her.

"Tadase is in the hospital Ikuto," she said again a little more forcefully, "Amu's gone."

Ikuto nearly dropped his phone as it dawned on him that she was being serious. He looked around his room once before returning to the phone, "Tadase's in the hospital…and Amu's gone?" He asked again just to make sure.

"Yes," Utau's reply came as Ikuto's frown darkened considerably, "I'll be there as soon as I can, give me a couple of days." At that he hung up the phone and dropped it in to his duffel again, "Yoru," he hissed, getting the cat boy character's attention, "we're going home." Ikuto hurried about his room packing things up as Yoru floated next to him, looking worried.

"Ahha," Nikaidou exclaimed as he grinned triumphantly, "you hid your tracks well, but I found you." He chuckled as he began to scroll through some code.

"You figured something out," Hikaru stated as he stood next to Nikaidou.

"Yes," Nikaidou replied as he glanced at Hikaru, "I know who it was and which files were accessed." He indicated the screen in front of him, "It was a Doctor Onimoto," he stated, "and the files that were accessed were the Embryo Project files." The chairman frowned as Hikaru gave a pert nod. "I'm not sure which specific files yet, but all of the Embryo Project files were accessed and some were even downloaded offsite." The chairman's frown darkened.

Utau was coming back to Tadase's room with a drink when El and Il, Utau's guardian characters, flew up to her. "Utau, Utau," they exclaimed as they started hovering above her shoulders, "Kiseki is awake, maybe he can tell us what happened."

"Good," Utau said picking up her pace, "finally, maybe some answers." She hurried to Tadase's room.

Amu swam up from darkness deeper than she had ever felt before. Her body felt heavy and her mind was groggy as she opened her eyes. "Ung," she grunted softly as she felt something chafing her wrists and ankles, "what?" She didn't have time to finish when she heard a voice echo from the deep shadows of the room.

"Ahh," the voice said, "You're awake."

Amu could barely make out movement in a corner as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. The darkness was almost unnatural to her and then she figured out why when she looked at the ceiling. "X energy," she gasped as she began to struggle against her bonds. The effort proved futile for her weakened body.

"You noticed," the voice chuckled, "Yes an interesting affect of this energy is to weaken the body and interfere with metabolism."

Amu turned her eyes back to the shadow in the corner and frowned, "what do you want with me? What'd you do to Tadase? Where are my guardian characters?"

The man chuckled, "you will find all that out later Hinamori Amu," she saw the shadow turn towards the center of that wall, "all in due time."

Amu growled and tried to fight against her restraints again, all it did was weaken her more and she began to breathe heavily.

"Those restraints are permeated with X energy," the voice said as a door opened, "you can't escape them and the more you try the weaker you'll get." His chuckle echoed through the room even after he had closed the door behind him.

Amu fought a little more before she began to feel more X energy leak in to the room, she continued for a few short moments before darkness overtook her again.

Utau walked in to the room Tadase was in and closed the door behind her. Kiseki was touching Tadase's forehead, he seemed too weak to really do much else. Utau noted that he looked pretty bad. He was still weak but she needed to know what happened so she walked over to the bed, "Kiseki," she said as she sat down on the edge of the bed, "what happened?"

Kiseki looked up from Tadase and frowned heavily, "it happened so fast, and the X energy we were hit with," he began as he shook his head. "It's cloudy," he continued as he looked between Tadase and Utau, "we were walking Amu and the others back to Amu's house when we were attacked from behind." Kiseki frowned again and rubbed his head, "Ran and the others," he said, "where are they?"

"Ran and Amu's other guardian characters are resting at my apartment, I sent Yukari there with them after the police left," Utau replied giving a sigh, "the doctors think Tadase will pull through, it'll just take time." She looked at Kiseki again, "Amu's gone," she said, "I'm hoping you know what happened."

Kiseki nodded and grunted as he shifted around to face Utau, "It's still fuzzy, but I'll try," he said. "As I said before, we were walking Amu home when we were attacked from behind," he continued, "I remember Ran yelling something about X-eggs then we were down." Kiseki rubbed the bridge of his nose as he tried to remember, "we were hit from behind by a lot of X energy, I remember maybe…six…eight X-eggs shooting that dark, draining energy at us."

"I see," Utau frowned as Il and El perched on her shoulders, both looking worried.

"we didn't have much of a chance to mount a defense," Kiseki continued after a moment, "we were hit by that energy then some guy, who apparently was the one who had the X-eggs, took out a couple of other things. He walked up to us chuckling…wait…he had one of those tuning fork things, like what Easter used to control Ikuto." Kiseki frowned darkly as he looked at Utau, who was also frowning. "He shot some thing that shocked Amu and Tadase, it knocked them out and then we were hit with that X-energy again." Kiseki sighed heavily as he glanced back to Tadase.

"Tuning fork?" Utau asked, "like Ikuto hmm." Utau thought for a few minutes before she grunted and stood up, "In any case, with this new information I'm willing to bet Easter has some idea of what's going on." She looked at Kiseki quickly before turning to the door, "I'm going to Easter then," she said, "thanks Kiseki, stay with Tadase." She opened the door and noticed Kiseki nod at her before she left, Il and El right behind her.

Hikaru yawned as he watched Nikaidou work, it had taken most of the day for Nikaidou to even narrow down the files that were hacked. Though, when Nikaidou found the trail he followed it like a greyhound to a rabbit.

"Finally," Nikaidou said as he began scrolling through some files, "I found out which files were hacked in to."

Hikaru and the chairman leaned in closer to peer over his shoulder.

"Let's see," he continued, "several of the Embryo Project files, mostly the ones involving the technologies we developed from the X-egg energy." Nikaidou scrolled down some more, "he hacked in to the files from my research, and the research of those other three." Nikaidou frowned darkly as he noticed a few of the files and he fell silent for a while.

"Well," Hikaru asked, "what is it?"

"My X-embryo project files," Nikaidou said, "some of my research had to do with creating an embryo from one of Amu's guardian character eggs." Nikaidou's eyes went wide as something struck him, "Oh no."

Hikaru looked at his grandfather a moment as he stepped closer.

Nikaidou typed furiously for a few seconds until he found something that struck his interest. His frown deepened greatly, "Amu's in trouble," he said looking at Hikaru, "Amu's the target for this; her profile has been stolen from the system and so were those files that were hacked." Nikaidou turned quickly to face Hikaru, "we need to warn Amu…" He was cut off when someone spoke from the door to the office.

"It's too late," Utau said as she stepped in to Hikaru's office, "they already got Amu." She leaned against the doorjamb and crossed her arms, eyeing the group in front of Hikaru's computer.

"Too late," Nikaidou gasped, "what do you mean?"

"I told you already," Utau replied, "they already got Amu, Tadase is in the hospital right now because of whomever attacked them."

Hikaru frowned, "We've been here all day," he said, "tell us what happened." Hikaru waved a hand to the chair in front of his desk.

Utau related the story she got from Kiseki as they looked at her. Their faces became dark as the story played out. Finally Utau was done telling the story and sat, silently, staring back at the three across the desk.

The chairman's face had fallen as he heard the story. He looked at Hikaru who turned to face Nikaidou.

"Tell her what we found, Nikaidou," Hikaru said before picking up his phone and calling his secretary, "I want all files we have on a Dr. Onimoto sent to my office immediately." Hikaru set down the phone and looked at Nikaidou, waving his hand towards Utau.

"Right," Nikaidou said as he turned to face Utau, "we have some information, you see there was a security breech in Easter's systems." Nikaidou related what had happened on Easter's end to Utau who sat listening as her face fell in to a deep dark scowl.

Three Guardians sat in their little glass building looking around curiously.

"Where are Tadase and Amu," Yaya asked looking at Nagihiko curiously.

Nagihiko looked at Yaya and shrugged, "I don't know," he said looking at Rima.

"I heard they were out sick today," Rima said as she looked back at Yaya and Nagihiko. The other nodded and sighed as they picked up the festival folders.

"I guess we should get these handed back out today," Nagihiko said as he stood, "I'm sure they'd want us to get this done, even if they are out sick." The other nodded as the three left the building.

Hikaru looked up from the file his secretary just brought in to the office as Nikaidou attempted to trace the computer that hacked the system. "All of our information is outdated," Hikaru said as he set the file back on the desk, "Dr. Onimoto has moved since we released him from our employ, after the Embryo Project." He looked at Utau who hadn't moved from her spot since she got there and sighed. "Have you been able to trace it yet," Hikaru asked as he looked at Nikaidou.

Nikaidou looked at him and sighed, "Almost there," he replied, "as soon as I find it I'll let you know." Nikaidou returned to his task.

"Since Easter's files are at fault here," Hikaru said as he turned his head to, once again, look at Utau, "Easter will utilize all the resources it can to find the culprit and help this investigation." He frowned lightly for a moment, "She's my friend too," he said as Utau began to protest, "I want to find her and get her back safely." Utau sighed and gave him a nod. "Unfortunately we're going to be monitoring this all from here and I won't be able to inform the others of what's going on," Hikaru continued. "Utau, if you could go inform the Guardians, I have a feeling we're going to need them."

Utau sighed and stood up, "Fine," she said as she turned towards the door, "but I want to know as soon as you find anything, you have my number." She looked at Hikaru who nodded and then she left the building. "Why do I have to be the messenger," she sighed looking between her guardian characters, "I had to tell Ikuto and now this." Il and El shrugged and they took a car to the school.

Amu woke up again; she didn't know how long she had been there. It was always the same, though, a dark room, barely lit by a flickering light in the middle of the ceiling. She always felt weak and her wrists and ankles were terribly chafed. She was in constant pain from the chafing; the man just barely cleaned them so they didn't get infected. The man, Dr. Oni, had decided to interrupt her rest every few hours. So now she was waking up every couple of hours even without him showing up.

She noticed the small table of food sitting by the bed, she had refused to eat for the first few times but had to finally give in and eat or else risk death. She was emaciated from her refusals.

She struggled with the restraints again but it, once again, proved futile. The harder she'd struggle the weaker she got. The X-energy had done its job and kept her weak and easily manipulated. The only time the restraints came off was when she had to go to the bathroom and that happened only when he was around.

She heard the door open across the room and he stepped in, the man who had held her captive had finally deigned to visit again. He came in with his usual smirk; it always reminded her of a devil waiting to pounce on some unsuspecting soul.

"Ahh," he said in that malevolent voice of his, "you're awake, good, good. I have some things I want to show you while you eat." He left and returned with a cart that contained a TV and DVD player. "I felt I should probably show you what's going on outside now." He chuckled as he sat down in his chair and freed one of her hands so she could eat.

"How long has it been," Amu asked looking around.

"Oh about two weeks I guess," Oni said, "Yes roughly two weeks. The Lock has been trying to protect you from the X-energy but it's taken on more than it can handle." He chuckled reaching over to pick up the Humpty Lock so she could see it. "very fascinating how it tries," he continued, "but can't win." He turned the lock over then shrugged and let it drop.

Amu looked at the Humpty Lock and gasps softly as she noticed it. Two of the leaves on the clover design had become black. When he dropped it she followed it with her eyes she could see the third leaf loosing its luster. She could feel the lock weakening and she just didn't have the energy to fight it.

"Here we go," Oni said as he flipped on the TV and slid in a DVD, "I would have shown you this sooner but you seemed so tired all the time." He chuckled evilly at her as the DVD began to play.

Amu looked at the TV as it started to show a few images with One of Utau's songs as the background music. She frowned some noting that but watched anyways, anything to kill the monotony. Images began to flash across the screen as Dr. Oni narrated some parts.

A picture of Tadase with various medical things attached to him, "Seems I used too much," came a voice over the speakers of the TV, "the doctors wonder how long this boy will last in his condition. They've tried everything and he gets weaker by the day."

Amu gasped and reached for the screen, "Tadase…" she said weakly. Amu felt the tears coming but she couldn't feel then sliding down her cheeks, it was as if she was too weak to even shed a tear for her love. This made her even more upset.

"I wonder how easy it would be to put him out of his misery," Oni's voice came across the TV speakers again, "it was so easy to get in here and see him. All I had to do was wear a white coat and I was allowed such easy access."

Oni chuckled malevolently as he watched Amu trying to cry.

Suddenly some video of the Guardians heading home from school, they all looked so sad. She could barely make out their voices talking about Tadase and Amu. They were worried about her and him; she could see the tears welling in Yaya's eyes as they talked. Amu tried to turn away from the TV but Oni held her head in place so she had to watch it.

"Now, now, Amu," he said with a smirk, "and here I went to all the trouble to let you know what's going on with your friends and family." She couldn't shake his vice like grip as he held her head still.

Soon images flashed across the screen of her family. Amu shuddered when she saw close up pictures of her little sister and family. They all were deeply sad. Amu could feel her heart begin to flutter as she realized Oni had to get close to her friends and family to take those pictures.

Oni chuckled vilely as he saw the third leaf of the locket begin to fade faster than the other two had. He could tell Amu's spirit was nearly broken. Just a little longer and she'd be his.

The video ended and Amu sat there staring at the TV numbly, she couldn't feel anything at the moment. It was as if she had been thrown in to ice water and left to sit for hours. She looked at Oni and tried to get angry at him, but all she felt was a foreboding sense of helplessness.

"I hope you liked it," Oni said as he stood, "I put it together especially for you." Amu glowered at him. "Last I heard," he continued, "Your little boyfriend was gone. I guess I used a little too much electricity to knock him out. Of course, how could I know that the X-energy would dampen his systems, like it did?" He chuckled at Amu again, "This video is a couple of days old, I'm actually working on another one for you. Care too see what I have so far?"

"I'd rather not," Amu said to him as she tried to fling some of her food at him, "You should just go and die somewhere."

Oni snickered as he easily dodged her impromptu attack, "Oh but it's fascinating," he continued, "I got to meet your little sister and everything. She's a very cheerful little girl though she seems to have withdrawn a little now that her big sister is gone." Amu's eyes went wide as his words sunk in, "See," he said as he showed her a few pictures on his phone, "I could get this close."

The pictures showed him standing next to Ami, patting her head. The third leaf turned pitch black.

Oni wheeled the cart out of the room with a grin on his face; he glanced back for just a moment to watch Amu's eyes cloud over as she stewed in that last picture. "Soon I'll be able to introduce you to your new roommate," he said as he closed the door and went back to his little office. He looked at the computer with the photo editing software and had to laugh again, "You seriously think I could get that close to your sister. Your parents are with her all the time now, Amu, and Easter has people near your family at all times." He shrugged and snickered again closing the program.

The Guardians had gathered at the hospital to see Tadase and were standing in his room. It had been a couple of weeks before he woke up and the doctors were keeping him for observation.

"How are you feeling," Nagihiko said as he sat down in the chair across the room.

"Well, still feeling a little weak," Tadase replied, sitting up in bed, "but better." Tadase smiled but it was obviously a fake one.

"You did what you could," Ikuto said as he strode in to the room, "you couldn't have expected a tazer to be involved." Ikuto handed Utau a juice and leaned against the wall next to her.

All the guardian characters were quietly chatting in the corner of the room. Even Amu's were there but they were still weak from before. Kiseki had recovered though so the guardian characters were discussing why he was fine but Amu's characters weren't.

"have you found anything yet," Tadase asked Ikuto as he looked over, "about Amu."

"No," Ikuto replied with a sigh and a frown, "I haven't found anything and Easter's leads are all dead ends too. Dr. Oni has completely vanished." Ikuto looked out the window of the room scowling darkly.

The Guardians looked at him and sighed, though Yaya cried softly on Rima's shoulder. The entire group was incredibly downcast. It had been a few weeks since Amu had been kidnapped and, neither the police nor Easter had any leads. Ikuto and Utau would search the city all night but they turned up nothing as well.

"we'll find her," someone said as the door opened, "it's only a matter of time before we catch that bastard." Everyone turned to see Kukai step in, followed by Kairi. Kairi stood quietly as Kukai frowned.

"we will find her," Kairi said, breaking the silence that had fallen on everyone, "Easter is offering their assistance and we have our own ways of investigating. As soon as Tadase recovers we can spread our search a little further."

Everyone nodded as resolve etched itself on their faces.

Amu didn't' know how long it had been since the final leaf of the Humpty Lock became dark; all that was left was her own willpower. Unfortunately, that was ebbing quickly. Her eyes had taken on a glazed over luster in her time there. She looked towards the door as it opened again and Oni stepped in.

"Hello," he said as he closed the door and withdrew something from a jar, "I just wanted to introduce you to your new roommate." He released the item in his hand and it began to float.

It was the darkest X-egg Amu had ever seen, it floated to her and hovered over her chest. She didn't resist as she felt the darkness of the egg begin to pull at her heart and the Lock. She looked back at Oni.

"I have synchronized that X-egg to you and your lock," Oni said after a short pause to admire his work, "that is a special egg, it's one I created just for you." He smiled diabolically, "It'll help me fulfill my goals and it'll give you incredible power."

Amu turned to look at the X-egg again, her eyes slowly becoming empty as she felt her heart give way to the darkness. Suddenly the X-egg hatched and an X-character was born. The X-character stared back at Amu blankly, its wings flapping lightly in the room.

Amu couldn't help but think of pictures she had seen of demons and devils. She stared back at the X-character and blinked, "X," she said, her voice hollow.

The X-character seemed to accept the name it was given and floated down to Amu, hovering just above her heart and the lock.

Oni grinned vilely as he saw how well the two were getting along; he kept the little tuning fork nearby. The tuning fork specially created to control this particular X-character and the transformation he was hoping to see soon. "Now," he said as he watched with more than a little sadistic glee.

"Amu's heart: unlock," X said in a hollow voice, so similar to Amu's. The Lock began to radiate darkness as X was returned to her egg. The lock seemed to consume the egg as Amu transformed.

"Character Transformation: Amulet X," Amu said softly as she began to change.

Once the darkness cleared Oni noticed her new look. He chuckled darkly as he nodded in approval.

Amu stood before him, a pitch black shirt hanging down to her mid-thighs. The shirt seemed to double as a dress with small black frills where her sleeves ended and around the edge of the bottom. Amu's socks stretched up to her mid-thighs too. The socks met the dress there, the black satiny socks ending in a couple of anklets. The anklets looked like shackles and the short chains dangling from them adding to the appearance.

Oni whistled softly feeling the power roll from her.

Amu's hands were covered in black gloves, the fingers of which ended at her first knuckle. Her wrists had the same shackles around them that were on her ankles. One of Amu's most impressive features, though, were the large black feathered wings extending from her shoulder blades. Her look was topped off by a hat, it almost made her appear to have cat's ears. The hat had a large white X on it.

Oni had a feeling the hat covered horns on her head. The assumption proved true when he ordered her to take off her hat and she did. Short black horns extended from either side of her forehead, about hairline, and rose slightly before quickly bending backwards.

Amu's shoes were simple dress shoes buckled over her feet and black as moonless night. In fact Amu was clad in black as dark as a moonless night. Her wings stretched out behind her the same dark abysmal black as the rest of her new look.

"My dark angel," Oni breathed as he looked her over, "Amulet X." He cackled evilly as he turned towards the door, "come," he said as he opened the door, "it is time to test you out."

The Guardians and ex-Guardians had gathered, once again, in Tadase's hospital room to celebrate his release. They were smiling and congratulating him when they all felt something. They looked out the window to only see utter darkness.

"What the heck is that," Kukai asked as he peered at the window, "It's like midnight out there."

"It's only noon," Rima offered as everyone got the chills suddenly.

"This is…" Tadase growled darkly, "This is the feeling I had just before I got hit with that X-energy!"

The others gasped softly as Kiseki floated up towards the ceiling quickly, "X-eggs," he said as everyone began to run out of the room. "The roof," he called after them, waiting for Tadase.

Amulet X landed on top of the building Oni had indicated. She glanced around as she raised one of her hands. Her eyes closed slowly and she began to concentrate, "Demon's Call," she said as darkness began to grow in her hand. The sphere of darkness exploded, surrounding the building with impermeable darkness.

The hearts eggs in the children's hospital, where Tadase was being taken care of, responded to Amulet X's summons and began to gather to her.

The Guardians charged through the corridors, character transforming in the elevator. Tadase was slower than everyone but he urged them to go ahead of him. They busted down the door to the roof of the hospital and saw someone standing on the edge of the roof, her back turned towards them.

"Stop you," Kukai yelled as everyone prepared to fight the growing X-egg swarm floating above the figure.

The figure turned to face them, her black wings swishing in the air; they were not prepared for who they saw.

"Amu," Rima gasped, "Amu?!"

Amulet X looked at them with empty eyes, contemplating them carefully. She heard one of them call a name she hadn't heard in a while but it was of no consequence to her. All that was important was fulfilling Oni's wishes.

"Amu," Rima said again, "what are you doing?" Rima was shocked and judging by the looks on everyone else's faces so were they.

Amulet X pointed at the Guardians and the X-eggs attacked. The X-eggs spewed their darkness at the Guardians who barely had time to block the attacks. She stood back and observed the Guardians as they defended themselves.

"Amu," Nagihiko shouted as he jumped to the side, "stop it, what are you doing? We're your friends." He got no response from Amu.

Amulet X had seen enough of how the Guardians defended themselves, they didn't seem to be too strong and they kept talking to her. It was irritating. She spread her wing and began to pull them forward, "I am Amulet X." Her wings came forward as a gust of dark energy washed across the entire rooftop, "Demonic Wind."

The Guardians grunted as the darkness came rushing at them in gusts, their defenses barely holding on as the darkness washed over them. One more attack like that and they'd be done.

Suddenly someone wrapped their arms around Amulet X and whispered in her ear, her eyes slid to the side the voice was on. She noticed a cat man behind her.

"So," Ikuto said as he whispered in Amu's ear, "you have become an angel have you?" He smirked at her as she looked at him, he was glad she was alright until he saw the hollowness in her eyes.

"Demon's Embrace," Amulet X said as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Ikuto felt her arms enfold him as he hugged her from behind, then he felt the most pain he had ever felt in his life. He grunted and gritted his teeth. He pulled away from her. He would have fallen had Yoru not used the last of his strength to get Ikuto to jump towards the Guardians. When Ikuto landed Yoru fell to the ground, completely drained.

The Guardians looked at Amu with concern in their eyes, a hint of fear hidden behind it. They didn't want to hurt Amu but she was powerful.

Amulet X flapped her wings to call down another Demonic Wind when she felt something behind her; she flew up in to the air as white feathers shot through the place she was just at.

"White Wing," Utau said softly as she launched her attack at Amulet X, she couldn't believe she had to fight Amu again. She also knew that Amulet X wasn't someone to mess with. She had to go all out or they'd lose this fight.

Amulet X turned around to face Utau, Seraphic Charm. "Another one," Amulet X stated hollowly, "This seems to be the last of them though."

Amulet X dodged an Attack launched by the Guardians to take her down, barely escaping the ropes Rima sent at her. Amulet X looked between Utau and the Guardians and seemed to consider something before flying down to the X-eggs. "Get them," Amulet X said indicating the Guardians, "I'll take her." Amulet X then flew up towards Utau as the X-eggs began to attack the Guardians.

"Amu," Utau said, "Can't you see it's us, your friends. Remember I'm your friend right?"

"I am Amulet X," Amulet X replied, "I only recognize my master, Demonic Wind." Amulet X launched her attack at Utau who frowned.

"White Wing," Utau said as she launched her attack at Amulet X.

The power of the two attacks colliding in the air was enough to knock both flying combatants backwards. The Guardians looked up, covering themselves from the sheer force of the collision. X-eggs scattered everywhere as the strong energies flung them around.

Oni sat on the streets below monitoring the battle above. The attack collision had nearly shot his energy curve off the chart. He blinked and shook his head before deciding it would be best to go a few blocks away to monitor the battle.

Amulet X recovered a little quicker than Utau and looked at her blankly. She then looked at the Guardians picking themselves off the ground and got an idea. The best way to end the fight with the powerful White Angel was to attack the Guardians. She flew down towards the Guardians quickly sending another Demonic Wind at them.

Utau recovered just in time to see Amulet X send another attack at the helpless Guardians and rushed to save them. She made it just in time and put up a barrier. The power of Amulet X's attack was too much for Utau's barrier, though, and she felt it begin to buckle.

"Holy Crown," Tadase called as he stepped on to the roof, noticing Utau at her limit with a barrier. His barrier took hold just as Utau's collapsed. He grunted as he felt the pressure from the attack push against his barrier. "Who's that," he said as the black wind subsided. He looked at the person and gasped in shock, "Amu?!"

The new barrier had taken Amulet X by surprise; she hadn't expected that, familiar, defense to happen. She looked at the one who called the Holy Crown defense and gasped. She flew down to get a closer look.

Utau breathed heavily and thanked the gods Tadase had show up when he did, he was the barrier specialist not her. She looked back up towards Amulet X only to see her fly down towards Tadase. It was the first time she had seen something akin to emotion painted on Amulet X's face.

Amulet X landed in front of Tadase and reached out to touch his face. She couldn't believe it.

Tadase looked at Amulet X and smiled, "Amu," he said as he touched the back of her hand, "it's me." He looked in to her eyes and noticed them clear again.

"Tadase," Amu gasped as tears slid down her cheek, "I heard you were dead." She felt the touch of Tadase's hand on hers and couldn't help but feel better than she had in days.

"No," Tadase said, "I'm fine, I'm here for you." Tadase couldn't stop the tears from sliding down his own cheeks as he felt Amu caress his face.

Amu smiled some before she felt something tug at the back of her mind. She grunted as she lost focus. She placed a hand on her head and stumbled back. She vaguely recalled Tadase's voice, like a dream, before she was lost to the darkness again.

Tadase frowned as he saw Amu in pain then she stumbled back gripping her head, "Amu?"

Amu suddenly looked back up to him, her eyes glazed over again, "Amulet X," she said as she jumped back to the edge of the roof. "do not interfere with master's plans," She continued once she was in the air again, "Arrow of Darkness." Amulet X pointed at Tadase as a small darkness flickered at her finger tip. Suddenly a dark ray shot from her finger and flew at Tadase like an arrow.

Tadase had just enough time to prepare for the attack, "Holy Crown," he said as he held up his scepter. The energies battled one another but the pinpoint focus of Amulet X's attack began to pierce his defense. He jumped to the side as the arrow shot through his barrier and pierced the door behind him.

The Guardians and their allies were unable to help Tadase during that final attack. The X-eggs were keeping them busy right now. It was taking a lot just to defend the multiple attacks the X-eggs were sending at them in unison.

Amulet X flew off, she had been recalled for now and had to leave her goal behind. She knew the X-eggs her master wanted were going to be cleansed. She picked up speed and disappeared behind the tall buildings.

Utau was just about to pursue Amu when she heard Tadase call her.

"Utau," he called, "the X-eggs!"

Utau growled softly as she flew up, "Angel's Cradle," she said as she cleansed the eggs. When she was finished she couldn't see Amu anywhere.

A few days later the Guardians were gathered in Hikaru's office. Utau and Ikuto were standing off to the side as Hikaru sat in his chair looking everyone over. "You saw Amu," he said, "I'm glad she's ok." The Guardians looked at him, none of them looking happy. Hikaru sighed softly, "Well we know what's going on and how it's happening," he continued, "but we're unsure of what modifications have been made to the technology we developed."

Kukai grumbled, hearing all that, and spoke up, "She's really powerful, and she called herself Amulet X," He said, "we couldn't save her." Kukai growled and slammed his fist against the wall.

"I understand she's powerful now," Hikaru said, unphased by Kukai's tone, "and I have a plan on how to even things out." Hikaru turned to Nikaidou, "Can you upgrade the Guardians, Ikuto, and Utau," he asked.

"I think so," Nikaidou said frowning softly, "but I'd need some readings from Amu to go by."

Hikaru nodded as he looked at Tsukasa, The chairman of the school.

"You said the Dumpty lock was black," Tsukasa said as he stared out the window, an arm across his chest and the other resting against his chin.

"Yes," Tadase supplied, "it was black as night."

Tsukasa sighed and turned to look at everyone, "well," he stated, "Even with Easter's help there is only one way to save her, the Dumpty Key." Tsukasa indicated Ikuto, "It's the only way I can think of to save her."

Everyone sighed and looked at Ikuto, who looked out the window and scowled. "Amulet X," he said softly, "Amu, I'll save you."

End Chapter 1

A/N: Well this is the fic so far. I know it's a long chapter, I just started to get ideas in places and it grew, hehe. Anyways I hope you all liked the story and as always: Review, Review, Review!