The Broken Doll

Chapter 3

Over the week, Yuma finally gathered the rest of his friends, all while remaining "missing" to his sister and grandmother. Word got around that kids were going missing as well, and entire search parties were dispatched. Unfortunately, none could find the missing kids.

There was one person who dug deeper than the other search parties, though. Kaito flew with Orbital 7 around the city to see if he could find something from above. Unfortunately, just like Yuma's friends, he couldn't see any clues from the perspective he was looking at. Just as he was about to tell Orbital to go back, the robot spoke up.

"There's a message for you, Kaito-sama."

"Who's it from?"

"There's no name on it, and the sender is untraceable."

"What does it say?"

" 'Kaito. I have Yuma in my grasp as I type. Come over to this location that I've attached if you want to see him again.' "

Kaito closed his eyes and opened them again after a while. "Take me there."

Orbital complied, following the directions attached to the message that led to a building they seemed to have overlooked, and for good reason. It was a rather tall and well hidden building. There was nothing really standing out about it unless one looked into the windows. There was plenty of machinery neatly placed and taken care of. That meant someone was living there, or at least occupying it. Kaito knew this was the right place. Orbital knew this, too, so he landed Kaito on the ground and formed back into his robot self.

He knocked at the door and waited for a while before someone opened the door. The person at the doorway was someone who looked like Yuma, but he had an oddly empty look about him, and the normally bright Emperor's Key was dull in color. Even the green gem embedded in it was lacking luster. On his head was a sort of headset that made him look like he was being mind controlled.

"Yuma?" Kaito tested.

"I'm Yuma," the boy replied. "So, you got Shing's message? Come in. She's very eager to see you." Without waiting for an answer, he mechanically turned and walked back inside.

Kaito had no choice but to follow, not if he wanted to go home empty-handed. He and Orbital entered the strange building and immediately noticed a strange smell, like disinfectant or something along those lines. This place smelled too clean, like a doctor's office. "Orbital, I want you to go back home and take care of Haruto," the Numbers Hunter whispered to his little bot. "If anything happens to me here, I want him to be safe. Can I trust you with that?"

"You can count on me, Kaito-sama!" Orbital hissed back and scurried back outside, where he transformed into something more suited for speedy travel to make his way back to Haruto quickly.

Kaito watched him to before hearing the impatient sound of a foot tapping on the ground. He turned back to face Yuma, whose blank face betrayed no emotion, but something deep inside was irritated. Was it just that Kaito wasn't hurrying up, or was his own spirit deep inside, impatient to get free? Whatever it was didn't show in the face or in any other body language. Kaito, stone faced as ever, simply walked by the boy without a second glance.

"My queen, he is here," Yuma said from behind Kaito. The Numbers Hunter heard a movement behind him and turned around. To his surprise, Yuma was kneeling on one knee with his head bowed. His hands were twitching, though, trying to reach for the Key, as if reaching out to Astral for help. He didn't look like he was aware of it, though.

"What did you do to him?" Kaito demanded.

Shing took her time answering. Currently, she was bent over her desk, her nose deep in something she was working on. It was clear that she wouldn't be rushed in her answer. Finally, after a few moments, she replied. "What do you mean, Kaito. He's perfectly fine. Just how a knight is supposed to act to his queen." She looked down at Yuma with a soft smile. "Now, my knight, I want you to bring Cathy and Kotori for me. I think the serum is improved."