When Darkness Falls
Part Three
By: Ashmoria
Author notes: Hello! And here, my friends, is Part Three...and to be quite frank, I have no idea where this story is going...or when it's going to end. I'm going by the wind of my pants...^_^ Once again, thanks for all the support and Kira, I'm trying!! Really I am! Having a life is HARD! ...More ANGST, SWEARING AND SOME GRAPHIC VIOLENCE in this part, I'm telling you now, if you can't handle blood, swearing or some incredibly, INCREDIBLY adult situations WALK AWAY *NOW*...I'm telling you! LAST WARNING! and just in advance, Tai fans; Please don't kill me!! *fends from flying vegetables* Lots of characterization and explanations hanging around in this part too.
Disclaimer; I still don't own any of this...(‘cept for Corran, the Dark Man (Kuragari) and all of the Crest oriented attacks) I just use the characters to write these wonderful tales of death and destruction. ^^
Special thanks to Ucchan, Remy-san, Raya and Jen for being my little devil's advocates, for if it wasn't for them, I would have given up this profession months ago and you all wouldn't be reading this. ^_^ Thanks guys!!! Eirynn, for being my better half. (DUO!!) & Matt and Laura, My "wall", for loving me as much as they do and constantly being the Tai and T.K to my Yamato. *mwah*
*starts singing* Angst...angst...angst...ANGST!
"Isard," The man snapped angrily, "Would you like to explain to me why I didn't know there was more than one of those crest wearing annoyances around?"
Corran Isard approached his boss fearfully, not in the mood for whatever punishment the man had cooked up for him. "I didn't know sir, the last records say that the other children were still in Odaiba!"
The dark man turned full profile so that the other could get a good look at him. With his long jet black hair and red eyes, Kuragari looked like something out a nightmare. Lifting a hand, he shoved it in Corran's face so that he could see the blood now drying on it, "Well, Isard, because of you and your *records* I have a nice little hole in me. Some blonde kid showed up before I could finish off his little friend."
"I...I'm sorry, sir..." Corran stammered pitifully, "I won't let it happen again!"
That bloodied hand whipped out to close around the young man's throat, "You better make sure it doesn't. Remember you work for me now, and I don't tolerate failure very well."
Gasping for breath and composure, Corran nodded, "Yes...Sir...I know sir..."
"Good," Kuragari answered, releasing the shaking man and waving absently with a hand, "In any case, I succeeded in opening the portal. In a few hours there will be nothing left for your humankind to salvage...and no Digidestined left to save it."
"I look forward to that hour, sir." Corran mumbled, rubbing his sore neck with infinite remorse.
"You're dismissed Isard, but bring me those readouts you promised me within the hour." Kuragari said casually, leaning into a chair and cracking his knuckles carelessly.
"Yes, sir, as you wish." Corran said, bowing and trying to find the quickest way out of there.
The deep course laugh of his employer sent shivers down Corran's spine, "Cheer up, Isard. Smile a little. In twenty four hours, we're going to take over the world!!"
"He doesn't look so great." Was Takeru's assessment of Taichi's current state of health as he and his older brother carefully lay the young man into the blankets of Takeru's bed. They had reached T.K's apartment a few minutes earlier and after the not so wonderful task of carrying the unconscious young man up twenty flights of stairs they had succeeded in getting him safely into the room.
Yamato nodded, "Quick, get me a towel. We need to stop this bleeding."
The older man placed his already bloodied hand over the gaping wound on his friend's side until his younger brother threw him a fluffy, light blue towel from across the room. Applying as much pressure as he dared, Yamato watched as the towel began to lose it's color and began to fade into a dark, ominous crimson.
"Takeru, I want you to hold this down," He instructed, "I'm going to go call Jyou."
T.K reached over and took over the towel, while his brother walked over to the phone, picked up the receiver and punched in the appropriate number. Tiny drops of blood from Matt's hands fell onto the keypad, leaving a reminder of how serious the situation really was.
Biting his lower lip in desperation, Matt listened to the sound of ringing on the other end of the phone. Once, twice...a third...Where was he?
"C'mon Jyou," Matt muttered aloud, "Pick up the damn phone."
"Matt," His brother's voice called, "He's losing a lot of blood here..."
A harsh look over his shoulder conveyed Yamato's annoyance, "You don't think I don't know that!?"
Fourth ring...a fifth...a sixth...
"Jyou, it five a.m!" Yamato hissed, "Where the hell are you?"
Finally, a voice filled the line...a *female* voice... "Hello?" She didn't sound happy.
At first Matt figured he had the wrong number, "Is Kido Jyou there?"
A heavy groan and then, "Yes. Just a minute, please."
Jyou's tired, sleep laden voice grumbled a few syllables onto the receiver, "Whaddya want?"
"Well, hello stud." Matt said, despite all the tension around him, he found himself unable to keep the amused tone out of his voice.
Silence, and then; "Yamato?"
"No, Jyou, it's the Pope. I thought I'd ring you up and ask you why you haven't been to church in a year and a half. So, um...I'm not...disturbing anything...am I?"
"It's not what you think...I mean, she's just a friend, I mean...hell, I don't know what I mean..." He rambled desperately, suddenly very awake.
"Jyou, you're twenty three years old, what you do with your free time is totally up to you." Matt replied, attempting quite unsuccessfully to keep from laughing.
"Alright...then is there any particular reason you're calling me at five in the morning?" Jyou asked wearily.
"It's Tai." Matt said quietly.
"Tai...the Tai? The one that's been missing for two years? Mr. Guardian of Courage Taichi Kamiya? That Tai?" Jyou asked, sounding just more than slightly surprised.
"No, the Tai that lives up on Niyami with his Chihuahua Fifi," Matt answered sarcastically, "How soon can you get over here?"
"Yamato, you know I gave that stuff up years ago...Why do you need me?" Jyou grumbled.
"Well, since you're the only doctor I know and Taichi's bleeding all over Takeru's new carpet, it *seemed* like a pretty good idea at the time." Yamato replied, wincing as he realized that his bitter, joking attitude probably wasn't helping Tai much.
"Matt, the last time I checked that's what they invented hospitals for..."
"Jyou, have you looked outside yet?" Matt cut in, remembering the wonderfully multi- coloured sky that he and Takeru had just walked in from.
A sound of shifting blankets and feet pounding on hardwood floor entered Yamato's hearing and signaled Jyou's retreat from bed. A few minutes of silence followed until Matt heard a shocked gasp and the other's one word reaction. Jyou's single curse pretty much summed up his thoughts on what was going on, because when he returned to the line the surprise was more than evident in his voice.
"I'll be over there in ten minutes. Can you keep the world from falling apart until then?" He asked breathlessly.
Matt sent a fearful glare over his shoulder at the unconscious young man and fought the urge to tell Jyou to break every speed limit known to man to get himself into this room, "No promises, Kido."
"Well," Jyou said flatly, "You're going to have to try."
The telephone clicked to silence, signaling that the other had left and Matt let the receiver fall back onto the cradle with slow deliberation. The blonde haired man walked back to the bedside where Takeru had successfully tied up the wound in the most haphazard way he knew how and covered Tai with a heavy blue comforter.
The brother's blue eyes lifted, "Jyou coming?"
"Yeah," Was the distance reply, "Ten minutes..."
"You're blaming yourself again, aren't you." Takeru asked bluntly. It wasn't really stated as a question. His younger sibling knew him too well.
"If I'd been a couple seconds earlier to get to him..." Yamato muttered quietly. "Or I hadn't talked to him that night all those years ago... Then maybe things wouldn't have been this way."
"Matt," T.K answered, "You know how Taichi was after the massacre. I don't think things would have ended much differently. He was depressed...For all we knew, suicidal even. It's true he never deserved all this, but you can't blame yourself for every little agony that happens to him."
"I've told myself that a million times, Takeru, but then I realize there were a million things I could have done to help. He went though all those years by himself...and I always thought it was his fault. I was so wrong about him, so wrong about everything." Yamato's voice dropped to nothing more than a whisper. The young man had ten years to compound all the guilt about letting his friend down and this was the final event that seem to trigger it's release.
His eyes found themselves staring at the still form of Taichi Kamiya with a frown of apprehension. It was strange that even though it had been over ten years since they had met, Tai still held that characteristic childishness to him. He was twenty one years old, but lying there sleeping he looked like the same Tai from the Digital World all that time ago. The boy's hair had tamed down a lot, now shorter, and more controllable, falling in short locks over his dark brown eyes. Tai was never tall for his age, and even now he was still surprisingly shorter than the others. It seemed he'd stopped growing around the five foot seven range, but it his height deficit had never stopped the boy. Even back when Yamato was a head taller than Tai, somehow he'd been able to successfully take Matt out in fights regardless. Taichi had also gotten rid of those horrible goggles as well, choosing to wear a wardrobe of loose jeans and a simple light blue button down shirt. He looked, to be sure, like the perfect University bound young man. It was too bad the pale, darkened look that plagued his thin face and blood that stained his clothing ruined that image completely.
Rubbing a hand over tired eyes, Yamato looked at his own reflection in the mirror. Sleepy, red rimmed blue eyes looked back at him. He remembered looking at himself one day and deciding he simply hated what he saw. It wasn't him. He had tried to change the picture, make the pieces of the puzzle fit on his own, but all that succeeded in doing was screwing it up more. It was because he looked in the wrong place...Those answers he tried to seek weren't in his eyes. They were in *their* eyes. It seemed strange at the time, but it had ultimately been Taichi, his alleged rival, who had shown Matt how much he was needed among his friends. Now when he gazed into the clear surface at his face he saw him--Yamato Ishida. A twenty one year old man with the same wild blond hair and upturned smirk. But the arrogance was gone. He hadn't needed it anymore. Whatever shields and walls that he had built around himself had tumbled down a millennia ago.
Coming out of his long reverie, Matt noticed that Takeru had walked from the room to his fridge to retrieve a Sprite and was leaning exhausted against the cupboards, the eighteen year old had let his head fall back, "All we can do is help him *now*"
Matt shook his head, "That won't be nearly enough, Takeru. You weren't there. You didn't hear what I said to him. I blamed him T.K. I told him that all those people were dead because of him."
Takeru's eyes glinted with absolute confusion, "But that's crazy, it was Toshiromon who set the charges. I know some kids that were at school blamed Tai too, but I don't understand, how could it have been his fault?"
"He was standing right there, Takeru," Yamato replied, gesturing wildly into the empty space in front of him, "Maybe you didn't see it, but he was right there. He could have stopped the explosion but...he didn't. He just stood there. Taichi could have saved four hundred lives if he had just pushed that damn button! But no, the idiot just stood there and watched it all happen. *That's* why I blamed him...or maybe it's because I had no one else to blame."
"It would definitely explain why Tai was so...different after that. He must have blamed himself too." Takeru observed somberly.
"Hellva time to start feeling guilty if you ask me." Was Yamato's sharp reply. He didn't want to get into this all over again. It just brought back all the anger and sadness that came with remembering that night five years ago.
"I don't..." Takeru was abruptly cut off by someone knocking impatiently at the door. The younger man frowned and quickly crossed the threshold to the doorway, Yamato's eyes following to see if the visitor was Jyou.
A strangely tall and thin man entered the apartment, his short, blue-tinted hair looking simple and neat on his head and stylish wired rimmed glasses covered ever-worried eyes. In a professional looking suit jacket and pants, Jyou Kido looked every part the doctor his father had wanted him to be. Well, save for the odd lopsided grin he gave the two brothers.
"It's been a long time." Jyou said.
Yamato returned the smile and reached out to slap the doctor hello, "Too long. You couldn't have gotten here a little quicker?"
"Well, I would have tried but I didn't want to turn downtown Toyko during morning rush into a demolition derby." Jyou answered, putting his black bag on the table and rifling aimlessly through it's contents, "How is our patient?"
"I've seen eggs with more colour." Takeru muttered, showing Jyou into the room where Taichi still lie in blessed unconsciousness. Jyou's frown was immediate. That probably wasn't a good sign. If a sanctioned doctor had that kind of reaction, Yamato hated to think of how bad the situation was.
"God, what in the world happened to him?"
"He was attacked by some guy trying to open the portal to the Digital World." Matt explained.
Jyou's head immediately jerked up to look at him, "I'm afraid to ask but...did he succeed?"
Matt's head dropped in answer, "You could say that."
The doctor rolled his eyes, "Opposed to saying what?"
"Opposed to saying that he's merging the two worlds..."
If Jyou hadn't been leaning on the bed frame, Matt was pretty sure that he would have fallen over at the news. It was true that they all wanted a quiet retirement from the Chosen Children status, but it seemed their preordained destiny would always come rushing back to haunt them.
"Let me take a wild shot in the dark and say that we're the lucky bunch of people who get the honour of stopping this psycho from carrying out his devious master plan..." Jyou muttered in an agitated tone.
Yamato's lip curved up with irony, "Why Jyou, you know us to well."
"Comes with the crest."
Takeru budded into the conversation, his mind more on Taichi's faltering state than the current world wide problem. But it had always been like that. Yamato had sometimes gotten jealous over his brother's close friendship with Tai. "Shouldn't we give him a pain killer or something to keep him out?"
Jyou shook his head, "No need to keep him out. He'll do that on his own. I can tell by looking at him that he's comatose. I can also tell he should be in a hospital, but with the approaching apocalypse, I don't think that's a wise option," Jyou retrieved his bag of medical supplies and turned to the brothers, "Alright, out of here you two. Leave me to my work."
Takeru blanched, "You work alone? Can you handle it?"
"Hey," Jyou said, "It's me."
Yamato shrugged, "Is there anything you need?"
"No," Was the answer, "But I would suggest getting a hold of the others and informing them of our little issue."
Yamato let his eyes stray from Tai's form to his old friend, who he favoured quickly with a lopsided grin, "Nothing like a little reunion to get you in the mood to save the planet." He said.
Corran Isard shut the door to his office and growled out a disgusted curse. If he had to call that blind, power hungry idiot "sir" one more time Corran thought he was going to be physically ill. Corran knew it was important to maintain his subdued image to Kuragari though, for the other man couldn't know that he was being undermined. Corran was the brains behind the operation and he was actually relishing in the day when he'd finally get to see Kuragari shocked reaction when he discovered that he'd been used all along.
Corran ran a hand through his short black hair and slumped into his chair. He'd known all along that there was more than one Chosen Child around Tokyo. He'd specifically selected the Kamiya boy because of his somewhat faltering outlook on the world. He'd been on and off of anti-depressants and had seen almost half a dozen psychiatrists in a vain attempt to wipe a certain painful memory from his mind. Corran hadn't told Kuragari because if the man was foolish enough to hire that pathetic band of so-called "mobsters" then he was power hungry enough to go after the other DigiDestined. His partner was in all senses a fighter. But Corran highly doubted the man was strong enough to take them all on. The problem of the little Crest using brats would be dealt with eventually anyway. Corran was less than worried about that.
Corran smiled as he remembered how this entire endeavour had first began. Ten years earlier while the world was under the plague of the evil Digimon Myotismon, Corran had gained a keen interest in the mysterious goings-on. Though the military seemed to have disavowed any knowledge of these monsters or the floating "island" in the sky, Corran had become a believer in the fact there was another realm out there somewhere and in his own obsession for personal gain became strictly devoted to it's discovery. Not long after "the world in the sky" disappeared another monster had taken over the internet waves and his search for answers was more than mollified.
It was though this time and some complex hacking that the young man had learned about the Chosen Children and their role, it was also through this understanding that he was able to get a hold of Kuragari, who as murderously oriented as he was, ended up getting the information Corran needed to solidify his claim and allow the first fragments of his plan to fall in place. Kuragari was neither human, nor Digimon, but had seemingly been able to exist in the DigiWorld needless. Unfortunately, Kuragari was a fool. The man was too driven on his longing to rule the Digital realm and was ready to destroy anyone or anything to get what he wanted. Corran was more of a thinker. If he was going to destroy anything, he was going to do it with brains...and as cleanly as possible. All he needed to was rid the world of a few key players...
Corran's emerald green eyes immediately narrowed as his computer screen brought up the files on his rivals. They were all still young, around his age, but held the fact they had been hiding their true identities as the DigiDestined through the many years. Most of them weren't married, or involved in any serious relationships, which made it hard to use their own personal weaknesses against them. The only strong bond was with one another, and while Corran's overconfidence would probably be his downfall, their faith in each other would be there's.
Corran gazed at the file contemptuously, understanding completely that to destroy an enemy, you had to get into their heads first. That's another trait that raised him above Kuragari, who liked to kill first and ask questions later. Corran wanted to play with the Chosen first. Hurt them before he put them out of their misery. A wicked smile pulled at his lips as he realized the first part of that plan was probably getting under way as he sat there. The screen glared with the picture of a young man with large sky blue eyes and pale blond hair that fell neatly past his ears. The scroll beneath the image introduced him;
Name: Ishida, Yamato
Age: 21
Residence;
12-37-41 Yamini
Tokyo, Japan.
Currently taking courses at the University Of Tokyo.
The Guardian Of Friendship. Also the other boy that Kuragari had run into on the roof of the building. Although it was discovered that Taichi had been the group's leader, this Yamato seemed to hold the power to take over where his friend left off. He could be a problem...The way he had come to the rescue of the Kamiya boy and proved himself quite able to fight Kuragari, was definitely showing himself a strong threat. He would have to go first.
Corran's smile never faded. The Chosen wouldn't see their demise coming in any case. It was too well thought out and ironic and with the two realms already well on their way to merging, things were definitely going Corran's way. Soon, the DigiDestined would be dead and nothing would stand in his way.
Leaning back in his plush leather chair, he put his hands behind his head and laughed lightly, "Time to rise and shine, little Taichi."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Mimi Tachikawa, now Mimi Izumi cried, her voice so shrill she was probably waking up Takeru's neighbours. "If this guy wants to take over the world, I say he can have it! I'm sick of fighting over it."
Takeru couldn't keep his amused smile hidden. It was so nice having all his friends together in one room again. It seemed the last time was Koushiro and Mimi's wedding two years ago and even then, his brother and Jyou had been so drunk they'd been dancing on tables and belting out classical Japanese show tunes. Luckily, Matt *could* actually sing, Jyou on the other hand...Well, they had some embarrassing photos for blackmailing the doctor in the future anyway...
"Mimi," Sora Takenouchi said, her voice of reason STILL a voice of reason after ten years, "I hate fighting as much as you do, but we can't let him just merge the worlds like that...It's our job to stop him."
Mimi rolled her elegant brown eyes expressively, "They want sincerity? I'll give it to them! I *sincerely* do not want to do this."
T.K watched his brother step forward into the growing argument, "I don't think we really have much of a choice. Even if we don't fight, I think this guy...whoever he was...will come after us anyway. He views us as the only thing that stands between him and actually taking over the two realms."
Izzy placed a hand on Mimi's shoulder to comfort his distraught wife, "I think Yamato's right. I mean, look what he did to Taichi..."
Everyone immediately went silent at the mention of Tai's name. Jyou still hadn't emerged from the room, even when the others had begun to arrive. Koushiro seemed as guilty as Matt had about the young man's condition because he had allegedly gotten a call from Tai the night before where Taichi had tried to explain how he thought something was wrong and Izzy had blown him off.
"So," Sora muttered, "We basically get the ultimatum of fight this guy, or end up like Tai?"
"And you definitely don't want to end up like Tai." A voice said bluntly, as the door to Takeru's room open and closed. Jyou stepped out, wiping his bloodied hands with a towel.
"Jyou!" Hikari cried, leaping from her spot, and her reverie, on the couch beside T.K, "How is he?"
"Physically, he's going to be alright. I stitched him up and gave him some local anesthetic ...but mentally...I don't know. It's like someone's stolen the soul right out of him, there's nothing there. He's like a vegetable." Jyou answered with a helpless shrug.
Kari's eyes faltered and Takeru reached down to squeeze her hand reassuringly. They'd been dating for months and the blonde boy could see the pain in the girl's eyes. She had went through many years of watching her big brother slowly fall apart. "Hasn't he been though enough already?"
Takeru nodded silently, "Yes, more than enough. We're going to bring him back this time, Hikari. I swear to you. It's going to be different this time around."
Kari's tired face raised to look at all her friends in turn, "I just don't want to lose my brother again..."
A night that haunts the mind...
An obsession never forgotten...
A heart destroyed...
A never ending pain...
Not a dream...
a MEMORY.
Taichi Kamiya stood atop the tall weather station, his fist clenched at his sides and his face drawn with battle readiness. WarGreymon stood towering above him, the human and Digimon facing the form of Toshiromon, one of the newest evil Digital Monsters who had attempted to break the barrier between the two realms. The two were alone, the other Digidestined were below fighting a group of Toshiromon's minions who had been guarding the tower's doorways. But that didn't matter, Taichi was positive him and WarGreymon could handle it on their own.
"All by yourself, little Guardian?" Toshiromon asked the sixteen year old boy, cruelness dancing in his voice.
Tai's brown eyes narrowed, "That's all it's going to take."
"Confident brat, aren't you?" He muttered, pulling himself to his full height and regarding Tai hungrily, bearing razor sharp feline-like teeth. "No matter, it's too late...Anything you do now will not save your world."
Those eyes narrowed even further until all that was left were angered golden brown slits, "I'm not one to give up easily."
The beasts claws scratched at the ground viciously sending the screeching sound of metal around the room. WarGreymon stepped protectively in front of Tai, afraid that the Digimon was going to attack. And he did. Sending a large bolt of energy straight at the metal Digimon, who took the hit full on and was flung backwards into the windows nearby.
Toshiromon licked his lips, "I like a good challenge."
WarGreymon was up once more, flying at the challenger, dagger-like claws out to slice the opposing Digimon into pieces. But as he approached, Toshiromon dodged quicker than sight and was able to send another bolt into the Warp Digimon's side. With another, much louder smash of equipment, WarGreymon went down again. Tai clenched his fists. This definitely wasn't going the way he thought it would. His Digimon wasn't getting up and even with it at his Warp level, he wasn't able to scratch Toshiromon. The huge furry beast was a lot faster and stronger than anyone had imagined.
Tai's first instinct was to run to WarGreymon, who had yet to move from the debris on the floor. But the large form of Toshiromon was now placed solidly between them and Taichi's only options were to back into a corner or jump out the window and fall twenty some odd storeys. Neither idea was really appealing to him. When Toshiromon began to close the gap between them though, Tai began to run out of space real fast. His steps became smaller and smaller until his back hit the wall and the young boy had to do everything in his power to hide the fear invading his eyes. As the evil Digimon now stood over him, he grappled to find the courage that had always came so easily before.
One clawed had closed around his throat and Tai gasped in horror as his air supply was abruptly cut off. Wide brown eyes began to seek out his protector, "WARGREYMON!"
His Digimon's green eyes shot up suddenly from unconsciousness and the low, angry growl that emanated from him clearly displayed his message to Toshiromon. But the Evil Digimon merely squeezed Taichi tighter until the boy was forced to cry out in pain before addressing the Warp protector, "Stay back, or I'll kill him. You wouldn't want me to do that, now would you?"
WarGreymon looked from Toshiromon to Tai and back again, before taking a resigned step back. His heart wrenched as he caught the look of defeat in his Digidestined eyes. He knew Tai hated feeling this helpless. The Digimon also knew he could do nothing while this Toshiromon had Tai...But more so Toshiromon was good on his word, he WOULD kill Tai if he had to.
The evil Digimon shifted Tai in his grip, moving to put one furry arm around his neck and bodily dragging the boy across the room with him. Toshiromon's free hand moved over the weather station's control panel and he quickly tapped in a command. "It's almost a pity I have to destroy this world. Seems like a waste of time to me. Especially all those lovely human women..."
"So why don't you go back into your world and leave us alone?" Tai wondered, his feet desperately seeking solid ground.
Toshiromon smiled wickedly down at the boy, "Where's the fun in that?"
WarGreymon stepped warily forward, "Just let Tai go and we'll let you get out of here alive, Toshiromon."
The Digimon laughed, "Oh, you're so noble WarGreymon. But I'm not an idiot..."
"Could have fooled me." Taichi spat, then gasped as he found one of the evil Digimon's razor sharp claws painfully piercing his neck. Toshiromon laughed as WarGreymon stiffened and Tai fought the urge to cry out in agony as the claw began to make a small bloody line across his throat. The Digidestined hands trembled, but he refused to give Toshiromon the satisfaction of seeing him in pain. The boy attempted to keep a straight face even though his heart was rattling out of control.
He's going to kill me!, Tai's mind screamed, Oh God, he's going to kill me...
Toshiromon seemed to rethink his strategy at the last second and instead leaned his head down so it was beside Tai's ear. "Who is more the idiot?" The Digimon whispered, "The dead man or the live?"
Taichi was shaking like a leaf and he knew it. The only thing that bothered him was that he hated it. He couldn't stand this feeling that there was nothing he could do, or no way to fight back. He hated showing weakness and fear in the face of his enemy. He was the Guardian of Courage. He had no *right* to feel fear. Banishing the terror to a deep part in his soul, Tai noticed that his feet were dangling just above the evil Digimon's knee caps. It would be risky but if he could just get away from him then WarGreymon would do the rest.
Gathering the strength he had, Taichi let loose a battle cry and rammed both legs into the monster's leg with all he could muster. Toshiromon howled in surprise at this sudden attempt to fight back and loosened his grip slightly. This was all Tai needed, he slammed his elbow into Toshiromon's mid-section and quickly rolled to the ground and away from the evil Digimon's wraith.
Toshiromon was furious, "You little FOOL!"
"WarGreymon!!" Tai commanded hurriedly.
The metal Digimon's reaction was immediate and the huge ball of energy went careening as the single cry of "TERRA FORCE!" filled the roof top...Toshiromon put out his hands as if to ward of the blow he knew was coming, but this was it, the Digimon had absolutely no hope in avoiding this...The energy ball beared down on him and...suddenly...changed...direction...
"NO!" Tai yelled in absolute horror as his Digital partner's attack was reversed on him, "WARGREYMON!"
The explosion was tremendous. It's light spilled around the room, blinding Tai and making him cover his eyes. The floor beneath him shook and the boy had to fight to keep his balance as the world seemed to collapse around him...and as the moment faded, WarGreymon lay unmoving on the weather station floor. Taichi was beside his friend in a second, worrying tugging at his heart.
"WarGreymon...?" He asked, his voice shaking, "C'mon, speak to me buddy."
The green inside the metal eye slits faded on and off as the Digimon wavered on the edge of unconsciousness, "So...sorry...Tai...couldn't...couldn't..."
"I know," Taichi whispered, watching those green eyes blink out, "You tried your best."
Toshiromon stepped through the smoke, "How touching." He muttered dryly. With one almost leisurely gesture he sent Tai flying into a wall with enough force to let the boy see stars and fight in madness to catch his breath once more.
"I think my job here is done," The Evil Digimon said sluggishly, as Tai wiped the blood from his mouth, "It's probably about time I get out of here...But of course, I've created a little something to make sure you're not stupid enough to follow me," He gestured grandly to the nearby control panel, "Behold. This little weather station is quite handy, you know. I was able to hack into some lovely defense satellites orbiting your planet. As we speak, two very large bombs are heading straight for Earth...and here's the great part...You can only stop one..."
Taichi blinked in shock, "You're insane! Do you know how many innocent people you're going to kill!!??"
"Yes!" Toshiromon answered gleefully, "Isn't it great? A little something to remember me by. You get to choose, little Taichi, this red button will disable one and only one bomb. If you try and stop both, they will both go kaboom. Got it?"
Tai's brown eyes widened in fear as the true implications came floating by, "But where...?"
Pointing to two screens above the panel which has whirled to life, they displayed the two bombs final destination and what Tai saw almost made his legs collapse from under him.
"Odaiba..." He whispered in dread.
"But that isn't the best part, my young friend." Gesturing to screen number two... The screen where Tai's friends still stood in battle completely oblivious that their end was coming from above.
Tai looked up at Toshiromon and shook his head wildly, "NO!" He cried, "No, you can't do this! YOU CAN'T!!!"
"You'd better choose, little Taichi," Toshiromon said happily, "Odaiba or your friends...You can only save one and the clocks ticking..."
How could he expect Tai to choose? Hundreds of people would perish if he let the bomb hit Odaiba...but his friends...How could he let them die like that?? How could he be the one to condemn them? Izzy...Yamato...Jyou...Hikari...Mimi...Sora...Takeru...His friends. He needed them...but Odaiba...
"It's an easy choice Taichi," Toshiromon said almost casually, "It's all about the mission for you anyway. Your friends are nothing. A mere few casualties to stop the war...Think of the people who will die if you don't save Odaiba. C'mon Tai, you know you don't care about them..."
Tai's eyes swelled with horrified tears as memories passed through his subconscious. Yamato had always been the one to point out Taichi's faults when it came to leadership, but in some ways it had been him who had made the boy question himself. It was true Tai didn't deal with emotion well, but was it real?...WAS Tai as cold as Matt thought he was?
"But...I do care about them...They're my friends!" Tai stuttered, confused.
"Do you think they'd do the same thing for cold ol' Tai? Do you really think they care about you?" Seeing the shocked look in the boy's eyes, the Digimon smiled mock sympathetically, "Oh, you did? How sad...How *pathetically* sad."
"They're...my...friends..." Tai said hopelessly, trapped off somewhere in his own world. Had he been living a lie? Who was Taichi Kamiya? The cold hearted leader of the Digidestined who put the mission before human feelings? The one who took those around him for granted for personal gain? A single tear traced it's way down Tai's face as the question rang through his heart, Who WAS he?
"Tick tock, Taichi..." Toshiromon said, "Time's running out..."
Tai's brown eyes raised to look at the screens once more. Odaiba...his home...He knew for sure his family was not a home, but other families were. Innocent people with no faces to him, but didn't deserve to die in any case. Didn't deserve to be condemned because he couldn't push a damn button...then there was his friends. Those who were constantly by his side and after years of being thrown through every hell the DigiWorld could toss at them had become his family. These people had faces. Faces he loved. Faces he couldn't live without.
Taichi could literally feel his heart shatter into pieces. He couldn't choose...Couldn't choose between being a leader and a friend...Matt Ishida's eyes suddenly seem to rise up to look at the screen and Tai shuddered, Matt was so right about him...He *didn't* care... I'm sorry, Yamato. I'm so sorry...
"I...I can't..." Tai whispered, hands clenched trembling at his sides. "I can't choose...Toshiromon, kill me instead...Just disarm the bombs and kill me instead. I'm begging you...let them live, and kill me."
"As appealing as that proposition is, I'm afraid not even I can stop the bombs now...It's up to you, Tai, m'boy...You have exactly two minutes to push that button or there's going to be a whole lot of dead people hanging over your head." Toshiromon muttered with a light hearted shrug.
"I CAN'T!" Tai screamed desperately, "How can you force me to choose between my home and my friends!? I can't let all those people in Odaiba die...but my friends, I...I...love them."
"You love them? Oh how sweet...I'm so glad I was here to hear this profound revelation in your life." Toshiromon said, "Too bad in one minute all that love is going to be splattered all over the pavement."
The red buttons in front of Tai never looked so forbidding. One of them needed to be pushed...One bomb had to be stopped...but which one? WHICH ONE? Damn, how could he choose? How could he do this...HOW? Lifting a hand towards the panel Tai cursed as he noticed his fingers were shaking horribly. Odaiba or his friends??? Odaiba...friends...
"Why are you doing this?" Tai's shattered whisper asked.
The answer was plaintive and full of hate, "To watch you suffer."
He had thirty seconds to pick...The tears ran freely now, blurring the pictures on the screens. One of those screens was going to be full of death in a few seconds and the fact he could nothing to stop it made him want to break down sobbing.
"I'm so sorry..." Tai cried softly to both images. He knew the pain that would come. He knew from this moment on, he wasn't Taichi Kamiya anymore. His life ended here along with everyone else's.
Couldn't choose...Couldn't choose...
Tai closed his eyes and steeled his quaking heart as his hand descended and unknowingly pressed randomly at one of the buttons. Afraid to open them again, he heard chaos break loose as one bomb connected with something. Taichi wasn't sure which one had hit, he didn't want to know...but as screams of horror and pain entered his hearing one thought sheared though his mind.
Odaiba...
"Excellent Taichi, m'boy, it seems your friends get to live another day..." Toshiromon said laughing, actually *laughing*, at the destruction of the boy's hometown.
Somewhere deep in Tai's heart anger began to bubble. How could he laugh at this? People were lying on the streets, missing limbs and calling out for lost family members. Blood and crumbled buildings lay splayed on the ground and fire lit the screen with an eerie glow. Anger at himself and the Digimon who had forced him choose began swell inside him until a shadow seemed to fall over his heart.
Turning, he found Toshiromon backing out, trying to leave through the room's back exit. Flames in his eyes, Tai followed until he stood right behind his enemy's huge form, "You made me choose..." His voice was little more than a growl.
"Be glad you're getting away with your own life..." Was the snapped reply.
"OMAE O KOROSU!" Tai screamed, hatred ringing through him until he was began to glow a horrendous orange that seemed to drown out the rest of the room.
Toshiromon's eyes widened at the threat of the suddenly glowing boy. The light was so intense the Digimon almost lost sight of his young opponent. But what he could see was the intense agony in the now fiery gold eyes. For the first time in facing the Digidestined he truly believed the boy *could* kill him.
"Say what you want, little Taichi, but those people are dead because of you." Toshiromon cried, claws retracting.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The anguished cry that emanated from the light seemed almost unhuman and seemed to shake the very structure's walls. Toshiromon knew he had hit the right nerve, because the light suddenly withered into fire and the boy at it's centre stood staring at his hands as though he could see blood on them.
Smiling wickedly, Toshiromon realized he'd outsmarted the boy...Or so he thought. Those golden eyes shot up at him and he saw that there was not a shred of forgiveness in them.
"Shine... " The boy snarled...and those hands lifted up and with an outward gesture, Tai's voice cried out two words that sealed the Digimon's death, "COURAGE FIRE!"
Toshiromon's death cry entered Tai's mind and he watched the Digimon fade into a million pieces as the flames of Taichi's attack destroyed him. Tai didn't have time to celebrate or, for that matter, to think about what he had just done with his own hands. He was totally oblivious to the fact he was standing among licking flames and not getting burnt. Numbly, the boy made his way over to WarGreymon, who still hadn't moved. The boy touched one glowing hand to his friend and the orange shine engulfed the Digimon too, bringing strength and life back to the Guardian.
"Tai?" WarGreymon asked, taking in the odd vision of Taichi Kamiya shining in orange light, his brown eyes now a flaming golden.
"WarGreymon..." Tai whispered quietly, the word sounding more like a sob. The glow subsided and the boy collapsed against his friend. "What have I done?"
WarGreymon didn't understand what had happened, but he could see the agony in Tai's eyes and that was enough to gather the boy in his large arms and let his friend cry on him. Sobs wracked his small frame and continued into long hiccuping moans.
And over and over again, Taichi muttered the same fragmented sentence...
"What have I done...What HAVE I DONE?"
~*A pair of crimson eyes open themselves to the world*~
What started as a low rumbling had morphed horribly into what felt like a full out earthquake as the group of friends gathered together were thrown around the room and into walls and furniture. It had happened so suddenly that no one had seen it coming. One minute they had been discussing what Matt had seen the night before, and the Dark Man who he had fought, the next the world began to shake and they all cried out as the building seemed to shift.
"What's going on?" Mimi cried, bracing herself on the nearby couch.
"This probably isn't a good sign." Takeru observed, slowly making his way across the quaking floor to the window on the opposite side of the room. Drawing back the curtain, he looked through at the angry purple sky. Swirls of black and blue spun inside it, like a giant vacuuming vortex. The world outside seemed to distort and tremble, entire buildings collapsing and people on the streets running for cover.
"Shimatta!" T.K swore, "I think it's happening. We're merging!"
Matt was leaning by the nearby wall and looked up with horror, "What makes you think so?"
"Well, the last time I checked Infinity Mountain *wasn't* in Migaku Park." Was the answer as the boy watched the peak of the huge hill pull out of the land in the horizon.
"So much for doing this strategically." Izzy shouted over the din of creaking and falling cement.
"We need to get out of here!" Takeru said, "Before this place lands on top of us and there's no one left to save the planet."
"No good!" Koushiro murmured, pulling at the knob of the door, "The pressure from the floors above are keeping the door trapped in place. We won't be able to open it."
Yamato made his way open to the stuck door and looked at his friend, "Koushiro, buddy, think about what you just said."
"What do you...?" The boy flushed, "Oh...yeah..."
Izzy let his eyes close and a smile formed on his face. It had been so long since he'd done this. He hoped it still worked or he would really look like a fool. But no, he could always feel the power inside him, ready whenever it was needed, forever within him to use. As much as he was thankful for it's presence, the strength almost frightened him. He didn't feel human with it. Letting the familiar wash of understanding go through him, he felt the warmth of his crest hidden beneath his shirt as it began to glow.
Opening his eyes and allowing the world to see they now shone purple, he shoved his hands up to the roof, "KNOWLEDGE LIGHTNING!"
With a crash and a cloud of dust and drywall, the shot of purple lightning not only took out the stubborn door, but the entire wall with it. When he'd made an exit...he'd really *MADE* an exit.
Takeru shot the young man a look, "Why don't you take out the rest of the floor while you're at it, Koushiro?"
"I just hope that when this is all over they won't make me reimburse them for this. What can I say? I apologize but you see, we managed to trap ourselves inside this apartment while two parallel worlds collided and I had to use my magical lightning to escape. Oh, your insurance doesn't cover insane lightning wielding Chosen Children? That's too bad." Izzy said, smiling slightly.
Sora frowned, "When did Izzy pick up a sense of humour?"
"When he married Mimi." Was Yamato's joking retort. All it earned him was a venomous look from Mimi, who crossed her arms with indignation much like when she was younger.
"Guys! GUYS!" Jyou's voice called from Takeru's bedroom. Kari and him and went in to check on Tai and see if the injured boy was up to getting pulled out of the unstable, but no longer shaking building. "I hate to break up this earthquake joke session but get in here now!"
The friends filed into the cramped space only to see why Jyou was so upset. Tai lay in the bed but he was jerking horribly, going into frantic seizures over God knows what. His hands clutched at the sheets of the bed, knuckles white with tension and eyes squeezed painfully shut. Taichi's agonizing mantra of moaned ‘no's made it seem like the boy was lost in some never ending nightmare he wasn't able to get away from.
"What's wrong with him, Jyou?" Kari cried, watching her brother writhe helplessly.
"He's going into stress induced convulsions," Jyou said, attempting to snatch a flailing arm out of the air, "I need to give him something to calm him down. Matt, grab his leg will you? TK, take the other one and Kari his right arm. With him jumping like this I'll never be able to get the needle in."
Matt reached out and caught Tai's leg right before it clipped him in the stomache and pinned it the mattress. It was more difficult than he even imagined, whatever visions were plaguing the boy's mind was giving him desperate strength to fight off those who were trying to help him. "C'mon, Jyou, hurry it up would you? I can't hold on much longer."
"I'm trying!" The doctor shouted, "I need to get the dosage right! Unless, of course, you want me to knock him out for this rest of natural born life..."
Jyou lifted the syringe to eye level, tapped it's contents once, twice, a third time and then did a sample push. When he had decided it was safe to use, he lowered it towards the patient. But before the needle got anywhere near Tai's arm, something went wrong. Tai's struggles ceased suddenly, and the cries to "leave him alone" faded into oblivion. It was if the will to fight was abruptly dragged from his body.
With a single horrified cry, Taichi's eyes flew open. Matt gasped in shock at what he saw and almost let go of his grip on the boy's leg. Those eyes were not the usual soft brown that Yamato remembered. No, these eyes were crimson red. The same colour as the man from the roof. The same overpowering evil now floated in his friend's gaze. As if pleased by the shocked expressions on the faces of the people around him, Taichi smirked.
The boy's leg whipped out with an almost human strength and Matt hit the wall behind him with a thud, sliding painfully to the floor. Takeru was sent sprawling into Mimi and Izzy, who all landed across the nearby table and Kari cried out as her brother broke free of her also. The red eyed boy leapt up on the bed and snarled, as if daring any of them to try and stop him again.
"Why is he acting like this?!" Kari cried, brown eyes wide with shock.
Yamato shook his head, "It's like the guy that I fought the other night...His eyes are the same red...Something's seriously wrong."
Tai bolted off the bed and to the amazement of everyone in the room, used the rail as a vault. He sent himself somersaulting through the air and rolling across the room, coming up in a defensive position. Matt blinked. Tai had always been able to do stunts like that, especially when he got older, but this wasn't the same. Tai had defied gravity itself. No human should have been able to do that...Physically, it was the same Taichi Kamiya, but mentally, he looked almost predatory. As if he were more animal than human. As if to prove this point, Tai snarled again.
Matt recognized the look in Tai's eyes before the other even moved. It sent a start through the boy to think of what would happen if Tai did get away now. In this condition God only knew what he would do. Unfortunately, Matt knew he couldn't stop him. There was something unnatural about Tai. Something Yamato was pretty sure he couldn't fight and win.
That's why when Tai turned and leapt out the window, no one moved a muscle. That is of course, until Takeru mentioned that it was a thirty foot drop down without a fire escape. The group gathered around the window just in time to catch a glimpse of Taichi Kamiya, arms spread like an eagle, soaring to the ground. His brown hair flew around him like a halo and his blue shirt whipped around him like wings, it was the strangest, most amazing sight they had ever seen.
"He's going to kill himself!!" Mimi screamed.
Hissing out the breath he didn't know he was holding, Yamato watched as Tai, about four seconds from being splattered all over the pavement, tucked into a roll and landed with a soft thud on the concrete, body bent in a smooth crouch. Matt gaped. Tai had just jumped from a twenty storey building as if it were nothing...How could this be possible?
Jerking his head back up to the window where they were all standing, those fiery red eyes caught Matt's. The boy didn't need to say anything for Yamato to get the message that was held deep inside them.
Matt had failed his friend once again.
Corran Isard sat back in his chair to watch the world be thrown into hell. He laughed when the large mountain seemed to break the ground and rise to the sky. He laughed even harder as buildings had fallen and a huge red Digimon creature had flown across the sky. People ran for meager cover and warfare had commenced in the streets. Lines of cars attempting to escape the city was already forming, but it didn't matter, anywhere they went in the world they'd find more destruction. This was chaos.
How he loved chaos.
Corran placed his feet on his desk to admire his work. Not bad for a guy who had just graduated from University. When he'd told his family he wanted big, he wasn't kidding. It had been almost too easy. He'd been in control since day one and in a week, there wouldn't be a place in the world that anyone could dissuade his leadership.
"Come in Taichi," Corran called out, not even needing to look over to tell who is visitor was. Then again, not many people made an entrance through his balcony windows either, "I've been waiting."
With red eyes and dark expression, Taichi Kamiya was more than a testament to Corran's brilliance. Corran had seen the answer where all others had failed...No Digimon had ever been able to beat the Digidestined. That's why he wasn't going to send a Digimon. He would send a human. A perfect soldier of his own creation to destroy the Chosen Children once and for all. Taichi knew no better...he would serve him well. The boy was so run by hatred and bitterness that it was easy to warp his mind into being Corran's own assassin.
"What do you wish, sir?" Taichi asked.
"I think you know already, my friend." Corran said, leaning forward on the table.
The boy's eyes narrowed and a smile crossed his face. The smile of trained killer with no conscience. "I will kill them all."
"Excellent," Corran said, approvingly. He was proud of his creation. He turned the computer screen so the young man could see it, "This is your first target."
Blue eyes, blonde hair...
Yamato Ishida.
"As you wish, sir."
"And Taichi?"
The boy's face lowered, "Taichi is dead"
Corran sat back suddenly, surprised by the outburst, "I suppose you're right. What should I call you then, my friend?"
"Call me...Shi."
A smile blossomed on Corran's face, "Quite appropriate. Quite appropriate indeed. Alright, Shi. Please try and dispatch of our friends as quietly as possible. I'm not saying you cannot have a little fun with this, I just don't have the time to have a police around here asking questions. I'm sure it won't be a problem with this merging occurring...But you know police forces around here. They rarely do what they are supposed to."
"It shall be done." The young man nodded stiffly, then turned away to go about his business.
"Shi." Corran called out, extracting something from his desk and tossing it at the boy. "For you. Consider it a gift for services rendered."
The young man looked down at the dagger in his hand and then stuffed it into his belt. Giving his superior a quick bow, the boy then walked out the balcony doors once more and took off into the sky, black coat tails flying behind him like devil's wings and melted into the shadow of night.
Happy hunting, Corran thought gleefully, before turning back to the window once more to watch the terror he had constructed.
Yamato Ishida shoved his hands further into his pockets and hunched over himself, half to keep out the biting cold pulling at his face and half to hide the anger dancing in his blue eyes. Despite the fact the world around him was completely abandoned by humanity, Matt made his way through the darkened streets, looking for questions he didn't want the answers to. It seemed crazy after all these years to wonder, but had he ever really been normal? Had he ever really lived in a world without death? Without suffering? Without having to constantly look over his back for the next person or creature who wanted to put a knife into it? Had he ever really gotten to wake up in the morning and innocently find that the world was perfect?
No. He was a Chosen Child. Preordained to save the planet from a realm beyond their existence. From the second he'd stepped out on that balcony when he was eight years old to watch two Digimon fight, he'd sealed his fate. There would be no innocence...Just death. Children shouldn't have to fight wars. Yet, his life had been one big battlefield. There had never been a time in there where he gotten to be a kid. He'd went straight from toddler to soldier. School, friends and normal life had always paled in comparison with the constant threat that hung over him like an ominous cloud. There had never been a choice.
Fight our war, The world had said, Fight it or die...
So they did. No one liked it...Matt didn't even want to think of the Digimon and people who had died over the years. Even his young hands held innocent blood...This automatically brought about many a sleepless night. The mere thought that he'd destroyed a life brought him to a whole new level of consciousness. He prayed that if there was a God up there somewhere, that He'd understand why it had happened...or had they by accepting their destiny also accepted a one way ticket to the underworld? Had they sold their souls in the name of peace?
He shook his head, pushing the revelations of stellar importance from his mind for the moment as he reached his destination. When he had left his brother's he didn't think this was where he wanted to go. The world lay in ruins and yet here he stood on the threshold of the past. A past he so wanted to forget, but was as unescapable as the wind. Unescapable as death.
The wrought iron fence of the Odaiba Memorial Graveyard swung in the gentle breeze, looking as alluring as the gates to the other life. Matt's fingers traced along it's design, one that he'd become intimately familiar with over the years and leaned his forehead against the metal. Drowning in his overly pained thoughts about having the sanctity he'd tried so hard to create being shattered again. Why did he need to fight again? He was sick of being the world's soldier...
Walking up the path of gravestones, he read the names and watched the date of death pass by. The problem was that the dates of death were all the same. Odaiba Memorial Graveyard...Home of all those who died in the Odaiba Massacre...Including Yamato Ishida's father. By no luck at all, his stubborn father had been working late the night that the bomb Toshiromon sent had struck. There weren't even any remains...nothing he could qualify as the man who had been his rock for so many years except a few burnt bones. It had all seemed so pointless at the time...His father didn't deserve to die like that. No one did.
His fingers slid along the smooth stone of his father's grave marker and Matt sighed, his free hand closing tightly around the Crest Of Friendship as if it was the only sanity in his world. "Dad, I know that this probably isn't the best time to visit, but I needed to tell you I need to fight again...Who knows? Maybe we'll be seeing each other sooner than I thought."
This was the moment that he sincerely hoped there was a big guy up there looking down on everyone...that there was a Heaven, and it was better than this place...and his father was there, watching and listening...He begged for it...PRAYED for it...He needed that piece of mind more than anything in the world.
"Never thought I'd have to admit this, Dad...But I really wish you were here. I could use some help...I don't know whether to kill that Kamiya kid for putting you here or give him a chance at living again...Whaddya think?"
There wasn't an answer. Why would there be?
"I should hate him. But I don't...I can't. He might have ultimately killed you, but he saved me from myself...You wouldn't have wanted me to blame him anyway. It was war...this stuff happens, you'd say. If we had to condemn every man and woman who pulled a trigger in the name of his or her country we'd be an endangered species, ne, Dad?" Matt's eyes drifted to the vault by the nearby tree as memory flashed through him. Two years ago, Tai had sat there, eyes so lost and...gone...
Yamato laughed bitterly, "I have to go save that crazy kid's ass now...I miss you Dad, and I hope the Big Guy isn't too mad I've been so blind all these years. Tell him I'm going to make it up this time...I promise."
The wind pulled at his long blond hair, pushing it out of his eyes and letting it dance like a wild thing freed. His grasp on his crest tightened as the warmth under his fingers grew and a faint blue glow appeared through his skin. Those eyes slid closed as he realized that he was Yamato Ishida, warrior, once more.
"Yam...a...to..."
The voice dematerialized out of the shadows of the graveyard. Matt's head whipped up, his hair flying in every direction as recognition ran rapid inside him. Looking out into the darkness, Yamato saw the two red spheres appear in the distance. They blinked slowly, almost lazily and then disappeared.
"Yam...a...to..."
"Enough!" Matt said flatly, "If you're going to talk to me, face me..."
"Like this?" The voice snapped as the form of Taichi Kamiya suddenly sprang up in front of him, long brown hair waving around him like a tail and blood red eyes swimming with mirth. He looked almost catlike standing perched impossibly on the top of a gravestone, a smirk pulling on his lips.
"Taichi."
"Yamato. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"
"Hai, too long Tai...You shouldn't have left."
"And do what if I'd stayed? Stick around here and see this," He gestured to the dead around him, "Everyday of my life?"
"We could have helped you." Matt implored quietly.
"Iie, no one could help me Matt...You knew that, the others knew that too. Why are you trying to change the past? Sick of blaming me for dear old dad's demise?" He muttered, voice heavy with distaste.
Matt tried to hide the surprise and pain this remark brought, "Well, I was...wrong."
After a few seconds of dead silence, Taichi's head suddenly flew back and he let loose a long wrenching laugh, "The all mighty Yamato Ishida admits he is WRONG! Wow, a lot has changed in two years hasn't it? We've decided to have a little reform, did we? You were always were a big softie...Too bad you only cared about yourself and your damn brother."
Shocked by what was coming from Tai, and with such force and bitterness, Matt shook his head, "You know that's not true, Taichi."
Those red eyes suddenly grew dangerous, just as they had when he had broken out of Takeru's apartment, "DON'T LIE!" He screamed.
"Why would I lie to you? What have I got left to lose, hunh?" Matt cried back, voice rising.
"You were always a liar..." The boy snapped, "Always saying ‘Don't worry, Tai...I'll be there...' Where were you when I needed you? Where were you when I tried to slit my own wrists?! WHERE?"
Yamato's eyes grew wide, "You tried to kill yourself?"
"Every waking hour I heard these people scream...I heard them cry as they slowly died...EVERY second I wondered what would have happened if I had just tried something else...Everyday I saw another family who I destroyed, another person who blamed me. I'm a monster, Yamato, a monster who doesn't deserve to live among these people," Tai suddenly pushed his hands out into Matt's face so that the other boy had an eyeful of scarred white palms, "LOOK! Look at them...I have the blood of over four hundred innocent people on these hands. The hands of a monster..."
Matt gazed past the hands and stared straight into the swirling bloody ponds that were the other's eyes, "I don't see a monster. I see Tai Kamiya.."
Clenching the hands into fists, Taichi shook his head, "Maybe they're the same thing."
"They're not," Matt said, "I know Taichi Kamiya and the last thing he ever was is a monster."
"Perhaps..." Tai said, with a casual shrug and a smile, "But that's because Taichi Kamiya is dead"
Matt's eyebrow lifted, "Then tell me, who are you?"
The smirk grew larger and the murderous intent flickered through his face as he whispered, "Shi. The last face you will see before I kill you."
Before Yamato could process the thought of what the boy had just said to him, Taichi launched himself off the gravestone with inhuman speed and knocked the taller young man to the ground. In their struggle, Matt became quite aware that Tai was holding a dagger in his hand and in this rage he was in, was very much capable of killing him. Desperation kicked in and Matt jabbed an arm upward catching Tai low and hard in the abdomen...exactly where Jyou had just finished stitching him up. Taichi gasped in pain but did not quit his onslaught, rolling up from the grass to stand, taking a battle ready position with the dagger poised over his head.
Yamato slowly got to his feet and looked at his friend, "Afraid to fight me hand to hand like the old days, Kamiya?"
A small laugh erupted from Tai as he sent the dagger spinning into the dirt, where it implanted itself, "I beat you back then too. Whether I slice you death or snap your neck with my own hands, it doesn't really make a difference to me."
The foot came out of nowhere, catching Yamato right in the stomache and making him keel over in agony. Tai's fist hooked upwards connecting with his jaw and sending him sprawling to the grass once more, not to mention breaking open his lip. When Matt opened his eyes, he looked up to see the boy standing over him, a victorious look on his face.
Overconfidence had always been Taichi's downfall. Matt was glad it still was. In the second of inattention, Matt's leg whipped out in a round house kick that sent Taichi flying backwards and Yamato leapt towards him bringing his fists down to connect with the boy's face. Looking into those blood red eyes, Matt felt an unfamiliar anger swell. This wasn't Tai, he realized. All the playful warmth that had been in his friend's eyes was no longer there, taken away by this... thing. This thing had murdered the very essence that he had respected. That happy laugh in even the most impossible odds, the smile that never seemed to disappear. Ever since this guilt ridden creature had taken over Tai's heart five year ago, Matt had never seen the traits he now realized he missed so much.
Fury invaded his vision and Yamato no longer saw the face of an old friend, but the face of the monster who'd killed him. The battle wore into a painful dance of punches and kicks. Many times, one of the two opponents would fly into the solid stone graves, shattering them. But as if it was nothing, they were up once more and locked in combat again. Anger drove them both, pain became oblivious and disappeared in the heat of desperation. The fight melded into one splash of colour, light and blood as ten years of war pushed it's soldiers into action. They were well trained soldiers, two of a kind, knowing full well never to back down or show weakness unless you wanted to pay dearly. Love only brought death, for all those who came near the Chosen Children seemed to suffer.
"Shine!" Tai hissed breathlessly as the two fighters separated to reorient themselves. The hatred in his eyes had heightened over the violence and now shone with an malevolence that clearly depicted his unstable state of mind.
Matt tensed as he prepared for Taichi to run at him again, dragging them both back into battle. But this time was different, instead, Tai leaned down as if the exhaustion that plagued both of them had finally set in...But instead scooped up a chunk of fallen grave and before Matt could duck, the rock glanced him off the forehead in an excruciating wave of agony . Tai laughed gleefully and leapt at him, successfully sending Yamato sprawling to the ground where the younger boy quickly pinned him, Tai's fingers already curling around the hilt of the dagger.
"I win..." Tai whispered triumphantly as he raised the blade up over Matt's head. The blonde man stared at the brandished weapon with indifference. He'd always been prepared to die. Some days he even wished it...but the last person he would have imagined to take his life was Tai. Sure, they'd argued, thrown a few fists like immature little boys, but Matt knew that Taichi was never a killer.
But this isn't Tai...
"Any last requests?" Taichi asked bitterly, almost sounding like he was enjoying this show of power.
"Why do you want to do this?" Yamato muttered, realizing his voice sounded low and dry.
Tai's answer was blunt, "To watch you suffer."
Even as those words came out of the other boy's mouth, Matt saw the shock that rippled through those blood red eyes. It was if he remembered the saying...had heard it before...and it *hurt* him. A physical wince seemed to dance over his face for a few moments before disappearing again into old shadows and letting his expression change back to uncaring coldness. The grip on the dagger tightened as Tai got ready to send it down.
"Are you afraid to die?" Tai asked.
"No." Matt answered, then raised his eyes to the blade, "You gonna use that thing or are we just going to sit here all night?"
Surprise played across Tai's face and Matt stared right back, "Come on and get it over with, Taichi. If I'm going to die I wouldn't mind getting it done with as quickly as possible, ne? Think you can do it, Tai? Think you can kill another innocent person? You're just paving your way to hell, body after body, death after death. It doesn't have to be this way Tai. Your soul's not lost yet."
"SHUT UP! You have no right to think about MY soul! How can you talk about being saved when I've ALREADY been condemned? It makes me a fool and you DEAD!" He cried, dagger waving dangerously as the hurt and betrayed Taichi spoke his mind.
"Fine," Matt closed his eyes in calm acceptance, "But I forgive you Tai."
Silence.
Not a word came from Tai at Matt's last remark. Yamato was afraid to open his blue eyes though, in fear that in doing so he'd see the arc of his death come swinging down. Instead, he listened as sounds filtered in, almost drowned out by the rhythm of his thudding heart. Tai's breaths were large and ragged, as if he laboured just to breathe. Matt's own were short and sharp, waiting and expecting the end to come...but as minutes rolled by, nothing happened.
One of Matt's eyes slowly opened and he spied Tai staring down at him, murder still plaguing his features, but the blade itself was shaking...as if the hand that held it was trembling. Matt gazed up seeing the true conflict was actually in Tai's blood red eyes. The blonde boy then realized that Taichi was no longer fighting with him...he was fighting with himself.
Matt suppressed a gasp as Tai's hand suddenly opened and the blade clattered to the ground, clanging noisily on the pavement. Tai himself rolled away, landing on the grass nearby and buried his head in his hands. Matt slowly pulled himself into a haphazard sitting position as the most disturbing and frightening occurrence of his young life whirled to life.
Crying to the stars, Taichi Kamiya screamed into the night. It's haunting sound could be heard miles away as a yell borne of pure suffering and resentment ripped through the empty night. It mutated from the screams of a very human person, whose heart had been shattered to the inhuman howl of a monster, who the boy was fighting. Mentally and physically, the *real* Taichi Kamiya fought his own demons. Yamato watched from the distance, unsure of what to do. He hated seeing Tai in so much pain but he knew that this was a fight that must be won on the boy's own.
Helplessly, Yamato looked on as Taichi seemed to yank at his own auburn hair in an attempt to free himself from the excruciating being that held his soul. Shaking, Matt closed his eyes, "Dear God, if you're up there...A little help would be great..."
As if answering Matt's prayers, Taichi gave one last horrendous cry and then collapsed in a trembling heap on the ground. There he stayed, brown hair covering his quivering eyes and arms wrapped around his thin body in an effort to dispel the shudders in his shoulders. Yamato wasn't sure what to think...This was the same person who had tried to kill him moments earlier, but the tiny form that now rocked back and forth didn't look like he was much left of a threat. It was this reason that Matt approached the boy and leaned down beside him until an arm lifted slowly and a pair of frightened...BROWN eyes looked back at him.
Yamato gaped in surprise. It was Tai. Not the Tai who spent the last hour and a half giving him a black eye...It was the REAL Tai. The one who he had spent months with in the Digital World. Their leader. Their overconfident, crazy ass, annoyingly happy Taichi Kamiya.
"Taichi."
"Yamato." This time it was different. There was no bitterness there as it had before. This Tai's voice said it quietly, not a mocking syllable inside the speech.
"Is that you?"
The brown eyes turned away suddenly, embarrassed and lost, "Not much to look at, ne?"
"You left before I could apologize, you know..."
Taichi shook his head sorrowfully and tightened his arms around his knees, "I'm sorry...I couldn't help it...About before...It's not me...It's like there's someone inside me, Matt, playing with my head. I don't know how long I can hold him off before he takes over again."
"It's not your fault, Tai, nothing was ever your fault." Matt replied, patting at Tai's shivering shoulder as comfortingly as he could manage.
"Matt?"
"Yeah, Tai?"
"Who am I?"
Matt looked up into Tai's brown eyes and saw a cloud of confusion hanging there like a question mark. Taichi had no stability in his life, nothing to latch onto...no purpose. He needed some reassurance that the world still needed him. Matt could have answered in many number of ways to the query. He could told Tai that he was their leader. Or that he was a Digidestined. A son. A brother. A hero in his own right. But instead, the blonde merely smiled and said, "My friend."
Tai blinked and small grin broke out on his face, a glimmer of the boy Matt had once known popping back up. The brown haired boy wiped at a tear that had fallen loose and nodded, "Hai...so desu."
In that moment of inattention the creature that Tai had explained as "playing with his head" descended once more and Matt watched his friend keel forward and bury his fingers in the grass. Teeth clenched and eyes squeezed shut, the younger man swallowed a moan and fought the control.
"Matt! Get out of here!" Tai managed to choke out, "Run! NOW!"
This time Yamato shook his head. He wasn't running anywhere, "I'm not going this time, Tai."
Taichi's face was a mask of agony, "Damn you, Ishida! Don't you get it? Get out of here before I kill you!"
"I'm not leaving until this ends, you hear me?" Matt muttered angrily, watching as Tai's body began to spasm and tremble with such intensity that the older man was afraid Tai would fall apart. Then...it stopped. The voice and body fell into disturbing quiet and Matt felt his heart wrench as two familiar crimson red spheres looked out at him.
Tai grinned wickedly, "You should have ran." He said simply and then lashed out with the dagger clutched in his fingers and dug the weapon into Matt's exposed shoulder.
Matt cried out, falling on his back and landing with a sickening thud as the blood started to gather around him. Tai's laughter seemed to echo through the trees like a cold wind and the blonde boy became aware that Tai was now standing over him, death in his eyes and bloody dagger in his hand.
"Dust to dust...ashes to ashes..." Tai murmured happily, reciting the old saying as if he loved the sound of it. Then, he saw the boy's eyes shoot up in surprise as if he saw something standing behind his fallen form. Those red pools widened so far that Yamato almost smiled. Whatever he saw it sure was scaring him.
Tai's eyes returned to Matt, "This isn't over..."
"I hope not." Yamato answered, voice not much more than a painful whisper. "I'm going to get Tai back."
"We'll see."
The dagger flew towards Yamato's head, but the boy wasn't worried. It was if suddenly death and life and saving the world didn't matter. If that knife impaled him in the head at this instance, he might take the time to realize he'd died a senseless death, but he wouldn't regret a thing. Luckily he didn't need to think about it, the dagger imbedded itself in the soft ground beside his temple. The boy could see his beaten reflection in it's hilt.
"I'll kill you all." Tai hissed, then, with one last glance at whatever had positioned itself behind Matt, the boy took off into the night.
Matt's blue eyes narrowed into tiny, icy slits, "Hai, we'll see."
A growl pulled Yamato from his reverie and the boy looked up to get a peek of who he had to thank for his last minute rescue. The form towering above him was so familiar it hurt, and with blue and white fur, all knowing eyes and large, vicious claws it was someone Matt had never thought he would see again. His throat was too dry to form the words his lips wanted to say but his mind echoed the message with a feeling of unrequited joy despite it all,
*WereGarurumon*
END PART THREE
~* I know what you're thinking, HUNH? Saaaaaa, can't blame you. This is what I like to call the "exposition" chapter. The one that triggers all the really big battles that are going to start happening in part four. This kind of gives some characterization and explanation and illustrates how completely gone in the head little Tai is ^_^ Anyway, part four...ur, hell, I'm not even sure what's going to happen yet! You'll have to wait and find out, tomo! Til then, me and my sunny dispositions are outta here; ~*ash*~ >From: UkyoLuvr@aol.com >To: ashmoria@hotmail.com >Subject: Re: UCCHAN! >Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 21:46:58 EDT > >Hey, I;m not having any trouble, if you'll send it to me, I can post it >today, I'm about to update as it is ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
