Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon! Only a copy of the movie which is sad. I want box sets people! Anyway, yeah, my Digimon muse was calling once again so please enjoy this piece. It's loosely connected to my other two Digimon works: "Ramen Soup for the Soul" and "Why I Reached Out." So please, if you have time, give them a quick read before checking out this one. This is Davis speaking in first person about reflecting back on the events of "The Last Temptation of the DigiDestined," episode 49 of Digimon 02. It's a little shorter than my last one-shot, but trust me, it's a good read. So please enjoy!

~Wrong Choice~

~By: Mists~

I haven't told the others this. Not sure why, really. But when MaloMyotismon unleashed his "Mind Illusion" trick on us, I did see something. When the light flashed before my eyes; there were a bunch of images. The first one was of everyone in school loving and adoring me. Then, it was of my noodle cart being a complete success. After that I saw Jun, blowing off her friends to spend time with me. Next, it switched to Kari gently smiling... And lastly, I saw Mai.

That brief picture of her face with a sly grin was all it took, and the illusion completely shattered. I wasn't lying when I said that "I didn't have any problems" to Mr. Ugly either. But what I really meant was that, "I don't have problems, anymore." Eh, I've never been very good at wording things anyway.

Mai is gone. I can't bring her back, and neither can he. She would be a fake, a fraud. It would be like spitting in the face of the real Mai's memory if I even considered that. Her death taught me long ago, that you can't live in the past. Dwelling endless on stuff that went wrong or you lost, solves nothing. You have to accept it, work through it, and then move on.

It's true that Jun and I often butt heads, and I do wish we had a relationship more like Tai's and Kari's. Keeping the Digital World secret from her, didn't help things much either. But we've been working on that. So why would that make me sad? I think after all this time, she's starting to come around. And even though my parents aren't home much, I still love them with all my heart.

Then there's all my friends: Ken's really come into his own! I'm totally proud of him. He's achieved a lot, and I think he's finally come to terms with who he is as a person. Cody, he's still super intelligent, but we've developed this odd respect for one another since he started speaking his mind and coming out of his shell. Yolei, well, yeah we still fight a lot. But that's because we're both such passionate people. Honestly, I think our arguments help us both work through stuff that we didn't completely know was there. And then there's T.L., he's really been starting to loosen up. He's even caught on that his name is a playful joke now. In his defense, when we first met, I had done it out of anger... But now, it's just teasing fun. He's even started bantering back. I like it when he forgets to be all "adult" and lets out his inner kid. We all still have a long way to go with our friendship, but we're getting there. So why would I let that jerk faced digimon steal my chance to discover and grow closer to them? I still don't understand why I would want any of the things that stupid illusion offered!

As for Kari, well, I've moved passed that. No, really, I have. It took me befriending Ken to finally see the way I was acting. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of Jun. Which kinda weirded me out, like ick.

Anyway, once Ken came along, I realized that Kari wasn't my only friend anymore. I had grown to care about all the DigiDestined. Yeah, even T.P. And as I started to focus on getting Ken to join us, my crush on Kari began to fade. I had the whole team to worry about. Trust was going to take a long time to build, but I couldn't let Ken give up. And then one day, everything just seemed to fall into place. At long last we were all on the same page! When I finally started spending time with Kari again, I noticed my feelings were no longer the same. Kari's still the same, but I'm the one who's different. She will always have a special place in my heart; but she's just my friend. And that's what matters anyway. All I can do now, is to try my best to be somebody worthy of loving. And maybe, some day, I will find the right person for me.

You see, that right there is what broke me out of the illusion. Unlike all the others, I live in the present. I mean, yeah, being popular would be great; but I already have my family, and my friends. They're my core. So in the end, do I need all that superficial crap to be happy? And sure, I'd love for my noodle cart to be a success! But I can achieve that on my own, I don't need him to give it to me. Besides, wouldn't be worth much without the challenge, now would it? Mai used to say, "Heaven's not worth anything, unless you went through hell to get to it." And you know what? I've found that to be really true. My entire life, I've fought tooth and nail for everyone and everything I have. And I would not let that stupid asshole to take it all from me!

MaloMyotismon's attack had nothing to feed on, because I've already worked through all the shit in my life. But the most important thing was that I knew, in that moment, we had to defeat him...

*Flashback*

The white light cracked and shattered around ExVeemon and I like a piece of glass.

"What in the world-" MaloMyotismon gasped in shock. "How-"

"Wrong choice, ugly," I growled, glaring back at him with all my might.

"Davis? What happened?" asked ExVeemon with a confused blink. "Where is everyone?"

It was then that I turned and noticed that the others were all trapped in glowing white spheres next to me.

"Ken?" I reached out and touched the orb of light.

*Flash* I saw the Digimon Emperor tied to a post, beaten within an inch of his life.

I let out a cry and leapt back in shock.

My eyes went wide as I swung my head back around to stare at Mr. Ugly. "You sick twisted son of a bitch! Let them go!"

"I couldn't even if I wanted to," he explained with a fang filled grin. "You see their prisons are of their own making, not mine."

"You mean..." I said, uncertainly glancing at each of my friends.

"Foolish boy!" hissed MaloMyotismon. "You could have had anything you desired! Why are you still fighting?"

That was the last straw. "Because your stupid illusion didn't offer me the one thing I truly wanted!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, and whipped out my Digivice.

"And what's that?" he returned with a sneer.

"For Veemon to be strong enough to defeat, you!"

"Davis! What-"

*Flash of Golden Light*

Two more versions of Veemon's evolutions then suddenly appeared and started fighting the butt-ugly dude.

"Impossible!" he screamed.

"My friends and I have the rest our lives to live, and the only thing threatening that is you! I can achieve my wishes and dreams on my own. All I want from you, is to get the hell out of our way!"

ExVeemon and the others blasted Mr. Ugly back right on his ass. "Guys!" I called out. "I need all of you Veemon to pick a sphere and try to reach the others, okay?"

After that, I walked up to the one glowing with a familiar yellow crest. "We can't do this alone... And the first thing we need again... is hope."

I reached out and gently placed my hand on the surface. For a second, I caught flashes of what my friend was seeing. I felt a single tear run down my face before I roughly wiped it away.

"Sorry to burst your bubble T.K., but we need you," I whispered and then sucked it up. I had to go in there with confidence. So I put on a determined face and pushed right on through.

So yeah, that's how it happened. All the problems I had in my life, I had already come to terms with or solved. I knew that the only thing I needed at that point was to defeat MaloMyotismon. I had to try, with everything that I was, to protect the people I love. Because if I didn't, nothing else would matter. We'd all be trapped or dead, and both worlds would be destroyed. It also helped me realize that, lately, I've been living for a lot more than just my promise to Mai. I'm here for my family, my friends, but most importantly... for myself. I want to live and experience everything I can in both this world and the digital one. Even with all their flaws, I still love them both. And I will always fight for them, with all that I am.

Because that's just who I am.

"I must admit. I'm impressed with your tenacity."

"Wait until you see my bullheadedness!"

~The End~

Author's Notes: Well there you have it people! Hope you liked it as much as I did writing it. Let me know what you thought!

Please remember to read and review!

Attention for all those looking for a legal subbed English translation of "Digimon Tri!" It can be found on Crunchyroll. They have deals with the anime studios in Japan to do this. Part of the money from the ads go back to support the creators. Over the next few weeks, they will be released in episode form to stream with ads. For premium members the first couple can be seen, the rest will be available to everyone soon. So if it works in your region of the world, use it if you can! Thanks again for reading.