k2: I would like to dedicate this update to pappy yokum who, while didn't actually review, did go the extra distance to PM me and ask where the sequel was. Sorry I didn't post it sooner, but four or five reviews off 23 chapters isn't exactly much incentive to revise/rewrite an old story that never got finished. I will need feedback to continue with this. Positive or negative, I dont' care. I need to know what you think about. Thank you.
Mewkit: What was your excuse for not getting it up 3 days ago like you promised pappy?
k2: _We will not go into that right now, thank you very much. It's out now, so please enjoy the story and once again. I apologize for the delay.
MK: Oh! Before we forget, Matt and TK's dad!
k2: Oh, yeah. 'Steve'.
MK: Yeah. The name we alwys get wrong, even in the stupid revision!
k2: Right. It's dave, guys. It will be Dave for the rest of the fic and any possible future stories. That's about it. I think.
MK: Don't forget to review guys! They're our life blood. Literally.
k2: For the benefit of not getting sued: I do not, under any circumstances, own anything what-so-ever that's Digimon related, especially not the show. This entire story is fan based and not used for profit. This goes for every chapter here to fore. Thank you and goodnight.
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Recap:
Previously in my Digimon saga, as read in prt 1: 'What Now!?', TK was kidnapped, ripped from the world he knew, by unnatural means. After the appearance of Gennai, Matt and the others discover that TK has been taken to the world of darkness in an over the top attempt to take Kari out of the picture. As such they must first travel to the digital world via the portal at Heighten View Terrace (the monitor portals having been disabled by unknown mens) and make their way to a secondary portal that would lead them to the dark world. It is then that they discover that Kari can feel pain stemming from what is happening to TK and, with both her and Matt in the lead, and with a map given to them by Gennai, they begin their trek to find the dark portal. Along the way they manage to find a cave in which their Digimon friends are hiding, on orders from Gennai to stay until the kids find them. With trouble along the way they manage to make it to their destination, but a little too late as TK has already arrived there himself, changed for the worst. As it turns out he'd been subjected to a painful experiment where dark energy was pumped into his heart and soul, thus changing his base personality to a dark contrast. After kidnapping Kari, nearly killing Matt in the process, TK uses the power of despair to manipulate Kari's mind to his own will; a will that belongs to the Dark Master of the Void.
Meanwhile, a more pessimistic situation is erupting as the parents of each of the children begin to get involved in the current situation, having a meeting of their own after a terrifying dream warning of dark premonitions.
Back in the digital world Matt and the others discover that Gabumon and Gatomon are missing but they know they still have to find Kari and Tk. The missing Digimon, however, discover the existence of a young girl named Misshra with a digimon of her own that knows far too much about the current situation to be a coincidence and, with her in tow, they head back to find the others and arrive just in time for TK and Kari's return. With Kari now under TK's control the two of them begin to create a dark atmosphere sapping the hope from everyone save Matt, Tai and Davis. With more questions then answers received Matt finds that he is the only one who can save Tk, thus saving Kari in the process and a battle held within TK's own soul ensues. Once saved, however, the battle is still not won. Matt is struck down and killed. The mysterious girl returns, offering a way to save 'the bearer of friendship' and requests a volunteer to bind Matt's soul to theirs. A devastated Sora quickly agrees. Another situation arrises as it turns out Matt's soul was bound after the initial blast that killed him and after releasing it Misshra joins Matt and Sora's life essence together. When finished her exhaustion takes over and, with everyone focused on the revived Matt, is taken away by her Digimon after passing out. The digidestined then deconstruct the dark portal and manage to get home, unaware that the battle is still unfinished and that Matt is in more danger then anyone could really know.
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Darkness Dawns a New Age
Ch.1-Of Dreams and Nightmares
PG-13
General, Drama
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YAMATTO!
Despair.
No!
It withers within the sole.
WATCH OUT!!
Memories rather to be forgotten…
Not again...!
…infesting the psyche...
...matt...!
...numbing his heart.
...don't leave me!
The pain one cannot hide...
It's my fault.
...suffers alone within.
Dream a little dream, Golden One?
You! Again?
A heart that suffers alone...
Yes, indeed. It's always me.
Why won't you leave me alone!?
…withers in isolation.
Why should I?
Madness ensuing the mind.
Get out of my head!
Force me.
Stressing the tenuous threads.
Argh! What do you want from me?
Silence.
Confusion thwarts caution.
Silence?
It awaits you.
Fear eats at his heart.
…no...go away!
I will never leave.
Crystal purity...
I own you.
…tainted by darkness.
NO!
Panic encroaches.
NO YOU DON'T!!!
The nightmare continues.
Your guilt. Your fear.
The shadows one cannot see...
They feed me.
...and the evil within the abyss.
I don't care what you say!
An effort of defiance.
We defeated you once!
You can never truly defeat me.
We'll do it again!
The shadows laugh.
Even in silence?
Resolve wanes.
How long has it been?
The truth burns.
I will beat you.
You can't beat the seed within.
An evil seed.
My seed.
Stop it.
This seed of evil...
I will always be here.
Stop it!
...formless, shapeless...
Day or night.
...a mass of shadows...
Constantly in your thoughts.
...one cannot touch...
Get out of my head!
...or barely even sense.
Please!
Come back, and I'll leave.
He is locked.
No.
Trapped.
I know you're lying.
It beckons.
I can help you.
It clouds the mind.
I can release your guilt.
…stop it...
No peace....
I can ease your fears.
Go away!
...even in sleep.
Then continue to create me.
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He ran.
Why am I running?
He had to.
Where am I headed?
It was coming for him.
What's after me?
It was close.
It was familiar.
It was alien.
I gotta get away!
He tripped. Fell. Panic hit and he scurried to his feet, running oncer more.
He knew it was imminent, it was only a matter of time before it caught him. He had escaped it's clutches, escaped from the perpetual darkness of a void of no return.
What did I escape from before?
The voice echoed around him as he ran. His voice. Unintelligible words. He knew what chased him was death, yet he didn't understand why.
The voice of his inner mind argued with his physical movement. For as he ran what he was truly doing was watching himself run. No one else but himself.
Where am I going? What's after me?
Continuous.
It won't stop! Why won't it stop? Every time! All the time! I don't understand!
A month since their return. A month of questions unanswered.
Pain. It rippled through his abdomen.
It hurts!
What hurts?
It's causing this!
Unnatural. Unending. Unknown.
What is this? What is chasing me? What is causing this pain?
Intense. He doubles over. He curls in. He knows he's done.
It hurts. It's coming.
A bright flash. A dark blanket. Light and dark dance around him. It envelops him. A burning sensation. He screams. Agony.
It hurts! Stop it please!
The pain came from inside. He felt ripped. He convulsed.
He screamed.
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Taichi Kamiya stared around himself, confused and more then a little apprehensive. He was alone. It was dark. And it was cavernous.
"Hello-o-o-o-o?" His voice echoed out. "Is anyone here but me-e-e-e-e?"
He received no answer for his trouble.
Great. He thought glumly.
"Hello."
A small voice forced Tai's heart to jump clear out of his chest and nearly out of his mouth as it caught in his throat. He whirled around to see a small dark haired girl starring at him with dull grey eyes that appeared slightly glazed over. On her shoulder was what he could swear was a Digimon that looked almost exactly like demidevimon; aside from the fact that it was black with large pink eyes. And no enlarged canines. Basically, it was cuter. In the girls hands was a bright pink ball with a peace symbol painted on it.
"Who are you?" Tai asked gently, "Do you know where I am?"
"Your dreaming!" She replied enthusiastically, a bright smile lighting up her pleasant face. "Will you play with me?"
"Er…dreaming?"
"Yep!" The smile never faltered from her face. "I like to play ball, what do you like to play?"
"Football." Tai replied uneasily.
"Football?" She tilted her head to the side. "I prefer baseball. Football is a violent sport that epitomizes the brutality of society."
Tai looked at the girl dumbly for a second before shaking his head and saying, "What?"
"Football is violent by nature, it's tactics involve taking the opponent and potentially injuring said opponent as well as yourself. People use this as 'entertainment' even encourage the players to-."
"Woah, woah,woah!" Tai interrupted her hastily and rubbed his head. "Aren't you a little young to be talking like that?" she couldn't be more then 6 years old. "And what's this about taking the other team out? I kick the ball and avoid the other team."
"Kick ball?" She tilted her head to the other side.
"Yeah." he began, talking slowly. "I can even bounce it on my knee and off my head. " He hoped he wasn't patronizing her.
Her eyes widened with sudden understanding and she squealed, "Oh! You mean soccer!"
"You're not Japanese, are you?"
"Nope!" She giggled, "I'm from America!" She giggled again, "I forgot you call it differently. Soccer is fun!"
"Yeah." Tai smiled a little. "It is." Frowning, her furrowed his brow asked, "Who are you? And why are you in my dream?"
"Because I called you," she giggled enthusiastically. "Let's play!"
She tossed the ball to the ground and Tai watched as the world suddenly began to run in slow motion. The ball fell to the ground and bounced up towards him. He reached out to catch it and upon impact his world exploded into light. A melodious voice, reminiscent of the little girl, filled his mind.
"Light banishes the darkness, so she will never fall to it's power. Hope counters despair, but both are equal shares. His inner war may well lead to desolation unless Kindness steps in. Despair's manifestation will lead Light to destruction if Darkness destroys Hope."
Tai's mind was numb as all he could do was listen.
"Life is to death as light is to dark, but the shares are as equal as that of hope and despair. Choose wisely the actions you make, for every step is part of a trinity. Life, Death, and Rebirth. So long as Life holds over Death Rebirth is always possible. But if death were to reign, then rebirth would die.
As Time slowly watches the seconds pass by, Destiny forever relates the truth of a future that cannot be told."
When the light died down again Tai found himself holding the ball in his hands, the little girl was jumping around, skipping like nothing had happened at all.
And then Tai's eyes opened to the darkness of his own room.
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Her footsteps echoed against the stone walls as She walked through the cavernous hallway. Her movements were slow and careful. Her brown eyes shifted side to side. Her muscles tense. She didn't want to draw attention to herself in this alien darkness. A darkness that seemed to swallow her whole and shadows that seemed to claw at her. She was afraid, that much was true. But more than that. She was puzzled. Confused. Uncertain. She didn't understand what was going on or why she was there. She didn't even know where she was.
Why is it so dark? A chill ran through her. What world am I in?
A light in the distance caught her eye. It started out a tiny spec, but slowly began to swell. She hesitated, uncertain. The light could mean any number of things, many of which were not good. But standing around did nothing for or against her plight. Swallowing her rising fear, the girl slowly began to approach the luminous swell. It seemed to take forever to reach. It seemed like the further she walked the the slower the glow grew. After what seemed like forever she began ti relax a little; the light began to form a window. She felt relieved. She quickened her step and rushed toward what she hoped was daylight and a clue as to where she was.
Cool wind blew on her face when she stuck her head through the portal. A welcome relief to the stifling air she had just departed. If her tawny hair hadn't been pulled into two half ponytails, each one laying just behind her ear and landing a ½ inch below her shoulders, it would be stuck to her neck. As it was, her white bangs, framing her face, did a good job of sticking to her forehead and her cheeks instead.
She let out a low whistle when her brown eyes scanned the land below. The vastness of the plain was near limitless. Twisted trees surrounded the area where she stood, creating a barrier of ominous wood that separated her from the rest of the landscape. The sky was dark, almost as black as death. It almost seemed as if it sucked the light out rather then letting it shine. And maybe it was, fore the light that lead her to the window had disappeared the moment she had reached it.
That itself was good reason to find the first way out. Which proved to be a problem as she had received no clue as to where she was.
"Where am I?" She asked herself in a soft voice.
"The future. Where else?"
The girl spun wildly, her heart leaping to her throat. The familiar female form, dressed in a brown body forming dress, made her stomach twist into knots. As she began to walk forward the thigh high slits in her dress revealed a lighter shade of brown leggings.
"Artemon?" The was in disbelief.
"Quite observant, my old friend."
"But...but that's impossible!" even as she said it she couldn't explain it any other way. She was the same Artemon she'd always been. From the waist length brown hair with a piece of beaded jewelry braided in, to the silver eyes staring with malicious intent.
Wait. Why is she looking at me like that?
"Impossible or not, Amanda, it does not matter. I will be the last thing you ever see again."
"What?"
Without answering the smirking brunette lunged forward, pushing the girl out the window.
"NO!" she cried as she felt the stone sliding from her legs. She watched, horro struck, as the window got further and further out of reach. And then instinct took over from there as her body twisted itself around until she was facing the ground, the distance getting closer to her every minute, every second, and just as she was to collide with the ground, everything went white in front of her.
When finally the white cleared what she saw was a world of black shadows once more.
And then, quietly, she heard another voice.
"Dreams are premonitions, Of a future that might be true, A future that will not end, A future that will not last."
"Destiny?" the girl, Amanda, called out, confusion eating away at her mind. "Is that you?"
The voice came out again, stronger this time.
"Destiny has changed. Where once three were gone, now two must go. The third must stay to find their path." It was a soft child's voice, but it continued it grow and almost seemed to resonate. "The dream sent must now change as life's endless waltz forms knew paths. The fourth must lend a hand if plans are to succeed. A fifth enters the realms of darkness and dances the dance of death." All things come to head as the past threatens to repeat."
"Destiny?" Amanda asked again, tired now. "Please, I'm not in the mood for riddles."
"Amanda," the voice had changed again. Back into the soft child's voice from before, "do you want to play with me?"
Footsteps called attention to the shadows and Amanda watched as a small form stepped forward. A little girl of about 6 years. She looked as if nothing had happened at all, as if the mysterious voice was nothing more then the imagination of Amanda. She held a small ball in her hands and a black little creature with large pink eyes clung on her shoulder.
"No Destiny." Amanda replied firmly, "I don't have time to play. I have to go now."
"Go where?" The child asked pleasantly.
"I'm not sure. To find someone, I think."
"The path to destiny will appear before you. Open your eyes and your path is clear. Open your heart and your destination is there."
Amanda turned to look at the little girl, but she was gone. Unnerved, she looked around. "Destiny?"
"Wake up."
Amanda awoke in her room.
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Hikari.
She ran.
Hikari.
She knew that voice.
Hikari.
The sound of waves crashing in the distance echoed in her ears.
Hikari.
She knew the shadows were getting closer.
Hikari.
"No! No!" she cried as she ran. "Go away!"
Hikari. Come back to us.
"GO AWAY!" She cried, covering her ears.
The ground opened up below her and she fell, screaming, into a chasm. When she landed she looked around fearfully. She was terrified. Something was with her, she knew it was. Murmured words buzzed in her ears. It was all so familiar to her, yet so foreign as well. This wasn't right. This wasn't her. This was something, someone else. Kari hugged herself and thought of TK. She wanted TK.
TK
She looked up in alarm. "TK! WHERE ARE YOU!?" This isn't right. Where is he? Why isn't he here? "TK! TEEEEEEEE-KA-"
She stopped. TK was only a few feet away. He lay on the ground, curled in on himself. Kari tried to approach, but she felt resistance. An invisible barrier stood in her way. She called to him, "TK!" he did not answer. "TK! TK!" She began to beat against the solid air. "TK! TK!" This isn't right! This isn't supposed to be happening! Why is it him? Why isn't it me? "TK! TK WAKE UP! IT ISN'T REAL! IT'S JUST A DREAM! WAKE UP TK, WAKE UP! TEEEEEEEEE-KAAAAAAAAAAY!!!"
She awoke with a start.
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Sora sat against the blossoming sakura's with a contented sigh. A soft chuckled beside her drew her attention. Matt sat cross legged on the grass beside her, his guitar in his hands. She smiled and reached out her hand. Matt smiled back and began to fade away.
"Matt!" Sora stood quickly. The sky darkened and blossoms began to wither. The tree itself blackened and twisted. "Matt!" Sora called again. A blue spark whizzed past her and she whirled around to follow it's trail. It was running. It was scared. She looked around for the source of it's fear and saw a small dark cloud drifting by. As it passed Sora felt a cold chill pass through her and she hugged herself tight.
"Sora!"
She looked up to see Matt running towards her. "Sora!" The haze around him grew thicker.
"Matt!" She hurried to meet up with him, but the closer she got the further away he seemed to go. And then he stopped, clutching his abdomen.
"Matt!" the haze grew thicker still. Matt cried out in pain.
"MATT!"
The haze became a cloud, enveloping Matt's entire form.
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k2:Like it?m Hate it?
MK: Let us know either way!
k2: I will try to get the next one up soonish.
MK: Ciao!