Until the End of the World
Prologue: Snow in Summer
As TK stared into the gun pointed between his eyes, he realized today would have been the first day of summer.
Warm days were so far away from him, but he could imagine – Patamon sitting beside TK's computer, basking in streams of sunlight. Or maybe sitting on TK's head, tugging at his hair and flapping his wings and whining, "Come on, come on, it's time to go!" He would not be alone, sunken to his knees in snow. Ice would not sting the sores on his shoulders.
Maybe, in a better world, they would have gone to the Digital World for lunch, flopped out on the blankets over tall grass. Yes – he and Patamon would be together. And Noel would be there, too, though by now TK couldn't tell if he would still be a child or very nearly a grown man. Patamon would chase Noel through sunflowers, under blue skies free of storms and demons.
But that seemed impossible now.
"I'm surprised you made it this far." The single point of light in the soldier's visor pierced through the swirling ice. "Well, truth be told, I'm surprised you even managed to survive. I'd thought you'd curl up and die just by stepping outside. Like a little sick dog." He spat that last word, then snickered. "But it's like what you said, once - never underestimate the Digidestined. Right, guys?"
TK could see them more clearly, now. There was an entire squad of soldiers surrounding their leader, all dressed in deep black armor, darker than even the storms clouds churning above. While the leader aimed his gun up and down TK's body, the others stood stock still, letting snow gather on their shoulders. Their weapons pointed to the holes torn in the sky, but they all gazed down at him, completely silent. They looked like tombstones on a field of bones.
The leader crouched eye-to-eye with TK. If that stoplight red in his visor was even an eye. "I wonder – what were you trying to accomplish? I, for one, am genuinely, legitimately, really and truly…" He pushed his visor against TK's forehead— "…curious."
TK pursed his lips. The cold gnawed his cheeks, and the wind threatened to topple him over. He did not know where he found the strength to remain upright – but he did.
Until the soldier slammed his rifle into the open wound on his chest. TK flew back and snapped his head against something hard in the snow. But he couldn't bring a scream out of his throat anymore. After a moment of looking up at the dark chasms in the sky, the only places where snow did not fall, he could only murmur, "I was going to save them."
"Your friends?"
He closed his eyes.
"Aww," the soldier sneered. "How cute."
His friends – their faces used to be so far away. For the longest time, no matter how much he had searched his memory, their faces and voices only crumbled and withered away. But the images were so vibrant now: a sunny day on the streets of Odaiba, packed with people and digimon, walking, working, playing together. He could see Davis and Veemon lugging their enormous noodle cart down the road, belting out "Noodle, noodle, come get your noodle!" loud enough to be heard across Tokyo Bay.
And – Kari at his house for a visit, sitting beside him, stirring lavender lemonade with a spoon or twirling her hair around her finger, talking about something. It didn't matter what – all he needed was her smile, her laugh. And Matt and Gabumon at his house, too, pacing around the kitchen, debating whether to make pastrami sandwiches or eggs with soft rice for lunch. And – and he could imagine Izzy, too, maybe even his daughter, sunburnt but not burnt out, still full of life—
"I'm sorry, Mr. Takaishi," the soldier said. "You can't save anyone. Your friends are gone."
When TK did not respond, the soldier aimed the gun back at TK's face. He could imagine the grin splitting the seams of the soldier's face. "Well, it's about time we end this, yes?"
TK dug his fingers in the snow, tried to push himself up with whatever strength he had left. He tried to find hope in him. Or light. Something that would make him stand up and push the soldier away and run and find his friends or his family or Patamon, no matter where they were—
But in the end, he had nothing left.
All he could do was close his eyes.
Somewhere, far away on the horizon, a scream tore through the air.
(Once, not so long ago, the world had not been a nightmare.)
A/N: Thanks for checking out this story! The next chapter will take us to a much happier time, before everything falls apart.
I feel sort of bad, though - Adventure and 02 set up such a hunky-dory fairy-tale ending, and this is gonna stomp all over it like some kind of Digi-Godzilla. But hey, what can you do...
Again, thanks for reading, and I hope you stick around with what this story has to offer. u_u