Disclaimer: *MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR DIGIMON TRI* I don't own Digimon, Toei Animation does. This is just written for all the fans out there.
This is a collection of short stories/drabbles that take place in or around the events of Digimon Tri. Pretty much I have too many ideas/theories about it to focus in on writing out just one. So each chapter will be self contained unless I say otherwise. The characters focused on will shift depending on the chapter as well. One chapter might be a fight between Matt and Tai while the next could be solely about Joe. But the main characters that I'm certain I'll be focusing on in several different scenarios are: Davis, TK, Ken and Kari along with Tai and Matt. Because they are my favs and there's just so much mystery about what happened to the 02 cast. I also plan to write a introspective chapter on each of the original 8 as well. And with that, please enjoy the fic!
~~Data Bytes~~
By: Mists
~My Only Hope~
TK clutched his cloak tightly to his chest. It was a fruitless attempt to keep the wind at bay, but he did so none the less. Mercilessly, the air whipped and howled around him. Coarse, unforgiving sand scrapped across his cheeks as he pressed on through the storm. It was unrelenting. But the physical pain he endured was nothing compared to the one he felt in his heart.
"Patamon, I've got to find Patamon," became his daily mantra. It was the only thing keeping him going.
It drove him; consumed him, in a way unlike any before. When the blond lost Patamon the first time, it was like an awaking. Angemon had sacrificed himself to keep TK safe. He was his protector, the symbol of the blond's innocence. The Darkness had stripped both away from him that day. Since then, TK lived in constant fear that the Darkness would attempt to do so again.
Only this time... Patamon wouldn't return, and neither would his hope.
He never spoke to anyone about his nightmares, even Matt or Kari. But the older he got, the more frequent they became.
And at long last, his deeply held fear became reality. When the corrupted Meicoomon went to Ultimate, TK found himself unable to digivolve Patamon. The Darkness became all consuming; it and this virus truly worked hand in hand. It didn't matter to the little orange digimon that he was stuck in Rookie form; he would do whatever was necessary to protect TK... and just as it had before, it cost him his life.
"Good-bye, TK," he whispered, before bursting into a million bits of data.
All the blond could do was scream, as he felt his last fragment of hope shatter within his heart.
Once he and the rest of the team finally made it to the Digital World, TK told his friends that he was leaving.
"I have to go find Patamon... alone."
Of course, Matt was having none of it.
"Are you crazy? I'm not letting you-"
"I need to do this," he stressed in an imploring voice. "Just like when you left with Gabumon back then... I have to find him on my own."
"But-"
"I'm going, Matt. And that's final."
And so, there he now was; lost in a barren dessert, surrounded by nothingness. Bleak and desolate it was, like an endless sea of sand. The rough grains caught in TK's throat as he continued to press onward. Breathing was now a laborious effort, as every gasp became increasingly desperate.
But the blond was determined, he'd find Patamon's egg; he had to.
Then through the storm, a shadow seemed to flicker. "H-ello?" he coughed out. "Is a-ny one t-here?"
Suddenly, the path before him began to clear and the dark form became more defined. It was most definitely human.
"Please!" he cried, desperate for help of any kind. But as the sand finally settled, TK came to the horrified realization that the being before him wasn't friend... but foe.
It was the Digimon Emperor. He stood there, frozen like a marble statue; staring at him with shaded eyes. A soulless phantom come to deliver the final blow. Without Patamon, TK knew he didn't stand a chance. But he wasn't going down without a fight.
"You," the blond nearly spat. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here."
The young man, before him didn't respond. He simply continued to frowning... almost in disappointment?
"Odd, why did I think that?" TK wondered as he shook the weird feeling from his head.
He then angrily growled, "What the hell do you want? Haven't you already done enough?"
The emperor briefly flinched at that, as if stung by his words.
"Good, serves you right," he thought darkly, pushing aside the fact that everything about this seemed wrong.
But the dark figure offered the blond no answer, only continued standing there. Eerily staring at him through shade covered eyes.
"We trusted you!" TK accused, infuriated by his very sight. "Davis trusted you! And you betrayed us, Ken! Where are they?"
For a moment, the other man seemed to stiffen at that remark. But TK had come to the end of his very long rope, and finally lashed out trying to punch him. The emperor quickly dodged away, back into the cloud of sand as the storm kicked up again.
"Hasn't the Darkness taken enough from me?" he demanded to the clouded air. "Where's Patamon? Where are my friends?"
With his only outlet of frustration gone, TK weakly fell to his knees. He brought his hands up to his face, and openly wept. "Please, it's been over a year since the gates last closed. Kari and I... we've been so lost without them. Tell me, what happened..."
Then, TK felt a familiar human presence standing over him."You're looking in the wrong place, dumbass."
"That voice, it couldn't be!" he thought in utter disbelief. Immediately dropping his hands in shock, TK stared up at the person with wide, desperate eyes.
"D-Davis," he gasped, practically launching himself at the goggle head's smiling form. TK's arms wrapped tightly around him. The sound of Davis's strongly beating heart was all the reassurance he needed. He was really there! Alive!
The brunette snorted into TK's shoulder as he returned the embrace in kind. "Glad to see you missed me, too!"
The blond took a few moments to collect himself. Making absolutely sure that yes, this was real, not a hallucination or a dream. Before violently shoving Davis backward and demanding, "Where in the hell have you been? We've all been worried sick about you!"
"Wow, aren't you acting moody," he teased in return with a carefree smile, but for some reason it looked rather strained. TK took the opportunity study his friend. His face seemed kind of worn, and his skin was paler than he remembered. Even his flame jacket was a little different; it was longer now, the blue fur around the collar was gone while the edges along it were now traced with yellow. But his precious goggles were still perched upon his head as he continued to grin at his friend. "I came because you needed me."
TK blinked at him in confusion. "Davis... what are you talking about? Where are Cody, Yolei, and..."
He wandered off here, unable to say Ken's name. It was quite clear at this point that he was the one who betrayed them all.
Davis then suddenly reached out and roughly grabbed TK by the shoulders. "Dude, I need you to listen to me! Because I don't have much time."
"Time? What-"
"You need to find Patamon," he stressed, momentarily tightening his grip. "Or else we are all done for."
TK simply gave him an irritated look. "What do you think I've been trying to do since we got here? I already checked Primary Village which was almost destroyed beyond recognition. And since then I've been searching aimless-"
"TK!" Davis's perfect use of his nickname instantly shut him up. "What is Patamon?"
The blond stared back at him in thought. "My... digimon partner... I don't-"
"Hope," the goggle head answered, his voice cracking upon the word. "He's your hope. You can't find him because you've lost it."
TK's blue eyes went wide with realization. It was then that he noticed that Davis's grip on him had painfully tightened. "What-"
His friend began to shake, his warm brown eyes shutting closed in utter agony.
"Davis!" TK cried. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
After a second, the goggle head was able to collect himself and glanced up. "Yeah... but you have to figure this out dude... Because, I don't think I'll have enough strength to come again."
"Strength?" he asked with a fearful gasp. "Davis-"
But his friend simply ignored his question. Instead, he lifted his right hand and pointed it at the blond's heart. "He's a part of you. Find him..."
TK felt his eyes filling with tears. "But, I-"
"All of us were taken to the Digital World unexpectedly," the brunette explained with shining eyes. "Just like the others, DemiVee and I went to bed and woke up here."
Davis's breathing became heavier as what appeared to be the virus that had affected Leomon started to shimmer around him.
"Davis!" the blond screamed in alarm, beginning to realize what his friend was trying to tell him.
The brunette gripped his head, trying to push through the pain. "Alphamon attacked us. Veemon and the others were infected. Daemon captured us... needed our power to help spread the virus... gave us..."
Davis gestured briefly to his neck, and TK's blue eyes went wide with horror. "Dark Spores."
The goggle head nodded in confirmation. "They were planning to turn Ken back into the Digimon Emperor... But he was already hurt so badly from the battle that they didn't think he'd survive, so... I offered to take his place instead."
"Davis..." TK whispered in shock. He watched his friend's form suddenly flickered to that of the emperor.
The goggle head then reached into his pocket and pulled out Ken's digivice. "Since we're DNA partners, his digivice worked for me. Mine and the others don't work anymore... because they weren't touched by Darkness like Ken's was... I couldn't let them turn him into that monster again, TK... It would destroy him."
The blond sputtered in fury. "So you just-"
"It was my fault, I'm the leader," he explained in a cold, collected voice that the blond had never heard from him before. "Besides... I had a feeling that if I did, we'd might stand a chance."
"What do you mean?" TK asked in a hushed tone.
"I've been able to fight it, thanks to the Crest of Miracles," the brunette explained with a wicked grin as the flickering around him started to cease. "I've been in contact with Gennai, too. Why do you think I just let Palmon and Gomamon through the portal like that? 'The two side of the universe are like two sides of the same coin. Those who desire true power must know the Darkness, and go beyond.'"
TK had a sinking feeling in his gut. "The prophecy sent to Izzy... It was referring to you. You've been pushing us to over come our fears so we can all digivolve to Mega..."
"Right, I- arrr!" he cut off in pain. TK reached out to steady his friend as the Crest of Miracles shined from his chest trying to fight back the Darkness. "Damn it, Davis fight it! You've been able to control it for this long, I don't-"
The goggle head huffed for a moment, as he shifted back into his normal form."Miracles is powered by Hope and Light. Without your hope, the crest can't help power it. So it's starting to fail."
"So this is my fault," TK heart-brokenly thought.
But Davis simply continued on, "I'm not sure how much longer it will hold... Doesn't help that every time I close my eyes I see Cody and Yolei being flung to the ground like a pair of ragdolls, and Ken desperately begging Daemon to use his spore instead."
As the goggle head finished, he once again became the Digimon Emperor and stared dejectedly down at the ground. "It's my fault. If I were a better leader this wouldn't have happened. I deserve this. And now both the Digital World and ours are doomed because I- "
Crack! Echoed the sound of TK's hand as he slapped Davis right across the face. "Snap out of it!"
The brunette immediately shifted back to his original form. "Hey! What was that for? Who do I look like, Tai?"
"Well, you sure are acting as thick as him right now," the blond snapped in return. "He's been a mess since you guys disappeared. In fact... we've all been off without you."
Davis rubbed at the red mark on his cheek. "Yeah... I kinda know that. I've been secretly watching you guys from afar. TK... I can't do this without you dude. The spore is already starting to take over. And if it does, it will make me destroy you. Do you understand?"
"Davis... please, tell me what to do!" he practically begged his friend. "What do you mean Patamon's a part of me, I don't-"
But the brunette merely shook his head. "Can't tell you that; it won't work if I do. If you don't find him soon... Honestly, I think you'll have to kill me."
"What?" he whispered, utterly horrified by what his friend just said. "You don't really mean that!"
"Damn it, TK!" Davis cried out, his voice breaking with the intensity of his emotions. "If I'm just gonna end up killing all of you, then I'd rather be dead! I refuse to live with your blood on my hands! I have nothing left! I've been fighting this stupid thing for over a year and a half! I can't anymore... you're my last hope."
"Then don't give up," the blond pleaded with him. In some ways, Davis had been better at keeping hope alive in their group than TK had. "Because, I-I won't let you yet!"
The goggle head glanced up at him with a tired smirk. "Okay, then. How are you going to stop me?"
And for the first, in a long time, TK felt the true fire of determination burn within him. "Believe in me! I don't care if I have to search the entire Digtial World three times over; I will find Patamon. And if that doesn't work, then we'll find another way. No matter how long it takes, no matter what happens; I won't give up on either of you. This is not our fate. As long as there is life, there is hope and I will do my best to make sure all of you remember it!"
Just then, a single white feather drifted down from the heavens, and landed on the ground between Davis and TK. The boys gasped as a bright yellow-white light engulfed them both.
And when their sight returned, a white digiegg with bright orange stripes sat before them.
"Patamon!" TK joyfully cried as he swept the egg up into a loving embrace.
Davis, who had returned to himself again, gave his friend a congratulatory punch to the arm. "Way to go dude! Knew you could do it! Now, all that's left is to fix Tai and Meiko."
TK looked up at his friend with hope filled eyes. "Davis, thank you. I really mean it."
But the goggle head simply brushed it off. "Hey, we saved each other, remember? Anyway, Daemon's going to start getting suspicious if I don't head back soon."
With a deep, laboring sigh, Davis reached up and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. Once again, the brunette became the Digimon Emperor. Except this time, TK could tell that his friend was fully in control.
"Good luck man. Gennai and I will contact you guys again when we can..." he said, with his most wicked smirk. "And, TS... Thanks, I couldn't ask for a better friend."
Before the blond could respond, the egg within his arms started shaking wildly. He was barely able to place it on the ground when POOF! It broke open and revealed... a rather groggy looking Tokomon.
"TK?" the confused digimon asked with a blink. "Oh, TK!"
Tokomon enthusiastically leapt from the discarded shell and right into TK's open arms.
"I've missed you so," the blond said with all his heart as he glanced up at Davis one last time.
The Digimon Emperor simply saluted him with cocky gesture and teleported away.
"TK... was that..." Tokomon questioned worriedly at his partner.
But the blond merely laughed and held his digimon all the tighter. "No... that was most definitely our friend."
~The End~
Author's Notes: Well hope you all like the start of this new fic. So this part is based off of the theories that Patamon is going to die in the next movie trying to save TK, and that Davis, not Ken is the Emperor. I think both are pretty likely with the facts that we have been given. Like I said, each story will be self contained. So whatever short Tri piece I want to write and explore will be posted in this "Data Bytes" collection. The next one should be out pretty soon. And it will focus on TK and Davis a bit with some... other people involved. It will be VERY humor driven. Hehehe! Don't want to spoil it! So more to come soon.
Please remember to read/fav/review! All these things help make me a better writer. So please, feed the fan fic muse!
