Crazy: After much delay i have finally edited the first chapter of the lost arc. it's a much better edition than the original and I'd like to thank Crazyeight for his inspirational writing, his stories have helped me develop as a writer, and his opinion that led me to rewriting this. This story is about a number of the digidestined but mostly TK and Takato are the heros of the fic, TK the subtle hero and Takato the bold one.
I do not own Digimon, i don't own all that much.
On with the fic.
The other side
Tai was no stranger to running for his life but this was totally unexpected. Flying not far behind him was what appeared to be a black winged angel, not that he'd call it that considering it was hell bent on killing him.
Thankfully the alleyways where not to broad making it much harder for the thing that was after him to fly properly.
Tai knew that he'd be helpless if the thing behind him got to close. Its sword had cloven through lampposts like butter. Tai turned another corner thankful that the thing, what ever it was, was really bad at doing corners.
Tai curse realizing his mistake. He had run into a dead end. Hoping that the thing had crashed he turned to run out of the alley he was in however the figure of his enemy stood blocking the entrance. The figures black wings were stretched out to their full length. All other features about tai's new enemy where hidden by a long black cloak, it had a few tears in it. In the thing's right hand was a black nodaichi(a nodaichi is like a huge katana.).
For the first time the figure spoke. The voice was defiantly male. It carried an emotionless tone. "How much do you want to live?" it asked coldly.
Tai's response was simple. "A lot and you wont be killing me today,"
The figure walked over to him. Much to Tai's surprise he was bigger then the figure. "How about you give me something of equal value to you life and I'll never have to kill you."
Tai looked sternly at the figure. "What do you want?" he growled
The figure chuckled. "I was thinking a slave. Your sister would be nice."
This was all it took to drive Tai beyond negotiations. Without a single thought in his head other then protecting his little sister he lashed out at the figure. "Go to hell you freak!" he shouted.
His punch missed the figure only catching on the hood of the cloak. The hood fell away to reveal the true face of the enemy. The face of a fallen digidestined.
Tai steeped back in shock. "H-how y-you're supposed to be dead." he stuttered.
The figure just laughed for a few moments. "You could have found the answer so easily if you had just looked."
"What do you mean?" Growled Tai as he ducked under a slash from the fallen digidestined and placed his palm against His enemy's chest only to slightly push him back.
The Fallen digidestined slammed the but of his sword's hilt into Tai's forehead, knocking him to the ground hard.
"What I mean." growled the Fallen digidestined. "Is that I left clues, I left them everywhere, school, our homes, your digivice, hell I even left you a guide book That said. "I'm not dead." but no you're just so bloody ignorant to everything that isn't about you."
The fallen Digidestined let out a dark if not evil and maniacal laugh. "Why Tai, if you had some guts you'd have told the others what really happened but I don't think that little slave I'll be getting would take it too well."
"So you think you can take anything you want! Well I won't let you!" Tai shouted as he surged up and shoulder barged the fallen digidestined. This was one of Tai's less that successful ventures as he merely bounced away, like he'd run headlong into a iron wall. Something was really wrong now and Tai knew it, this guy was like some human digimon…
'No he couldn't have…. Could he?' Thought Tai desperately not wanting it to be true. 'If I'm right, if I'm right then we're done for.'
As Tai stood up and a look of realization crossed his face the fallen digidestined spoke with a hint of amusement. "Bravo, Bravo, well done. You worked it out, most impressive, especially for a moron like you. Yes a clean way with no shoving digivices into people's chests and I found out how to make it permanent. I've perfected it."
"Sorry but I don't see how it's perfect, your still only as powerful as an ultimate." said Tai softly as he fully straightened himself and made a dash for freedom, the only problem was that there was a human with the same level of power as an ultimate level digimon in his way. Tai crashed back into the alleyway holding his stomach where he'd been kicked.
The fallen digidestined walked up to him and grabbed the front of his shirt, dragging him ruthlessly from the ground so that they were eye to eye. "Do you honestly think you can stand up to me now that I've biomerged with Daemon's Muramasa, you can't touch me."
"Why are you doing this? I don't.. no I can't believe that you're the same person!" Screamed Tai as he struggled to break free from the grasp of the person before him.
Tai was smashed brutally into the ground where he lay for a few seconds, struggling to breath properly, he'd been winded from the fall.
The fallen digidestined looked at him with a mixture of pity and irritation. "Of course I'm the same person you knew, but people change. It doesn't matter how fundamentally good or evil they are. They will always change when they reach the one thing they can't take. As for why. It's because of this.
The fallen digidestined begun to rant like a maniac. "Where there's love there's hate, where there's knowledge there's ignorance, where there's friendship there's solitude, where there's reliability there's the choice to not help others, where there's hope there's fear that this hope will not occur, where there's sincerity there's denial and lies, where there is kindness there is tyranny, where there is courage there is fear, pure fear and where there is light there is darkness."
"No your wrong." Tai growled in anger. "I can't believe this shit you're spouting."
He charged to escape but before he could get even close to past the fallen digidestined a horrible pain ripped straight through his chest and he was practical tossed aside or he would have been if not for the blade that had skewered his heart. The blade was jerked out of his body, pulling him down onto his face. He felt the hole on the left side of his chest closing much to his amazement, it shouldn't be.
"What.. What is this… it ca-can't be." gasped Tai as he spat up blood.
The fallen digidestined laughed once again in that maniacal way. " Yes it's the very same, the same virus that took his life. The destructive power of both light and darkness. Two sides of the same coin."
"Like I said you're wrong, They aren't the same thing, darkness destroys and does nothing else." spat Tai through the blood in his mouth.
"Don't talk nonsense. Your sister is the light but also the darkness, try to see the difference between darkness and evil. The other side isn't evil it's just dark." with those words the figure leapt into the air and begun to soared away.
Tai watched as the figure vanished into the clouds above and he muttered. "Why…."
"WHY TK!!!!!" He shouted before he felt into a deep state of unconsciousness.
Kari was sitting at the desk in the room she'd shared with Tai for her whole life, on the desk a bunch of papers were scattered but Kari didn't really feel any need to look at them, they were just study notes after all and they weren't even hers. They were in fact Tai's notes, and had nothing to do with her but what did have something to do with her was the small pendent that lay on the desk.
The pendent was perhaps the only thing that had helped her remain sane in for the last seven months, for some reason or another whenever she looked at this small emerald with a even smaller shard of onyx in the centre surrounded by a ring of golden, red metal. It hung from a delicate chain of the same golden, red metal. It was like a symbol of everything that was ever important in her life.
The way it reflected light reminded her of the blessing she had for being the digidestined of light, The golden, red metal reminded her of the boldness of Tai and Davis, the way the four parts of the pendant supported each other reminded her of the trust she had for people like Joe and Cody, the intricacies of the pendent defiantly spoke volumes for her opinion of Izzy, the pendent was made of things that were pure which reminded her of another one of her friends, in fact it reminded her of everyone close to her, it'd been given to her as a gift of friendship this reminded her of Matt, then there was the kindness of the gift, it defiantly reminded her of Ken. There was one more thing to it, it'd been a gift from the person she loved, Kari may have been young but she was sure about what she wanted in life, the love that was entwined with the gift reminded her constantly of Sora who was ever so compassionate and Yolie who had a great sense of romance but above all of these things it gave her hope, even if it was just because the pendent had been a gift from the boy who she could hardly deny her feelings for, Takeru Takaishi AKA TK.
Not that it made any difference right now, that person was dead and there was nothing that they could do about the dead being dead. Nothing change how things are, no one had the power to bring the dead back to life, she'd learnt that, if anything from Tai's brutal words back when she found out about TK's suicided. The boy had used a technique known as data realizing: using the data stored within ones body to create something else, if used beyond data levels of the person, they'd end up sacrificing their own body to perform the technique.
What she didn't know was that Tai had lied to her about raising the dead, it wasn't impossible but more often than not it costed much more than a life for a life. In fact TK had already resurrected both Tai and Matt on one occasion by making a deal with a demon lord digimon. That was one of the two ways that the dead could be brought back to life, the other was to make a deal with an angel lord digimon. There was one price, more of a risk than a price.
It is said that when makes a deal with the devil that they are given a set amount of time before the hellhounds came for their souls, well its wrong both with the set time part and the hellhounds, the demon lord either sends them at any time within a week or they come out once the week ends and the demon lord can't do anything to stop them unless an even greater risk is taken by the one who makes the deal. This was why Tai hadn't told her about this method of resurrection.
TK had used this to kill himself but she still couldn't believe this in her heart, She still didn't believe that Tai had said. "He burst into fire, that's all there is to it. He destroyed himself, he just became fire, he's gone, just accept it."
No mater how much it made sense she couldn't bring herself to believe it. "TK… Damn it. I need to just…"
She tried to but she couldn't even mumble the words. She couldn't say. "Forget about him." She couldn't say this even though she knew she'd have to get over this at some point and move on, the only way she could do this would be by forgetting about him.
"To just hold your hand one more time… even though I'd not be able to let go." she mumbled shacking her head to rid herself of thoughts of suicide and murder. She didn't want to do either but the thoughts just kept coming back like some poison that her body would hold off for a little while and then it'd strike back.
"I miss you, I miss you so much. Back to now. Where is Tai? He should have gotten home half an hour ago." her voice quivered in worry, she'd been doing that a lot lately, worrying and being unable to do anything. There had been to many things that a group of the older digidestainds were doing in secret. Tai, Matt, Izzy Joe and strangely TK. TK died and then it was just Tai, Matt Izzy and Joe. Tai had gone to see Izzy for this very purpose about two hours previous. The trip wasn't far and even if he'd stayed for a whole hour he should have been back by now or at least of sent her a text to say he'd be longer.
She sighed and pulled out her cell phone, and notice that it had one message. It wasn't from anyone who she knew or at least not from their phone. It said:
'Search the ally ways between you house and the computer nerds.'
It was strange there wasn't even a phone number, which doesn't make all that much sense, seeing as it was a text message. It was strange, really strange, the kind of strange that sent shivers down your spine but she had no idea why. She felt a huge wall of dread flow over her, the air around her felt thin like in the mountains.
She quickly pocketed her cell phone, did the same with her D-3, slipped her green and black catseye pendent over her head and rushed out of her room.
Tai liked the rain, it had saved his life more than once, but right now it was being a total pain, he was stiff, he was cold and he hurt like a bitch. The rain could normally just turn him numb but this pain didn't act like normal pain, no it was stubborn and endless. He couldn't help but think back to a time when he'd lain wounded and alone in the digital world.
Flashback
It was during a war, four years ago, a little after their first adventure to the digital world, he'd kept it to himself that anything had happened, after all no time had passed in the outside world. The rain had fallen then too, just it was colder and much more numbing, his chest had been pierced with a large blade and now just the wound remained, it would have bleed a lot more if it weren't for the rain, which at best would give him a small while longer to live, but that was also a small while longer to be saved, he had lain there dying slowly with a faint glimmer of hope that he'd survive. Hope it was constant even in the end, even when death was upon you hope always seemed to hold on, defying all odds it stood amidst the suffering.
He saw it, as he felt his life slip away, that thing that TK continued to ask why no-one else could see it when he could, the flow a data. Everywhere there was data, the data around him, the data within him and then there was hope, hope that maybe a wish could come true. With all of his will Tai had willed the data around him into his hand, it surged there, glowing bright orange, heat scorched through his body, pain returned but he felt raw power, the raw power of the digital world amazed him. He could bend it to his will but he felt that it'd be risky, somehow he knew that he had limits.
His hand moved over to his chest and the data from around it swirled into his chest and to his immense amazement the wound that had been slowly bleeding him to death closed and vanished as if it's never been there at all. Then came the pain in his hand, there didn't appear to be any physical damage but now that his eyes were open he could see that data refused to flow properly through his hand any more. That seemed to be the price of this technique, it made you unable to draw on the data flow after it was used, perhaps it was like a muscle and got stronger the more you used it, he didn't know.
End Flashback
He'd learnt a lot since then about this technique, commonly known as data realising, to digimon. It did grow like a muscle but it was hard and painful work. There was still now after much training only so much that he could do with the data, but even less in the real world where you could only use your own data, if you over did it, your body would be drawn into the realise.
The rain continued endlessly, a never ending torrent of cold and sadness to many but while it was cold it gave him hope, he didn't know if he first realised due to being close to death or due to just being still and staring up for so long but he felt, deep down that it was the rain that'd let him live long enough to grasp the technique in the slightest. So here he was lying in the rain that gave him hope, beaten by the child of hope, his dead comrade and friend.
'TK, why?' he wandered silently.
Flashback
Seven months had passed since MalloMyotismon had been defeated. It really wasn't all that long, there was peace for them for a while and then, they'd ended up here.
A group of four sat around a computer screen. These were four or the legendary original eight digidestined. Amongst them was himself the leader of the digidestined and chosen one of courage, Matt his best friend and chosen one of friendship, Joe the medical student and chosen one of reliability and the last person of the group was a student at Tokyo University despite being one of the younger chosen one's his name was Takeru Takaishi or T.K. for short he was also Matt's little brother and the chosen one of hope.
"So does anyone know what this stuff means?" he asked in frustration. On the computer screen were numbers, codes and words that Tai didn't understand….. Much.
Joe shock his head. "It looks a bit like medical reports but none of it makes any sense to me. TK you know some of this stuff don't you?" he looked over to TK who had a look of shock on his face, tears rolling down his cheeks, pure sorrow covered his face.
"This is…" TK begun and the words seemed to vanish from Tai's mind and everything of that memory blurred away.
End flashback
Tai knew something important had happened after that. It had been something really important but he couldn't remember right now in the slightest. He was afraid, very afraid, he knew he was helpless but for some reason, despite this fear he felt that he could still go on.
'What happened back then? Why can't I remember?' Tai thought afraid of what was going on.
A strange reasonless fear had started to effect him as soon as he'd meet that black angel. 'Who is he? He can't be TK. There is no way that they are the same person but…'
Tai's body felt heavy and ready to give up but he felt something. A faint but distant hope. A hope that he might just live and something else, part of himself that he'd been letting slip away, he felt that he had to face this fear, to stand against it. He didn't know if he could be brave again, to be brave and stand against ones greatest fears, that was what was required of him.
The virus would finish him off shortly, that was all that there was to it, it's kill him and leave no evidence, the situation was hopeless but hope still just held on, as it always did, to the very end. TK was like hope, he didn't seem to fall for good until everyone else was down, he held on until the very end, just like hope, maybe hope could save him, at least he'd let himself go thinking that if nothing else.
The sound of hurried foot steps snapped Tai into full awareness. Forgetting his pain for a moment he tried to stand but failed only letting out a loud scream of pain. The virus wouldn't even let him move, he knew he was well past the point that he'd have any chance of being okay.
'Why the hell does shit like this always happen to me?' he wondered for a second as the sharp burning pain slowly faded from his chest and a dull cold throb of pain took its place. He knew that this was the worst it had ever been and that he was doomed.
Being on the edge of conciseness and deaths door Tai barely heard the footsteps getting closer.
"Tai are you alive?" came a voice that Tai recognised.
It was the same voice as the black winged angel that had attacked him earlier only it didn't have any of the malice that the black angel had. Tai tilted his head towards the voice.
"What does it matter to you?" he crooked faintly, anger rabid in his voice."You tried to kill me. Now your back to finish me off."
"NO!" the figure, who looked just like the black winged angel, shouted firmly. "Why do you think I'd want to kill you?" Why would I want to kill you when it was you who showed me how to be brave, how to stand for what I believe in and to never betray your friends. You're like a second brother to me. One way or another we are family. Tell me what's going on Tai?"
Tai looked in shock. "B-but it was you. You tried to kill me?"
The figure of TK cringed at the accusation. "Tai why would I want to kill you?"
Tai's face was constructed of anger and pain. His very being burning with rage at the gall of this thing to try and trick him like this.
"Come on finish me off with that bloody sword of yours." he said this nodding his head at where he remembered the nodaichi being at the figures hip. "What 'cough' where's it gone."
TK knelt down beside him. "Tai did I have a black sword and black wings when I attacked you?"
Tai started to cough again but this didn't stop him from nodding.
Tai could taste a warm liquid in his mouth. 'blood' the thought passed through his mind. He remembered the taste from when he had travelled in the digital world. The honest truth was that the story's of their first adventure in the digital world had missed out a lot of details. There were times when members of the group had almost died from vicious wounds and sadly one had. The best thing Joe had ever done for the group was come to the rescue in there situations.
On more than one occasion Joe had been freaking out about how bad the whole situation was and how the patient was going to die. Strangely they had all survived and it turned out that the digital world had made them able to heal much quicker, if the bleeding was stopped and everything wasn't too deadly, then they'd heal in a few days from even the most horrible wounds.
The figure sighed. "Tai I have a lot to explain but that's useless if you die." a hand was placed on the wound causing Tai to flinch.
Despite being quite used to pain after all his adventures in the digital world this still bloody hurt. "Kuso!" he swore. Before he was overtaken by a strange sensation of weightlessness. The sensation seemed to continue for what felt like hours until he was abruptly pulled to his feet by the figure.
Tai found himself on his feet sore but he had none of the previous shotting, horrible pains. He felt alive, he still felt the virus but it seemed to be behind some kind of barrier, he knew that any barrier would break after some time but some was better than none.
"Tai." said TK bringing tai to his scenes.
"What?" replied Tai harshly.
"That thing that attacked you was… how should I put this? An imitation." Replied TK calmly
"How?" Tai asked
TK lowered his head in what appeared to be shame. "It's made of everyone of my desires."
At this Tai gripped the figure by the collar, doing the only thing that made sense to do. "So you do want me dead! And you want to turn Kari into some kind of sex slave!"
TK eyes widened in pain. "No I just want you to be out of the way for a while and well with kari, I want her but not like that, but that thing doesn't understand it's desires….. My desires."
Tai looked with realization at the figure. 'He's not my enemy.'
Before Tai's mind could wonder any further TK got into the matters at hand. "You have to take the rest of the digidestined, that have crests, or have played a major role in in past battles, on the arc into limbo until it's safe."
Tai looked at him wondering what was so dangerous that they had to run from it. He soon got his answer as if TK could read his mind. "The energy of the dark ocean will soon consume both worlds and no I can't read your mind, you are just predictable at times."
Tai scrunched his fist up. "Then why run when we can fight?"
TK shock his head. "To fight the dark ocean's evil we need to awaken all 26 crests. The 13 crests of this side and the 13 crests of the other side. We have nine. Nine out of 26 we have quite a way to go. Now run!"
Tai flinched but let go of his comrade and sprinted off in the direction of home.
The figure watched him go. He felt that this was the last hope of the world, no he knew it was the last hope.
'Now to find that bastard who is giving me this bad name.' he thought a bit of anger in his mind. A pair of golden wings appeared ripping through his already tattered shirt and with a single flap he was thrown into the sky.
There wasn't really any time to tell Tai what had happened or how he was alive. The truth was that he'd fused himself with the Excalibur of Suraphimon, and it was very powerful, he at the very least had the power of an ultimate but he still knew why this form of biomerging was flawed, it hurt, a lot and without a digimon to tune yourself to and rely on you had very little control, even if you spent as long as he did training in this form. While with his new powers he could easily fell ultimate level digimon and in a long battle where he'd suffer much he may be able to take down a mega but he'd defiantly die trying.
Then there was the pain, there was no way that the power was worth it and he couldn't disengage the biomerge either and that made it so he had to endure this pain continuously. He hoped that he could eventual split himself from this weapon but he wasn't able to yet. He could still fight, a digimon of perhaps champion level and win but it'd be a close fight, if he was a plain human.
The figure scanned the area's above, below, in front and behind him for any sings of the black winged angel. A golden bracelet strapped firmly to his wrist. It was a simple but amazing piece, a thin gold band with two golden wings extending above either side of the hand. He continued to fly seeking his foe.
Tai ran knowing that he only had a small while till the world would be infected by the evil of the dark ocean.
'I need to get everyone in one place. Where?' the question was the only thing on his mind.
"The school! Yes perfect." he blurted out having found the answer to his question.
This caused him to be distracted long enough to not notice the figure running towards him. 'SMACK' Tai fell over having collided with a smaller figure.
"Sorry I wasn't watching where I was going." he hastily apologised as he got to his feet.
"Tai! You're okay. I came out looking for you, worried that you'd gotten yourself hurt and you've been dancing in the rain all night." came the reply from a familiar, while slightly peeved voice.
"Kari? Oh it is great to see you. Do you have your d-terminal? I need to get everyone to the school." Tai asked looking at his sister. She looked up. She was surprised by the appearance of her brother. He looked worn out as though he had been tied up and left for a week.
TK landed behind his replica, black and gold stood still for a moment, both waiting for the other to move, raw power ripping around them. Lightning and blackness flowing off of them.
"So TK, how do you feel about suicide?" Asked the brightly light TK in a morbid fashion, fitting his morbid joke.
"Well, it's perfurable to that justice crap most people spout like no tomorrow." Replied the other, darker TK with a smirk.
The dark TK made the fatal mistake of striking first, he spun and slashed out at the bright TK with a sidewards slash, The other TK simple blocked the blade with a transparent, radiant golden one. This blade was like a small sun being right in your face. The bright Tkkicked the dark ones hand and ended the fight a moment later. As his replica was helpless to do anything he finished it and rammed Excaliber into the dark TK's chest.
"You almost are just like me, but you never trained with those two. I guess it made one hell of a difference.
TK felt a tugging sensation. 'damn I caused a rift I'm an idiot.' he thought knowing just how useless it is to try escape a rift. After all he had been pulled into his fair share.
Limbo: the arc
Tai sat in shock as he watched the arc's monitor. On the monitor were two pictures one of earth and one of the digital world. Land that had once been green was now black or grey. That's what most of both worlds looked like now. It was a sight that you'd hate to see, just chaos and pain, evil and cruel.
"Tai it was lucky that you got as all out before this happened." said Sora who sat beside him and the others nodded in agreement other than Davis.
"Why did we run? We should be down there fighting." shout Davis like the fool he was
Tai sighed at the younger digidestines thoughts. "Don't thank me if it had been up to me we'd be down there fighting."
The whole group blinked in shock. It was Matt who asked the vital question. "So who told you to run? Jenni?"
Tai looked at his best friend, tears running down his face. He didn't know how to say it, how could he say it to Matt and to Kari…
"No not Jenni, it was him, he's alive." Tai replied finding it imposable to say his comrades name but somehow managing to say it at all.
The whole group stood in silence…. Even Davis. They all knew what Tai meant. There friend was trapped in a world that was falling to evil. Then as usual one single person broke the silence.
This was Kari her voice quivered. "TK's alive."
Crazy: I hope you like this edited version of chapter one.
Please read and review, both new and old readers.
Note: TK is not super powered.
Reviews comparing the original and this are welcome.