Infection

Part 2

Tai

Tai was enjoying the bright, sunny day. He had just made good on his promise to take Kari and TK out for ice cream and was walking home alone. By the time Tai decided to leave Kari seemed to be in a better mood so he thought he would leave her and TK alone for a while.

Tai thought about Kari, despite the fact that he had put on a smile and told her not to worry Tai was concerned. He knew the dark ocean had effected Kari before. There was a small part of Tai that hoped the dreams really did mean something and they could fight again but he desperately pushed those thoughts down, feeling guilty.

Tai walked past the soccer fields. He could hear the sounds of people practising. It looked like younger kids playing. He thought he could just make out Davis, Tai's old goggles sitting on top of his head.

As if he could sense Tai's gaze Davis looked up and smiled giving his mentor a big wave. Tai smiled and waved back. Davis's enthusiasm sometimes seemed infectious and Tai felt some of his worries fade.

Tai wasn't sure how long he stood watching soccer practice. He knew he'd have to be going soon but it was so nice out in the sun. Soon Davis was running over to great him.

"Hey Tai! Did you see me? I totally kicked but today!"

Tai smiled and checked the time on his phone. The screen read 4:71.

That's weird Tai thought.

Davis was still talking.

"I really think we can win, no one else on Ken's team is as good as he is and we've been training really hard… Tai are you listening?"

"What? Oh yeah sorry I was distracted," Tai admitted. "Hey do you have the time?"

Davis frowned. "No, my watch and phone have been acting funny all day. Maybe there is a storm or something?"

Tai looked pointedly at the sun and then gave Davis an incredulous look that would have made Matt proud.

"Oh well I don't know do I?" Davis said.

Whatever else Davis was going to say was interrupted by a loud yell from the soccer pitch.

Davis and Tai shared a worried look and then sprung into action. Tai jumped over the fence and together they ran over to see what was wrong.

It didn't take them long to find out. One of Davis's team mates was pointing to the sky. Tai followed his gaze and felt his heart stop for a moment at what he saw.

Kuwagamon in the real world.

What is he doing here? Tai thought.

He didn't have long to think because soon Kuwagamon was on them. Tai dove to the ground and saw others do the same. There was a rush of wind as Kuwagamon just barely passed over them.

Tai looked up. Kuwagamon had turned and was headed back their way. He was flying right at a group of Davis's teammates.

"Oi! Ugly!" Davis yelled, kicking a soccer ball at Kuwagamon. The ball missed but it was enough to distract Kuwagamon for a moment.

Tai could see someone was going to get hurt if he didn't do something.

"Davis!" he yelled. "Davis! You need to get everyone out of here! I'll distract it!"

"But.."

"Davis! Go!" Tai said firmly.

Davis nodded. "Hey everyone we need to get out of here! Follow me! Run!"

Tai watched as Davis lead the group away to the changerooms. Kuwagamon could see them too.

"Hey Kuwagamon!" Tai spotted a ball nearby and, like Davis had earlier, kicked it hard at Kawagamon. This time Kuwagamon was hit.

Kawagamon roared and changed course setting his sights on Tai.

Tai waited until Kawagamon was right on top of him and threw himself to the ground again. Kawagomon just passed over him.

Tai looked up. Kawagamon was heading right for him on the ground. There was nothing he could do.

Tai squeezed his eyes shut.

Nothing happened.

Tai opened his eyes to see a bright light shining from his pocket. The light seemed to surprise Kawagamon who had pulled out of his dive. Tai reached down to the source of the light. It was his digivice.

"Pepper breath!"

Tai's heart leapt and a hysterical laugh forced its way out of his throat.

"Agumon!" Tai could feel the massive smile on his face. The presence of his digimon partner had Tai feeling truly whole for the first time in years.

Agumon turned around with a matching grin but there was no time for a reunion. Kawagamon had recovered from his surprise and was now swooping towards the smaller digimon.

"Agumon!" Tai cried urgently. He held his digivice out. Agumon nodded understanding what Tai meant.

A bright light engulfed Agumon. It faded to reveal Agumon's champion form Greymon. Tai was confident they would win now. He turned to look at Kawagamon who had hesitated at the sight of the larger digimon. For the first time Tai noticed something was not quite right about Kawagamon. He seemed to be flicking. Tai could see some of Kawagamon's data rearranging itself.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon attacked Kawagamon sending a giant flame ball at him.

Kawagamon dodged in the sky. Greymon's attack missed Kawagamon and flew into the side of the changerooms. Bricks and dust were blasted into the air. Tai's blood ran cold. Where were Davis and his friends?

Kawagamon roared and charged at Greymon again. This time he was much closer. Greymon spun catching Kawagamon with his tail and sending him crashing into the ground.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon attacked the dazed Kawagamon. This time he didn't miss and Kawagamon was blasted into a mass of data.

Tai's focus was still on the changerooms. As the dust started to fade he could see the damage wasn't too bad. Greymon had only taken a small chunk out of the roof. Everyone would be fine. Tai smiled in relief.

Greymon's body flashed yellow and he started shrinking. The glow faded and Agumon reappeared in his place. Heart racing Tai ran forward and wrapped his arms around his partner.

"Tai!" Agumon said snuggling into Tai's arms. "Tai I've missed you!"

Tai's breath caught in his throat. "I missed you too Agumon." He tightened his arms. "I missed you so much.

"When Tai and Agumon returned home they were surprised to find Gatomon sitting on the couch talking with Kari. Gatomon told them she hasn't sure how but she had arrived about an hour ago, around the time of Kawagamon's attack. Tai sent a quick message to the other Digidestined and they had replied saying their digimon had appeared too. They had a meeting planned that night at Tai's house to talk about everything.

Tai, Kari and their digimon were all sitting on the couch together when the doorbell rang. Tai and Kari exchanged a nervous look. No one was due over yet and their parents wouldn't be home for a few hours.

"I'll get it Tai," said standing up.

Tai opened the door to reveal a tall unfamiliar man wearing a dark suit.

"Taichi Yagami?" he asked

"Umm…"

"My name is Shuu Tamura," he said. "I'm here to talk to you about the digital monster attack that took place earlier today."

"Digital Monsters?" Tai laughed nervously. "I wouldn't know anything about that. I think you might have the wrong person." Tai started to shut the door.

Shuu sighed impatiently. "Mr Yagami, I work for a special government agency which was established to deal with threats from the digital world. We have information about all the Digidestined and their digimon partners. As I said we need to talk about today's events. Please may I come inside?"

Tai hesitated for a moment "sure," he said. "Please come in," he said more loudly hoping Kari would hear and hide the digimon.

Tai led Shuu into the lounge room where Kari was sitting nervously. Tai couldn't see Agumon or Gatomon but he assumed they were hiding nearby. Gatomon, he knew, was especially weary around strangers and wasn't likely to let Kari out of her sight around a strange man.

"Umm," Tai hovered unsure near the couch. "Can I get you a drink, or…"

"No thank you," Shuu said.

"Miss Yagami," Shuu nodded in Kari's direction. "As I told your brother my name is Shuu Tamura, I'm a representative from a government task force focused on protecting the city from digital threats."

Shuu turned his head slightly to address both siblings. "I'm here to tell you to stay out of this fight."

"Hold on! What?" Tai exclaimed.

"But sir," Kari started.

"I'm aware of what the Digidestined have accomplished in the past, however our agents are highly trained for combat. The government feels we are able to handle threats much more effectively than a group of children, no matter how powerful they might be," Shuu said.

Agumon and Gatomon appeared from around the corner. "You can't do that!" Agumon exclaimed. "They are the Digidestined! They were chosen!"

Shuu startled at the sight of the two digimon. Tai thought it was probably the first time he had ever seen a digimon in real life.

"I'm aware of that," Shuu said. "I know who you all are."

"If you know who we are," Gatmon interrupted in a cool voice fixing her unblinking stare on the agent, "then you know we can handle any threat to our partners or their world."

"Yeah," Agumon agreed obviously missing Gatmon thinly veiled threat.

If the narrowing of Shuu's eyes was any indication he hadn't missed the threat. "And how many people have been hurt by your protection of this world? How many people have been hurt by a fight that had nothing to do with them?"

Kari paled at the agent's words and Tai felt a lump in his throat. "That isn't our fault!" he defended. "We've saved people! We've saved the world!"

Shuu's gaze softened. "I know you have," he said gently. "But now there is a better way. While you and Greymon battled Kuwagamon today my agents dealt with several other digital threats and they did so without any injuries or significant damage."

Tai's stomach dropped, was the damage to the clubrooms worse than he had thought? Tai's eyes darted to Agumon hoping the small digimon didn't catch Shuu's implication. Judging from the confused and guilty look on his face he had.

"But no one was hurt!" Tai said. "I know Greymon hit a building but it wasn't that bad!"

Shuu gave Tai a levelled look. "Maybe you should ask your friend Davis is anyone was hurt".

Kari sucked in a deep breath.

"I did!" Tai said, talking to both Kari more than Shuu. "I called him straight away! He said everyone was fine!"

Shuu gave Tai an indecipherable look which could have been sympathy. "Maybe you should ask him again. I really need to be going." Shuu handed Tai a business card with his number on it. "Think about what I've said, I'll be in contact soon."

Tai nodded, unsure of what to think. "OK"

Shuu gave Tai a week smile. He hesitated on the way to the door. "There is something else you should know," the agent said. "The digimon that attacked today, they were suffering from an infection which seems to make them more violent. That's why they attacked today. There isn't a cure for the infection."

"How do you know that?" Gatomon asked sharply. "Are you getting information from someone in the digital world?"

"I can't share that information," Shuu said glancing towards Gatomon. He turned to address Tai and Kari again. "I'm sure I'll see you again soon, goodbye."

The sound of the front door closing echoed through the apartment.

"I would like to use that man as a scratching post," Gatomon huffed.

"Is he right Tai? Did I hurt someone?" Agumon asked tearfully.

Tai did his best to smile. "Of course not buddy, you heard Davis, he said everything was fine."

"But Tai," Agumon said.

"Everything is fine. I'm going to my room for a bit," Tai said.

"Tai, are you OK?" Kari reached for her brother's hand.

'Yeah," he said. "I just need some space."

"Ok," Kari said gently. "Hey are you two hungry let's go to the kitchen, I'll find you something to eat!"

Joe

It was rare anything was ever out of place in the Kido household. The exception was Joe's room which often had cloths and belongings thrown haphazardly on the floor. His desk was a complete disaster zone with unfinished assignments and notes spread out across the space.

Joe was currently at his desk with his head laying down on top of some notes. He squinted at an assignment in front of him, trying to make out the due date, as if he didn't already have it memorised.

Joe started to close his eyes. A few hours rest won't hurt then I'll finish it, Joe told himself.

His thoughts were interrupted by a scream coming from the kitchen. His eyes snapped open. Mum!

Joe raced into the kitchen. He skidded on the freshly cleaned floor and had to catch himself on the counter. His mum was gaping at something in the loungeroom.

"Joe!"

Joe smiled broadly. "Gomamon?" Joe ran forward wrapping his arms around the smiling digimon.

"Joe?" him mother was staring at them.

"Umm," Jo hesitated. "Mum, this is Gomamon?" Joe laughed awkwardly.

A short while later Joe's mum had gone to have a lie down. Maybe she thought she had hallucinated Gomamon before. Joe and Gomamon were together in Joe's room. Gomamon was catching Joe up on everything that had happened in the Digital World in the last few years while Joe's eyes drifted towards his textbooks.

Joe had pretty quickly figured out that there must have been a problem in either the real or Digital World. He was happy to see Gomamon but a small part of his mind thought that this couldn't have happened at a worse time.

Joe's suspicions were confirmed when he received a message from Tai calling for an emergency meetup. Joe looked from his phone, to Gomamon and then to his text books.

"Who was that Joe?" Gomamon asked.

Joe hesitated. "No one. It was no one."

Tai

Tai's parents arrived home just before everyone was due to arrive. Tai and Kari were sitting in the loungeroom waiting when they walked in.

"Hi mum, hi dad," Kari said.

"Hi kids," their mum said. "Grandma says hello. Next time we visit…" she trailed off at the sight of Agumon and Gatomon

"Oh hello," she said. "Not that it's not good to see you two again but is something wrong?"

Tai shrugged. "We're not really sure yet. I invited the others over to talk about it is that OK?"

"Yes of course Sweetie," their mum said. "Oh! I should prepare some food for everyone!"

Kari grimanced.

"Oh no that's OK mum," Tai said running his hands through his hair. "I think everyone was going to eat before they came over".

Soon everyone but Joe had arrived at the Yagami's house. When Tai asked if he was coming Matt frowned and said he was probably too busy. They were all spread around the loungeroom. Tai's parents had gone out to give the kids space and to buy tea. Tai had just finished telling everyone what had happened.

Tai looked over to where Davis was sitting with Ken. Ken and Wormmon were fussing over the bruise that was forming on Davis's head while Veemon sat happily on his lap.

"You said nobody was hurt," Tai said.

"No one was, not really, it's only a bruise," Davis said with a shrug. "Veemon showed up and pushed me out of the way, didn't you Vee?" he looked down at the digimon in his lap.

"Yep yep," Veemon grinned proudly.

Tai didn't miss the grateful smile and gentle pat Ken offered the blue digimon.

"We were both worried about you," Kari said.

Davis looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry," he said.

"What about you Tai, are you OK?" Sora asked gently.

Tai smiled in response. "Yeah I'm OK."

"So who was the guy that showed up here then?" Matt interrupted frowning again.

"Agent Shuu Tamura," Tai said. He hesitated before going on. "He said that we should stay out of it, that the government would handle it."

"What!" Davis exclaimed, jumping up and knocking Veemon to the ground. "He can't be serious! We're the Digidesited!"

"Yeah!" said Veemon, "you should let me at him! I'll show him who's boss!"

Gatomon huffed from Kari's lap. "Get in line."

Matt smiled at the digimon. "Don't worry," he said "of course we're not going to stay out of it, right Tai?"

Tai looked away.

"Tai?" Sora asked.

"Maybe we should listen," Tai said. "When Greymon's blast hit the building today I thought people were seriously hurt. It wasn't your fault buddy," Tai ensured Agumon. "But imagine what would have happened if there had been more people around."

"You can't be serious," Matt said. "Why don't you try imagining what would have happened if Agumon hadn't been there instead. Anyway, weren't you the one who said you wanted to fight again?"

He's right I wanted this and people were hurt, Tai thought. "And you're the one who said you didn't and now all of a sudden you want to ignore what the government told us and charge in fighting!" Tai yelled.

"Are they seriously fighting again?" TK asked the group. Beside him Yolie and Cody who had only heard rumours of Matt and Tai's fighting looked confused.

"That's not what I meant!" Matt yelled back. "Just because I didn't want to go looking for a fight it doesn't mean we should sit back! You were right yesterday, it's our responsibility!"

"Yeah which means we are responsible when people get hurt!" Tai yelled. "Tamura said that they could fight the digimon without hurting anyone, can we really say the same? Do you remember how much damage Myotismon did?"

"That's enough! Both of you," Sora interrupted. She frowned at Matt and Tai until it was clear they were both finished. "Kari," Sora addressed the younger Yagami sibling. "What did Tamura say about the infection."

Tai saw Kari watching him with a worried expression and made an effort to smile like he was fine.

"He said Kawagamon and the other digimon had some kind of infection," Kari said. "The infection was making them violent and that's why they attacked. He said there wasn't a cure but he wouldn't tell us how he knew that."

"That seems super shady," TK said.

"He was telling the truth," Tai interjected, "at least about the infection. When Kawagamon attacked I could see there was something wrong with him. He kept flickering."

"That's odd," said Izzy who until this moment had been quite, simply observing things. "Tai, if I borrow your digivice I can analyse Kawagamon's data to find more information about the infection. Ken if you help me maybe we can use the data to try and develop a cure.

"I can help too," Yolie said.

Ken and Izzy nodded in agreement. Tai passed his digivice to Izzy.

"Thank you," Izzy told Tai. "I'll be as quick as I can, I should be able to give it back tomorrow."

"Why? Apparently he doesn't need it anymore." Matt said.

There was an awkward silence. Tai tried not to let anyone see how much Matt's words hurt him.

"OK," Sora jumped in before anyone could say anything. "I think that's enough for tonight. We should all go home and talk about this later."

Mimi hung back after the others had left.

"Are you OK Tai?" she asked. "You seem stressed."

Tai forced a smile. "It's just..." This is what I wanted and people got hurt, more people could have been hurt, Kari's dreaming of the dark ocean, an actual government agent visited my house, everyone thinks we need to fight but if we do and someone gets hurt that's on me, Matt hates me again, I don't know what to do "fighting with Matt again." Tai said instead.

Mimi sighed, "he didn't mean what he said."

"I know," Tai lied.

Mimi looked like she saw through Tai but she didn't say anything about it. "You know," she said instead, "when I said we should all get together this wasn't what I had in mind."

Tai laughed. "Yeah me neither," he said.

"Anyway I should go," Mimi said. She gave Tai a friendly hug. "I guess I'll see you at school."

Tai forced himself to smile, "bye Princess."