Chapter 3: The Setting for His Nightmares
Hello everyone. A big thank you to all of you who reviewed the last chapter, I really appreciate it.
I don't own Digimon or any other copyrighted thing I mention in this story. If I did I would be more than just an author of Digimon fan fictions. Now on with the fic.
Izzy, as usual, sat in his bedroom typing away on the keyboards of his yellow and white laptop and his grey desktop computer. The red haired boy kept his room unusually tidy for a teenager. His blue bed covers weren't all over the place, his wardrobe neatly contained all of his clean clothes, the wash basket in the corner contained all the worn items in colour codes and the large bookcase contain books and pc discs, all in alphabetical order and all of them on complicated science or computer programming. The sky blue carpet was kept perfectly clean and the white walls had posters of computers on them instead of the usual rock bands.
A red, six limbed bug Digimon with large green eyes flew into the bedroom through the open door. "Izzy, your Mum is the greatest. When she went to the store today she brought me a whole pack of cakes and some cookies."
"I know, Tentomon, she thinks it is great having you around the house again," Izzy turned to his face his partner. "And I asked her to get you those cookies because you need the energy to digivolve if there is a problem, although you shouldn't eat them all at once."
"I haven't, I'm saving them," Tentomon landed on Izzy's computer desk and looked at the monitors. "You still haven't found the source of those recent disturbances?"
"Nope," the genius shook his head. "There's no sign of a source for those disturbances or the master the Metalphantomon informed the younger Digidestined about."
"I wonder who the Dark Lord is," Tentomon pondered aloud. "The others said he was after revenge for something we did."
"I believe it is safe to theorise it will be a Digimon who we have fought before and they have been reformatted," Izzy hypothesised as he started typing again. "I don't know who though and I don't know how they broke through the protection Oikawa gave the Digital World."
"Maybe they were already there when the protective layer was formed?" the red bug added his theory.
"I'm speculating that is the case because … oh no"
"What is it Izzy?" Tentomon's eyes turned to the laptop.
"There is a large disturbance forming. A large disturbance means a powerful Digimon and look where it is," Izzy swiftly opened his emails. "I better inform the others and tell them to get here quick."
TK, Cody, Yolei and their Digimon entered Izzy's bedroom, shutting the wooden door behind them. Kari, Ken and Davis were sat with their Digimon around the room waiting for their arrival.
"For once I'm not the last one here," Davis celebrated the rare occurrence. "And it's after 7pm on a Friday, which means I'd normally be playing video games."
"You have a shorter distance to travel," Yolei pointed out in a matter of fact tone.
"What's the problem, Izzy?" Cody asked as he looked at the older, red haired boy.
"There's another disturbance," Izzy brought the window up on his computer screen to illustrate the issue. The younger Digidestined stood up and gathered around the monitor. "This one is quite large which suggests a very powerful evil Digimon is creating it."
"We can deal with it, we're very powerful too," Davis spoke with confidence as a few gasps could be heard from some members of the group.
"I know you can handle this but I want you to be careful and don't …"
"We will be," the goggle head interrupted Izzy with his eagerness to find the source of the disturbance clearly showing. The brown haired boy pointed his blue and white digivice at the computer screen. "Ready guys? Digiport open!"
The familiar white light swallowed up the younger Digidestined and their Digimon to take them to the other world.
"You didn't let me finished," Izzy yelled but it was too late. He sighed as he leaned back into his chair. "TK is not going to like it when he gets there."
Another randomly placed TV emitted the bright white light as the piece of technology disposed of the Digidestined onto the cold, lifeless rock bed. The group picked themselves and observed their surroundings.
They stood on a plateau at the top of a mountain in a strong, freezing wind which made them shiver as their green and white school uniforms, or purple and black school clothes in Cody's case, flailed around their bodies. The Sun had set and the sky had clouded over, leaving File Island in night time darkness. As the chosen children looked around in the poor light, they could make out several building that resembled Ancient Greek temples made from white marble. The largest stood in the centre of the plateau, dominating the smaller structures to its left. They all consisted of large pillars that surrounding the inner parts of the building and supported triangular prism roofs. Sheer cliff faces surrounded the peak in all directions with the exception of the single path leading up from the mountain's base.
TK's golden blonde head turned to look down to the forest at the base of the treacherous rock face on his left. The teen let out a low growl when he realised where he was. Patamon, who perched on top of his partners head, gulped once he recognised the inhospitable surroundings.
TK's eyes narrowed as images and emotions flashed into his mind from the last time he was here. The spot where the teen's azure orbs were fixed on was where Patamon had first digivolved to Angemon five years ago during their final battle against the original Digidestined's first opponent, Devimon. The image of Angemon as he used all of his energy to defeat Devimon forced itself to the forefront of the blonde's mind. It was the picture of Angemon and the devil Digimon being deleted before his own, teary eyes as he watched helplessly, not knowing if he would ever see his friend again. The events which haunted him in his nightmares replayed over and over again in his mind.
"I hate this place," the blonde spoke in a low tone. His complex emotions towards the situation were made worse by his extra sense. This "sixth" sense was because of his Crest of Hope, which allowed TK to feel presence of evil and darkness.
"Why?" Yolei asked as she turned around to face her friend.
"This place is a place of evil," TK replied in his low note as he felt Kari's familiar, warm left hand being placed on his shoulder. The blonde knew she was aware of the evil too.
"I can sense the evil here too. It feels cold," Ken nodded before he paused to find the correct phrase to describe the feeling. "It feels like death."
"I can feel it too." Worry was clear in Kari's voice as she place her right hand on TK's right arm.
"When was the last time you all had your tetanus jabs?" Veemon joked, trying to raise the mood. The blue and grey dragon noticed it was a bad idea when TK bestowed him with a quick, disapproving glare.
"Where are we?" Davis asked as he took another swift look around.
"The top of Infinity Mountain," TK growled. He heard Kari gasp as her grip of his arm tightened. The blonde could feel her almond eyes fix on him, burning a hold in the side of his head. He knew, without looking into them, they would be full of concern because Kari and Gatomon were the only two people TK had personally told about the events of the battle which occurred on this spot five years ago. The brunette, his best friend, was the person he could confide in when the images of the fight bothered or upset him.
Cody was the only other Digidestined present who knew TK had lost Patamon once before. However, the youngest member of the team didn't know the battle took place at the location which the group currently found themselves at. Both Kari and Cody knew the subject was a very sensitive one for their friend and, like the older Digidestined, tried to avoid it.
"Cool name," Davis replied. He was unaware of the angst caused to his friend just by the name alone. The goggle headed teen turned to face the largest Greek-like building. "Let's find the source of this disturbance and stop it now. I bet it's inside that building."
"Davis, I don't think we should go in there," Kari voiced her concerns.
"Why not?" The brown haired boy turned around and noticed how she was holding onto TK. It was obvious that something was bothering her. "What's the matter?"
The teenage girl gulped. "You can't feel the darkness that surrounds this place."
"On the evil scale, this place is really evil," Wormmon added his opinion.
Ken glanced at his green caterpillar-like Digimon with a concerned expression on his face. Last time his partner used a description similar to that one was before they entered the Dark Whirlpool two years ago when he was the Digimon Emperor. The purple haired boy remembered the events that followed resulted in Wormmon being reconfigured.
Ken looked over to Davis. "I think we should leave here and come back tomorrow when it's light."
"Not you too, Ken," Davis sighed. "I say we take out the Digimon who is causing this, end the problem now and then go home to play on my Playstation."
"That's a bad idea, Davis," Cody shook his head in disapproval.
"Why?" the leader looked around at the members of his gang.
"Because we could be walking into a slaughter house," TK coldly replied.
A few of the others cringed at TK's use of words but all of them nodded in agreement.
Davis sighed in defeat, knowing his plan probably wasn't the best idea he had ever come up with. "Alright then guys, we will head home and sort it tomorrow, which is a Saturday so we have more time to come up with a plan." He raised his digivice and strolled back to the haphazard TV lying on the ground. "Digiport open."
With that command, the Digidestined and Digimon were sucked through the screen by the white light and sent back to Earth.
The light died out leaving the plateau deserted. A black porthole formed in the ground close to where the chosen children had been standing and a tall, winged, menacing figure rose out of it. A cruel, evil laugh from the dark humanoid monster filled the air.
The computer in Izzy's bedroom spat out the Digidestined into a groaning pile of tangled limbs and bodies.
Izzy, who miraculously managed to evade the others as they arrived, reached out his right hand to TK to help the blonde up. "Are you ok?" The computer whiz asked the blonde haired teen as he pulled him to his feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine thanks," TK smiled weakly at the older boy.
"Are you sure?" Kari asked as she replaced her hand back on her best friend's shoulder.
"Yeah," he replied as turned his head and looked into the brown haired girl's mahogany eyes. The slightly younger boy could tell she didn't believe him. TK sighed as he took a seat on Izzy's bed. Kari joined him, sitting next to him and keeping her arm around his shoulders to let him know she was there for him. The blonde placed his face in his cupped palms.
"What about you Patamon?" Izzy turned to the flying Digimon who had just landed to TK's left. Patamon only nodded yes to the red head before turning his attention to his human partner.
"I could sense a powerful, evil force at the top of that mountain," Ken informed Izzy.
Izzy glanced over to TK before he turned to his computer screen to check on the disturbance. He was surprised when he saw the zone of darkness on the map was disappearing. "The disturbance is decreasing in size."
"What? How?" Ken asked as he joined his friend at the computer.
"I don't know but whatever was causing it has gone now," the red head replied as the disturbance disappeared.
"Does that mean we don't have to go back tomorrow?" Wormmon asked as he walked over.
"I told you we should have found the Digimon causing it and taken him out while we had the chance," complained Davis as he clenched his fists.
Izzy put his hand to his chin, assuming a thinking posture. "I think it would be best if we wait until the disturbance returns before making our next move." The others nodded in agreement.
Cody looked at the clock and sighed. "I better get going, it's getting late and my Mom will wonder where I am."
Ken took Yolei's right hand in his. "We were going to watch a movie tonight."
"And we haven't even had our dinner yet," Yolei pointed out to her boyfriend.
"Pizza?" Ken asked.
"Sure," she smiled before giving him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Veemon and I still have a tournament on FIFA04 to finish," Davis glanced down to his partner.
"Oh yeah!" A huge grin grew across the blue Digimon's face.
"So we better be off too. Let us know if that disturbance thing returns, Iz," Davis turned, waved and headed for the door. "See ya later dudes."
Ken, Yolei, Cody and their Digimon exchanged their goodbyes too as they left Izzy's apartment.
"TK, can I speak to you for a moment?" Izzy asked as the blonde as he stood up to leave as well.
"Sure," he smiled while retaking his seat.
"You might want it to be in private," the red head pointed out believing the conversation was going to be a sensitive one for his friend.
Kari shifted to stand up but stopped when TK placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, they can stay."
"Ok." Izzy sat down on his computer chair. A serious look formed on the genius' face. "I don't want you to jump to conclusions and think this disturbance is caused by Devimon. The disturbance may have been on the top of Infinity Mountain but it could be any of the other Digimon who we have faced in the past after their revenge."
TK sighed as he ran his fingers through his messy blonde hair before resting his chin in his palms. "Devimon's palace was rebuilt. Who would want to rebuild that?"
The red haired boy groaned disapprovingly, asking himself why another Digimon would want to rebuild that temple. "I'm not sure but like I said; let's not jump to conclusions."
"Wasn't Infinity Mountain reformatted into Spiral Mountain by the Dark Masters?" Kari asked with a concerned look in her almond eyes. Izzy nodded yes.
TK sighed and ran his hands through his hair again. "I don't think I'm in Puppetmon's or Piedmon's good books either."
"It could be Machinedramon or Myotismon too," Kari named two of their past foes who she'd lease like to see again.
"It still doesn't explain why Devimon's palace was rebuilt after it was destroyed," Patamon pointed out with a gloomy expression on his face.
"It is entirely plausible that the palace could have been reformed after we defeated the Dark Masters and Spiral Mountain was turned back to Infinity Mountain," hypothesised Izzy. "Also, to be honest, I don't think it's a good idea to continue speculating because we don't have enough evidence and all we are doing is scaring ourselves. It could just as easily be Daemon or any of the other evil Digimon we've faced."
"Izzy is right," Gatomon glance to Kari and TK. "All this speculation is turning us into scaredy cats."
TK sighed again. "It's just being on top of Infinity Mountain again brought back a lot of bad memories." Patamon nodded, understanding his human partner.
Kari used her left arm, which was still around the taller blonde's shoulders, to pull him closer. "It's been a bad day and one we should probably end by going home to get some rest."
"Ok." TK nodded in agreement before they both rose off Izzy's bed.
"Make sure you get a lot of rest in case the disturbance returns tomorrow," Izzy reminded them as they walked to the main door of the Izumi apartment. "We need to be ready to fight."
The younger Digidestined and their Digimon nodded their heads then exchanged goodnights with the red haired boy and Tentomon before leaving the building. The teenagers stepped out of the apartment complex into the warm summer night air and set off on their journey home. The best friends walked down the street lamp lit paths of Odaiba in a comfortable silence where they simply enjoyed each other's company and neither of them, or their Digimon, needed to say a word. However, they soon reached the point for them to go their separate ways.
Kari walked to the corner of the crossroads and stopped, expecting to say her goodbyes to her blonde friend and then head in the direction of her apartment as he walked to his. The brunette became confused when TK's steps took him past her before he turned around to look at her.
"Your home's that way," she giggled and pointed to her right and the direction of the boy's apartment.
"I know," he gave her a bemused glance. "But I thought I would walk you home."
Kari formed a look of mock offence on her face as she gazed up at him. "I'm not a kid anymore. I can take care of myself you know, Takeru." She knew he was looking out for her like he always had done and like any best friend would.
TK smiled knowing the cinnamon haired girl only used his full name when she was teasing him or being extremely serious. "I know you can, Hikari," he replied with her full name as well before taking a more serious tone has he looked down into the shorter girl's sparkling almond eyes. "But Tai would kill me if I let you walk home on your own in the dark."
Kari was about to reply but, as she gazed into the bright cobalt eyes of the golden haired blonde before her, she noticed another reason. They told her that right now he wanted his best friend's company, her company, and she couldn't blame him after the events of the day.
"Ok." The teen girl smiled as she restarted her walk home. "You really don't have to though."
TK smiled back at her as he walked at her side. "I do otherwise you would loose your best friend when your brother catches me and, when he does catch me, you wouldn't be able to find all my body parts."
"She has me with her," Gatomon sounded slightly offended as she pointed the fact out.
"Yeah but imagine the headlines on the news if you had to defend her," the blonde reminded her that people were afraid of any sort of Digimon.
"Crafty kitty kicks Kari's kidnapper's crotch," Patamon laughed as he perched on TK's head.
The others laughed with the hamster like Digimon before the group returned to their comfortable silence for the remainder of the short stroll to the Kamiya apartment. They all sighed, none of them wanting to part ways as they reached the main entrance to apartment complex.
"Thanks for walking me home, TK," Kari turned to her best friend and smiled. She reached her arms out and wrapped them around his back, pulling him in for a hug. The brunette though he needed one after he had accidentally ended up in the place of his nightmares.
TK returned the hug, placing one arm around Kari's shoulders and the other across the small of her back. They tightened the embrace as Patamon flew off his partner's head to join Gatomon. Kari placed her right cheek on TK's left shoulder, allowing the blonde to gently rest his chin on her head. The slightly younger boy noticed how well their bodies fit together in the embrace. It was as if they were perfectly designed for each other. His thoughts about the battle with Devimon five years ago and the events earlier in the day evaporated from his mind to be replaced with thoughts about the chestnut haired girl in his arms. As TK gently took in breathes of air, he could smell her alluring aroma of fresh, spring wild flowers. His heart began to pound in his chest as the hug continued and his true feelings for his best friend forced their way to the forefront of his thoughts.
Kari could feel the warmth from her best friend's body as she held onto him tightly. A feeling of security came over her as normal when the teen girl was in the arms of her best friend. The brunette was hoping she was returning the same feeling to the blonde, hoping it would help him after his bad evening. This train of her thoughts soon moved on with each breath as she inhaled TK's intoxicating scent. Kari felt her heart rate increase too as now she joined the golden haired blonde in thought about their relationship, although they were both oblivious to it.
Time felt as if it had paused for them as the embrace continued far longer than any hug between two people who were "just friends" should last. It was even too long for best friends who were as intimate as they were.
After what felt like ages of just standing in silence, Kari finally spoke up. "I'm glad Tai or the others aren't here to see us," she spoke softly into TK's chest. "If they caught us like this we'd never hear the end of it."
"I know," the blonde replied as he carefully lifted his chin out of her silky chocolate coloured hair. He looked down, his cerulean blue eyes meeting Kari's enchanting almond orbs. "Thanks for taking my mind everything." A sincere smile crossed his face once he finished speaking.
Kari smiled back. "It's no problem. You would have done the same for me."
"I think it's time we should head in," Gatomon spoke up as she lifted her paw from around Patamon's back.
Kari sighed and reluctantly broke the embrace with TK. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, I'll see ya tomorrow," TK replied, trying to hide his disappointment that the breaking of the hug brought. "Goodnight, sleep well."
"Thanks and the same to you," the brunette opened the door to her apartment building before giving TK one last wave. "Goodnight."
TK waved back before he and Patamon headed for home.
Ah, another chapter finished. Don't forget to click the review button :)
