The Gate to Styx
Chapter 4

.

He was always disorientated when he woke up, like his mind had been somewhere else and he knew it was because his mind was drifting – or rather, bits of his soul. Not that it was doing any good. Not that he had any control over what happened between the three of them. Not that they'd managed to stop it from snatching another kid, from killing them, from that awful scream that, for whatever reason, hadn't quite succeeded in ripping his spirit from his body.

Maybe if it had, it wouldn't be going this far.

Or maybe it was because he wasn't dead yet that the other was so sure he could –

'Open. The. Gate.' Low. Gluttoral. The monster that had become his waking nightmare and yet, when it would be useful in his slumber, it slipped away like a ghost that was never there.

He gritted his teeth. Somehow, they'd figure it out. They were getting closer. But slowly. So slowly.

His resolve crumbled. Another child was caught in its claws. 'Please…'

It wouldn't listen. Never listened.

'Open. The. Gate.'

The girl whimpered. He croaked. 'I can't. I told you, I don't –'

It opened its mouth: deep, hollow, gaping.

About to scream.

'Don't –'

Screamed.

'Cover your ears!' But it wasn't a loud enough yell. He'd yelled too loud, too quick, wasting all those chances that weren't really chances at all. Now it was too hoarse, too quiet.

But just as useless. And that shrill cry was digging into him again: tiny needles stabbing everywhere and drawing little trickles of blood that would probably be dry the next time he woke again.

.

The clinic. Again. His heart was still pounding but in the absence of anything to cause him fear, it quietened. And already, it was slipping away.

'What is it?' They've gotten the hang of this. Better than him, anyway. Knowing there was a semblance of something in those first few precious seconds.

'Cover your ears,' he repeated, before wondering why. What would that do? And why?

'Cover my ears?' A bemused Doctor Kido followed his orders, before uncovering them again. 'Oh, you were just remembering that.'

'I'm not sure I can manage it.' Gomamon was struggling to get a good grip over his pointy ears.

They both laughed. If he'd forgotten every other visit to this clinic, that might have been it. A happy time playing, then disappearing, then appearing again and continuing a new game but the adults had worked out too much of the puzzle for that.

Now, instead, he felt guilt gnaw at him. He knew full well that everything he didn't recall meant further delays in stopping…whoever. Izumi-sensei was pretty sure it was a digimon, but he still couldn't work out where they were acting from. 'Like those creatures from the Dark Ocean that were haunting Hikari-chan that one time,' he explained, 'or maybe like Apocalymon. A digimon whose largely in another plane, but still somehow affecting this world.'

'Largely?' Doctor Kido had repeated. 'As in you have managed to get some signal from it?'

'About the time Kimura-kun,' and he'd nodded to Kouichi, floating behind them, at that point, 'appears here. Not long enough to get a full reading of the signal.'

This time though, there was no Izumi-sensei. No Officer Ichijouji either. Just Doctor Kido and his Gomamon, Gomamon still trying to cover his ears.

'It's okay,' Doctor Kido sighed, before giving Kouichi a questioning look.

Kouichi shrugged. He couldn't hear anything except the hum of the computer and the room's two inhabitants now. But there was definitely something before that. Something dangerous.

.

'What do you know about the digimon?' Ken asked tiredly. Two and a half weeks, and they had ten dead kids on their hands and seven unaccounted for. He really needed a lead, and Koushiro was working as hard as he could to find one, but every day lost meant another kid dead and another kid whose body showed up in Tokyo Bay.

'It's an Ultimate,' said Koushiro. 'And a virus type. And it makes some sort of sound that damages. Kimura-kun managed to remember that much.'

'And there's no digimon in the database that matches all that?'

'Not mine,' said Koushiro, 'but we know it's outdated because of those spirits and Lucemon and the IceLeomon and IceDevimon. We've never heard of them.' An unfortunate truth. 'I've emailed Gennai, but he's taking his usual while getting back to us.'

Ken sighed. 'Either he's taking his sweet time, he doesn't know any more than the rest of us or it's a time difference issue.'

'Too bad the Chosen of this generation don't have any contact with the digital world,' Koushiro sighed.

'…hang on,' Ken said suddenly. 'Minamoto-kun mentioned something about the digivices.' Then he groaned. 'He said only Kimura-kun still has his.'

'That doesn't help us at – ' Koushiro paused. 'If he has it with him, it might be possible to track down.'

'No luck on the spirit side of things?'

'Nope. Until I get the coordinates of the plane they exist on, I don't think I can do much except rather fuzzy points…which pretty maps out the entire Tokyo area.'

'And even with surveillance everywhere we can think of, they're slipping through the nets time and again.'

At least though, they'd worked out the kids were literally disappearing. So Koushiro's pocket in another dimension theory was looking more prominent by the second.

.

Koushiro was disappointed at himself for forgetting how they'd been unable to track the Chosen who vanished into the Dark Ocean. On Hikari's first visit, it was simply because she didn't have it. But the second visit, with Miyako and Ken, all three had their devices and they'd simply vanished from the screen.

So, of course if there was a pocket dimension in the works, he would have about as much luck tracking Kouichi's digivice as he'd had with the spiritual energy trail. And that was exactly what happened.

'Is something wrong, Koushiro?' asked Tentomon from the pocket space he'd designed from the digimon. Because Gomamon had to be out more often, the others were graciously giving away some of their own "out" time to compensate. Especially since they now knew the cause of the city-wide electrical disturbance earlier that year.

'The usual,' Koushiro sighed. 'I can't find a way to track a signal to a dimension that's not this one or the digital one.'

'You'll figure it out,' Tentomon encouraged. 'You always do.'

'Thanks buddy.' Koushiro gave a small smile, before turning his attention back to the problem.

For some reason, it clicked right then. He had two ways to track Kimura Kouichi. If neither of them were bearing much fruit on their own, why didn't he just try them together?

.

Ken's phone rang early that morning, and he felt queasy even looking at it. Miyako had almost ordered him to stay home, but she knew as well as he did that things would just be worse when he went back if he did. 'We'll take a holiday once the case is solved,' she said quietly. 'The three of us.'

And she and their barely year old daughter waved him off to work.

And now, when he'd barely taken his coat off, the phone rang. Probably another body discovered, and though he knew he shouldn't think that way, he couldn't help it. They hadn't gotten much further. Tightened their search net but still spotted nothing. If Koushiro was right, then they were missing the timing and it would be very difficult to grasp that when they didn't have a specific place to set twenty-four hour surveillance at.

To his surprise, it was Koushiro. To his very pleasant surprise, Koushiro sounded…excited. Which was unusual for him but usually boded well, especially if he was about to say what Ken thought…

'I found the place!'

Finally.

Now they needed to nail the timing, and the spirit that kept on appearing at the hospital was going to help them with that.

.

'Do you remember us when you're awake?' Ken was asking.

'I…' Kouichi looked between the detective and the researcher in bewilderment. 'I don't know. Have you..?'

'We have a location,' Ken explained, cutting across Koushiro's more long-winded version. 'But it's a pocket from another dimension, and the window of opportunity seems to be too small for us to manage anything in. So…'

'You want me to drag…whatever it is out.' It seemed impossible, but the spirit seemed to grow even more translucent.

'If it's possible.' Ken was hesitant to ask this, but it was necessary. Despite knowing the place, and the time, they couldn't get up there before it was gone. 'We called up the old crowd, as well. Nine Ultimate digimon should be enough to take care of whoever it is. But we have to get in there first.'

'I…' I can do this…right? 'Okay. I'll try.'

They might have clasped him on the shoulder in a comforting shoulder if they could. But they couldn't. 'Don't get yourself killed,' said Ken. 'There's always another way.'

The spirit floated, tense and uncomfortable. 'When?' he asked, finally.

'As soon as we can get into position,' said Koushiro. 'We need someone here to let us know when Kimura-kun vanishes, and we'll all need to be close to the emergence point but also within reach of a computer connected to the database.'

'We can manage that quickly enough,' said Ken. 'Miyako's been handling the phone calls, and pretty much everyone can come. We'll actually take the longest, from here.'

'Not Jyou for once.' Koushiro's lips twitched. Jyou had managed to land a very lucky day off.

'Now, for who –'

'Is Kouji alright?' Kouichi interrupted, suddenly.

'He was fine last I – ' Ken blinked. 'Oh, you mean to stay here?' He looked at Koushiro, who shrugged. 'I don't see why not.'

A brief phone call was all it took. Half an hour later, everyone was where they needed to be…except a certain bodiless spirit.

.

'Please don't do anything stupid,' Kouji pleaded.

'I can't promise I'll remember,' Kouichi replied, his tone sounding a little flat, even to his own ears. 'This could all fall through.'

Kouji was silent for a moment. The chair – the doctor's swivelling one – creaked as he slowly spun. 'I don't know which one I want,' he admitted, finally. 'I mean, I do want them to save you, but…what are the chances? This isn't destiny too, is it?'

Kouichi cocked his head a little. 'That sounds familiar.'

'It should.' Kouji managed a smile. 'I've said it before. That our chance of meeting in the digital world of all places was slim to none, and so it had to be destiny.'

'Ah.'

They sat – or floated – in silence.

'I wish I had my spirits,' Kouji grumbled, finally.

'Think of it this way,' his brother offered, 'you'll be the fireworks that sets off the operation.'

'…is that supposed to be a joke?' Kouji asked incredulously. His brother's face was strained. 'Sorry. I know you're scared it's not going to work, or it is and you've got to buy time against a digimon who makes some lethal sound –'

His brother flickered. His breath hitched. He pressed the button that called Doctor Kido's pager – their agreed form of contact.

'You can do it,' he said, quickly, before his brother vanished entirely. 'I believe in you. We all do. Come back safe.' He was almost tripping over his words, but he managed to get them out before his brother was completely gone.

Now it was out of his hands. He wished it wasn't, but it couldn't be helped. Without the other warriors. At least let KaiserLeomon be there with Ni-san…

.

Jyou's pager rang, loud enough so the twelve Chosen collected there could hear it. They looked at each other, then their digimon who nodded and spread out and exploded with light.

Within seconds, there were nine Ultimate digimon in the place of twelve Child level ones. The second generation's had jogressed together; the remaining six stood alone. But that didn't matter. They were the original Chosen either way, and surely what lay in the pocket of space beyond wouldn't be beyond their abilities to handle.

None of them wondered why there had been new Chosen against Lucemon, despite their experience. It wasn't the time, or the place. Just a window they had to fly through.

And they launched themselves into the air, heading for that portal.

.

His brother's words were still in his ears when he awoke, gripping them tightly, though there were groans and guttural snarls attempting to eclipse that. It took him a moment to orient himself again, but when he did, he cringed back. Again. It was going to repeat again.

Buy us time…if you can…

He remembered.

We'll defeat whatever digimon it is… and get you the other kids out of there.

Only one other kid, he thought despairingly. The smell didn't burn his nostrils anymore. Coagulated blood had stopped them both. The others were already dead. Dead as soon as that scream sounded. And this one would be dead soon too. All because…

'Open. The. Gate.'

He couldn't. He couldn't. He'd just wandered into whatever world it was, then the digital world, then back to the real world. He'd played no active role in that at all. He couldn't open a gate anywhere, least of all to where that skeletal beast wanted to go.

'I – ' He caught himself. Buy time. You've got to buy time.

How?! he screamed at himself. There was only way.

'I'll do it!' he screamed. No, he wouldn't. He hadn't a clue how. 'Just stop! Please stop!'

The paw loosened. The boy squeaked in terror, then scrambled loose. It didn't matter. He was still trapped. They were both still trapped.

The boy tripped over a corpse and screamed again.

The beast opened his mouth.

'Don't!' He squeezed his eyes shut. Please let this work. 'I – I won't help you if you scream. I won't!'

It was idiotic. Hopeless.

It worked. The beast didn't scream. 'Open. The. Gate.'

And now what? How was he going to pretend to open the gate long enough? He could barely think straight. Why couldn't he be unconscious again? But they need you awake. You'll never get out of here otherwise.

I know that!

But he didn't know what to do now.

'Hurry.' The beast was impatient too.

He choked on his breath, on the clogs of blood that clung to his mouth and throat.

For some bizarre reason, that gave him an idea. A crazy one, but it was all he had. Because he couldn't blab about just anything. Had to sound ritualistic. And the only thing he could recall was that Hippocratic oath Doctor Kido had a copy of in his clinic. 'To reckon him who taught me this Art equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substance with him and relieve his necessities if required…'

Well, it seemed to be working. He hadn't been interrupted yet.

Until he was. By an explosion enough to steal all his senses away.

.

The kid managed to pull it off. They dove into the pocket dimension, made sure all human sized bodies were a safe distance from the skeletal thing that was definitely not human – and then they blasted it.

The digimon fell back, then reared back up. They stared at it. 'Like SkullGreymon,' Taichi whispered. Except it was clothed in flesh: grey flesh and purple fur adorning his lower body, and tall horns as well. And yet his skin still seemed to cling to his form. Still skeletal. Still half dead – but not yet, even after taking the attacks of nine Ultimate level digimon.

And when the beast reared back, they tensed. Would it attack, or scream?

.

It must have been the other digimon. But he was still there. Black against the white. Still alive. Rearing up to scream

'No!' He screamed. They'd die too. They, and everyone else, one by one. 'Get away!'

.

That question was solved for them. They could try and block their ears, but they'd thought of a better way. Imperieldramon could travel faster than light and sound, after all. He snatched the human-sized bodies up, and then they were gone.

When the monster screamed, it was, like it always should have been, to an empty world.