Chapter 7: Island of Misfit Boys

Kouji's POV

"This looks like more fun than it is!" The kid whined, Takuya groaning as if he was about to barf.

"You're not kidding." He confirmed, struggling to keep himself from flying into the air again. "Is this a giant playground?" He asked me, but I had no time for stupid questions. I climbed out of the pit without much difficulty, though I appreciated the way Takuya kept falling backwards, losing his balance for no apparent reason. "What needs a playground this big?"

"We're gonna find out, aren't we?" Guessing by our luck so far, the kid was right. "Guys, help me up!" Tommy reached out his hand. Takuya scoffed as I refused, letting him take the role of the nanny as he grabbed Tommy's hand, pulling him out of the play castle, away from the spherical trampolines. "Keep your eyes peeled for Zoe and the guys." He ordered, competitively taking the lead. Out of everyone here he was the worst possible person to intrigue me.

A sound like ravens cawed. "Something tells me they're not gonna be easy to find in this place." I stated, looking into the trees to see if I could spot any of the birds. Something else flew overhead, but like everything so far, it didn't make sense.

"A flying toy robot!" Tommy shrieked before following its trail. Instantly, Takuya was chasing him, telling him to wait up. I had to debate whether I'd be better off on my own, but having no other direction to wander in, I began my pursuit. I don't know which one of them is worse. My question was answered pretty quickly when I caught up to them. Tommy was kneeled down in front of a play train set, ramming the cars into each other as he made stupid sound effects.

"We don't have time for this." I scolded. He didn't even hear me. He just laughed, putting a car on the race track and watching it go. "What a baby." I said under my breath. Of course, his ears were magically fixed now.

"I am not!" He yelled at me, turning away from his toys and glaring. "These are just cool toys."

"Yeah they are cool toys," the mediator agreed, "but this probably isn't the best time to be playing." Did Takuya just agree with me?

"Awe, c'mon!" He whined, "when else can we play with all these cool toys?" I put my hands in my pockets as I watched Takuya pick up a robot that was discarded in the pile. Unlike all the other discarded playthings, this one was standing upright as if it had yet to be knocked over during play. Takuya pushed a button and a hand shot out from the robot.

"Super robot punch!" He cheered.

"Not you too." I pleaded. He squinted his eyes, an obvious blush coming to his features. I don't know why I thought the color suited him. Maybe it was cause through all of the idiotic things he's done so far, he still had yet to get truly embarrassed. But then... why would he be embarrassed now, when my comment had the same venom as everything else I've ever said to him.

"Put down that stupid toy!" Takuya had a change of heart, throwing down the robot and storming off. I followed him, ignoring as Tommy trailed behind, muttering about how we were worse than his parents.

"I wonder what happened to Zoe and JP." Takuya's head was slightly lowered, watching his footsteps. I don't even think he noticed as we passed a dragon statue.

"I think our only choice is to head to the forest terminal." I called to him. His response surprised me. No yelling. No anger. No power trip. He turned around, offering a lazy smile as he told me that was a good idea.

"We can probably meet up with the others there, you think?" I nodded my head, turning as I noticed Takuya's eyes focused on something else.

"Guys, check it out!" Tommy had a green balloon in one hand, a stuffed pig that he eagerly oinked in the other. Something in his giggle made me feel so frustrated, and that feeling seemed to affect Takuya as well. His hands were on his hips as he took an inhale, just preparing to nag.

"Look, we decided that now was not the time to play around, right?" I fisted my hands as I watched Tommy begin to sport a pout.

"You decided." He shrugged, hunching his shoulders as he pulled the stuffed animal closer to his chest. Takuya dropped his tough guy act, ready to spring into action.

"Calm down." He tried, "don't start crying." This comment made the brat act even worse as he puffed out his cheeks, narrowing his eyes in Takuya's direction again. "Ah man," Takuya approached me, "I feel bad."

"Why?" I crossed my arms at this, talking lowly though I knew full well that Tommy could hear. "Because of him?" I wondered if Takuya would accept what I was about to say. "The little baby has to grow up sometime." I could hear Tommy gasp behind me.

"Don't be so mean." I knew he didn't have it in him. "He's just a little kid for Pete's sake." Yeah, a little kid who had the misfortune of ending up in the digital world. I don't think Grumblemon's going to care how old he is when he's done smashing a hammer through his head. I took a second to look at Takuya's face. Instantly, I gave up.

"Whatever." I breathed, walking past him with a huff.

"No," I felt his hand brace my wrist for just a second as he tried to stop me. "You can't just say whatever. Now listen up!" I don't know why, but something in his fierceness compelled me to comply. I stopped, refusing to turn from him, but he knew I was all ears. "I know you're not used to having friends but you're part of a team now so you better show some support." Maybe he does have it in him.

"Great idea, let's support the useless kid right up until the point where we all die because of his stupidity." Or yours.

"No wonder no one likes you." He lashed out at me. I couldn't help the fact that my face now displayed emotion as I felt the feeling of fury rise through my veins.

"What do you know?" I spat. What does it matter if anyone likes me, as long as I like you enough to make sure that you don't die because of some idiot kid. Or because of yourself. You're so arrogant. The difference between me and you isn't that you're well liked, it's that you're completely oblivious to the fact that no one's looking out for you either.

Except for me.

"C'mon guys, if you keep fighting, we'll never get to the forest terminal." Tommy cried. It wasn't until we heard the whistle that we softened our gaze. "Hey, it's a train!"

The second we got to rest our feet the moods shifted again. Tommy was the first on the train, Takuya behind him. I was last, facing in the opposite direction. "Some train."

"Some toy train", Takuya mocked, turning his head over his shoulder to look at me.

"Yeah, very funny", I wished I was in a position to make them stop laughing, "Just drop it ok, it's bad enough that I have to ride on this stupid thing." Takuya turned around then, and I thought maybe the torment was over. In unison, they both shouted.

"Kouji's playing with toys." Give me a play gun and a play bullet and they'll be able to see how good I am at playing pretend. Not very.

"Hey, it's a giant walking teddy bear!" He excitedly jumped off the train, as did Takuya. They've got to be kidding. I guess the intention was to ask him how to get to the forest terminal, but he wasn't amused by the dumb way Takuya ran towards him, arms flapping like a demented bird as he shouted like a gull about to get in a fight over the piece of bread found lying in the hot sand.

He did what I wanted to. Took his giant teddy bear paws, picked him up by the shirt collar, and threw him to the floor. I couldn't help the smile that spread to me face.

"I am still undefeated!" The teddy bear called. He raised his hand as the victor and it was then that I noticed the bandage on his stomach. Was he bleeding? I mean stuff...ing? The bear helped Takuya up and all I could do is think about how everything good in my life had to someday come to an end. Why not a couple seconds longer? "Now, we wrestle for the championship of the world!"

"Yeah! I'm next!" Tommy cheered, but Takuya was more of a scaredy cat than I thought. He left me in the dust, grabbing Tommy's arm as he started another lecture.

"Are you crazy? It'll crush us!" We ended up running back towards the castle playground, climbing up into a giant play pirate ship.

"Hey wait! The championship!" He called before changing his mind. "Oh, I see, you want to play tag." If I get my hands on you Takuya I'll be "it" and tag you with my fucking fist. "You guys are good at this!" He chanted as he ran right past our hiding place, continuing to dash around below. Of course, the pirate ship we were one was like an old carnival ride, called the Viking. I had been on something similar, once before. With a friend. Tommy's stomach was similar to his as he vomitted on my side of the ship. Just great. Takuya rubbed his back as they climbed down the side.

"You gonna be ok kid?" He asked. I didn't care enough to hear the response, but I was livid when Takuya bent over, asking Tommy if he wanted a piggy-back ride.

"Gimme a break! Make the kid walk." I couldn't believe this.

"Look, it's no big deal, he's not feeling well so I'll help him out ok?" He defended himself as he stayed in his squat.

"Yeah, and what'll happen if you're attacked while you're carrying him?" His eyes lost their confidence, "You'll be too slow to run away, that's for sure!" Even though his knees shook and his shoulders fell I still delivered the final blow. "You're about the worst leader I've ever seen. You never think ahead."

"Well at least I think of someone other than myself Mr. definition of the word selfish." I'm thinking about you, you idiot.

"I can walk." The kid moped, taking off in the direction of a house shaped like a shortcake.

"Are you sure?" Takuya pleaded.

"I don't have much of a choice." He admitted sadly.

"I have an idea." Uh oh. "Let's see if anyone lives in that house. Maybe they can help us. " Ok, so the idea initially wasn't as bad as I was expecting... however, when I walked inside I instantly wanted to pull the two of them out of there.

"Now I know what it feels like to be a kid in a candy store!" Takuya smirked.

"And it's the best thing ever!" Tommy finished for him. I didn't miss how Takuya's mouth started to drool as Tommy grabbed a stick of cotton candy and began to munch.

"I guess we can take a little time to have a snack, right?" Eagerly, Tommy ran up to him with some of the pink cloud. He instantly took a bite. I don't know why, but I was so focused on his mouth that I didn't even notice as Tommy shoved a blue bit of cotton candy into my face.

"We do not have time to sit around here stuffing our face with candy," or getting lost in thought and staring at someone's face because it makes you feel safe. "We have to find a way to get to the forest terminal. We're not out having fun at a carnival or something." Takuya just kept chewing, pieces floating out of his mouth as he chomped. "Do you understand?" Do you understand why I'm pushing you. All of you? "Are you listening to me?" He thinks he's so smart, and that he's strong and capable of making it in this world. He's so infuriating, and I told him that.

"What are we supposed to do, we're floating on an island?" I could feel my body shake in hopelessness.

"There's another example of why you'll never be a good leader. You just give up. It's like you don't want to help your friends at all." I'd step up to the plate, but they wouldn't listen to me. I know I'm harsh, but what do they think, simply skipping stones in data streams will make everyone get along? "I mean, take a look at what you're doing right now."

Takuya's POV

There was something different about Kouji. He looked so weak. He wasn't yelling at me anymore like he had been earlier. "I don't see you coming up with any ideas." I challenged, though it was more out of my stubborn nature. I desperately wanted to ask him what we should do, but I wouldn't let him know that.

"At least I'm not just eating." I was going to retort with some comment about how if you don't keep fueled up that running away will be as effective as having a kid on your back, but then I realized... it's puffy sugar... "We need to think about the other legendary warriors."

"What are you talking about?" I didn't like the way my voice showed my utter surprise. Why would we worry about them?

"What if the other four warriors end up being on the enemy's side?" He pushed. If they are, we'll need a plan. I noticed as Tommy dropped his cotton candy, as well as his head. "We have to think of the worst case scenario, not just play games and eat sweets. Or we might not make it out of this world alive."

I knew he was right, but "look, can we not talk about this now?"

"You mean in front of Tommy?" Bullseye. "I don't care if he's young, he has to learn to face the truth."

"I'm sorry you hate me so much." Tommy trembled.

"I don't hate you, it's just." I think I was finally beginning to understand. That maybe, I didn't hate him either.

"I'm sorry", he apologized again anyway. I placed my hand on his head, giving it a gentle pat before leading him outside of the building.

"Does anyone want to talk?" Tommy asked in Kouji's direction. He was still really pissed off with me. I could feel it as he walked beside me. Usually, I'd take the lead and he'd shy away, but now we were shoulder to shoulder. I don't try to upset you, you know.

"Fine. Let's talk about how we're gonna get to forest terminal and what we're gonna do about the legendary warriors." Straight to the point.

"You're unbelievable," I groaned, "I told you I didn't want to talk about in front of Tommy.

"And I told you, you can't treat him like he's different from the rest of us."

"Yeah, but you can respect he's just a kid."

"And so are you!" I faced him then which such ferociousness. Do kids have these kind of feelings? I shot daggers at him, contort your face, do something that helps me find my way from your blue eyes. Something is really wrong with me. I didn't want a map. The only thing that tore me from his gaze was Tommy screaming for us. He was cradled like a football in another bear's arms.

"It's that bear again." I stated dumbly, though my feet hadn't caught up with my brain.

"No, it's different now. It looks all funky." If it wasn't for the situation, I so would've jumped on the chance to chastise the fact that "funky" was in Kouji's ever so smart-boy vocabulary. Shortly after, I addedWarumonzaemon to mine.

"Hey you big fuzzy creep," I yelled as we chased, "give us our friend back!" I didn't have time to react as I heard him call out something about breaking hearts. I felt something cold rush into my chest. I felt so low, falling to the ground as I no longer had the strength to stand. Kouji was next to me, and at the time, I didn't stop to wonder why he'd stay with me instead of go after Tommy. But I knew that, for whatever reason, I would've done the same thing.

"What's the point?" I asked, "we're never gonna catch him?" I said as I started to cry. I was crying because I was admitting defeat. I was crying because what Kouji said to me was true. I will never be a good leader. I do give up way to easily.

"Why are you crying?" He asked me, but the teddy bear performed his heart break attack again and then Kouji was beside me, tears welling up in his eyes as well. I imagined reaching over to his cheek and wiping those tears away. That thought brought my happiness, and that's how the bears' effect wore off.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." He apologized, just moments before he was back to normal. I thought that somehow, maybe, seeing me feel better brought him happiness. It was just wishful thinking.

"I'm sorry too." I returned as I wiped my eyes a final time and came back to reality. The bear was long gone. Kouji was quick to stand up, but I stayed down, growling at how that attack was so not fair. "Now, Tommy is gone." I didn't mean to sound accusatory, but it did. It wasn't Kouji's fault, but I was still angry, that we weren't working together like teammates, that we weren't friends... and maybe, if we had it Kouji's way, would never be. "What do we do?" I asked him. He didn't respond. Just took a big breath and headed off in the direction of the bear. Why do evil things always run faster than normal things?

"I don't see it anywhere." Kouji sighed. Hey, I thought you weren't allowed to give up!

"This is our fault, you know. Cause we were fighting." I started. His silence allowed me to continue. "This reminds me of the time I lost my little brother at the amusement park. I've never been so worried as I have been now." I turned around only to notice that Kouji was no longer behind me. He had ran off. Fortunately, he was easier to trail then Warumonzeamon. We ended up at another castle, but this one didn't look like a playhouse. It looked like something out of a fairytale, ivory colored walls and large arches for doorways. As we stood on the bridge, looking towards the gates, we saw two of the digimon. They looked like black lego dinosaurs. I'm not sure if Kouji even noticed that the bridge was moving, lifting. And then the mote retreated, knocking us off of it and into the waters below. The hit knocked the wind out of me, and I wasn't able to hold my breath. I was drowning, and Kouji was too. I could see him sinking even further as my lungs began to burn. I felt a speedy tug as something hugged me in one arm. I reached my hand out to make sure Kouji was safe as well. My fingers came in contact with his, and his hand closed around mine. It must've been out of pain, out of trying to fight the urge to let the water in. That was the only explanation, for when resurfaced in an underwater cave, a panda bear bragging about how he once again foiled the plans of the ShadowToyAgumon, which I assumed to be the licorice legos. Kouji's hand was still wrapped around mine, but he pulled it away without even a glance. There was no color on his cheeks. Duh, Takuya. It meant nothing.

"So, you saved us just so you could bring us down here and hurt us yourself?" What had happened to you Kouji? Why are you so paranoid?

"Don't pay any attention to him," I disregarded, "Thanks for helping us Pandamon."

"Pandamon, the Protector." He corrected. Kouji still wasn't convinced. He had his arms crossed the entire time we followed him through the secret caverns, and anytime he spoke, he sounded murderous.

"Kouji." I nudged him, but he didn't change his tone. When we got back to the castle, he wasn't any more greatful either. Especially when we were ambushed by a large group of ShadowToyAgumon. No one moved and I was getting tenser by the second.

"Are they just gonna stand there?" I asked Kouji, as they opened their mouth spitting out a glob of an attack. Or perhaps last night's dinner. Kouji quickly pulled out his D-tector, swiping his hand as he became Lobomon. I spirit evolved as well. However, the ShadowToyAgumon also knew this trick. Like the legos they were, they built themselves up, one on top of the other until they were in the shape of a tank.

"That's cute, but what can a toy tank do?" I had to ask. It blast at me, and unsuspecting, I stood in its path. Kouji, er, Lobomon swung it's sword, disintegrating it precisely. He was so cool. And I was so dumbfounded. When he told me to stay back, saying he could handle it, I had no doubt in my mind. He hit it once, dodging another blast on his trek, and instantly it's code was visible. What I wanted to say was thank you. What came out was... "Show-off, I could've done that!"

"Yeah, but you didn't." He spat back. I appreciated the fact that someone was on my side as he was too absorbed with my annoying qualms to pay attention as the scatter of ShadowToyAgumon rebuilt as a giant robot.

Giant attack robot.

"And I would've done a better job." I pestered. "Sure you don't need a little help there, buddy?" I knew I was getting on his last nerve. I just wanted, so badly, for him to admit that I wasn't good for nothing. I knew he thought Tommy just got in the way, but... does he truly feel that way about me too?

"Why don't you take me up?" I yelled to the robot once I remembered that waiting for a response from Kouji was just hopeless. As I charged, another one swung. "Dammit. You sure look a lot bigger close up." I had this thought of fleeing in the back of my mind, but Kouji was holding his ground against his attacker so I stayed, buying time as I weaved between the robots legs to through him off his balance. It worked, but just slightly. "How can we beat them?"

"Follow my lead." I jumped into the air as did Lobomon, tempting both robots to swing. It had the desired effect. They hit each other, the fractal code circling them like the stars that circled around a cartoon character's fresh bump in the head.

"Hey, it worked." I wasn't expecting any sort of praise, though it would've been nice. Lobomon simply swiped for the fractal code before turning back to Kouji and racing up the castle steps.

"Hurry, we've got to get to Tommy." Maybe I got through to him, at least a little bit. Tommy may feel like a liability to us sometime, but he's still our responsibility. We rammed through the doors, only to see Tommy playing video games with his captor, who was back to his yellow stitching instead of that of the zombie teddy that could only be popular in American stores. Judging by Kouji's face, I may have plead my case. His look of shock changed to a smile as a gentle laugh escaped his lips. However, his expression turned back to a glare the second Tommy asked.

"Can we keep him?"