A/n: I hope that wasn't too long of a wait for the next chapter. I've had a busy few weeks recently and haven't had much time for myself. Right after I posted the last chapter, I was swamped with work and this past week, I had four tests one after another, to get through, and then this weekend, I fell sick, and I was finally feeling well enough to sit down and write the rest of this chapter. I know this isn't a very long chapter, and doesn't address much, but I guess it needs to be there. Hopefully the next chapter will be longer and will address more of what is going on with everyone else and not just with Tai and Sora.

Enjoy!

Lost in the Digital World (Chapter IX): The Beast's True Form

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Unfortunately there is no commercial for this chapter seeing as Barario Elf is currently unavailable. If I do get a hold of this cunning little elf, I shall repost this chapter with a commercial! BTW, I have reposted the last chapter with a commercial, so if you enjoy the commercials, knock yourself out! (not literally of course!)

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"Tai?" Sora gasped out. She looked him over, taking in his form- white wings, blood red eyes, sharp, claw like nails, an angry face… She dared to take a step closer to him and saw his face slowly easing into one of regret. "Tai?" she tried again.

"Sora?" he asked, his voice wavering, unsure if it was truly the girl standing in front of him or just a figment of his imagination.

"Now you'll really have to explain this to me," Sora muttered under her breath as she stepped a little closer to him. Even though Agumon and Birdramon could not pick up what she said under her breath, barely over a whisper, Tai caught it plain and easy. His five senses had increased ten fold and it was overwhelming him.

Tai finally felt exhaustion over taking him and he collapsed onto the ground, his back resting against a tree trunk. "Sora…" he sighed out as he closed his eyes once again, his wings spreading out around him.

"Tai! Are you okay?" she asked out of concern, not really caring if he was now sporting wings and red eyes. She rushed over to his side and sat down next to him, cradling his head to her chest as he let out a soft sob. "You're okay," she whispered to him over and over again as she ran a hand through his thick brown locks. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and let his feelings of regret, pain, and sadness take over him.

After a short while, once Tai was well rested, he slowly lifted his head and found that his wings had wrapped around himself and a sleeping Sora. All of a sudden, the events from earlier came rushing back into his head, as he felt a slight head ache come on. Groaning slightly, Taichi closed his eyes once again and focused his attention on the sleeping girl beside him, hoping that everything around him would just disappear, leaving the two of them alone in bliss. Unforunately that wasn't the case, so the chocolate haired boy settled for just listening to the auburn haired beauty's breathing. Her soft breathing slowly started to lull him back into a trance- like state where he was neither fully awake nor asleep.

It was in this state where he found the answers to his questions. It was in this state where he was finally able to confront the sleeping beast inside of him.

'Where am I?' Taichi asked himself as he was taken back into the recesses of his mind. He soon found himself in a void space, mostly filled with darkness; little beams of light were shining through small hole- like punctures in the veil of darkness. Though this light, Taichi was finally able to see a small figure, huddled in the middle of this void, his legs pulled up tight against his body, his arms wrapping around his legs in a tight embrace. As Taichi willed his body to move forward, he felt himself floating towards the small boy in the center of the… empty space.

The small boy glanced up at the young man before him, his dark red eyes flashing in anger. Taichi, shocked at what he is seeing, stopped in mid flight and just stared at the boy… no, creature in front of him. The boy in front of him let out a blood- curling scream as his shape slowly started to change, his arms and legs becoming lengthier, his body changing shape slightly. The boy arched forward a little and let two angelic wings sprout from the back where his shoulder blades were located. He let his nails change into sharp claws, and metal armor sourround his chest and the rest of his body.

"What are you?" Taichi asked in an awed tone. He had been watching quietly as all these changes plus a few more took place within a matter of a minute or two, his eyes getting bigger and bigger as a new change occurred.

"I am you." Tai heard a voice say to him from what seemed like somewhere very far away. Taichi just assumed it to be his subconscious and repeated the question to the boy- turned- beast in front of him.

"What are You?" he asked once again, as he floated over to the creature in front of him, staring directly into those pools of blood red he called eyes. There were no irises from what Tai could see, but then again this creature was not human so who said it had to have irises?

"I am you." The creature this time replied, figuring it might be easier just to take a direct route instead of confusing the poor boy.

"Wha?" Tai said, taking a step back from the creature, slightly shocked by this new revelation. "Are you telling me I'm going to end up like you?" Taichi asked as he spat out the last part of his question.

The creature chuckled and just nodded his head in reply. "You cannot fight this… it is a part of you, as much as you want to deny it."

"I don't understand… how did this happen? Why is it happening to me?" Tai asked furiously, panic slowly starting to take over his heart.

The beast had a slightly bored look on his face, and then decided to answer Tai's questions. "It happened to you because it was meant to be like this You will find all the answers you need in due time. You must discover for yourself why it has happened to you and only you. There are still some obstacles that you must overcome and they will not be easy. In this form, it will be easier to see who is friend and who is not from a slightly higher view point."

"Can you stop talking in riddles?" Taichi spat out, slightly irritated.

The beast continued without stopping, as if the interuption had no effect on him at all. "How this has happened to you was partly through the mixing of a digimon's blood with a human's and partly because of that virus on your computer.

See, that virus on your computer is what you might call, a highly specialized virus. It attacks a computer with access to a digital port so it may enter the digital world this way. Unfortunately when you entered through the computer with the virus on it, a part of the virus entered into you as you traveled to the digital world. This virus is one that has the potential to reconfigure the whole digital world as we know it, if breed under the proper circumstances. Fortunately, you have a very strong will to live and do what is right so the virus does not have much control over your body, but it did start to reconfigure your body. That is why you can change your shape slightly. Mixed with the digimon's blood when the digimon attacked you, you are in essence, able to digivolve into a higher being which is perhaps stronger than a champion level digimon." Here the beast took a breath and waited until Taichi was able to digest all the information so far. Then, he continued.

"Your body is a powerhouse of energy for a digimon. For a digimon to evolve, the partner with the digivice must have very strong feelings as well as mental and physicial strength to support the digimon. The digimon are then able to harness the power inside of the human to digivolve into stronger beasts. You are basically a catalyst for them to evolve. Without humans, it is still possible for a digimon to evolve, but it would just take, perhaps, ten years longer than it normally would with the help of a human. Now, with such power in a human, when you had digimon blood in your body, the 'digimon' in you, so to speak, was able to emerge and take form because it had an endless supply of power to evolve. The virus just allowed these changes to be a little smoother than they might have been and allowed your body to be more accepting to these changes after they have occurred," the beast concluded.

Once Taichi absorbed all of this material into his system, he finally asked, "a little smoother than they might have been? I thought that it was fairly painful up until now, thank you very much!" he spited out.

The beast smirked and then replied, "You will now find that it will be slightly easier to transform into your 'digimon form' if you want to call it, because the viruses effects are slowly taking action. The virus is sort of helping your body to cope with these changes. In due time, you should feel no pain at all because of the slight reconfiguration of your body. But there is still quite a way to go; I think you may have acquired just about 33 percent of your true power…" the beast said, mulling over the statistic in his head.

"So you are basically saying most of this stuff that is happening to me is because of the digimon- human blood fusion that is happening in my body?" Tai asked once again to make sure he was hearing things properly. The beast nodded in reply.

"This is your true form; take a good look at it boy, cause this is what you are going to become…" the beast said, flashing a slightly evil smirk as he faded from Taichi's view.

Then, as soon as it had started, Tai's vision quest had ended and he was alone in the black void in the recesses of his mind. He felt slight movement beside him and that brought him back out of his trance- like state. He found that now Agumon had curled up beside him, his yellow head on Tai's lap as he used Tai's wing as a blanket to cover himself. Looking out over the vast expanse of trees and other shrubbery, the chocolate haired boy felt a slight, yet cooling breeze tease his face… or so it felt like that to him. But to the other three that lay around him, it was like a gust of cold air being blown at them. Sora snuggled closer to Taichi, wrapping both her arms around his torso as his wing closed up a little tighter around her to block out the cold air. 'Funny how it acts on it's own,' Tai thought. 'Or perhaps it's my subconscious?' As the brown- eyed boy stared up at the sky, he thought about what he had just experienced in that place, going back over what he had told himself.

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Matt broke into a jog as he quickly made it down the street towards his home. He soon changed pace and started running as he remembered that Sora was still in the digital world. He knew she had Biyomon by her side but it would still be better if he got re-enforcement and went back to the digital world. 'I feel kind of sorry for Agumon… but actually, he might be the only one to help change his partner back,' Matt thought. His journey back towards home was interrupted when he heard a group of shrill screams coming from not that far away. Coming to a halt and then turning his head to find the source of the screaming, he found a semi large group of girls screaming out his name, running towards him. "Shit," he muttered under his breath as he took off in another direction. He definitely did not want these girls finding out where he lives so he took the long way home, hoping to loose these girls on the way. Unfortunately, another fan group spotted him along the way, making him run further and further away from his house. 'Shoot… at this rate, I'll never get home and get help. I can't even stop to take a breather!' thought Matt as he gasped for breath, still running.

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Meanwhile, back in the digital world, Sora's eyes fluttered open as she decided it was time to wake up. Her hand touched what she thought to be a very soft blanket, and looked down to see if perhaps she was back home. Glancing down, she found that Tai's wings were wrapped around her, protecting her from the harsh wind. She lifted her head off his chest, silently wondering how she got into that position in the first place, and glanced over at the sleeping Tai.

"Taichi," she said, barely over a whisper, but that was enough to wake Tai up. Groaning slightly, he opened his eyes, glad to find that they were back to normal and glanced down at the now awake Sora.

Now seeing him awake, she shot him a stern glance indicating that she wanted answers, and she wanted them now. Sighing, Tai decided to oblige, not wanting an angry Sora on his tail.

"I guess I should start from the beginning. But keep in mind that these are all theories so far as to why I'm like this…" he started. Sora placed a hand on his arm and gave it a little squeeze, to reassure him, and silently asked him to continue.

"When I came to the digital world, I had a virus on my computer, right?" Sora nodded in reply. "Well, of course, you know that Agumon and myself were separated when we came into the digital world. I started look for him, I ended up near gennai's place actually. I walked through a forest and ended up getting chased by a couple of monochromon, a few bug digimon and getting stuck in quick sand… it wasn't pretty to say the least. When a Monochromon bit my arm, it think a bit of it's blood- a digimon's blood- was mixed with mine and it started a chain reaction. Because of the virus- the virus on my computer is apparently one that has the power to reconfigure the digital world if used properly- since it is in my body now, it is reconfiguring my body to adapt to the digimon blood and is causing these changes in me. I suspect that I can change back and forth between this form and being a human… I think," Tai continued. Sora just shuddered in response. "With the virus and the digimon blood mixing, it's turning me into a digimon… this isn't my complete form, I can feel it."

Sora gave a shocked look and then said, "so you have red eyes, wings, can heal wounds very fast…"

"I'm not sure what else I can do at this moment," he replied back. "Let me see if I can retract my wings," he said with a start. Releasing his grip on the girl next to him, Taichi closed his eyes and focused all his energy on his shoulder blades, willing his wings to go back into his body. He slowly felt a weight being lifted off his shoulders as his wings slowly retracted back into his body. As he opened his eyes, he saw that it was raining white feathers all over himself and Sora. He looked over at Sora and smiled sheepishly as he rested against the back of the tree.

After a brief silence, Tai turned towards Sora and asked, "How come you're not running away like Matt did?"

Sora brought her hand up to her chin, pondering this question. 'Why didn't I run when I saw Tai like that?' "Probably because I saw what had happened to you, how bad of a shape you were in to start with, and I was there, most of the time, beside you when you started getting these… powers? And besides, Biyomon and Agumon were there, they would have protected me if you tried to hurt me," Sora said, but immediately added "but of course I don't think you would do anything like that anyways," after seeing his saddened face when she mentioned that he posed a threat to her. Sighing, Sora scooted over besides Tai and rested her head against his bare shoulder and wrapped both her arms around his, pulling his arm close to her chest. "Don't worry. I'm here for you no matter what, you're my best friend, and I know you would never harm me, or the others."

'Best friend, eh? I guess that's all I'll be … I was hoping for something more,' Tai thought as he rested his head on top of hers. "You think we could be more?" Tai whispered towards the wind.

"What?" Sora asked, not quite catching what he had said.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Taichi replied, giving a sad grin. 'It's all in your hands now Sora. Both Matt's and my heart are in your hands. It's up to you to decide.'

Taking in a deep breath, Taichi said, "I think we should get going back to the real world. I think I'm feeling okay now. And I should probably find Matt an apologize to him for earlier, that is, if he's still talking to me…"

"Don't worry Tai, I'll try talking to Matt… you just get some rest," Sora automatically replied as she got to her feet. As both of them made their way out of the forest, they saw a small digimon approach them.

"Is that Elecmon? What is he doing here?" Sora asked as the digimon approached them.

"And what's up with his color?" Tai asked. "His body is completely black, and his eyes are red… I thought he was supposed to be red with blue stripes and blue eyes. Right?" he asked Sora. Sora nodded in response.

"Hey Elecmon! I don't think you're going to find any fishes over on this side of the digital world to feed the baby digimon," Agumon called out.

When in hearing range, the four of them finally heard what Elecmon was saying. "Hello digidestined."

Without warning, Elecmon jumped at Agumon and let out a ferocious attack. "Super Thunder Strike!" A wave of blue came crashing down onto Agumon as he was sent flying back a good thirty feet. A line of broken trees and other debris followed Agumon's path.

"Agumon!" Sora and Taichi screamed out.

"Spiral Twister!" Biyomon yelled out as she let her attack onto Elecmon. Elecmon just stood there and let her attack him. When the dust around them cleared, Elecmon stood there, staring at Biyomon with his piecing red eyes, taunting the pink bird. He didn't have a single scratch on him from what the three of them could see. Tai rushed over to Agumon and helped him sit up.

"Are you ok buddy?" Tai asked. Agumon nodded.

"Let's do it Tai! I don't know who this digimon is, but I know Elecmon cannot be that powerful! And he knows us!" Pausing for a second, the yellow digimon then asked, "Maybe he's on a rampage because someone took his baby digimon?"

The two of them suddenly heard a scream coming from where the fight was taking place.

"Biyomon!" Sora called out as she rushed towards her digimon.

"Let me try talking to him Tai. If that doesn't work, then I'll digivolve and knock some sense into him!" Agumon growled out. Tai nodded in approval.

"Let's do this!" Taichi helped Agumon onto his feet and they ran back to where Sora and Biyomon were. Biyomon was knocked out cold and was resting in Sora's arms. Sora helplessly looked over at Tai and he nodded back to her, letting her know there was no need to worry; Agumon was back in business!

"Elecmon, did someone steal your babies? If so, we can help you look for them. There's no need to take your anger out on us!" Agumon shouted, not wanting to get too close to the rampaging digimon. After a couple minutes of useless talking, Agumon realized it was no use trying to talk to Elecmon when he was in this state, he was not listening to a word that Agumon had uttered.

"Agumon, it's no use. Digivolve!" Tai screamed out as he saw that Elecmon was getting ready for another attack. Knowing what happened last time, he did not want to risk Agumon getting hurt again and immediately asked him to digivolve. A second later, as the attack neared the group of four, Greymon stood before them, the attack crashing into his body. This time, ready for the attack, he was surprised when he was thrown back fifteen feet and gave a groan as he tried to get back onto his feet.

"Greymon!" Tai screamed out.

"Is a rookie level digimon supposed to be this strong, Tai?" Sora whispered out. But to Tai's sensitive ears, he could easily pick out what Sora was saying.

"No he shouldn't. I don't think that is Elecmon, Sora." Tai replied, glaring at the digimon. Tai heard the sound of heavy footsteps approach them from behind and saw Greymon back on his feet once again. "Round two, Greymon!" Taichi yelled out as Greymon threw in all his weight into his next attack.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon yelled out, as a ball of fire flew from his mouth. Elecmon dodged his attack and head butted Greymon in the gut. Greymon grunted and was sent flying backwards a couple of feet. Letting out a small yell, Greymon slowly changed back into Agumon, the small yellow dinosaur clutching his midsection in pain.

"Is it supposed to hurt this much?" the small digimon asked as he glared at Elecmon.

"I think you are right Agumon, this is definitely not Elecmon," Tai growled out as he slowly felt a piercing headache take over.

The two digimon out of the way, Elecmon turned his gaze onto the two digidestined in front of him. "Hello digidestined," he said once again, in a slightly sneering tone.

"Super thunder Strike!" Elecmon said once again, this time aiming his attack at Biyomon and Sora.

"Sora!" Taichi exclaimed as he pushed Sora out of the path of the attack and rolled on top of her to protect her from any falling debris.

"How heroic of you," Elecmon said sarcastically.

Tai got to his knees, Sora still under him, Biyomon still in her arms. Panting slightly, Tai turned his gaze onto the berserk digimon. Chocolate brown eyes, with a tint of red to them, met red eyes; Tai felt a sharp pain shoot through his head and he immediately broke his gaze from the red- eyed digimon, onto a slightly fearful Sora. Seeing Sora in that kind of a state, along with an unconscious Biyomon and an injured Agumon, it slowly pushed him over the edge. Clutching his head in his hands, he let out a loud growl as his eyes turned red, and his nails slowly turning to claws.

"How dare you attack my friends," Tai growled out. Tai slowly lifted himself off of Sora and got to his feet. Turning his blood- red eyes onto the blackened digimon, he let out a roar and rushed towards Elecmon with an unnatural speed. To Sora, it was just a blur going past her. Lifting one hand up into the air, Taichi slashed down with all his might, cutting the digimon down into four strips. As soon as it had started, it had ended as the digimon turned into data and was taken with the wind. Tai stood up and walked over to a limping Agumon and offered him his back.

"Get on," Tai commanded, as he turned his red eyes onto his friend. Agumon, too tired to complain, and too shocked to argue, immediately scampered onto Tai's back and wrapped his claws around Tai's neck. Then, walking over to Sora, Tai asked, "Do you think you can walk on your own, or do you need help?" as he offered a claw to help his friend up.

Giving a shaky smile, she said, "I think I can walk." Tai nodded and offered a small smile back. After a minute of silence, Sora finally asked, "Tai, do you think you can change your eyes and hands back to normal? They're starting to freak Agumon and myself out a bit…" Tai turned around and focused his piercing gaze onto Sora and she automatically took a step back.

"I can try," he said, shocking her a bit. He closed his eyes and willed his body to change back. When he opened his eyes again, they were chocolate brown again.

"Thanks," said Sora, grinning. She gave a small hug to Tai and they both continued on their way, looking for a computer that would lead them out of the digital world.

"Wasn't there are computer near this place?" Agumon asked. "Matt showed up some where near here."

"You're right!" Tai said as he ran off in the direction he thought Matt came from.

"Uh, Tai, he came from this way," Agumon said, pointing a claw 45 from the direction Tai was headed in. Tai stopped in mid step and looked over at a grinning Agumon and a laughing Sora.

"Oh," Tai said sheepishly as he made his way back to where Agumon was headed. 'Her laugh sounds so nice,' Tai thought as he closed his eyes for a second.

"Taichi, we're leaving you behind," Sora yelled out, giggling as Tai's eyes widened and he started racing to catch up. As they made their way to the computer that finally came in view, Tai and Agumon turned around when Sora gave a small, startled 'oh' and looked at her hands. Apparently Biyomon had devolved into Yokomon, now fast asleep in her arms. "Well, she'll be a little easier to carry now," Sora smiled. Agumon laughed and followed Taichi to the computer terminal.

"I'd better make sure I have Kari's digivice," the brown haired boy said as he checked his pockets. He found his little sister's digivice in his side pocket and nodded his head. Taking it out, he pointed it at the screen and all four of them were sucked in. They ended back in Tai's room this time, his d-terminal glowing brightly on the ground. Sora let out a soft 'ooh' as she landed on something soft and accidentally let Yokomon fly out of her hands as the rest of her body came crashing down onto the floor.

Agumon, looking up, saw Yokomon flying in his general direction, so he went to catch the sleeping in-training digimon. He dived down into the ground and slid out the door, and was lucky enough to catch Yokomon… or more like, he was acting like a cushion for her as the small digimon bounced onto his back and then rolled onto the ground. He picked her up in his claws and cradled her, checking if she was okay. Seeing that she was fine, he ran back into the room, took Kari's digivice and placed it in her backpack that was in the living room. Just as he did that, he heard Kari's room door slowly open.

Meanwhile, back in Taichi's room, Tai landed on his back with a thud and then soon felt Sora land on top of him. He heard her let out a soft 'oof' as Yokomon went flying out of her hands, then Sora came crashing down on top of him. "Sora…" he groaned out. Her face was next to his, except hers facing the floor, and she was breathing down his neck. He placed his hands on the sides of her waist and turned his head slightly so his lips were next to her ear. "Don't move," he said in a commanding voice, with a hint of a pleading tone.

"What?" she asked as she lifted her head off the ground so she was looking into his eyes, face to face. Her upper body was now resting on her elbows. "Why? Aren't I heavy?" she asked as she shifted slightly, he knee pressing up against something. Tai's eyes widened slightly as her knee was pressed tightly between his legs, putting a little more pressure than he would have liked.

Shaking his head violently, he said, "let me get out first okay?" in a slightly strained tone of voice. Sensing his pain, and his facial expressions, Sora finally realized what her knee was pushing against and why Tai was in such pain.

"Oh my god," Sora said as she jumped off of him, accidentally kneeing him in the groin. Taichi let out a hiss of pain and closed his eyes tightly as he closed his legs together and pulled his knees to his chest. Slapping a hand to her mouth, Sora quickly whispered apologies to him, as fast as her mouth would allow her to, as she bent down next to him, placing her free hand on his shoulder in a consoling manner. "Taichi, I'm soooo sorry!" Sora repeated over and over again.

When Tai finally found his voice, he croaked out, "I'm okay… It's ok…" 'Damn that hurts! If it were anyone other than Sora, I would have slapped him or her down to the seventh hell! Shit!'

Kari heard a thump in her brother's room and decided to investigate. 'He'd better not have one of those weird girlfriends over in his room, doing things he shouldn't be doing…' Kari thought, her eyes narrowing. As she opened the door to her room, she saw Agumon carrying Yokomon, standing next to her backpack. Frowning, she wondered why Yokomon was here and went to her brother's bedroom. His door was open, so she could get a clear view of what was going on. He was rolling on the ground with his knees pulled up to his chest, Sora kneeling next to him muttering aplogies to him every few seconds, and asking him if he was okay.

"What happened in here?" Kari asked as she walked into the room. Tai stopped rolling around and glanced up at his sister.

"I… I uh… I… kneedTaiinthegroin…" Sora uttered out as she kept her gaze on the floor, her face red with embarrassment.

"What?" Kari asked again.

"I…" Sora started again, but was interrupted when Kari burst out laughing. It took her a few seconds but Kari finally deciphered what Sora said and started laughing at Tai's predicament.

As her laughing came down to a halt, she turned to Sora and asked, "How'd you get here in the first place? I didn't hear the door bell ring."

"She snuck in through the window," Taichi said with a very serious face. He was finally able to sit upright on the floor and gave Sora a small, playful glare. Sora just blushed and gulped in response.

"Really?" Kari asked, wearing a 'I'm- not- that- dumb' look on her face.

"Tai went to the digital world because he lost something there, and I went to help him find it," said Sora, uttering the first thing that came to her mind.

"And what exactly was he looking for?" Kari asked, her suspicion rising by the second. Out of the blue, Kari then asked, "Are you cheating on your boyfriend Sora?"

"What?" both Taichi and Sora screamed out, shocked at such an accusation. Well, Taichi was surprised but at the same time hopeful, and Sora was completely and utterly shocked.

"Where did that come from?" Sora stuttered after she found her voice again.

"I don't know… I'm just asking… and you did sneak into Tai's room through the window!" Kari replied, shrugging. "So what were you two looking for?" she asked again, giggling.

"We were looking for my digivice," Tai said through clenched teeth, glaring at his sister for placing Sora in such a tight spot and for making him blush. 'I really don't want to get my sister involved with this mess right now. Not until I can get control of what is going on with myself and fixing my friendship with Matt and clearing the air with everyone else.'

After clearing the matter with Sora and Kari, Taichi got off the floor, helped Sora up and led her to the door. The sun had started to set when Taichi opened the door for Sora. "So, um… I guess we don't have to meet up tomorrow morning… that is…" Tai tried to say something coherent but ended up placing his hands behind his head and laughing nervously.

"We can still meet up if you want… Give me a call when you get up, or when you're free… I'll probably be at my mom's flower shop helping her out, so when you want to talk, give me a call and we can meet somewhere," Sora said as she stepped out of the apartment.

"Uh, ok. Cool. Then I'll give you a call tomorrow," Tai said as he leaned against the apartment door.

Sora nodded and then said, "I still need answers from you, you know!" grinning.

Taichi sighed but gave a small smile back towards her. Agumon came running from behind Tai and handed Yokomon back to Sora.

"You almost forgot this!" he said, gently placing the small digimon in Sora's arms.

"Thanks Agumon," she replied as she rubbed the top of the yellow digimon's head affectionately.

As soon as Sora left, Kari and Tai made themselves dinner and placed the groceries away, since their parents didn't seem like they would come out of their bedroom anytime soon.

After dinner, as Kari and Gatomon settled down on the couch, Kari reaching for the remote, Tai gave a loud yawn and then said, "I think I'll head off to bed now, I'm kinda tired from running around in the digital world." As he headed back into his room, Agumon scampered off behind him and closed Tai's room door behind himself.

Tai fell onto his bed with a groan and immediately fell asleep.

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A couple hours later, or it felt like that for Tai, the chocolate brown haired boy heard a shrill noise coming from the living room. As he opened his eyes, the bright sun hit his eyes sharply, making him close his eyes immediately afterwards as he groaned in pain. As he rolled out of bed and opened his door, he wondered where his parents and Kari were, and if they heard the beeping too.

Tai made his way towards the beeping noise and found that it was coming from inside Kari's bag. Opening the front pouch of her bag, he found her digivice flashing brightly and he took a hold of it and stared at the screen. He saw Matt's blue dot blinking brightly on the digivice and Tai decided that this was the best time to meet Matt and clear the air between the two of them. Running back into his room, Taichi woke Agumon up with a light shake of the shoulder and pointed Kari's digivice towards his d-terminal. Agumon and Tai were immediately sucked in and found themselves a couple of feet away form Matt. Looking up, Tai found Matt's cold gaze focused on him, Gaubumon's gaze focused on Agumon.

"Hi Matt!" Tai said cheerfully, getting up onto his feet. "Listen, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday… things might have gotten a bit out of hand and I wasn't myself…" Tai started, trying to explain himself.

"Save it Tai," Matt barked out as his icy blue eyes glared at the boy in front of him. Without taking his eyes off of Tai, he yelled, "Gabumon!" Gabumon glanced at Matt for a second and then nodded his head.

"Gabumon, warp digivolve to… Metalgarurumon!" Gabumon roared out as he slowly changed into the Mega form.

"What's going on Matt?" Tai asked, a little shaken up.

"Tai! Watch out!" Agumon said, as he pushed Tai down onto the ground, barely able to avoid the attack that Metalgarurumon launched at them.

"Fine. If you won't listen to reason, then i'll have to do this the hard way. Agumon! Digivolve!" Tai yelled out. Even though he didn't have his digivice, because of Agumon's will to protect his friend, he was able to digivolve. Now, Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon were fighting in the sky, just like they were more than five years ago.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it Tai?" Matt said with a sinister tone to his voice.

"You didn't go to the dark side again did you Matt? You even have a girlfriend! What would Sora say to all of this?" Tai asked desperately, trying not to do anything more that would make Matt set Metalgarurumon on him.

"I'm not the one who has gone to the dark side, Tai… it's you."

A roar ripped through the air and Wargreymon fell back onto the ground with a sickening thud and Tai rushed over to his side. "Wargreymon!" Tai yelled out.

The digimon did not reply his pleas. "Wargreymon?" Tai asked shakily. "What did you do?" Tai growled as he turned his accusatory gaze onto Metalgarurumon. His eyes slowly turned red, his fingers extending, becoming claws, and his wings slowly made themselves reappear from his back as he took flight for the first time.

"You are going to pay Metalgarurumon. He was your friend… How could you do this to him?" Tai screamed out, tears threatening to pour out from his eyes.

Metalgarurumon just stared back at the very distraught boy flying at him. "Metal Wolf Claw!" the digimon roared out as he attacked the brown haired boy.

Tai was thrown back a few feet, landing on the ground, now on his knees. "You think that will actually affect me?" Tai laughed out. Even though he had a gaping hole right above the left part of his chest, very close to the heart, he knew nothing would happen to him because of his ability to regenerate his body at an accelerated pace. He felt the blood slowly drip down his ripped shirt and onto the dirt ground below him. Closing his eyes, he waited until the wound completely healed itself and waited for the right opportunity to take revenge.

After a minute, Tai opened his eyes again and glanced down at his wound wondering why he still felt the blood drip down his shirt and arms. A couple seconds later, he felt a searing pain shoot through his body, his heart clenching really tightly.

"What's going on?" Tai managed to gasp out.

"You were too over confident in your abilites Tai. You may have a fast recovery rate, but it's useless if you have a gaping hole through your body," Matt spat out.

Tai cluched his chest with his right hand and felt the blood ooze over it. "Why isn't it stopping?" he asked no one in particular. His body slowly started to bend back and forth as he felt himself loose conciousness and his world turning to darkness.

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Taichi's eyes snapped open and he sat up in bed gasping for air, his right hand placed over his chest in a protective manner. Taking in deep breaths of air, he looked around and found himself back in his room. 'What happened? Wasn't I just in the digital world?' Tai asked himself. He heard a soft muttering coming from the edge of his bed and found Agumon fast asleep at the foot of his bed. 'Agumon…' Tai thought over and over again, a small smile appearing on his face. He glanced towards the window and saw that it was still dark. Looking over at his desk, his eyes trailed over the small indigo clock on the table and it read ' 2:00 A.M.' 'I guess I'd better get back to sleep… what a nightmare…' Tai thought as he shook his head of the dream and settled back under the sheets. 'Just to make sure that never happens, I'd better watch myself and make sure I know the extent of my abilities… I guess nothing is immortal in this world,' Tai sighed. With that last thought, Tai went back into the world of dreams, but this time his mind was not plagued with thoughts of death and disaster, but was filled with a beautiful red- head accompanying him for lunch later that day… or so he hoped.

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Want more? Let me know in a review and you'll be seeing more very soon! Hopefully by the end of next week! I know there's not much happening with the rest of the digidestined or with the evil people, but all of that will be addressed in the next chapter… or so I hope to get to them in the next chapter. We'll see where my plot bunnies take me. :)