Chapter 11: The Right Place at the Right Time
Hi everybody and greetings from snowy England. Thanks for the amazing reviews of the last chapter. I'm glad you all liked the bit where Kari punched Ladydevimon. It was good to know because she's going to have a few more moments like that later on.
I forgot to mention at the end of the last chapter that this chapter is going to be focused on Tai, Matt and Sora. I decided it was about time I featured them a bit more and plant a few seeds to get them into the story on a regular basis later on.
I don't own Digimon or any other copyrighted things I mention in this story. I'd own Pepsi if I did ...
Tai set his beer bottle and Agumon's glass of Pepsi down on the brushed aluminium table outside the seafront bar. The wild haired young man took his seat between Matt and Agumon. Tai, Matt and Sora had decided to meet up for a chat at this bar to discuss the battle the others were involved in during the previous day. Biyomon and Gabumon had joined Sora and Matt too and they, along with Agumon, were wearing long coats to disguise themselves.
The Sun was setting over the edge of the horizon and the warm summer temperatures were starting to drop. The streets, bars and restaurants of the city were rather empty compared to normal as more and more people chose to stay inside. The population of Tokyo were all frightened by the recent attacks and most of them had decided to stay where it was safe. There had been another attack during the previous night, despite the Digidestined defeating Ladydevimon and the small army of Devidramon and Phantomon that she was with.
"How are TK and Kari doing?" Matt asked with his concern for his brother clear in his tone. TK had tried to brush off the seriousness of his injuries when Matt had spoken to him on the phone earlier. As a result, the older sibling wanted to know how his younger brother was doing from someone who had seen him. "How are they coping with what happened during the battle yesterday?"
Tai sighed and ran his right hand through his wild brown hair. He had stayed at his home instead of at his university accommodation during the previous night to keep an eye on the two younger teens. "Where should I begin?"
"Is it clearly effecting them?" Matt frowned as his worry only deepened. It was typical of TK and Kari to try to shrug off or hide their feelings about things as serious as that battle.
"The short answer is yes," the young brunette man replied bleakly. "It was rather obvious when they woke up this morning."
"What do you mean?" Sora's concern was obvious as well. She and Matt squeezed one another's hands in a gesture of support.
"Erm ... well," Tai scratched the back of his head before deciding on what to tell his friends. "They looked like they didn't get any sleep last night. They are clearly shaken and upset by what happened and they couldn't really hide it for once."
"I'm not surprised," Matt sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "They were forced to live through another nightmare. They seem to be doing that a lot recently."
"How did your parents react when you got home?" Sora asked before she pursed her lips. She knew that Tai and Kari's mother had probably freaked out when she saw the state of Kari and TK. Any parent would freak out if their child came home injured with their clothes torn and covered in blood.
"Not very well," Tai replied bluntly. He didn't need to be tactful with that answer because it was obvious his parents were going to worry. "They were horrified to put it simply. I had to explain everything too because Kari was on the verge of tears when she and TK tried to tell my Mom and Dad what had happened. TK even struggled and choked on his words. Kari tried her best to hide how she felt from my parents but I heard her start crying as soon as she went to bed and I think TK spent most of the night comforting her."
Sora took a deep breath and glanced between Matt and Tai. "That isn't good. TK normally can explain those sort of things without his emotions getting the better of him."
"Yeah, I know. Fortunately Gatomon and Patamon helped me out," Tai took a sip of his beer before continuing. "It also helped that the only injuries that they had were the scratches from Ladydevimon's claws, nothing life threatening."
"Did they actually get any sleep last night?" Matt asked as he gazed at his best friend, hoping for a positive answer. A few hours sleep could have made a big difference to how they felt in the morning.
"I know I didn't get to sleep until Kari stopped crying," Tai's voice was laced with the emotional pain he felt at hearing his sister's sobs. "As I said, I think TK, Patamon and Gatomon tried to comfort her several times. They succeeded for a while, but then after half an hour she would start crying again. TK would comfort her and the cycle would begin all over again. It continued until at least midnight, which was when I think they finally calmed her down. So you can imagine how my parents felt in the morning and it didn't help when Kari and TK said something to make things worse."
Matt and Sora paused for a moment to think about what the two younger teens could have told Kari's parents. Matt finally answered with his worry ever more present in his tone. "I don't think I'm going to like what they said, am I?"
Tai sighed and ran his hand through his hair again. "I didn't. They said that the battle made them realise that the current situation means that any moment could be their last and they were going to make the most of every minute they spent together. Then Kari bluntly said that things were getting worse and that they were lucky to still be alive."
Matt's gaze dropped and he stared at the floor. He knew it was the truth but he wished it wasn't. It was a harsh truth that applied to all of the Digidestined and Digimon. They needed to do something to fight back otherwise more of their nightmares could become real.
"At least they are facing the truth and being realistic," Gabumon tried his best to put a positive spin on what Tai had just told the group.
"Kari and TK have been through more at the age of sixteen than most people go through in their entire lives," Sora sighed as she stared off into the distance. "All of us Digidestined and our Digimon have."
"That's too true," Tai replied as he and the others all nodded in agreement. "And it looks like we're going to be going through more because the attacks didn't stop last night."
"I guess that means Dragomon and the Deep Ones are the most likely faction behind these attacks," Matt thought aloud as he glanced out over the Pacific Ocean. He hoped that he would never see Dragomon rising out of it with his army.
"They are the prime suspects," Tai nodded in agreement. "However, there is still a chance that the attacks are coming from Daemon's army."
"I guess we are still in the position where we have to catch the culprits committing the murders to be certain it is them," Sora sighed and gazed down at the floor. "Even then, both factions could still be behind the attacks."
"We won't be able to stop the attacks even if we do find out," Tai growled in frustration as he clenched his fists. "Not without a major slice of luck or everyone staying up and patrolling the streets twenty four hours a day."
"We could never manage that," Biyomon spoke the words that were on everyone's mind.
"We could get Noriko and the rest of the children that had dark spores to help," Agumon suggested as he stroked his chin in thought.
"We still wouldn't have enough numbers," Tai sighed once more before taking another drink from his beer. "And their Digimon can't digivolve past the champion level. They might not be able to fend off an attack without us being there."
"That is a good point," Sora nodded in agreement. "But we need all the help we can get. Besides, Veemon, Wormmon, Hawkmon and Armadillomon can't reach the ultimate level either without their DNA digivolution partners."
Tai paused for a moment and stroked his chin as he thought. "I'll have a word with Noriko to ask if she and her group are willing to help us. Unfortunately, it still won't make much of a difference."
"What about the other Digidestined from around the world?" Gabumon offered his suggestion. "We could invite them here. Then we would have enough of us to protect Tokyo."
"In theory it would work but there are too many problems for it to actually work in practice," Matt sighed and took a sip of his drink.
"Yeah," Tai nodded in agreement. "Imagine the reaction of the general public to all the Digimon walking around with their Digidestined partners. We would end up getting blamed for the murders. It would mean that we'd be locked up in prison and then we wouldn't be able to stop the attacks or save anyone."
"And that doesn't even take into account the logistics of having every Digidestined in the world here in Tokyo," Sora added as she thought about it. "There wouldn't be enough places for them all to stay. We would have to book several hundred thousand hotel rooms for weeks if not months."
"And what if the attacks spread to other parts of the world?" Matt thought of a third point. "If all of the Digidestined in the world were here then nobody would be left to protect everywhere else. A worldwide invasion would then be easy."
"We could do with more Japanese Digidestined," Tai pursed his lips as he paused for a moment. "You know, I'm surprised there haven't been any new Japanese Digidestined turn up since we defeated Malomyotismon."
"There hasn't been any need for new Digidestined and chosen Digimon until now," Biyomon replied, getting the attention of the group. "Neodevimon was the only problem in the last five years and TK and Kari just about dealt with him."
"That makes sense," Matt responded before placing the brown bottle in his hand to his mouth and taking another sip of his beer. "Why hire new people when the ones you already have can protect everything without any extra help?"
"Because of situations like this," Tai answered bluntly. "But even if there were more Digidestined, they wouldn't be any more powerful than Noriko's group. That means we would need hundreds of Digidestined to be able to create a successful defence."
"So like normal, the weight of two worlds rests on our shoulders," Matt pursed his lips and glanced at the others.
"That's because we're the best," Gabumon's confidence was clear in his tone as he glanced up at Matt.
"Which brings us back to the point," Tai sighed and let his hands fall to his lap in frustration. "We are the most powerful out of the Digidestined and even we can't do anything about these attacks from the Dark World. We also still can't do anything to use Kari and TK's new found powers to make much of a difference either."
The group slipped into silence as they all thought about their current predicament. The gloom lingered over them while they continued to sip on their drinks. They were the only people left outside now that the Sun had set over the horizon. Just about everyone else was fearing another monster attack and had headed inside for extra safety. So far only people who were outside at night had been murdered during the attacks. Even the barman had tried to get the group to go inside but they had refused, choosing to stay out in the cooling night air.
It wasn't long before the silence lifted and the group entered into a slightly more normal conversation about how their university studies had been since the whole Dark World problem had started. They paused that conversation as they noticed a tall blonde man, who was wearing a black suit, pass by them and enter the bar. The group kept an eye on him, finding it rather odd that he didn't seem as bothered about the attacks as everyone else did.
"I wonder why he's walking around like everything is normal?" Sora asked as a puzzled expression formed on her face. She watched as the guy ordered a drink before sitting at a table inside the bar.
"Maybe he has just finished work and wants a drink," Tai suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. "I guess not everyone is scared about what has been going on. I mean look at the guy behind the bar, he's still here. He'll also have to go home tonight."
"Is it me or does that guy in the suit look familiar?" Matt asked as he watched the guy out of the corner of his eye. His suspicion was clear in his tone.
"Now that you mention it," Sora replied as her eyes locked on to her boyfriend's. "I've seen quite a few people wearing those suits recently."
"It's probably just your imagination," Agumon waved it off before he finished his drink. He and the other Digimon suddenly sat up straight and stared off down the beach with worried expressions on their faces.
"No, it can't be. I recognise him too. I think I saw him at the weekend when I went to check on Kari and TK," Tai replied before he and the other humans shivered. He rubbed his arms before wrapping them around his body. He glanced at the others. "Did anyone else notice the temperature suddenly drop."
"Yes," Agumon replied in a serious tone. "I think that might have something to do with the source of darkness that has just entered this world."
The three Digidestined gasped in shock and glanced in the direction that their Digimon were staring in. They saw a thick mist rising out of the sand on the seafront. It was quickly growing in size, rolling out across the beach, the sea and up on to the road that ran parallel with the water's edge. The group began hearing strange murmuring noises coming from within the dense fog, telling them something was inside it.
"I'm betting that it is those creatures from the Dark World," Gabumon growled as he and the other Digimon stood up.
"We have to digivolve," Biyomon said as she was about to remove her coat.
"Wait!" Tai ordered and the Digimon glanced up at him. "Not here. There are too many people watching. Everyone in the bar will see you guys."
"Then where can we go?" Agumon asked. He was desperate to digivolve so he could teach these creatures a lesson for messing with his friends.
Tai, Matt and Sora glanced around, trying to find a more secluded spot. It was difficult with all the tower blocks lining the seafront like they did. There were a few side alleys but they were too tight for the Digimon to digivolve in. Time was running out as the fog began enveloping the tower blocks and several of the other bars and shops on the seafront.
"Let's go up on to the road and they can digivolve in the fog," Matt suggested as he pointed up the steps to the road. It was the only idea any of them could come up with. "At least that way they'll have the room to digivolve and not be seen."
"I guess that is the only option we have," Tai replied through gritted teeth. He didn't like the idea of having to enter the fog. He took a deep breath and ran for the steps. "Let's go!"
The others sprinted after him and up the concrete slab steps the road. The mist was nearly up on them and the group could feel that the temperature had dropped dramatically. It was nothing like the warm summer night that the weather forecast had predicted. The group readied themselves for the battle that was to come. The Digimon threw their coats to one side and entered fighting stances.
The fog kept growing in size and rolled its way along the road towards the Digidestined. The sounds coming from inside were getting louder and closer with every passing second. The group patiently waited with their fists clenched and eyes narrowed in anger. They were going to exact some revenge for the deaths that had occurred in these attacks and hopefully stop them all together.
"Digivolve on my command," Tai instructed as he unclipped his digivice from his belt. Matt and Sora did the same as the mist began surrounding their bodies.
It only took a few seconds for the dark cloud to completely envelop the Digidestined and Digimon. The visibility dropped dramatically and soon they couldn't even see the buildings around them. They heard several panicked screams come from the people in the bar that they had just left.
"Now!" Tai ordered as he thrust his old style white digivice in Agumon's direction. "Full power, Agumon! We'll teach these assholes a lesson."
Matt and Sora mimicked Tai's actions, thrusting their digivices in the direction of their partners too. Their digivices began to vibrate in their hands before light erupted from them. Tai's digivice turned orange before a beam of light burst out of the screen and engulfed Agumon.
"Agumon warp digivolve to ..." Agumon's body glowed the same orange as the light coming from Tai's digivice as he rapidly grew. Several horns protruded from his skull, one coming out of the end of his nose and two on either side of his head. His body changed shape several times before taking on the form of a humanoid dragon with bulging muscles. Silver armour covered his chest, shins and formed his helmet. A golden shield took shape on his back and the same coloured armour formed the gauntlets that covered his claws. The light died down and revealed the mega level Digimon. "... Wargreymon!"
"Gabumon warp digivolve to ..." Blue light surrounded Gabumon from Matt's similarly coloured digivice. The dog-like Digimon's body grew, changing shape several times before taking on the form of a wolf standing on all fours. He had large sharp claws at the end of each limb. Golden wings protruded from his back and were the same metal has his tail. They became tipped by energy blades as rocket launchers formed at the base of his wings. Metallic blue armour covered most of his body except for his underside, which was covered in golden armour with the pink and blue emblem that his rookie form possessed. "... Metalgarurumon!"
"Biyomon digivolve to Birdramon! Birdramon digivolve to ..." Red light erupted from Sora's digivice and surrounded Biyomon. The pink bird quickly grew into a massive humanoid bird with giant razor edged talons on the ends of her arms and legs. Two huge wings spread out from her back, which looked as if they could create the same wind force as a major storm. The light of digivolution died down to reveal the ultimate level Digimon's red feathers, red helmet and yellow talons. "... Garudamon!"
The two mega and one ultimate level Digimon stood in the fog staring towards its core. They could sense the dark creatures slowly making their way towards them. The three Digimon were now on a more level playing field with the heightened senses their digivolutions had given them. Metalgarurumon had a particular advantage in the thick cloud because the senses located on the end of his nose could detect everything in front of him.
"There's hundreds of smaller creatures," the metal wolf growled as several demonic red eyes began to appear in the fog. "There are also three larger creatures with them that I have never seen before. They seem to be coming out of a gateway at the centre of the fog."
"Can we do anything about this fog?" Matt asked as he glanced around. He couldn't see anything apart from Tai, Sora, the Digimon and the demonic red eyes slowly coming towards them.
"Leave that to me," Garudamon replied in a commanding tone. She began flapping her massive wings in the direction of the gateway that the creatures were coming out of. The gusts she created sent the shadow creatures flying backwards in the direction they had come from. The strong winds created by the humanoid bird started to clear the dark mist but it wasn't good enough on its own.
"Wargreymon, can you close that porthole?" Tai shouted as he shielded his face from the wind created by Garudamon.
"Piece of cake," Wargreymon replied before he jumped into the air. He placed both of his arms above his head and drew them back. A huge fireball formed between his hands, which he threw forwards at the area where the darkness was strongest. "Terra force!"
The fireball tore through the fog and exploded on contact with the ground. Blood curdling screams echoed out from within the cloud as a vast majority of the Deep One's within it were burnt alive. After a few seconds, the dark mist was noticeably easier for Garudamon to shift with the gusts from her wings and within a minute the fog was cleared. It revealed around fifty of the Deep One's and three ghost-like tiger Digimon but, most importantly to the Digidestined and their Digimon, the gateway from the Dark World was closed. There was a smouldering crater in the ground were the dark creatures were originally coming out from.
The Deep Ones quickly regrouped following an order from one of the three Digimon that appeared to be leading them. These large tiger Digimon landed between the chosen Digimon and the shadow creatures. Their demonic red eyes showed their evil intentions as they locked on to the Digidestined in front of them.
The Digimon were ghost-like sabre tooth tiger skeletons with dark energy following between their bones. They had large bone wings protruding from their backs which they used to fly and a long tail that they used for balance. Their large fangs and sharp claws looked like they could shred apart anything. The tiger-like ghosts were easily the same size as Metalgarurumon, if not taller.
"What the hell are those?" Sora asked with her fear clear in her quivering voice. It made Matt step in front of her and put his arm out protectively.
"Hold on, I'll find out," Tai said as he quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his D-Terminal. He opened the Digimon identification software Izzy had installed on all of their D-Terminals and pointed the device in the direction of the skeletal monsters. "They are Skullbaluchimon. An un-dead Digimon that is void of emotions and attacks its opponents mercilessly until they or it are dead."
"Ones of Courage, Friendship and Love, give us the Queen of Light or we will destroy you and your world," the leading Skullbaluchimon ordered in a cold and emotionless tone that sent shivers down the spines of the Digidestined.
"No chance!" Tai yelled as he fought back his fear. "Leave Kari alone or I will make you, your friends and Dragomon pay!"
"You will give us the Queen of Light or you will die," the Skullbaluchimon replied in his emotionless tone. "Give us the One of Hope too so we can use him to turn the Queen of Light to darkness. She will become our Queen and the tender to our army. Her power will turn the tide in our war with that traitor, the Demon of Wrath."
"Never!" Matt and Tai shouted back in unison. They clenched their fists and gritted their teeth. Pure rage replace their earlier fear as both teens were ready to fight.
"And you, One of Courage. You will come with us too so Metalseadramon can have his revenge," the Skullbaluchimon finished.
"If he wants revenge then he can come here and find me," Tai spat back venomously as his eyes narrowed further and locked on to the red demonic eyes of the ghost tiger. He attempted to stare down the dark emotionless monster. He drew a deep breath and clenched his fists tighter. "Get them."
"Grace cross freezer!" Metalgarurumon roared the name of his attack as he took to the air. The missile bays around his body opened and fired the freezing rockets straight towards the Skullbaluchimon.
"Wing blade!" Garudamon also jumped into the air as she powered up her main attack. A red energy formed around her body before she released it. This energy took on the shape of a bird as it homed in on the leader of her foes.
"Terra force!" Wargreymon threw another one of his fireballs straight at the Skullbaluchimon. The shadow skeleton Digimon tried to dodge the attacks coming towards them. Two of them just escaped the resulting explosion as the manoeuvres smashed into their leader. The Skullbaluchimon leader had no chance and was deleted instantly. The shockwaves from the explosion wiped out most of the Deep Ones as well as throwing debris out in all directions, creating a massive dust cloud.
The Digidestined and their Digimon waited for the cloud to settle before they made their next move. Suddenly the two remaining Skullbaluchimon burst out of the dust and flew straight at Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon. The dark energy inside their bodies had increased as they prepared their main attack.
"Deadly fear!" The tigers roared as they released dark shadows of themselves in direction of the chosen Digimon. The dark energy cascaded towards the two mega Digimon while the Skullbaluchimon veered off to their right to ensure they didn't enter a close range battle.
Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon corkscrewed off to the side as the dark energy only just missed them. Garudamon dived for the ground and landed in a protective position over the three Digidestined who were exposed on the street below. The two mega Digimon took up a defensive position in the air over Garudamon as their foes flew behind the fading dust cloud.
The cloud settled within a few seconds, revealing another massive crater where the attacks of the chosen Digimon had hit the road. There was rubble strewn everywhere. It had even damaged the nearby apartment blocks along the road. Fortunately none of the people living in them had been hurt.
The Skullbaluchimon were hovering over the few remaining Deep Ones. The shadow creatures were covered in dust and were clearly battered by the explosion. Some were holding injured limbs while others couldn't even stand. However, the glare in their demonic red eyes said that they were going to fight to the death and that they would never give up. The un-dead sabre toothed Skullbaluchimon had the same glare in their eyes as they readied themselves for the next exchange in the battle.
"Wargreymon, the right Skullbaluchimon is yours. Metalgarurumon, you go after the left one," Tai yelled his orders to the Digimon. He was determined that this battle was going to end right now. "Garudamon, finish off the last of the Deep Ones."
The Digimon all nodded in reply. Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon flew straight at their targets and powered up their attacks. Garudamon powered up the same attack she had used earlier, forming the red bird shaped energy around her body. At the same time Metalgarurumon aimed his missiles at his target. Wargreymon prepared for his next manoeuvre by spinning in the air, creating a tornado around his body.
"Wing blade!" Garudamon released her attack at the remained Deep Ones. The energy soared straight towards them at such speed that they never had a chance of escaping. The attack tore them apart before smashing into the ground, causing another explosion.
"Grace cross freezer!" Metalgarurumon launched his barrage of rockets at his foe. The Skullbaluchimon swerved off to its left, trying to avoid the attack but it failed. The missiles were locked onto him and tracking his path. They exploded on contact, ripping apart his skeletal body into nothing more than data.
"Great tornado!" Wargreymon flew straight at the remaining Skullbaluchimon with the tornado surrounding his body now at full power. The leading tip of the tornado pulled the ghostly tiger skeleton into the attack, which shredded it into nothing but pieces of dust floating around in the air.
The three chosen Digimon quickly surveyed the area around them to make sure that there were no other opponents left. After their search revealed that they and the city was now safe again for the moment, they landed back down on the road in front of their human partners. A bright light surrounded their bodies before the Digimon reverted back to their rookie forms.
"I think we should get out of here as quickly as possible," Matt said as the Digimon ran to their partners sides.
"Yeah," Tai nodded in agreement as he turned around and readied himself for a sprint home. "The cops will be on their way and we don't want to get caught."
The rest of the group nodded and they all sprinted off down the street towards Matt's apartment. They didn't notice the blonde man they had seen earlier walking up the steps from the bar as he filmed them and the aftermath of the battle with a handheld camera. He focused on them running off down the road before turning his camera to the smouldering craters. He had all the evidence he needed. He had the whole battle on his camera, the faces of those involved and a video of some more Digimon to go with those he had collected of TK and Kari and their Digimon over the last couple of weeks.
So, what do you think this mysterious man is going to do with the video footage of the Digidestined? I'm curious about what you think he is planning. Also, what did you think to this chapter in general? Was focusing on Tai, Matt and Sora a nice change? Please let me know by leaving a review =D
