Hey everyone, it's me again!
It's been a long time hasn't it? I'm really sorry that I haven't updated this in awhile for those of you who haven't forgotten about this. I know it's an explanation that's been used every single time for a lot of fics, but I have been really busy. I didn't realize that it's so hard to keep up with updating if you don't really have any time on your hands! Plus, writer's block has been preventing me to write as well. I also forgot where I was with this fic, so forgive me if some things don't align, and please feel free to tell me if that's the case! I realized that it is hard to keep up with updates, especially if you have writer's block. I do apologize for the long wait for the update!
Also, if anyone has any ideas for this fic, I would be happy to try and include them! Especially with me kind of forgetting some things that I had planned for this fic, it would be great if anyone would like to contribute ideas to get me started again!
Thank you so much for reading! Please Review!
Chapter 11: Courts and Lawsuits
She licked her lips and prepared herself to answer any question they threw at her. Even though she wouldn't admit it out loud, the truth was that she, herself, was somewhat scared of her position right now. She didn't like being up at the stand, answering questions that could very likely decide her fate. She certainly didn't like being questioned by Dragomon, the King of the Dark Ocean, who a few years ago, tried to make her his Queen. But here she was, trying to deceive her way out. And it wasn't easy either. She swore not to lie, and deceiving them without lying would be tough. It wasn't like lying was her strongest suit. She sucked at it.
"How are you, Kari?" Dragomon started off his barrage of questions by trying to make a pleasant conversation.
"I'm fine," Kari replied, wanting to get to the point he was trying to make.
"I'm great too, thank you for asking," Dragomon said, frowning. "But that isn't why we're here, right?"
Kari shook her head, agreeing with him. Why wouldn't he just cut the crap and get on with it?
She glanced at her friends, and felt somewhat empty when she realized that Gatomon wasn't here for support. Kari suppressed her frown, however, setting her mouth into a straight, thin line. She didn't want them to think that she was sad or angry because of this whole thing. She just wished Gatomon was here with her, to help her get through this. Knowing Gatomon, she would think of a clever way to get them both out.
"Just get on with it already!" Kari gasped as she heard her brother shout. Did he really want to get kicked out?
"That's it," The judge interrupted, waving his hand at the Digimon Police, motioning for them to throw Tai out. "Take him away."
She watched as Tai stood motionless, only glaring at Devimon and Dragomon before turning to glance at Sora. Kari noticed that Sora turned her head away, avoiding his gaze. Her brother scoffed and gave her a reassuring glance before they took him away.
"For that comment, why don't we drawl on this a bit? Hmm?" Dragomon suggested rhetorically, not really wanting any opinion from anybody else.
"You don't have much time, Dragomon," The judge warned, eyeing him cautiously.
"Very well then. I shall proceed, Your Honor," Dragomon sneered as he circled around the front of the room, pacing, gathering his thoughts.
As she turned her gaze back to her friends, she noticed that they all had different reactions. Sora just glanced down at her hands while Matt kept his eyes on the front of the room, locking eye contact with her for a second. Mimi had a frustrated face on and Mari just looked plain angry. Davis was actually watching carefully, giving her a nod, wondering what she would do. Ken had a thoughtful look on his face while the rest remained indifferent, even Cody and Yolei surprisingly. Izzy however, appeared as if he were up to something. She could feel the gears literally turning in his head. She wondered what he was thinking about as his eyes narrowed with his mouth agape. Slowly, she shook it off, directing her attention back to Dragomon.
"Have you ever been to the Dark Ocean?" Dragomon inquired, but his face told her that he knew what she was going to say.
"Yes, I have," She responded honestly, hearing groans escape from her friends. She spotted Matt as he buried his face in his hands.
"Then there's your proof, Your Honor," Dragomon presented, satisfied with her answer.
"Can I explain a bit more though?" Kari cautiously asked, looking at the judge.
A sigh escaped the judge's lips. "You may."
"Objection!" Devimon shouted. "She's a witness, she can't do that!"
"There's no rule against it," The judge replied. "Since she is a witness, she can explain her answer fully to its extent. Besides, you have your proof, so how will this change anything?"
The rest of the digidestined, excluding Tai, leaned forward, wanting to know what Kari had to say. They were more alert, as this could change the whole outcome of the situation.
"Please proceed," The judge then nodded to Kari, granting her permission to speak.
"I just want to say that I had no choice in going there. I was just transported there without my consent. If it was my choice to go and to keep visiting, then you do have a right to prosecute me. But since it wasn't my decision, I'm pretty sure that I can safely say that you still have nothing against me," Kari explained, hoping what she said made sense because it sure as heck didn't to her.
"Then who was it that took you there?" Dragomon inquired, redirecting the conversation back to her.
"I'd like to say it was you, since you are the King of the Dark Ocean," She stated and she could sense Devimon and his henchmen tense. "Or that it was Daemon, but I have no proof right now whatsoever."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cody sit up straighter. It was then that she knew he had another argument against them. But what was it?
Dragomon, definitely not satisfied, delivered a statement. "Even if it wasn't your choice, the fact that you had the slightest chance of entering the world proves you have somewhat of a dark aura surrounding you. I'm pretty sure the rest of your little friends didn't even have the chance to be transported there. And you know why? Because they don't have the aura that you possess!"
She felt defeated. He got her there. But wait….what about T.K. and Yolei? They had been there too. Does this mean they have some form of evil inside of them? Kari was starting to wonder herself if she did have this dark aura inside of her.
"Objection!" Cody yelled, standing up from his seat.
"What do you have to say, Defendant?" The judge demanded, as everyone, even Dragomon turned to look at the boy.
"Just because she went there doesn't mean that she's evil. That alone doesn't allow her to be eligible in order to go to that sick world of yours, Dragomon! In fact, T.K. and Yolei, two people that I know for a fact doesn't have darkness surrounding them has been there as well," Cody commented, presenting what he observed.
"Please elaborate," The judge replied.
"When Kari was first taken to the Dark Ocean, Your Honor, we were all searching for her. T.K., however, was the one who found her. He was able to enter the Dark Ocean," Cody explained.
"Objection!" Devimon shouted, standing up.
"Yes, Devimon?" The judge asked, wondering what in the Digital World he wanted now.
"Your Honor, since it is said, it is safe to assume that he has a dark aura surrounding him as well, therefore making him evil. I only say this because the defendant has said that he has been to the Dark Ocean."
The others shook their head while some gasped. Cody's statement was definitely not the right one to say. Cody, however, appeared confident and held his head up high, waiting for the judge's decision.
"Sustained."
Devimon and Dragomon's henchmen breathed a sigh of relief while the Digidestined tensed.
"Lovely," Dragomon drawled from his position in the courtroom. "I rest my case, Your Honor. I just have one more question to ask Miss Kamiya here."
The judge waved his hand, permitting him to continue.
Dragomon bowed his head gratefully, then smirking, he returned his piercing gaze to Kari, who wasn't very pleased at the moment.
Cody, if you have something up your sleeve, I'd appreciate it if you would pull it out now. She thought. He appeared as if he had another argument to go off of, but why wasn't he saying anything?
"How many times have you been in the Dark Ocean, Kari?" She heard Dragomon's evil and hissing voice fill the room.
She hesitated. Should she say just once? But she knew it wasn't the truth and they knew too. Plus, she wasn't all that much of a liar. She thought her statement of it being taken there against her will was enough, but obviously, that didn't work. Her eyes landed on Cody who, for the first time she's ever known him, looked somewhat defeated. It was then that she knew he didn't have anything for now. Whatever argument he was going to argue, he knew it wouldn't work. She sighed as she opened her mouth to answer.
"Twice."
"And you say you haven't visited numerous times," Dragomon sneered. "How honest of you."
"I didn't want to visit," Kari retorted, feeling anger bubble up inside of her, an emotion that she rarely ever experiences. "I was taken there. Twice. Without my permission or knowledge. You can't possibly arrest me for that."
"But, it's just the mere knowledge of the fact that you were eligible to enter makes the case final. That you are a threat to this world and therefore, should be arrested," Dragomon countered back. "Mr. Takashi should be too, since he has been there before."
"Objection!" Cody yelled, startling everybody else with his outburst.
"Yes?" The judge asked, wondering what he had to say.
"T.K. was just trying to find Kari. He has the crest of hope. He hoped to find Kari, and looked everywhere for her, without giving up. It was in that instance that he was able to enter the Dark Ocean. Because his hope was so strong, his crest allowed him to find his partner, the one with the crest of light," Cody explained.
Tension filled the room even more that it was there before. Everyone looked towards the judge, wondering what his decision would be. It seemed as though things were finally going in the digidestined's favor. But before he could say his answer, Dragomon's voice echoed in the room once more.
"Objection, Your Honor!"
"Please proceed," The judge stated, curious as to what his argument would be for this one.
"So the crest of hope allowed him to find his partner. Haha. Very fulfilling and romantic," Dragomon started, shaking his head.
"Just get on with it, Dragomon. Start explaining," The judge said, ordering him to do so.
"Very well then. If that's how you want it. Sheesh, you can't get a good crowd these days, huh?" He replied, looking over to Devimon and Daemon who gave him a scowl and a warning glare, telling him not to mess this up.
"But isn't that the same for the child of light? Did her crest allow her to enter the Dark Ocean? If she's really the so called keeper and child of light, why was she able to enter? It certainly wasn't because of anything or anyone else, that's for sure. It seems like she did it all on her own, even without her knowledge. Your Honor, sometimes crests do things for their owners. They do things that could be the best for their keeper. It's possible that since Kari was sent to the Dark Ocean, maybe by her crest, that's it's better for her to stay there. And maybe, her trait of light is sensing a dark aura around her so that's why she was allowed to go to the Dark Ocean. I'm pretty sure Kari has experienced weird things going on with her and her crest and her abilities. Maybe this is just another one of her traits or abilities." Dragomon explained, grinning triumphantly.
Outside, Tai let out a deep breath that he hadn't even realized he had been holding. Sure, he was a little eccentric in there, and sure, he should've kept his mouth shut, but hey, no one else was doing anything. It's not that he didn't have faith in Cody; it was just how much faith everyone else is putting in him. It was like they believed Cody could pull off a miracle when in reality, Tai knew it would take so much more than that. He wondered if anyone else agreed with him if he spoke out his thoughts. Probably not, he reminded himself bitterly. They just didn't get it. It was T.K. and Kari's freedom on the line and if they didn't get it, then who else would?
His mind then wandered back to Sora. He mentally kicked himself in frustration. How could he have confessed that? He knew she wasn't ready for that kind of statement, and yet, he went out and spoke with it anyway. He remembered the stupid piece of advice that Izzy and Matt always adhered to when he needed help: Open mouth, insert foot. But why, oh why, couldn't he have done that? Why did his brain have to go and let his stupid mouth shoot off a confession that she wasn't ready for or even willing to hear and that he himself wouldn't even want to admit yet? He groaned and buried his head in his hands as he remembered Sora's response.
Sora stood, open mouthed, gaping at him. He knew that she didn't expect him to say that, but it was out already and he can't take it back, no matter how much he wanted to.
"Tai, I—," Sora started, but Tai cut her off.
"No, it's okay Sor. I don't even know what possessed me to say that," Tai interrupted, but then continued, trying to cover up what he just said, realizing his mistake when a hurt look flashed over Sora's features. "I mean—,"
"You mean, what Tai?" Sora questioned. "Please spit it out, because as of right now, you're confusing the heck out of me."
"What I meant to say was, of course love was what possessed me to say that, well, I mean, love was at work. Wait—can we just—can we just throw out everything I've said to you in the past few minutes?" Way to go Tai, his conscience yelled at him. She went out to go comfort him and support him while the trial inside was going on, and he gives her more drama to deal with? What kind of person was he?
He heard her sudden intake of breath. He turned to face her as she finally looked him in the eyes. "As much as I would like that, Tai, that's not how it works, you know that. I can't just disregard everything you just said."
"So….," He started, having some hope that she might feel the same way since she didn't flat out reject him.
"So what?" Sora wondered, raising her eyebrows. He averted his gaze away from her and down towards the floor. He hoped she would get the next question he was insinuating.
"Um….what would, um, your response be to my previous statement then?" Tai asked weakly. Smooth move, Kamiya. You're definitely a ladies' man, his mind said, berating him. He felt like Izzy would feel around a pretty girl asking her out for the first time, or how T.K. would feel around Kari. He wasn't supposed to feel that way.
"Oh," Sora breathed out, directing her gaze at anything but him. "I—I'm not sure yet, Tai. I'm—I'm sorry."
Tai breathed in and out to calm himself. That was okay. That was fine, wait—that was more than fine. She didn't flat out reject him, so that was a start.
"I just don't know. About anything really," Sora continued. "Just please, promise me one thing, Tai."
Tai looked at her and nodded, silently prodding her for what she was about to say.
"Please don't make me choose or decide. I really don't want any drama in my life right now." She gave him a sympathetic look that told him that she was really sorry and walked away, ending the conversation.
But what he said didn't technically entitle any "drama" to be in her life, right? Unless, of course, she still wasn't completely over Matt yet. He let out another groan. Stupid Matt. Always getting what he wanted, well, most of the time. All Tai wanted to do, besides free T.K. and Kari, was to get Sora, and tell Matt that he's known her longer and she's had feelings for him first. Even though it was brief, they still dated. The only reason why they broke it off was because they felt like they were too young to be in a relationship, much less a committed one. They weren't able to go back and try their relationship again because of Matt.
After thinking things through for a bit, Tai finally realized another goal he had to accomplish before this whole battle ended. He had to get Sora. They weren't finished, and there were still some lingering feelings between the two of them, even though she didn't realize it yet. Matt didn't deserve her, he let her go, which is why it's his turn now. It's his turn to show everybody—especially her and Matt—that they belong together. He might sound a little insane or love crazy, but this needed to be done. Otherwise, he'd go crazy without ever knowing what could've happened. The what if factor.
Most of the digidestined held their breath in anticipation as they stared at the judge, waiting for his call. Kari casted a furtive glance towards Cody in hopes of him saying anything, but received the opposite reaction she wanted. She leaned back in the chair and blew out a defeated sigh. Maybe they should just surrender and hand over all their power and their freedom because this wasn't worth it. At least, it was starting to look like it wasn't.
"Both sides make a valid point," The judge conceded. "However, if the defendant can't make an opposing argument, the prosecution will be victorious."
"Objection, Your Honor!" Cody shouted, standing up. "How? They were only able to travel because they needed to save the other. At least in T.K.'s case."
"Yes, but Dragomon has a point. Kari was able to travel because it could very well be one of her traits or abilities. If she didn't have the power to do so, she wouldn't have been able to travel," The judge replied. "So I can call it a draw as well. Free Kari, but keep T.K. imprisoned. As of now, that's the best call I can make."
"A draw," Matt murmured, but his voice was still loud enough for everyone to hear. "After all we've been through in this trial, we still have no winner?"
"Mr. Ishida, in the best interest of yourself and everyone around you, I advise you to keep quiet," The judge warned. "At least you were able to free one of them."
Matt stood up, his eyes furious and blazing with fire. "We didn't come here for only one, we came here for both!"
"But it's better than nothing," The judge reasoned, trying to calm him down without kicking him out.
"No. No, it's not," Matt shook his head, refusing to agree with him. "It's all or nothing. You need to make your choice. The verdict is yours for you to make. We're not leaving here without one or any of them. We are leaving here with the both of them."
"Did you forget Ishida?" Dragomon sneered. "As you've said, it all depends on his verdict. But I've got to say, I agree with the little rascal. We need a winner, and we're not leaving here without one."
"Fine," The judge reluctantly agreed, shaking his head. "I'll give you each a recess to clear and gather your thoughts. The side that can deliver the more convincing argument for me and the jury will win the case. That's the last thing I'm going to say before the decision is made. Got it? Is that clear to everyone?"
The audience, prosecution, defense, and the digidestined nodded in agreement.
"Good. Dismissed."
I hope that was at least somewhat decent. Not very good, but I'm glad I was able to get an update out there for you guys! Mostly a filler chapter (as well as short), but it does set up for what I have planned in future chapters. The trial arc is coming to an end which would let me open up a new arc! Yay! Hopefully, I can get my thoughts and plans figured out for the next part after this one.
Oh, for those who are interested, I do have another fic planned that is completely unrelated to this one! However, I need your opinion on what I should do concerning my next fic (I know I should finish this one first, but I can't help it! It's been bugging me!), so please go to my profile and vote on what you think! I value your opinion, so please vote! The poll is on "prequel" and "sequel" but it isn't necessarily a prequel and a sequel. I just needed to name it like that because I don't have a name for it yet. The prequel is when the digidestined is in high school and it sets the events up for the sequel when they are in their later years of college. All I can tell you is that it will be a somewhat darker fic. However, keep in mind that the prequel isn't needed because I could include explanations and flashbacks during the sequel. It's just to make things in the sequel clearer, but it could work either way! Sorry if the poll is confusing and please PM me if you have any questions or confusion about it!
Thank you again so much for reading! I hope you do review, especially if you favorite/alert this story! Please do! Thank you all who have reviewed and favorited/alerted! It means a lot (keeps me wanting to write too) :) That little blue button down there is just waiting to be pushed! :)
Sorry for the long author's note! Please review and thank you!
