Well here ya go! Chapter 11! woo hoo! It took me some time to figure out who I wanted to have the POV in and finally decided on Zoe. I hadn't done her yet and felt it was time to return to a warrior's POV as we get arrive at the first climax of the story. Next time will be Koji's POV out of necessity and the fact that it's just easy and fun for me to write him. i am still taking suggestions for other POV's so let me know if you have a character in mind. Maybe and 02 DigiDestined, or Michael or Willace. No one has suggested them yet. They are just sorta there to make numbers meet. :O
I hope you enjoy this next chapter of The Ultimate Gathering of the DigiDestined and are prepared for a lot of the dark stuff that is to come and gives this story it's T rating.
I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02, TAMERS, FRONTIER OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.
Updated 01/06/15
Chapter 11: Aiyokumon's Tea Party
The Digital World: Location: Digitamamon's Store
The time had come to set out and everyone was as ready as they were ever going to be. Izzi had completed gathering a detailed layout of the mountain's tunnel network and Tai was getting one last word of thanks in to Digitamamon.
"Thank you so much," Tai said meaningfully. "We won't forget your generosity."
"If you defeat the Seven Zaigou and Kushyamon you will have done more than enough to repay me," Digitamamon said gruffly. "Oh! There is something you should know about Aiyokumon before you go. I didn't get to say it before Floramon lost her head and Aiyokumon gave her message."
Everyone was paying strict attention.
"You say you think it was your friend who was taken by Crusademon?" Digitamamon asked.
Tai nodded.
"Then you better give up on the idea of saving him right now," the egg Digimon sighed. "No one has escaped her grasp alive. She's a spell caster. A witch. She specializes in various possessions. Every lost soul that has been brought to her becomes bewitched and follows her every command. What's worse is that the person she has possessed is bound to her. Any pain or damage inflicted upon her is transferred to the possessed. If you wish to take her down you must forsake your friend. No one has ever broken through her control."
Everyone stared at Tai numbly. What were they going to do? Follow Digitamamon's advice and forget about rescuing Takuya? Or face Aiyokumon anyways and risk loosing him? There was no win-win situation.
"Well?" Digitamamon asked, wondering what their leader was thinking. "What will you do?"
Tai sighed, reaching into his pack and pulled out a pair of goggles that he'd requested. They weren't quite like the ones he used to wear and had given to Davis. They were similar in design, but more narrow and oval shaped so that they fit over his eyes better. He stared into their lenses for a moment before firmly snapping the band over a navy blue headband he was now wearing, his expression determined.
"We will go," he said softly, but firmly. "We have to at least try to save him. Takuya needs our help and the longer we leave him with Aiyokumon, the smaller the chance we have of even hoping to save him. It's now or never."
He stared around the room, daring them to challenge his decision, but his gaze met no opposition. There was only a grim but unanimous agreement with his statement. Even the little kids, Mako, Ai, and Suzie, looked determined to go.
"Good luck to you then," Digitamamon sighed. "Safe travels. I hope you find your friend and survive the encounter."
"Oh we'll find him," Tai said grimly. "It's his state of mind, or lack there of, that I'm worried about."
The Digital World: Location: Aiyokumon's Chambers
Aiyokumon was tired of waiting. It had been three hours since she had sent her message to the DigiDestined. Crusademon was there as well, standing in the corner of the room within the shadows. Takuya was sitting at Aiyokumon's feet as she ran her long well manicured fingernails through his hair. His face was void of any expression as it had been since the possession. He had been there when Aiyokumon sent out her invitation to the other DigiDestined so he knew that it was only a matter of time before he was forced to do battle with his friends, but he was strangely at peace for the moment.
During his time imprisoned within his own mind, Takuya had come to realize that he might not be as helpless as he had originally thought. Aiyokumon was so focused on controlling his body that she had neglected to take his mind into full account. It may have been a grave error on her part to leave Takuya's consciousness conscious. Of course she was still drugging him with potions to prevent him from being able to gain control his own body. She also continued casting spells to maintain the binding chains that kept him trapped within his mind. So how had Takuya come to believe that he wasn't completely helpless?
It had come to him while Aiyokumon had him prancing around the room doing that idiotic dance. He had found that if he wanted to remember something, the scene would play out before him in the open space of his mind. It was as if he were watching a movie or plays based off his life. He had begun to replay and relive his mental battle with Aiyokumon over and over again several times before he found her mistakenly pondered thought.
'The boy is strong,' she had thought. 'Too bad for him that he has no experience fighting with his mind. If he had I might actually be in trouble.'
It was soon after that that Takuya began to experiment. If he was going to be trapped within his own mind, he might as well know how to use it to his advantage. He took the time to actually try meditating, forcing himself to relax and give in to the unwanted potion's side effects. It was in this near non-existent state that he was able to muster some sort of inner strength that the Zaigou Witch of Lust's potions hadn't been able to take from him. It wasn't much, but when he experimented with ways to use this new mental capability, he realized that he could interfere with the way his body followed Aiyokumon's instructions.
He only attempted to do little things so that there wouldn't be any suspicion of a flaw in Aiyokumon's control over him. He tried things like halting a bow just millimeters higher then what she had commanded or twirling the opposite way in her crazy dance whenever she wasn't looking. He still didn't have any long lasting control over his body, but he had enough for him to be able to divert a fatal blow against his friends when the time came. The effort he exerted in performing these small defiances were incredibly draining however. He would have to be mindful in the fight to come of when he should pull a punch and when not to. It was this that could mean the fragile difference between seriously injuring a friend and killing them.
"They come, my lady," Crusademon suddenly said, emerging from the shadows.
"Oh goody!" Aiyokumon squealed. "Where are they?"
"In the eastern tunnels," he replied.
"Wonderful!" she laughed, clapping her hands together. "Now go greet them for me. And remember, you are only to greet them. No unnecessary confrontations, Crusademon. This is not your fight. You will be a gentlemon and bring them to the southern arena."
"As you wish," Crusademon bowed.
The Digital World: Location: Aiyokumon's Eastern Tunnels
Zoe was a bundle of nerves. What Digitamamon had told them about Aiyokumon had made her even more worried about Takuya. She had always felt concern for the goggle head, but it was much more than that. She wouldn't admit it to herself, but she had a crush on the strong-willed boy. He may have gotten on her nerves on more than one occasion, especially when they had first met, but he always thought about the well being of his companions. He had earned not only their respect as a leader, but also as a friend who they'd do anything for.
Takato's story about how he had met Takuya had only strengthened their resolve to save him and no one was going to talk them out of it. But what Zoe wanted more than anything at the moment was to see his smiling face with that goofy lopsided grin of his, laughing and saying, "Sorry guys! My bad."
"Are you alright Z?" JP asked softly so that only she could hear.
She started, but managed to make the movement seem intentional so that she could flip her blond hair over her shoulder.
"I'm fine," she muttered, glancing at Koji and Koichi to distract herself.
"Liar," her friend said grimly. "None of us are. We were just told to give up on saving Taki. Not exactly the thing we wanted to hear before launching this insane rescue mission."
"Are you saying we should?" she asked incredulously.
"No!" he exclaimed in a hushed panicky whisper. "There is no way he'd give up if it were one of us, so we shouldn't give up on him. I'm just saying we may have to face the fact that he may already be beyond our reach. …Beyond our saving."
Zoe stared dumbstruck at him. How could he think that? They'd know it if Takuya were really gone… wouldn't they? Surely some sixth sense that came with being a DigiDestined would tell them that he was already…
"It's Crusademon," Tommy muttered darkly from JP's side.
Sure enough the black knight Digimon was leaning casually against the archway of the joining tunnel up ahead.
"Welcome DigiDestined," he said in his monotone voice. "Lady Aiyokumon has sent me to escort you to the meeting place for your visit. Follow me."
Without another word, he walked through the archway.
"What should we do?" Zoe heard Koji ask Tai.
"We follow him," Tai shrugged. "What choice do we have? We don't know what will happen if we choose not to. He'll lead us to Aiyokumon and hopefully to Takuya."
Everyone warily followed the evil Digimon knight. Zoe vaguely wondered if it was possible that the mistress he served had possessed him too. Her mind began to wander and came up with some rather gruesome images of what might have happened to Takuya while becoming possessed, but they were also vague because she didn't know what Aiyokumon looked like since she hadn't been able to actually see the Zaigou when the message had aired. To stop her imagination from running wild she forced herself to listen in on the nearest conversation.
"I thought he was going to attack us when I first saw him," she heard Davis mutter to TK who seemed to agree.
"Well we should be on our toes," TK said grimly. "It's not like we're here for a tea party. Crusademon's only the messenger. Who knows what's in store for us up ahead?"
Zoe grudgingly agreed with the other blond.
Crusademon lead them through the winding tunnels turning in what seemed like random directions down corridors and sometimes through the odd mine. It took them about an hour to reach their destination. They all stared around at their surroundings with awe. They were deep within the mountains in a chamber that reminded them of the Roman Coliseum only underground with marble floors, columns, and seating. The wall opposite of their entrance was a lava waterfall, providing a rather dramatic backdrop to the arena.
Sitting at a small patio table was a remarkably beautiful young blond woman dressed in a flowing green gown that hugged all of her perfect curves in the right places. Some of the boys, even the younger ones, had to prevent themselves from drooling. She was perfect. The girls took an instant dislike to her, smacking their guy friends out of what were surely absurd fantasies. They knew that this had to be Aiyokumon, the Zaigou Witch of Lust.
"At last! Welcome!" the woman exclaimed exuberantly when she saw them. "I have been looking forward to your visit! Please come over and join me for tea!"
This threw the DigiDestined off. They had been prepared to fight their enemy, not have tea with her. Yet the Zaigou had Gazimon set up chairs in rows for them to sit in across the tiny patio table from her. Crusademon seemed to have disappeared at this point since his services as a guide were no longer needed.
"Sit! Please!" she smiled brightly.
"Looks like you were wrong about the tea party, TK," Davis muttered.
The blond had no cryptic come back for Davis' smart ass remark because he was too busy staring at Aiyokumon's breasts as she leaned over to give an order to a Gazimon. Kari saw this and smacked him hard outside the head.
"Don't be a pig, TK," she scolded.
TK diverted his gaze immediately, muttering an apology.
Tai glanced at Matt before giving a reluctant shrug and sat himself in the seat closest to Aiyokumon. Matt would have sat next to him if Sora hadn't grabbed him and forced him to sit next to her in the back row with TK, Kari, Yolei, Ken, Takato and Jeri.
Once everyone was seated, Aiyokumon ordered the Gazimon to hand out the tea to them and reclined in her seat.
"Again, I welcome you to my humble abode," she said, flashing a winning smile. "I was worried when you took so long to get here. I was afraid that I'd have to send Crusademon out to fetch you and he is a far cry from a pleasant host."
Tai held his teacup tentatively while Agumon, faithfully by his side as always, refused to even hold his.
When Aiyokumon saw that no one had touch his or her tea, peals of laughter rang through the arena.
"Puh-leez!" she exclaimed. "I haven't poisoned the tea! I swear on my soul as a Zaigou that no harm will come to you while we have tea. Why would I invite you and treat you to tea only to kill you with poison? It's barbaric and a waste of good tea! Other Zaigou may resort to that method, but I would never sink to that level. I find no pleasure in it."
As if to make her point she took a rather long sip from her own cup.
"I prefer much more dramatic methods," she said sinisterly. "I always take the time to get to know my enemy before striking. We are civilized beings after all, not primitive life forms."
"So you're toying with us," Tai said, deciding to play her game.
He reclined in his chair like she had and actually took a sip of her tea. Many of his companions stared at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head.
'Is he insane?' Zoe thought, sitting four seats down from him on his right.
"In a manner of speaking," the woman smiled delightedly; glad someone was taking her word about the tea. "I think I rather like you, boy. What is your name?"
"Tai," he answered simply. "So what do you want from us? I doubt you asked us here simply to have tea. You don't strike me as the type of woman that does this very often. You've mixed up your cultures after all. You're serving Japanese tea in English cups. Hardly the mistake a civilized woman such as yourself would make unless one doesn't care about such matters. Therefore, you aren't cultured in tea in the very least. You prefer other hobbies."
Zoe stared at him. The way they were talking you could have watched from afar, clear out of hearing range, and assume that their discussion was about the weather by the way they were carrying on.
"My, Tai," she mused, "aren't you forward? And you are correct in this matter. I am not one for tea. I threw this together on a simple whim just minutes before you arrived. …I'm sure in your world you're quite favorable with the ladies. You're quite charming."
"Why thank you," Tai smiled tightly, taking another sip of tea. "But that's not an answer to my question."
"You seem to be the most sensible person in this pathetic bunch, so I'll answer you," Aiyokumon grinned, setting down her teacup and leaned across the table, eyes feverishly riveted on Tai. "I invited you all here to see how good you are. My master has made such a fuss about you all so I simply had to see what you are capable of for myself before one of the other six Zaigou found you. I want to see if any of you are worthy enough to become my puppets."
"Puppets?" Tai repeated in an amused tone. "My, isn't that amazingly childish of you."
It was meant as an offense, but Aiyokumon seemed rather pleased instead.
"I do like you, Tai," she mused, sitting back. "Maybe I'll have your life spared and make you my next puppet. I'm sure my angel, Takuya ,would love to have a friend to play with."
Tai froze, trying to keep his cool. She was baiting them now. Unfortunately Zoe wasn't as rational. She nearly dropped her cup, sloshing warm tea all over her hand.
"What do you mean by "my angel, Takuya?"" she growled.
Tai shot her a warning glance, telling her to back off and gave another to Tommy and Koji who looked just as enraged as she was.
Aiyokumon gave Zoe an imperious glare as if looking at an inferior being.
"It's just as I said, child," she said snootily. "The boy was brought to me and entrusted to me to keep for my master. I have taken him in and made him my newest puppet. I do so love him. He's much better company than the Gazimon and Crusademon is so dull. Now Takuya, on the other hand, I have yet to have a boring conversation with. He is quite the spit fire, if I do say so myself."
Zoe knew she was being goaded, but hearing Aiyokumon say "I do so love him," nearly knocked the sense out of her. JP had gotten hold of her teacup-free hand and that was the only reason why she wasn't out of her chair trying to strangle Aiyokumon to death.
"My, what an impudent brat you are, my dear," Aiyokumon sneered. "Your behavior is highly unbecoming of a young lady such as yourself."
Zoe met her gaze with a defiant glare.
Aiyokumon suddenly burst into laughter.
"I see it now!" she cried. "You're in love with the boy!"
Zoe blushed crimson, but didn't deny it.
"Ah," Aiyokumon sighed. "Now I understand. You're hostile because I have your boyfriend. No wonder he wouldn't let me have him so easily. He already had a girl! But no matter. Sorry honey, but he's mine now so it makes no difference."
Zoe froze, stunned, the color draining from her face. JP squeezed her hand tightly in reassurance, but what reassurance he was trying to convey she couldn't figure out. Her mind was racing. What had this woman done to Takuya? What had Aiyokumon meant by "he wouldn't let me have him so easily?" Had she…
"Oh!" Aiyokumon gasped. "I had no idea humans were capable of such physical interaction. No wonder he didn't like me playing with his clothes at first. He really is sharp for catching on to my mind reading abilities so fast."
Zoe stiffened and dropped her gaze. She had been thinking that Aiyokumon had raped Takuya in order to possess him, which actually wasn't too far from the truth. Two emotions rushed through her at once. One was relief that Takuya hadn't done it with a Digimon and the other was pure hatred and loathing towards Aiyokumon and at herself for letting her mind get carried away. Of course it was impossible for her to know about Aiyokumon's mind reading ability, but she still cursed herself for giving Aiyokumon the idea.
Aiyokumon was still laughing.
"You can read minds?" Tai asked curtly, trying to regain control of the situation.
"Yes," Aiyokumon sighed, wiping away a non-existent tear from her eye. "But only as long as I have maintained constant eye contact. Unless you're one of my puppets, that is. In that case, I have access to your mind whenever I want to converse with you. I do so enjoy my little chats with Takuya. He is quite entertaining for a human. Speaking of Takuya, he has been dying to see you all again."
She then snapped her fingers delicately. It was deathly silent as everyone waited. Finally, five minutes later, Takuya walked through a hidden door behind Aiyokumon, his face uncharacteristically expressionless and eyes vacant. He halted behind her, hovering over her left side. He showed no sign that he recognized his friends sitting there before him. This hurt them more than they thought it would. They hadn't known what to expect, but so see their friend like this was disheartening. Takuya was nothing more than a doll now.
"Hello, Takuya darling," Aiyokumon smiled sweetly up at her puppet. "Thank you for joining us."
"What have you done to him?" Koji asked through gritted teeth.
Aiyokumon stood up from her seat and tilted Takuya's chin in her direction.
"I cast some of my best spells and used high quality potions on him," she answered matter-of-factly. "I found that the Warrior Spirit of Flame inside of him protected the body whenever Takuya was incapable of doing so himself, like, oh say, when he's unconscious. So I had to take Agunimon out first by using a powerful potion. Then, deciding to have some fun with a forceful possession, I cut Takuya's own spirit and consciousness off from his physical body and battled with him for domination over his mind, imprisoning him inside it. So the Takuya you know and love is still here deep inside, but is incapable of doing anything along with the spirit of Agunimon. He is the perfect puppet, mine to command at will."
As if to make her point, Takuya's arm wound around her slim hourglass frame. She wound her own arms around his neck and pecked him lightly on the cheek, loving the way Zoe fumed silently in her seat.
"It seems our visit has come to an end and the time for talk is over. Takuya darling? Get rid of them please," Aiyokumon purred in his ear.
Then she evaporated into thin air and everything, the table, chairs, tea and teacups, disappeared. The DigiDestined fell onto their rear ends with the sudden absence of chairs and quickly scrambled to their feet. Takuya remained standing where Aiyokumon had left him.
"Takuya?" Koji said tentatively.
Takuya turned to face Koji and then suddenly he was right in front of him, a well-aimed kick making contact with his gut. Luckily Koji was somehow able to deflect most of the blow and was able to block an oncoming punch to his face.
"Takuya!" he growled. "Please, you have to snap out of it! I know you're in there somewhere! You have to fight her!"
"He can't, Koji," Zoe heard Koichi say. "I can feel the shadows that fog his mind. He's buried so deep inside his own mind that he's not even present."
Zoe stared numbly at Takuya who had thrown a well-aimed roundhouse kick at Koji's head only to be blocked again by the experienced martial artist. Was it hopeless then? Was he lost to them forever?
Takuya – or rather Aiyokumon – must have realized that human attacks weren't working because Takuya's body stopped in mid action and backed away before bursting into flames. Somehow, without even using Takuya's D-Tector, Aiyokumon had forced Takuya to transform into Agunimon. Koji had no choice but to become Lobomon and fend off his friend's advances.
Tai had wisely come to the conclusion that he and the other DigiDestined would only get in the way of the warrior's battle so he ordered everyone over to the entryway that they had come in from and ordered Izzi and Guardromon find the safest route out. Izzi opened his laptop and began calculating with Kazu and Guardromon while everyone gathered around and waited. The other four Warriors had transformed into their Digimon human spirit evolutions to bring up the rear and provide a suitable cover for their escape while Lobomon fought off Agunimon.
Agunimon was pressing Lobomon back though so Beetlemon broke off from the group and entered the fray as well. The two tried to press their advantage of out numbering Agunimon and gain some ground, but Agunimon managed to retain the upper hand. None of their attacks where having any effect on him, but he was having plenty of an effect on the two of them. He was bearing down on them with flamed punches and kicks. They were beginning to get beat pretty badly when Löwemon (Koichi) decided that it was time for him to aid them in the struggle. He broke off from the group as well and rushed back to help his twin and JP. No one bothered to call him back. His help was needed elsewhere. It was then that Izzi finally had the best route calculated and he was about to lead the way out when something unexpected happened.
Agunimon suddenly pitched over and everyone froze where they stood, watching. It looked like Agunimon was clutching his chest, and breathing heavily. His friend's attacks had had an effect on him after all. He suddenly began to cough and hack loudly. It was an awful sound, like he was about to "cough up a lung" as the saying went.
"It's his lung cancer," Joe gasped, being the first to realize what was happening. "His body can't take the strain of battle. Not with three opponents. It doesn't matter how powerful he is, the strain while he's in that form is too great."
Kazemon (Zoe)'s heart ached to see him like this.
Suddenly Takuya got up and attacked Löwemon, but the move was sloppy and misdirected. Löwemon dodged easily, backed up by Beetlemon who sent Agunimon sprawling onto the arena's floor. Agunimon coughed again and aimed another attack at Löwemon, but Lobomon intercepted him.
"Why did he go for Löwemon?" Izzi wondered aloud. "Beetlemon was a lot closer."
Feeling relatively safe in the arch of the entryway of the arena, the other DigiDestined had remained, forgetting all intentions of fleeing, too enthralled by the battle happening before them. The three warriors traded blows against Agunimon for another five minutes when it became obvious that since joining the fight, Löwemon had become Agunimon's main target. It was completely unlike the who-ever-is-the-closest fighting strategy he had been using before when it was just Lobomon and Beetlemon fighting him. It was Kari who figured out why first.
"He's going after Koichi because Koichi represents darkness!" she gasped. "The darkness inside of Koichi must draw Takuya to him. I've been watching carefully for a while now and I think that Koichi has gotten weaker after every encounter he has with Takuya!"
Izzi analyzed the next few attacks that Agunimon succeeded in making contact with Koichi and realized that the DigiDestined of Light was right. Agunimon seemed to be gaining strength as well, his coughing becoming less frequent.
"Zoe, get him out of there," Tai ordered one of the two remaining Warrior DigiDestined still with the group. "He won't be able to withstand any more blows if you don't get in there and take his place."
Kazemon nodded and took off at full speed.
She arrived there in time to intercept Agunimon in another attack that would have hit the exhausted Löwemon.
"Koichi, get out of here!" she yelled over her shoulder as she tried to throw Agunimon back.
The Warrior of Darkness wasted no time asking for an explanation and simply did as he was told. It wasn't until he was gone and after Beetlemon had helped her push Agunimon back that Zoe got a good look at the Warrior of Flame. Blood was dripping from his mouth and he looked like he could barely breath. Yet he was pressing on and reverting to his old strategy, attacking Lobomon who happened to be the closest. Kazemon set up for the next blow when Agunimon pitched over a second time, coughing up an unhealthy looking amount of blood.
"Takuya, please stop," Kazemon pleaded. "You're killing yourself!"
Agunimon seemed to pause. She waited to see what he did with baited breath, but any hope that he had heard her was dashed when he threw himself at Beetlemon.
"Taki! It's us!" Beetlemon cried, somehow managing to block the sudden attack. "Z is right, you're killing yourself!"
Kazemon reluctantly sent a kick into his ribcage to help Beetlemon disengage from Agunimon. Lobomon brought down his light beam sword with Agunimon just managing to block the attack with his right forearm.
"Come on Takuya!" Lobomon grunted, pressing his attack. "Break free!"
His sword suddenly erupted in a bright light and all were blinded.
Oh! Not cool! A cliff hanger? What has happened? Will Koji be able to get through to Takuya? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!
Yay! Tai's wearing goggles again! I missed seeing him wear them in season 2, didn't you? Now he's got cool big boy goggles! So what'd ya think? You see why it needs to be in Koji's POV next chapter? A lot is about to go down (not that a lot hasn't gone down already) and you won't want to miss it! WARNING! some of you may hate me for what is to come, but I promise you that nothing is ever as it seems in this story so I hope you tough it out and see what happens. Please review, I just love seeing even the simplest messages and let me know if you found anything confusing and unclear and I'll fix it.
Ok so not much was changed in this chapter revision wise since i really didn't see much of an oppertunity to add in some Tamers stuff, but i did add in mention of Kazu and Guardromon helping Izzi devise the best way to leave the tunnels. I also added in a few sentences to clear up any confusion about when the Warriors joined in the fight against Taki. Hope everything was made clear. if not please shoot me a message and I'll fix it ASAP. :)