Chapter 12
Seconds later the large oak door at the hall's entrance flew open. A feminine figure cloaked in darkness spoke in a whispery voice. The light from the dungeon windows reflected off her exposed skin in an alluring fashion as she sauntered in their direction with swinging hips.
"Holy hell- who is that?" Davis drooled. Kari shot him an annoyed look from where she had situated herself in T.K.'s arms.
"Moira." Shiva and Angela answered dismally.
Moira paced in front of the group looking quite pleased with herself.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the infamous digidestined and the digiworld's failure, junior guardians." She stopped in front of Joe and Mimi, who were being held captive by the same gorillamon. She sneered at them, "Disgusting humans. Get them out of my sight."
The digidestined immediately began to struggle fruitlessly against their captives.
"Wait!" The gorillamon stopped at Moira's command, "I want Tai to stay with me." She held an amused glint in her eye as though she found the situation funny while letting one of her fingers trail down the exposed flesh between her breasts.
"Surprised she even got my name right this time." Tai muttered. Shiva snorted despite the pain she was feeling in her bruising arms from the strong grip of the gorillamon.
Moira's black eyes flashed dangerously. Her hand shot out and grabbed Tai by the throat; finely manicured nails dug into the flesh, drawing blood.
"I would think you'd be a little more grateful that I am not slaughtering your friends as we speak." She snarled. Tai glared back at her trying to ignore the pain in his neck. His head started to throb with the pressure she was applying to his throat. He could only imagine how purple his face was started to turn with the lack of blood and oxygen. It wasn't until Sora, of all people, spoke up, did she release him.
"Please- stop it!" Sora cried desperately. She then clasped a hand over her mouth while mentally scolded herself for drawing attention to her. Dread washed over her as Moira steadily stepped closer to her.
"You want me stop hurting Tai?" She asked silkily, twirling a strand of long red hair in her finger. Sora didn't respond. Moira smiled, "O.K., I won't hurt Tai anymore."
Moira pivoted to face Matt, who had to be restrained by two gorillamon during the time Moira approached Sora.
"This one belongs to you, am I right?" Moira asked Sora from over her shoulder. Moira faced the handsome blonde with an errant spark in her eye. Sora whimpered helplessly as she watched Moira lean in towards her boyfriend with parted lips...
Her eyes clenched shut as Moira kissed Matt but she was unable to drown out the soft, pleasure-filled moan from her boyfriend. Moira parted from their chaste kiss leaving a trail of icy breath between their mouths. Matt's eyes fluttered opened looking blank while his face held a dreamy expression. Moira walked around behind Matt and pressed her body against his back. She raised her mouth to his ear and whispered, "Now pet, I want you to hurt Tai for me."
"NO MATT DON'T!" Sora screamed at him, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
Zombie-like, Matt stalked slowly towards Tai, who remained static. The digidestined all watched in silence as their friend was manipulated. The only sound that could be heard was the measured, steady steps of Matt. Gabumon averted his eyes to the floor. The digimon had long since given up struggling for they knew they were far outnumbered as well as completely drained from their previous battle.
Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Matt reached where Tai was detained by a couple of gorillamon. Without even blinking, Matt drew back his fist and thrust it into Tai's stomach. Tai grunted in pain from the blow but managed to stay standing.
"Again." Moira replied sharply. This time Tai received a left hook to the jaw. His head snapped to the side and he knew that one was going to leave a mark, but it was nothing compared to some of the pain he received during training or stopping raids.
'Thank you Gennai,' Tai thought dryly as Matt's fist once again landed in his stomach, 'for subjecting me to endless hours of prep-torture fun.'
After a few more strikes, Moira appeared to be tiring of her little game. She snapped her fingers and emotion suddenly flooded back into Matt's eyes. "W-what happened?" Matt blinked a few times before realization dawned on his face, "Oh god, Tai- I'm sorry-"
Refusing to open his mouth, Tai just smiled good-naturedly as though Matt did nothing more than step on his foot. However, his body felt sore and a bitter, coppery fluid lingered on his tongue.
"Dungeons, now!" Moira barked at the gorillamon, who immediately began to haul the digidestined away, jabbing them with their guns and spears to make them move faster.
Tai looked frantically at Shiva for a moment. She got the message. Sending a well-placed kick to her respective gorillamon right in the gut and causing him to release her, she rushed forward. Tai captured her mouth with his own and pushed his tongue forward.
"STOP THIS!" Moira shrieked. The digidestined were quite shocked themselves. This was no the time for unseemly displays of emotions.
Tai and Shiva were roughly pulled apart. Two gorillamon carried Shiva out the door with the rest of their captives—the whole time she had a manic grin on her face.
For a moment Tai shared the same expression. That is, until it was physically wiped off his face.
SMACK
"DAMN!" Tai cried out, clutching his swollen cheek, "I can only take so much abuse woman!"
Moira laughed haughtily at him, flinging her shining red hair over her shoulder. She leaned into Tai's stronger figure and reached her arms around his waist so they appeared to be hugging.
"Careful Tai, you don't want to upset me and make me seduce you into another one of my slaves, do you? I've always found your free will kind-of sexy." She gave his ass a hard squeeze before stepping away. Tai blinked owlishly at her, thinking over what she just said, completely unaffected by her assault.
"Wait- you seduced monkeys so they would follow you? ...Oh that's low."
Moira turned away from Tai and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, feeling the beginnings of a migraine coming on.
"Go! You know where I want him," she ordered her seduced monkeys. And Tai found himself being led through a different set of doors than the ones his friends went through.
Their captors threw the digidestined along with three of the four guardians roughly into a large, dank cell. The floor and walls were composed of the same rough, cold stones that the rest of the castle built of.
"So what the hell was that?" Sora said, standing up from the spot where she was unceremoniously thrown. She glared down at Shiva who hadn't even bothered to stand up.
Shiva just looked back at Sora, somewhat offended at her acid tone. She severely disliked the girl for some reason. It wasn't just how she hurt Tai's feelings—that is not something she would hold a grudge on—it was just her general aura of possessiveness over Tai. Shiva was trained in the psychic arts and although she couldn't directly 'read someone's mind' she could almost feel what he or she thought of someone. And right now Sora was confused. Confused why Tai didn't wait for her like he said; confused why she was suddenly feeling attracted to Tai; confused at the relationship Tai and Shiva shared. Shiva could also feel jealously radiating off the girl, and it was directed towards her. Now Shiva was interested as to what Sora could possibly have against her... and the best way to find this out was to do a little research. Shiva glared up at Sora, which the girl met defiantly.
'That's right girlie, you stare right back at me.' Shiva thought smugly. Unknowingly to the other girl, She mentally prodded Sora's mind, searching for anything that might provoke Sora to carry any hostile feeling towards Shiva. After a matter of second she received a flash.
Angela, Sora, and Mimi stood in one of the outside, hallway balconies. Angela was ringing out her hair after a morning training session in the water.
"Hmmm, I wonder how well endowed he is." Mimi said thoughtfully.
"MIMI!" Sora scolded, but she was trying to hide a smile.
"Very well." Angela hooted.
"Hang on, how would you know?" Mimi asked accusingly.
"Co-ed showering!" She answered in a singsong voice, "But if you don't believe me, you can always ask Shiva. She personally knows every inch of his body."
"Ahhh!" Mimi screamed, "Oh my god, have they-?"
"More than once." Angela interjected.
"WHAT???" Sora shouted in disbelief. For the second time in an hour Sora felt her insides turn to ice. "I thought you said they weren't going out?"
"Well they aren't, but they used to for like six months when they were thirteen. That was their first time together. Now they're just friends with benefits. They only have sex to vent frustration and stuff... or they paintball gun Gennai for that, whatever their in the mood for."
"W-wait a minute. So Tai lost his virginity at only thirteen?"
"Oooh! He's experienced." Mimi appeared impressed by the whole situation. She was very good at being an optimist.
"Yea," Angela sighed, "But he's only had sex with a couple other cheerleaders and that's all. I, on the other hand, have screwed by man more times than I can count."
Shiva broke her connection with a blink. 'So she knows,' She mused, smirking, 'good.'
Shiva focused her attention back around the cell. The digidestined all seemed to be waiting for some kind of explanation. She began to wonder what they could possibly want from her when she remembered.
"Oh yeah- the kissing thing right?"
Sora gave an uncharacteristic sneer, which roused a strange look from her boyfriend.
Shiva smiled coyly at them while pushing something hard and shiny between her teeth.
"Is that-" Kari began. Shiva grinned even more and spat the rest of the key out of her mouth and into the palm of her hand.
"Yep. Our ticket out of here."
Griff broke into laughter, "So Tai had it in his mouth!"
Several of the digidestined burst out laughing at this.
"What I want to know," said Ken thoughtfully, "is how he got it in the first place."
"Oh, he carries a locksmith in his pants." said Angela seriously. Her face then broke into a manic grin, "A large locksmith..."
Griff made a displeased noise in his throat.
"Oh, stop whining, or I'll dump you for Tai," sniffed Angela as she put her hands on her hips.
"Oh no you won't!" Shiva said dangerously. Angela looked about ready to take up the challenge for another shouting contest with Shiva when she was cut off.
"Alright! Tai has a big dick! Can we open the door now?" Cody yelled. A ringing silence followed his vocalizations as everyone once again gaped at the youngest member of the digidestined.
"CODY!" Yolie, Angela, and Sora yelled at once. Shiva strode toward the cell door as she and Mimi, and most of the guys tried to make their laughter as discreet as possible.
The door swung open moments later, the key still protruding from the lock. Everyone remained in the cell, staring at the route to freedom.
"Well, are we going or not?" Davis asked impatiently a good thirty seconds later.
"Where will we go?" said Angela, "You guys don't have your digimon and we don't know how far Moira has set the wards. We're in quite a predicament"
"Well, then obviously we find the digimon—discreetly, might I add—and then find our way out of the castle and away from the wards using the digimons' protection." Davis replied annoyed, "or would you rather have Shiva lock the door again."
Everyone stood shocked, staring at Davis, trying to find something wrong with his plan. Yolie growled and whacked Izzy upside the head.
"Why didn't you think of that? Now Davis sounds more intelligent than me!"
"Ow..." Izzy whimpered, clutching his head.
"What about Tai?" Matt asked, "We can't leave him here."
"Sure we can!" Griff said joyously.
Mimi looked at him alarmed.
"What? No we can't!"
"He'll be fine!" Griff continued, waving his hand carelessly, "Let's go!"
He casually walked out of the cell followed dutifully by Angela and the reluctant digidestined while Shiva brought up the rear. The group crept silently out of the dungeons and into a large, vacant, stone corridor.
"Shiva, can you sense any life forces around here?" Angela whispered, her voice breaking the horrible silence.
"Angela — I'm human!"
"I know! But you could see auras and shit before you knew you were a demon!"
"Barely," Shiva muttered.
"Just try!" Griff hissed.
She harrumphed and proceeded to scan the area for any nearby auras that would represent the digimon. Finally she detected a faint blue glow tinged with some red off in the distance to her right.
"Through a door on the right—around that corner. There's guards in there too."
Kari stared at her disbelievingly.
"I thought you just said you could barely do it?"
"I did." Shiva replied starkly.
"But-"
"Just drop it." T.K. muttered, grabbing her arm gently and leading her to where the rest of the digidestined had already headed. Sure enough, just around the corner there was a rotted oak door to the right that hung slightly ajar. The group stopped in front of it, unsure of how they were going to fight off the guards that were most likely in there. Matt turned to face the group as if asking for suggestions.
Before anyone could do anything, Griff strode past him and through the door. Shiva was only seconds behind him followed by Angela. The digidestined all blinked simultaneously at the now swinging door.
"What the hell do they think they're doing?" Cody asked no one in particular. Matt shrugged indifferently and reached for the door, deciding to follow them in. Just as he was about to push forward a scream emitted from the room. Matt sprang back from the door, crashing into Joe.
"MATT!" Joe wailed, rubbing his nose. Matt was too busy making sure his hair was still in place to apologize.
"He's sorry," Sora replied, shaking her head at her boyfriend. The door creaked and they all looked up to see Angela poke her head out.
"You can come in now." She replied sweetly before disappearing though the door in a whirl of blonde curls. The digidestined followed uncertainly.
Inside was another plain stone room; there was a cell much like the one they were in. Many of the digimon were still unconscious while the rest were groggily waking.
"Alright!" Davis shouted happily, rushing to the cell, "hurry up Shiva and open the cell!"
"Huh? Why me?" She asked bewilderedly.
"'Cause you have the key!" he cried impatiently. Shiva stared at him a few seconds longer.
"What key?"
"WHAT!" Everyone yelled. Angela slapped her hand on her forehead.
"Shiiiiiivaaaa..."
"Oh this key!" she cried devilishly, whipping out a key from her bra. Everyone sweat dropped. Shiva just laughed mirthfully and unlocked the cell door.
The digidestined all rushed to their digimon and proceeded to wake them all up.
"Here we go with the hugging again," Griff muttered. Angela whacked him upside the head.
"Wait a minute," Izzy said as he walked out of the cell holding a bleary Tentomon in his arms, "What happened to the guards?"
"You have to crawl before you can walk..." Angela said sagely.
"You learned to fight as humans before as your natural selves?" Izzy replied dully.
"Oh! Touché!"
"Alright, now we can get Tai," said Matt, as he made sure everyone was with their respective partner.
"I told you before, we're leaving him." Griff replied calmly. He stuck his head out the doorway to make sure the coast was clear.
"I am not leaving him!"
Griff rolled his eyes before pulling his head back into the room.
"For the last time- he'll be fine. Look, I know you're his friend and you have the crest of friendship, but the chances of finding Tai and not getting caught are slim to none. Tai can take care of himself. Trust me, he's been in worse situations than this before. What we have to worry about now is ourselves."
Matt bit his lip. He couldn't help but feel he was abandoning his friend.
Angela noticed his uncertainty.
"Don't worry about him alright? He'll be back at home maybe a day or two at the most after us. If not we'll go back and rescue him."
"Fine," Matt mumbled reluctantly. Sora put a supportive arm around his waist making him smile a little, "Okay gang, we're leaving."
The group was on the move again, this time to the exit. The traveling sped up as digimon regained more and more of their energy. They retraced the steps of the gorillamon that took them to the cells, eventually making it to the room where they previously battled for the prophecy.
"Should we stop and get the prophecy?" Kari whispered. Griff nodded.
"We may not get another chance like this again with no guards. There are no guards, right Shiva?"
"Yes."
"See—what? Yes?"
"Yes."
"There are?"
"No."
"Huh?"
"You heard me."
"Woman, give me a strait answer."
"No."
"Yes!"
"'No' meaning there are NO guards, dumass."
"Gotcha. Ok — I need one of the digimon to run out there and grab the prophecy real quick just to be sure. Everyone else will be hiding back here waiting for an attack."
"Oh that won't be necessary," Mimi said easily, "Palmon will take care of it for us."
The plant digimon threw them a proud smile before drawing her arms over her head to prepare for an attack.
"Poison Ivy!" Vines flew through the empty room and cracked at the pedestal. They soon returned empty. Palmon blinked sheepishly at the group.
"Uh... there's nothing there."
"Damn—I knew that was too easy," Griff swore.
Angela nodded at Griff before realizing something.
"Wait a minute, Shiva, don't you have some extent of telekinetic powers as a human?"
"Um, yes?"
"Then why didn't you just get the prophecy that way?"
"Well, there was no prophecy anyway."
"That's not the point—you didn't even try!"
"No one asked me to!"
"SHIVA-"
"Shut up! Let's just get out of here!" Joe cried nervously. Davis nodded in agreement.
"Right– Kari, WHAT are those???"
Kari looked innocently down at the handcuffs in her hands. T.K., glancing over her shoulder, managed to look slightly apprehensive and excited at the same time.
"Uh, souvenirs?"
"Where did you get those?"
"Off one of the guards they knocked out"
"But why... ya know what? I don't wanna know. Let's go."
"I think we should all run for the gates incase they replaced the outer guards we took out earlier," Angela suggested.
"Are any of you guys strong enough to digivolve to make the trip to the portal a little easier? Or do you need food?" Ken asked the digimon.
"We need food" They all replied automatically. Ken rolled his eyes and muttered, "figures."
"Looks like we're running then." Davis concluded, "On three, we head to the gates. One... two... two and a half!!"
Everyone started outside and then stopped with a jerk.
"DAVIS!"
"Just go!" he laughed.
They ran past the bodies of devidramon to the gates of Bastion Hall with Davis' raucous laughter echoing throughout the grounds.
Moira paced back and forth in her study chamber, wringing her hands and questioning her actions. What was she doing? He's not Taro. He's the enemy he should be locked away in the dungeon with the rest of them.
So why the hell did she just have him sent to her bedroom!?
Moira sat down in a plush, black velvet chair and rested her head in her hands. The memory of Tai kissing the half-demon flashed in her mind.
"I'm so confused," She moaned.
"What's there to be confused about?" a chilling voice hissed from the flickering fire besides her. Moira, far too used to this by now, just glared at the seemingly innocent flames.
"Go away, I have no time for you," she snapped.
The fire roared in indignation.
"Don't speak to me in that manner you ungrateful little wench! If it weren't for me you would still be sealed in hell."
Moira looked away from the fire, her eyes filling with pain.
"How do I know I'm doing the right thing?" she asked the bodiless voice.
"How can you ask such a thing? Don't you remember what she did to you? All the pain and suffering you had to endure while you're friend died one by one. While your mate was killed?"
Moira cringed.
"But why should I do this? How will taking over the world help me destroy her?"
"I think you are forgetting where your loyalties lay. To forget the pain you must kill. Kill anyone that gets in your way, especially the guardians. Once they are out of the way and the old one falls nothing will stop you from ruling the digital world and you will get the respect you deserve."
"But I don't want to kill anymore! I'm tired of it!" Moira growled at the flames. Her features suddenly softened as she continued in a voice barely audible, "I just want him back." And for the first time in over a thousand years, a single tear slid from her black eye, and froze against her cheek.
"YOU WON'T GET HIM BACK BECAUSE HE'S DEAD!" The voiced screeched, snapping her attention back to the fireplace. The voice continued, this time much calmer and colder.
"The only thing you can do now is get your revenge; destroy her life as she destroyed yours. You were given another chance- use it!"
"You're right-," she murmured in a deadly whisper, her common sense returning, "I know. I'll kill them- starting with the demi-god."
Twenty minutes after Tai was separated from his friends he found himself sitting comfortably in a luxurious, black leather recliner that suited colors of the rugs, furniture and canopy bed of the room. He had honestly no clue why he stayed where he was. The guard left him alone in the cambion's room and nothing was stopping him from getting up and walking his half-breed buns-of-steel out those huge oak doors. Well, there was the fact that he was an unarmed, exhausted, hormonal, teenage human with a deranged, yet sexy, seductress on the loose. But that could be overlooked.
A faint pattering of bare feet approached the door, alerted him of the woman in question's presence. She gracefully entered the room and closed the door behind her with a soft click. The dim lighting made her appear more enticing than ever to Tai. Without sparing him a glance, Moira strolled across the room in a business like manner and placed something heavy on a richly furnished dresser. With a flip of her long red tresses and a twitch of the small demonic wings on her back she turned to face him.
He looked different to her as a human; his hair was much shorter and his eyes had dulled to a chocolaty brown. However, there was still that unmistakable presence of Taro. Moira mentally berated herself for her train of thought. This was no time to be thinking of him. She had to focus on the task on hand. She had to kill Tai before she lost control of herself again. She lowered her head in a predatory manner and turned her dark gaze on him. Striding forward she drew an ice dagger out of thin air.
Tai, who remained seated upon her entrance slowly stood as she stalked toward him. For every step backwards he took, she took two forward. The distance between them was shortening at an alarming rate.
"You don't want to be doing that." Tai said warily as he eyed the rising dagger, "There will be a lot of girls who would be disappointed..."
"You don't know what I want." She hissed, black eyes flashing. The dagger descended on him, only to be stopped by his hand wrapped around her wrist. They struggled for a moment and with her demonic heritage giving an advantage over Tai's weakened state, the dagger slowly progressed to his throat. Having her close to him stirred something within his chest. He knew his options were limited. His logic was getting fuzzy as a million thoughts as to how to escape the castle alive and have the prophecy as well raced around in his mind. Tai's breathing grew shallow as her tantalizing scent reached his senses. Her face was inches away from his, begging to be kissed. Not quite thinking clearly and reaching a desperate state, Tai made a decision.
"You want Taro," her struggling lessened. The dagger moved a small distance away from his neck; "You can have him... for tonight."
Having spoken them, the full meaning of his words became comprehensible to both their ears and both knew it would be something they would regret later on, but a stronger force than either of them won over. They were pulled into another captivatingly heated kiss. Neither Moira nor Tai had realized the bloodless ice dagger lie feet away from them on the floor, forgotten and melting.
"Don't you dare—try that seductive—shit on me," Tai whispered hoarsely into her mouth. He broke away for a moment as Moira tore his shirt over his head. Her hands immediately flew to his chest, running her fingers over the hardened muscles from intense training. Groaning with pleasure from her touch, Tai chose this moment to attack her deliciously exposed neck; nipping, biting, sucking—undoubtedly marking the once perfectly unblemished skin.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Moira moaned with half lidded eyes. She couldn't understand the effect this man had on her but at that moment she didn't care. She was dimly aware of his hands roaming along her body, pealing away the garb. Somewhere in her mind she knew she was supposed to do something. Was it killing him? No. Not with those heavily panting lips racing across her collarbone.
The two fell onto the blood red velvet bed, Tai on top of Moira, letting their instincts take over for the better part of the night.
Well, that took longer than I thought. Lo siento!
I think it's about time to pick a girl for Tai to stick with, don't you? The dirty little man is gunna get a disease at the rate he's going!
However, I can't decide on who to land him with – Moira, Shiva, Sora, or possibly someone completely unexpected?
Seconds later the large oak door at the hall's entrance flew open. A feminine figure cloaked in darkness spoke in a whispery voice. The light from the dungeon windows reflected off her exposed skin in an alluring fashion as she sauntered in their direction with swinging hips.
"Holy hell- who is that?" Davis drooled. Kari shot him an annoyed look from where she had situated herself in T.K.'s arms.
"Moira." Shiva and Angela answered dismally.
Moira paced in front of the group looking quite pleased with herself.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the infamous digidestined and the digiworld's failure, junior guardians." She stopped in front of Joe and Mimi, who were being held captive by the same gorillamon. She sneered at them, "Disgusting humans. Get them out of my sight."
The digidestined immediately began to struggle fruitlessly against their captives.
"Wait!" The gorillamon stopped at Moira's command, "I want Tai to stay with me." She held an amused glint in her eye as though she found the situation funny while letting one of her fingers trail down the exposed flesh between her breasts.
"Surprised she even got my name right this time." Tai muttered. Shiva snorted despite the pain she was feeling in her bruising arms from the strong grip of the gorillamon.
Moira's black eyes flashed dangerously. Her hand shot out and grabbed Tai by the throat; finely manicured nails dug into the flesh, drawing blood.
"I would think you'd be a little more grateful that I am not slaughtering your friends as we speak." She snarled. Tai glared back at her trying to ignore the pain in his neck. His head started to throb with the pressure she was applying to his throat. He could only imagine how purple his face was started to turn with the lack of blood and oxygen. It wasn't until Sora, of all people, spoke up, did she release him.
"Please- stop it!" Sora cried desperately. She then clasped a hand over her mouth while mentally scolded herself for drawing attention to her. Dread washed over her as Moira steadily stepped closer to her.
"You want me stop hurting Tai?" She asked silkily, twirling a strand of long red hair in her finger. Sora didn't respond. Moira smiled, "O.K., I won't hurt Tai anymore."
Moira pivoted to face Matt, who had to be restrained by two gorillamon during the time Moira approached Sora.
"This one belongs to you, am I right?" Moira asked Sora from over her shoulder. Moira faced the handsome blonde with an errant spark in her eye. Sora whimpered helplessly as she watched Moira lean in towards her boyfriend with parted lips...
Her eyes clenched shut as Moira kissed Matt but she was unable to drown out the soft, pleasure-filled moan from her boyfriend. Moira parted from their chaste kiss leaving a trail of icy breath between their mouths. Matt's eyes fluttered opened looking blank while his face held a dreamy expression. Moira walked around behind Matt and pressed her body against his back. She raised her mouth to his ear and whispered, "Now pet, I want you to hurt Tai for me."
"NO MATT DON'T!" Sora screamed at him, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
Zombie-like, Matt stalked slowly towards Tai, who remained static. The digidestined all watched in silence as their friend was manipulated. The only sound that could be heard was the measured, steady steps of Matt. Gabumon averted his eyes to the floor. The digimon had long since given up struggling for they knew they were far outnumbered as well as completely drained from their previous battle.
Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Matt reached where Tai was detained by a couple of gorillamon. Without even blinking, Matt drew back his fist and thrust it into Tai's stomach. Tai grunted in pain from the blow but managed to stay standing.
"Again." Moira replied sharply. This time Tai received a left hook to the jaw. His head snapped to the side and he knew that one was going to leave a mark, but it was nothing compared to some of the pain he received during training or stopping raids.
'Thank you Gennai,' Tai thought dryly as Matt's fist once again landed in his stomach, 'for subjecting me to endless hours of prep-torture fun.'
After a few more strikes, Moira appeared to be tiring of her little game. She snapped her fingers and emotion suddenly flooded back into Matt's eyes. "W-what happened?" Matt blinked a few times before realization dawned on his face, "Oh god, Tai- I'm sorry-"
Refusing to open his mouth, Tai just smiled good-naturedly as though Matt did nothing more than step on his foot. However, his body felt sore and a bitter, coppery fluid lingered on his tongue.
"Dungeons, now!" Moira barked at the gorillamon, who immediately began to haul the digidestined away, jabbing them with their guns and spears to make them move faster.
Tai looked frantically at Shiva for a moment. She got the message. Sending a well-placed kick to her respective gorillamon right in the gut and causing him to release her, she rushed forward. Tai captured her mouth with his own and pushed his tongue forward.
"STOP THIS!" Moira shrieked. The digidestined were quite shocked themselves. This was no the time for unseemly displays of emotions.
Tai and Shiva were roughly pulled apart. Two gorillamon carried Shiva out the door with the rest of their captives—the whole time she had a manic grin on her face.
For a moment Tai shared the same expression. That is, until it was physically wiped off his face.
SMACK
"DAMN!" Tai cried out, clutching his swollen cheek, "I can only take so much abuse woman!"
Moira laughed haughtily at him, flinging her shining red hair over her shoulder. She leaned into Tai's stronger figure and reached her arms around his waist so they appeared to be hugging.
"Careful Tai, you don't want to upset me and make me seduce you into another one of my slaves, do you? I've always found your free will kind-of sexy." She gave his ass a hard squeeze before stepping away. Tai blinked owlishly at her, thinking over what she just said, completely unaffected by her assault.
"Wait- you seduced monkeys so they would follow you? ...Oh that's low."
Moira turned away from Tai and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, feeling the beginnings of a migraine coming on.
"Go! You know where I want him," she ordered her seduced monkeys. And Tai found himself being led through a different set of doors than the ones his friends went through.
Their captors threw the digidestined along with three of the four guardians roughly into a large, dank cell. The floor and walls were composed of the same rough, cold stones that the rest of the castle built of.
"So what the hell was that?" Sora said, standing up from the spot where she was unceremoniously thrown. She glared down at Shiva who hadn't even bothered to stand up.
Shiva just looked back at Sora, somewhat offended at her acid tone. She severely disliked the girl for some reason. It wasn't just how she hurt Tai's feelings—that is not something she would hold a grudge on—it was just her general aura of possessiveness over Tai. Shiva was trained in the psychic arts and although she couldn't directly 'read someone's mind' she could almost feel what he or she thought of someone. And right now Sora was confused. Confused why Tai didn't wait for her like he said; confused why she was suddenly feeling attracted to Tai; confused at the relationship Tai and Shiva shared. Shiva could also feel jealously radiating off the girl, and it was directed towards her. Now Shiva was interested as to what Sora could possibly have against her... and the best way to find this out was to do a little research. Shiva glared up at Sora, which the girl met defiantly.
'That's right girlie, you stare right back at me.' Shiva thought smugly. Unknowingly to the other girl, She mentally prodded Sora's mind, searching for anything that might provoke Sora to carry any hostile feeling towards Shiva. After a matter of second she received a flash.
Angela, Sora, and Mimi stood in one of the outside, hallway balconies. Angela was ringing out her hair after a morning training session in the water.
"Hmmm, I wonder how well endowed he is." Mimi said thoughtfully.
"MIMI!" Sora scolded, but she was trying to hide a smile.
"Very well." Angela hooted.
"Hang on, how would you know?" Mimi asked accusingly.
"Co-ed showering!" She answered in a singsong voice, "But if you don't believe me, you can always ask Shiva. She personally knows every inch of his body."
"Ahhh!" Mimi screamed, "Oh my god, have they-?"
"More than once." Angela interjected.
"WHAT???" Sora shouted in disbelief. For the second time in an hour Sora felt her insides turn to ice. "I thought you said they weren't going out?"
"Well they aren't, but they used to for like six months when they were thirteen. That was their first time together. Now they're just friends with benefits. They only have sex to vent frustration and stuff... or they paintball gun Gennai for that, whatever their in the mood for."
"W-wait a minute. So Tai lost his virginity at only thirteen?"
"Oooh! He's experienced." Mimi appeared impressed by the whole situation. She was very good at being an optimist.
"Yea," Angela sighed, "But he's only had sex with a couple other cheerleaders and that's all. I, on the other hand, have screwed by man more times than I can count."
Shiva broke her connection with a blink. 'So she knows,' She mused, smirking, 'good.'
Shiva focused her attention back around the cell. The digidestined all seemed to be waiting for some kind of explanation. She began to wonder what they could possibly want from her when she remembered.
"Oh yeah- the kissing thing right?"
Sora gave an uncharacteristic sneer, which roused a strange look from her boyfriend.
Shiva smiled coyly at them while pushing something hard and shiny between her teeth.
"Is that-" Kari began. Shiva grinned even more and spat the rest of the key out of her mouth and into the palm of her hand.
"Yep. Our ticket out of here."
Griff broke into laughter, "So Tai had it in his mouth!"
Several of the digidestined burst out laughing at this.
"What I want to know," said Ken thoughtfully, "is how he got it in the first place."
"Oh, he carries a locksmith in his pants." said Angela seriously. Her face then broke into a manic grin, "A large locksmith..."
Griff made a displeased noise in his throat.
"Oh, stop whining, or I'll dump you for Tai," sniffed Angela as she put her hands on her hips.
"Oh no you won't!" Shiva said dangerously. Angela looked about ready to take up the challenge for another shouting contest with Shiva when she was cut off.
"Alright! Tai has a big dick! Can we open the door now?" Cody yelled. A ringing silence followed his vocalizations as everyone once again gaped at the youngest member of the digidestined.
"CODY!" Yolie, Angela, and Sora yelled at once. Shiva strode toward the cell door as she and Mimi, and most of the guys tried to make their laughter as discreet as possible.
The door swung open moments later, the key still protruding from the lock. Everyone remained in the cell, staring at the route to freedom.
"Well, are we going or not?" Davis asked impatiently a good thirty seconds later.
"Where will we go?" said Angela, "You guys don't have your digimon and we don't know how far Moira has set the wards. We're in quite a predicament"
"Well, then obviously we find the digimon—discreetly, might I add—and then find our way out of the castle and away from the wards using the digimons' protection." Davis replied annoyed, "or would you rather have Shiva lock the door again."
Everyone stood shocked, staring at Davis, trying to find something wrong with his plan. Yolie growled and whacked Izzy upside the head.
"Why didn't you think of that? Now Davis sounds more intelligent than me!"
"Ow..." Izzy whimpered, clutching his head.
"What about Tai?" Matt asked, "We can't leave him here."
"Sure we can!" Griff said joyously.
Mimi looked at him alarmed.
"What? No we can't!"
"He'll be fine!" Griff continued, waving his hand carelessly, "Let's go!"
He casually walked out of the cell followed dutifully by Angela and the reluctant digidestined while Shiva brought up the rear. The group crept silently out of the dungeons and into a large, vacant, stone corridor.
"Shiva, can you sense any life forces around here?" Angela whispered, her voice breaking the horrible silence.
"Angela — I'm human!"
"I know! But you could see auras and shit before you knew you were a demon!"
"Barely," Shiva muttered.
"Just try!" Griff hissed.
She harrumphed and proceeded to scan the area for any nearby auras that would represent the digimon. Finally she detected a faint blue glow tinged with some red off in the distance to her right.
"Through a door on the right—around that corner. There's guards in there too."
Kari stared at her disbelievingly.
"I thought you just said you could barely do it?"
"I did." Shiva replied starkly.
"But-"
"Just drop it." T.K. muttered, grabbing her arm gently and leading her to where the rest of the digidestined had already headed. Sure enough, just around the corner there was a rotted oak door to the right that hung slightly ajar. The group stopped in front of it, unsure of how they were going to fight off the guards that were most likely in there. Matt turned to face the group as if asking for suggestions.
Before anyone could do anything, Griff strode past him and through the door. Shiva was only seconds behind him followed by Angela. The digidestined all blinked simultaneously at the now swinging door.
"What the hell do they think they're doing?" Cody asked no one in particular. Matt shrugged indifferently and reached for the door, deciding to follow them in. Just as he was about to push forward a scream emitted from the room. Matt sprang back from the door, crashing into Joe.
"MATT!" Joe wailed, rubbing his nose. Matt was too busy making sure his hair was still in place to apologize.
"He's sorry," Sora replied, shaking her head at her boyfriend. The door creaked and they all looked up to see Angela poke her head out.
"You can come in now." She replied sweetly before disappearing though the door in a whirl of blonde curls. The digidestined followed uncertainly.
Inside was another plain stone room; there was a cell much like the one they were in. Many of the digimon were still unconscious while the rest were groggily waking.
"Alright!" Davis shouted happily, rushing to the cell, "hurry up Shiva and open the cell!"
"Huh? Why me?" She asked bewilderedly.
"'Cause you have the key!" he cried impatiently. Shiva stared at him a few seconds longer.
"What key?"
"WHAT!" Everyone yelled. Angela slapped her hand on her forehead.
"Shiiiiiivaaaa..."
"Oh this key!" she cried devilishly, whipping out a key from her bra. Everyone sweat dropped. Shiva just laughed mirthfully and unlocked the cell door.
The digidestined all rushed to their digimon and proceeded to wake them all up.
"Here we go with the hugging again," Griff muttered. Angela whacked him upside the head.
"Wait a minute," Izzy said as he walked out of the cell holding a bleary Tentomon in his arms, "What happened to the guards?"
"You have to crawl before you can walk..." Angela said sagely.
"You learned to fight as humans before as your natural selves?" Izzy replied dully.
"Oh! Touché!"
"Alright, now we can get Tai," said Matt, as he made sure everyone was with their respective partner.
"I told you before, we're leaving him." Griff replied calmly. He stuck his head out the doorway to make sure the coast was clear.
"I am not leaving him!"
Griff rolled his eyes before pulling his head back into the room.
"For the last time- he'll be fine. Look, I know you're his friend and you have the crest of friendship, but the chances of finding Tai and not getting caught are slim to none. Tai can take care of himself. Trust me, he's been in worse situations than this before. What we have to worry about now is ourselves."
Matt bit his lip. He couldn't help but feel he was abandoning his friend.
Angela noticed his uncertainty.
"Don't worry about him alright? He'll be back at home maybe a day or two at the most after us. If not we'll go back and rescue him."
"Fine," Matt mumbled reluctantly. Sora put a supportive arm around his waist making him smile a little, "Okay gang, we're leaving."
The group was on the move again, this time to the exit. The traveling sped up as digimon regained more and more of their energy. They retraced the steps of the gorillamon that took them to the cells, eventually making it to the room where they previously battled for the prophecy.
"Should we stop and get the prophecy?" Kari whispered. Griff nodded.
"We may not get another chance like this again with no guards. There are no guards, right Shiva?"
"Yes."
"See—what? Yes?"
"Yes."
"There are?"
"No."
"Huh?"
"You heard me."
"Woman, give me a strait answer."
"No."
"Yes!"
"'No' meaning there are NO guards, dumass."
"Gotcha. Ok — I need one of the digimon to run out there and grab the prophecy real quick just to be sure. Everyone else will be hiding back here waiting for an attack."
"Oh that won't be necessary," Mimi said easily, "Palmon will take care of it for us."
The plant digimon threw them a proud smile before drawing her arms over her head to prepare for an attack.
"Poison Ivy!" Vines flew through the empty room and cracked at the pedestal. They soon returned empty. Palmon blinked sheepishly at the group.
"Uh... there's nothing there."
"Damn—I knew that was too easy," Griff swore.
Angela nodded at Griff before realizing something.
"Wait a minute, Shiva, don't you have some extent of telekinetic powers as a human?"
"Um, yes?"
"Then why didn't you just get the prophecy that way?"
"Well, there was no prophecy anyway."
"That's not the point—you didn't even try!"
"No one asked me to!"
"SHIVA-"
"Shut up! Let's just get out of here!" Joe cried nervously. Davis nodded in agreement.
"Right– Kari, WHAT are those???"
Kari looked innocently down at the handcuffs in her hands. T.K., glancing over her shoulder, managed to look slightly apprehensive and excited at the same time.
"Uh, souvenirs?"
"Where did you get those?"
"Off one of the guards they knocked out"
"But why... ya know what? I don't wanna know. Let's go."
"I think we should all run for the gates incase they replaced the outer guards we took out earlier," Angela suggested.
"Are any of you guys strong enough to digivolve to make the trip to the portal a little easier? Or do you need food?" Ken asked the digimon.
"We need food" They all replied automatically. Ken rolled his eyes and muttered, "figures."
"Looks like we're running then." Davis concluded, "On three, we head to the gates. One... two... two and a half!!"
Everyone started outside and then stopped with a jerk.
"DAVIS!"
"Just go!" he laughed.
They ran past the bodies of devidramon to the gates of Bastion Hall with Davis' raucous laughter echoing throughout the grounds.
Moira paced back and forth in her study chamber, wringing her hands and questioning her actions. What was she doing? He's not Taro. He's the enemy he should be locked away in the dungeon with the rest of them.
So why the hell did she just have him sent to her bedroom!?
Moira sat down in a plush, black velvet chair and rested her head in her hands. The memory of Tai kissing the half-demon flashed in her mind.
"I'm so confused," She moaned.
"What's there to be confused about?" a chilling voice hissed from the flickering fire besides her. Moira, far too used to this by now, just glared at the seemingly innocent flames.
"Go away, I have no time for you," she snapped.
The fire roared in indignation.
"Don't speak to me in that manner you ungrateful little wench! If it weren't for me you would still be sealed in hell."
Moira looked away from the fire, her eyes filling with pain.
"How do I know I'm doing the right thing?" she asked the bodiless voice.
"How can you ask such a thing? Don't you remember what she did to you? All the pain and suffering you had to endure while you're friend died one by one. While your mate was killed?"
Moira cringed.
"But why should I do this? How will taking over the world help me destroy her?"
"I think you are forgetting where your loyalties lay. To forget the pain you must kill. Kill anyone that gets in your way, especially the guardians. Once they are out of the way and the old one falls nothing will stop you from ruling the digital world and you will get the respect you deserve."
"But I don't want to kill anymore! I'm tired of it!" Moira growled at the flames. Her features suddenly softened as she continued in a voice barely audible, "I just want him back." And for the first time in over a thousand years, a single tear slid from her black eye, and froze against her cheek.
"YOU WON'T GET HIM BACK BECAUSE HE'S DEAD!" The voiced screeched, snapping her attention back to the fireplace. The voice continued, this time much calmer and colder.
"The only thing you can do now is get your revenge; destroy her life as she destroyed yours. You were given another chance- use it!"
"You're right-," she murmured in a deadly whisper, her common sense returning, "I know. I'll kill them- starting with the demi-god."
Twenty minutes after Tai was separated from his friends he found himself sitting comfortably in a luxurious, black leather recliner that suited colors of the rugs, furniture and canopy bed of the room. He had honestly no clue why he stayed where he was. The guard left him alone in the cambion's room and nothing was stopping him from getting up and walking his half-breed buns-of-steel out those huge oak doors. Well, there was the fact that he was an unarmed, exhausted, hormonal, teenage human with a deranged, yet sexy, seductress on the loose. But that could be overlooked.
A faint pattering of bare feet approached the door, alerted him of the woman in question's presence. She gracefully entered the room and closed the door behind her with a soft click. The dim lighting made her appear more enticing than ever to Tai. Without sparing him a glance, Moira strolled across the room in a business like manner and placed something heavy on a richly furnished dresser. With a flip of her long red tresses and a twitch of the small demonic wings on her back she turned to face him.
He looked different to her as a human; his hair was much shorter and his eyes had dulled to a chocolaty brown. However, there was still that unmistakable presence of Taro. Moira mentally berated herself for her train of thought. This was no time to be thinking of him. She had to focus on the task on hand. She had to kill Tai before she lost control of herself again. She lowered her head in a predatory manner and turned her dark gaze on him. Striding forward she drew an ice dagger out of thin air.
Tai, who remained seated upon her entrance slowly stood as she stalked toward him. For every step backwards he took, she took two forward. The distance between them was shortening at an alarming rate.
"You don't want to be doing that." Tai said warily as he eyed the rising dagger, "There will be a lot of girls who would be disappointed..."
"You don't know what I want." She hissed, black eyes flashing. The dagger descended on him, only to be stopped by his hand wrapped around her wrist. They struggled for a moment and with her demonic heritage giving an advantage over Tai's weakened state, the dagger slowly progressed to his throat. Having her close to him stirred something within his chest. He knew his options were limited. His logic was getting fuzzy as a million thoughts as to how to escape the castle alive and have the prophecy as well raced around in his mind. Tai's breathing grew shallow as her tantalizing scent reached his senses. Her face was inches away from his, begging to be kissed. Not quite thinking clearly and reaching a desperate state, Tai made a decision.
"You want Taro," her struggling lessened. The dagger moved a small distance away from his neck; "You can have him... for tonight."
Having spoken them, the full meaning of his words became comprehensible to both their ears and both knew it would be something they would regret later on, but a stronger force than either of them won over. They were pulled into another captivatingly heated kiss. Neither Moira nor Tai had realized the bloodless ice dagger lie feet away from them on the floor, forgotten and melting.
"Don't you dare—try that seductive—shit on me," Tai whispered hoarsely into her mouth. He broke away for a moment as Moira tore his shirt over his head. Her hands immediately flew to his chest, running her fingers over the hardened muscles from intense training. Groaning with pleasure from her touch, Tai chose this moment to attack her deliciously exposed neck; nipping, biting, sucking—undoubtedly marking the once perfectly unblemished skin.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Moira moaned with half lidded eyes. She couldn't understand the effect this man had on her but at that moment she didn't care. She was dimly aware of his hands roaming along her body, pealing away the garb. Somewhere in her mind she knew she was supposed to do something. Was it killing him? No. Not with those heavily panting lips racing across her collarbone.
The two fell onto the blood red velvet bed, Tai on top of Moira, letting their instincts take over for the better part of the night.
Well, that took longer than I thought. Lo siento!
I think it's about time to pick a girl for Tai to stick with, don't you? The dirty little man is gunna get a disease at the rate he's going!
However, I can't decide on who to land him with – Moira, Shiva, Sora, or possibly someone completely unexpected?