Takuyamon
-o-
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Digimon. This is fanfiction.
Warning: This story contains more mature content, including fighting/violence, swearing and sexual content, which is why I rated it M just to be safe. Please read with discretion. Thank you.
Thanks ThommyPickles, cdm207a, and The Keeper of Worlds for your reviews! I loved hearing from you, and seeing you appreciate the things I am working hard to do right. I swear, some of you must have hacked into my google doc to read ahead because you guys are WAY too good at guessing what's coming. (I love it though, you're amazing.)
Special Thanks to SAgotogether for correcting me on Tommy's attack! Much appreciated my man.
This chapter is dedicated to you, for your continued support and your interest in the story I'm building. Thanks so much!
-o-
Chapter Twenty
Sometimes what lies over the top of the mountain, is just another mountain.
-o-
Zoe was supposed to stay at home. That was what she had been ordered to do, seeing as she didn't have a Tamer and they didn't want anything to happen to her. But when the stories began to circulate on the news, she knew she couldn't stay locked up in her room with her parents freaking out.
Yutaka was a liar. The news was fake. How could it be true?
Maybe it would have been safer for her to stay there, but knowing that everyone was out there fighting without her, that Takuya and JP were lost and captured by that sicko, how could she possibly stay behind? It just wasn't her style.
And so she fled her home, got on the train, and made her way to Tokyo as fast as she could.
What she found when she got there was devastating.
Not only was the news right about the digimon going rogue and destroying everything, even she could sense the satellites in the sky above her head, sending beams of corrupting data down to the earth. It was all a setup to further Yutaka's goal of destroying the digimon, but it was working too well. She knew that if one of those beams hit her, she too would succumb to its command.
Zoe took flight into the sky, letting the wind carry her toward the place where the data streams were strongest. She could sense Tamers in that direction, and strong digimon as well. That meant that she could find Yutaka there, if she could just avoid the satellites.
Flying was exhilarating, she had forgotten how much she loved it. It was funny how she had never really tried before her fight with Cyberdramon, but now whenever she wanted, the digital transformation could sweep over her body and give her wings. It was like being Kazemon again. She was soaring through the air at break-neck speeds, toward the smoking tower in the commercial district where the fighting was most severe.
Maybe Takuya is there!
She came to a halt near the tall building, searching the wreckage with her eyes and senses for any way in. The skyscraper was in pretty bad shape, in fact it looked like it might collapse at any minute. Just as she was considering if it was even worth going inside, a horrific roar tore through the air. It made her body shudder in dread, and she had a sudden desire to flee as fast as she could before she stamped the urge down.
And then she gasped. "That voice," she blurted. "It sounds like… Cyberdramon!" She hardly knew what she was doing before once more, she was zipping through the air as fast as her wings could carry her, riding the wind into the building.
Cyberdramon was inside, all right. He was tearing up the building from top to bottom, his body stricken by a reddish flicker of electricity. Just looking at it, she knew that something was off about it. It felt wrong, and it looked painful.
He'd been hit by one of the satellites, she was sure of it.
"Cyberdramon!" she called. "Where is Ryo?" She searched everywhere, but there was no sign of her brother in the debris, only a splatter of dark red by the wreckage. Wait...
"No… oh no…" She flew at the destroyed floor of the building, landing beside a sea of broken glass and cement. There was blood all over the ground. "No, no, no, please tell me he's not…"
She couldn't think. Dread and terror had seized her heart, and she tore at the rubble around her with frantic motions, searching everywhere and anywhere for a body. All she could think was Please, don't let my brother be dead!
Something blasted into her side, sending her crashing into the wall with a groan.
Cyberdramon had seen her.
He came at her before she could blink, his claws gripping around her neck as he yanked her from the Zoe-shaped hole in the wall, and slammed her body down into the ground. It felt like every nerve in her body was screaming in agony.
"Stop it!" she screamed. Tears spilled out of her eyes as she gripped at his hand, desperately trying to break free. "Cyberdramon STOP!"
He snarled, lifting her up once more as though he intended to slam her back down again. Instead he hesitated, muscles rippling with strength and restraint, as he growled menacingly at her. He was fighting it, fighting the corruption.
Zoe reached one hand toward his face, weakly. "Cyberdramon, where is Ryo? Where is my brother?" A sob choked up her throat, shaking her body. "I can't lose him too, I just found him. Please, you have to fight it, Cyberdramon. Fight it, help me find Ryo!"
His arm lowered until she was standing on the ground once more. Slowly, as though it took a massive amount of effort, he removed his hand one claw at a time from her neck, and a shudder passed through his body. "Ryo," he growled. "Where… is Ryo?"
Zoe pointed at the blood on the ground, still choking on her sobs. Cyberdramon looked at the spot without moving. "Please tell me he's not dead," she pleaded. "Help me find him."
"He's not dead," Cyberdramon said, though his voice sounded distressed. "The human took him. I couldn't save him while I was fighting the virus, so I tried to destroy the tower. I knew someone would come." He turned to face her, and she couldn't tell if he was angry or resigned. "I had hoped it would be Takato and Guilmon."
"Just me," Zoe wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry." She looked down at the blood again, feeling sick. Ryo was hurt. Yutaka took him. Just like he took Takuya. She gritted her teeth angrily, looking back at Cyberdramon with determination. "I'm going to find him. Come with me."
"If you get in my way, I'll kill you," Cyberdramon replied.
Zoe actually laughed. "Is that supposed to be a joke?" She turned, studying the ground to see where Ryo might have been taken. Maybe there was a blood trail? "I'm going to rescue my brother, with or without you. And between the two of us, I'm the one who hasn't been corrupted."
"I'm the one who managed to fight it off," the cyborg digimon snorted. "Twice."
"Then stop wasting time and help me," Zoe ordered.
With a powerful flap of his wings, Cyberdramon grabbed Zoe around the waist and lifted her into the air, studying the ruined building around them. "Down," he said. "They went down." Carrying her in his arms even though she could fly too, he catapulted himself through the air at the ground at top speed. He slashed at the floor and tore through it, and they blasted through to the lower levels.
Zoe held on for dear life.
-o-
"This isn't right!" Shinya yelled over the blaring sirens. He and Tommy stood at the edge of the city, watching digimon that had once been friendly and harmless go around attacking everything in sight. He'd been afraid when he saw the smoke from afar, but now he was distressed by what was happening.
"The satellites are active," Tommy said in despair. He huddled near Shinya as close as he could get, afraid to leave his side. "This was what he wanted all along. To control all digimon at once."
"Bastard," Shinya gritted his teeth. He was watching the police and the fire rescue team rush around, noticing how they were capturing the rogue digimon in kennels and shoving them into an armored vehicle. They clearly had equipment that could be effective against the digimon, and he wasn't sure if rushing in to try and help would be appreciated. Besides, what if they tried to take Tommy away too? He'd just seen them grab a Gatomon that wasn't even fighting and shove her into a kennel, so they clearly weren't taking chances.
At that moment, a massive digimon jumped down from the sky, creating a crater in the pavement where it landed. It looked like a rabbit digimon, only so large that it couldn't be anything less than an Ultimate. With a large swipe of its hand, it sent several police flying down the street, not one of their weapons able to stop it. This digimon was far too strong for them.
"Tommy," Shinya said, gripping his digivice in his hands and stepping forward. "We have to do something."
To his relief, Tommy did not cower away from the fight like he thought he would. Instead, as though invigorated by Shinya's fighting spirit, he dashed forward in front of his partner and was enveloped in light and fractal codes. When the light vanished, his digimon form stood proudly in a ready lunge, two large axes in his hands.
"Alright, let's go knock some sense into her," Shinya grinned. He ran forward, and Tommy sprinted ahead of him to meet the digimon head on. A quick scan revealed her name, Antylamon, Ultimate, signature attack Bunny Blades. As far as Ultimates went, she looked like a particularly difficult one.
Well, it was a good thing he had bought and saved so many digimon cards over the years. Shinya smirked, pulling his deck out of his pocket as Tommy launched himself into the air and slashed at her with a spinny axe attack. He grabbed the first one that looked useful and slashed it through his device. "Digi-modify!" He cried. "Hyper Chip activate!"
As light flashed from his digivice, it also circled Tommy's form like an aura before sinking into him. It was a simple card to increase his power by 10%, and a good boost to have right off the bat.
Antylamon staggered backwards as Tommy's axes slammed into her, and with an enraged cry, she lifted her arms and spun around too fast for Shinya to see her. "Bunny Blades!" Her voice was tinged with anger. The attack hit, sending Tommy flying into the nearest building, where he smashed into the wall with a groan.
This was not going to be easy.
"Come on Tommy, you can do it!" Shinya yelled. "You were a Legendary Warrior, you can beat her."
Tommy pulled himself out of the crater in the wall and gave Shinya small nod, before leaping toward Antylamon once more. She was ready for him, but he dodged her spinning attack and aimed for her head. "Frozen Tundra," he called, his body turning into a sharp icicle and smashing down on the top of her head.
Antylamon staged backwards, knocking into a building behind her and taking out two floors.
"Yeah that's it! One more hit like that and we can knock her out," Shinya cried, pulling out another card. "Digi-Modify-"
"NO!" Someone yelled. His words were cut off as a girl his age ran past him toward the stunned Antylamon, disregarding the danger. She wore a simple black and lavender tracksuit, her hair tied behind her in two neat Chinese buns. At first he was so startled to see a pretty girl like her running headlong into danger, he could only stand there and watch. But then he realized just what might occur if Antylamon snapped out of it and decided to attack her.
He forgot about the card in his hand, running after her. "Don't, it's dangerous!" He cried.
The girl ignored him, using her momentum to leap off of a chunk of debris on the road straight for the rabbit digimon. She landed on Antylamon's arm, and reached out her hand toward the rabbit's face. "Anty!" She said.
The digimon turned its head downward, staring at her. It did not move, almost as though it were frozen.
"Anty fight it, come back to me," the girl pleaded. She beckoned with her hand, and slowly, Antylamon lifted her upwards so she could touch the rabbit's face. The girl smiled. "You are stronger than this, my friend. Remember me. Remember who you are."
Shinya stopped running, watching their exchange in awe. Whoever this girl was, for her to have a digimon this strong as her partner meant that she too, had to be one of the strongest Tamers out there. How come he hadn't seen her before?
Tommy came to his side, human once more. "That girl," he said with awe in his voice. "She's so bright. Brighter than the satellites. Can you see it?"
"Not visibly," Shinya shook his head. "But.. I think I know what you mean. He began to walk towards the girl and her partner once more, and Tommy came with him. Just as they reached them, Antylamon sighed deeply and de-evolved to a much smaller form. Lopmon, his digivice read.
Lopmon saw them approaching, and her face looked sad. "I'm so sorry," she said. "Are you hurt?"
"Not me," Tommy shook his head with a bright smile, his fear forgotten as though everything was right in the world. The fact that he couldn't seem to experience more than one emotion at a time was still as offputting as ever. "But those officers back there are probably not doing well."
"Oh dear," Lopmon lowered her head. "I'm sorry Suzie, I should have been stronger."
Suzie, the girl who had run forward, drew Lopmon into a tight embrace. "You are strong, Lopmon. Thank you for coming back to me." She turned to the boys with a smile as bright as her aura. "And thank you both, you were only trying to stun her, and for that I am grateful. You made it possible for me to catch up to her."
"I'm glad too, but we really shouldn't stay here," Shinya grimaced. "They were taking away all digimon, even the ones not attacking people. I suggest we get somewhere safe and talk there."
"Right," Suzie nodded. "This way, I was on my way to meet up with Alice when Lopmon went berserk, you can come with me if you like." She started running, and the other two joined her. "My name is Suzie, by the way."
"I'm Shinya and this is Tommy," Shinya said. He frowned, feeling like something she had said was important, but he couldn't figure out what. Something about the name Alice…
"Nice to meet you!" Tommy grinned. "Can we be friends?"
"Sure, why not?" Suzie giggled. "I've never met one of you human digimon before, but I heard about you from my brother. That's pretty cool, you know?"
"Is it?" Tommy looked up at the sky, his smile faltering a bit. "I think it's terrifying."
As if struck by his words, Suzie slowed down and reached out a hand to him, taking his and squeezing it. "Don't worry Tommy. You'll remember that you are strong and have nothing to fear from who you are, I am sure of it."
"Thank you Suzie," Tommy smiled at her, and it looked like a weight had lifted off his shoulders, leaving him feeling hopeful again.
Shinya couldn't say why, but the gesture made him feel jealous.
He wanted to be the one to tell Tommy things like that.
"I hope you're right," Tommy added. "The buzzing in the sky is really loud, and if it touches me, I don't know if I will be able to fight it like Lopmon did."
"You will," Shinya insisted. "Count on it. Count on me."
Suzie nodded firmly. "Count on each other," she agreed. "Because when the two of you believe in each other and in yourselves, nothing can stop for or deceive you forever."
They came to a small park just outside the city where a girl Takuya's age was waiting on a park bench, wringing her hands together anxiously. At first Shinya thought it was Zoe because of her blond hair, but when he got a better look at her he realized it wasn't. She stood when they approached, relief on her face.
"Lopmon you're okay!" She said. Her voice was gentle and soft, even when she was trying to speak loudly.
"Yeah," Suzie said. "I had some help, too. This is Shinya and Tommy."
The girl, Alice no doubt, whirled and stared at Tommy with wide eyes. "Tommy it's you! I know your friend Junpei. He's my partner. He always said you were one of his favorite people in the whole world." She came forward, hugging him tightly as though just the sight of him gave her hope. "I'm so glad you got away from your brother."
All at once, Shinya remembered why the name Alice had struck him as familiar. He reached out and grabbed her arm, feeling a rush of adrenaline. "Alice," he said gravely. "I have a message for you. A message from JP."
She turned to face him, emotion swirling in her eyes. "Tell me," she whispered.
The look on her face almost broke his heart. It was like she was waiting to be told that her partner was dead.
-o-
"I'm tellin' ya, it ain't pretty out there," Impmon said, leaning against the handlebars of his motorcycle with an uncharacteristically grave expression on his face. Even when he wasn't Beelzemon, he felt a bond to the cycle and hated to be apart from it, even when he was just on watch duty in the Digital World. "That signal we've been trackin' for the last six months? Yeah it went live about four hours ago and lemme tell ya… shit's gone to hell."
"Imagine what your partners would say if I told them you swore like a sailor," Henry smirked through the computer screen. "I'm sure they'd have a thing or two to say to you."
"They's in boarding school," Impmon rolled his eyes. "And don't you go callin' em up just to tattle on me you piece of shit. You're the one who called me fer information. Maybe I don't feel like talkin' no more."
"Impmon," Henry's face grew serious. "Be real with me, how bad is it?"
Impmon sighed heavily, he too growing serious. This was no time for jokes, and even he knew that. Besides, this was why he was here to begin with.
The Watch Tower was a place the humans and the digimon had set up together several years back, after things had settled down. Different Tamers and partners would take turns being stationed there, keeping communication open between the two worlds and watching for anything that might indicate trouble-including but not limited to the resurgence of the D-Reaper. These days, however, with Impmon's two partners away in a high-end boarding school in Europe, he had been volunteering to man the station for longer periods of time. It gave him something important to do, and kept him from being lonely.
At least he had his bike. Riding around on it at night was a great way to pass the time, and gather information at the same time. The rest of the job, watching the computer screens for signs of danger or abnormalities, was almost all automatic these days. HYPNOS had set it up, and Shibumi spent most of his time upgrading and working on the programming.
That was how they had found the strange signal beginning to appear all around the Earth. At first they didn't know what it was, since it seemed harmless. They traced it to a private technology company in Japan, and figured it was another company trying to provide a communications service. Now, those satellites were all live, connected, and sending a virus down across the whole planet.
"You want the truth? It ain't pretty," Impmon said. "We wrote it off as something like an internet service. Big mistake on our part. Right now, we're just tryin' ta get a copy of the virus so we can study it. But the last thing we want is that virus takin' over OUR computers too. If it gets to the Digital World, we're in big trouble."
"But it hasn't gotten there yet," Henry insisted. "You're sure?"
"Positive. It's kinda like, whoever set em up don't know how to connect to the Digital World. Their signal only affects Earth."
"We're lucky, then," Henry rubbed his forehead in relief, though even through the computer screen Impmon could see how tired he looked. "Listen, I need you to get a message to Takato and Rika, they're at the Digital World right now. Do you think you can find them?"
"What's in it fer me?" Impmon teased, grinning. He couldn't help himself.
"How about, I don't crush your little body into a pancake?" a strikingly husky feminine voice replied before Henry could.
Falling off his bike in surprise, Impmon looked up to see Renamon herself in the Tower, staring down at him with those divine, severe eyes, her luscious body standing tall with absolutely flawless stance… Impmon scrambled back to his feet with his face red, forcibly tearing his eyes off of her. Damn, he had forgotten how easily she did this to him. "Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," he declared. "Nice ta see yous too, Renamon."
She came forward, leaning in so she could talk with Henry as well. "Rika sent me here," she said. "What's your message?"
Henry smiled when he saw her. "That's fantastic, I knew I could count on you guys to stay on top of things!"
"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" Impmon feigned offense, climbing back onto his bike and settling down on the seat lazily. "Thanks fer the info, Impmon. Really couldn'ta done it without ya."
Renamon ignored him, but Henry chuckled. "Yes, thank you Impmon. We're lucky you guys are on top of things over there," he said honestly. Impmon didn't reply, silenced by a small feeling of guilt. "Listen," Henry added, turning to Renamon now. "We're going to be sending as many digimon as we can back to the Digital World. Most of them will still be under the influence of the virus, but it doesn't look like it can spread from digimon to digimon. It's source is solely the satellites, and without their connection I think that they will be freed from it."
"That would be advantageous," Renamon remarked hopefully. "Though there is a chance it will simply be dormant. Even worse, it could have corrupted them past return, and they might continue their rampage here."
"That's our train of thought as well. We're hoping you guys can help take stock of their situation as they come through, and help them recover or restrain them long enough for us to figure out a counter program. Think you can handle that?"
She nodded. "We won't fail."
"Impmon, you still there?"
Impmon looked over, tempted to say something petty like "who me?" or just flat out say "no," but he thought better of it. "Course I am," he snorted. "Tell me whatcha need."
"I want you to go with Renamon," Henry said. "Your bike is fast, and while she and Guilmon are going to focus on controlling any rogue digimon, we'll need you to be able to drive back and forth and relay messages."
"Not that I wouldn't love ta tag along with a pretty thing like Renamon," Impmon flashed her a cheesy smile that she pointedly ignored, "but isn't it more important that someone stay here? Besides, why can't you just call em up on your phones or whatever?"
"We only managed to get through to Takato briefly," Henry grimaced. "The Tower has a strong connection, but everywhere else there's a lot of interference and we can't always get through. Shibumi is going to man the station, so you can be the one who brings us reports from Takato and Rika. Unless you've got a better plan?"
He knew there wasn't one. Interference with signals was one of the major reasons the Tower was necessary, otherwise they might not be able to contact the real world at all when emergencies occurred. Impmon leapt off his bike, changing into Beelzemon before his feet even touched the ground. These days, he was strong enough to do it even without his partners around. They were behind him, and it gave him the strength he needed. He gave Henry and Renamon both a toothy grin. "Yous got it, Karate Kid."
Henry didn't even try to correct him. "We'll keep in touch. Tell Takato, the first digimon will arrive the same place they entered the world, in as early as an hour. Can you reach them in time?"
"We'll reach them in twenty minutes," Renamon promised. As the call ended, she dashed out of the Tower at her fastest speed, and Beelzemon drove after her on his bike. He had to speed up to catch up to her, but he settled down to match her pace pretty quick.
"It is nice to see you," he said softly.
Though she didn't reply, her expression did soften. Almost though she was saying it was nice to see him too.
-o-
Atop a small woodsy hill just outside the city, Flamon stood with his eyes closed, listening. Jeri knelt on the grass behind him, watching him without speaking, as though she was afraid to break his concentration.
The truth was, he had been standing here for nearly half an hour, and still felt nowhere close to understanding what he was supposed to do. He could hear, taste, and smell the forces of nature stirring around him, as though waiting for the right catalyst, but how he was supposed to stir them up he didn't know. There was no voice in his head telling him what he should do anymore, it was just him.
Feeling lost.
I don't know what I need to do, all I know is that I need to do it, he thought with a grimace. Come on, other me, say something!
Jeri fiddled with her digivice, distracting him. He wondered if she was bored, or feeling as helpless as he did. She was an important part of this somehow, but he wasn't sure how. Should he ask her for advice?
It beats standing here and doing nothing… Flamon turned, facing her with a defeated expression on his countenance. "I'm stuck," he said. "I don't know how to start the storm."
"Does your inner voice have advice? Your memories I mean?" she asked. He had told her about it when they were in the Digital World together, though they hadn't been able to figure much out besides that. She kept assuring him the memories would come back eventually, if he was patient.
He shook his head. "No he's silent. I haven't heard anything since he told me to listen to nature. This is the place I need to be, but I just can't do anything!" frustrated, he slammed his fist against the nearest tree, a burst of flame erupting from the impact. It was a good thing the tree did not catch fire. "Why am I so useless?"
"Stop it," Jeri said sharply, she rose to a high kneel and placed her hands on his shoulders, staring into his face. "You are not useless, Flamon. You can do this. If your memories told you to listen, then that's what you need to do."
"But…"
"No," she shook her head. Then, with a childish but charming smile, she pulled out her little chihuahua hand puppet and shoved it onto her hand, presenting the little guy to his face. "No buts!" The dog yipped.
She was getting really good at the ventriloquism thing, Flamon could have sworn the little thing came alive to speak to him. Forgetting himself, he looked at the dog puppet with a scowl. "Then what am I supposed to do? Stand here and do nothing?"
The little puppet, with Jeri's expert skill, tilted its head as it stared right back at him with button eyes. "Listen," it said. "Very carefully. Nature is a force of its own, you can't expect it to work when you want it to. It works when IT wants to."
Before Flamon could say anything in reply, she pulled her hands behind her back, smiling reassuringly at him. "Maybe the time isn't right just yet. But when it is, you have to ready."
He looked into her eyes, feeling awed by the simple yet profound wisdom she had given him. She was right. If he was not standing here ready and waiting for the moment when it was time to act, he would miss the chance entirely. Filled with new determination, he nodded and turned back to face the city. "Okay," Flamon said. He closed his eyes.
I'm going to listen. And wait.
Even if it means I'll have to wait a long tome.
-o-
And that's enough for now. Can you feel the end coming? Or will there just be another mountain on the other side of the horizon?
I guess you'll have to wait and see.
~rukatofan