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.
Thank you to SAgotogether, ThommyPickles, and The Keeper of Worlds for your reviews, and to everyone who has stopped by to read this story! Your comments give me life, and seeing that people are reading this story at all gives me so much joy. It makes me so excited to come back and write more just knowing that you will be there to read it and let me know what you think. This chapter is dedicated to you guys.
-o-
Chapter Twenty One
The Calm Before
-o-
There was the girl who looked like a porcelain doll, sitting at her desk alone. She never smiled, and no one ever talked to her. Some classmates even went so far as to say she was a ghost who was stuck forever attending school because she had killed herself here. But that was just nonsense. Despite the emptiness in her eyes and her foreign, doll-like appearance, JP knew that she was a real person who needed friends just like everyone else.
He came over to her and took a seat in the chair opposite her desk, giving her a cheerful grin. Even though his friends kept whispering at him to leave her alone, he ignored them and gave the girl his full attention. "We've never been introduced," he said cheerfully, "even though we've been going to the same school for about two weeks now. What's your name? My name is Junpei."
The girl lifted her head from the book she was reading, staring into his face without expression. "Alice," she said.
JP held out his hand, palm upward, showing her that it was empty. Then, with a graceful sweep of his other hand, draped a handkerchief across it. "Hello Alice," he said, and lifting the cloth from his hand, he revealed a delicate origami flower as if by magic. He held it out to her, feeling pleased when she took it from him. "It's nice to meet you."
"You as well," Alice replied softly. Her voice held no emotion, but there was a spark of something in her eyes at the simple but exciting trick he had played. "That was very artfully done."
"You think so?" He beamed. "Got more where that came from." He stood up from his chair and bowed, and when he straightened, pulled a whole bouquet of origami flowers out of seemingly nowhere to hand to her.
When the corner of her mouth turned up in the faintest smile, he felt like his whole world was soaring. This was what he wanted, to make the lonely girl smile. "How long did it take you to make all those?" she asked, receiving the offered bouquet gracefully.
"A couple hours," he admitted, taking a seat again. "But it was worth every minute just to see you smile. You should do it more often."
Her face fell again, and he wondered what he had said wrong. Without speaking, she set the flowers down on her desk and looked down at her book. As he was debating whether to leave her alone or try talking to her some more, one of their more abrasive classmates walked over with a snicker.
"Playing with dolls, JP?" he taunted. "Or just playing with paper again?" He reached out and swiped the flowers off of Alice's desk, crushing them in his hand with a laugh.
JP scowled, and for a moment he felt his skin tingle with electricity. It would be so easy to just reach out and shock the guy, give him a taste of his own medicine. He found himself standing up, giving the classmate a stern look, before reason finally kicked in.
No, he couldn't zap Keichiro, no matter how obnoxious he was. That would reveal much more about himself than he wanted these people to know.
Instead, he took the flowers out of his classmate's hands and gave him a playful shove. "Keichiro, you're a dick," he said, forcing a grin. Keichiro just laughed, as though that was even more funny, and walked away with his friends. JP began to fix each and every flower until they were pretty again, though a bit more wrinkled than they had been to begin with. He placed them back on Alice's desk, about to apologize to her, but he froze when he saw her face.
She was staring at him, eyes wide and locked onto his face, with such emotion and interest swirling in her eyes he felt like he was lost in them. Pools of mystery drawing him in, questioning him, filled with excitement. Her mouth opened, and formed a single word without uttering a sound.
"Digimon," she mouthed.
JP felt awe and terror wash over him, and he could only stare back at her. All he could think, looking at her beautiful face suddenly full of life, was "how does she know?"
JP's eyes snapped open, and the dream was shattered. He was not back in his freshman year of high school meeting Alice the first time. That would have been so much more wonderful than reality. Instead he was here, inside a cage, trying desperately to remember who he was and why it was important that he not forget.
He wasn't even human anymore. He was just a small digimon, a hybrid beetle and human looking rookie, suffering partial amnesia. Every part of him ached, and he wasn't sure how long he had before his body dissolved into data. After everything he had been through, he had simply taken too much damage.
I can't let myself dissolve, he thought desperately. I won't do it. She already lost one partner that way. I won't be the reason she goes back to being empty and lifeless, I won't!
His thoughts were distracted by the sound of Yutaka talking to himself, and he tensed up in fear. Was he going to torture him some more? Hadn't he already gotten what he wanted? JP had broken and given him the power of electricity that he was trying to get from him, surely he didn't need him anymore?
Yutaka didn't come, however, and JP managed to pull himself up off the floor to take a look at what he was doing. What he saw made his stomach feel sick.
There was a human teenager, clearly injured and bleeding, lying on Yutaka's exam table. He was hardly conscious, just enough to offer small threats and cuss words under his breath, but he didn't even fight back as Yutaka scanned him and began to run a few non-invasive tests on him. JP pushed aside his exhaustion to listen more closely.
"It shouldn't be possible," Yutaka was muttering. "You aren't a digimon. So why… what did you do back there?"
A Tamer, JP realized. Yutaka had captured a Tamer! What does he think happened? He thought with a scowl. Tamers and their digimon are connected. He probably inspired his digimon during a fight. So what is he doing by testing him? And what happened to the digimon?
With a sinking feeling of dread, he realized he probably already knew. The digimon was probably rogue right now, or even worse, dead.
"I can't let this continue," JP whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. "It's my fault all those digimon are under his control, it's my power he's using to do it. I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Squeezing his eyes closed, he searched his soul for any answer he could think of, and hated that he couldn't remember anything helpful. His memories were jumbled and bleeding, more and more of them slipping away by the minute. Only Alice was a firm memory in his mind.
I can't do anything from here, in this cage, he thought, letting out a sigh. Somehow, I have to get out. I have to get up to those satellites, and stop my power from being used against everything I hold dear. There must be a way.
The answer came when his body flickered, becoming nothing more than intangible static for a brief moment. It had been doing that ever since he had broken, and reverting down to a rookie state had helped stabilize him for a bit. It was a short term solution, however, as the flickers just kept coming back. He felt like at any moment, he might dissipate to dust, or simply become loose electricity.
And then it hit him.
Electricity. He could become electricity. Theoretically, at least, he knew it was possible. He had always felt connected to the currents since he came back from the Digital World as a child. There were even times where he felt tempted to get sucked up into it, travel the ley lines of the city or the power lines by the roads. He had never tried it, but the fact that the desire was always there in the back of his mind meant that it might be possible, right?
Or it would kill him. But at this point, what did he have to lose? He was dying anyway. Testing it out meant he might have a chance to get back to Alice, stop all this from happening. Not doing anything meant he would simply waste away in a cage until he ceased to exist.
He clenched his hands around the cage bars. "My mind's made up," he whispered. "I'm going to try it."
JP closed his eyes, focusing on the currents in the world around him, and let go of his physical form. He sank into the streams of electricity, and followed them wherever they led.
-o-
Takato jumped backwards, feeling sure that the fireball BurningGreymon had shot would smash into him and Rika before Guilmon had a chance to defend them. He breathed a sigh of relief when it fell short, blasting them with hot air instead. Guilmon spat a fireball right back at the beast digimon, but it did nothing more than dissipate against its chest.
The legendary warrior glared at them with fury, letting out a loud shriek. The sound of it was so full of distress, it made Takato's hair stand on end. So much anger and pain, it sounds like how I felt when Leomon died. He looked toward the digimon with uncertainty, not sure how to react. Clearly it had tried to attack them, but it had also missed them so obviously, that it couldn't have been trying to hit them to begin with. Maybe it was only trying to threaten them.
Rika was at his side, showing him her digivice. "Takato," she said again, pulling him out of his thoughts. "He's a friend. Talk to him! Quickly, before Guilmon makes him more mad."
Guilmon was preparing to rush at him, and Takato had to act fast. "Guilmon, hold!" he yelled. He ran forward, throwing out his arms out to the side as he stood between his partner at the fire digimon. He had to give Guilmon credit, his partner always seemed to respond almost immediately when he needed him to. The saurian digimon cut his attack short, standing rigidly behind Takato and growling. "BurningGreymon!" Takato called loudly. "We're on your side! Don't attack us!"
The massive beast hybrid roared, flames erupting from its body. It turned to face him, tail swishing from side to side as though it was trying to decide what to do.
Okay, so it was listening. That was good...
Rika came up beside him, her face determined. "BurningGreymon, I think we can help you! You're looking for Agunimon, aren't you? Well, we found him, on our world. So stop attacking us already!"
At these words, BurningGreymon seemed to grow confused. He growled, looking at them carefully, and then opened his mouth. "Slide Evolution," he roared, and light enveloped his body. When it vanished, a new digimon had taken his place, a human hybrid digimon with red armor and flaming yellow hair, his sharp blue eyes bright with anger.
Rika and Takato glanced at her digivice, bewildered by what they saw.
The digimon stepped forward, pointing at them accusingly. "I am Agunimon," he declared. "Answer me truthfully humans, or prepare to take your last breath. Are you the ones who tried to kill Takuya?"
Suddenly, it began to make sense. If this was Agunimon, the legendary warrior of flame, then of course he would be angry about Takuya being missing. Takato thought of what Takuya might be going through, captured by Yutaka for so many days, and looked up at Agunimon with understanding. "Not us," he replied gravely. "Yutaka took him, we've been trying to save him ever since."
"Wait," Rika said, a frown spreading over her face. "But if you're Agunimon, then who is Flamon?"
Agunimon started, his eyes fixing onto her face as though she had said something shocking. Then he rushed forward faster than Takato's eyes could follow, grabbing Rika's arms and kneeling down to stare right into her face. "Flamon?" he demanded. "You've seen Flamon? Where is he? Is he hurt? Did he survive? Take me to him, right now!"
Before he even realized he was angry, Takato found himself forcibly pulling Agunimon's hands away from Rika and glaring at him. No one grabbed his girl like that. No one. "Flamon is our friend Jeri's partner," he said, his voice sharp. "She found him trying to destroy the city, going rogue, and she saved him from death."
To his credit, Agunimon did not get angry at being pushed away. Instead, he collapsed to the ground with his hands over his face, trembling. "Flamon," he cried, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Hang in there Takuya, I'll come to you. I promise. I'll return what you lost, just hang in there buddy."
"Agunimon," Rika said, her eyes wide as she exchanged glances with Takato. "Are you saying that Flamon is Takuya?"
The legendary warrior looked at her, grief stricken across his features. "Yes," he said. "But Takuya was a human. Flamon is not complex enough to hold all of him, so some of him was lost. It came to me, because we're still connected. His data is my data, I gave it to him years ago so that he wouldn't die. That's why, when he nearly died this time, I nearly died too. I was so angry, so worried, I couldn't feel him anymore so I thought…." he stopped himself, wiping his eyes, and pulled himself to his feet. "But he's alright. He's alive. Please, I need you to take me to him!"
"Well, about that," Takato grimaced. He began to explain what had happened back on their world with Yutaka, and what their current situation was. Before he had finished, however, Renamon returned them, followed by a cloud of dust. When it dissipated, Beelzemon and his bike were there too, looking pleased.
Renamon turned to Rika, her expression grave. "I have a message from Henry," she said.
But it was Beelzemon who spoke next. "Get ready for a shit-load of corrupted digimon," he said, giving Agunimon a cursory nod in greeting. "Cuz they're gonna send em all through where yous two popped in. Any minute now."
"What?" Takato blurted. "But we're not ready to…"
"There might not be an issue," Renamon added. "The signal controlling all the rogue digimon won't be able to reach them here, so we just need to do our best to keep them all together till we can find a way to rid them of the virus."
"And I gets ta play errand boy," Beelzemon added. "So send me off when ya get a message to deliver. I'll send it over in no time."
Takato turned to observe the desert, thinking about what they should do to take care of the digimon HYPNOS would be sending through. "There is something you can do," he said. "I need you to take Agunimon with you, and get him to Earth as fast as you can. It's important."
"They're sending all the digimon here," Beelzemon warned. "I doubts they gonna let a super powerful one come through to their side, not with them satellites active."
"It doesn't matter, we need him over there," Takato insisted. "Takuya needs him. Just tell them that, I don't care what you have to say, but you need to get Agunimon to the real world right now."
"Alright, alright," Beelzemon sighed. He looked up at the legendary warrior, for a moment looking nervous. "Eh… you wanna hop on, or…?"
Agunimon glanced at him, and then closed his eyes. "Fusion Evolution," he said. A flash of digital light later, Aldamon stood in his place. "I'll fly," he said. "Lead the way."
Beelzemon took off, and Aldamon flew with him.
Takato didn't even have time to think about this new revelation about Takuya, before the portal opened and dozens of digimon came pouring through. All of them had eyes glazed over with red, as though all of their sanity had vanished.
"Renamon," Rika said.
"Guilmon," Takato added.
The four of them nodded to each other and rushed in. They had a job to do.
-o-
Tommy wasn't sure what it was, but something was bothering him. There was something he was supposed to be doing, something very important, but he couldn't remember what is was.
Shinya was here with him, so he must be in the right place. Suzie and Antylamon-no, Suzie and Lopmon now-were safe and free from the satellites, so things seemed alright. What was missing?
He looked to his partner, talking to the pretty girl who looked like a porcelain doll, and wondered why she looked so sad. She shouldn't be sad, she should be smiling.
"I spoke with JP," Shinya was saying, and Tommy saw a look of pain cross his face. Immediately he grew concerned, thinking back to the past several nights. Every night, Shinya had been having nightmares where he was stuck watching JP get tortured by… by….
Tommy shuddered, casting his glance down to the grass beneath his feet. My brother, he thought, wanting to cry. He felt so ashamed, all of this, everyone getting hurt, it was all his fault. If only he had been a better brother, Yutaka would not have broken. His brother would still love him. Maybe his parents would still be alive.
"How? Did you see him?" Alice asked, holding both of Shinya's hands in hers. They were trembling, as though it took all her strength to keep from crying. Tommy knew what that felt like, and he immediately felt compassion for her. She was broken too.
"In my dreams," Shinya said. "It's kind of hard to explain, I don't really know how, but I saw him. He was with Yutaka, and he was doing his best to keep Yutaka from winning. But…" Shinya's face drained of color, and he seemed to be searching for the right words. "Well, only just a few hours ago, I saw him again."
"He was hurting, wasn't he?" Alice asked. "I know, I could sense it. When he's in pain, my heart is in pain too." She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. It helped her to hold back the sobs Tommy could sense just underneath her calm. "Just tell me, Shinya. It's okay. Junpei never lied to me, he always told me the truth."
"Ah… right." Shinya avoided looking into her eyes, as though he felt guilty. "He… he told me to tell you that it's too late. That Yutaka already got what he wanted. But, right before I lost contact, he said there was still hope," Shinya added hastily. "He was about to tell me what it was, but he faded away before he could. He made me promise to tell you that."
"There's still hope?" Alice's face twisted in a grimace too pained to be a smile. "What hope could there possibly be? My partner, my best friend, my boyfriend…" her words caught in her throat, and she let go of Shinya and turned away, covering her face with her hands. "Again, my closest friend is taken from me, and I have to give him up to save everyone else. It isn't fair! What hope is he saying there is? The hope that if he fades, if he dies, that the rest of us can live? Well what if I don't want that? What about what I want?"
She collapsed to her knees, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.
Tommy looked at her, stricken by her grief. Seeing her weeping with everything she had, trying to scream but only able to wail, something inside him clicked into place.
He understood.
It wasn't fair. None of it was fair. And it was impossible to keep the pain bottled up inside.
"Alice," he said, emotions swirling inside him. There was sadness, anger, love, hurt, confusion, so many different feelings he couldn't comprehend one from another. All this time, all these years, he had tried to cope by shoving all of them into a box inside himself, only letting one out at a time for fear that he would shatter from the inside out. But he couldn't do that anymore.
He needed to just… feel.
The tears streaming down his face were so many, that he couldn't see. His chest felt like it might break in two. Even so, he just threw his head back and stared at the sky, weeping.
"It's not FAIR!" he screamed at the sky. "But it HAPPENED! And… And I don't… I won't… stay broken any longer!"
He closed his eyes and screamed at the top of his lungs, all of his emotions and fears and brokenness bared for the world to see and judge. He didn't care, he needed to let it out. Even when he felt Shinya's arms wrap around him tightly, and Alice reach out for his hand, he did not stop crying. He raised one arm up, holding Shinya's wrist tightly, and with the other he squeezed Alice's hand as hard as he could.
Through the midst of his emotional outburst, he could feel their spirits connecting with him. They were there for him, even though they were hurting too. And more than anything, he wanted to be there for them too.
"Ice," he sobbed. "All that is mine, that I have left, answer me!"
The air became frigid around them, and he was aware of Suzie and Lopmon drawing close to huddle with the three of them. They too, were lending their strength to him, as his feelings surged and boiled into an untamable force of power.
Tommy opened his eyes, his tears freezing and shattering when he blinked his eyes. He looked up to the sky, and saw a dark cloud filling with tension above their heads. "JP was not wrong," he said. "And we aren't alone. Come on JP, just like old times, let's throw our power together into one attack."
He lifted his hand in to the air, Alice, Shinya and Suzie following suit, and all the ice that he commanded flew upwards to join the clouds.
-o-
This was the second time that Ranamon had been outside of the center of the Digital Planes. The world they had lived in, died in, became spirits in, and then came back to life to live in again, was only the very center of a massive Digital World. There were layers and layers, outside of their world, each with their own rules and inhabitants. When the Legendary Warriors had come back to life after the children Ophanimon had called rescued them from Lucemon, they had spent most of their time getting to know their world all over again.
During that time, she had made a trip out to the very first layer, the harsh desert, where the Real World hung in the sky like a beautiful light show, so close and yet so far. But she hadn't been very impressed with a land lacking in water, and had eventually made her way back to the lands she was most familiar with, doing her best to make amends with all the digimon she had personally harmed during her time corrupted by Cherubimon.
Today, once more, she had come to the desert to stare up at the Earth. Not because she had wanted to, but because she had been called. It was not something she could explain, either. Mercurymon and Grumblemon had both said she was crazy, the Real World did not call Legendary Warriors, they weren't like other digimon. Their place was here, the world's protectors. Even so, she knew she had to come.
"I'll go with thee," Mercurymon had offered, his smug mouth turned up in a smirk. She had rolled her eyes at him, but was grateful for his company. Being in dry windy places was not her favorite thing, and secretly she wanted him to shield her with his giant arm mirrors.
Grumblemon simply came along because he liked the sand.
"Well, there is the real world," Mercurymon declared, presenting her the view. He had used his teleportation to bring them to one of the giant pillars of red rock, where they could look upwards at the human world without fear of running into digimon that might distract them down below. "May we leave now, milady?"
Ranamon shaded her eyes from the sun, watching it spin with an unsettled feeling in her gut. Something wasn't right up there. "Well this is infuriating," she huffed, and not just about the heat. "How am I supposed to get to it from here?"
"Thou canst be serious about actually going there," Mercurymon laughed. "Our place is here, Ranamon. Surely thou dost understand that."
"Oh stop belittling me," she snapped. "I'm serious, Mercurymon! I need to get there, and I need to get there now! How many times do I have to explain this?"
"No more times, please!" Grumblemon groaned. He smashed his fists into the stone beneath their feet and dug a hole to stick his head into.
"There is no way to get there, not for us," Mercurymon insisted. "Why dost thee feel this need? Surely thou dost understand our duties as Legendary Warriors, to protect this world from evil, even from ourselves?"
"Of course I understand!" She stamped her foot. "But I just can't explain it! I feel like somethin' has reached out from that world and gripped my heart," she placed both hands over her chest, shuddering. "There's a voice inside me, whisperin' my name. It's urgent, and if I'm not there soon, then… then…." she looked up again, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't explain it!" she finally said again.
Mercurymon watched her, and with merely a mouth showing on a plate of glass for a face, she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Finally, he turned and looked up at the real world. "Ranamon my lady," he said, and this time, there was no mockery in his voice. "I do believe thou wast called there."
Grumblemon popped back out of the earth, staring between the two of them suspiciously. "Hey," he snapped. "If you two are going to the real world, then me want to go too! No leave Grumblemon behind!"
"There is no guarantee we can even get there," Mercurymon warned. "But the lady is right. If it is that important, then there must be a way." He turned to look at her, as if waiting for her to give them the answer.
But how was she supposed to know? She wasn't the smart one!
"I… uh…." she flushed, looking up at the earth anxiously. Letting out a sigh, Ranamon closed her eyes once more, focusing. Maybe the call in her heart could direct her. It certainly felt strong enough.
She listened intently, her wide fin-like ears taking in all of the sounds of the desert. The wind, the sand blowing against their bodies, and the data streams connecting from this plane to the real world. Her companions said nothing, watching her with interest as though they weren't sure what to do. After all, she was rarely if ever this quiet.
But there was something else there, a voice that spoke in a whisper, like raindrops on the surface of water. She tried to focus on it, seeking for clarity so that she could understand.
Water. It spoke so gently, she almost wasn't sure she heard it. At the same time, it was so familiar, she felt that she recognized it. And at the same time, it was so foreign she wasn't sure she had ever heard it before.
"I'm here," she whispered back, hardly aware of the looks Grumblemon and Mercurymon were giving her. "I'm Water. What do you want? Please, tell me."
Water, the voice called again. Mist. Cloud. Rain.
Ranamon frowned, growing confused. "Water to mist, mist to cloud, and cloud to rain," she said, opening her eyes slowly. "What does that mean? That's just the cycle of water. It does that naturally, why do you need me?"
The next words she heard were spoken so clearly, they sent chills down her spine. Come to me Water. Bring me the Storm.
Slowly, she turned to stare at her companions, bewilderment in her eyes. "Guys," she said. "I think… I think the one calling me… is Takuya."
Mercurymon took a step backwards, and she saw a flicker of something in the twist of his mouth that looked like fear. She understood, having heard what had happened between him and Takuya years ago, and couldn't fault him for reacting the way he did. She felt she already knew what he was about to say.
"You don't have to come," she said, offering him a smile. "You're not the one he's calling. It's me. It's Water. He needs to create a storm."
"Well me still going," Grumblemon declared, thwacking his chest hard with one fist. "Me need to… to…" he scowled and stared at the ground as though debating crawling into it again. "...apologize to someone."
"Yeah," Ranamon laughed awkwardly, and immediately Zoe's face popped into her mind. "There's someone I need to apologize to as well."
"In that case…" Mercurymon sighed, raising his face to look upward at the Earth, "I must go as well. If it is Takuya thou art going to see, then I must also go with thee. It is time."
"I can't wait any longer. Mercurymon, if you have the power in you, I beg you," Ranamon reached out, taking hold of his hand. "Use your mirrors to reflect one of those data streams, and let's ride it up to the real world. There isn't much time."
"Indeed, that might work," he admitted. With a snap of his fingers, he brought the three of them to the ground beside the closest data stream. As they stood beside each other and waited to get sucked through it, they all reached out and held each other's hands.
Ranamon felt more fear and excitement than she had ever felt in her entire life, as they were drawn into the flow of data reflected by Mercurymon's mirrors.
-o-
Kouji and Kouichi had been fighting non stop for hours. Dodging attacks, rounding up rogue digimon, and bringing them back to HYPNOS for transport to the Digital World. "We're containing them," Yamaki had told the press and the government. "We are complying with all the regulations to keep our cities and our families safe. This will be resolved, I promise."
That made Kouji chuckle, thinking about it. Yamaki may be government, but he knew how to spin words to give the public confidence and still get away with doing what he wanted. If it were anyone else, he would be worried. But Yamaki had clearly learned a few things from his experiences a few years back, and he was on the side of the Tamers and the digimon.
He was relying on partners like Kouichi and Kouji to discreetly rescue as many digimon as possible to send to Takato and Rika in the Digital World. And until they found the solution to defeating Yutaka and his mind control, it was all they could do.
"Kouji wait a moment," Kouichi called weakly. He was standing a few paces back, bent over his knees and breathing hard. They had been going and going all day, ever since they first left to try and rescue JP and Takuya, and it was clearly getting to Kouichi.
Kouji stopped running, hurrying back to his brother at once. "Kouichi," he said, helping his twin to stand and walking with him toward a nearby bench. "Why don't you just take a rest? This is too much for your body to handle."
"I'm fine, I just need a breather," Kouichi insisted, laughing tiredly. He flopped down on the bench with a grateful smile, and let out a long sigh. "It's hard to believe things can change so fast in so short a time," he said, looking up at the sky.
Kouji sat down next to him, looking around the city. It had taken a lot of damage. "I know," he said. "And it's all that bastard Yutaka's fault. He won't get away with this."
"Really?" Kouichi's expression turned dark. "He's got the media on his side, the government on his side, everyone believes him. Suddenly, all the evil things he's done don't matter. Digimon are considered monsters that need to be destroyed, and his crimes are just forgotten. All of this is his fault, but would anyone believe us if we tried to tell them that?"
"I don't know," Kouji said honestly. "But we can't just accept it and let him get away with it. The world needs to know the truth."
"The world doesn't want to know the truth. The world would rather be in dark, in the comfort of lies and the freedom from responsibility." Kouichi rubbed his forehead, as though his own thoughts were giving him a headache. "Look at the sky, Kouji. Even the world itself is against us, darkened by hate and clouded by anger."
Kouji looked up, watching as the smoke from the fires billowed upwards and darkened the clouds. "It looks like it might rain," he said. "That will help the fires."
"And make our job more miserable."
"Kouichi," Kouji turned, reaching out and taking his brother's hand. If he could only will his strength into his brother, the way Kouichi was always giving him strength. "Do you remember in the Digital World, when Lucemon used both light and dark against us in the same attack?"
"Of course I do," Kouichi chuckled. "I gave up my life to give you my power, so that you could use both light and dark too."
"It's because of that, because of you, that Takuya and I could become Susanoomon for the first time. That wasn't possible for us if not for you," Kouji smiled encouragingly. "And now you and I are best friends, partners, brothers. Nothing can take that away from us, and you are still alive. We're here today because you sought me out, and I would never have been where I am today without you."
"I know all that, I really do. But how does that help us now? We're just two people against the whole world, and we can barely keep up!"
"Think about it Kouichi," Kouji insisted. "Because we are here, doing our best and not giving up, we're making it possible for everyone to be saved. Think about how many digimon are back in the digital world now because of us! We can't let exhaustion and frustration beat us down, what we're doing is important. And…" he pulled his brother close, feeling overwhelmed by his desire to protect and support him. "And I know that if you and me, light and dark, are in this together, nothing can stop us."
"Kouji," Kouichi whispered, hugging him back. "You always know when I'm scared, when I need you. I don't know how you do it."
"We're twins, Kou," Kouji laughed softly. "I always know when something is bothering you, because I feel it too. I've said it before, haven't I?"
"Yeah, you have."
The feeling between them was like the warm light of a fireplace, melted together with the soft shadows of emotion and responsibility. They knew what they had to do, how they couldn't give up, and they knew that they were in it together. Light and dark, united as one.
Kouji pulled back as the warmth grew between them, like a feeling trying to burst through his skin, and gave Kouichi a bewildered look. "Hey, you're glowing," he said in surprise.
"You too," Kouichi blinked. "We both are! What does this mean?"
"I don't know, I've never felt anything like it. Or… that's not right. I think I have, a long time ago. It feels like…" Kouji's face grew serious, and he looked up at the sky. There was something up there, flickers of light dancing from one cloud to another, like lightning that hadn't fully formed. "Like a fusion."
Kouichi looked up too, awe spreading across his face. "There are small sparks of darkness in the sky," he whispered. "Like the air is splitting, and for a brief moment there's nothing but a vacuum. What does that mean?"
"That's what the air does when there's lightning," Kouji said, and suddenly he knew what they had to do. He looked at his brother, grinning. "Lightning is what happens when light and dark come together. And thunder is the sound it makes."
Kouichi met his eyes, and then he gasped. "Kouji…" As though he didn't even know why he was doing it, he pulled out his digivice, and drew out a card from his pocket. It was flashing red, as though drawing strength and power from the very air around them.
"Come on Kou, let's make some thunder," Kouji said, standing up. His body was glowing with power.
Standing with a burst of energy, Kouichi swiped the red card through his digivice like he was born to do it. "Digi-modify," he called. "Bio-merge, activate!"
In that moment, light and dark became one, and lightning sprang from the ley lines of the earth into the sky with a shattering peal of thunder.
-o-
Take a deep breath. Let it out.
We're almost there.
Thanks for getting this far with me, I am so excited to have you with me. Come join me on discord if you want to chat sometime: https colon slash slash, discord. gg / ap5hYsP (Update, this is now the correct working code. Come talk and hang out!)
And in the meantime, hit me up with a review! I'm dying to see what you think! Are you as excited for the next chapter as I am? Because me, I am literally bursting with excitement for what's about to happen.
Until next time,
~rukatofan