DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon. But if I did, I would make sure it was back on the air …
Previously on Digimon Genesis!
The children traveled to Dark City, where they were horrified by the mentality of the virus Digimon who inhabited it. There, they learned that SkullSatamon, the second of Daemon's lieutenants, had been murdered, beheaded by his own guillotine, and that the third lieutenant resided at Daemon's palace, serving as Daemon's top bodyguard! Thus informed, the children made the difficult decision of traveling the long and arduous road to Daemon Palace, the stakes being too high for inaction …
DIGIMON GENESISCHAPTER XXXV
ROAD TO PERDITION
The children left Dark City at mid-afternoon, shortly after the "parade" that exalted Daemon and called for the murder of the rebels. Their stay their had not only disgusted them, but had lowered their morale considerably: they wondered for a time if the Digimon wanted the world to be saved, or if their cause was even worth fighting for. It was only the knowledge that the rebel army and the friends they had made were in trouble that gave them the strength to keep going. They would need all the strength they could get - the road to Daemon Palace was a long one, which they knew all too well, having traveled it before. It was a long, winding path that passed through the wilderness of the Digital World, a place where uncivilized Digimon and other brutes lived. And when they were out of the woods, there was still the matter of Daemon. They had little confidence in their ability to defeat him. But for the prophecy, there might have been no crusade, for they had such little faith in themselves that they found it hard to step one foot in front of the other.
Takumi was the most optimistic of the bunch, and he was neutral on the matter. He had resigned himself to his fate. Perhaps most importantly, he also believed in the nobility of the cause. The children's faith in their action had been eroded, but the memories of their friends - of MetalMamemon, of SaberLeomon, of Piddomon and Witchmon and Wizardmon, kept them going.
They were in their human forms now; they saw no reason to disguise their identity: if they were found out, then all the better for them, and all the worse for their enemies. They did not need to keep in hiding, for soon they would reveal themselves to Daemon and any cover would be meaningless.
"Should we ever meet Daemon face-to-face," said Shun, "I want him to make sure that he knows we're humans. Imagine if five humans can defeat the most powerful Digimon in the world!"
"But we're not human," said Reina. "We're part-Digimon, remember? And we'll be in our Digimon forms when we defeat him." She stopped herself. "If we defeat him." There was another pause. "And that's a big if."
They considered this for a while as they once again walked the road that was situated in the thick of the dark forest. Overhead, ominous clouds cast a shadow over their movements, and they looked around cautiously, to avoid a surprise attack. None came however, and soon they grew used to the monotony of the road travel, sustained only by conversation.
"I've been thinking," said Takumi.
"About what?" asked Ryota.
"Someone had to have murdered SkullSatamon. Who do you think did it?"
"Whoever he is, he must be on our side," said Reina. She looked at Takumi. "Or it could have been a whole group of Digimon. Have you considered that?"
"I haven't really considered it at all," said Takumi. "I just thought of it right now. You know, things have been really tense lately. Lots of things going on. I've hardly had time to consider anything."
"Do you think that we have allies somewhere that we don't know what?" said Shun.
"It must take a lot of courage to go to Daemon Palace in the middle of the night!" said Yuka.
"Yeah …" said Takumi, thinking. "And just being able to defeat SkullSatamon means it must have been a very powerful Digimon that did it. Whoever he is, I just hope he can take down the other lieutenant, too!"
"Maybe our battle with MarineDevimon encouraged some Digimon," said Ryota. "Perhaps they had been harboring thoughts of rebellion for years, so when they got an opportunity, they finally did it. I can't say I'm surprised. Success seems to bring about more success."
"But what happens if we don't win this time?" said Shun. "You have to admit, it doesn't look good for us."
"It doesn't matter what's going to happen," said Takumi. "We know what the right thing to do is. It would be evil not to do it. So we're going to do it, win or lose, live or die."
They walked along the road some more. They kept walking and walking. In the trees, birds chirped - it was not a happy chirp, but chirps just as ominous as the clouds overhead.
"Do you guys remember the first time you turned into Digimon?" asked Shun suddenly.
"Do I?" said Ryota. "Yeah … but it's really not worth remembering."
"Not mine either," said Shun.
"Or mine," said Reina, giving Takumi a look.
"Yeah, I remember it," said Takumi. "As much as I try to repress that memory. It seems so long ago … but it wasn't, was it? It just seems so long since we've been in our world."
"It seems like years!" said Reina.
"You're telling me," said Ryota.
"We've done so much here that it seems like a lot of time has passed," said Takumi. "I think it's because we have a purpose. When you have a purpose, life goes by faster, but it's more satisfying. When you're clueless, you wander through life, it goes by slow, but it's much more unhappy. In fact, that was what I was doing before I had the power to turn into a Digimon."
"Do you remember the first time, Takumi?" asked Reina. She had a sweet look in her eyes, and Takumi had to relate it to her.
"It was at nighttime," said Takumi. "My mother was gone. And then I went for a walk and … I saw this kid I knew at school. I didn't like him much at all. But to tell you the truth, I hadn't really thought of him … it was just weird that I saw him when I did. Freaky. But anyway, I got angry … I lost control … I went into my Digimon form and I …" He paused. "… Killed him."
Reina put her hand on his shoulder. Takumi had not thought of this incident for a long time, but he still felt a sharp tinge of guilt, less pronounced than in the past, but still present nonetheless.
"Don't worry, Takumi," said the girl. "It wasn't your fault."
"Of course it wasn't our fault," said Ryota. "None of us were at fault. It was the Shadow Gang. I can't believe they would perform those experiments on us!"
"They made it totally impossible for us to live in our world," said Shun. "We had no choice but to go to this one."
"Listen, you guys," said Takumi. "I'm not one to pass judgment on the Shadow Gang. Sure, they made some mistakes … but we have to remember, we're talking about four people. And one of them, Stone, was actually pretty nice." His thoughts returned to the man he had once known as Flint Shale, his former guidance counselor. That he was a member of the Shadow Gang had come as a complete shock to him. At the time, he felt betrayed. Yet, he knew he couldn't be a bad person because he had been a friend of Kairu Hito. Anyone who was a friend of his dad's couldn't have been bad …
"Yeah?" said Ryota. "So what? One out of four isn't good enough for me."
"Don't you understand, guys? They chose us for a reason. They probably didn't know what they were doing when they chose us, but I think someone was leading them to do it."
"You mean God?" asked Reina.
"God … fate … whatever it was, we're here today. And if we hadn't been chosen, then there would be no one to rescue the world from Daemon."
"That still doesn't mean they're not bad people," said Ryota. "Just because their actions had unintended good effects doesn't mean that their actions weren't immoral."
"Or amoral," said Takumi.
"What?"
"I was just saying. I don't think they're bad people. I just don't think they have any morals. They're amoral, not immoral. Except for Stone. I think he's pretty good."
Ryota grumbled impatiently. "Who cares? What I'm saying is, even if God or whatever intervened doesn't make them any less bad. Maybe He uses bad people for good things. Who knows. But we still haven't beaten Daemon. So who knows what the effects of their actions will be?"
"Who knows?" said Takumi. "But we know what's good now. So we have to do it."
"Right," Reina agreed.
"You know if I could just get all these days of my life that have been lost because of this damn Digimon crap …" said Ryota. "I can remember the first time I transformed and it was the most traumatic experience of my life."
"I remember that day!" said Takumi. "That was a horrible day, even before you transformed. I had been so worried that I would be discovered for murdering that kid -"
"Don't say murder, Takumi," said Reina sympathetically. "It's not murder if you didn't mean to do it."
"- I was worried I would be found out, and then I went to the bus stop like everything was normal. And you were there. And we fought -"
"What were we fighting about?" asked Ryota. "I can't remember."
"Something stupid," said Takumi. "It was easy to transform unintentionally back then! I don't know why. Maybe we were just so angry all the time. Anyway, you transformed into Kibamon and I transformed into Hiamon."
"That was horrible," said Ryota. "Sometimes that fight still comes back to me. I can't quite remember it … I wasn't really conscious … but parts of it come back from time to time. It's like a nightmare."
"I know," said Takumi. "We really fought that time, didn't we? Almost tore up our neighborhood. If it hadn't been for Naoki I don't know what might have happened."
They were silent again. Everyone was thinking the same thing.
"Naoki!" said Reina. "He was such a sweet little boy. I can't believe that he was the one who found out the truth about this whole thing. How come he knew so much when he was so young?"
"He was so smart," said Yuka admiringly.
"He was," said Shun. "He was really smart. Possibly a genius IQ. If only he would have lived! He would have gone far." He said this as though this was something he could never achieve.
"And remember, he was younger than us," said Takumi. "So he was able to control his Digimon form. So much childhood innocence and not enough adolescent angst."
"Naoki knew everything!" said Ryota. "He knew how to use the D-Powers, he knew how to transform. He knew that we had been chosen for something, that his was not an isolated event, and he knew about Digimon who passed through the portal to our world! It's hard to imagine where we would be without him."
"Naoki," said Reina. "Oh, he didn't deserve to die!"
"I'll tell you who did deserve to die," said Takumi.
"Who?" said the others.
"That girl, Miho," said Takumi.
"What a drama queen she was!" said Ryota.
"I remember her," said Shun. "She was bad from the start. I was never happy about being on the same side as her. There was always something that bothered me about her. I always thought she was a mean, nasty person. But I never thought she would betray us like that."
"She deserved what she got," reiterated Takumi. "I don't have a bit of remorse for her."
Reina looked at him. "I think you're being too hard on her, Takumi. She was crazy. She had a bad life! She didn't have a father."
"I didn't have a father either!" Takumi protested. "That doesn't mean I betrayed my friends …" He took on a calmer tone. "Yeah - Miho, what a basket case. I'm just glad we won't have to deal with her ever again."
"I'm with you there!" said Shun. "I have to say, I'm glad I'm sharing this adventure with you guys. You're all the best people I've ever met - and I really mean that."
"I feel the same way," said Takumi. Everyone else agreed.
"I have to say, though, when you first joined the gang, Shun, I was a little skeptical," said Ryota.
"Why?"
"Well - I mean, you had a reputation as bit of a troublemaker and … well, I wasn't too sure you'd fit in. It just seemed unlikely that you'd turn out as you are now." "What do you mean?"
"Well - I just didn't expect it. You surprised me. You surprised all of us."
Shun looked from Ryota to Takumi, but try as he did, he could not hide his beaming face.
"Yeah, I certainly didn't expect things to go well," said Takumi, hoping to lessen Shun's embarrassment, "especially when I met your Digimon form! You really put up a fight that day. And Yuka …" He looked at the quietest member of your group. "Your first transformation wasn't dramatic at all!"
"But mine was," said Reina.
"I'm sorry for doing that," Takumi said quietly.
Reina looked at him, biting her lip. "But it's all for a purpose, right?"
"I sure hope so."
They returned to their discussion.
"You know, back home we're all still missing," said Shun.
"They probably think we all ran away together!" said Yuka.
"But we did," said Takumi. "But they can search our whole world but they'll never find us."
"Wow," said Reina. "I've never thought of that."
"And they think I'm dead," said Shun.
They were all quiet for a few seconds, pondering this.
"I'm tired!" said Shun at last, stretching. "Let's settle down somewhere. Eat some lunch."
"Yeah," said Takumi. "Good thing we had enough bits for food."
"Wouldn't it be ironic if instead of being killed by Daemon or his lieutenant, we starve to death?" said Ryota.
"Not ironic," said Takumi. "Terrible."
They all sat down and did as Shun advised them, for, reflecting upon it, they found that they were all hungry. Reina had purchased a small picnic blanket earlier and set it down in a clearing in the forest. It made for a romantic setting in an otherwise dismal place.
"This is just like home!" said Reina, looking at Takumi.
"I guess," said Takumi. "But I can't remember eating food like this."
The food was indeed strange, a sort of crunchy bread that was somehow sweet. For the first time in quite some they relaxed, everyone appreciating the strangeness of the situation, that they were sitting back to enjoy a meal while the Digital World underwent so much strife. Toward the end of lunch they heard a strange sound and three of them went to investigate, leaving Takumi and Reina alone to clean up.
"Don't you miss our world at all?" said the girl, folding the picnic blanket while Takumi took the other side.
"A little," Takumi replied. "Not anything about the world in particular that I miss. Just the people there. I sort of miss my mother." His mother. He had not thought of her in a while. What was she doing now?
Reina looked at Takumi. "We have to go back, you know."
"Go … back?"
"Do you really think we'll stay here forever? Takumi, this is a great world and all, but it's not ours. After we defeat Daemon -" She looked flustered, as if this was difficult to contemplate, "- If we defeat Daemon, we're going to have to go back. I haven't realized this before now, Takumi, but I really miss my parents!"
"But how are we going to get back?" asked Takumi. "We don't know how. If there was an easy way out of this world, then most of the Digimon would be leaving by now, don't you think? I hate to say this, but I think we're stuck. It might be a good thing, actually. If we could leave so easily, we might avoid tackling Daemon."
"But Takumi I'm homesick!" said Reina. "I love the Digital World. I love the Digimon, I love the food … I don't like the persecution and the prejudice and the madness. But I miss Japan. And I miss my family. And Takumi, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to see them again!" Takumi watched a tear roll down her cheek.
"Hey," said Takumi, taking her arm. "Don't you worry. If you want to go back, we can do that. We'll find a way."
This seemed to comfort her for a little while, and before long the others returned.
"What of the sound?" asked Takumi.
"False alarm!" said Ryota. "We haven't found anything."
"We had better be careful," said Takumi. "We don't know what Digimon might be roaming these woods …"
* * *
"Ignorant fools."
He watched them through the globe, could easily discern their faces, hear their conversation, their longings for home. He was in a dark place, the only light emanated from the globe. A cold, sinister hand was upon it, like a hand from the grave.
From the corner there came a raspy, ambiguous voice.
"Master, the humans are close! I can feel them."
"You will have your chance. The humans are currently roaming through the Black Forest. When they finally get here, then you can go."
"But Master, let me get to them now! They will be easier to kill when they are not expecting it."
"No. I forbid it - let them get good and ready. Let us level the playing field as much as possible, so that their defeat will be all the more humiliating. Once they are good and dead, we shall parade their bodies through the streets. The prospect is almost erotic!"
The servile Digimon having been rebuked, the room seemed to grow darker still, as if some force even greater had put out the light …
* * *
"… So everyone keep on guard. Remember the Darkrizamon that attacked us earlier. There's no telling what might be in these woods."
"I agree with Takumi," said Ryota. "We had better be prepared to transform at any moment."
"Are we there yet?" said Yuka, issuing an uncharacteristic complaint. "My feet hurt!"
"Mine too," said Reina.
"Yeah, I'm just about tired," said Shun.
"We just took a break!" said Takumi. "Are you all really that tired already?"
"We've been walking for hours, Takumi. Hours! When do you expect we'll reach Daemon Palace, anyway?"
"I don't know," said Takumi. "I'm not sure of the distance. But if you ask me -"
They all noticed what he had been seeing at the same time. In the distance, a dark spot where it seemed no light could shine through. It was like a setting sun, only an extreme black color that was somehow darker than the night, darker than the darkest color they had ever seen. It looked oddly beautiful, and yet paralyzed them with a sense of foreboding. There was no doubt that if this far-off place was not Daemon Palace then it was something sinister.
"Is that it?" said Ryota, with just the hint of a gasp.
"Could be," said Takumi. "It's definitely nothing like anything I've ever seen."
"Oh, that's it," said Yuka. "I can feel it."
"That must be it," said Reina. "It looks so … evil. And I don't want to go, Takumi. I'm scared!" They were the words of someone who was facing the inevitable, but was nonetheless terrified at the prospect.
Takumi held her hand tightly. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm scared too." He was not sure how that would reassure her, but it reassured him. Standing on the precipice of death, he held her hand and he felt scared no more. He was never more confident in their choice to confront Daemon.
"How far off are we?" said Shun.
"Not that far," said Ryota. "From the looks of it."
"Just a couple of miles," said Takumi. That was far, but only a fraction of what they had traveled.
"I can't believe we're almost there," said Yuka.
"It seems like just yesterday we decided to leave home for good. Remember that, Takumi?" She looked at him as they walked along the road.
"Yeah, I do," said Takumi. "We didn't know what to do then. Now that I think about it, I wonder what we would have done. Sometimes things don't really make sense in retrospect, do they?"
"That was the day I transformed into my ultimate form," said Ryota. "The tail-end of our time in our world."
"Yeah, and you almost destroyed the entire school! Well, if that didn't clue the people in on Digimon, then nothing will. Of course, the Shadow Gang did a pretty adept job at covering things up - though I doubt they would be able to cover something up of that proportion."
"The Shadow Gang!" said Shun. "They were right under our nose this whole time. Remember that reporter guy? He was in the Shadow Gang."
"Ryan Royama," said Takumi. "Yeah. He was 'Quiz' if I recall correctly - his code name. I wonder what they're doing now. They must be bored back home, with no incidents to attend to."
"They might actually have to get jobs!" said Shun.
"Hmm," said Takumi, scratching his chin. "If I recall, 'Shadow' was the only one who didn't have a job. What was his real name again?"
"That guy gave me the creeps," said Yuka. "I didn't like him at all."
"Yeah - something about him strikes me odd too," said Shun. "And his name was Tekkan Shintaro, Takumi."
"Ah!" said Takumi. "Yeah, I remember now."
"Do you all remember 'Search'?" said Reina.
"Yeah, I remember her!" said Yuka. "She was the woman. She was kind of nice, actually. I liked her."
"She worked in the juvenile detention center I went to!" said Shun. "I always thought she had a particular interest in me. Now I know why."
"And of course, we all remember Flint Shale - or 'Stone' rather," said Takumi.
"Man, who would have imagined that he was one of them?" said Ryota.
"At the time, I thought Mr. Mes was one of them."
"Mr. Mes?" said Reina. "The janitor?"
"Yeah," said Takumi. "I guess I was wrong about that … he was too stupid to be a member of the Shadow Gang."
"That's for sure," said Ryota. "You can call those people plenty of names, but stupid is not one of them."
"That's right, they're smart - eerily clever. Even though they're not very good people …"
"They wanted to explore the Digital World," said Reina. "They thought it was theirs for the taking. But they needed Digimon to do it …"
"And only kids like us could control themselves in the Digimon forms … at least, exert the most control. Adults just couldn't handle it and went crazy."
"Huh," said Ryota.
"Hmm," said Reina. "Does that mean - when we get older - our transformations will be harder to control?"
"I'm not sure," said Takumi. "I think it's anger or passion that ignites the transformation. The thing is that adults often have more stress than children and are more likely to undergo the transformation process … so it depends. But I have a theory, a Naoki-like theory, really …"
"A Naoki-like theory?" said Ryota.
"One that he would approve of. I think that the longer we stay in our Digimon forms, then the better control we'll have over them. So if an adult was given some of the potion, they would be wild at first - but over time, they would eventually gain control over themselves. That's my theory anyway."
"Makes sense," said Ryota.
"Aah! We've been talking about so much theory that I've almost forgotten about the main task - defeating Daemon."
"Don't worry," said Reina. "The growing castle on the horizon ought to keep you alert!"
They stopped.
"It's getting dark," said Takumi. "I think we're all a little tired. I don't think anyone expects us to get to Daemon Palace before the night is over."
"Yeah …" said Ryota. "But is it dark because the day is ending, or is it getting darker because we're approaching the palace?"
Takumi looked around. "That's a good question," he said.
"Oh, Takumi, I'm tired. I don't want to have the stress of battling Daemon tonight!"
"Don't worry," he assured her. "I think we're all about ready to rest. But tomorrow, we have to get into high gear. Remember, we're not just doing this for ourselves. Every second we wait increases the chance that an innocent Digimon is going to get killed."
They were silent. "That puts things in perspective," said Ryota.
"I almost want to go tonight!" said Yuka. She looked down at the grassy floor. "But then again, I don't."
"We need some rest," Takumi decided. "It's getting dark fast! I almost can't see where I'm going. Let's get into the forest some more, away from the road. We don't know who might travel here at night, and I doubt we want to meet them."
"Anyone who wants to go to Daemon Palace except to kill Daemon must be a bad character!" said Ryota.
"Yeah," said Shun. "Remember being picked up by Phelesmon?"
Another memory had been stirred. "Yeah, that was weird!" said Takumi. "I can't help but feel sorry for him though - a kidnapped daughter, and he must be going senile by now. That's my best guess."
"It's hard to believe that he was behind all those deaths at Purification Camp," said Reina. "And just to build that freak of a Digimon. What was he planning to do, anyway?"
"I don't know," said Ryota, shrugging his shoulders. "It's all a mystery to me."
"I feel so sorry for him," said Yuka. "He must really be crazy. Remember when he thought that we were the ones who had kidnapped his daughter?"
"Yeah!" said Takumi. "Totally freaky - picking up random people on the street like that! That was when we first went to Daemon Palace, remember that? We didn't know it at the time, but some very evil Digimon were there that day."
"Not all of them were evil," said Reina.
"Huh?"
"Remember the Angewomon that was there? We were put in that dungeon down there, and she freed us."
"I had almost forgotten about that!" said Takumi. "It seems so long ago. But that enabled us to go to Civil City where we found friendly Digimon. That was lucky on our part. Lucky for us that she was there - can you think of what would have happened if we were recognized as humans? You can forget about a trial. You can forget about everything!"
"I wonder what possessed her to free us," said Ryota.
"Common decency," said Takumi. "Yes, there are some bad Digimon in this world - but there are lots of good ones too. It's just our luck that the bad ones have total control right now."
"Not for long," said Ryota.
"Let's hope so!" said Takumi.
Ryota had expressed the hopes of all, that Daemon's domination over the Digital World was nearing its end, but it was hard to be optimistic when they knew they were up against tough odds. Finally they turned in for the day. Regardless of what time it was, they all felt tired and decided to camp in the forest again. They would have to have a night watch out again. Takumi gladly took up the offer, as he was not as tired as the rest of them. He was worried, however, of potentially losing sleep and being too tired to perform ably on their most crucial day.
It was a lonely, rather boring hour or two he kept guard, with scarcely a sound that aroused his suspicions. Finally Ryota emerged from where he had been sleeping and said he would take over.
"You tired, man?" he said.
"Yeah - a little," Takumi admitted. "I'm worrying about getting to sleep. You know, I try to be optimistic, but at the same time I can't see how we're going to defeat Daemon - and yet, I've never been more certain of our actions. I know that we're supposed to be here, right now."
"Yeah," said Ryota. They sat in silence for a little while. "Do you think his lieutenant is going to be tough?"
"That will be our first fight," said Takumi. "If we can get into the castle first - I haven't even thought about that. There's going to be guards."
"No doubt."
"We can probably take them. I'm just worried that by then, we'll be too weakened to take on his lieutenant, and then he'll blow us away."
"Huh."
"He's supposed to be the most powerful of the three, and we didn't even get to battle SkullSatamon at the intermediate level. And we just barely beat MarineDevimon, even with four ultimates. So it's going to be tough either way. We'll have to just - pray for the best, I guess."
"I will," said Ryota. There was silence again. "You know, I agree with what you said earlier - about purpose. You know, for the first time, really, in my whole life I feel like I'm living for a purpose. It's not that I wasn't happy before or that I thought my life was meaningless, it's just - I don't know. I just feel so passionate about this struggle."
"Yeah," said Takumi.
"You know, it wasn't so long ago that we arrived in the Digital World. We had a traumatic first couple of days. Remember?"
"Yeah. It didn't really let up until we got to Civil City."
"And not even then! Do you remember when you saw your father's name on that billboard, and you just went - crazy?"
"I was sick with rage," Takumi admitted. "I finally thought I was going to find out what happened to my father. I had no idea that the Slaughter had happened. I felt that SaberLeomon had been leading me on, with promises that I was actually going to find my dad. So I just - collapsed. And I took it out on everyone."
"We've had our share of meltdowns recently," said Ryota. "I don't blame you, though. Of course, who am I to speak? My father's still alive. But if I heard that he was dead - and killed in that way - then I'd be angry too …"
"I just have to say, having a father is the best thing of all. And it's sort of strange for me to say that, since I've never felt that experience. But having two parents who love you - there's nothing that can beat that. I think I always wanted to have a father. I had been looking, desperately, for a father figure … someone to teach me, you know, help me out … someone who is there … and when I stopped looking I found myself."
"Yeah," said Ryota. "I wish things had turned out that way."
"What?"
"Having your father be alive. It's hard to imagine, though, I guess, having history - your history - changed in such a way. You might be a completely different person."
"It's hard to say," said Takumi. "I might be. It's hard for me to see my mother with someone. She's been working all her life, ever since my father left. She never remarried or, I think, ever saw someone. I don't know how I would have reacted if she had gone out with someone. Maybe I would have been jealous. Or maybe I would have been happy with her. I don't know. I just hated to see her alone - alone to face whatever life threw her way, with no one to help her. Alone to raise a kid, just barely making more than the minimum wage. You know, now that I think about it, she's probably the one person who wanted my father back more than I did. I never got to know him. She did."
There was more silence. Ryota must have thought it was awkward; Takumi had never told this to anyone. And he wasn't sure if he had confided even in himself about this. But for so long he had been alone, searching, wondering …
"You better get some sleep," said Ryota. It wasn't a way of dismissing him, it was simply good advice.
"Yeah …" said Takumi. "You know, I wonder if it wouldn't be best to just forego guarding the place tonight -"
"No, that wouldn't work -"
"- but I know that wouldn't work. So, I guess I'd better go to sleep now."
"Yeah," said Ryota. "The others are a little restless too. Shun was tossing and turning. Yuka I think didn't get to sleep for about an hour. Everyone knows that tomorrow is going to be a tough day." He paused. "It might even be the day that we die."
This was a sobering thought, but it was something they had known now for a long time, at least unconsciously.
"Yeah," said Takumi. "But if I had a choice - do this and die - or don't do this and live - I would pick the first choice in a heartbeat. If only because I don't want to spend the rest of my life knowing that I could have done something, while watching this world fall into chaos. Prophecy or not, we have to do this. I feel like my life has been building up to something. This might be it."
"The same here," said Ryota. "Takumi … if tomorrow we die … I just want to say, I'm glad that I was able to be your friend. To tell the truth, I don't know what I would do without you."
"Thanks," said Takumi. It was sincere gratitude. He had never expected to hear this from Ryota, and yet this was all Takumi could really say in response. "I feel … the same way. And to think we might have hated each other had it not been for this whole Digimon mess!"
"That's how fate works," said Ryota. In the scanty bit of light Takumi could make out a small smile on his face.
"Yeah. And I just want to say - if there's an afterlife, I hope you're in it. You know, something tells me that tomorrow won't be the last time we'll see each other. My view is either we defeat Daemon and live, or that we die and live on … where we'll be I don't know … but I know you'll be there."
"There are so many different worlds," said Ryota. "There's our world, the Digital World … who's to say there isn't another world where our souls go when we die?"
"I sure hope so," said Takumi. "But even if there's nothing beyond, if this is all there is, I want to do the right thing. And I think we all know what that one thing is."
"I know," said Ryota. He paused. "You know, Takumi, I was really distressed when Naoki got killed. We were leaderless. I thought that we were all going to die from our lack of leadership. But you stepped in. You didn't step in all at once, but gradually, you became a leader. I don't think we'd be here today if it weren't for you urging us on. I think Naoki would be proud. And I think your father would be proud."
Takumi, stunned, could hardly muster out anything other than a "thank you". There was an awkward silence between the two, but in reality it was the greatest compliment he had received. Growing sleepy, Takumi returned to the forest floor - more confident than ever that, regardless of whether success or failure or life or death lay ahead of them, that they were on the verge of doing a brave and righteous act.
"Father," he said, his face pressed to the ground, addressing the spirit of his parent for the first time, "I will avenge your memory."
Next time on Digimon Genesis!
As the children prepare for their battle against Daemon and his lieutenant, the Shadow Gang makes contact! However, the digital humans have little time for chatting and proceed to enter Daemon Palace, which they find stock full of evil Digimon aiming to kill them! Then, a battle with Daemon's most formidable servant, and an enemy makes himself known … all next time on the next Digimon Genesis:
HELTER SKELTER
As always, be sure to comment on latest installments and tell me what you think. Reviews are like fuel … so if you want me to keep writing, keep on reviewing! Thank you to everyone who has kept up with the story so far, putting up with excessive delays and other problems. I will be sure to make the rest of this fan fiction as good as it can possibly be.