Disclaimer! I own only my OCs and potentially a few of the OC digimon. Everything else is owned by Saban Brands.
Hope you all enjoy and don't forget to review!
A/N: This chapter also contains triggers regarding suicide and depression. That being said, this chapter is also integral to the plot. I apologize in advance.
Try Chapter 37
Tiffany sat up from her mattress on the floor of the Kamiya apartment, thinking intently of the day before. She had taken a good portion of the day after she and Tai had returned to the apartment after defeating SkullMeramon. 'That was a long discussion…' She sighed and thought back to Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya's reactions to Tai being hurt multiple times. 'I'm thankful that they didn't push farther into the pyramid incident.' She reached for her digivice and stared at the dimly lit screen. 'Why was I give one of these?' She wondered, somewhat randomly. 'Was it just to help Tai get this far?' Tiffany grabbed the light jacket that Mrs. Kamiya had given her. 'Maybe… Or at least to help Tai get support from his parents?' She shrugged. 'Whatever, it's fine. Go to sleep Tiffany. Nighttime is not the time to be thinking.' She laughed to herself and lay back down onto the thin mattress, shutting her eyes.
Two hours later, Tiffany sat up again, rubbing her eyes tiredly. 'I'm trying, I really am.' She picked up her digivice again, seeing the time. 'How is it really 2 am? It doesn't feel that late at all…' She stood up quietly, trying not to wake Kari, Agumon, Tai, and Azuremon. 'Maybe I'll go for a walk…' She walked out of the room and went onto their balcony, staring at the fire exit over to the right. 'That seems like a decent idea. Maybe I'll get tired enough after a short walk.' She began the long climb down to the street, unknowingly waking Azuremon.
Tiffany's partner quickly noticed her absence and immediately woke up entirely. 'Tiffany… Now is not the time to be missing.' He thought to himself, worry percolating the thoughts in his brain. 'Fire exit. She probably took the fire exit.' He quietly began to move, taking extreme care to not wake the exhausted Tai and Agumon. 'Stay behind her, so that she doesn't know that I'm following. Something tells me that this could be bad if I show myself.' Azuremon reached the balcony as Tiffany made it onto the street. 'Wait a little bit…' Azuremon told himself as he pressed himself up against the shadows of the apartment, watching Tiffany look up to see if she had been followed. 'She's up to something… Time to move.' Azuremon quickly made his way down to the street as Tiffany turned the corner, running. 'Now is not the time for slacking. She's got her mind on something.'
'What am I even doing?' Tiffany wondered as she reached the waterfront. 'It's a beautiful night out…' She looked up at the moon slowly heading towards the horizon, looking at her digivice as well, which shined faintly in the moonlight. 'Tai's alright now… I'm sure.' She sat down, looking around her to see if anyone was there. 'The only truly productive thing I did was save Tai from himself…' She grabbed a clump of grass and pulled it out of the ground. Her hand trembled as the tears started coming. 'Why are you being like this, you idiot?! You've got every right to be happy right now, and sleeping. What's wrong with you?!' She yelled at herself as she tried to stop the stream of tears. "No… NOT NOW!" She screamed and started running again towards the bridge to Setagaya. 'Why am I doing this?' She blindly ran towards the bridge, not seeing Azuremon lying low in the bushes near her.
'There she goes again. Time to stop her now before she does something reckless.' Azuremon sped up to match the girl's speed. "TIFFANY!" He yelled, watching as the girl glanced behind her. His eyes widened, seeing the girl's tear streaked cheeks. 'What's wrong?' Azuremon jumped up and began gaining ground on her. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Tiffany shrieked as the two made it to the pedestrian walk on the bridge. "No. You know that I promised that I would never leave you alone." Azuremon jumped in front of her, easily passing the girl, who quickly came to a stop, avoiding eye contact with Azuremon. "Tiffany. Look at me. What's wrong?" Azuremon came closer to her. "I… I don't know… But…" Tiffany sniffed. "But what?" Azuremon stared at her. "Something's terribly, terribly wrong, and I can't do anything about it." She punched herself in the arm. "Don't do that." Azuremon told her softly, and Tiffany glared at the digimon. "There's no other way to let out my confusion…" She sighed and put her face in her hands. "There's always other ways." Azuremon hugged his partner.
"Why… Why did fate have to choose me?" Tiffany looked up at her partner. "I was just a normal twenty year-old girl, trying to get a college degree, when I was dragged into all this mess. I didn't ask for this. I DIDN'T ASK TO BE DRAWN INTO SOMETHING WHERE I COULD BE KILLED!" She screamed again and tore away from Azuremon, sobbing heavily again. "Tiffany…" Azuremon had no words for his friend's suffering. "I can't even keep anybody safe. I'm the oldest, but I can't do my job as the oldest. It's been Tai, or Michael, or Matt, or Ally, or Jacob, or TK. It's never been me. No matter how hard I try, I can never power through and finish what the others can…" Her voice broke, and Azuremon felt his heart drop. "Tiffany… I-" Azuremon began, but was cut off. "Don't bother. I didn't ask for pity. I know that no matter how hard I work and strive for something, it will never work in my favor… I don't know why I even try anymore…" Tiffany, bitterness in her voice, broke from her usual attitude. Her digivice slipped out of her pocket and landed on the ground near Azuremon, who picked it up and quickly began to type a message.
In the Digital World, a purple beam of light shooting up from a lake slowly dimmed, turning a gray color.
"No." Tiffany stated simply as she backed away from Azuremon. "I can't do this anymore. These feelings are too much for me. Make it stop… Please, make it stop…" She repeated, turning around quickly to see if anyone was behind her. "NO!" She yelled as she ran towards the side of the bridge preparing herself to jump. "TIFFANY!" Azuremon roared in terror and ran as fast as he could towards her. "HIYAH!" Azuremon caught her and pulled the girl back onto the bridge right as she had made it up to the edge. "LET ME GO!" Tiffany began fighting the strong digimon, who didn't let go. "I will never let go." Azuremon pledged, holding Tiffany till she stopped fighting his strong grip. 'Come on… Somebody… Please come.' Azuremon looked at either side of the bridge, struggling to see past the early morning fog. "HEY GUYS!" The two heard a familiar voice. "Are you two alright?" Taylor came into view, her windswept hair falling into her eyes as the girl caught her breath. "Less than so." Azuremon told her, right as Tiffany was about to deny it. Taylor's eyes widened quickly as her brain worked fast to determine what had happened. "Tiff… Why?" Taylor squatted down next to Tiffany, who sat down as well. "I don't even know…" Tiffany sighed, and Taylor nodded. "That's okay. It's okay not to know what's wrong. Let's try to get to the bottom of that though, okay?" Taylor, although she was three years younger than Tiffany, already seemed to be calming the girl down.
"I don't know…" Tiffany sniffed as Azuremon made his way to the other side of the girl, handing her the digivice. "Let's get to a better place for this conversation. A bridge is a bit loud." Taylor stood up and helped Tiffany up, pointing to the Odaiba side of the bridge. "Let's head behind the bushes." Azuremon picked Tiffany up as Taylor ran ahead, knowing that Azuremon would catch up to her quickly. "Over here!" Taylor called from behind a bush that blocked the trio's view of the bridge. "Hm…" Azuremon maneuvered around a small bush in front to gently drop Tiffany next to Taylor. He wrapped his friend in a hug, not letting go when she sniffed again. "What's in your heart? In your soul? There's something deep down that's tearing you apart." Taylor looked into Tiffany's eyes. "I feel it in your aura…" Azuremon put his right paw up to her forehead. "Will you let me see what troubles you?" The digimon asked. "How can you? You've always been able to know what I'm feeling, but never see my thoughts…" Tiffany protested quietly.
"Use your digivice to analyze my data." Azuremon told her, and Tiffany's shaky hand lifted the digivice up to Azuremon, and pressed the top left button on the device. "Azuremon is a rookie digimon, known as the aural digimon. It has the ability to read another entity's thoughts, but only if allowed and trusted." The digivice quickly read off, and quieted down as Tiffany's eyes widened. "Really?" She put her hand to her mouth. "There's a reason that my species is very rare in the digital world." Azuremon nodded, and looked into her eyes. "Do you trust me?" "I…" Tiffany sniffed and stared down at the ground. Taylor looked at Azuremon and shook her head. "It's okay. Please don't cry." Azuremon hugged Tiffany again. "I'm sorry…" Tiffany wiped her eyes off and shook her head. "I just… I haven't even looked inside of myself. I can't let anyone else see what's inside…" She briefly thought back to the creation of Apocalymon. 'It keeps haunting my mind…' She thought to herself and shook her head again. "Tiffany. Have you lost your hope?" Taylor started asking pointed questions.
"Maybe… Probably a little bit…" Tiffany closed her eyes. "What drives you? What drives you to keep going with this life?" Azuremon pressed, hitting home as Tiffany's eyes shot open. "I DON'T KNOW!" She screamed and jumped up, ready to run again. "No. Tiffany. You do know. It's in you, the fire to fight." Taylor dragged her back down to the ground as the girl turned to hysterics. "I've never seen her this upset…" Azuremon whispered softly. "All… *hic* I ever *hic* wanted to do *hic* was LIVE MY OWN *hic* LIFE!" Tiffany hiccupped irregularly. "You fight for your life?" Taylor asked, and Tiffany nodded. "What's stopping you from doing that right now?" Taylor pushed, and Tiffany frowned slowly. "It feels like it's pointless. There's no use to everything that I'm doing because there are so many more people doing it way better. There are better scientists, better chemists, better Digidestined, better everything…" She trailed off, the hiccups continuing. "Her crest…" Azuremon realized as Tiffany's crest glowed and dimmed slowly. "What is her Crest?" Taylor asked, coming to the same conclusion. "The Crest of Determination…" Azuremon gasped. "Tiffany, are you here?" Taylor asked, watching as the girl slowly relaxed. "Tiffany?!" Azuremon shook her gently, watching as the girl snapped awake again. "Let me sleep…" She yawned and curled up in a ball.
"No, Tiffany. You've got to fight this feeling. It may seem like it's all pointless, but there's a reason why we're all here. Spiritual or not, something put us on this Earth and in the Digital World for a reason. We matter, and we're here to save the world today, I promise. Fight, Tiffany, FIGHT!" Taylor began talking faster than she ever had before. "Tiffany, remember. You saved Tai, YOU did. Not me, not Mimi, but YOU. You gave him his courage back so he could destroy Etemon. Let us give you your determination back." Azuremon whispered intently. "You're my friend. The best friend that I've ever had. You've got to fight for your dreams with everything that you've got, because I know you have it in you." Azuremon wiped the corner of his eye with a paw, causing Taylor to raise her eyebrows, getting a glare from Azuremon. "You believe in me?" Tiffany asked Azuremon, who nodded. "That's all I ever need." She sat up quickly and hugged her partner, who, surprised by the hug, blushed a bright red color. "Ooooooh, that is so a picture that I need to take." Taylor giggled under her breath evilly. Azuremon sighed and agreed to the photo. "Tiffany, are you here?" Taylor put her phone aside and asked the girl. "I'm… I'm getting here." Tiffany braced herself in a seated position. "It's going to take me a bit to rebuild my confidence but… I'll get there." She smiled softly.
"What's that noise?" Taylor wondered as flashes of light flew over the bush that hid the trio. "That doesn't seem like a good thing…" Tiffany ducked as one of the flashes of light flew over the bush, barely missing the girl. "You're getting a message." Azuremon pointed to Tiffany's digivice as well, determined to take their mind off of the bright red blush on his face. "I'm on my way to save Gatomon and a digimon called Wizardmon… Long story, will explain later…" Tiffany's face drained itself of any color. "Who is that from?" Taylor asked. "It's from Tai." Azuremon read over her shoulder. "Um… Something tells me that the flashes of light is Greymon…" Taylor stood up and looked around the bush and quickly ducked back around. "It's bad." Her eyes, wide open, told everything. Tiffany and Azuremon peeked around the bush as well, Tiffany gasping at the sight.
The two saw Myotismon laughing maniacally, staring down at two small digimon. "Is that Wizardmon and Gatomon there?" Tiffany asked, her voice quiet. "It looks like it to me." Azuremon nodded. "Who even is Wizardmon? I've never heard of a digimon like that before." Taylor seemed confused. "Wizardmon is a digimon that isn't originally from the digital world. It seems however, that this particular Wizardmon works for Myotismon. I'm not sure why Myotismon is attacking Wizardmon… Or Gatomon for that matter." Azuremon saw the battle unfolding in front of them. "I'm not sure why either… But… It can't be good, whatever it is." Tiffany watched the battle. "Wait! We have to stop Tai!" Taylor realized with a start as the young boy ran towards the three digimon, Agumon and Kari following him. "AGUMON! YOU'VE GOT TO SAVE THEM!" They could hear his yell as Agumon digivolved. "AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GREYMON!" "NOVA BLAST!" The champion's attack was batted away by one of Myotismon's Crimson Lightning whips. "Gah!" Tai yelled in frustration. "TIME TO DIGIVOLVE AGAIN!" He told his partner. "Another digivolution will do you no good!" Myotismon laughed cockily.
"GREYMON DIGIVOLVE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Greymon's skull became cloaked in a digizoid chrome metal, and claws on both of Greymon's hands were created from the same material. He gained a cannonlike weapon on his chest that opened up and shot too warning shots at the ground near him, creating a large explosion. A pair of wings also grew out from Greymon's back, made of the same digizoid chrome metal as his skull. "HIYAH! METALGREYMON, THE WARRIOR OF COURAGE!" MetalGreymon charged at Myotismon. "MEGA CLAW!" The attack missed Myotismon by a long shot. "Hmph. I grow tired of these games." Myotismon laughed evilly. "Grizzly Wing!" The powerful attack was gunning straight for the Ultimate digimon, Tai, and Kari. "GIGA BLASTER!" MetalGreymon destroyed the bats and promptly dedigivolved, leaving Tai and Kari undefended from Myotismon's wrath.
"Now, to rid myself of this pest." Myotismon stared at Wizardmon, who was weakly standing up, glaring at Myotismon. "CRIMSON LIGHTNING! HIYAH!" He snatched Wizardmon up and threw him into the river separating Odaiba and Setagaya. "WIZARDMON!" Gatomon shrieked as her friend landed in the water, far away. "Now… Gatomon… I think I'll keep you close to me…" Myotismon devilishly grinned and used his Crimson Lightning whip to pick her up. "And for you two… One of you will be coming with me." Myotismon flicked his wrist and the lightning whip reached for Kari. Tai threw himself in front of his little sister, who simply screamed as she saw the whip grow closer.
"NOT WHILE I'M HERE!" Tiffany yelled, her strength returning to her as she ran out from behind the bush, Azuremon hot on her heels. "What? There were only supposed to be eight digidestined!" Myotismon, caught off guard, pulled the whip back to himself. "The girl!" Myotismon realized with a start, thinking back to when Ally had distracted the evil digimon to let the Japanese Digidestined escape. "There's more of you?!" He glared at Tiffany. "You betcha! Azuremon, let's show this digidork who's boss!" Tiffany stepped to the side as Azuremon raced towards Myotismon, determination evident in his eyes. "AZUREMON DIGIVOLVE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TAIONGMON!" The champion digimon jumped up and summoned his staff. "BLADE OF DETERMINATION!" The attack struck Myotismon's arm, causing the vampire digimon to jump back and hiss angrily. "Champions stand not a chance! GRIZZLY WING!" The cloud of bats surrounded Taiongmon and began biting the digimon wherever the bats could get to. "AGH!" Taiongmon gasped in pain as he swung his staff around to get the bats to drop him.
"TAIONGMON!" Tiffany yelled as she saw her partner drop to the ground, the last of the bats gone. She ran up to her partner and helped him sit up. "Not so powerful now, are you?" Myotismon, with Gatomon still well in his grasp, floated to the ground, where he loomed eerily over Tiffany and Taiongmon. "My power comes not just from strength, but from the belief of my partner as well. I'm not out of this yet." Taiongmon stood shakily as Tiffany realized that she had to help her partner somehow. "That's right. Your power comes from the fear that others have of you, from the hate that others have of you. That's why you'll never understand the relationship between the digidestined such as myself and our partners." Tiffany stood up and hugged her partner tightly. "Your words are impressive, but they mean nothing to me." Myotismon stretched out a hand at the two. "Myotismon, she's right. The bond that we have with our partners and our desire to fight till the last breath is what keeps us going. You can never take that away from us." Tai, with Agumon by his side and Kari behind him, stood up and nodded in agreement with Tiffany.
"Why do you fight so? These digimon seem to be the strongest that you have, but they still lay no more than a scratch upon me. It would be far less painful if you just gave up now." Myotismon began preparing the attack that he would use to defeat the group as Taylor watched in horror from behind the bush. "Give up? Are you kidding me? There have only been two times in my entire life where I've given up, and both times, I got back up. No matter how hard we fall, no matter how difficult the task is, no matter how impressive their strength is, we will never give up until we accomplish our goal." Tiffany stared down at her Crest, which was shining from beneath her shirt. "NO! ANOTHER CREST?!" Myotismon roared as he saw the Crest of Determination glowing. "Taiongmon, are you ready?" Tiffany asked her partner, fire in her eyes. "I've never been more ready." Taiongmon jumped up as Tiffany's digivice began to shine brightly.
"TAIONGMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" His black and white helmet flew off of his head and flattened itself out into the shape of a shield, floating in front of the digimon. His eyes stayed their bright red color, but the white tunic changed color to a golden-yellow tunic with a shining white wreath. "DIGIVOLVE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The light brown coat grew rougher and stronger, creating a protective covering of fur. His ears tipped off at a point as well. His wooden staff changed into a special sword with a golden blade and a silver sword handle. "ARENTINIAMON!" The shield flew towards the digimon and attached itself to his left arm. He gripped the sword firmly in his right hand and stared out. "PREPARE TO BE DEFEATED!" Arentiniamon roared and pointed his sword at Myotismon.
"Great… Another Ultimate digimon to beat." Myotismon lazily waved his hand, sending one of his Crimson Lightning Whips at Arentiniamon. "HIYAH!" He countered the whip, forcing it to disappear when it hit his shield. "MYOTISMON! LEAVE THIS PLACE!" He yelled as the sword began to glow. "DETERMINATION'S PROWESS!" Arentiniamon sliced down in an x-shape, creating a beam of energy that struck Myotismon dead on, sending the vampire digimon back and forcing him to land on his back. "GAH!" Myotismon's eyes widened in terror as he stared at the powerful digimon. "It seems I may have to cut my losses here." He regained his composure and flew up into the sky, vowing revenge on the digidestined. "Arentiniamon! That was awesome!" Tiffany cheered as the Ultimate nodded and dedigivolved back into Coomon. "You alright?" She caught the small digimon, who nodded and yawned. "He's just tired. He'll be back in tip-top shape pretty soon." Tai told her.
"Well, we couldn't get Gatomon, and Wizardmon is somewhere out there, but we stopped Myotismon from taking Kari." Taylor walked up to the small group, hugging Kari. "I don't like that digimon." The young girl declared, shaking. "I don't either Kari. In fact, I think I know a way that we can stop him from getting really strong, okay?" Tiffany smiled at the young girl, who looked up at her, hopeful. "Send message to ALL. Cover has been blown. Myotismon knows about our existence now. Attack any and all enemy digimon and destroy as many before Myotismon gets a hold of where we all are. Send." Tiffany stood up and smiled as she saw the sun rising. "Oh shoot! I need to get back to Mimi!" Taylor exclaimed. "Will you be able to make it to her place on your own?" Agumon asked. "You betcha. It's only right over there." She pointed to the group of buildings behind them.
Michael woke quickly to the sound of his digivice beeping. "That's news." He whispered to Chinchilmon, who was slowly waking up. "We've got clearance to attack any enemy digimon at first sight." He told Matt, who had sleepily walked into the kitchen holding his digivice. "We all got the same message." Chinchilmon nodded and jumped onto the floor, trying to look out the window. "I wonder what this means for the rest of us. I can't see anything from here…" Gabumon joined him and the four staring out over the balcony.
Luke and Joe, peering at the fine text in a text book, were abruptly shaken out of their educational stupor by the beeping of their digivices. "Woah! What's going on now?" Joe grabbed his first, quickly reading through the message. "That's great news! Basically, you don't have to hide anymore, Ravenmon." Luke smiled and picked up his tired partner. "Where were you last night?" He asked Ravenmon, who just shook his head and smiled blissfully. "Gomamon, I think it's go time right now, actually! Look!" Joe pointed out of his window at the digimon flying over Setagaya. "Let's go!" Luke grabbed a jacket, his digivice, and a banana and ran out of the apartment, Joe, Gomamon, and Ravenmon hot on his heels.
"GO GET HIM RAVENMON!" Luke yelled, watching the two rookie digimon run towards the flying digimon. "RAVENMON DIGIVOLVE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TOUCAMON!" "GOMAMON DIGIVOLVE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IKKAKUMON!" "What digimon is that, anyways?" Joe asked, pulling out his digivice. "That's Airdramon! He's a champion level digimon who is famous for his Spinning Needle attack that blows his opponents away!" Ikkakumon told the other three. "Well, sounds like he's no match for me!" Toucamon launched himself into the air as Ikkakumon began to take aim. "FIERY WING!" "HARPOON TORPEDO!" The two attacks collided with the Airdramon, stunning it and sending it hurtling towards the ground. "Let's get it!" The group began running towards where the digimon had crash-landed.
Myotismon crushed a bone in his hand as he witnessed the destruction of his forces by the various digidestined forces. "GAH!" He saw TK, Linzi, Torpedomon, and Angemon destroy a Coelamon. "There's another one!" He roared as Jacob, Izzy, Ranetsumon, and Kabuterimon combined forces to defeat a Dinohyumon. "NO!" He exclaimed angrily as Mimi and Togemon eeked out a victory against a Ginryumon. "THAT'S IT! THEY WILL NOT DEFEAT ME ANYMORE!" He turned towards DemiDevimon, who shrank against the wall in fear of his master's wrath. "RELEASE PHANTOMON AND THE BAKEMON!" He watched angrily as Sora, Ally, Tunipymon, and Birdramon quickly defeat a swarm of Witchmon flying over the city. DemiDevimon quickly ran off and began speaking quickly as possible to a silhouette in the wall as Myotismon turned to Gatomon. "Hehehe… My time has come, Gatomon… None of your puny little friends will be able to do anything about it!" He began cackling evilly as Gatomon cowered in fear under the evil digimon's gaze.
Taylor and Azuremon snapped Tiffany out of her funk, and helped her save Kari from the clutches of Myotismon as well! However, what does Myotismon mean by releasing Phantomon and the Bakemon? With even more challenges coming for our heroes, how will they rise to the occasion now?