Author's Note: Writing cheesy, cheeeeesy dialog for Piedmon is amazing. That is all.
Journey's End, Pt 1 of 2
Koushiro, Eimi, Tentomon, Mayumon, and Andromon were in the sewers, moving down a long tunnel that branched endlessly into others. Either side was lined with a narrow concrete walkway, and dark, unspeakable liquid ran in between. The smell of waste, decay, and the staleness of places barred from sunlight was all around them, and Eimi kept shuddering on Mayumon's back. Another convulsion had Koushiro looking away from his laptop.
"Are you alright?" he asked, brushing his fingertips along her shin.
"M'fine. Don't like the smell, but what can you do?" She shrugged, staring down at her lap. Her hands were gathered limply there, facing palm up. The skin was red, shining, and puffy, like two enormous blisters. Koushiro grimaced, and the smell of sizzling flesh filled his nostrils all over again, overriding the reek of the sewer. Bile rose in his throat. I remember the smell, but I didn't understand what it was at the time. How did she get burned so badly?!
He leaned in closer, trying not to call attention to his interest in her injury. There was a strange indentation on her left palm. He squinted, but couldn't make out any details in the dark sewer. Bare light bulbs hung from wires at infrequent intervals overhead, and Koushiro held his tongue until they were beneath the next one. When they were below a circle of light, he asked Mayumon to stop and handed his laptop to Andromon. Koushiro held his hands out to Eimi. She tipped her head inquiringly, and Koushiro raised a single brow in reply.
"You noticed," she sighed at last. Mayumon's head whipped around, and she nickered when she saw the burn damage. "I think it might be pretty bad. There's burn ointment in my first aid kit, and I used it, but I don't think it's... sufficient."
Koushiro's hands gripped her wrists as he stared at the swollen skin. He knew very little about injuries and medicine, but the raised flesh had to be a problem. "Why didn't you say something?" he demanded. Mayumon snorted and prodded her shoulder with her snout.
"What can we do?" Eimi asked. "There are no human doctors here. I have Mayumon to carry me. I'll be okay. We'll get it looked at when we go home."
The muscles in Koushiro's jaw clenched, and his hold on Eimi went from tight to punishing. She flinched, and he released her, then raked his fingers through his hair. She was right. There was nothing they could do here. True, they could find medical supplies aboveground, but Machinedramon was presumably rampaging across the city in pursuit of them.
Every muscle in his brow tightened, and he bent over her palms. "Why does one hand have that depression?"
Eimi hesitated and inched back. "Er… There were rivets on Machinedramon's body. I think it's an impression from one of them, burnt into the skin."
A sudden lightheadedness seized Koushiro, and he bumped into Tentomon, nearly tripping over him. Talons closed around his hips, holding him upright. "You touched Machinedramon?!"
"It just sort of… happened. I mean, I dunno, I sort of flipped out." Her eyes rolled up, gazing at nothing. "I sort of… do that, don't I? Too emotional, I guess…"
Koushiro cradled the back of her hands in his. "Will that be there forever?" The words seemed to come from a great distance, and it took a moment for Koushiro to identify himself as the speaker.
Eimi's tongue passed over her lips, and she drew her hands back, removing them from view. "I don't know."
Mayumon whimpered and nudged Eimi's head with hers. She licked her human's cheek with a long, dark blue tongue.
"How are the rest of your injuries?" Tentomon asked. If possible, Eimi's limbs moved even closer to her body, and she appeared to shrink.
"I don't have to walk," she said, looking straight ahead. "I'm fine."
Koushiro stared at her for a long moment. Pressure was building up inside of him, and he wanted to vent, to release it. But what could he say? As frustrating as the situation was, Eimi had the right of it. They couldn't do anything for her, but they could do something for Taichi and the others. The only option was to move forward.
As if sensing his purpose, Andromon handed the computer back to him. Koushiro stared down at his laptop's screen and pointed to a wall in the sewer. "Taichi-san is on the other side of this wall, but I don't see an opening to reach that area."
Without missing a beat, or even blinking, Andromon put his arm through the indicated spot, blowing a portion of the wall out. There was a surprised yelp on the other side, and a huge grin spread across Eimi's face.
"Taichi!" she called. There was a gasp, then the sound of hard footfalls. Taichi's bushy head poked through the gap, with Agumon's hovering below it.
"Eimi!" he cried, his voice breaking midway. He ran to her, clapping Koushiro's shoulder as he passed. Mayumon knelt down, putting Eimi nearer to Taichi's level.
At least I was able to do something for her, Koushiro thought, half-smiling as Taichi caught her in a hug.
A Few Days Later, After Defeating Machinedramon
"TAICHI!"
Eimi's scream seemed to roll down the flat, bare surface of Spiral Mountain, to dip down its sides, and to come echoing back on them in a crashing crescendo. Taichi, Koushiro, Hikari, Eimi, and their partners were on a plateau near the top of the mountain, a wasted, weather-blasted surface partially surrounded by higher walls of jagged stone.
Eimi started to run to her cousin, stumbling as she went. Koushiro caught her around the waist and clung. "You're still hurt," he pointed out, tightening his grip. "I'll help Taichi-san, so wait here with Hikari-san."
"Don't let her come any closer," Taichi shouted. "That's your job right now, Koushiro. Stay with the girls."
Koushiro's teeth ground together. Taichi and Wargreymon were taking on Piedmon, and they wouldn't let anyone help. Worse yet, Taichi refused to stay on the perimeter of the fight. Stray bits of power kept slipping around Wargreymon and bowling Taichi over, and he was covered with dirt and surface wounds. Still, he kept getting up and standing at his partner's back.
Koushiro glanced over his shoulder. Gatomon was worn out after her battle with Ladydevimon, but Megakabuterimon and Ningyomon were ready and able to fight. But whenever they tried, Taichi ordered them off, telling them to protect the other children.
"A leader needs to believe in his team," Koushiro snapped. "Let us help you! After all that we've been through, you should be able to accept our assistance!"
Piedmon hit Wargreymon with a fresh blast of power, and both he and Taichi fell back. Eimi flinched into him and groaned. This time, when she tried to escape his hold, Koushiro released her.
She ran to Taichi, and Koushiro followed, flanked by their partners. Hikari remained at a distance, blocked by Gatomon. Eimi skid to the ground on her knees, then hauled Taichi into a sitting position. Wargreymon intercepted Piedmon a few feet away, and Koushiro flinched, but Eimi didn't react.
"Taichi..." Eimi shuddered as she tipped his head onto her shoulder. Taichi had landed on his face that last time, and his skin was darkening around one eye. The cheek below it was torn, and blood swelled up from under the wounds. Eimi fished her first aid kit out of her bag, ignoring Taichi's attempts to stand.
"Get back," he ordered. Koushiro was half annoyed and half impressed at Taichi's ability to sound completely in control, even in his condition. His head tilted back, and Koushiro stepped forward when he realized that Taichi was looking for him.
"You're an idiot," Koushiro said, looking him right in the eye. Taichi managed a weak smirk in return.
"Listen, this isn't about not trusting you guys. If Sora doesn't come back with Yamato and Takeru soon, then Wargreymon and I will cover your retreat. You'll be in charge, Koushiro. Get everyone on Megakabuterimon and get the hell out of here."
"Taichi!" Eimi cried. "I'm not leaving-"
Taichi ignored her, except to bat away the hands attending to his wounds. His gaze went fiercely focused, and Koushiro swallowed hard. He suddenly felt like a mouse being stared down by a cat.
"I'm leaving Hikari and Eimi in your hands. Don't you dare tell me that I don't trust you."
The words weighed so heavily on Koushiro that his knees buckled under the imagined burden. He reached towards the taller boy, slow and hesitant, unused to offering his touch to anyone but Eimi. Taichi smiled when Koushiro's hand landed on his shoulder, and the redhead swallowed hard.
"Taichi-san, I- I apologize for my comments. But, really, there must be some other way! At least stand away from the battle."
"Wargreymon needs me. Help me stand up, Eimi. Stop pawing at me, geez."
"Pawing at you?!" Eimi tweaked Taichi's nose, and he laughed. "You're such a- a-!"
"A what?" Taichi demanded, taunting her with a smirk.
"You... You're impossible, and I don't know why I worry about you!" Eimi stood and helped Taichi to his feet, and he clapped her back as he passed.
"You're better spitting mad than weepy," Taichi said, so quietly that Koushiro almost didn't hear.
"You're better alive than dead!" Eimi retorted, and Koushiro almost smiled when she bristled like an angry cat. "Hikari and I need you, so you better remember that before you go playing the martyr!"
"Yeeeah, I dunno what a martyr is, but I think I get the gist. Now get out of here, and keep an eye out for Sora, hey?"
Eimi looked like she was going to argue more, but she hugged Taichi, fast and hard, then moved towards Koushiro. "If it gets much worse, I'm hauling him with us, no matter what he says," she muttered to him. Sensing her need for comfort, Koushiro took hold of her wrist, avoiding her damaged palms. It would probably be impossible for anyone to escape without Wargreymon distracting Piedmon, but he would still try to take Taichi with them.
They went back to Hikari, who seemed on the verge of breaking down. Suddenly, Eimi tore her hand from his grip, and Koushiro followed the motion, automatically curious about it. Her finger jabbed at the sky, where a dark speck seemed to be advancing.
"Taichi! Taichi, look! I think it's Sora-chan and the others!"
Koushiro ran towards the edge of Spiral Mountain and squinted. It did seem like a pair of enormous wings were beating in the distance. A sense of bubbling lightness fizzled from his stomach outward, and he turned to Eimi and grinned like a simpleton.
"It's going to be okay!" she cried, dropping an arm around his shoulder.
An icy, overly-polite laugh had Eimi flinching against him. Piedmon was watching them, even as he dodged Wargreymon. "I wouldn't celebrate so soon, my dear children. One of your champions is a mere plaything to me." He flicked his wrist as Wargreymon lunged at him, and he was thrown backward, along with Taichi. "Bring me all of the toys you'd like. It will make no difference; in fact, the more, the merrier! I do love having a nice, full collection of dolls. In fact, let's have a break while we wait for them." Piedmon made a show of getting comfortable on the ground, while Wargraymon and Taichi lay still, unable to rise.
A memory of Puppetmon's voodoo dolls flashed through Koushiro's mind, and he shivered, then stepped in front of Eimi. Her hands landed on his shoulders. Hikari began to cry, and Taichi groaned and rolled over to face her.
"Don't listen to him," he said. "When we're all together, it's going to be okay. We can handle this, but only if we all stay strong. So, show me a smile, okay, Hikari?"
Eimi pushed on him, leading him towards Hikari. Koushiro watched Birdramon's approach while Eimi consoled the child with phrase of encouragement that she didn't seem to believe herself. Koushiro expected Piedmon to attack during the truce he had declared, but the Dark Master remained seated, fixing the lot of them with a grin. The sight of his face, haughty and unconcerned, made Koushiro's stomach churn.
Birdramon alighted on the mountain at last, and Yamato ran to Taichi and knelt beside him. Jyou, Sora, Takeru, and their partners joined Koushiro.
"Where's Mimi-chan?" Eimi asked. Takeru came to her, and she hugged him tightly with her free arm. The other was already around Hikari, who offered the newcomers a small smile.
Jyou sighed. "She's rounding up our allies. Of all of us, she's the most charming, and the least inclined to fight, so I thought it made sense."
Koushiro nodded. They had already met many Digimon who were willing to fight against the Dark Masters, so it was smart to round up the survivors for a last stand. However, he couldn't help but wish that Lilymon's firepower could be added to their party.
"How has it been going? Taichi-kun's not looking so good." Jyou nodded grimly towards Yamato and Taichi.
Koushiro glanced at the children huddled in Eimi's arms and stepped slightly away from them. "It's... not encouraging. Piedmon easily overpowers Wargreymon. I'm not sure if..." he hesitated, unable to vocalize his doubts about the odds of their success.
Piedmon stood and clapped his hands smartly, like a teacher calling his class to attention. "Is this all of you? I thought there was one more. The annoying, whiny one."
Koushiro frowned. Truthfully, he sometimes found Mimi annoying and whiny himself, but the memory of Piedmon throwing a knife at her put him on edge. Their group had its disagreements and clashes of personality, but still, they were a team, and he was on Mimi's side.
"I take it she's not coming." Piedmon sighed. "What a pity. I would have loved to put that one down..."
Taichi took hold of Yamato's shoulder, and the blond hauled him to his feet. "Keep wishing!" Taichi spat. "C'mon Yamato, let's go!"
Gabumon warp digivolved, then fell into stride with Wargreymon. They ran at Piedmon, but he held his ground, still smirking. He pulled a square of white fabric from his pocket, and, for a moment, Koushiro thought the Dark Master was going to wipe his nose.
Piedmon tossed the fabric, and it expanded into a large canopy that engulfed Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon. Baffled, Koushiro stepped forward, watching the Digimon move beneath the fabric. Then, the bulges vanished, and the sheet laid flat and still against the ground.
"What the-" Taichi tugged on Yamato, and the boys ran towards the sheet, moving like contestants in a three-legged race.
"Taichi! Yama-kun, stay back!" Eimi fell to her knees as Hikari and Takeru lunged forward, trying to follow their brothers. She held them back, hefting them onto either hip with a tortured groan. Takeru accidentally elbowed her in the ribs, and she cried out and released them, then doubled over, holding her wounded side.
Koushiro and Jyou ran to grab the kids, and Koushiro secured Hikari and looked up in time to see Piedmon throw another sheet over Taichi and Yamato. A horrible snarl, half pain and half rage, sounded from behind Koushiro, and he fought not to look back at Eimi. He wasn't sure he could stand to see her like that.
The second sheet flattened out, and Piedmon casually strolled over. Once he was beside the sheets, he flourished a hand and bowed, catching corners of the fabric as he bent. Then he raised the material, and it shrank back to its original size, revealing... nothing.
"Is this some kind of sick trick?!" Sora demanded. "Where are they?!"
"Look closer," Piedmon chided, shaking his head in mock sympathy. "They're all right here." He picked something up from the ground, and Koushiro exclaimed when he saw keychains dangling from Piedmon's fingers.
"It can't be..." Jyou bent over and held Takeru against his body. The boy was wailing for his brother, who, incredibly, was now a tiny plush keychain.
"What, no applause?" Piedmon sighed and shook his head. "Tough crowd."
Koushiro had never felt so cold in his life. The freezing sensation seemed to start in his brain and spread outward. He pinned Hikari to his side and backtracked until he was next to Eimi. "We have to retreat, we have to get out of here, let's go while we can!"
"Monster," Eimi whispered. Her eyes fixed on Piedmon, not with fear, or even grief. There was a rage there that Koushiro had only seen a few times, when her sense of decency was offended enough to release something frightening in her.
"No," Koushiro ordered, blocking her line of sight. "Eimi, this is not the time for one of your… maelstroms. We need to retreat!"
Sora grabbed Hikari and hefted her up, holding her across her chest. "You get Eimi-chan! Jyou-san and I have the kids. Let's go!"
Piedmon laughed and jostled the keyrings together, creating a cheerful jangling sound. "Going somewhere? You're forgetting your keys! And besides, the show has only just begun!"
He snapped his fingers, and fire erupted on the surface of the mountain, engulfing some of the Digimon. They regressed and leaped towards the core of the group.
Tentomon waved his talons and jumped around. "Get down and roll!" Koushiro ordered, and Biyomon, Galemon, Tentomon, and Gatomon obeyed, and a few passes smothered the flames on their bodies. Meanwhile, the walls of fire moved inward, encircling the group in all but one direction.
"Forward is our only option," Koushiro shouted. "Come on!"
"He's trapping us," Eimi pointed out. She grabbed Gomamon and snuffed the cinders on his tail, then sat him back down.
"What else can we do?" Jyou asked, staring helplessly at the fire reaching several yards above their heads. "There's no room to digivolve."
"Where did Piedmon go?" Sora asked. She lead the charge, holding on to Hikari's hand, and the others fell into line behind her.
"He's hiding somewhere, watching us," Eimi said. "This is all a game to him." Her voice was hollow, but burning. Her eyes darted around, and, somehow, Koushiro could sense her looking for options, trying to plan ahead, fueled with concentrated fury. But truthfully, there was nothing to be done now. Their best warriors had fallen in an instant, their leader was gone, and they were obviously being trapped. The roaring of the flames closing in on all sides filled Koushiro with a primal fear, and he ran thoughtlessly in a panic, following Jyou.
The tunnel of flames herded them towards an opening in the rocky wall of the mountain, and it was enter or burn.
Koushiro took hold of Eimi's arm and hauled, and she lurched after him. A gap formed between them and the others. Although they hadn't been running long, Eimi was grimacing and panting. Her injuries are still mending. Koushiro could feel her fighting to move beside him, but he lacked the strength to make up for her deficiency in speed. "Go!" she shouted, releasing him and shoving him ahead.
His answer was automatic, thoughtless. "Absolutely not. You received those wounds defending me. How could you expect me to leave you behind?"
"What's the point of both of us being-" A grunt of exertion drowned out the end of her sentence. Koushiro threw an arm around her waist and pushed forward. Thankfully, she couldn't argue and breathe at the same time, and she chose to focus on running.
They passed through the opening in the mountain and into a dark, massive cavern. There was a wall of stone on their right, a narrow path beneath their feet, and open space on the left. Koushiro nudged Eimi towards the wall and tried not to wonder how far down the drop went.
The faint light of torches mounted in the cave wall revealed silhouettes standing ahead. "Why aren't they running?" Koushiro muttered.
"They aren't waiting for us, are they? They can't- they have the kids with them!" Eimi pushed off against the cave wall, stumbling forward a few steps. Koushiro grabbed her around the middle when she tottered.
Careful! Galemon chided, saving Koushiro the trouble. Big fall.
Tentomon flew ahead to scout the situation, then returned. "There's a gap in the path with some trapeze hanging over it. Gatomon is helping everyone cross, one at a time."
Koushiro felt blood draining from his face, leaving his cheeks cold and drawn. The thought of hanging suspended over the chasm in the mountain was enough to seize him in vertigo. How will Eimi swing on a trapeze in her condition? No answer came to mind, and Koushiro grabbed her waist and clung.
By the time they reached the end of their side of the path, Jyou was helping Gomamon onto the nearer of two trapeze, sitting him on it like a swing. He pushed his partner over the void, and Gatomon swung towards Gomamon from the further trapeze. Koushiro's stomach flipped when Gomamon leapt from his perch, hovering in the air for a moment before Gatomon's paws closed around his flippers.
"Stars," Eimi groaned. A far less polite exclamation followed, and Koushiro blinked up at her. She was looking over her shoulder, so he turned around.
Piedmon was strolling towards them, his arms crossed, his lips twisted into a smirk. Jyou grabbed Koushiro beneath the arm pits, and Eimi lifted him around the waist, grunting with the effort.
"Lift your legs!" she ordered. Koushiro obeyed automatically, and Jyou placed the trapeze under his rear.
"Hang on!" Jyou closed one of his hands around the rope, nodded to Gatomon, then pulled the trapeze back.
"Wait!" Koushiro cried. He reached back towards Eimi, but grabbed hold of the rope when the thin cylinder of wood lurched beneath him. "Wait- not me- Eimi!"
She screamed, and Koushiro turned in time to see a white sheet falling towards them. It's going to turn all three of us at once, Koushiro realized. His eyes locked on Eimi's, and he lunged towards her, nearly falling.
Jyou shoved hard on Koushiro's back, then turned and jumped into Piedmon's sheet, pinning it to the ground before it touched anyone else. Eimi's keening filled Koushiro's ears, overriding the rush of moving air and the pounding of his pulse. Koushiro glanced over his shoulder as Tentomon flew past, then and flinched away from the corner of another white sheet. Tentomon fell into it, shielding Koushiro, and he screamed and flailed after the falling keychain.
"Koushiro- jump! Now!" Gatomon scraped his ankles with her claws. Somehow, he remembered that Eimi still had to cross, and there was not time for him to miss this pass. He jumped, and Gatomon seized his wrists.
He landed on the other side and turned, facing Eimi. Tentomon was dangling on a keyring from Galemon's teeth. Eimi reached for the trapeze as it swung towards her, but it bounced off of her fingers. Koushiro watched it arc back towards the center of the chasm with horror. Piedmon was still advancing, unfolding a new handkerchief with mocking slowness.
"Would you run, already?!" Eimi screamed. "You too, Gatomon- get out of here!"
The trapeze froze, then moved backwards until it hovered at the perfect height for Eimi to take a seat. "Gale-" Eimi protested, but her partner shoved at her back, and Eimi obeyed.
She knew what would happen. That much was clear in the tight set of her face. When Eimi's hands closed around Gatomon's, a new sheet fluttered over Galemon, and Piedmon stooped over and retrieved two keychains from the stone path. Eimi and Gatomon landed beside Koushiro, and he grabbed her arm and ran.
For once, Koushiro actively tried to avoid thinking. The whole world narrowed down to the act of placing one wobbling leg in front of the other and pressing forward. If he thought about Jyou, Tentomon, and Galemon sacrificing themselves for him and Eimi, if he considered that their ability to fight Piedmon was virtually nonexistent, if he wondered how he could keep dragging Eimi along at this pace...
Well, suffice to say that he couldn't afford to think.
The environment began to shift, with planks of wood covering the cave walls. The place began to take on the appearance of an abandoned fun house. They passed half-shattered curved mirrors, pinwheel walls that no longer turned, and ornate circus cages with bars bent apart. There was a display of mounted weapons, mostly swords and knives darkened with black, dried grit. The floor planks came to an abrupt halt a few yards away, and a banister surrounded the perimeter. There was another thin, winding cave path in the distance, somewhere below and ahead of them.
Wooden pedestals were scattered around the room, bearing short swords displayed on red cushions. Eimi leaned on one heavily as she passed, then coughed as dust rose from the pillow.
"Come on!" Gatomon had stopped a few yards ahead of them, and she motioned towards them violently.
"Go, Gatomon! Catch up with Hikari. I'll stay with them." Gomamon waved her on with a flipper.
Gatomon shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I- I want to turn you down, but-"
"Go!" Eimi cried, and Gatomon took off, moving with dizzying speed. She leapt through a gap in the banisters, and Koushiro gasped when she disappeared from sight. He couldn't be sure from here, but it seemed like a long fall down to the cavern floor.
"I think... I think there's a slide, and she jumped onto that," Eimi muttered. She was leaning heavily on Koushiro, using him like a crutch. His shoulders were going numb with the weight, but he kept going, fueled by panic.
They approached the gap in the banister, and there was a yellow, worn slide attached to the edge of the wooden flooring. It curved in on itself in a spiral, leading to another narrow path about two stories below them.
"You first," Eimi said, releasing him and clinging to the banister. Koushiro would have rather pushed her down first, but time spent arguing was time wasted, so he let Gomamon slip past him, then sat at the mouth of the slide.
An odd thudding sound had him glancing back, and he jerked when he saw a short sword in Eimi's hand. Suddenly, Koushiro's heart seemed to be in his throat, choking him, pounding hard enough to vibrate his skull. "Eimi, what are you planning to do with that?!"
"Go!" Eimi pushed against his back with her shin, but Koushiro grabbed hold of the sides of the slide and clung.
"What- But- You can't fight Piedmon, Eimi!" He tried to anchor himself with his feet, but couldn't find purchase. "You're injured, that's insane, and- and-" He looked at her face, pale but set, and her eyes, sparkling with something like fever. "You, you truly are a little insane, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I've been worrying about that, myself," she muttered. "But really… I'm just doing what I need to, Kou-chan."
His brain froze like a stalling processor. Somehow, he heard 'good-bye' in the caressing way Eimi spoke his name. Something fuzzy seized his ankle and heaved, and, between Gomamon pulling and Eimi pushing, he was dislodged. The slide was smooth to the point of being slick, and his body shot down like a torpedo from a chute. Koushiro flailed, trying to catch himself, but all he did was tear skin from his palms and bruise his fingers. He couldn't even call out to her. Anguish and anger blocked out his senses, as if he had plunged his head into running water.
In an instant, he was tumbling onto the rocky cavern floor. Gomamon hauled him to his feet, and Koushiro followed him blindly. He kept alternating between feeling overwhelmed by emotions, and feeling carved out, dead on his feet, like a zombie.
There was no way back up, no partner to digivolve and fight with, and precious little left to fight for. Running was all that remained.
Author's Note: You know, gotta say, I'm beginning to think that Eimi does sort of lose it a little sometimes.
Also, I decided that Taichi has officially ditched most honorifics at this point.
The next chapter will be posted two weeks from today. It will conclude the 01 arc in four main scenes. Then, there will be a very short interim chapter, to represent the sort of… You know how it's hard for soldiers to reintegrate into civilian life? Something like that. Is there a word for that feeling of being a warrior in a peaceful world? After that, we'll have a few chapters before 02 starts. A lot of important stuff takes place in the middle.
You'll notice that I wrote the kids as being older than they are in the official 01 arc. I thiiiiink that, officially, Koushiro and Mimi are eight, Tai, Yamato, and Sora are ten, Jyou is twelve or thirteen, and I guess Takeru and Hikari are, like, six? Could be wrong. I wrote Takeru and Hikari as about eight, Jyou as about fourteen, and everyone else as about twelve. This is so they can be high school age in 02, instead of middle school age.
Because… Well, high school! XD
Just wanted to avoid confusion.
Right! Please tune in for the conclusion in two weeks! Are you stoked? Because I am!