Disclaimer: The key term here is fan fiction. That means that whatever I write under this term, I do not own. Digimon is no exception.
The Four Seasons: Chapter 37
Fourth Arc: Symphony of thirteen/01
The Shadow's Divergence and Tai's Journey: Part 3
The digital sun hung above the gathered group, a calm, but rather unnerving quiet having settled over them as recently shared information was processed, and a conclusion was made. As if to suit the mood with action, a wind picked up and a second later a scream rent the air as an attack was sounded.
"Earth Spirit!" Shouted Digital-Dragon-Master as she hurled an energy blast at the author Avatar known as Arc22, while around her, the other assembled Avatars stared at her in shock as the attack connected with its target, sending him to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dirt as his back slammed downwards, his breath getting knocked from his lungs.
"Wha…?" Began one of the other Avatars, but the one that had come in with Arc22, Goldcat, beat him to the punch.
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!" She screamed at Digi-Dragon as she stepped in front of her comrade, completely shocked that an author that she respected would resort to this sort of action. Digital-Dragon-Master looked at her with a rather startled expression.
"What're you talking about? You know what I'm doing! Heck, I'm surprised that you even brought him with you after what he did! Isn't that right, Lord of Fantasy?"
The sound of that name did it, and soon the other authors dropped into defensive stances, readying their Avatar attacks to blast Arc22 out of his account, and Goldcat too should she decide to back him. Arc22 coughed as he got some of his wind back, and sat up.
"I could have told you that this would happen," wheezed Arc22. "After all, Digi-Dragon was a fan of the Arc22 account's stories, and you never bothered to update the profile page…"
"Oh," said Goldcat as her feline face turned a light shade of red. "Oops…"
"Did you really think that you'd be able to slip by me by using an old account? Even with a change of Avatar?" Demanded Digi-Dragon hotly. "I mean, seriously, that is such a dumb, and might I add obvious idea that I can't believe that you actually would have done it. I would have thought that you'd be a lot smarter than that, but then considering what you did during the Fable War I guess intelligence just went out of your mind!"
"I wouldn't go that far," said Arc22 as he got to his feet, fingering the large sword that he had strapped to his waist. "But then, I didn't expect to come back here myself. Goldcat changed this accounts password too by the way, so until now this door was closed to me."
"Whatever," said Digi-Dragon. "Get out of the way, Goldcat! I wanna pummel this creep into the next millenniummon, and then get him to tell me where he took the characters and how to get them back!"
"He didn't kidnap the characters!" Exclaimed Goldcat, her voice starting to show signs of strain. "C'mon, he only wants to help… honest!"
"Sure, and Piedmon plays poker with the Digidestined without trying to kill them…"
"Actually," coughed one of the authors behind Digital-Dragon-Master. "He does. I sat in for Matt last Friday. You should see his card tricks…"
"Oh, shut up!" Said Digi-Dragon before returning her gaze to Goldcat. "I'm going to ask you one last time; get out of the way. I don't want to have to fight one of my favorite authors just to get at that bum, though why you're defending him is beyond me. I didn't think that author's could brainwash other authors…"
"Did it ever occur to you that he might not have something to do with what's been going on? I mean, c'mon! Can't you give him a chance to explain his actions? I thought that you at least of all authors would hear him out before going in on him like this! Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?"
Digi-Dragon scowled.
"You wanna give me a reason why I should even trust this scumbag?"
"Because I can help you get the characters out of that stupid website that's kidnapped them," grated Arc22. Digi-Dragon turned to him, her reptilian eyes narrowing as she flexed her dragon wings irritably.
"I'm sorry. Were you under the impression that I was talking to you?"
The Avatar known as Arc22 growled, but kept his peace. Digi-Dragon turned back to Goldcat, who just shrugged her shoulders.
"It's true. He's got an idea that we can use to breach the defenses of that domain zone, at least temporarily. That, and we also have to rescue Dean and another friend of ours from there as well."
Digi-Dragon turned her gaze back to Arc22, not liking this at all. On one hand, she didn't like the idea of siding with a person that she considered a traitor, but there were the characters and their well being to think about. If the now former Lord of Fantasy was really behind all this, then why did he come here to help them? It could be as a way to eliminate what authors were already preparing to resist him, seeing as how Dean was already taken care of…
But…
Goldcat, despite her association with the Lord of Fantasy both on the old Arc22 account and on her own, was known to not trust out of blind faith. She had a head on her shoulders that said that she thought and questioned things often, even if that something was a friend. The reviews that she left certainly said as much, as she would point out little or big things that were inconsistent, and it was known that she tended to choose the story over the couple, something that Digi-dragon knew to be a bone of contention between her and Lord of Fantasy after the events of 02 had ended. She wasn't one to be swayed easily, and it would take a very persuasive argument to get her to change her mind. What was it that made her so sure that Arc22, or the Lord of Fantasy was on the level with this one? Settling her gaze on Goldcat, Digi-Dragon decided to take a leap of faith.
"All right," said Digital-Dragon-Master. "But I want Arc22, or Lord of Fantasy, or whatever he calls himself to stay out of this for the time being unless he's spoken to. Until then, I want you to tell me everything you know about this little debacle, and what he has to do with it."
Goldcat nodded, and carefully swallowed before beginning.
"Well, shortly before we got an E-Mail about the characters disappearing, Arc22… Mark… approached us wanting to find the missing data of Milleniummon…"
Time flew for most of the children on wings of an Angemon as they journeyed across the barren wasteland of the desert of Server, avoiding Etemon and Devimon's traps as deftly as they could, gathering the crests belonging to Joe and Mimi as they came up. The Coliseum where they had originally encountered a wild Greymon, and the sand sailing cruise ship belonging to the rooster digimon, Kokatorimon. All things considered the majority of children could say that they were fine…
Tai on the other hand…
Tai was trapped in his own personal hell right now. To recap, there was a struggle that involved an author known as the Lord of Fantasy who had tried to change the story of the Digimon characters to suit his own desires, and Tai was one of the unlucky characters that had been scarred by that conflict, slowly, and steadily spiraling into a depression. He had counted the Lord of Fantasy as one of his closest friends and he had been betrayed. And just when everyone thought that it couldn't get any worse…
It happened again.
Finding out that you're a victim of deranged authors who want to not only make your story theirs, but to remake it so that it fits their desires not just once, but twice, has a way of making a person feel a tad bit irritated at the world. And that sort of frustration has a way of carrying through the bonds of Digidestined, and partner digimon, as Agumon had shown in the most disastrous way possible, a dark digivolution.
Tai's frustration at the recent turn of events, combined with his own depression and the problem of having to deal with an upgraded Etemon (as if the original hadn't been bad enough) did little to alleviate the situation that everyone was in, and his own emotional chaos seeped through his link with Agumon, making him digivolve into the evil and frightening SkullGreymon instead of his true Ultimate form of MetalGreymon. With Tai finding himself unsure of how his emotions will affect Agumon in any possible future battles, he had declared himself unfit to lead the others. Well, not openly mind you, but the way he moved and spoke seemed to give everyone a clear indication that he apparently thought so, and he deferred more and more of the decision making to the others, particularly Reno and Jane, though as to why no one seemed to understand to clearly. While Tai tried to maintain an outlook that was still reminiscent of his old self (and failing in that regard) the group plodded onwards through the desert, setting their sites in the direction of an upside down pyramid. Weird, but that's where they were headed, as they believed it to hold the key to their getting out of this twisted copy of the digital world that they had all known.
"You know," said Reno, as he took a look around at the vast plain of sand around the group. "I'm experiencing a strange sense of déjà vu."
"Reno," said Jane. "We're in a desert. I imagine that there's going to be a lot of terrain here that's bound to look familiar."
"I'll say," said Mimi. "This is just like that time that I was in the Digimon TV show, right after I got my crest…"
"Mimi," groaned Jane. "This is just like the time you were on the show. And we just got your crest yesterday…"
"My. Aren't we Miss Cranky? And what possessed you to wear those clothes, especially in this heat? Black? Yuck!"
Jane just rolled her eyes.
"For your information, my author designed me with this outfit, which I happen to like by the way. Though there is something to be said about wearing dark clothing in the middle of a desert."
"I'll say. Hot!"
"No argument there," agreed Jane.
Next to her, Reno was in deep thought. Something was bugging him. Something seemed off for some reason. It was now more than just a sense of déjà vu. Something about what Mimi had said about how this was just like the episode after she received her crest. While a little stupid sounding, it poked at Reno's brain like an incessant itch that refused to be scratched.
"Okay, I admit that a breeze would be nice," said Tai in an attempt to sound jovial. "But it's still a beautiful day, don't you think?"
Reno's eyes suddenly widened as something began to click in his mind.
"Yeah," said Agumon from next to Tai. "Maybe for a scorpion."
No way… oh crap! Thought Reno, his mind racing. Something happened in this episode, real early too! What was it? I know something big is about to occur, but what? What?!
A memory of the first episode of Digimon flitted through his mind and all the pieces fit together.
"Hold on everybody!" Said Reno. "I think that this is the episode that Kuwaga-AAAH!!!"
Suddenly the ground erupted beneath the children's feet, sending most of them falling backwards while Tai and Agumon, who were at the head of the group, disappeared beneath the sandy ground, only to be hauled upwards into the air a second later as the familiar form of a Kuwagamon came out of the ground, with the duo gripping its pincers tightly. The massive insectoid thrust its head upwards, tossing the goggle-wearing boy and his dinosaur partner into the air, sending them into the ground face first where they became stuck. Agumon's feet kicked the air frantically as muffled screams could be heard coming from beneath the ground.
"NO WAY!" Shouted Jane. "I THOUGHT THAT WE DESTROYED HIM!"
"It might not be the same one," said Reno.
"Hold on. You wanna run that by me again, Einstein? If I remember my episodes this was supposed to be the very same Kuwagamon that first appeared at File Island, and we smoked him! There's no way that he could have been reformatted at Primary Village and digivolved this quickly just so that he can show up here again!"
"Well, I have a theory about that…" began Reno, but was cut off as Dagmon leapt at the massive beetle.
"NEVER MIND THE THEORIES!" Howled Dagmon as he soared towards Kuwagamon. "LET'S JUST TAKE 'EM DOWN BEFORE HE SLICES AGUMON IN TWO!"
Dagmon opened his jaws, and his teeth grew before turning black. He closed in on the Kuwagamon, preparing to bite off a chunk of the large, viral champion insect.
"Shadow Fang!"
With a growl, Kuwagamon tossed his head with just enough force so that the ends of his pincers batted the wolf digimon to the side. The distraction gave Agumon just enough time to dig himself out of the ground and get back to his feet, turning to face the adversary.
"Pepper Breath!"
A concentrated fireball erupted from Agumon's mouth and shot towards the Kuwagamon, causing the digimon to scream in pain, but he didn't back down.
"Uh…" began Agumon as Kuwagamon started to lean towards him, pincers spreading. "I'm having flashbacks here…"
A short distance away, Tai Kamiya had also dug himself out of the ground and was currently watching the battle, a familiar feeling of anxiety spreading throughout his body as Gabumon shouted for Agumon to digivolve to Greymon.
"All right," said Tai. "All right. Rethinking our training program here…"
The image of SkullGreymon flashed in his mind. Tai cursed himself and ran forward to help his partner. He had to remind himself that he had already experienced episode eighteen once, and that one time was enough for him to know that Agumon's Ultimate form couldn't show up unless Agumon was already at the Champion level. Maybe that worry came from some residual effect of the script that he and the others wre forced to go by before they regained their memories, or maybe it was a result of seeing SkullGreymon again. Either way, it didn't matter. What did was Agumon's safety, as he was just standing there like a stone statue while Kuwagamon drew closer.
"AGUMON! STAY AWAY FROM HIS CHOPPERS!"
At the sound of Tai's voice, Agumon snapped back to reality, but it was already too late to digivolve. Not with Kuwagamon so close to him with his pincers.
"MOVE AGUMON!" Shouted Gomamon, unable to believe that he was reliving this moment again, just as he had found it difficult to believe that he had basically relived every moment of his time in the first season already. "MOVE! MOVE! DO SOMETHING! GET BACK!"
Jane stepped forward, digivice in hand with Munnimon joining her, only to be stopped by Reno's arm.
"Wha…?"
"Don't," said the boy calmly. "They need this. Besides, you know what happens next."
Jane looked at Reno skeptically before nodding her head. Reno was right. Tai and Agumon did need this, but they couldn't just stand back and watch this happen again. Besides, what if things went differently?
Tai bowled Agumon over just a second before Kuwagamon's jaws snapped forward, barely avoiding becoming a bloody hood ornament for the insect.
"Got you!"
Agumon looked up at Tai first, and then at Kuwagamon, watching him pull back.
"Nice one," said the orange dinosaur as Kuwagamon lunged forward once more, snapping its pincers closed with no apparent sign that doing so was making a difference. As the kids stood by, watching the scene unfold in front of them, a voice sounded upon the air.
"Pixi Bomb! Seek and destroy!"
Before any of the children could react, a strange spherical object with a nasty, grinning face and bat-like wings soared towards Kuwagamon, and a second later, the giant insect was reduced to data debris. The children, breathing a sigh of relief, rushed forward, asking Tai and Agumon (who were half buried by the sand that had been kicked up by Kuwagamon's destruction) if they were all right. As if there was any reason to doubt otherwise, as they had already been through this scene once before, which was why no one was surprised to see the small, round, spear wielding, pink furred form of the fairy winged Piximon striding through their midst, singing a strange, drum like tune as he passed by.
"Yi-deh-deh-dee-duh-dee…"
"Piximon," said Jane as rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Probably because you've already seen the episode," said Joe Kido as he pushed up his glasses.
"I was being sarcastic."
"A powder puff with wings!" Exclaimed Mimi from her spot next to Izzy, gripping the boy's hand tightly in one of her own.
"Do we have to go through the same song and dance as before?" Asked Matt.
"HA!" Exclaimed Piximon as he spun around and pointed his spear at the children. "Singing and dancing seems to be all that I've seen you kids do! You kids are supposed to be the Digidestined, but half the time it seems that you yourselves are just as much the enemy as those that you fight! Yup! Yup! I've heard a lot about you but so far I am not impressed!"
The children all stood up at that, feeling a little insulted but they had to remind themselves that this version of Piximon had not seen the adventures that they had already experienced, and were experiencing again.
"You seven…" Piximon halted and did a quick head count, a look of confusion appearing on the diminutive warrior's face for the first time in all the while that the children had known him. Nonetheless, he continued on anyway. "…Nine are supposed to be the Digidestined! HA! You better be more careful, or you'll end up Digi-dinners! Yup! Yup! Without my spears or my magic," Piximon waved his spear around as emphasis. "Kuwagamon would be eating you with a side order of Digi-fries!"
"Yeah, we kinda got that…" began Joe, only to be elbowed by Reno, and hence, shutting him up. Anything that could possibly reveal what was really going on to those who were ignorant of what was going on might cause unnecessary complications…
Reno blinked as a thought occurred to him, and walking forward he approached Piximon, who stood his ground, carefully watching the boy as he came forward and bent down to one knee, and held out the arm that had his D-Comp attached to it.
"Hey, Piximon?" Asked Reno. "I… this may sound like a stupid question but… could you touch my digivice?"
Behind him, the other kids sweatdropped. They highly doubted that Piximon would honor such a request, but…
If this was the same Piximon from the FanFic Domain, then having him with his memory back would give them a huge advantage. Reno decided that a little prompting might be necessary.
"…Um… it would… uh… honor me if it was touched by the famous Piximon… like… an autograph and… stuff… heh, heh…"
Reno scratched the back of his head nervously as he felt his face flush. Oh man… this idea sounded so much better in my head…
Piximon looked at the boy with a raised eyebrow, his eyes locked on Reno's eyes as though he were looking into the depths of his soul, searching for any hidden mischief before tentatively reaching forward with his spear, and touching Reno's D-Comp.
There was a flash of light, and Piximon leapt back in surprise, raising his spear in self-defense before finally looking over at the Digidestined. A look of recognition appeared on his face, and he lowered his spear, smiling.
"Well," began Piximon. "This is certainly a predicament, isn't it? Yup! Yup! Thank you Reno for restoring my memories, but now we should get out of here, don't you think?"
"We were heading over to the pyramid from episode twenty," began Izzy but Piximon cut him off.
"Not yet. There are still some things that you kids have to finish up first, like getting your remaining crests for example. And then there's Tai and Agumon…"
"Mwha…?" The two partners were dumbstruck.
"You heard me! You two need lots of help! The way you two were acting today was a lot like the last time we went through this, so it looks like you'll have to go through your training again! I don't know what your problem is, but you two are supposed to be Digidestined characters! I want to see some guts! I want to see some courage!"
"But Piximon," said Izzy. "If we go to the pyramid we might stand a chance of getting back to the FanFic Domain…"
"But you don't know that for sure, do you?" Asked Piximon. "And don't forget, Etemon is still out there, and from what I've heard he's got a partner that's given him a power upgrade, so you'll need all the strength that you have in order to face him! You shouldn't rely on any single plan either; after all, if it doesn't work out you'll be in hot soup then! Yup! Yup!"
"With or without the memories," said Joe under his breath. "He's still the same. You'd think that he'd be asking questions or something about how everything happened…"
"You should know Joe," said Piximon, not losing a beat. "That I have excellent hearing!"
Joe blushed in embarrassment at being overheard, but said nothing.
" There will be time enough for questions later," said Piximon. "But priorities come first! Etemon is out there and we have to get within the barrier before he shows up! Now, follow me!"
And without waiting to see if he was going to be obeyed, Piximon swiftly turned around and began walking in what seemed like a random direction, picking up the same marching tune that he had been singing earlier while the kids held council.
"What do you think?" Asked Sora "Should we go with him?"
"It seems logical to me," said Izzy. "After all, we still may need the crests in order to fight Etemon, and at this stage in our development as characters, we're unable to digivolve our partners to their Ultimate forms without them."
"I agree with Izzy on this one," said Matt.
"But what about this training thing?" Asked Tai. "Do I have to go through that again? The first time was bad enough, and I doubt that there's going to be anything that's going to be different in that stupid cave."
"You never know, Tai," said Jane. "Besides. Piximon's right. Your fighting technique has been off ever since we got here. I don't know if it's from the Fable War events, or from watching Agumon become SkullGreymon again but it's time for you to face your fears again. You wanna get out of here? Then that's what you're going to do!"
Tai said nothing in reply, but instead looked down at the ground and ground his teeth in frustration.
"Let's put it to a vote," said Matt. "All in favor say 'I'."
A second later nine human voices mixed with nine digimon rang out in unison.
"I!"
"Would you all just hurry up?!" Shouted Piximon from a good distance of several yards away.
Shadow Etemon, as he had come to calling himself after being exposed to Devimon's Black Gears, watched the screens with more than a hint of annoyance as images of landscapes, the map of his extensive computer network, phased in and out into television static. Devimon watched the Ultimate from the shadows, a wary look in his eyes as he gauged his mood. Looking at him, Devimon wondered if it was a good idea to join forces with that strange, but powerful child. He had done so out of desperation at the time, but his current assignment made him question his orders. Etemon was erratic and every bit the egotist. These two traits were only heightened by the Black Gears that were imbedded within his body and that made him doubly dangerous, as he would now delete any of the Gazimon that worked for him if they became a little uppity or just plain annoyed him.
I do not trust this Etemon, thought Devimon darkly. I do not believe that he has what it takes to defeat the Digidestined. Perhaps I should see about finding them on my own and destroying them before Etemon does. Even with the power I granted him, he seems incapable of doing the deed himself!
Clenching one of his hands into a fist, Devimon faded into the shadows, determined to find the Digidestined on his own. Not at all noticing Devimon's departure, Shadow Etemon continued to rant at his Gazimon, hauling one of them out of his seat and into the air after he had made an unwise comment towards his temperamental boss.
"Rrrgh! I'll show you a conniption fit you insolent little worm! Fix it right away! I have a show to get on!"
Nighttime…
Jane sighed in contentment as she lay on the floor, her black jacket folded beneath her head and constituting as her pillow. Absently, she brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes before fiddling with the hair band that she had wrapped around her wrist after letting her hair down. Turning her head, she looked around the room. Tai and Agumon weren't back yet from their training, which was to be expected. Journeys of the soul could be long and arduous. Besides, that's how it went in the show anyway. Matt and Izzy were gone as well, and unlike last time Gabumon and Tentomon had gone with them, mostly because they were expecting the two kids to leave them behind again, and Matt and Izzy saw the wisdom in taking them along this time around, having remembered what had happened the last time they went out to get their crests without their partners. They didn't want to be caught facing down one of Etemon's cronies again without backup. Finally, her eyes settled on Reno. He was still awake.
"Hey."
"Hmmm?" Reno turned his face towards the girl. He looked as though she had brought him out of deep thought. Jane sat up.
"What was that theory that you were going on about earlier? The one about Kuwagamon. You never got around to telling us about it."
"Oh," Reno shrugged his shoulders. "It was just something that the Author Dean had told me back before the Fable War, when he had contacted me to look into what was going on in Odaiba. He had said something about how stories would auto correct themselves if they were changed in some way that disagreed with how it went. Supposed to be some kind of defense mechanism I think, which is why another Kuwagamon showed up in the place of the original. Because it was meant to happen so that Piximon could be brought in and introduced. There couldn't be a plot hole allowed to develop that would deviate from the script, which could explain why the Digidestined kept having trouble with their memories back in the Fable war. On one hand, they're memories were altered to correspond to the story, but because they weren't owned by the Lord of Fantasy, combined with the unexpected presence of OC's in the fic, they're original memories would keep trying to resurface."
Reno sighed and shrugged. "Dean was a little bit more in depth than that of course, and the way he said it made it sound pretty complicated but he seemed to understand it, and that was good enough for me."
"I see…" said Jane after a moment. "But… if that's the case, then how come the story hasn't tried to correct the characters? A lot of things have happened already, and I doubt that our being here is keeping the story from self-correcting."
Reno frowned. "That's a good point. Maybe… maybe there's something else going on. Something bigger. It could be the authors from the FanFic Domain or something, trying to find us. Or maybe they know where we are and they just can't get in, but they can affect the story or something. Maybe…"
"A lot of maybes going on here," said Jane. "I'll settle for getting the answers when they show up."
"You're no fun," grumbled Reno. "You know, we're supposed to be prepared for anything. After all, if something happens that lets us know that it's not the authors who are behind whatever it is that's keeping the story from correcting itself we'll need to be ready."
"Look, the way I see it is that we've already seen some signs that this story does self-correct. We've seen the evidence with Kuwagamon and Patamon…"
"Yeah, but then there's Biyomon's current Champion form of Saberdramon, not to mention that the Yokomon village was wiped off the face of the digital world by a berserk Meramon…"
"… … Point taken. But we can't really prepare for something when we don't know what form it can take. For all we know it might be just broken data in the story or maybe the author's too lazy to edit or hasn't bothered to double check his or her notes. We just don't have enough information at the moment."
"We should still at least be on our guard though…"
"I never said that we shouldn't be," said Jane curtly. Reno sighed in exaspiration.
"You know… you can be a tough person to deal with."
Jane smiled softly. "I don't know if that's a compliment or not but thanks anyway. It's how I was written. I take it that you're used to going your own way in things?"
"Normally, yeah. But you have a pretty strong personality. Heck, I'm surprised that we haven't tried to kill each other already."
"I try not to let it get to that point," said Jane. "I don't like to ruffle anyone's tail feathers unless I have to, but you've been pretty good about everything, that and you've come up with some good ideas. At the very least, I listen to ideas."
Reno smiled. "Thanks."
The children were silent for a moment.
"Well," said Reno. "We'd better turn in. If I know Etemon, and the episodes, we'll need to be rested to fight him tomorrow."
"Good advice," said Jane.
A group of screens on Shadow Etemon's viewer finally flickered to life, revealing the map that had once been obscured. A purple circle appeared around one specific location, signaling to the Gazimon stationed at the viewers control panels that something had been detected in that area.
"Shadow Etemon. We have contact in sector G-3, sir!"
"What?" Exclaimed Shadow Etemon as he stood up in surprise and grabbed one of the Gazimon and began shaking him vigorously. "Why that's the sector that we just passed through! Turn us around! Turn us around ya little Whipper Snapper! What're ya waitin' for?"
Shadow Etemon laughed as a thought occurred to him.
"Sector G-3's Tyrannomon's territory! Send 'em at once! I love a roadie with a good appetite!"
The Gazimon blinked. "Uh… Shadow Etemon? I'm picking up Devimon's signal in that area."
Shadow Etemon frowned as he digested this news.
"Care to run that by me again?"
Izzy and Matt hauled themselves out of the well while Tentomon and Gabumon looked at them, anxiously awaiting news of the crests, which the two boys displayed triumphantly. Suddenly a dark shadow fell over them and all four of them looked at its source, and a cold chill nearly froze them in place.
"Digidestined," mocked Devimon as he towered over them. "Your road ends here…"
"Ohhhh nuts," whined Tentomon as Devimon drew back a clawed hand to attack.
"Death Claw!"
The boy's digivices sprang to life, and their crests began to glow.
Tai and Agumon weren't at all surprised to find that they were in the same boat as the last time they had entered Piximon's cave (the stupid cave, as Tai called it), and this time Tai had enough sense to just sit in the boat instead of standing up. So it was that the pair just sat in the boat and waited. Waiting for when they would arrive at their destination. The strange thing was, there wasn't any sign of the bridge that they had gone to last time. Just… fog.
"I'm bored," growled Tai absently. "We've been stuck here for hours and we don't seem to be going anywhere."
"Well, isn't this how it was last time?" Asked Agumon.
"Yeah, but something should have happened by now. Something…"
Suddenly the boat ground to a halt, the wood scraping on pavement as it washed up onto a city street. The ocean or lake that the boat had been on was still there, shrouded by fog, but it ended in the center of a city as though it were a beach. Taking a look around, Tai saw that there were buildings, a familiar and expected landmark to go along with the street, only there was something off about them. Maybe it had something to do with the huge gaping holes that were in them, the cracks in their foundations, the rubble that lay scattered about on the ground, and the smoke that billowed out of ruptured gas lines and destroyed cars. It looked as though a great battle had been fought here. But the question was… where was here?
Looking around, Tai found a street sign that bore a familiar a familiar name on it. The name of the street that Izzy's apartment was located back home.
"I don't believe it," whispered Tai as he took a look back at the empty city streets.
"… We're in Odaiba."
"Hell Contract!"
Dark energy blasts tore up the ground, ricocheting off of MegaKabuterimon's hard shell as the viral digimon tried to buy some distance between himself and the Ultimate level insect. He had definitely not expected such a swift, and powerful digivolution from not one, but two digimon after finding their crests so quickly. And where was the other digimon…?
"Wolf Claw!"
Devimon howled in pain as WereGarurumon's claws tore into his back, shredding his wings. He couldn't take much more of this. He had to get away as quickly as possible, retreat and figure out a way to compensate for the children's newly attained level. Lashing out with his claws, Devimon tried to swat the punk wolf away from him, only to have his arm caught and pulled forward. Before he knew what was happening, WereGarurumon's fist collided with Devimon's face, sending him hurtling into the ground. As the demonic digimon tried to recover, WereGarurumon spoke.
"Give it up, Devimon," the wolf digimon growled. "You're no match for us!"
Devimon smirked.
"Perhaps. But I will not surrender to the likes of you."
"In that case," spoke a harsh voice from above him. "You leave us with no choice!"
Looking up, Devimon saw the massive form of MegaKabuterimon rushing towards him, the great horn on his head glowing.
"Horn Buster!"
There was a great explosion as MegaKabuterimon impacted with the ground.
Shadow Etemon watched the battle take place on the monitors. There was no way that he was going to get there in time. He was half tempted to just leave Devimon to his fate for leaving the trailer and not telling him (that and Devimon just gave him the creeps) but the Digidestined were their mutual enemies. They had to be destroyed! But with two Ultimates out there it was going to be pointless sending in Tyrannomon unless he himself joined the fray, and he was just too far away for that.
And then his sensors picked up another signal.
Devimon's laughter broke upon the air as the smoke settled. Devimon had transported himself out of harms way at the last second, right before MegaKabuterimon launched his attack. Matt, Izzy, WereGarurumon, and MegaKabuterimon followed the source of the laugh, and found Devimon floating above them, wings outspread, supporting his body in the air despite the holes and tears that were in them.
"You are fools, Digidestined! You may have digivolved to the Ultimate level, but that does not make you my equal. However strong you may think you are, know that there is always something stronger! Evil is everywhere, and you cannot destroy them all. All you are doing is wasting your time!"
Devimon let out one last laugh that echoed upon the wind and vanished into the air, as though he had never been.
"That coward," muttered Matt as he began to relax.
"Not a coward. Just smart," said a cold, empty voice behind him, causing the two boys to turn in its direction. They came face to face with a humanoid being, about Matt's size, thin, and wrapped in tattered clothes. His face was covered by a scarf, and a crimson light burned where eyes should have been. If it weren't for this last bit, Matt would have said that he was human, perhaps no older than he and Izzy were.
"Who…? Who are you?" Asked Izzy, honestly startled. He hadn't noticed him approaching them.
The strange beings right arm morphed, becoming a steel, clawed gauntlet. Matt and Izzy gasped as they realized that they recognized it as being similar to that of WarGreymon. Only one being that was human had that…
"The Lord of Fantasy…" whispered Matt.
The being that Matt called the Lord of Fantasy leapt forward, morphing his other arm into a clawed gauntlet and aimed it at Matt.
Tai and Agumon walked through the ghostly remains of Odaiba, the fog that had engulfed the ocean behind them having now spread into the city, covering it with darkness.
"HELLL-LOOOO!" Called out Tai and Agumon. "IS ANYONE OUT THERE?!"
No answer.
"This is pointless," grumbled Tai as he kicked at a chunk of rubble, causing it to tumble off into the mists. Agumon looked at his partner worriedly.
"Why do you say that Tai?"
"Because…" began Tai. "…Oh never mind! I don't know why we're even here! Why was Piximon so set on us going through this lesson again? We've already been through this once, and once was enough! And it's not like this sort of thing matters anyway! We're just characters! We're… not real."
"Is that what this is all about Tai?" Asked Agumon quietly. Tai sighed.
"Yeah," he whispered. "I guess so. You know, it's funny. I never really thought about it before, but when I learned that I wasn't a real character I felt… I felt like I had been expecting it, you know? I guess all characters expect it to some degree. Some have reacted differently though, like Zoe, Rika, TK, Davis, Cody, Yolie… Yolie especially though Davis seemed rather taken with the idea after he had time to let the news settle in for a while. Certainly inflated his ego when he figured that it gave him celebrity status." Tai laughed, remembering Davis's antics after the first week of finding out that he had a cult following in addition to supporters of Daikari.
"And there were all the friends that we made after our show ended," continued Tai after the brief pause. "OC's, authors, we even came to an understanding with some of our former enemies."
"Yeah," laughed Agumon. "Can you believe that the Etemon from back home is now one of Matt's closest friends in the music business?"
Tai chuckled. "Well, I didn't think it would have happened if not for that single that Matt released titled 'Monkey Business', but Etemon sure liked it. Boy, I never thought I'd see the day where he'd be asking for an autograph from one of his old enemies. It was really freaky!"
The two friends shared another laugh between each other before returning to the discussion at hand.
"I always thought that I could trust writers. I mean, sure, there were those authors who would start up a flame war over a pairing that they preferred, or an author who would go out of his or her way to bash a specific character just because they didn't like them, but we all learned to coexist with those people, and vice versa. It's just… none of them went as far as Mark did. And the worst part is, I trusted him. And now I feel as though I meant nothing to him, as if the others and me were just playthings that he could use, regardless of the things that we wanted. For the first time I understood how some of the OC's felt about their lives… about how they felt devalued by authors. Being created just to serve a spot in a story…"
"But, Tai," said Agumon. "Isn't that what we were made for?"
Tai was thunderstruck. For some reason, this thought had never once occurred to him. But why? Why hadn't he thought that before? Maybe it was because he had lived without the knowledge of being only a creation from someone else's imagination that the idea of being a real human being instead of an imaginary one had become so deeply engrained in his character that he never had a reason to think otherwise. Which was the problem with OC's. They knew what they were from day one, despite whatever memories that they might have. Some could handle it, but there were also those that couldn't, and when that happened their story ended up not being finished. There were numerous fics involving OC characters that just sat around unfinished because their creator lost touch with them. Because the characters couldn't deal with not really existing while at the same time having memories that clearly said otherwise.
Tai wondered if believing that you were real first served as some kind of buffer against insanity. Or maybe it was just how they were designed. At the studios, the Digidestined were laboriously created over a period of days and months before they were finished and put down into a manga or a show while OC's were pretty much spur of the moment in comparison. Maybe.
"Yeah. It's what we were made for Agumon, but the Lord of Fantasy abused us. Like I said, I trusted him and he broke that trust. How can I think that any other author could be different now? How can I read a script from a story and not wonder if his influence is in those words?"
For that, Agumon had no answer. But that was what the cave was for.
Suddenly the fog parted, revealing a group of children that Tai recognized all to well. They were after all his friends.
They were all there. Both seasons. Everyone from the original team to the second season group. And, most importantly, he was there. Tai Kamiya, or rather as he was during the Battle of Odaiba during the Fable War. A young adult fresh out of college, hair still as bushy as it had been during his adventures in the digital world. A man who had recently proposed to the love of his life, Sora Takenouchi, only to find that it was not meant to be. That it had all been a lie, a manipulation by someone who could not accept how the story had been told, and refused to settle for just second best. It had to be his way and nothing else. So great was his desire that he had forced Tai to try and kill his best friend. And that… in Tai's mind, that was unforgivable.
As Tai watched the familiar scene, the one where Tai had been trying to rally the other Digidestined to go and fight the Lord of Fantasy, the mists came forward again, and obscured them. All save for the older looking Tai, who upon seeing that his friends had disappeared turned to face his younger incarnation.
"You remember this day, don't you?" Asked the older Tai, and the younger looked at him in surprise. "You were angry, you felt like you had been violated, and in a way you had been; you and the others. You wanted to make the Lord of Fantasy pay for what happened to you, but you also told yourself that no matter what you would not sink to his level. We both grew up a lot during our time in the digital world; otherwise you wouldn't have thought that."
"Yeah," said the younger Tai. "But what's your point? For that matter, what's the point of any of this if people that we trust might take advantage of us? We're not real. None of us are real…"
"Yeah," said the elder nodding. "But our version of the real world isn't all that different from theirs. During our adventures we learned a lot about what it meant to be a responsible person, and about trusting others and believing in ourselves. Maybe it was wasted on us; maybe it was wasted on our friends. Maybe it was all done for the money, but ask yourself this. You're here now. You exist in the minds of all the people who know the story of Tai Kamiya, and after a fashion our life has influenced them in both good and bad ways. Do you really think that it was all for nothing?"
Tai was about to answer yes, but a tug on his shorts made him look down at his partner, Agumon. Memories of when they had first met came to him. Memories, the original ones that is, of the number of times that they had fought together, going on faith, their heart, a plan, or just plain determination, not once knowing that they were running on a script. Did people in the real, real world run on a similar script? Not knowing whether or not they made their own decisions or if it was all preordained? Living by those little storybook concepts known as Fate, and Destiny? These were the sort of questions that were even discussed in the FanFic Domain. An author that he had once read, an author who had gone by the pen name Socrates had once written a story that had posted the question in the form of its title; 'Do the Gods have Gods? It was taken down for being too controversial but it had stuck with Tai. And now, looking at Agumon, he realized that he didn't care any more about what had happened to him. He had lived a good life, made some terrific friends that he wouldn't trade for the world, and had learned lessons about life that some people never get to find out even if they live to be a hundred. Tai gave his friend a comforting pat on the head before returning his gaze to the elder Tai.
"No," he said, feeling the slightest amount of moisture beginning to emerge from his tear ducts. "It was all worth it."
The elder Tai nodded and smiled.
"Cool. Now why don't you leave all this self pity stuff behind and go help your friends? They kinda need you right now."
"Wha…?"
Suddenly Tai and Agumon were surrounded by a bright light, and they saw what had been going on during their absence.
The Avatar that Tai recognized as belonging to the Lord of Fantasy had beaten both WereGarurumon and MegaKabuterimon into the ground by the time the other children plus Piximon had shown up. Currently he was playing tag with Lillymon while Zudomon waited for the pair to slow down long enough for him to get a shot in. Saberdramon circled in the air above them, sending down a flurry of shadowy fireballs at the Avatar. Lunasmon and Rocmon were both on the ground, breathing heavily, having gotten too close to the Avatar's claws. Piximon was guarding the children with his barrier, deflecting any stray blast that came their way.
"Agumon!" Shouted Tai. "Get in there!"
A burst of light surrounded the little orange dinosaur, and his body grew in size.
"AGUMON! DIGIVOLVE TOOO… GREYMON!"
No sooner than the lightshow died down the massive, orange, blue striped dinosaur charged forward, an intensity burning in his soul like never before. As he ran, the Lord of Fantasy finally snagged Lillymon by her ankle and threw her into Saberdramon. Zudomon took that one seconds worth of distraction to unleash his Vulcan's Hammer attack, only to have the Lord of Fantasy dodge it and fly straight towards him, claws extended.
"Nova Blast!"
A superheated sphere of fire suddenly smashed into the Lord of Fantasy, blasting him away from Zudomon and sending him crashing into the earth. Struggling to his knees, the Lord of Fantasy fixed Tai Kamiya with a cold look that almost made his blood freeze.
What the…? Thought Tai as he stared back. That… that can't be Mark. Not the Mark that I remember. I mean, sure, he did disappear after the Fable War but… what the heck happened to him? He looks… empty!
It's almost as if he's not really there…
"Tai…" the Lord of Fantasy spat. "Traitor…"
Tai frowned.
"No. You were the one who betrayed our friendship. Sora, Matt, and I made our decisions and you couldn't accept that and move on."
"You didn't make those decisions," Said the Avatar coldly. "Your original writers did. Did they ever consider what you wanted, Tai?" Tai could almost swear that he could see wisps of cold air escaping the scarf that he had wrapped around his face. An eerie red glow burned where his eyes should have been.
What happened to him? Wondered Tai.
Tai shook his head.
"Maybe. But then again, maybe not. Don't stories take on a life and meaning of their own? Oh well. I didn't come here to talk philosophy. That was never my thing anyway. I'm going to ask you to get out of here before I decide to call out the really big guns."
The Lord of Fantasy got into a defensive position.
"You and what army?"
Tai narrowed his eyes. "The one I call my friends, something that you seem to have forgotten Mark."
The Avatar glared at Tai for a moment before speaking.
"I am not Mark," he hissed. Before Tai could even ask what it was that he was talking about the Lord of Fantasy broke into a run towards the goggled Digidestined. There was a flash of light from Tai's crest, and Greymon felt new power flood through him.
"GREYMON! DIGIVOLVE TOOO… METALGREYMON!"
The Lord of Fantasy suddenly found himself getting swiped into the air by the massive mechanical claw of MetalGreymon. Howling in rage he brought his hands together and summoned an energy sphere similar to WarGreymon's Terra Force attack, but the powerful Ultimate below him beat him to the punch. Not wanting to pull punches with the Avatar (as they tended to be very powerful) MetalGreymon's chest plate opened up, revealing two missile tubes from which he fired twin shark shaped missiles, aimed right at the Lord of Fantasy.
"Giga Blaster!"
The missiles streaked towards their target, exploding upon impact, the concussive force strong enough to force everyone down to the ground and cover their ears. When the blast died down Tai and the others looked up in the sky.
Of the Lord of Fantasy there was no sign.
"It was him," said Jane shortly after the battle. "Reno and I both analyzed him during the fight. That was definitely the Lord of Fantasy's Avatar. No question about it. But there was something off about him. More off than your usual, psychotic, barely in control, author bent on taking over a TV show's story."
Tai could only stare at the horizon, wondering just what it all meant, while at the same time feeling a great sense of relief in his heart. He still hurt deep inside, and he suspected that he always would, but now at last he could move on.
Tai's face became downcast as he remembered the good times that he had shared with the Lord of Fantasy, and found it hard to believe that someone that he had once called a friend could be capable of doing what he had done. But when all was said and done, that was what had happened, and now he may never know the reasons for why he did what he did.
Time to move on, thought Tai. Next stop. The pyramids.
16