Chapter 14
"You should have explained everything!" T.K. demanded as he stormed into his room, Kyubey on his heels. Kyubey had reappeared five minutes into his trek home. He had stomped up to his apartment in a rage and straight to his room, not even bothering to greet his mom. In fact, if he had woken Nancy up, the younger blond would have been grounded for sure.
But being grounded was the least of his worries; after the night he had, he was beginning to reconsider saying hi to his mom, especially if it was going to be the last time.
"Once again, you should have asked," Kyubey said.
The Child of Hope slammed his hand on his desk and glared at the catlike creature. "You really need to stop saying that!" He threw a chair aside in a rage. "This should've been something you told us before we became magical. Now we're zombies who are going to transform into the witches we're supposed to destroy! We had to kill Tai, Kyubey! He was our friend! And we're going to become creatures of darkness!"
"And if I recall, your wish was to have the power to vanquish all agents of darkness, but you all will become those creatures," Kyubey reminded.
T.K. stopped for a moment, absorbing what Kyubey had said. His wish. I had wished to destroy all dark beings, but doesn't that mean I will have to kill my friends eventually? But I can't. I won't.
But then again, I may have to, even more so if we can't be saved after becoming witches. Tai showed that earlier. The dilemma raced around in circles in T.K.'s head like a race car.
Suddenly, the Child of Hope remembered Angemon's death to defeat Devimon and how heartbreaking it had been without his beloved partner Patamon. Then the younger blond remembered his confrontation with Ken when he had been the Digimon Emperor and how Ken had misused the powers of darkness. Both instances burned him up to no end, the first one more devastating due to a significant loss he still had no trouble recovering from. And it had happened again recently. That was reason to actually go after every being of darkness. To make them pay...and more.
"You did say you wanted to eradicate all powers of darkness, correct?" the catlike creature asked.
"I did say that, but I can't kill my friends. I won't," T.K. said.
"But they will become witches, and if they do and overrun your world, would you still let them live?" Kyubey asked.
"Well..." T.K. trailed off for a moment, but then found his voice. "Izzy said he was going to find a way to save Tai, and..."
"Taichi cannot be saved. The Grief Seed will only become a witch again, and that is if it is used excessively."
"So as long as we keep our Soul Gems clean, we won't become witches, right?" T.K. asked.
"Correct," Kyubey concurred. "However, there are only so many witches in this world. If you somehow kill all of them, and there are other beings of darkness out there, how will you keep your Soul Gem pure? Consider your wish."
Kyubey has a point for once, T.K. thought, even more so if he were to believe the Incubator's rationale. According to that, there would come a time when he would have no choice but to kill his friends, who, like him, are doomed to become beings of darkness themselves. And his wish played a huge part in this situation, one he hadn't asked to be in. However, his conflicting mind returned to Patamon's sacrifice to stop Devimon and Ken's misuse of darkness. His confusion morphed into sadness at the thought of Patamon, specifically the Digimon of Hope's second demise. Tears welled in his eyes.
"Patamon..." he mumbled through tears.
"Yes, Takeru," Kyubey said. "Think of your Digimon and the way he had fallen at the hands of the darkness. Remember, you made the wish to eradicate all powers of darkness, which includes witches. And if you and your friends are going to become witches..."
"I know what I have to do now." T.K. clenched his fists, his sorrow now transformed into rage. "I have to destroy the darkness. All of it."
Kyubey watched as Takeru stalked out of the apartment, anger lining the teen's face.
"Are you prepared to experience the price of your wish, Takeru?"
…
I'm back in the wasteland Odaiba again? Matt wondered, surveying his surroundings to see he had returned to the exact same spot in the ruined Odaiba, but when Matt's gaze moved to a downed building, he noticed some differences.
On that downed building lay Sora, Izzy, Biyomon, and Tentomon, the humans mutilated and the Digimon disintegrating into data. Blood cascaded down that building. The Child of Friendship wanted to break down into a sob and vomit at the same time. Who would slaughter his friends, even more so in such a gruesome fashion? More of his friends. Gone. As if Tai and the new DigiDestined weren't enough.
"You are going to lose much more than that, Yamato."
"Kyubey..." Matt turned to see the emotionless, though somewhat taunting, Incubator between Cody and Gabumon, who didn't even turn to look at the older blond. They were watching Agumon, who was fighting the same figure from before with little success. Not even Pepper Breath had any effect on the figure, as the figure grabbed Agumon by the throat.
"Agumon!" Matt started to rush to stop the figure, only for Gabumon to shout him down.
"We can't interfere, Matt," the Digimon of Friendship said.
"The hell we can't!" the older blond insisted as he continued forward.
"Agumon insists on fighting alone," Cody said.
"It'll be fine, Matt!" the Digimon of Courage assured him. "This is for Tai!"
"Don't be insane, Agumon!" Matt begged.
But it was too late, as the figure slashed the orange lizard Digimon in the throat, causing him to disintegrate into data.
"No, not...Agumon, too..." Matt slumped to his knees, as the figure approached the trio, namely the Child of Friendship, who began to sob. "Please, no more friends. Please, just stop." The last thing he felt was a blade slashing his throat before his vision faded to black.
Matt sat bolt upright in his bed, welcomed by the bright rays of a new morning penetrating his curtain. He checked his throat and breathed a sigh of relief upon knowing he was alive. Or rather, as alive as he ever would. It had been the exact same dream, except that Sora, Izzy, Biyomon, and Tentomon had been killed brutally. Their bodies had been torn open, with Biyomon and Tentomon slowly disintegrating into data. Then Agumon had been killed right in front of the Child of Friendship, Cody, and Gabumon. The Digimon of Courage had insisted on fighting the figure alone, which, considering he couldn't digivolve, had been a dangerous move. And who was that figure? The very figure who had also killed Matt in the last dream. The one that had the same silhouette as T.K.. But it couldn't have been his brother, could it?
Matt glanced at Gabumon, who was still asleep at the foot of his bed, and Cody, who was in the same position on his pallet on the floor. The older blond then looked over at his clock, which read eight and meant he only had thirty minutes before school started. However, school was the least of his worries. He was still exhausted after fighting witches all night, losing his best friend, and gaining terrifying knowledge from Kyubey. Add that to the nightmare from which he had just awakened, and nothing mundane actually mattered to him.
No school for me right now... Matt fell right back asleep, hoping for something pleasant to come to mind, preferably how he would save everyone from the hell into which they had fallen.
…
"Nothing so far!" Izzy slammed his hand on his desk, nearly knocking over the coffee next to his computer.
"Don't you think you should take a break, Izzy?" Tentomon suggested. "Besides, you have school in a half-hour. Not that you'll be in any shape to go, that is. You've been on that computer since we came home."
"I can't give up, Tentomon!" the Child of Knowledge snapped. "I want to save Tai! I need to!" Tentomon's right, though. I haven't slept all night; I've been running on coffee since I came home. But I can't give up on Tai; I know there's a way to save him. I just have to keep looking. "I'm going to save him, Tentomon!" Izzy gripped the Grief Seed that used to be Tai, flames of determination blazing through his every being. Sora would figure out an explanation for the Kamiyas for the time being.
Unfortunately, before Izzy could return to his work, the window behind his computer shattered. The Child of Knowledge's eyes widened upon seeing T.K. step inside in his magical form. A numb expression crossed the younger blond's face.
"T.K., what in the world are you doing here?" Tentomon asked.
"I'm here for the Grief Seed." The Child of Hope nodded to the Seed in Izzy's hand. "I need it to clean my Soul Gem."
"What are you talking about? This is Tai!" Izzy pulled the Grief Seed closer to himself.
"Yes, T.K." Tentomon flew between Izzy and T.K. "We're trying to save Tai!"
"Why are you wasting your time trying to save him?" the Child of Hope questioned, cocking his head. "We're all going to turn into witches at some point."
"We can prevent that from happening," Izzy argued. "You agreed with that, remember?"
"That was until I came to a realization," said T.K. "Now I know there is no way to save Tai and that you're wasting your time trying to find a way."
"Now, by 'realization,' you mean Kyubey," Izzy clarified. "You know not to listen to anything he says."
T.K. paused for a moment, then found his voice and thrust his hand to Izzy. "Hand over the Grief Seed, Izzy! Tai's gone now; you can't save him."
"You'll have to go through me first," Tentomon challenged.
"You don't want to go against me, Tentomon," threatened the Child of Hope.
"I will if I have to! Super Shocker!" Tentomon unleashed a stream of electricity at T.K., but it was too weak and barely fazed him.
"You're still tired from the last fight, huh, Tentomon? Hell, you've been tired for a while." The blond smirked, then swung his staff to send a slash of gold energy at the insectoid Digimon. The Digimon of Knowledge flew into the bedroom door.
"Tentomon!" Izzy rushed to his partner, whose body gradually disintegrated into data.
"Izzy...I'm sorry..." the insectoid Digimon managed.
"Hang in there, please!" the Child of Knowledge pleaded. "Don't die!"
"Don't worry...about...me..." With those final words, Tentomon scattered into data.
"Tentomon!" Izzy shouted, but he had no time to even shed a tear for his fallen friend, as T.K. raised his staff to the Child of Knowledge.
"Please, T.K., don't do this!" he pleaded. "We can save Tai! Please!"
"You still don't get it." T.K.'s apathy returned.
Izzy didn't get a chance to make another response, for the Child of Knowledge felt the end of the staff slice his throat. He collapsed to the floor, dropping Tai's Grief Seed. Blood pooled around him and soaked the carpet beneath him. He tried to move a muscle, but his body refused to listen. He could make out T.K. picking up the Grief Seed in the corner of his eye as his vision blurred.
"T...K..., please..." The last thing he saw was the blond jumping out of the window with the Grief Seed before darkness claimed him.
...
"I think I understand now, Kyubey." Takeru held Tai's Grief Seed to eye level. "That if we're all destined to become a part of the darkness, I may as well kill my friends to save them from such a fate."
"That is not what I said exactly, but I do agree with it, Takeru," the Incubator said. "They need to understand that trying to prevent their fate and saving Taichi is a waste of time."
"And they will," Takeru vowed.
"Takeru is slowly paying the price for his wish...with his friends and eventually himself. He is growing more and more determined to the point where he himself will soon become the darkness he has been obsessed with eradicating." Kyubey continued to study the human, knowing Takeru was gradually falling into despair.