Happy New Year to you all! I meant to post this before Christmas, but life just didn't see it that way. Nonetheless, here it is! It IS rated M going forward due to violence and swearing increasing in these last few chapters, so if you're under 17 or you don't like that kind of thing, steer clear. You've been warned.
Chapter 15
"Izzy's probably still asleep, Sora," Biyomon guessed as she, her human partner, and Agumon approached the Child of Knowledge's apartment door. The duo of Love only had a few hours of sleep, having returned home at one and had just woken up at seven to head to Izzy's to check on him and possibly look into reviving Tai.
The Child of Love knocked on the door. A few moments later, Izzy's parents answered, both wearing confused expressions.
"Sora? Biyo? Agu?" Kae, Izzy's mother, greeted. "It's a little early. Izzy might be still asleep. He and Tento have been working non-stop on something all night."
"He wouldn't tell us what it was," Masami, Izzy's father, added.
"It's a school assignment," Sora lied. "I'm his partner, and he asked if I could come by at eight to work more on it with him."
"Well, in that case, I don't see a problem in letting you in," Kae said, as she moved aside to let Sora and the Digimon enter. "We'll take you his room."
When Kae, Masami, Biyomon, and Sora approached Izzy's door, Masami knocked.
"Izzy, Sora's here!" he announced, then found the door pushing open, revealing a horrifying scene.
The Child of Knowledge lay in a pool of blood on his carpet. His throat appeared to have been slashed deeply. Sora also saw that neither Tentomon nor the Grief Seed was present.
"Izzy!" The redhead knelt to his side.
"Oh...my...God..." Kae gasped. "Masami! Call an ambulance!"
When Masami rushed out to call the paramedics, Kae burst into tears and pulled her motionless son to her chest.
"Sora..." Biyomon hovered over her partner and then Izzy to study the damage. "He's dead. The paramedics won't be able to do anything."
"We need to call the others," Sora decided.
…
"Sora, tell me it's not true!" Matt pleaded. He, Cody, and Gabumon had rushed to the Izumis' apartment building within moments of receiving the redhead's call. Sora had explained everything of what she'd seen, causing shock in both boys and Gabumon.
"It's true. Izzy's dead," Sora said, trying her hardest to keep from sobbing again but failing. Biyomon nuzzled her cheek to comfort her.
"I'm here, guys!" T.K. rushed down the hallway to meet up with them, gasping for breath. He was in his magical form. "So...Izzy's..."
"Yeah, little brother," Matt confirmed. "He's dead." The Child of Friendship pulled a still-sobbing Sora into his arms.
"Who or what killed him?" T.K. asked.
"Maybe it was a witch who killed him," Cody guessed. Gabumon nodded in agreement.
"Tai's witch, maybe?" the Digimon of Friendship surmised. "The Grief Seed probably hatched into the witch, which killed Izzy and Tentomon."
"You and Cody might be right," the Child of Hope suddenly said. "In fact, I saw the witch. I was just outside the apartment building after visiting Izzy for a moment about Tai, then when I left, I saw something...dark and sinister break out of Izzy's room. I'm pretty sure it was a witch, but when I climbed up there, Izzy was already dead and the Grief Seed was gone."
"The witch must be still out there, then," Cody realized.
"We need to find it and get Tai's Grief Seed back!" Biyomon declared, hovering over Sora. "Before it kills again."
"I think we should split up into groups," T.K. suggested. "That way, we cover more ground."
"Biyomon, Agumon, and I will go with T.K.," Sora said, starting to manage her tears but felt another round coming on. She tried to swallow them down and turned to Matt, Cody, and Gabumon. "You three make the other group."
"Got it!" Matt replied, then turned to T.K. Something doesn't add up with his story. It just doesn't sound right. Then again, he's my little brother and would never lie to me. He just wouldn't. And that dream...that couldn't have been T.K. who killed me. But Kyubey said someone I cared about deeply caused Odaiba's destruction. Who is it, though?
"We should check up there," T.K. suggested as he, Sora, and Biyomon reached the Tokyo Tower. It had taken them an hour to catch a cab to the Tokyo Tower due to the bustle of the morning commute. Five cabs had been full, and when they succeeded with their sixth, they had wasted no time loading into the car and shoving two thousand-yen bills in the driver's hand for the trip. Add that to the fact that the rush hour had taken an additional thirty minutes to endure, making the otherwise-short trip to Tokyo Tower a long journey. The teens were in their magical forms, with the Child of Love remembering their fight with SkullMeramon on the observation deck. Could the witch who killed Izzy be up there? Did it have Tai's Grief Seed? Sora pondered those questions as Birdramon landed in front of the tower. It had taken little to no time to reach Tokyo Tower by flight, and the redhead thanked Azulongmon she had fed Biyomon three bowls of oatmeal and a huge mug of coffee before leaving.
"It's worth a look-around, T.K.," Sora said as they entered the tower and boarded the elevator. Birdramon de-digivolved beforehand.
The trio disembarked the elevator to the deck, with Sora being the first to get off followed by Biyomon. T.K. and Agumon trailing them. They pivoted the observation deck, each person searching one part of it. The two teens and Digimon checked every crevice for a witch generating or a portal to its labyrinth.
"I haven't found anything over here," Biyomon said from her section.
"Not here, either," Sora added.
"Keep searching. I'm pretty sure there's one up here," T.K. insisted as he kept focused on his corner.
"But I don't even sense one, T.K.," Sora rebutted, turning to regard the blond at the other end of the spacious, empty deck. "Maybe..." She froze mid-sentence when she noticed a Grief Seed dangling from T.K.'s belt. "Hey, T.K.?"
The Child of Hope stopped his search to regard Sora.
"You have a Grief Seed on your belt, but you haven't used it." Then Sora noticed something...different about it, namely the orange energy surrounding it...and the Crest of Courage glowing inside!
"What is it, Sora?" Biyomon inquired.
"The Grief Seed on T.K.'s belt," Sora replied. "That's Tai's! Why do you have it, T.K.?"
"What?" The Child of Hope approached her now, confused.
"You have Tai's Grief Seed!" the Child of Love repeated. "Why?"
The younger blond paused before his gaze descended to the Grief Seed. "Oh, this. Izzy lent it to me before he was killed."
"But Izzy was using it to research how to save Tai," Biyomon argued.
"Izzy entrusted it to me before the witch killed him," T.K. said. "And the witch may be on the deck."
Sora shook her head. "You said you were just outside the apartment when a witch attacked Izzy and that the Grief Seed was already gone!"
"Besides. Izzy would never even use a friend for his own benefit, let alone let someone else use him," added Biyomon. "We care about each other."
"I never said no one cared," T.K. corrected. "Tai is our friend and leader. I care about him just as much as you do. Izzy..."
"Would never make a quick choice like that without getting the facts!" Sora cut the blond off. "What's going on, T.K.? And this time, the truth!" The redhead then caught blood on the tip of T.K.'s staff in the corner of her eye. Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You...killed Izzy..."
"And stole Tai's Grief Seed," Biyomon added.
T.K. shrugged. "Looks like there's no denying it now." He gripped the Child of Love's shoulders as if he were explaining something to a child. "Look, Sora, we're basically already dead. Besides,we magical beings are doomed to become witches eventually. We're going to transform into the beings of darkness we have to stop, and my wish was for the power to destroy all of them. That includes us. I plan to do just that, and I'm sorry to say this, Sora, but I'll have to start with you."
"T.K.!" Biyomon flew between them, glaring at the blond. "We agreed we were going to find a way to break the contracts! That way, no one else has to die! Please, T.K., listen!"
"There is no way to save ourselves!" the Child of Hope argued. "We're only wasting our time trying to find a way. It's easier this way."
"T.K., stop it!" Sora urged as he raised his staff. "You're not thinking clearly!"
"Has Kyubey been telling you things?" Agumon asked.
However, the blond ignored them, swinging his staff at Biyomon and knocking her out of the way.
"Biyomon!" Sora rushed to her Digimon's side. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" The bird Digimon hopped to her feet and stared down the determined Child of Hope. "We have to fight, Sora!"
"Biyomon's right!" agreed Agumon. "T.K. won't listen at this point! One thing, though, someone needs to warn Matt, Gabumon, and Cody!" He turned to the duo of Love. "You two should get out of here! I'll hold him off as long as I can."
"No way, Agumon!" Sora protested. "Without Tai, you don't stand a chance against him!"
"That's exactly why I'm doing this, Sora!" said Agumon. "For Tai and everyone! Trust me, if I survive, I'll have the Grief Seed and we can figure this all out!"
Sora studied the lizard Digimon intently and saw determination and resolve in saving his partner as well as everyone else he cared about. She nodded finally, then regarded Biyomon.
"Let's go, Biyomon," the Child of Love decided.
"But what about Agumon?" Biyomon motioned to the Digimon of Courage.
"We have to trust him, Biyomon! Now let's go! The others have to hear about this!"
Biyomon digivolved back into Birdramon, then the two of them flew out of the tower in search of Matt, Gabumon, and Cody. The Child of Love had a feeling they were not going to believe it.
…
"We should have picked another place, Matt," said Cody, walking through the waiting area after doing a scan through the train platform. He, Gabumon, and Matt were searching Odaiba Station for the witch and Tai's Grief Seed. "It's pretty packed here." The Child of Reliable Knowledge took note of all of the waiting customers filling the platform and the waiting area.
"Exactly why we thought this was a good idea," Gabumon justified, leaving the ticket booth to meet up with Cody. "Witches may be more likely to camp out in places with a lot of people."
"Plus it was closest to us from Izzy's," added Matt, meeting up with the two from the bathroom.
"So we're searching this place out of laziness?" Cody asked.
The duo of Friendship paused for a moment, then Matt replied with a wry smile. "I never said that, did I, Cody?"
Cody knew the blond was lying, for when the group had decided to split up, Odaiba Station was the first place Matt had suggested, and it was only ten minutes away from Izzy's. The three had searched in separate sections of the waiting area and platform, with Cody searching the platform and waiting area, Matt checking the bathrooms, and Gabumon investigating the ticket booth.
"Well, there was no witch on the platform," said Cody.
"Or the bathrooms," added Matt.
"The ticket booth didn't have anything, either," Gabumon put in. "Maybe the lower level has a witch?"
"I am afraid there is no witch present down there, either."
The trio recognized the taunting voice, as they turned to see Kyubey perched on an air vent beneath the ticket booth's window.
"What do you want?" Matt demanded, sick of the Incubator.
"I only came to inform you that there was no witch here. Besides, I would worry about Takeru and Sora if I were you," the catlike creature explained.
"What do you mean?" Cody asked. "Don't tell me a witch attacked them!"
"I do not know that, Iori, but you may want to find them before something happens to them."
"It has to be a witch, most likely the witch we're looking for," Matt guessed. "T.K. and Sora must have found it."
"Or the other way around," added Gabumon. "Either way, they'll need our help!"
The boys and the lizard-wolf Digimon rushed out of the train station to aid Sora, T.K., Biyomon, and Agumon. They didn't know where they could be, so they hoped the others were somewhere close. If not, Matt hoped Sora, T.K., Biyomon, and Agumon could hold their own until the help arrived.
"The danger to Takeru and Sora is not a witch, Yamato," Kyubey said as he watched the quickly-retreating forms of Yamato, Iori, and that Gabumon creature. "Rather, it is someone you care for deeply."
…
"We can't escape our fate, Sora!" T.K. shouted over the railing at the direction the redhead and Birdramon had flown. "Agumon hadn't been able to save you." The blond pointed his blood-tipped staff at a slowly-disintegrating Agumon. T.K. had effortlessly overpowered the Digimon's Pepper Breath barrages. The Child of Hope had deflected every plume of flame Agumon had fired at him before he had pierced Agumon's chest. By the time he was finished with him, Sora and Birdramon were already out of sight. Unleashing an enraged scream, he silently promised to find and kill them for the sake of the Human and Digital Worlds. Fuck the powers of darkness for existing. I'm so tired of them taking everything I cared about one by one. Unfortunately, I have to sacrifice my friends to protect both worlds and save them from turning into witches.