Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Digimon Trinity
Chapter: 135/ Episode 20: A Thread Breaks
Takeru stood stock still.
He didn't know what just happened or even why. The why was more important though because even though the what was indeterminate, it brought a certain…familiarity to it that could not be denied. Instinctively, one hand groped about his pockets, reaching for a digivice that he didn't carry with him to work – too much of a security risk, he believed – and instead found himself closing his fingers around his father's lighter.
It can't be, he thought, feeling a bead of sweat crawl down his forehead, a chill running through his body. It's not possible. He's gone. Patamon…
Yet, that familiar sensation… The one he had felt so many times before in the past. The feeling of energy going out of him. Only a trickle though; far less than anything his long-departed partner had ever taken, but he still felt it all the same and knew it for what it was.
"Mr. Takaishi?" spoke up one of his technicians, who looked at him worriedly, being a bit unsettled by the man's sudden lapse into silence. Takeru shook himself back to attention.
Ghosts and wishful thinking, he thought. Digimon that are loaded can't be brought back.
"Yes," Takeru said, flicking his lighter open before snapping it shut. "Begin the activation phase. I want to see what our improvements to Juggernaut will do to this 'Deva.'"
###
A faint gleam of light surrounded Impmon – unnoticed by his eyes – as he lunged at Indramon. He felt strong… Stronger than he ever felt before! With careless abandon he surged up to Indramon's face and proceeded to rain a fury of blows on his nostril with his tiny fists, pounding as hard as he could. Distantly, he heard someone – Renamon he believed – calling for him to stop, but he ignored her. Instead, he continued to punch and kick and pound and scream. He was going to beat this digimon! He was going to send him back to the stone age and use his data to digivolve! He would…
…do absolutely nothing of consequence to the Ultimate. The light that had surrounded him winked off now and he crashed back to the pavement with a sickening crunch.
"You…You big purple bonehead," he gasped, rising to his feet. "Don't you feel anything?"
He honestly wondered now if anything could harm this Deva. He had taken on the combined attacks of Renamon and her allies and showed not a single scratch from it. The Birdramon hadn't yet done anything appreciable either and…
…and he was watching that stupid firebird as she folded her wings together, completely ignoring him!
Impmon felt his temper snap once more as Birdramon sent a flurry of fireballs raining down upon him. His horn however rose up and devoured the blasts, absorbing them and adding their power to his own.
I'm not good enough, is that it? You think I'm too weak for you to absorb?!
Summoning up his strength once more, he planted his hands in front of him and began to fling a number of fireballs at the horse Deva, who bore them without so much as a single flinch.
"Why won't you fight me?!" he shouted in fury and frustration.
Indramon snorted and glanced in his direction. He had seen the glow surrounding him, but as nothing came of it, he didn't feel there was anything worth being concerned about. However, he was fast becoming tired of the Rookie's insipient whining and demands for attention. He couldn't afford to have his mind divided during battle, and as Rookies were merely 'children' and he far beyond even an adult stage engaging in matters far beyond Impmon's ken…
It is time to remind him of his place, he thought.
"Very well, traitor," he spat. Swinging one limb about in a wide arc, he struck Impmon full on and sent him flying through the air. Flying far…far away. Impmon's form diminished, first becoming a mere speck before vanishing from view in the vast expanse of sunset gold sky. Somewhere in the thick tangle of buildings, he struck the ground, a distant tremor emanating throughout the city, followed by a sudden, violent explosion of fire and the sound of something hard being shattered. A black cloud vomited skyward, devouring the flames that spawned it and leaving the Tamers and Sora to gape in horror at what they had borne witness to.
"Wow, he sure hit that one out of the park," groaned Terriermon weakly, struggling to rise to his feet, only to falter and collapse back down
"We have to help him!"Rika exclaimed. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe what just happened to the little digimon! Shock filled her heart. What Indramon had done to him had been so…so cold blooded! How could the Deva even think about being so brutal towards someone so small and weak?
Is he alive? she wondered fearfully. He's got to be! Please, please let him be okay…
"Or at least pick up the pieces…" Terriermon groaned again, flopping over onto his back, using his tiny arms to hold himself up. He was breathing heavily. They all were – the digimon that is, plus Takato. Indramon had blasted them back to their Rookie stages using their own Trinity Burst against them.
That's…not playing fair, he thought. That's supposed to be what we use to kick these guys' booty! Who does this guy think he is?
"Well…We better do something!" Takato rasped, still clutching at his chest as he crawled over to his partner. His body was trembling badly. One hand was floundering for his digivice and cards, but both spilled out onto the ground as soon as he took hold of them. His vision blurred and he wavered where he knelt. Just as before, during the battle with Mihiramon, he heard the pounding of his heart in his ears. He struggled to focus; to think of how they might be able to get out of this one.
A Crest… His hand blindly sought for his fallen cards. We need a Crest, just like that time… Calumon…
A shadow fell over him and Takato looked up, finding himself staring into the maw of Indramon's shell-horn weapon. Grabbing a card and his digivice, Takato forced himself shakily to his feet. He gritted his teeth together, and for a wonder, he managed to keep from collapsing.
"I am a servant of the Sovereign willing to upload your data," Indramon gloated. "You should be grateful."
"Never…" Takato whispered, his vision blanking out briefly. He thought of Impmon, who only wanted to digivolve; who wanted to play with them in the water. A heart-shaped symbol flickered to life on his chest, but weakly, and it soon vanished. "We're never going to…give up. We'll never…"
His balance wavered again, and Rika's head snapped up in his direction.
Is he…?
"Birdramon!"
Just then, light exploded from the sky, causing Indramon to bring a massive hoof over his eyes to shield them from its intensity. Data swarmed around Birdramon, causing her to grow in size. Takato managed to glance over his shoulder at Sora, who stood blazing like a sun behind him, a red, heart-shaped symbol, the same as his own, burning intensely upon her chest, twin to the digivice she held in her hand. Her expression was one of stone-cold fury.
"Birdramon!" shouted the avian as her shell of data began to dissolve around her, revealing her Ultimate level form. "Digivolve tooo… Garudamon!"
The first thing Rika thought when she saw Garudamon come into being was that she was massive. Great, muscular arms swept down as her wings broke apart the rest of her shell. She was feathered red and gold and what skin there was burned a deep, ruddy color. Her eyes swung up past her armored face and glared darkly at Indramon. Fire rose up about her and Indramon positioned his shell accordingly to accept her attack.
However, Garudamon didn't do as he expected.
Instead of launching her fiery Wing Blade, she hurled herself at the horse Deva, delivering a powerful blow that swatted the Horn of Desolation to the side. Closing in, her fist crashed headlong into Indramon's snout, sending him flying backward with a spray of digital blood flying free from his nose.
"That was for Impmon!" she growled before charging forth and laying into her adversary again. Indramon, however, was ready, and quickly intercepted her, slamming a hoof into her side before attempting to strike her in the stomach. Garudamon blocked the second blow and managed to snag hold of the horse's arm. Tightening her grip, she grunted and hoisted Indramon up and over her shoulder before flinging him down to the pavement with a thunderous crack that shook the earth beneath the Tamers' feet. Undaunted, Indramon rose back up and slammed a hoof into her leg as she drove at him again, causing her to buckle slightly, just enough for him to attempt to strike her over the head.
Garudamon was faster though, her experience finally starting to catch back up to her. She fell into the motions. Blocking, striking, trying to find an opening or a point of weakness to exploit. Indramon, for all his bluster and undeniable power, she found wasn't as good a brawler as she was.
Too used to fighting digimon weaker than yourself? she wondered, her fist lunging towards his eye, threatening to close it for good. She almost made it when a thunderous blast struck her in the side, sending her crashing back to the earth, smoke rising from her feathers. She turned to find Indramon's Horn of Desolation floating in midair, its mouth aimed directly at her.
"I underestimated you," Indramon admitted, wiping a hoof over his bleeding muzzle. "You are a far worthier opponent than I gave you credit for. I would be honored to load your data."
"You're not loading anyone!" Sora shouted angrily, clenching her hand tightly about her digivice. Sweat stood out prominently across her brow and she felt it starting to seep into the armpits of her shirt. Digivolving this far… She hadn't done it in so long and already she was paying the price for being so out of practice. It had been a bear enough just trying to get her partner to Ultimate – struggling to do so until Impmon had been smacked into the other side of the city. And now she had to maintain it…
She felt a great weight upon her chest and she fought to breathe. They needed to end this…fast!
Indramon raised his hooves in a defensive posture while light began to build up within the mouth of his Horn of Desolation. However, before either combatant could move, blue light shot up from the distant towers of Hypnos. Indramon froze as that same light materialized around himself, causing him to grunt in surprise. Garudamon paused, uncertain as to what was going on and how it affected things. She wasn't being impacted by this light, strangely enough, but what did that mean for Indramon?
"Garudamon!" Sora called out, lifting her digivice high. "You've got to take him out! Do it now while he's frozen!"
The older Digidestined of Love groaned as she strained, reaching for the higher power of Mega that she had during the War. As it slipped out of her reach however, she withdrew her attempts, not wanting to force it. If Biyomon digivolved wrong…
With a mighty flap of her wings, Garudamon rose into the air, fires surging around her. Indramon certainly appeared to be helpless. If that were the case, then Sora was right. They needed to attack while the opportunity presented itself. Finally, with a cry of Wing Blade, her fires flew away from her body, forming the shape of a great firebird. Arching, it shot down toward Indramon.
###
Takeru flicked his lighter open and closed, grinning at the light that emerged from the core of Juggernaut.
"Show me your magic," he said softly, listening to the technicians as they reported a steady rise in Juggernaut's power. All the changes he had made to keep the Devas from making use of his program for their own ends… This was where it would all be put to the test.
"Sir! Power's at 40 percent! 50… 60…!"
Takeru felt excitement growing within his chest as the numbers continued to go up. Soon… Soon he would prove once and for all that his program would not be used by the powers of Darkness at their whim! They would regret even trying! They…
Red electricity sparked along circuitry and the Juggernaut's light abruptly vanished. Takeru gasped, taken aback by this unexpected development, his father's lighter caught in mid flick. This… This wasn't supposed to be how it would go!
What… What's happening?!
###
Indramon roared as the light about him suddenly disappeared. Looking up, he saw Garudamon's Wing Blade surging toward him and he summoned his horn in front of him. The attack struck, slipping into the mouth of the horn where it fizzled harmlessly. Lowering his weapon, Indramon looked up at Garudamon and she returned it, claws flexing as she thought about what to do next. Surely, he would launch her attack right back at her and…
Suddenly, wordlessly, Indramon rose into the air, binding his horn to his back once again and evaporated into a shower of sparkling data. Garudamon blinked, but soon found herself falling slowly back toward the earth, her energy slipping away as, down below, Sora lost her grip on her partner's level and sank to one knee.
"Sora!" Biyomon cried as she reverted back to her Rookie form. "Are you all right?!"
"Y-Yeah," the Digidestined of Love replied, forcing a grin on her face as she brushed aside a strand of hair that fell into her eyes. "Just a little bit winded, that's all. How are you doing?"
"W-Well, it's been a really long time since I was Ultimate level, but… I've got to admit it felt pretty good!"
"Sounds like there's hope for us yet," Sora nodded with a light laugh. Her good humor however quickly evaporated at Henry's panicked voice.
"Takato!"
Whirling about, she saw Henry rushing for his and Rika's goggle-wearing friend, the boy having collapsed next to Guilmon. Her heart lurched in her chest and she staggered to her feet.
"W-What happened?" she called. "Did he get hurt?"
"Feedback," Rika explained from her spot next to Renamon, lips pressed together tightly. Terriermon nodded.
"Having Guilmon get knocked back to Rookie like that must have hit him like a cement truck," the long-eared rabbit-digimon added. "Last time this happened, Mihiramon was busy gnawing on Growlmon's arm and nearly gave him a heart-attack."
"Is he…?" Rika asked, her voice thin and stressed. They had no clue what condition Impmon was in, but she knew that she didn't want there to be another casualty to the list.
Especially him, she thought, her hands tightening about Renamon as she helped the vulpine digimon get to her feet. Gogglehead… Takato… Don't you dare check out on me now!
"He's still breathing," Henry said, looking over at Guilmon, who was presently rising to his feet, albeit shakily. "His heartbeat's steady too. I think he's going to be okay."
"Guess his brain just decided to hit the snooze button once the horsemon took off," Terriermon said, breathing a sigh of relief. "That sounds like a pretty good idea right now actually."
"We can't do that here," Henry said, getting to his feet. "We've got to get out of here and find someplace safe. We're already starting to draw a crowd."
"Yeah, and probably not the friendly kind," Rika nodded, remembering how Henry had been jumped by a thug after the Devidramon fight. Her violet-eyes scanned around them and sure enough, they caught more than a few angry glares. No doubt they were about to be blamed for all this devastation.
"The tunnels are nearby," Renamon said, disentangling herself from Rika and steadying herself on her feet. "Guilmon, are you able to stand?"
"Uh-huh!" the reptile said, attempting to hoist the unconscious Takato onto his back. It was awkward doing so, however, and soon enough Renamon simply took the boy herself into her arms to uncomplicate things.
"Let's get out of here," she said, phasing out of view.
"W-Where…?" Sora began, but Rika jerked her head down toward the street.
"The flood tunnels," she said as Henry scooped up Terriermon. "We've been there before. It's this way."
With that, the group hurried off, eager to escape the attention that was rapidly building around them.
###
"The Wild One has…self-destructed!" came Yolei's report from the other end of his earbud. Takeru nodded while Tally, half-panicking, called out to ask if it was really gone.
She shouldn't worry so much, he thought with a grin. "Acknowledged," he said before hanging up. Surveying the core of the Juggernaut, ignoring the frantic, racing technicians as they tried to ascertain what had gone wrong, he smiled, pride swelling within him.
"So, it worked, even in its incomplete state," he said to himself. "I underestimated it. This will work. We just need more output."
More output. That was the problem however. His grin quickly faded and he gripped his lighter tightly.
"Just give me the authorization already, you incompetent officials!"
###
The last remnants of the day found Sora sitting outside the entrance to the tunnels alongside Biyomon, allowing the cool breeze to wash over her. Her sweat had dried some time ago, but it still felt good to feel and it drove away the smell as well. She gave a light laugh, causing Biyomon to look up at her, pausing in the eating of her snack.
"What's so funny?" Biyomon asked.
"Just thinking…" Sora replied. "I haven't had this much of a workout since bootcamp. I really have let myself go, haven't I?"
Biyomon cocked her head to one side. "I'm not so sure why that's so funny. Is it one of those human things? Because I've seen you laugh a lot about things that aren't funny before."
"Yeah," Sora nodded. "Yeah, it is."
Taking out her cellphone, she checked it for messages. She had texted Ken a while ago despite Henry's warning about his being monitored, but so far, no response. No doubt he was laying low as Takeru was keeping a close eye on him. Pocketing her phone, she got to her feet and went back into the tunnel, becoming greeted by its dim red light. There, slumped on the floor, were Renamon, Terriermon, Guilmon and Takato, all four of whom were asleep, the last of whom had Guilmon curled up about him protectively. She pressed her lips together as she went over to the boy and pushed back his goggles. Placing a gentle hand against his forehead, she estimated his temperature.
"Feels normal," she said softly.
"Were you expecting him to have a fever?" Biyomon asked. Sora shook her head.
"No, not really," she said. "It's just…one of those things that Mom always used to do with me when I was a kid. I guess it just makes me feel better knowing there's one less thing that he needs to worry about."
She hitched a sigh, seating herself down on the hard floor. Rika had been loath to leave him alone when she went with Henry to see if they could find Impmon. It felt almost odd seeing her worry about him like that, but she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised.
As a kid, she used to worry a lot about all kinds of things, she thought with a small smile. Guess she can't hide it anymore.
Still, Takato it seemed was quite the special case. Feedback was something she was used to seeing during the War and even her original adventure in the digital world, but she had never seen it affect someone as heavily as it had Takato. At least, not since Tai and WarGreymon had nearly been killed by the Dark Master Piedmon. Fidgeting, Sora brushed her hand against his forehead once more, if only to put her mind at ease that she hadn't fooled herself or anything.
"Mom…?" Takato mumbled, starting to come to. Blinking, he looked up just as Sora retracted her hand, her glowing smile luminescent even in the darkness of the tunnel. "S-Sora!" He blushed hotly. "S-Sorry! I didn't mean… I…uh… I didn't call you anything weird, did I?"
"Don't worry about it," Sora giggled. "I'll take it as a compliment. How are you feeling?"
Takato stretched, wincing. "Um… A little bit like I've been through a washer machine. What happened? The last thing I remember was…"
"Indramon vanishing," came Renamon's voice, cracking a blue eye open from her end of the pile. "Good to see that you're up. Rika will be happy to find that you're doing all right."
Takato blushed lightly and coughed, uncertain as to how to take that. He could almost swear that Renamon had something of an amused glint in her eye.
"So, everyone else is fine?" Takato asked with a croak, and the vulpine digimon nodded. Breathing a sigh of relief, Takato leaned back against Guilmon. "Thank goodness," he whispered, bringing a hand on his partner's head and stroking it fondly. The sleeping dinosaur snuggled against him closer.
"Takatomon digivolve…" Guilmon snored, causing Sora to look at Takato with a raised eyebrow.
"Takatomon?"
"It's…a thing he used to call me," the boy chuckled in embarrassment. "Back when he didn't know what a human being was. He got confused. I thought he was past that though."
"Well, I think it's adorable," Biyomon laughed, patting the sleeping dinosaur on his head with her wing. "Maybe I should start calling Sora, Soramon."
"Let's not," Sora chuckled, smoothing out her partner's feathers before looking at Takato with concern. "Are you sure you're feeling all right?"
"Yeah, I…" Takato began, only to be interrupted by the sound of the tunnel door opening followed swiftly by approaching footsteps. Turning, the group – those that were awake – saw Henry and Rika returning from their trip.
"Well, don't you look cozy," Henry smiled, seeing that Takato was awake. Rika felt herself relax upon seeing this as well and she began to turn her path towards the boy.
"Where is Impmon?" Renamon asked. Rika drew up next to Takato, frowning.
"We couldn't find him anywhere," she explained, her voice apologetic and full of worry. They had certainly looked hard enough and found the crater that he left easily enough; the smoke had been a pretty decent guide all on its own, but they saw no sign of the little troublemaker. That did not bode well in her mind as to Impmon's condition.
Is he gone? she wondered. She clenched her fists together tightly. She hadn't known the tiny digimon all that well, but his size… The idea of something so small being attacked so viciously brought back bad memories of IceDevimon and his cavern of trophies. She shuddered.
"You guys, it's getting late," Henry said going over to Terriermon and lifting the sleeping Rookie up. "We're going to have to try again tomorrow."
"I'll wait here a little while longer," Sora said. "Ken might still show up and I'd like to talk to him."
"I-If Ken's coming, shouldn't we stay too?" Takato asked, starting to get to his feet. He almost fell doing so, but he managed to catch himself. Seeing this, Rika scowled at him and folding her arms together, she promptly took a step closer.
"You should get some sleep," she said to him sternly, causing Takato to look at her bewilderedly.
"But… Rika…"
"Don't give me any 'buts,' Takato," she cut in pointedly. "That feedback you got hit with took a lot out of you earlier and you need to be at your best if you're going to fight whatever Deva shows up next looking for a fight."
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Henry yawned while Sora gave a light, barely audible giggle at Rika's exchange with her gogglehead. Of anything she had expected, she certainly didn't think she'd see an almost motherly side to Rika when it came to her friends.
"She's right," Sora said, placing a hand on Takato's shoulder.
"But…Guilmon…"
"I'll keep an eye on him," Renamon said. "You go home and get some rest. We'll be here when you come back."
Takato's lips pressed against each other reluctantly. Seeing this, Rika's expression softened. Her mind went back to his battle with Mihiramon and his collapse; how close he could have been to potentially dying when she had hunted him and his partner. And Impmon… His desperate battle to prove himself, only to be smacked clear across the city and into who knew where.
"Takato…" she began quietly, only to hesitate, hating herself for how weak she sounded just now. Still, her tone got his attention and he looked at her. Their eyes locked briefly and a moment later, he relented.
"I'm going to get here bright and early to check in on you guys," he declared. Unfolding her arms, Rika stuffed her hands into her pockets. She felt…conflicted about whether or not even that was a good idea, but…one thing at a time.
"Just as long as you get a good night's rest," she grumbled, turning away. "Now come on. I'm getting you home before your mom starts worrying."
"Huh?" Takato looked at her, startled. "R-Rika! You don't have…"
"I'm getting you home!" she interrupted, storming toward the exit with a burning face. "Now hurry up and unglue your feet from the floor, Gogglehead! I don't have all night!"
Takato looked over at Henry helplessly, and the half-Chinese Tamer shrugged.
"On the plus side, at least Terriermon is too asleep to make fun of you about this."
"Make fun of who about what?" the long-eared rabbit slurred sleepily.
"Nothing. Momentai." Adjusting his grip on the Rookie, Henry and Takato bid Sora goodbye, leaving the woman alone with the digimon. At least for a while. Leaning back, Sora gazed up at the ceiling, her mind losing itself in the day's events.
We've got to get stronger, she thought. I don't know if these kids are really up to fighting this on their own. Things are starting to get too serious now…
###
Takeru closed the door to his apartment and tugged his tie off. Flicking on his lights, he panned his eyes about his apartment. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, yet he felt unsettled all the same, and that there should be someone here waiting for him.
Things went well today, he thought, quietly berating himself for feeling so uncertain and out of sorts. Juggernaut worked without being at full power and my proposal is being considered. Results breed action and after today, the government can't afford to just sit on its hands anymore and allow things to play out. Soon, the forces of Darkness will be brought to an end.
At least, that's what he hoped anyway, yet the nagging feeling bothered him all the same. That feeling from earlier…
No, he thought, frowning. There's nothing there for me. Patamon died trying to protect me. Trying to protect Kari. He's gone.
Still…
Firing up his personal computer, he moved throughout the apartment, inspecting it for any sign of entry. Perhaps Gennai, long absent, had paid him a special visit. Perhaps that was why he had felt what he did. He found nothing however to indicate that such was the case, and even his private email showed no recent messages from the former advisor of the Digidestined.
There was nothing left for him to inspect.
Well… Nothing, save for one thing.
Going to his safe, he unlocked it and found his old digivice within. Oval shaped with an antenna at the top, and a green handgrip.
The screen was black as ever.
Taking it out, he looked at it and turned it over. Curious, he pressed the buttons, but nothing came of it. The digivice was, as he felt, dead, just like it had been since Patamon had been loaded.
He was about to set it back inside its safe when the screen abruptly lit up, and static filled it. Startled, he brought it back to him, his heart hammering in his chest and throat.
What…is going on here? he wondered, his hand clenching tightly about his digivice. "Patamon…?" he asked tentatively, his voice shaking. Static continued to fill the screen, but as Takeru looked on, it began to resolve and clear up, leaving only a familiar name gracing its surface.
"TK…"
And then it was gone, the screen going black.
Takeru stared at his digivice, his body trembling. Finally, with an angry snarl, he hurled his digivice back into its safe and slammed the lid closed.
"You will not get to me, Darkness," he seethed, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Soon, a bitter laugh escaped his lips, light and thin. "Your desperate attempts to unsettle me won't work. I've fought you for too long now to be fooled by something such as this."
Sliding the safe back into its accustomed hiding spot, he composed himself and adjusted his sunglasses.
Tomorrow, he would begin testing again, and if the Darkness knew what he was up to and were afraid, he would give them even more reason to feel that way.
"Dust," he said softly to himself. "I'll show you fear in a handful of dust."
###
A/N: The line, "I'll show you fear in a handful of dust," comes from the T.S. Eliot poem, The Wasteland, specifically, this section:
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
Just a bit of information that I found interesting is all. :D
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