Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.
On another note I am not quite sure where everyone has gone, but I appreciate those of you who have remained to see this journey through with me to the end. I promise that none of you will be disappointed. I only ask that you be patient until the story reaches it's conclusion- a conclusion worthy of the impact the series has had on all of us. The last novel might have to be split into two more for this conclusion to be reached, but I will not fail or be distracted from this dedicated mission.
Chapter Seven: The Wages of War
In a swirling green light, Taichi found himself flying through the air downwards, bursting through the clouds moving at an incredible speed. He reached into his pocket and somehow was able to cover his eyes with his goggles. As the ground became closer, he saw that the other green lights beaming down through the clouds. He felt elated seeing all the others, Yamato, Sora, Koushiro, Joe, and Mimi and their digimon.
Yamato lifted up his fist seeing him, Sora called out 'Hey!', Koushiro simply nodded his head, Joe smirked tilting his glances on his face, and Mimi grinned winking, as they all descended. He and the others landed exactly where they had been taken away before, the green lights vanishing slowly, A dark haze seemed to linger as not even a blot of sunlight remained, the sky completely overshadowed by the clouds.
Taichi looked around, amazed at the carnage that had happened since they had left. Whole buildings had been leveled. The ground had been torn up as if an earthquake had decimated it, long jagged scars all over the roads. Busted windows, and trashed vehicles littered the surroundings in smoldering flames. He looked over at the others who also looked around at their surroundings amazed by it, but Taichi knew that if this was going to be the final battle, their would be devastating carnage.
The others also looked like they had been put through the ringer some worse than himself.
"Hey," Yamato said looking his way. "Looks like you got burned pretty good," he smirked.
Taichi walked over to him and punched him in the arm, though it hurt to do so with his hand burned. "Well, at least my clothes aren't ripped up. Aside from that you look just fine. Plus you burn me all the time," he snickered.
"I really don't see what's so funny about this," Koushiro said, looking still a bit exhausted, his clothes dry and caked in some kind of smelly fluid. "We're still in quite the serious position here."
He smirked even more as Joe went over to them all. He was the only one of them who seemed normal. "Guess nothing could get to you and your studies Joe," he said. "You're still looking the same as always."
"Ha!" he scoffed. "It may look that way, but I was completely encased in ice except my head and my heart almost stopped. I could have died!"
"Sorry, sorry," Taichi said.
He saw Sora glance over at Yamato and smile, Yamato smirking back.
"Glad you made it," he said.
"Right back at you," she replied.
"Wow!" Mimi exclaimed calling out to them. "Both of your clothes got pretty messed up. "Looks like the two of you got a little too passionate" she giggled, their faces turning red with slight embarrassment.
"Incidentally," Koushiro said looking at her, "Mimi I had no idea you liked that kind of fashion!"
"Oh this?" she said her face looking over her torn clothes and caked mud 'shoes'. "You wouldn't believe it but I got a little too close to nature," she smiled. "Thorns and poison are no fun, and losing your vintage shoes is like being dragged in the mud."
"Wow," Taichi said, really impressed with the others. "Looks like we're all in one piece at least. I'm glad you guys made it."
Yamato walked forward and buried his lips against Sora's wrapping her up in a passionate embrace.
"You were that worried huh?" she smiled, her cheeks red and puffy with love and concern.
"Hey, hey, too soon!" Taichi said. "Wait till after the-"
"-Now that's how you kiss a girl!" Mimi shouted, Taichi turning towards her Koushiro also having wrapping up his arms around Mimi squeezing her.
He hesitated, happy for all of them, but also concerned.
"This is not the end yet," Joe said. "Though I do understand how you all feel."
"That's right," Taichi said gripping his fist, the calm atmosphere making him feel incredibly anxious. "I think this battle is just getting started."
No sooner had he said that an incredible din shook everything around them, Taich noticing glass breaking, the hideous backside of Terrormon appearing once more. He wondered who he had been fighting against for their to be this much devastation.
"Ah, you have returned," Terrormon said, pushing back a jagged blade against the adversary he had been facing. "It is to be expected the digidestined would give you a hard time. Nevertheless I had not the slightest doubt you would return victorious my Lords of Darkness."
Taichi's eyes met Terrormon's as he turned around, his eyes surprised to see all of them still alive. "To think my own personally selected Dark Lords, specifically created just to dispose of all of you were defeated is baffling. How could insignificant collections of dust alone with their partners destroy the personification of Cowardice, Isolation and Loneliness, Hatred, Disdain, Uselessness, and Lies and Deception? One I could see as feasible, but all of you?"
"Don't count us out just yet!" Taichi yelled. "You may think we are weak, but our bonds with each other and our digimon make us strong!"
"That's right!" Yamato backed him up. "Not even your Dark Citadel separating us from each other could destroy our bond with our friends and digimon!"
Terrormon chuckled deeply, his laugh crumbling the surrounding atmosphere. "Well now," he said pushing his sword back, knocking whoever he was facing away, but the dust from the buildings could not make him visible. "I will now see you digidestined as actual insects, though insignificant you are. However, the fact I myself consider you alive means you are now a threat to me. I must admit Homeostasis choosing you to defy me was the proper choice. Had she chosen any others, they would surely have perished in the Dark Citadels," he leered.
Taichi took one step forward, but collapsed with Wargreymon, Terrormon's gaze making him feel heavier than a stone, but his injuries had also caught up to him as well. Wargreymon creaked as well as Taichi who winced trying to stand back up straight again.
"Well, it seems the Dark Lords nearly had you beat after all. It must have been a miracle that proved to be their undoing," he grinned. "And all of your digimon are weak as champions. I need not sully my hands with your blood," he scoffed lifting up his hand against them. "Farewell, and good riddance to you all!" he called out, a dark power brewing in his hand.
Taichi hesitated at the sheer magnitude of power, the others also having frozen stiff. They were too weak to dodge. Not even the digimon could lift themselves up to even shield their partners.
"This is not it," he clenched his teeth, his hands shaking in the broken pieces of road around him. "This can't be the end!"
"Perish!" Terrormon declared, about ready to push his foot forward, but at the last moment he turned around, his blade clashing with another digimon, the shock waves vibrating and shaking the ground and buildings around them, the dark attack disappearing into nothing. Upon closer inspection Taichi thought he recognized the digimon fighting him.
"Wait!" Sora exclaimed. "Isn't that Jesmon?!"
In an epic sword fight, Taichi watched transfixed as he matched blade to blade with Terromon, their swords clashing sounding out shockwaves and leveling buildings around them.
"You're only delaying the inevitable!" Terrormon snarled. "The Digital Record will not manifest! And the digidestined are weak as the newly born! Once I defeat you there will be nothing that can save them from total annihilation!"
With that Jesmon rushed over to Terrormon and dodged a slash, uppercutting him with his blade into the sky. He pointed with his blade as if signaling Taichi a specific location and then shot back up in the sky surely to meet the Dark Overlord.
He stood transfixed at what happened, surprised somehow they all had survived to this moment.
"Taichi! Taichi!" a loud voice pestered in his ear, him recognizing it had been Koushiro. "We have to go to where Jessmon pointed!" Koushiro exclaimed.
Taichi nodded his head starting to crawl over there, hardly able to move.
"Who is the digimon least injured?" Joe asked.
Taichi He looked around noticing only Hercules Kabuterimon seemed to have hardly any energy as well.
"It's me," HerculesKabuterimon breathed out with labored breaths.
"Then everyone go back down to your rookie levels and let's get aboard!" he commanded.
All of his fellow digidestined followed suite, all of them getting on the shell of Hercules Kabuterimon flying over to where Jesmon had directed them.
Taichi took out his goggles, covering his eyes as the charging Hercules Beetle digimon flew down the broken road, dust clouds and wind kicking in his wake. He kept his eyes alert, knowing somewhere out there Jesmon had no-doubtedly pointed to where Takeru and Hikari were.
"We've got to be getting close!" he exclaimed, the others shielding their faces with their forearms.
"Hopefully it won't be much longer!" Mimi complained. "I'm getting split ends in my hair!"
"That's the last thing you should be worried about!" Sora shouted. "Hopefully they will still be alive and ok!"
"I don't know if they are dead," Joe commented, "But if they are still the same as when we saw them before they might as well be. How could they come back after the trauma their hearts and minds have gone through?"
"It doesn't matter," Yamato responded gruffly. "What's important is we find them first. We can worry about everything else later!"
"I have to agree with Yamato," Koushiro added, Taichi notice his eyes dart around his phone for information. "Hey! We're coming up to them!" he exclaimed, Taichi turning his head towards the front, and, to the left side of him, near a collapsed building Takeru and Hikari still remained as they were before.
Immediately he jumped from Koushiro's digimon and ran over to the two of them, shouting out his little sister's name, Yamato doing the same calling out his little brother's name. He realized as he got closer the two of them looked slightly scratched up, two familiar shapes protecting them from impending danger. Tailmon looked like her paw had gone limp from using too many Lightning Paw attacks and Patamon looked worn out breathing heavily as if he would collapse any moment.
"Tailmon! Patamon!" he exclaimed.
"Hey you're here!" Patamon said enthusiastically.
"It's about time!" Tailmon added. "Me and Patamon have been protecting Takeru and Hikari this whole time from all the debris falling from buildings and glass," she winced, Taichi noticing her hold her paw as if she could not use it for right now.
"You did good taking care of them," Yamato said picking up Patamon. "Tell me are they all right? Have they woken up yet?"
Patamon shook his head and sighed. "No, not at all, but things are slightly different now than they were before."
"Different how?" Mimi asked.
"Well, I can't explain it, but I have this warm fuzziness inside," he said. "Like I know Takeru is in there thinking of me doing his best."
Tailmon limped over to her as well, clenching her good paw while nursing the others. "I think so to," she agreed. "Though Hikari is not with us I feel a lightness in my heart that reminds me of her. We won't let Terrormon take them out no matter what! That's why we've been holding down the fort even if we could not do much!"
"Hey, it's ok," Patamon said two hooves up on her shoulders. "The others are here. We can at least rest for now."
"Good idea," Yamato said. "We'll get everyone back to the Hotel we were staying at."
Tailmon looked at him as if he had just cracked his head and his brain got scrambled. "Huh? What are you talking about?" she asked. "That building got blown to pieces as soon as you all left."
"Are you kidding?!" Koushiro exclaimed.
"No, I saw it with my own eyes!" she replied. "As soon as you all got transported away, he went right for Takeru and Hikari. We tried to protect them of course, but what could we do against an ultra megal level like him? With Takeru and Hikari unresponsive we could not even Digivolve!"
"Then what happened?" Taichi asked nearly wanting to hold Tailmon up by the scruff of her neck to get the answers, but he held himself back due to her injury.
"I've got this," Patamon said, Tailmon sighing out. "Just when it looked like Terrormon would destroy them Jessmon leapt through a portal in the sky and started savagely attacking him. The impact of their attacks destroyed everything including the Hotel at the Interstice. We did everything we could just to get them here."
"So here's a question then," Joe inquired. "If the final battle was supposed to be the hotel which would limit the damage if we kept it there what does that mean now that the place has been completely destroyed?"
"It must mean a good chunk of this city will be destroyed," Mimi answered. "Buildings. Parks. Malls. Hopefully no people were injured, but it will be some costly damage."
Taichi clenched his hand into a fist looking at all of the destruction. He could hardly believe all of this happened, but sure enough, the leveled buildings, torn apart roads, and all of them injured were more than enough evidence. This was the fight to end it all. Of course their would be destruction. It was foolish enough to believe they could contain it to one hotel with how much abject horrifying power Terrormon had.
He put his hand on his temple, stabbing the nails in his head trying to get hold of himself. So many things looked hopeless at this point, but at least he wanted to believe they were all still alive and had a puncher's chance if they were able to recover.
"So what do we do now?" Yamato asked. "It sure would help if Homeostasis said something, but we've nowhere to turn to and our backs are against the wall! What's the strategy?"
Taichi glanced over at everyone's face, defeated and racked with pain and devastation over everything they had gone through. Never before had the situation seemed so hopeless. The digimon were all passed out in the arms of their partners except Hercules Kabuterimon who wheezed out as if he had just been zapped with a can of bug spray. H wanted to comfort and cheer them up, but not even he could think of anything smart-aleckish or witty to say, or even try to get Yamato mad. It all seemed so hopeless. He had no idea what he could do. He closed his eyes hoping for anything, even a sign or a direction to take.
"Hikari!" Tailmon's voice rang out. Taichi snapped his eyes open and looked her way, Tailmon reaching out her paw towards her. He gasped as he saw her hand slowly lift up and could not breathe.
"...Keru..." her voice responded raspy and parched.
He watched as her hand struggled to move forward, but somehow one way or another she reached out to Takeru with it and placed her hand over his heart. A single tear fell down her cheek through the cracks of her lips, sliding down her chin, and she did not move anymore.
Look!" he said tearing up. "She hasn't given up," he said wiping his eyes with the back of his forearm.
"They're still with us," Yamato said, his voice getting choked up as if doing his best to keep himself together.
Sora came from behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest holding him. "They're alive," she smiled gratefully.
"Boy, hopefully this is a good sign," Joe said wiping his glasses for what seemed like the tenth time today.
"I'm shocked she still has the will power," Koushiro said, Mimi weeping in his arms, the only one with a dry eye. "But what does this mean?"
Yamato suddenly started cracking up looking at his hand as if he lost it.
"It's funny," he said. "Takeru is the one with the crest of hope, but it was Hikari who made me feel the Hope everything will be ok."
"Not only that," Taichi said placing a hand on his shoulder, "But thinking about Takeru's state filled me with a lightness inside that reminded me of Hikari."
They smiled at each other as if any further attempts to not recognize their siblings love for each other would be useless.
"You do know that they slept together right?" Yamato asked out of the blue, Taichi's face perking up in agitation.
"Leave it to you to remind me you jerk," he laughed, the two of them chuckling like they had gone mad.
Sora walked in-between them and clonked their heads together sighing out. "Come on, you two need to get over this. You're siblings are being much more mature and they aren't even here right now!"
Sora's comments jolted Taichi with energy who could see it in Yamato's eyes as well. He thought of his sweet, cute little sister going along with Takeru, and the carefree laidbackness of Takeru without a care in the world as if neither of them could be touched even in their current situation.
"Thanks," he sighed. "I really needed that. Sometimes in situations where you don't know what to do, sometimes the best thing to do is wait."
Yamato looked at him incredulously. "Even as a murderous psychopath of a digimon is out there waiting to kill us all as soon as he gets a chance?"
Taichi nodded his head.
"You know that sounds crazy!"
"Yeah it does," he admitted. "But I want to believe just as we battled the Lords of Darkness Takeru and Hikari are in their somewhere fighting their own battle. We just got to believe that they will come back and we can turn the tables for good."
Everyone stared at Taichi, who met their eyes as if they trusted in his words. "Believe," he repeated the words as if convincing himself of them. "We just got to believe...and wait for them to return."