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Clefeifei: Glad you like 'em :-)
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ReR0547: Hey, better late than never. Doing my best right now.
Welcome back, everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful week. I started my internship for my final project. The last thing standing between me and a masters degree. After that, the world is my oyster. But for now, the world is no one's oyster for the Destined Jedi. They're gonna need a miracle...and they may possibly get it here?
Here we go!
The dizzy feeling in the young male's head felt like it was going to last forever as it swam around like a shark churning through the water, needing constant motion in order to survive. All he saw in his vision was darkness. Not a single beam of light was seen, making him wonder if he had gone blind. Had the entire world just shut off around him? Was this what a world ruled by darkness looked (was that even the right word to use?) like?
The only sounds that filled his ears were those of his breath and heartbeat. Instead of the warmth of a blanket covering him and the softness of a mattress under his back, the young male knew he was in a seated position just from feel alone. He reached up to wipe his eyes. The blurriness slowly went away, but the darkness did not. Had he fallen asleep doing his summer homework? It was now presumably nighttime, so he must have been out for a while.
A noise of pain came from somewhere to his left before a voice called out,
"Who's there?"
The male jumped in fright. He slowly stood up to search for the source of the voice. He let out a pained grunt as his calf locked up on him and stumbled down to a knee. He took several sharp breaths through gritted teeth until the pain went away. It only felt like a cramp thankfully.
He stood back up again to resume his search. It was so dark that he couldn't see anything. The male reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He then used the flashlight function to illuminate the room and see who had called out to him.
The male recoiled in disgust at what he saw. He nearly threw up whatever he had in his stomach. His hand went to his mouth before turning away. Nothing came up his throat. He slowly turned back to gaze at what was there. A dark-haired man also sat seated against a wall…covered in blood. The red liquid stained the forest green material of the man's yukata, making it look more black than green. A trail of blood dripped from the corner of his lip as he smiled.
"Thank Kami," the man groaned. "You're alive, Tai."
Tai Kamiya instantly rushed to his side. "Oh my…." The sight of all the blood left him unable to complete his thought. "Mr. Nishijima, you're hurt."
"Y-Yeah," Daigo's face winced in what Tai could only imagine was the worst pain imaginable. "I protected you from any damage. It was worth it though. You're alright at least."
Tai's eyes widened. "Y-You protected me?" he asked in a small voice. He then growled to himself. "I'm such an idiot. I shouldn't have gotten you into this." A hand pushed Daigo down. "Don't stand up. We've got to get you out of here and find medical assistance."
He stopped when he saw the heart-shaped tattoo on the man's bloodied wrist. That's right. Daigo was the first Jedi of Love before Sora was. If his powers were similar to Sora's, then that would mean–
"Wait. Use your powers to heal yourself," Tai instructed. "As the Jedi of Love, Sora has healing powers that have saved us on plenty of occasions. Maybe you do too."
Daigo grunted as he slowly pushed the man's hand to rest on his abdomen. Tai apologized with his eyes as he then wiped the blood on his pant leg, leaving a red stain on his tan pants.
"I'll try," Daigo said. "I honestly don't know what my powers were myself. I didn't have them long enough to find out."
"Looks like now's as good a time as any to find out," Tai replied with a chuckle. He had to keep Daigo talking to extend his life as long as possible. If his hunch was wrong and Daigo did not have the ability to heal, then they were in trouble.
A soft red light came from the tattoo on the dark-haired man's wrist. To Tai's surprise, the blood started to come out. The stains faded out of Daigo's yukata until it was like they were never there. The blood on his arm and hand, along with any other injuries sustained, disappeared back into his body where it belonged. The blood on his face also vanished. After two more seconds, it was like Daigo was never injured at all.
The man smiled. "Looks like I do."
Tai sighed with a relieved smile as he helped his teacher to his feet. He kept his shoulder under the man's arm to keep him stabilized before he got his legs under him. Now to find out where they were.
"What is this place?" Daigo asked.
"I'm not sure," replied Tai. "I'm sure we're still in the Digital World, but where, I have no idea."
As if to answer his thoughts, the sounds of machines roaring to life graced his ears. A mixture of blue and white light came from ahead of them. When Tai's eyes adjusted to it, he saw a control monitor in front of him, along with others to the right and left.
"This was no accident," he said. "Someone brought us here on purpose. And they used Alphamon to do it. But who?"
Ahead of him, the light reflecting off a glass screen faded away to reveal what was behind it. It was a room full of what Tai assumed to be pods of some sort. Five of them were filled with something. He moved closer to see what was in them.
His body seized up from shock. His jaw slackened and his eyes bulged out of their sockets. All the breath inside of him had vanished too. What he saw rendered him completely speechless.
"Oh my God," he gasped breathlessly. His mouth moved to form the next words, but they would not roll off his tongue until he settled himself down from the shock. "It's…it's them! Davis, Ken, Cody, Yolei. It's all of them!"
When he looked at the other pod, Tai recognized another familiar face.
"And Gennai too. The real Gennai." He looked back at Daigo, who had now sat at the controls. All this time, their friends had been here? Why couldn't they find them before? They couldn't be– "Are they alive?"
The man nodded as he punched in keys. "Yes. They're in a cryogenic sleep, it seems."
Tai was at a loss for words. There were so many things he needed to know right now, but didn't know how to organize his thoughts. This was so unbelievable. Their friends had been here this whole time and he and the others never knew it? Then he thought back to when Meiko caught a whiff of their energy. She had to have been strong enough to sense it where he and the others could not.
"Tai, there's something I need to tell you," Daigo said. "Davis Motomiya, Ken Ichijouji, Cody Hida, and Yolei Inoue. As you know, they went missing two months ago. I didn't know what happened at first, so I wanted to find out. As it turned out, the information was declared top secret and I couldn't get access to it without the proper authentication. Someone wanted to make sure what really happened was buried and that no one ever found out."
"And we already know what happened, as you know," Tai returned. "We have to find this Libra that Ken talked about and stop them."
Daigo let out a sigh. "I know who Libra is."
The Jedi of Courage cocked an eyebrow. "You said you didn't."
"I lied. I do."
"Then who is it? Please, no more secrets, Mr. Nishijima."
There was a much longer pause this time as Tai awaited what the man would say. In his gut, he had a good guess as to what the identity of Libra was. He just needed to hear it. Why did he have to hide it from them this whole time?
"Director Maki Himekawa," Daigo said.
A low, hearty laugh rumbled through the control room, like a goddess of mischief had come down to snicker at the two of them. The piercing hiss and humming of a lightsaber then followed.
"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear," an equally mischievous voice said. "Or shall we say, she appears."
Tai and Daigo turned to see Himekawa standing in the shadows. One part of her face was obscured by the darkness while the light of her purple lightsaber blade revealed the other half. Her eyes glowed red with yellow irises, replacing her once golden ones. Tai felt the bigger shiver he had ever experienced run down his back.
"Well, well, well," she snickered, stepping into the light completely. She wore a plain black yukata that hugged her body like a glove. "You both survived."
"Surprised to see us?" Daigo smirked.
"You witch!" Tai roared with anger, his eyes fixed completely on her smirking face. "We trusted you!"
"And it was trust misplaced," Himekawa replied carelessly. She eyed the pods behind the glass with a look of admiration. "I see you're admiring my work. They stood in the way of my plans. They knew too much, so I had them removed. I couldn't have someone spoil my plans before they were set into motion."
Tai seethed with rage as he glared at Himekawa. All this time, it was because of Himekawa that they didn't know what happened to their friends. It was because of Himekawa that they were deceived into going back; and it was because of her that the others now probably thought he was dead. Poor Kari. She must have been plunged into insanity thinking that her beloved brother was dead. He had to let everyone know he was okay, so he closed his eyes to try and send out a message but something blocked him from doing that.
Himekawa snickered. "Don't bother, Kamiya. This room blocks any Force energy from the outside world. For all your friends know, you are both dead." She gestured to the pods. "As are your other friends."
Tai would have charged had Daigo not spoken up.
"I knew you were up to something, Hime," the man said, eyeing the woman with sad eyes. "But I didn't know it would be this. Why did you do it?"
Himekawa snickered once again, feeling as cold as it sounded.
"You know how the saying goes, 'to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs'?" she hissed slowly. "Well, to begin everything anew, you have to destroy what is there in order to restart. That's exactly what King Drasil and I are doing. The hearts of humans are easily corrupted and manipulated, leaving them prone to weakness."
Tai's eyes widened. "It was you," he realized. "You're the reason that Meiko is infected."
Himekawa snickered. "Guilty as charged. She was an easy choice to be my test subject. Imagine being all alone out in the boonies of Tottori with hardly any friends or acquaintances. Meiko was a lonely soul, just like me. I became her only friend, I earned her trust, and then I made my move. I can be very…persuasive when I want to be. I simply substituted a vaccination shot for the infection and gave her the injection."
Tai gasped.
"The effects weren't felt right away. Over a period of months, the infection slowly took hold of her. It took a long time to work out the kinks and other technical problems, but when it finally worked, there was no stopping her. Not that Meiko knew what she was doing, but I couldn't let that get in the way of my plans. Still, the power of it began to scare her. She tried to kill herself several times to be rid of the infection, but I would always be there to take care of her."
Her eyes stared directly into Tai's. Another chill shot down the Jedi of Courage's spine as she studied him up and down. He felt her probing his thoughts, so he blocked it as best he could. It sent the message enough that he then felt her back off.
"Why would you do this to her?" he growled. "She's just an innocent girl."
"Because I was in pursuit of a larger objective," said Himekawa, the evil smirk returning to her face. "The destruction of you and your little friends. How is it that children with no extraordinary talent were able to defeat the most powerful beings in the Digital World? How did you all escape completely unharmed while my comrades were destroyed?"
"Why do you care about that?" Tai shot back, his fists turning white from clenching them so hard. "Look, Ms. Himekawa, I'm sorry that your friends died when you fought the Dark Masters. But what does that have to do with us? Meiko didn't want this. She's an innocent teenage girl, and you corrupted her."
Himekawa laughed her cold laugh once again. "She's not the only one I have corrupted," she sneered. "I would have thought you of all people would have figured it out by now that the one who is most close to you hasn't been well. The infection should be starting to take her over now since she thinks you are dead."
Tai wasn't sure what she meant at first. He then thought real hard. His eyes widened and then narrowed in fury. His teeth were bared and fire would have shot out of his nostrils if it could. He had figured out what she meant.
"That's right, Kamiya. Your dear sister is infected too." Himekawa cackled tauntingly. "Because of her connection to Homeostasis, she'll prove to be a valuable asset."
"You!" Tai roared between gritted teeth. He was about to charge and skewer her with his lightsaber until Daigo grabbed the collar of his tunic. The man's grip was like iron as Tai tried to get away. "I'll kill you!"
"I would love to see you try," said Himekawa. "Meiko and Kari will rule both worlds by my side. Yukio and I were supposed to finish you all off together and clear the way for King Drasil before you all ruined that by killing him."
"We didn't kill him! He killed himself!" Tai shot back. "The only one dying today will be you!"
Himekawa paid him no heed and glanced at the glass window.
"Yukio was supposed to turn young Takaishi because of his great potential in the dark side, but he failed," she said wistfully. "I then tried to acquire Takaishi again by injecting him with the infection, but that failed too, so Meiko and Kari will have to do instead. With the two of them and one of your four friends here, everything will go the way it was supposed to."
Tai raised an eyebrow. She had infected one member of Davis' team too? Which one? He scanned the pods and analyzed each one. Davis was powerful, but he would never be susceptible to being corrupted. For Yolei, she had grown a lot since the blow-up with Sora early in their time together and wouldn't fall that easily either. Cody was definitely out of the question.
It then hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Ken?" he squeaked. Images of the real Digimon Emperor flashed in his mind, sending shivers down his spine.
Himekawa laughed maniacally. "The Digimon Emperor shall come back once again! The one destined to save the Digital World will be used to destroy it! That will be the ultimate middle finger to Homeostasis for sending my comrades to their deaths."
"Hime, remember that Gennai believed you to be the Chosen One," said Daigo. "You didn't turn out to be though. Let it all go. Come back. We can work this out."
The woman continued her icy stare and did not say a word. With a wave of her hand, a timer began to count down from three minutes. Tai activated his lightsaber, ready to slice Himekawa to pieces if it was the last thing he did.
"What's that timer for?" he demanded.
"In less than three minutes, this place will be blown to kingdom come. You have two options: Either the pods are released and you both die here, or you sacrifice two of them to save yourselves. Either way, you will not save everyone and yourselves, so choose carefully."
Daigo's hand slowly moved to clutch the saber at his side. He then raised it up and activated it. Himekawa only laughed.
"Do you honestly think an old man like you can stop me?" she sneered at him. "I see your powers have returned to you, but if you think you can just jump back on like nothing happened, you're more foolish than I thought, Nishijima."
He chortled. "You may be right. I am a fool––a fool who is going to stop you no matter what."
"Mr. Nishijima, let me fight her," Tai pleaded out of concern for the former Destined Jedi's safety. "Go back with Davis and the others and help everyone else fight Meiko."
"No."
Tai was taken aback by his teacher's response.
"I'll stay," Daigo said forcefully. "You go back. The others need you more than they need me."
"That's not true!" Tai argued. "We need you! I need you!"
The black haired man turned back to look at him with a smile curving up his lips. Tai knew from the past few months that when he had that look, there was no reasoning with him.
"I'll be fine. Your life matters more than mine. You only have one chance at life, Tai. Live it to the fullest and don't have any regrets. I don't regret a thing that has happened to me so far. You all gave me something to live for again."
Tai was trying very hard to hold back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. Thoughts of his parents, Kari, Sora, and all the other Destined Jedi raced through his mind; all the people that he would be leaving behind if he died. On the other hand, they had better odds of defeating Himekawa if the two of them fought together.
"Mr. Nishijima –"
"Tai, go!" Daigo ordered forcefully. "Now!"
Tai looked between the door to the pod chamber and the two adults, struggling to make his choice.
"It's okay," his teacher nodded.
He nodded right back as he deactivated his lightsaber and ran for the door. With tears in his eyes, Tai ripped open the door to Davis' pod and braced himself against the unconscious boy before closing the door. Without looking back, he used the Force to launch all of the pods into the tubes.
He then cried.
xXx
Daigo watched as all the pods launched with a sense of relief, knowing that Tai was going to be okay. He turned his attention back to the woman across from him. He was ready to do what must be done. The timer on the wall showed only a minute and a half left before the explosion happened.
"Daigo Nishijima, you continue to surprise me after all these years," Himekawa sneered, raising her lightsaber into her Djem So stance. "But this is where it all ends."
"I don't want to fight you, Hime," he said, pointing his lightsaber directly towards her. "I know that the real you is still in there. It's not too late to change."
Before he even knew what hit him, Daigo was forced to raise his saber to block the swift attack that Himekawa unleashed. His saber spun in his hand as he blocked every single attack she brought forward. His saber skills were rusty, but he managed to keep up okay. Eventually, the two engaged in a saber lock, his back pressed against the control panel. She was fast; even faster than he last remembered.
"It is too late," she hissed, closing the distance between their faces. "Fifteen years too late."
TK held Kari's hand as she laid on the mattress in the warehouse's former computer room. The Jedi of Light was sleeping now with a peaceful expression on her face, but it only served to mask the anguish he knew she was feeling. The best thing he could do for now was be there for her. The others were out taking care of things, but he sensed the danger they were in. He hoped they could pull through.
Looking around, he relieved all the memories that they made in this place three years ago. He remembered the talking to that Matt and Tai gave him after he screwed up on a mission and made him surrender the goggles. It was a moment he was deeply ashamed of and wished every day that he could have back.
Even so, it was for the best. Before he and the others disappeared, Davis was ten times the leader he could ever hope to be. He deserved the leadership title, and TK was more than happy to just be along for the ride.
A low moan came from Kari. The blonde-haired Jedi of Hope watched as she clutched the blanket over her in a death grip. Her face scrunched as if in pain and her body lightly thrashed left and right. Was it the infection, the fever, or the memory of when Tai fell through the crack in the ground? He didn't know, which made it hard for him to know how to help her. All he could do was wait it out.
Kari finally settled down a few seconds later, much to TK's relief. Her eyes opened and she looked up at him in a daze.
"You're awake," he said, reaffirming his hold on her hand and stroking the back of it. TK then reached for the glass of water nearby. "Here, have some water."
Kari took the glass and lightly sipped it. "Thanks," she said in a strained voice that sounded like she had a frog in her throat.
After a few more sips, she held the glass against her chest. Her hands gripped the cool, clear substance tightly, the tension clear as day on her face.
"I don't care about the past. I want this thing that has taken control of Meiko destroyed!" she growled.
"Kari–" TK began to say.
"Tai is dead because of her, TK," Kari interrupted. A furious case of the sniffles attacked her body. "My brother is the most important thing in the world to me. It's only fair. And then I will kill Himekawa because she's the one who put this cursed thing inside of me."
She started to get up, but TK grabbed her shoulders and held her in place.
"Take it easy, Kari," he said softly. "You're still very weak. Matt and the others are taking care of the situation right now."
Kari shook her head. "I can't. They need us. If someone else dies, it's on me because we're here instead of out there."
She grabbed his hands to try and force them off, but TK held firm.
"TK, let me go. I have to end this now."
"I can't do that, Kari," he returned.
"Why? We have to go. Now."
"You are staying here until you are rested. Tai would haunt me forever if I let you run out in this condition."
"I don't care. Let me go."
"As the one responsible for you, I won't allow it."
"I'm responsible for myself. Let go! I'll die if I don't do anything!"
"No!"
TK chided himself for letting this devolve into a shouting match. This was not helping anything. He knew Kari was still upset over the loss of her brother, so shouting at her was not going to do anything other than drive her further away. He hugged her tightly into him. Kari did not take too kindly to that as she banged her fists on his back.
"You're not going to die, Kari," he said, ignoring her hits. "I will never let anything happen to you." Without thinking, he added from the depths of his heart, "I love you too much to let that happen to you. And not the kind of love as a friend. The kind of love that makes me want you with everything I have. The kind of love where I would fight to the ends of the earth to protect you."
Kari froze in his hold. She must have been shocked by what he said. Now that it fully registered in his mind, TK's face exploded with redness. He had finally said it out loud. This time, he made sure to lay it on real thick so that way Kari could not dismiss it as him saying it as her friend. Everything that happened within the last few hours had forced him to finally say it. It was out there.
He was in love with Kari Kamiya.
"Y-You…love me?" the Jedi of Light squeaked in his ear. "Not just as my friend, but really love me?"
TK nodded as he leaned back so their eyes met, showing her that he was dead serious about what he said.
"Yes." A small smile spread across his lips. "I do, Kari. I love you. Everything about you makes me love you in that way. Your smile, your kind heart, the way you always treat anyone that comes your way like you've known that person a while. I love it all."
Kari looked down to her lap. TK guessed that she was thinking about what he said. He hoped she felt the same. It would mean losing their bet, but he didn't give a rat's behind about that. Did everything he did during this bet open her eyes to see that there was a possibility for them to become more than best friends?
"How could I have been so stupid?" Kari muttered under her breath, but it was loud enough for TK to hear. "All those times you said you loved me, you meant it, didn't you?"
He nodded. "Yes. I've been trying to tell you all this time, but you never got the hint. And why wouldn't I be? You're the most amazing girl I know. How do you feel about me?"
Kari looked down again. This time, a smile appeared on her face.
"It wasn't until lately that I really noticed how much you had grown up," she replied. "I guess I kept that image of the little boy I first met in my head for that whole period you still lived with your mom in town. But now, I'm sure of how I feel. And my feelings are…" she blushed, "…that I love you too."
TK's heart leaped. She had finally said it. He hugged her again, this time out of happiness seeing that she returned his feelings. In that moment, nothing else mattered but basking in the glow of their newly affirmed romance. This was the happiest moment of his life so far. With Kari now as his girlfriend, he now had permission to say this.
"Everything is going to be okay, Kari," he said. "I won't let the infection consume you. As your boyfriend now, if anyone could bring you back from it, it is going to be me."
Kari pushed his arms away, her eyes glazed over in sadness.
"I'm sorry, TK, but we're not together," she said sadly. "You've got to let me go. It'll control me before long."
"Don't say that!" TK cried. "I'm willing to risk it. You mean more to me than anything in this whole world."
"Don't be selfish, TK. If you love me at all, you'll do this for me. I couldn't live with myself if I killed you while I was infected. That's when I would truly die. I already lost my brother. I can't lose you too."
The blonde grabbed her shoulders tightly. "You won't lose me. Even so, I'd die for you."
He firmly planted his lips against hers. It was their first kiss. Whether it would be the last one between them, TK did not know. It didn't matter because he was fully devoted to just that one moment in time. Kari fought against him for a second, but then she melted into him.
The moment did not last long as Kari pushed him away, grabbing her head as she groaned in pain. TK's heart sank into his stomach. The infection was coming back.
"Please don't make me say it again, TK," she hissed through gritted teeth. "You've got to let me go. Run away."
"Never," he said.
"Please! Go!" Kari begged. One last gasp escaped her lips and she fell back onto the bed. Silence.
A shiver went down TK's back. It wasn't visible, but he knew that the infection had taken hold of Kari. Once she opened her eyes, he knew that he would have to fight with all he had to save the girl he loved. His hand drew his lightsaber in preparation for that moment.
He poked her arm. "Kari?"
She didn't move.
He tried again. "Are you okay?"
Without warning, Kari's eyes snapped open. Instead of her normal reddish brown ones, they were red and yellow in the style of a dark side user. The corrupted Jedi of Light's lightsaber shot out and came at TK with the speed of a light metal baseball bat. Luckily, the blonde was prepared and activated his own and blocked the attack.
"You should have let me go," Dark Kari hissed in that deep, sinister voice before resuming the offensive.
TK was surprised by her words, breaking his concentration for two seconds. Dark Kari took advantage of that and the next thing he knew, he was blown back into the open area of the warehouse. A vicious snarl rang out as she shot toward him, lightsaber ready to kill. TK blocked all of her attacks with flawless form until their sabers locked together. He used all his strength to push them to the side and then blew Dark Kari away with a Force blast.
"I'll bring you back, Kari," he said, pulling off his dirty shirt to reveal a black tank top underneath. Much more comfortable. He resumed his stance as Dark Kari stood up from the ground.
"I promise."
What could possibly happen next? Find out next time on Revenge of the Infected.
Takari is (sort of) official! We'll see how TK is able to handle all this. I adjusted the circumstances surrounding the control room to fit what's going to happen next ;-) You are all about to experience the full epicness of the fight over these next two chapters ;-) I promise ya. As for Maki's whole revealing her diabolical scheme, you could probably get some Chamber of Secrets and Incredibles references. That's because I deliberately did it like that ;-)
Tune in next week for what happens next. We're getting oh so close here, guys. I'm excited, and I hope you are too. As always, leave a review and subscribe if you haven't yet, and I will see you all next weekend.
Tootles.
