A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Ayatane Elemia for being the 1200th reviewer for this story. Thank you. :)
Digimon Trinity
Chapter: 161/Episode 23: Battle's End. War's Beginning.
Mie's lips were tight against one another as she and Takehiro strode through the park. Though the sounds of distant thumping had quieted, she didn't feel the least bit comforted. Save for a slight breeze, the park was silent. No birds or animals rustling about in the brush, and as far as people went, just herself and her husband.
And hopefully Takato if he couldn't find somewhere safer, she thought, but at this point she no longer felt they would find him here. She had no evidence with regards to this, save her motherly intuition. She just knew he wasn't here.
But if not here, then where? she asked her instincts, hoping that they would give her some clue. On this, however, they remained silent.
"He's been playing around here lately," she said, more to herself than to her husband. She remembered that the last few times she had to come looking for him, this was the area they found him in. If her instincts couldn't give her anything definite to go on, then perhaps she could reason things out. For some time now, ever since meeting up with that fire-haired girl, he was here if he wasn't anywhere else, and here more often than not. Were they together when the evacuation order went down? Did he go with her to help her keep safe? She could see her son doing that.
But that girl…Rika. She has a cellphone. He would call, wouldn't he? Or…Or at least use one of the park's payphones…
It didn't take her long to remember that the bakery's phone hadn't been working. If neither of them couldn't call when the evacuation order had been given, they would have no choice but to find somewhere to hole up until the danger passed.
A sound from Takehiro caused her to draw up short. Looking at him, she saw his eyes turned upward, a questioning look on his face.
"Now that's a good hiding place," he said. Cocking an eyebrow, she followed his gaze and found a series of stairs climbing into a small, tree-covered hill. At the very top, stood a small, concrete hut with an iron gate. Her heart leaping into her throat, Mie broke into a run.
"Takato!" she yelled desperately.
"Wait, Mie!" Takehiro called after her, but she was already taking the stairs two at a time, reaching the crest of the hilltop as he bounded up behind her.
"Takato!" she cried, panting slightly, her eyes searching the inside of the hut for any sign of her son or his friends. Nothing but the emptiness of the hut greeted her. With a whimper, she approached the gate and grabbed hold of the bars. Tears shimmered at the corners of her eyes, her grip on the gate tightening, willing that she find her son with Rika here. That all she would have to do is blink and find them together, staying out of trouble.
The troublesome hut stubbornly remained empty.
"Takato…" she whispered, bringing her forehead to rest against the gate. Coming up from behind, Takehiro laid a hand to rest upon her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic look before bringing his eyes to rest on the hut's interior. He frowned slightly at the state it was in. The floor towards the back was all ripped up. Impressively so, in fact, as if someone had taken a miniature bulldozer to it. Curious, he took hold of the latch and pushed the gate open.
"Takehiro?" Mie sniffed, looking at him in confusion as he stepped inside. Wordlessly, the man strode into the hut and took a closer look at things. Spying something familiar, he knelt down and picked up a small bag. Its rustling now drew Mie's attention, and she followed him inside.
"These are from our place," Takehiro said, turning the bag over to reveal the hiragana of their bakery. He looked over at his wife with a raised eyebrow.
Her confusion briefly overwhelming her concern, Mie found another bag…and another. Lifting up one of them, she took a quick perusal of their contents. Upon finding them empty, she glanced at the gaping hole in the back of the hut.
"Looks like he inherited your appetite," she said sarcastically. "What was he doing here?"
Takehiro's expression was one of deep thought. He looked back and forth between the hole and the bags in his hands, his mind traveling back to the day their son brought home a mysterious cardboard box.
"I wonder if…" he said in a low voice. Mie looked back at him, concerned.
"You wonder what?" she asked. "Takehiro."
Instead of answering, Takehiro set the bags down and dusted off his hands.
"Nothing," he said with a shake of his head. "Anyway, he's not here, so we'd best go back to looking for him. There are a couple more places he could be around here. He might be at one of them."
Mie frowned at him slightly, but nodded. Whatever it was he wondered, it probably had something to do with that. And if not, she could pick his brain later.
Not that he has much in the way of brains, she thought sarcastically.
###
Takato's arms shot up in front of his face in a warding gesture as Okuwamon's claw came slicing down at him. A fruitless gesture, but instinct ruled him in that moment. There came a thunderous, slamming sound, causing Takato to gasp and then cry out in terror and anger.
Death however didn't come.
Opening his eyes, he found Taomon standing over him, her body shaking as she held one hand in front of her face. Okuwamon's claw was held back mere feet from her by her Talisman Spell barrier. Roaring angrily, Okuwamon lifted its claw to try again. Tsking, Taomon responded swiftly. Tightening her grasp on her oversized brush, she swept it about in front of her.
"Talisman of Light!" she shouted, quickly painting the Sanskrit character in front of her. A beam of light shot forth a second later as Okuwamon brought its attack slashing down. In the next moment, the Ultimate insect's arm flew through the air, shorn off from the rest of its body before evaporating into sparkling particles of data.
Okuwamon staggered backward, roaring angrily as data sprayed from his amputated limb.
"T-Thanks, Taomon," Takato stammered out, climbing shakily to his feet. He watched the spellcaster carefully. She was breathing heavily, and shaking. "Are…Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," she replied, adjusting her grip on her brush. "Just stay behind me."
"But Taomon…"
"Heeelllppp!"
"Ah! Calumon!" His eyes tracked about the sky for Makuramon and quickly found the monkey digimon soaring toward the sky, Calumon tucked securely beneath his arm. He didn't have time to focus on him for very long, because just then Taomon grabbed him and hauled him to the side roughly, narrowly avoiding Okuwamon's falling body as WarGrowlmon hurled Mammothmon into the insect.
###
Leomon landed atop a roof. His muscles ached and were weary from battle, but he was glad in a way for their pain and exhaustion. In its own way, the discomfort told him that his recent experiences were not a dream – a trick of fragmenting data. He was very much alive and fighting to stay that way.
Rising to his feet, he panned his blue gaze about, taking stock of the situation in front of him. WarGrowlmon had hurled a Mammothmon into an injured Okuwamon. Both he and Rapidmon were powering up their strongest attacks while Taomon wrestled one of the Tamers out of harms way.
Good. This battle is almost over, he thought.
A loud scream calling for help caught his attention. Looking up, he found a monkey-like digimon flying toward the sky. He had Calumon captive in one arm.
With a roar, Leomon leapt at the Deva.
"Stop struggling," he heard the monkey snap at Calumon. "You don't belong here and you know it!"
"You odious, ignorant ape!" Leomon snarled angrily, stretching forth one, massive arm. "You're the one that doesn't belong!"
Seeing the beast-warrior suddenly rushing toward him, Makuramon's eyes bulged in their sockets in panic. Crying out, he flailed a hand out, tapping the top of Leomon's hand and using him to flip himself out of the lion's path. Leomon growled, twisting in midair while grasping for his sword. As he did so, he caught sight of a shape in the great tear in the sky. It was shrouded in shadow, making it difficult to say for certain what it was save that it was massive. Greatly dwarfing even the largest of the invading digimon and the Whamon that remained hovering behind it. Light flared into existence in front of it like stars and before Leomon could even react, needles sprang to life from his body, their razor-sharp points imbedded deeply in his chest, arms and legs. Paralyzing pain erupted across his being and with a cry, he plummeted toward the distant streets below.
And there, a small girl, screamed his name.
"Leomon!"
Mimi? a part of him whispered as the agony clouded his vision and a visage of a young girl wearing a pink dress and a wide-brimmed hat came to mind. No, he thought in reminder. That tale was long ago. A trick of faulty memory from his fragmented data. He blinked, and he saw instead Makuramon's retreating figure, the sky closing up in front of him and the shrouded figure of darkness. His eyes fell on Calumon and his desperate eyes, pleading for him. Pleading for his safety. Pleading to be rescued.
I'm sorry… he thought as blackness spread across his vision.
Makuramon's mocking laugh followed him all the way to the ground with a bone-sickening crunch.
###
"Leomon!" Jeri screamed, running over to the fallen lion. She fell on her knees upon reaching him, tears welling up in her eyes. She searched his face for any sign of life, but the digimon was unmoving.
"Oh, Leomon…" she whimpered, one hand straying to his arm. A needle – one of many –
burned within the solid mound of muscle. She could feel intense heat radiating off its surface. That was her clue that he had to be dead. No one could still live with that kind of fire baking into their body. Her heart cracked and she leaned forward, burying her face upon the beast's abdomen. He was dead. He was dead! Just like her mother!
Almost at once, a memory came to mind. A vision of a woman covered by a white blanket, surrounded by doctors and her father. All grim-faced and somber.
"This was her fate."
Jeri's stomach recoiled at that and anger flared to life. Why… Why?! It was not fair that Leomon should die! He fought to protect everyone! All he wanted was for other people to be safe and happy! Why did he have to die?
If he had a partner, none of this would have happened, she thought, her shoulders shaking as she choked back a sob. Her fingers curled together and the anger she felt changed. From it burned a new fire. A desire to protect, just as Leomon did. She felt that fire spread throughout her, growing in intensity, focusing in one of her closed fists. A pleasant warmth filled it and Jeri drew back, confused. Her hand was glowing with white light, warm and inviting. There was something within. Something that felt like a presence. It seemed to ask something of her.
Without hearing the question but instinctively knowing what it was, she closed her eyes.
I want to protect Leomon, came her answer, and at once the light in her palm flared, becoming blindingly bright. Jeri cried out in surprise, holding up one arm to shield her eyes. The needles in Leomon's body blew apart, and the holes they left behind rapidly sealed up. The light faded then, leaving Jeri seated by the still-unconscious Leomon and an all too familiar object sitting in her hand. It was white, arc-shaped with orange trim surrounding a screen. She cupped it, unable to believe what she was seeing, yet her senses told her that it was all real.
"My own digivice!" she said in awe. Behind her, she sensed movement. Henry's father.
"Is it real?" he asked, as if he couldn't believe it either. Jeri held her breath, unwilling to speak for fear of breaking what could be an illusion.
Is it real? she wondered, poking at the button beneath the screen, causing a holographic circle to materialize above it. It feels real.
She frowned slightly. The circle only displayed blackness. That didn't seem to be particularly useful for a Tamer or their digimon.
Wait… A break in the darkness. A thin line of reddish-gold. Then darkness again, only for it to break once more. This time by more red and gold and… Jeri cocked her head to one side, even more confused now. Is that a cloud?
The image on the holo-circle swung up as Leomon groaned, and Jeri found herself in the center of it. Blinking, she looked up and found the great, lion-warrior looking at her.
"Jeri?" he asked, sitting up. The holo-circle retreated as Jeri understood now what it was and what it entailed. She didn't care though. At least not at the moment. Fresh tears sprang to life in her eyes and she flung herself at Leomon.
"Leomon!" she cried out with a loud sob.
Leomon balked at the tiny girl's unexpected embrace. He was about to pull her off him, but the sound of something clattering on the ground drew him up short. His blue eyes shifting, he saw a digivice similar to the ones that the Tamers used lying next to Jeri. Understanding settled heavily on him.
Jeri, he thought, carefully embracing her with a massive, powerful arm. So it seems that our fates our tied together after all.
He closed his eyes as he held Jeri close to him, wondering what the future held for them.
###
Sirens echoed loudly throughout the city now as Rika gazed about her. Without battle to keep her focused, she now had time enough to take in the state of things. Although she had been aware of it throughout the whole ordeal, in the current stillness, she hadn't been prepared for the full impact of what she saw. Street signs lay on the ground in twisted, mangled ruins. Buildings, what few that remained standing, were cracked and broken. Shattered glass lay strewn beneath them and everywhere she looked there was rubble.
What she could not see directly, she could infer by the black smoke that billowed skyward.
"Our entire town has been destroyed," she said softly. She closed her eyes, wanting to wish it all away. For all of this to be just some kind of bad dream. She couldn't believe how badly things had gotten in so short a time.
No wonder Takato got so frazzled, she thought, opening her eyes again to the wounded streets and buildings about her. And to think I used to want this.
She felt sick to her stomach and remembered IceDevimon.
To think that I was being trained for this.
"Now what?" Henry asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. "With Calumon's powers, the Devas will wipe out the rest of the world! We've got to help him!" The last sentence came out choked with helplessness, and Henry looked down uncertainly. Helping Calumon… "But how?" he wondered aloud. That was easier said than done. They didn't have Omnimon to transport them to the digital world, and however strong they were now, they paled before whatever that shadowy entity it was that enabled Makuramon's escape from Leomon. It was without a doubt a Mega. Perhaps the very Sovereign they served.
It'll be okay. We have the Digidestined still. They can digivolve to Mega.
He felt a cold chill run through his body. The wind, he told himself, but he knew it was more than that. The Digidestined weren't as strong as they used to be, and their power was fading. And with how chaotic the fighting had been today, who knew if any of them had made it out all right?
Ultimately, he knew responsibility would fall to them. The digital world had prophesized them to battle Gulfmon. He was sure that fate wasn't done with them yet.
But fate or not, how are we going to help Calumon?
"We've got to go."
"What do you mean?" Henry and Rika both looked up at the boy. His back was to them, staring out at the far horizon. There was something in his voice that was similar to when he helped WarGrowlmon escape from his imprisonment. A stoic determination that would meet the challenge set in front of him and not back down. A certainty that it would find a way to overcome whatever danger was placed before him.
"To the digital world," Takato continued in a stronger voice as he turned toward them, once fist clenched. "We have to go to the digital world! It's the only way to save him!"
"Ah, oookay…" Henry drawled out uncertainly, having already considered the difficulty to that equation. "And how do you suggest we do that?"
A sharp gust of wind blew over the three Tamers, silence falling among them. Rika met Takato's gaze and he returned hers unflinchingly. Her eyes narrowed and she nodded mentally, finding herself agreeing with the unspoken determination in his eyes.
"Same way we do everything," she countered to Henry's question. "We wing it."
Another gust of wind blew over them, and Rika and Takato's eyes held each other a moment longer. Henry looked back and forth between them, sensing something crossing between them. He pressed his lips together uncertainly.
"It's not going to be that easy," he said. "But…what choice do we have?"
"Yeah, we'll come up with something," Takato said, turning his eyes back toward the sky. "We have to."
The sirens began to draw closer, and as if that were a signal, Taomon made her way over to WarGrowlmon and Rapidmon.
"Come on, boys," she said, lifting one arm. "Let's go."
Etching a character in the air before her, she vanished in a cloud of smoke. Nodding in agreement, Rapidmon took to the air.
"I'm with ya!" he exclaimed before rocketing away. WarGrowlmon, taking the hint, knelt down and immediately began ripping up the earth beneath him.
"Wait for me!" he shouted, vanishing into the street below.
Takato winced.
"Oh man… As if the streets aren't messed up enough already."
"Chill out, Gogglehead," Rika said, approaching him. "Come on. We've got to make ourselves scarce. Let's regroup at the park and see what we can do from there."
"Actually…" Janyu glanced in the direction of his son, who stiffened under his gaze. "Henry and I should head home."
Henry's eyes went wide. "R-Right. Suzie!"
"Okay," Rika nodded. "We'll catch you later."
Henry's eyes lingered on them for a moment before they gave him an encouraging nod. With that, Henry turned toward his father, who slid a hand on his shoulder.
"Good luck," he said before starting off.
"Yeah, you too." Turning away, Takato laid his eyes on Jeri, Leomon, and Kazu and Kenta. "Well guys. You heard her. Let's go!"
Needing no further encouragement, the group took off, scrambling over rubble as best they could. Leomon cast a look over his shoulder, helping Jeri over a particularly large chunk.
"W-What's wrong, Leomon?" she asked, seeing the concerned expression on his face.
"The other Digidestined," he said. "Jeri. I…I should check on them and make sure that they are all right. I have a rough idea where they are."
"Then, I'll come with you."
"No." Leomon shook his head, feeling his digi-core tighten half with uncertainty and fear. Fear at their partnership and what it might mean. Panic flashed across Jeri's eyes, and in them he read her fear that he would abandon her, owing to memories from their last encounter. Feeling ashamed at himself for indulging his personal demons, he knelt down and placing a massive paw on her shoulder, he gave it a comforting squeeze.
"I am sorry, Jeri. I don't know what the situation is in the city, or how bad. I would…prefer not to worry about you at this point in time. Not until I can understand how we fit together in our new circumstances."
The panic in Jeri's eyes vanished, but was replaced by something else. Another worry, but one that at least was held back. "Oh… R-Right."
"You will be at the hideout, correct? The one from where I first met your friend, Takato?"
"Yes," Jeri nodded quickly. "Um… Will you be gone long?"
"I cannot say," Leomon admitted. "I shouldn't be, but if I am not able to return there before you are to return home, you will find me there tomorrow."
"Okay." Jeri nodded, and in her amber eyes, he saw her worries retreat a little. Giving her shoulder another squeeze, Leomon drew away and hurried off. With a final leap, he vanished into the concrete jungle and was gone.
Jeri stood there in long silence while the others watched her expectantly.
"Jeri?" Takato prompted. "Are you all right?"
"Y-Yeah!" Turning, the brown-haired girl started back after them. "Sorry. I'm just… Um…"
She trailed off, her eyes falling to the ground uncertainly. Rika eyed her for a moment before approaching her, extending a hand.
"It'll be okay," she said. "This is all new to him, so there's a bit of an adjustment period going on. I remember how weird it was for me when I first became partners with Renamon." She offered the girl a small grin. "I know I kept waking up expecting it to all be some weird dream. But it's not. He'll come around in no time."
Jeri smiled back at Rika and clasped her hand. "Thanks, Rika."
"Don't mention it."
###
Takeru stood amidst the ruins of Shinjuku, his father's lighter pressing tightly against his palm. He gazed up at the twin towers of Hypnos and the smoke that poured out from it. Three helicopters hovered about it, as if inspecting the damage. Perhaps looking for anyone who couldn't escape the floor that the explosion occurred on. He didn't think there were. Pretty much everyone with a brain had gotten out once the system had begun to overload and redline. All things considered, Hypnos got off lucky.
He doubted that there was anyone left in Shinjuku who would appreciate that. Even a casual glance at the carnage surrounding the building told him that there were a good many unlucky people today. That Hypnos largely escaped that misfortune – especially despite being targeted by the invaders – would only fuel that anger.
My fault, he thought. I should have been more careful. I should have allowed for the possibility of Juggernaut failing. Should have done…so many things.
But that was hindsight talking. It didn't change the fact that he made the decisions. That he put the Digidestined – his friends – in a situation that prevented them from being effective in the event of a catastrophic failure. And worse yet, the price for failure was so terribly high. And that alone he should have remembered above all things. His past failings had, after all, carried a price tag of thousands of people – hundreds of thousands. And left scars on those who survived.
And now? Because of today, that cost would number even higher. He could only begin to guess how things were, but one thing was certain. Juggernaut would be of no help in offsetting his mistake.
"It's over," he whispered, his hand shaking as he continued to grip his father's lighter.
7
