DigiLife

by zeofficialrave

After waking up from a nightmare, Taichi finds himself in the middle of the forest in a unfamilliar form. (Episodes rewriten starting at The Small Devil, Picodevimon.)

11. The Good, The Bad and The 'Human

A loud groan emanated from the young boy, flinching and hissing in pain as he sit up to look around the familiar dark area he fell upon. Everything looks the same as ever in whatever place this is, water and nothingness, well minus the giant cage in the middle of this nowhere.

Recognizing the small enclosure, he slowly got up on his wobbly feet and carefully approached it, however, it only took a few steps until he collapse on the ground with a loud thud. His face grimaced as pain hit him all over his weak body. It's like he got ran over by a truck over and over again, everything hurts.

"T-taichi? Is that you?" A strained yet gentle voice called from the cage.

Ears perking up, Taichi took deep breaths before forcing himself to stand on both feet, face cringing from the wild torment blossoming inside him. "Y...Y-Yeah...It's me..." A loud groan escaped his fanged mouth as he took small steps towards the cage. "...I-I don't know...who y-you are b-but...I'm go-gonna...get you out...o-of there..."

A clawed hand emerged out of the shadows inside the enclosure then used the bars to help him stand, the faint glow of orange eyes can be seen slightly rising inside. Its gaze was soft and seemed surprise by his words. "You can't! N-not today...YukiIchimon might come back, he'll kill you when he comes back."

"Y-Yuki...Ichimon?" Taichi raised a brow in wonder, earning a small nod from the figure inside.

"...the white Ichimon..."

Slowly shaking his head, Taichi proceeds to painfully make his way towards the cage. "T-then I'll...go back...t-to the...re-real world...and try a-again..." A new feeling in his stomach bloomed which caused him to double over and spit out the liquid that's been uncomfortably stuck in his throat. Red fluid mixed with the dark water. "Y-you mentioned...somet-thing about...the truth..."

The figure could be seen slowly nodding to him. "...It's dangerous right now, Taichi...We won't know when he'll arrive..." Gritting his teeth, Taichi collapsed right in front of the cage, coughing and almost out of breath. "You're also badly wounded...Taichi, y-you are in no condition to fight, let alone defeat him even in such a well form."

He stares at the kid's tormented form, his body's covered with fresh blood and is bady beaten up, breathing is unstable and seems like he's about to give up. The sight disgusted him so much and also pitied the boy. "T-tell me, Taichi...Why are you s-so desperate to learn about the truth?"

"...why?" Taichi groaned and pulled himself up by using the chain as a support. His face darkened as his gaze fell. "I-I don't...exactly know myself...bu-but...! Somehow...I feel like it's gonna...fix everything...everyone...I want to...I w-want to..."

"Feel acceptance...right?" The figure continued after seeing the boy's pained expression. Taichi looks away from him, a tear escaped from his tired eye.

Pain took over him once again, not physically but emotionally. The words people called him keeps repeating over and over again, and the sight of destruction of his own doing flashed in his eyes. He didn't mean it...Perhaps he was just too upset that time that made him snap. It was an accident!

A high pitched scream suddenly rang, the same horrifying one he heard when the girl got accidentally harmed by his own hands. Just hearing that made him sick. He felt so disgusted of himself. Even if he tries to cover his ears he would still hear it. It keeps haunting him no matter what he do.

If only those cops would listen to him the girl wouldn't have to go throught such horrible experience. To use reason instead of brute force. Why? Just why couldn't they understand? He was trying to save her yet this is how they repay him, by showering him with bullets. He's a human just like them! The same old kid that lives in Earth! With humanity...!

...was.

What a way to end someone's life. Being stuck as a Digimon all of the sudden then immediately got hated by his own kind. Definitely not his luck in this world.

"Hey, kid." The gentle voice called out. "You should go back to the real world. I'll wait until you fully recover."

Gritting his teeth, Taichi let out some shallow breaths as he slowly stood up on his shaky feet. Then with so much effort, his hand combusted with flames then used it to try and melt off the chain. "I-I won't rest...until yo-you're out of this...p-prison..."

His methods were effective but it was taking too much time, considering that his fire was small and weak due to his current condition. At this rate, that ice digimon might show up any second.

Letting out a long sigh, a hand from inside the cage took Taichi's and held onto it gently. "Jeez, kid. I-if you're really this persistent then I guess I have no choice but to follow through." Slowly, the figure's hand opened and Taichi did the same. As he opened his palm, a huge surge of flame combusted from his hand. "There. That should be enough to melt it."

Taichi nodded to him as a thanks then immediately placed his hand onto the chain, which causes it to melt faster than before. In a few minutes, the chain around it finally melted off and oddly faded into ashes.

"That's only the easy part, kid. T-this one is gonna be tough." The figure told him as he pointed at the strange looking lock. "It's a B-bowley lock, unpickable and strong. Unfortunately it's protected by some kind of data." Moving to the main lock of the cage, he stared it for a few moments, bewildered about how he's gonna open it.

"D-data...?" Slowly, he reach out for it to check in a more closer view, however, he immediately retreated his hand back as a surge of electricity suddenly dispersed from it. Growling in frustration, he set his hand ablazed and aimed at it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. It'll send a shock in your body and possibly mess up your data." The figure clicked his tongue. "I would already be out here if that thing is meltable, but unfortunately, everything I encounter is really tough to figure out."

Taichi's head tilted to the side in bewilderment, eyes still fixated on the weird lock with so much eagerness to destroy it. "I-is it...hac-hackable?" He asked.

The tall figure could be seen plopping down on the cold floor and shrugging. "I doubt it. Might have a bad effect on whatever device you're using." He sighed through his nose longingly as he uses his arms as a make shift pillow. "Man, w-whoever made this must be so thrilled to see a sacrifice."

"S-seems like...it." Taichi agreed with a nod. Carefully, he sat down and rested his back on the bars of the cage. There was a tinge of electricity to the side where the lock is, it slightly made his fur stood up from the current flowing into him.

A disappointed sigh escaped from his lips as he faced up in the darkened sky above him for a few moments before looking down to his wounded body. The police really did a number on him, considering that he wasn't intentionally trying to fight back, he was vulnerable at that time. His face grimaced as his hand accidentally made contact to his nasty wound when he was just trying to settle down comfortably.

Hissing in pain, he gently placed a hand on one of his wound that was gushing out blood to try and lessen the flow, it stings a lot but it was urgently needed to do at this crucial moment.

"You don't have to worry about those wounds." Taichi glanced at the figure behind the cage. "Those will heal up in a few hours, depends on how your friends patch up your real body from the outside world."

His ears perked up in interest. "R-real...body?" The human turned digimon asked curiously.

"We're in your mind, kid. Your form here is just data, a soul specifically." Crossing his arms, his face grimaced in irritation. "Apparently, I got dragged in here by that YukiIchimon, heard that he needed my data for some kind of task he got from his boss. I've got no idea why but it sounds like you're the main subject in this."

"W-what would they...w-want from me?" Taichi received a small shrug as a response. "A-are they the one...who cha-changed me...into a digimon?"

He stares at the boy with a pitiful glance. "I don't have the answers, kid. I'm sorry."

"...oh..."

Taichi's ears noticably drooped to the side as his gaze wandered mindlessly at the dark space around him. The figure saw this upsetting expression of the boy. He looked left and right to check for any trouble that might interrupt the incoming conversation he's about to commence before carefully approaching Taichi closer and gently poked his back to address his attention.

"What's your name, kid?"

Raising a brow in confusion, Taichi slowly turns around to face the tall figure, who got his hands extended out towards him, waiting for him to shake it. "D-don't you...already know m-my name?"

"What's your name?" He asked again, crouching down to Taichi's size.

The boy slowly scooted away from the cage, slightly uncomfortable by the sudden approach of him. He looked up and saw the gentle gaze of the figure was giving him. It somehow made him relax just by looking at it. "T-Taichi...Yagami..." He answered as he took the other's hand.

He heard him chuckle heartedly from the other side of the cage, and then shakes his hand. "Nice to meet ya, Taichi. The name's..." A flame ignited from his other hand as it lit up half of his body, and the sight of his appearance startled Taichi and stare at him with wide eyes. "Ichimon."

Though instead of getting scared, Taichi felt a warm soothing feeling in his body, the same thing he gets when he evolves. It was weird though, he could feel the other's heart beat the same rhythm as his own, as if they were somehow connected.

"B-but...I though you g-guys no longer exist!" He exclaimed, gaze still fixated towards his adult form, minus the goggles.

"Our physical form are gone, so are our evolution path. Our data was collected by someone, who is still kicking up the dirt in the Digital World." The digimon placed a hand onto his chest then the other points toward Taichi's. "Apparently, I could feel what you are feeling, see what your eyes looks upon, hear whatever sounds that surrounds you. It's as if we are somehow..."

"...connected." Taichi finished, looking up at the tall digimon in front of him as a memory of evolution came up to his mind. "Y-you...were the o-one...who helped me evolve a-and...save everyone..."

Nodding slowly, Ichimon stood up straight as a long sigh escaped his lips. "Yeah...but it actually requires something in return." Slightly turning to the side, Taichi let out a small gasp when he saw the digimon's tail glitching out. "Couldn't feel it anymore but it was worth losing data though. You get to save everyone, the best part of everything, huh?" Ichimon doesn't appear to be disturbed by it as he chuckled wholeheartedly, however, it was the opposite reaction for Taichi.

The entire enclosure shook as the human turned digimon clawed the bars, despite feeling the enormous pain that was being shot through his entire body.

"H-hey! Taichi, stop that!"

The metallic structure rang as the boy's claws constantly made contact to it. Taichi heaved a breath, blood continuously gushing out of his fresh wound. Then his hand suddenly got grabbed by Ichimon, however, it doesn't stop him from trying to free the large digimon from the cage as he uses his head to smack it against the metal bar.

"What's gotten into you, kid!? You're hurting yourself!" However, Ichimon's bamboozled state suddenly got replaced by full concern as he saw the boy's pitiful gaze that was aiming towards him. The digimon swallowed a lump that was building up his throat, then carefully pushes Taichi away from his prison when he finally realizes what made him upset in the first place. "I did it of my own free will. I'm already dead, kid. Besides, it doesn't matter anymore because I'm already getting deleted, and you're slowly turning into a permanent digimon. The best I could do for now is help you out in times you couldn't understand what you're fighting against."

Taichi shakes his head in disbelief, then threw himself towards the cage as he held on to the bars to support his weak body. "I-I'm not as-asking for...your help! A-and even if I did, I wou-wouldn't ask you...to risk y-your life..."

"Taic--!?"

A large chunk of ice emerged out of the ground right between the two, luckily Taichi managed to push himself out of danger swiftly. The boy heaved as he went into a coughing fit, blood spat out from his fanged mouth as he covered his mouth. He then turned when he heard Ichimon click his tongue seemingly out of anger and frustration. "He's here."

Loud footsteps emanated closeby followed by some shallow and icy breaths, leaving a trail of ice on every step he take. "You sure have guts coming here all wounded, thinking that you can accomplish what you're planning."

With just a swipe of his hand, a burst of energy dispersed and hit Taichi until half of his body is frozen in place. YukiIchimon turned and sent a deadly glare at Ichimon before blasting a powerful blow of frozen air that sent the Vaccine digimon to lose balance and stumble back.

"Neither human nor digimon. You're a mix between those two species, but soon that digimon side of you will take over and erase your human data." He grabbed Taichi on his neck and squeezed tightly, not caring about the anguished screams coming out from the weak boy's mouth, the sheer cold alone made it even more painful for Taichi to even handle. "You've seen what those humans did to you. They fear you, hurt you, and treated you like an outcast. Come on, Chimon. Let go of that humanity. It only holds you back."

Taichi's eyes blurred, body going numb and breaths slowly fading. His gaze still focused upon YukiIchimon's cold orbs that he wasn't able to notice his body breaking into little pieces of data. However, as he was about to close his eyes, a huge burst of flames combusted from the cage and hit the ice digimon straight in the face, causing him to let go of Taichi. The ice around the boy melted by the same flame, then Taichi collapsed on the ground, gasping for air as his vision slowly became clearer.

"Get out of here, Taichi! I'll handle this guy." Ichimon growled, blasting the ice digimon with another set of flames. Taichi shakes his head in denial as he threw himself towards the cage then raised up his claws ready, aiming at the lock. However, Ichimon managed to catch his arm before he could even hit it. "Kid! I don't want to argue with you right now! Get out of here while you still can!"

Frantically shaking his head, swatted Ichimon's hand away then desperately tried breaking the bars of the cage with his remaining strength he have left wordlessly. However, his raw strength alone wasn't enough, Taichi screamed hopelessly and used his head to hit the bars, literally, until blood started rushing down his face, covering half of his complexion. "I-I'm...not..."

"I know, kid. But please worry about yourself." Ichimon shot another fireball towards the struggling virus digimon before glancing back at the distressed boy. "We don't have much time! Go!"

Even after shouting at him, Taichi remained glued in place, grip tightening on the bars as he tries to break it once again but to no avail. Then before the adult digimon could even scold him once more, an ice spear came dashing through the small enclosure, missing both Taichi and Ichimon by hair. Before either of them could even turn their attention back to the enemy, a hand suddenly choked the human turned digimon as he lifted him off the ground.

"You two are really getting on my nerves." YukiIchimon growled, a dangerous glint in his eyes flashed, making Taichi gulp in fear as he struggled to escape his grasp. The ice digimon swiftly attacked Ichimon in his cage before he could even make any move, ice now covering his body, freezing him on the spot. "You're lucky I can't kill both of you right now, but once this whole thing is over I'll make sure to grant you a living hell."

His grip tightened around Taichi's neck, making the boy gasp in some air in his lungs. Eyes blurring slowly, he weakly attempted to kick YukiIchimon, however, his strength has betrayed him.

"T-Taichi...!" Ichimon on the other side, struggled to raise his body temperature to melt the ice around him but that would be imposible to do with his freezing body. He looked around for anything that could help either of them, anything that could save them! The boy appears to be slowly losing consciousness, and breaking into data. He needs something! Anything!

Then his face lit up as an idea pops into his mind. His eyes suddenly glowed a brighter orange then muttered something under his breath before the light slowly fades away.

"TAICHI!"

Coughing, the struggling boy slowly turned at Ichimon's direction and saw him addressing at the lock then to YukiIchimon. It didn't take him too long to realize what he was implying to say. Taichi stares at the lock to the ice digimon in front of him, eyes widening when he finally caught up to the idea. '...Sacrifice.'

He grunts as he lifted up his head and opened his mouth wide open before biting down into the digimon's flesh, making YukiIchimon to scream out and let go of his limp body instinctively.

"Why you little-GRAAAAH!" Taichi quickly dodged to the side and successfully avoided the sharp claws that was coming towards him. YukiIchimon roared viciously as he constantly tried to sink his claws into the boy's face, however it was all a miss as Taichi keeps pushing himself out of the way, despite the pain that was yelling all over his body. Taichi flails back until he finally hit the cage, leaving him completely trapped in the corner.

"Any last words, Chimon?" YukiIchimon smirked slyly, glaring down at the small digimon. However, that smile was only momentary as he saw a mocking grin coming from Taichi.

"Is that all you got?" The boy teased.

Those words made YukiIchimon mad, cold breaths flaring out of his nostrils as he growled at the cocky boy. Raising up his hands in the air, ice reformed in his palm until a sharp and long spear appeared. "COLD SPEAR!" He roared as he pushed all of his strength into the weapon that is aimed at Taichi. However, his anger was replaced by fear as Taichi jumped out of the way, seconds before hitting the lock. The spear went straight through it.

In just seconds, the cage started glitching out, and that glitch spreads into YukiIchimon.

"N-no...! No! No! No!"

The digimon's form began to crumble into little pieces of data.

"NO!"

YukiIchimon snapped his head towards Taichi, a menacing look now glued on his face. Screaming out at the top of his lungs, he quickly ran towards the defenceless boy, teeth and claws bared ready to kill him.

"TAICHI!"

"NO!"

Then everything went dark.

---

(20 minutes earlier)

The door slammed opened all of the sudden, startling both Koushiro and Mimi as they stared at Jou, who appears to be out of breath, medical supplied in his hands. The older boy looks distressed and worried, and it only gotten worst when he saw Taichi's wounded form on Koushiro's now bloodied bed. Koushiro's parents being in the same room as them, who are also as shaken as everyone, their grip tightened around the unconscious boy's bullet wounds.

"Jou!"

"I know! I know! No time to talk!" He shaken himself out of his daze after hearing Gomamon's distressed shout, then immediately kneeled down to the side of the bed and examined the nasty wounds his friend has. Grimacing at the sight, Jou examined him from head to toe thoroughly.

"Shortness of breath, skin turning cold, bullet's still inside." Koushiro informed the elder boy, eyes fixated on Taichi's health chart in his laptop. "Heartbeat is quite high. Jou...he needs immediate treatment now!"

"I-I'm not sure I can..." Jou lowered his head. "What i-if I make it worse? I'm still no good to be treating something as fatal as this." All of the sudden, he suddenly got pulled by someone and made him turn, that's when he saw Mimi's tearful gaze, hand visibly shaking from all the worry that's been surging through her body all this time.

"PLEASE!" She begged. "J-Jou...you're the only one w-who can do this." Palmon came up and started comforting her partner by hugging and patting her back gently.

Jou's gaze turns to Taichi, his friend, their leader, who is fallen greatly injured, most of his body covered by his own fresh blood, it pained to see such horrific sight. Finally, he slowly regained the courage to do the task. Breathing in and out slowly, Jou took out some syringe, bandages, alcohol, needles, threads and other items that is necessary for his friend's treatment. "I'll try." He muttered, swallowing a lump in his throat as he wore a pair of gloves and a mask to cover half of his face. "We need a lot of towels."

"I'll go get it." Kae volunteered before slowly letting go of the boy's bleeding arm and dashing out of the room.

"This might take a while to stitch up." Jou muttered, eyes fixated at the wounds. His body slightly tensed as a gentle hand was suddenly placed on his shoulder.

"Let me lend you a hand." Koushiro's father, Masami, offered his help as he started wearing the gloves and mask.

"D-dad..." Koushiro stared at him in awe, then receives a promising gaze from the man.

"Don't worry, Koushiro. Your friend will be all right." He reassured his worried son, though it was only a small bluff he made, truthfully he doesn't know if he can do this kind of thing. Glancing back at the wounded body of Taichi, the older male's eyes glimmered with a bit of hope as he watch the boy's chest slowly yet calmly rise up and down.

Then the door swings open, revealing Kae with towels in her arms, and quickly placed it down on the floor in front of Gomamon and to the side of Jou. The woman looks at her husband and saw sheer determination to help Taichi in any way he could, she smiled at this.

"Tentomon, can you help us?" Jou asked, earning a quick nod from the bug digimon.

"You got it!" Tentomon saluted as he glided on top of Taichi, examining his pulse and breathing.

Seeing that everyone appears to be ready to start, Kae opened the door and ushered Mimi, Koushiro and Palmon outside the room. "We should all wait outside." The three didn't say any word and did what they were told to. Taking one last glance at Taichi's unconscious form before closing the door quietly.

Kae went to the kitchen to grab a bunch of snacks for the kids and digimon while the trio stayed in the living room all quietly. Palmon remained at her partner's side to console her from what's happening right now. She carefully took off her bloodied gloves and placed it on the table. "It's okay, Mimi. I'm sure he'll get through this." Palmon soothed her by rubbing her back gently, only to receive a slow nod from her.

The room soon fell quiet. Only the tappings on Koushiro's laptop remained. The red head desperately tries to search for the eighth child's wherabouts, his worries for Taichi made him more focused on their main priority. In his mind, Koushiro believed that things will possibly go as planned once the missing child is finally with them. The questions he always had will be answered, truth will find its way into the light. It might seem like the eighth child is the only thing that's been in his head, however...the same question has dug deeper into his mind ever since the beginning of Taichi's change; Is there a way he can help him? Is the change permanent? There was still no answer to his questions.

Sighing deeply, Koushiro glanced up from his laptop and stares at the upset Mimi with a pitiful expression. The girl must've been so terrified when she saw Taichi. The shock probably affected her so much to make her act like this. It was an unusual sight, but he understands the girl's worries.

The door suddenly creaks open, then Kae quietly went in and close the door behind her. "Koushiro...Mimi...I think you might want to check the news." She told them in a low worryingly tone.

Koushiro immediately grabbed the remote and turns on the T.V.. Then what comes up bothered both the Chosen Children even more.

It was a news about a monster rampaging in the city, and that monster they were referring to is none other than Taichi. A video shows dozens of police officers surrounding their friend, who appears to be protecting someone in his arms, guns being pointed directly at him dangerously as the leader of the department continues to yell at Taichi with words that they didn't even want to hear;

"...Monster!"

"A beast!"

"Freak!"

In Koushiro and Mimi's eyes, they could see how hurt their friend is from all those nasty words that was being shouted at him. It made them sick in their stomach when they saw Taichi trying to explain the situation peacefully but the people only took it as a negative response.

"They're lying..." Mimi muttered under her breath, tears now started flowing down her face like a waterfall. "...why is everyone...b-being so mean..."

The news went on as the people kept talking about the hostility of Taichi and how he's hurting the scared girl in his PROTECTIVE arms. Gritting his teeth, Koushiro never felt this frustrated in his entire life. Clearly because the people who are watching the news right now would believe such lies, a false call of the people who never wants to hear the full story.

"...buldings, roads, vehicles and other objects that are around the same area as the monster's radius are still left frozen solid..."

Koushiro suddenly perked up upon hearing the words that came out of the woman's mouth in the television. "Frozen...?"

A video came up in the screen and it shows a huge burst of snow and ice as his friend coincidentially roared out, though this roar was more upsetting than his usual angry ones. Just as what the lady said, buildings, vehicles, roads and other things were left frozen solid. The cameraman could be seen being blown away by the cold blast of air before the lens of the camera begins to be covered in ice, then the video ended.

"The police are now looking for the monster all around the city. Civilians are told to be inside their house all the time. For those who are still out for work, the militaries will be scattered around the city for inspections..."

The television was suddenly turned off by Mimi, having enough of the lies that is now currently spreading throughout the city, and possibly the entire country too. "It's all lies..."

Staring up at her partner with sorrowful eyes, Palmon held Mimi's hand in order to soothe every negative emotions that she's feeling right now. "Mimi..."

Koushiro, meanwhile, quickly sat down on the sofa as his full attention went back to his laptop. Upon searching the internet, there were already millions and millions of news considering the "attack" in Shibuya, informations that only the ones involved with Digimons know that it was all false. Finally having enough of it, Koushiro closed the internet after he downloaded a copy of the video from the news and played it.

"Koushiro...?" Glancing back at her son in concern, Kae couldn't help but notice how strong the tension got in the room and how her son quickly went serious.

The video shows the same city they had been when they were fighting DeathMeramon on top of the tower, except this time the entire road is full of police surrounding the defenceless Taichi, who is clearly protecting a litle girl in his arms. Eyes furrowing in curiosity, Koushiro watched carefully as his eyes wandered around the screen for any small details that could not be easily seen.

"I'M NOT A MONSTER!"

Waves of frozen air suddenly erupted and quickly engulfed the entire area. Koushiro immediately paused it with his shaking hands and rewinds the video a few seconds back before everything went frozen solid, then zoomed in on Taichi and played it. Cold wind blew again, but this time, Koushiro suddenly got a small glance at something. Rewinding, playing, then paused right before the frozen air blows.

Then he noticed something, right behind Taichi's angry yet upset figure, it was something white towering over his friend. He zoomed in once again until it only focused on Taichi then quickly fixed the resolution of the picture.

"Wh-what is that?" He gasp as soon as the image was completely fixed.

Mimi sat down beside the red head to check on what he was so surprised about, upon seeing the screen, it also surprised her. "What's that thing?"

Koushiro brought it up to his digimon charts and started scanning the large snowy white figure to inspect the unknown thing. It didn't take too long for his laptop to finish scanning and show the results to him, however, what he saw was not the thing he expected. The icon of the digimon was pitch black and has a question mark over its profile, all of its starts are jumbled datas that couldn't be encrypted for him to read, and what caught his attention the most was the attributes section, the thing was flickering between Vaccine and Virus, much to Koushiro's utter bewilderment.

"It's obviously a digimon, but all of its informations seems to be unavailable or deleted." His gaze averted at Taichi's charts then suddenly remembered something similar. "...It's like that time before I got Chimon and Ichimon's data from Gennai. The entire thing is deleted."

"Meaning?" Mimi asked curiously, attentively listening to everything Koushiro is saying.

"The digimon could either be extinct like Chimon and Ichimon or perhaps my laptop just couldn't scan thoroughly. Either way..." His eyes furrowed as he stare at the unknown figure behind his friend. "I have a feeling that it's connected to Taichi's problems, and that it can cause a lot of troubles in the future."

"Taichi's...problems?" Mimi raised a brow in bewilderment, then suddenly realized what Koushiro meant by that and remembered something about it. "...He does seem bothered by something. Well, I only noticed it when we arrived here in our world."

"That's the point." The red head brought up Chimon's charts in his screen, showing a small green bar that has 33% written on it. "He's been acting really suspicious ever since we came here; the sudden lose of control, increased anxiety, isolation, change of attitude...he's obviously hiding something from us. The only clue we have is his sudden change of power. Look at this."

He rotated his laptop to Mimi's direction then showed the video he was inspecting a few moments ago. A small gasp of disbelief escaped the girl's mouth when she saw what Koushiro was talking about. "W-wait...! Isn't he a..."

"A fire based digimon, yes." He replied as he turned his laptop. "That is the thing I am wondering about." Resting his head on his hand, Koushiro pondered as he hummed, seemingly getting more lost in his wave of thought every second.

A caring hand was placed on Koushiro's shoulder, however, he doesn't seem to have notice it and was still lost in deep thoughts. Kae scooted closer to his son then moved up her hand on his hair to slowly pat it. "Based on what you told me about your adventures and your friend...If I understand correctly, his power is emotion driven."

She earned a slow nod from her son. "Yeah, because he's a fire digimon it mostly depends on his anger." Koushiro explained carefully.

"I see." Kae gazes at the complex charts that is shown in her son's laptop, then a frown suddenly curved on her face. "Don't you think that...he's hurting? More on the emotional side rather than physical? He does seem like he's slowly breaking down when you told me about him."

"Mom..." An idea pops into his head then he immediately went back to typing on his laptop, the look of his mother's perplexed eyes being forgotten for a moment. He tapped, searched, analyzed, scanned, and many other things just to check on something his curiosity has lead him into until he stopped and started staring at the screen with wide eyes, lips visibly trembling from the result he saw.

"Koushiro?" Kae became even more confused at the sight of her son's worrisome expression.

Mimi curiously, yet carefully, scooted closer to see what her friend was so surprised about. "What is it?"

Her question was left hanging as Koushiro swiftly got up on his feet, startling his companions in the process, then ran towards the door. "I have to warn Jou!" He exclaimed before heading out towards his room, where his father and friend is staying in to stitch up Taichi's wounds.

Shouts of protest echoed in the halls as Kae and Mimi tried calling out for him, then started following the red head to stop him from interrupting the busy room.

A loud bang startled all the people present in the room as the door suddenly swung open revealing Koushiro wearing a face of concern, thankfully Jou and Masami were just about to start stitching up the wounds so no further harm were made on Taichi's unconscious body.

"K-Koushiro!? What are you doing here?" Jou half-shouted questioned him.

Eventually Kae, Mimi and Palmon also arrived in time right after the child of sincerity carefully placed down the needle and thread.

"Did something happened?" Masami asked.

"Palmon, tie him up." There were a collective gasps upon hearing the red head's words. Koushiro shoved Jou away from Taichi then held out his Digivice towards the boy's chest, after that, he quickly placed it in his laptop and started analyzing.

"H-hey! What's going on with him?" Jou turned to Mimi and gave her a questioning look, only to receive a shrug and a head shake of denial.

"I don't know. We were talking about Taichi's "ice powers" then he stormed out without saying anything."

The older boy raised a brow. "Wait...'ice powers'? Doesn't he breathe out fire?"

"The news captured a video of your friend freezing the entire road and buildings." Kae explained carefully.

"What!?" Jou, along with Gomamon, Tentomon and Masami, exclaimed in utter disbelief. Their conversation was cut short as a loud groan emanated from the bed, the sound of he sheets shuffling and small groans of discomfort could be heard.

"N-no...but how is this possible?" Koushiro let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding the whole time.

"What is?" Jou asked, a tinge of fear now slowly crawling up to his body upon hearing the red head's tone in his voice.

Slowly backing away, Koushiro pointed a hand towards the now tensed Taichi, tail flicking back and forth, lips now curled into a small snarl, eyes furrowed as if he was having a nightmare. The child of knowledge swallowed a lump in his throat then started ushering everyone to back away from the bed. "There's two unknown entities inside that body." He breathe out.

A loud thump echoed in the small room as Taichi fell off the bed on his hands and knees, low growls vibrating through his throat as his body slightly shook unconsciously. The roots of his hair now starting to fade until his body became white as snow. His eyes snapped open, revealing his now blue cat like eyes to the people at the door.

Smoke of freezing air escaped his fanged mouth as he breathes in and out in a rather creepy way, his voice clearly hoarse and ragged- possibly from dehydration. His cold eyes reached the people who he deemed threats, a huge snarl etched upon his face as he prowled closer to his preys, leaving a trail of ice on every steps he take.

"Taichi?" Mimi's call only fell on deaf ears.

The cold sent shivers down into everyone's spines and sent goosebumps in their skin. They started backing away from the room in unison with Taichi's, their gaze locked on to each other as to not give anyone a chance to escape.

"I-I think that's..." Koushiro's words were left unfinished as Taichi began to pounce straight at him, luckily he was saved by Palmon's vines that swiftly wrapped around the feral digimon.

"Run!"

Everyone dashed right out of the room into the hallway. Palmon cut her vines off and left the struggling digimon on the floor as she closed the door tightly behind her.

"Koushiro..." The red head turned and faced the terrified expression of his older friend. "What happened to him? I thought he's a fire digimon! Why is he breathing out ice? And why did he turn white!?"

"Questions later, Jou!" Gomamon cried out as he went on his defensive stance, along with the other two digimons. "The door won't hold him for too long!"

His digimon was right, large cracks are now starting to form in the door along with the ice that's creeping in those said cracks. Loud growls emanated behind the door in unison with a bunch of sounds of banging and thuds, indicating that Taichi will escape any second.

"We'll hold him down, Koushiro." Tentomon exclaimed, flinching as another crack formed in the door. The young boy nodded in agreement, trusting his digimon before dragging his parents into the living room while Jou and Mimi followed behind.

Masami immediately locked the door shut after making sure that everyone got in. "I thought he wouldn't bite us!"

"The real Taichi won't." Koushiro settled down in the sofa before tapping down profusely on his laptop. "I think that's one of the entities that I've scanned in his data. It must've gotten in his body by adding its own data into Taichi's."

"T-then how do we get rid of it?" Jou asked, cringing as a loud bang from the other side was heard.

The young boy shakes his head. "I can delete the unwanted data that's been mixed, but it'll take some time to finished."

"How long specifically?" Mimi asked.

"Days. Weeks. Who knows." Koushiro replied, eyes still fixated on his laptop.

"That'll take forever!" She whined, then suddenly let out a gasp as if something big hit the door.

"Ahhh! Wait, wait! Good kitty!"

"Petit Thunder! Palmon, Gomamon, he seems dazed!"

"Got it! Aaahhh! I don't got it!"

Their digimons muffled cries echoed in the halls along with their friend's menacing growls and sounds of freezing floor. Jou and Mimi grimaced at the sound, except for Koushiro, who quickly reassured them. "They'll be fine. If Taichi doesn't evolve then there won't be much of a problem."

"THAT sounds like they're having a LOT of problems!" Jou exclaimed. "I know they're evenly match in their Child form but that definitely does not sounds like there's no problem at all!"

"Son, I think it would be best to go on a safer place." Kae, who got her arms wrapped around her husband, took a step back from the door that is slowly getting take over by ice. She yelped as the now frozen door shook.

"Ahh! No no no no! Get away from there!" Tentomon's muffled voice yelled out as a flash of electricity flickered in the corners of the door, followed by a growl and thud. "No! Stop it!"

"Hey put him dow- WHOA! He got me!" Gomamon cried out in distressed.

"I don't wanna hurt yo- AHHH!"

The door suddenly bursts open as the three digimons came flying down across the room and hit the wall in the process. Their partners immediately came running down to their respective digimons to aid them.

"Are you okay, Palmon?" Mimi asked in concern.

"H-He's stronger than the last time I remember." Tentomon sat up with a groan. "Our words couldn't reach him at all."

"We tried everything to get him come to his senses!" Gomamon threw his arms out in the air dramatically. "But it looks like he's really out of it."

A yelped caused the Chosen Children to turn and saw Taichi prowling towards the two adults, both claws and teeth bared ready to sink down in their flesh.

"Poison Ivy!"

Taichi, however, already saw this coming as he immediately jumped out of the way to evade then swiftly grabbed the vines and pulled Palmon into his deadly claws. As he was about to squeeze the life out of the digimon, he quickly dropped his prey and leaped to the side as a flash of purple lightning missed him by hair.

Growls getting louder, he propelled himself forward and pounced at Tentomon with his mouth wide open, luckily the bug digimon's claws were able to withstand his deadly jaw with enough effort, while his other two little hands resisted Taichi's claws that is eager to sink down into his body. "A-A...little h-help...!" Ice started to crawl down into his claws, and is slowly creeping up into his shoulders at such speed.

Thankfully, Gomamon managed to push Taichi away from Tentomon by headbutting the feral digimon in the head. "Ow ow ow ow! I forgot he wears goggles!" Gomamon hissed in pain as he rubbed his head to soothe the pain.

"Gomamon, look out!" He heard Jou scream out in distress, but he was too late as he saw Taichi pounce with his claws extended out towards him. Closing his eyes, he prepared himself for the the pain that is coming. But a few seconds have passed, he felt himself got pushed by someone and heard a loud thud from nearby.

His eyes snapped open, only to see Jou on his back, a battered wood in hand as he struggled to keep Taichi from biting his face by putting said wood in his mouth. "T-Taichi...! Wake up!" He yelled out, his cowardice gaze locked onto Taichi's icy orbs. The wood wasn't gonna hold on much longer though, not even a minute as the digimon kept biting down into it to make it break. Gomamon tried to help, but was easily swatted down by Taichi.

As the piece of wood was about to split, the feral digimon's eyes widen as he felt someone hit him from behind. Turning, he growled at the adult man then prowled closer to him, completely forgetting about Jou in the moment.

Masami raised his arms up in defence as he slowly back away until he finally hits the wall.

"Dad!" Koushiro cried out and tried reaching out for his father, but was stopped by his digimon.

"Palmon! Stop him!" Mimi yelled out, pointing her finger at his feral friend.

"Poison Ivy!"

Vines started to wrap around Taichi's body from head to toe, roaring as he struggle to escape from the plant digimon's grasp. Then he stopped squirming for a moment when he saw the other two digimons on both sides. Sparks of lightning flickered and splashes of water slapped around them as they charge up their attacks.

"Marching Fishes!"

"Petit Thunder!"

The three Chosen Children cringed at the sound of Taichi's painful howls, not liking what they did to him at all. Screams soon died down, Taichi's body went limp in Palmon's hold, only the sounds of shallow breaths were the thing that tells that he's still alive.

"What are we gonna do now? He might attack us again once he wakes up." Mimi turned to Koushiro with a questioning yet concerned look on her face then suddenly glanced at Jou. "Doesn't doctors have something that makes their patients fall asleep?"

The older boy fixed his glasses as he replied, "W-well, I got a few propofol in my bag but it typically only lasts for 5-10 minutes. It won't be enough to knock him out completely, however, he might suffer a lot of side effects if we give him too much."

"But it gives us enough time to secure him." Koushiro responded. "As long as we make sure he doesn't evolve and caus-"

His sentence was immediately cut off by a loud growl coming from Taichi's direction. Everyone turned their attention back to the awakened digimon and prepared themselves for another attack.

Raspy breaths escaped the human turned digimon's fanged lips as his gaze raised up until he saw the Digivice in the children's hand, the temperature of his body unknowingly returned back to normal. His legs shook in exhaustion but he remained standing on both feet.

Grunting, "Taichi" forced himself to walk towards the Chosen Children, hand outstretched towards them. He gasp in pain as Palmon forcibly tried pulling him away, thankfully the claws in his feet helped him stay in place. His gaze eventually reached Tentomon and Gomamon, who are protectively standing in front of their partners.

"Koushiro, what do we do?" Tentomon asked his partner for advice and waited patiently for the answer.

The child of knowledge shakes his head. "He doesn't seem as hostile as the last time. But we should still be careful." He told them warily, earning a small nod from both digimons.

"D...D-Di...Digi...v-vice..." Everyone paused at the sound of "Taichi's" glitching voice and stared at him, who got his hand extended out towards Koushiro. "...T-Tai...c-chi...t-tr...trouble..."

Curious, Koushiro's eyes furrowed and stared deeply into his eyes, only to realize that "Taichi's" left eye is vibrant orange while the other remained cold blue, and not to mention the voice, it sounds so much more like Ichimon.

"...N-need...q-qu-quick...!" The red head jumped in surprise as his arm was suddenly grabbed by his friend's clawed hands, surprisingly it felt warm.

"Koushiro!"

The child of knowledge quickly raised a hand as a sign for the others around him to wait, in which they did what they were asked to but wasn't liking the idea he have in mind. "Taichi" fell on his knees as Palmon carefully loosen the vines around his body.

"You're not Taichi...are you?" Koushiro asked, earning a slow head shake of denial from the digimon. "Then that must mean you're that other entity in his body."

His wrist were slowly twisted by "Taichi" until the Digivice in his palm were visible and facing the digimon. "...D-danger..." Koushiro gasps in surprise as he was suddenly pulled forward by "Taichi". "...He-help...f-fr...-friend..."

The boy's eyes glimmered in curiosity when he saw the digimon forcibly pulling him until the Digivice aimed at his furry chest. Eyes widening in awe, he watched as his friend's fur returned back to normal under all those smeared blood. However, his eyes still remained the same as before; cold blue and vibrant orange.

"Taichi" heaved a breath as he felt his consciousness slowly fading. Finally with a strict look etched upon his face, he said, "...Yuki...Ichimon..." The color in his eyes drained down before collapsing on the ground.

---

A certain yellow dinosaur digimon wearing a dark blue jacket frowned as he continue to venture around the city of Odaiba. His little stubby legs were tired from walking all the way here, but he doesn't want to rest just yet. His eyes darted every single corners and alleyways where he thought he could find his missing partner. The place was familiar thanks to Taichi taking him on a small tour when they first arrived.

He could barely remember what happened after he defeated DeathMeramon, all he knows is that he heard a lot of shouts and gunshots from nearby. Then before he know it Taichi was nowhere to be seen, neither does Koushiro, Kabuterimon, Mimi and Togemon. He went ahead of Sora and Birdramon to go look for his partner until he arrives in this city.

Agumon let out a sigh in disbelief. "Taichi...where did you go?" Stomach growling, tongue and throat painfully dried, legs aching, he wanted to rest but finding Taichi was his top priority he have in mind at the moment.

Eventually, he found himself standing in front of the giant building where he quickly remembered that it's his friend's home. His eyes glimmered with hope as he stare at it in awe. "Maybe...he went home?" A lace of sorrow and doubt laced his voice.

Taichi wouldn't forget him in the middle of nowhere and leave him just like that. That's not how he is. But what really happened during the fight in that tower?

Shaking his head, Agumon quickly ran towards the building without a thought, as he was about to ride the elevator a hand grabbed his arm and made him pause on his tracks. His head turned slowly and carefully, only to realize who it was. "Hikari?" He breathe out.

The girl's gaze wandered around everywhere, looking for someone. "Where's Onii-chan?" She asked with an ever innocent face. "Isn't he with you?"

"I was actually gonna ask you the same question." The digimon frowned. "He was gone after our battle with a digimon. I thought he would be here with you."

"But he hasn't come back home yet." Hikari responded, "I would've seen him across the park if he did"

"T-then..." Agumon's gaze fell as he slumped down on the ground. "He's not here." Letting out a pent up sigh, he no longer has any idea where he would look for Taichi. It's gonna be difficult to find him especially when there's people wandering around the city no matter where he goes. He groaned as his stomach grumbled to him for food.

His gaze then returns back to Hikari, who got her hands outstretched towards him. "Let's get you something to eat." She said with a soft smile pursed on her lips.

The digimon accepted her offer then proceeds to head back up in their home.

Hikari opened the door and waits for Agumon to come inside. Seeing his wondering eyes, she gently pulled him inside her home then closed the door behind. "Its okay. Mom and Dad won't be back until this evening, so you can walk around here as much as you like." She reassured him before going to the kitchen to get some food for the hungry digimon.

Agumon's nose twitched as a delicious aroma entered his nostrils. He hummed in delight then followed the source of the smell. "What's that?" He points at the food in Hikari's hand.

"Some leftover bacon this morning." She carefully placed it on the table as Agumon excitedly sat down on a chair. "I would make you more food if only I know how to cook."

"Hmmm? Cook?" Agumon eyed her in bewilderment.

"Onii-chan said that it's a person who prepares food for eating." She replied, sitting down in front of the digimon as she watch him gobble up the bacons. "Koromon?"

The digimon paused for a moment to look at Hikari. "Hmm?"

"Onii-chan's gonna come back, right?"

"..." Agumon's gaze averted towards the window, where he could see buildings and vehicles everywhere. "Yeah...he'll be back. He's not the kind to leave someone behind for no reason."

Hikari frowned upon hearing that but decided not to say anything. Folding her arms on the table she then rested her head and glance at the window. "Let's wait for him."

---

Cold...

He feels frozen...

But why?

He destroyed the lock, right? YukiIchimon is...gone. He saw him glitching out before passing out.

Yet why is it so cold? His body?

Fire...just a small fire then he'll be warmed up.

Groaning, Taichi weakly opened his palm and attempts to burst out some flame, however, it doesn't seem to be working. He tried again, it quickly extinguished. He tried once more...

Again...

And again...

And again...

And again...

Then stop.

"W-why?" His vision suddenly cleared and saw himself standing in the middle of the void. It exactly looks the same as the one where YukiIchimon keeps Ichimon as prisoner, but there's definitely something different in this place. It feels...odd.

Taichi hitched a breath when he suddenly remembered his countless bullet wounds in his body, however, when he glance down to check he found himself clean, and to add up the weirdness he just realized that he's wearing his clothes. Not his digimon one, but his human clothes.

Now that he saw it, he immediately checked himself all around to double check, and his suspicions was right. He's human again.

"B-but...how?" His questioning voice echoed in the void filled space.

His perplexed gaze returned back to examining his body. He feels...weird. He's definitely full human because the cloaking device on his wrist was not there. He's normal again, nonetheless, yet he still felt like a digimon.

Normally he would admire and jump in joy for being back to normal, but that would be if all of this is real. There's no denying that he's dreaming again. Someone must be playing tricks again.

THUMP!

He quickly whip his head around upon hearing such a loud sound echo in the never ending abyss.

THUMP!

There's no one there. He turns to the opposite direction...

THUMP!

No one.

Where? Where is it coming from?

THUMP! THUMP!

It's getting closer. He wanted to run as far away as he can but apparently his feet seems to be stuck in place.

THUMP!

'Behind you.' His instincts told him, in which he quickly reacted and carefully turns around, and what he saw made his eyes widen in thunderstruck.

Standing before him is the familiar cub digimon, its black eyes stares at his very soul blankly, the digimon shows no emotions or whatsoever. It's just standing there...staring at him.

"...Chimon?" Taichi let out the breath that he didn't know he was holding.

He received no response from the digimon.

The boy's gaze looks down on his hands in bewilderment then back at the expressionless digimon. If he's back to human and Chimon, the digimon he turned into, is standing right in front of his very eyes, then that must mean-

"Do you hate me?"

Taichi was quite surprise to hear such a question from him, but he decided not to respond for he does not know what to answer.

"Do you hate me that much?"

The boy's eyes furrowed as he pondered for a moment before reluctantly shaking his head. "I-I don't know what-"

"What did I do wrong?" Chimon asked him in a monotone voice, yet a sense of anger could be heard behind that blank demeanor.

Realizing what the digimon meant, Taichi's gaze lowered as a frown etched his lips, unable to answer the digimon's questions.

"Why?" Chimon took a small step forward, then as soon as his feet made contact on the ground, pain suddenly bursts out of Taichi's body causing him to double over and clutch his head.

"Why?" Chimon repeated and took another step, making Taichi to gasp in pain as the pain blossomed even more.

"Why?" Taichi fell on his hands and knees as he groaned in discomfort. He hugged himself to try and soothe his aching body but it did nothing.

"Why?" A terrified gasp escaped his lips as he watch as his gloves shatter apart from the black nails that was growing out from his nail beddings.

"Why?" He felt fur sprout in his entire body, and his hair get thicker and slightly longer, then his forearms started to expand.

"Why?" His shirt broke apart from his growing body. He cried out in pain as his chest expanded, pushing outward, then his shoulder blades pushed out in unison.

"Why?" The pain reached down into his spine, making him cry out again as a tail burst out from the seat of his pants. Then he suddenly fell on his cheek when his balance got off shore as his shoes ripped apart from his aching legs and feet as they changed into an animal's. It became thin but full of strong muscles, feet formed into a paw, and his nails became sharp as well.

"WHY?"

"P-please...! Stop!" Taichi groaned in discomfort when he felt his ears started to change into a pointy one and move up on his skull, now earning a voluntary movement from it.

"WHY!?"

"Ma-make it stop!" His nose then changed into a cat's as his skull slightly pushed out. Then he felt something weird in his mouth -no...his teeth. He was forced to open his mouth as his lower jaw pushed out and his fangs to grow larger than the rest of his teeth. The tusk like fangs are now protruding out when he closes his mouth.

Finally, the changes ended, leaving him panting profusely on the floor as sweat drops down from his now furry forehead. He shakingly brought up his now awfully familiar clawed hands up. He's...back to being Chimon. And with that terrifying change again when he first turned into a digimon.

"Your fate is in your hands." Chimon told him, his voice back to being monotone. His dark eyes never left Taichi's tormented body.

With one last glance at the digimon, Taichi felt a surge of fear take over him until his entire surroundings and Chimon began to disappear.

"It's your choice." The digimon's voice echoed before his vision darkened.

---

The door creaked open as Kae cautiously went inside his son's room holding a soup and a water bottle in her hands, where the wounded digimon is resting in, only the sounds of the boy's shallow breaths could be heard. Hesitant, she carefully made her way towards the bedside table to place the bowl of soup and water for the boy to consume when he wakes up.

Her eyes glanced down at Taichi's sleeping form, his body all bandaged up, vines being coiled around his limbs just in case of another attack. The boy's face keeps grimacing as if he was having a bad nightmare.

Kae feels so bad just by looking at him. She wasn't suppose to be in this room in the first place since Koushiro is still doing a lot of examination on him, but the Chosen Children were out for a moment saying that they'll be gathering some supplies for research purposes. Their digimons were instructed to stay in the house to look out for any signs of danger and to protect the two adults that were left.

Of course, she's not that oblivious about the danger, she just wants to check up on the boy every once in a while. What kind of parent is she if she doesn't make sure a child is safe and fine both mentally and physically.

"Ugh..." She turned to the sound coming from the bloodied bed and saw Taichi turning as his eyes squeezed tight.

Kae was scared of course, but the sight just reminded her of Koushiro when he was having trouble sleeping, so she did what she thinks is best. Slowly and cautiously, she went up towards Taichi as she extended her hand out to him.

But then she suddenly fell on the floor as Taichi screamed and opened his fearful eyes, startling her.

The boy was panting, beads of sweats visibly running down his furry face as his gaze darted around everywhere until it reaches her. "W-wha...wh-where...?" He noticed the vines wrapped around his limbs then he started to flail around to escape. "Why a-am...I..."

After taking a couple of breaths to regain composure, Kae got up to her feet shakily and tried reassuring the distressed boy. "I-It's okay..." She slightly tensed as Taichi's gaze darted back at her. "Please don't be scared. You're safe now." She told him softly as she slowly makes her way towards him and started unwrapping the vines around his arms.

However, as soon as the restraints finally got off, Taichi began to panic as he forcibly pushed her away and claw the remaining vines coiled around his feet. He started breathing hard, body uncontrollably shaking in fear at the woman in front of him. "P-please...go away!" His voiced was strained and seemed dry, possibly from the lack of hydration.

Kae just stared at him in both confusion and empathy as the boy squeezed himself tight in the corner, hugging himself for comfort.

"Leave me alone! Please!" Taichi cried out, tears now streaming down his furry face.

Her gazed locked onto Taichi's fearful orbs. She wanted to pull him into a hug and tell him it's okay, but everytime she went close to him he started growling. Though his growl was more sad sounding than menacing.

"Don't be afraid, Taichi." Carefully sitting down on the floor, she pointed at herself with a soft smile etched upon her face. She noticed the boy's distressed expression when she mentioned his name, so she placed a hand up to make sure that he won't panic again. "I'm Kae Izumi, Koushiro's mother."

Hearing his friend's name and the word 'mother', his head slowly lifted up to get a better look on the new person. "Koushiro's...mother?"

She nodded. "Your friends brought you here after you've been badly wounded. My husband and I were quite surprise to see your friends. They are called...digi...mons, right?"

His ears slightly perked up in interest, his gaze averted as he slowly nodded his head.

"I didn't know you kids had that much adventure in just a day." Kae chuckled whole heartedly.

Hearing that, Taichi somehow felt a relaxing scent around the woman. He smells no danger nor any negative aura around her, all there is is a motherly presence radiating off of her, she appears to be unbothered by all the weird things she was told about.

Suddenly, he felt her presence get closer towards him, causing him to tense and squeeze himself more in the tight corner. Her hand was outstreched to his direction but soon retreated back when he eyed her alarmingly.

"I'm sorry!" Actually, she wanted to pull him into a comforting hug to try and soothe him, but it seemed to have taken the wrong turn. Sighing deeply, she got up to her feet and gave him a soft smile as she makes her way towards the door. "I made you some soup, be sure to eat it all up so you can recover faster, alright?"

She received no response from him. She glanced at him one more time before going out and closing the door behind her.

Taichi didn't dare to move from his spot however, it was his comfort space at the moment, all he wanted for now was to be alone and to think about all the terrifying dreams he just had.

YukiIchimon...he's gone now...right? He wasn't fully sure about that considering that he had blacked out after that lock got destroyed. Maybe if he go back to that place? But whose he gonna be facing when he does? He's still not certain if the ice digimon is really gone, and if Ichimon is out of that cage he was held captive to.

His ears perked up as he remembered something. YukiIchimon was able to communicate with him in the outside world, maybe he could do it too. It's possible, and worth a try.

Closing his eyes, he took deep breaths as he tried to focus on the certain digimon he wanted to talk to.

'It's your choice.' Chimon's words echoed in his head, making him lose focus from his total concentration. His breathing began to accelerate, body shaking in sheer panic until his eyes finally snapped open, revealing his terrified eyes.

He went into a coughing fit as soon as he tried to calm himself down by taking deep breaths. He beat his chest down with his fist, but immediately regretted it as a sharp pain shot through his body. Looking down, he saw his body covered in bandages that is now colored blood red due to his rash gestures. The stitches probably opened when his fist carelessly made contact.

He let out a small his as he tried to keep his wound close by pinching it with his fingers carefully. "AH! D-damn it..." He almost jumped from the sheer pain that he just felt in his chest. Meddling with it is definitely not a good idea, especially when you don't know anything about healing stuff. It's probably best if he just leave it alone until someone decided to poke a needle in his body.

The door soon opened, much to his surprise, then Kae came in with a familiar goggles in hand, then a man suddenly went in the room with her too, making Taichi even more anxious.

"Hey, what about us?" He heard Gomamon whine from the hallway.

"I'll call you when he wants to, okay?" Kae told the three digimons. "Right now, he's a little confused and needed comfort. We'll try to talk to him."

"But Koushiro said that WE'LL keep an eye on him and keep you safe." Tentomon stated, crossing his claws.

"We want to see him too!" Palmon raised her hands up in a very playful way.

The two adults stared at each other with a questioning look on their faces. Sighing in defeat, Masami decided to step out of the room and usher the three digimons in the living room. "I'll give them some snacks, and maybe call the kids too, just don't hurt yourself." He told his wife, who gave him a light chuckle in response.

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm just gonna talk to him." She watched the four enter the living room before finally closing the door in front of her and facing the shaken boy on the bed.

She waved her hand slowly and smiled at him softly. "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable." She decided to sit down on the edge of the bed, in hopes on not to startle Taichi more further. The boy's eyes followed her hand place something on the center of the bed, then saw the familiar blue head band and goggles. "It was a little dirty so I cleaned it up for you."

He stared at it momentarily, nose twitching as a calming scent came back, his goggles seemed to have the same smell as the woman. His gaze phased back and forth to his goggles then back to her before completely turning away, not bothering to even take his own gear as he just pushed it towards her direction with his tail.

"Do you not want them?" Once again, she received no response from him. She carefully placed it by her side and decided to patiently wait. Her eyes explored around the small room, it was quite dirty with all the messy medical supplies and blood and all that. A little clean up should do the trick but that would be done after the wounded boy is a little comfortable around her presence.

As she turned to the bedside table, she saw the untouched food and water. Her lips curved into a frown, glancing back at Taichi, who got his back turned at her, she couldn't help but feel a little upset about him not eating. She touched the side of the bowl and no longer felt the warmth of the soup. "Your food is getting cold." She said softy then took it in her hands and stir it around with a spoon then slowly placed it back down. "Be sure to eat up. You shouldn't keep yourself hungry especially with your current condition."

Her small lecture was quickly interjected by a low groan. She was slightly surprised when she saw Taichi finally made eye contact with her, longer than when he first saw her a minute ago. "W-why are you so kind to me? I-I...I don't deserve it after all the horrible things I've done." He said, voice shaking out of anguish and defeat.

"Everyone deserves kindness," She told him softly, a warm smile curving her lips. "You shouldn't be too harsh on yourself."

"But...that girl..." The same horrifying screams of a young girl haunted his mind. His eyes narrowed in shame as guilt took over his being. "...I almost killed her." He flinched as he felt Kae's hand patting his leg and still giving him a soft smile on her face.

"You were just scared, and it wasn't your fault in the first place."

"You don't understand!" He growled, but the woman remained unfazed. "Nobody does! They'll just push me away if I did! Everyone's mad at me!"

She shakes her head in denial, her touch turning into a firm grip. "I assure you, no one is mad at you. Your friends are trying to help-"

"You don't know anything!" He snarled and slapped her hand away, but a loud yelp caused him to return back to his senses. His gaze reluctantly turned, and the sight of three red lines formed in Kae's hand, thankfully there was no blood flow and she doesn't seem to be bothered by the pain as her gaze remained lock on his horrified ones.

"It was just an accident." She reassured him calmly. But Taichi wasn't interested by her words at the moment. He stared down his shaking hands, eyes brimming with tears.

He face sinks down into his arms as tried to hide away the tears that's about to fall. "Please just go away!" He sobbed. "I d-don't want to hurt you."

He then felt the bed slightly shake from a movement, not daring to look, he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. He tried to shake it off but the woman was being persistent.

"Look at me, Taichi." She muttered, the boy heard no hate nor malice in her voice, all there was is a soothing tone in it. "Please..."

He was hesitant for a second but decided to do what she said and looks up to her with teary eyes.

"Don't ever blame yourself with every mistakes you make." She said firmly then followed by a chuckle. "You remind me of Koushiro when he was little. He always blames himself for every little decisions he make. Whether it's good or bad, he'll always apologize."

He stared at her for a moment, thinking about how obsequious his friend could be. He heard him do it when they first met but as days goes on that part of him slowly faded until it was replaced with confidence. It was quite a change, though he still wonders how he was able to do it.

"Taichi," He slightly shakes himself away from his thoughts and decided to listen to what shes about to say. "Remember, the greatest mistake you can ever make is to be afraid of making one."

She took his hands, and ever so carefully massaged it with her thumbs, minding the claws. Taichi wanted to jerk his hand off due to his paranoid mind, but eventually remained still and let her hold his. He would be lying if he said he's not liking the contact, he do! He never expected himself to be at ease in someone's hold.

"It's natural, it's what makes us know that we're still...us." His head perked up and stared at her with wide eyes, and those said eyes soon landed on the gash in her hand. "Do you understand?"

He remained quiet, but attentive on everything she said, and let it all sink in. He carefully scooted away from the woman and jumped down on the floor, grimacing as pain shot through his chest but despite that he kept walking towards the bag of medical suppplies, digging down into the items until he found a small roll of bandage. He turns and went back to the bed and sat down right beside the mother before warily taking her hand that has a gash on it then rolling bandages around said hand.

Kae watched the boy in awe, he noticed his claws slightly retracted now looking a little harmless than before. She was relief to see his mood improve little by little, it's slow but at least there's progress.

"Why aren't you scared of me?" Taichi asked curiously yet softly as he continues to roll the bandage around her hand.

She tilted her head in confusion. "Should I be?"

It made Taichi pause for a moment, thinking of what his next response is. That question left him speechless, he wasn't expecting that kind of answer from someone, especially an adult. Taichi bit his lip before resuming on what he was doing.

Kae was being so nice to him. But why? He figured an adult would have freaked out and called the police or animal control on him considering his last encounter with them, they were completely frightened and almost killed him! Just why in the world is she not scared of him? And to add it all up, Mr. Izumi looks as calm as she is when he saw him.

With one final roll of the bandage, he cautiously cut off the edge with his claw before putting the white small peice of lint on the bed side table. "I just don't understand." He muttered, gaze lowering to look at his hands. "Just look at me, Mrs. Izumi! I'm a monster! I got claws, fangs, a freaking tail! Heck, I even breathe fire!" To prove his point, he huffed out a faint flame right in front of his face, lightly illuminating the dim room for a moment before disappearing into thin air.

The mother was quite startled by the small flame that came out of the boy's mouth, but that quickly receded when sympathy took root. Slowly shaking her head, she patted his shoulder to comfort him. "Sweetie, I don't see a monster..."

"Then what?" The human turned digimon heaved a breath, flames started to flicker on his hands. "If I'm not what I think I am in your eyes...not a h-human...digimon...monster! Then what am I!?"

Two hands suddenly grabbed his arms and made him turn to look at Kae right beside him, gaze soft and her genuine smile remained. "I'm looking at..." She moved one of her hand up to Taichi's cheek and rubbed the falling tears from his eye. "A confused, scared, troubled boy who only wanted nothing but warmth and comfort. A kid who's in pain." Her other hand then rubbed the tears from his face before raising it up on his head to lightly pet his messy hair.

His ears drooped down to the side, tears began to fall profusely once again, unable to contain his bottled up emotions anymore. He gritted his teeth to try and push all the unwanted sentiments but was unable to when he heard the mother said, "It's okay. Let it all out."

Taichi did so. He hugged the woman tightly and cried his eyes out, letting all the pent up feelings free from the cage. He closed his eyes shut and buried his face on her shoulder as he cried.

"You've been through so much pain," Kae rubbed his back. "For a boy who's been through a lot of hardships and torment at such a young age. You don't deserve that kind of treatment from the people who doesn't understand what the you are going through." A tear shed from her eyes as she hugged the boy tighter, wanting him to feel that he's not alone anymore.

"You're so brave, Taichi."

The boy shivered in her embrace. The heat that his body gave off began to slowly fade and weaken as he went limp in her arms. He really needed this. But he still feel like he was missing something yet he didn't know what...or who.

After all he's been through, after all these times, Taichi never felt so at ease. All the burden, the guilt, regret, sorrow, rejection...all these negative emotions that's been pushing him down are now being released as he cried it all out. Now he just realized it, he was never alone in the first place. His friends were there for him from the very start. The digimons has always been looking out for him, keeping him safe and warm in times of need.

Agumon, Jou and Gomamon...Mimi and Palmon...Koushiro and Tentomon...Sora and Piyomon...Takeru and Patamon...Gabumon and even Yamato. All of them were there for him, and they even tried to help him no matter how helpless his situation is and no matter how many times he pushed them away.

"I-I...I'm..." He hiccuped. "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay..." Kae hummed softly. "It's okay.

He realized that now. Maybe this time, he could try to make the right choice. To right his wrongs. For him and everyone's sake too. This time for sure.

After, what seems to be more than five or ten minutes of crying, Taichi finally decided to let go, rubbing his strained eyes to wipe the remaining tears away. "T-Thank you..." His voice sounding more hoarsed than normal.

Kae stood and grabbed the bottle of water and opened it. She then gave it to Taichi, who politely accepted it and drank. "You should eat up your soup." She took the bowl into her hands, feeling the coldness of the sides, and sat down next to him. "It's gone...a little cold, but still edible." She chuckled.

Taichi took the bowl, careful not to spill any food on the floor, after feeling his stomach growl at him. He began to slowly stir it with the spoon, while his other hand tried to warm up the bowl but to no avail. His brows furrowed as he attempted to try once more yet it was a fail again. A low growl escaped his mouth out of annoyance, though he decided to shake it off and eat the cold soup. It was still good nonetheless.

"Is something wrong?" Kae asked, noticing the boy's annoyed expression. "Has the soup gone bad?"

Taichi sheepishly shakes his head. "N-No, it's not that it's just..." He sighed. "I was trying to use my powers to warm it up but I couldn't puff some small light for some reason."

Kae wondered, placing a finger on her chin, thinking about the information he got from his son. "Koushiro said that your power is tied to your emotions."

Hearing that, Taichi tried to ignite a flame once more but it only led to a complete failure once more. He growled, huffing out a couple of smoke from his nose. He lost his appetite from the failed attempts he made and placed the bowl back to the table.

"Perhaps you're being troubled by something?" The mother asked, earning a small skeptical look from Taichi. "It's just a guess but maybe it is the reason...?"

The human turned digimon looked away as he groaned. "I'm just thinking about my family."

"They don't know about your...condition, right?" She asked carefully, earning a weak nod from him.

"I think it's better that way." He muttered, voice slightly cracking as he tries to fight back the tears that's begging to fall once more. "I'd rather not put them in danger."

Kae soothed him by petting his untamed hair, and was surprised to hear a soft purr in response. "You're not putting anyone in danger. Look, I'm not going to force you to confess to them. Whether or not you tell them is up to your decision." She sighed, scooting closer to hug the troubled boy. "If my son were in your shoes, I'll still accept him no matter what appearance he takes. I'd be an irresponsible parent if I don't support my child just by his looks, and that would also mean I failed to be a mother to him."

She pulled away and placed a hand on his shoulder. "However, if you're still not ready to face them, you can come to talk to us. You're welcome here anytime."

Taichi's ears flattened on his head in uncertainty. Gaze fallen back down on his clawed hands as he stared at it, flexing his claws as it extended out of his nail bed. "...I..." He paused, taking deep breaths before glancing at the mother. "I have a little sister...I talked to her and apparently she's not scared of the digimons. I was gonna tell her about...this..." He pointed at himself. "But I don't have the guts to do so."

"How can you tell she's not scared of digimons when you didn't tell her the truth?" Kae wondered.

"She always play with Agumon ever since they met."

The mother raised a brow in bewilderment. "Agumon?"

"He's my digimon partner."

She nodded in understanding, then slowly placed a finger on her chin to think. "Well, it sounds like she's pretty understanding. You should tell her about it."

Taichi shakes his head in denial. "She's gonna freak out if she finds out about what I turned into!"

"But did she freak out when she saw Agumon?" Kae asked.

The boy was left stuttering in his own words, eyes darting back to the opposite side when he couldn't think of any response. Kae patted his shoulder to soothe him and told him in a confident tone. "She's gonna worry about you more if you keep it from her. I'd advice you to take it slow, tell them one by one if you will. But as I said, it's up to you if you want to or not."

Taichi let it all sink in, nodding weakly in understanding. Then a hiss escaped his lips when he felt a surge of pain struck his upper body, his hand then instinctively clutched his chest where it hurts the most. The mother was startled by his sudden movements as his motherly instincts took over, carefully putting a hand on his shoulder while trying to examine what was wrong. She let out a small gasp when she saw the bandage around his body turned red to where he was holding, seeping in the blood that was gushing out from the injury.

"Your wound must've opened." She said as she gently placed a hand over his fist. "Taichi, dear, I need to see your wound please." Her voice was soft and sympathetic, easily gaining the boy's trust little by little by showing him genuine kindness.

Taichi obeyed and removed his hand to show the mother the three wounds that had opened. She examined it thouroughly before nodding her head once. "Do you mind if I call my husband to help? I'm not really good with medical stuff."

The boy eyed her hesitantly, unsure whether if he should trust the man with it. But then he remembered the pitiful look in that man's eyes, it was the same gaze as Kae. The thought of it made him nod absentmindedly, still lost in his sea of thought.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Kae waved a hand at him as a gesture to not worry before going outside of the hall directly to the living room where her husband was said to be at. Before Taichi could even process what just happened, the door opened and saw that Kae was back immediately, behind her is Mr. Izumi, who is putting both hands up to show no ill-intent. But that wasn't enough as the boy shrank down in his seat, pulling his legs up to his chest, wincing as pain struck him again.

"It's okay, Taichi. He's here to help you." Kae reassured him, rubbing his back to help him to relax even just a little bit.

Masami nodded with her, smile creeping up to his lips as he slowly approached the boy carefully, in hopes on not to spook him. "Hey, Taichi. You okay?" He asked softly, earning a brief look from Taichi before nodding reluctantly. "Do you mind if I check your wound?"

The boy whimpered and held the mother's hand in inescurity, but was gently patted on the head by her to reassure him that there is nothing to be afraid of. Taichi was unsure but decided to follow through and trust her ordeal. He gave the man a doubtful look in his eyes, ears flattening in uncertainty.

"I won't hurt you. I promise." He consoled him before warily sitting down right beside him. He raised a hand up to try and pat his head for relaxing intention, however, the boy flinched away from him. Seeing his reaction, Masami sighed and decided to put his hand out towards him.

Taichi turned to look at the mother before lifting his gaze up and studied the man closely. One thing is for sure, he definitely has the same look as Kae; sympathy. Taichi trembled as he took a tentative sniff of Masami's hand, and eventually found no scent of anything that was threatening or could hurt him, so he gingerly shifted his position so he was making contact with the man's palm.

Masami chuckled whole heartedly as he pat the boy's messy hair. "Let's close that wound of yours, okay?"

Taichi whined but agreed with him. Kae gave her husband the suture needle, thread and a syringe that has an antibiotic inside it then went to grab some new bandages and towel for the boy. Masami took the syringe first and slowly grabbed the boy's arm, but was suddenly surprised when Taichi jerked his arm away from him. "It's gonna help numb the pain. You don't have to be scared."

Taichi shakes his head as he sank down in the bed, eyes contracted into slits. The man sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's gonna hurt you when I start stitching up your wound. I don't want to make you uncomfortable." He petted his head to try and soothe him.

Kae placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. "Do you want me to hold your hand, dear?" Taichi's ears unintentionally perked up then reluctantly nodded his head shyly, blushing a little in embarassment. The mother took his hand and held him tightly. Once the boy has finally calmed down a little, Masami took his oppportunity and carefully injected the syringe in the boy's skin. He felt Taichi flinch but thankfully he didn't object.

After that, Masami started stitching up the open wounds. Taichi winced and hissed in discomfort but soon relaxed when the antibiotic took its effect in his body. The mother petted his mane gently to add up his comfort, she heard him purr softly when she did. Her husband was quite surprise to hear it as he let out a small chuckle in amusement.

"I don't really know how to do this to be honest," Masami chirped. "Thankfully, your friend thought me how and I was able to help you."

'Is he talking about Jou?' Taichi thought gingerly.

"Koushiro called us, saying that they needed help in Shibaura. Then when we arrived there, we found them and your unconscious body." Masami told him as he moved to the other wound. "We drove you back here and patched you up. You gave us quite a scare, kiddo."

Taichi's ears drooped apologetically. "I'm sorry..."

Masami shakes his head. "Don't apologize. We're really glad Koushiro told us the truth otherwise you might..." He sighed deeply, and decided to drop the subject by finishing up the stitches. "Anyway, take a break for a while until you fully recover, okay?"

The man moved away and let his wife change the bloodied bandages on Taichi's torso. The human turned digimon remained quiet as he was ashamed to make his friend's parents worry about his well being, though the other side of him was glad to have them on his side. They were so kind to him, they still see him as the same boy as he is. Maybe his thoughts are really messing with him. He's been having a rough time ever since he changed. If it's true then...perhaps he could do it.

"Umm...t-thank you for taking care of me, but I need to go home." Taichi told them.

"You have to rest for now, dear. Your wound might open again if you push yourself too hard." Kae said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Masami nodded with her. "She's right, Taichi. Besides, it's already dark outside and people might get the wrong idea if they see you."

The boy shook his head weakly and plead. "I can use my disguise! P-please let me go home."

The two adults exchanged a worry look to each other then back to him, a frown etched on their faces. Kae turned and took something out of the drawer from the table. "I'm afraid the device you are talking about is...broken." Opening her palm, there he saw the bracelet shattered into peices, his Digivice and Crest were also there.

Taichi took the Digivice and Crest from her as he stared at the broken device on her palm. His only hope of blending in with the humans is gone. The cause of its destruction is clearly the bullets that was fired at him, it must've hit it when he was defending himself. Displeased on what happened, Taichi decided to get up on his feet, wincing as pain shot through his chest, but it wasn't was painful as the last time. Probably from the antibiotic he had earlier.

"Mrs. Izumi...please. I have to -no, I NEED to go home." He begged at the mother.

Before Kae was about to protest, she immediately caught the look in his eyes. Their conversation together suddenly came back to her as she gasp in realization. "You're gonna tell her?" She earned a persistent nod from him.

The woman took something from the bed and carefully wore it around Taichi's head, it was his googles! She kneeled down as she petted his head, now smiling confidently. "Be careful, Taichi."

"You're letting him?" Masami asked in bewilderment, earning a nod from his wife.

"He's got a sister to go home to." Kae simply told him, and that made him realized why the boy was determined to go back home. Smiling, he turned to look at Taichi and gave him a nod of approval. "Go on. She's waiting for you."

Hearing their consent made Taichi grin in excitement then hugged the two adults, much to their surprise. "Thank you!"

They returned the hug to him before letting go. Kae took Taichi's hand as Masami opened the door for him, and right outside was the three digimons, seemingly eavesdropping their conversation. Before the three could even say anything, they were silenced by Masami, who got his hand up as a gesture to be quiet.

"Tentomon, could you please open the front door for Taichi?" Masami asked him politely.

The digimons gasp in surprise upon hearing the man's request. "W-What!? You're letting him go!?" Palmon exclaimed in utter confusion.

"We'll explain everything later, okay?"

The three shared each other a look of uncertainty before agreeing to their decision. Tentomon hovered off of the ground and went towards the door to open it. "Just make sure to stay away from the people who easily misunderstands you." He told Taichi.

The boy's head lifted up as his smile grew wider, grateful to have the digimon's support on him. He was suddenly pushed forward by Kae, who gestured him to go. "Don't forget, you're welcome here anytime you want. You can talk to us if you're having trouble."

Taichi hugged her one last time before letting her hand go and running out of the door. Then at the perfect time, Koushiro, Mimi and Jou arrived just in time and saw the digimon boy running out and perching on the edge of the concrete wall, turning to look at his friend's shocked expressions.

"W-What is he doing out here!?" Jou exclaimed.

"Taichi-"

"It's okay, son. Let him go." The three children turned to look at the person at the front door. Kae waved her hand to them as a gesture to make them stop from grabbing Taichi off of the ledge.

"M-mom? Dad? But why?" Koushiro eyes furrowed in confusion.

Masami looks back at the digimon boy and nodded to him. "We'll be here when you need us, okay?"

Taichi smiled at him before jumping down from floor to floor until he finally reached the ground and ran into an alleyway, then straight up jumping on one house's roof before jumping into another.

"GO! GO! TAICHI! GO! YAY!" Both Gomamon and Palmon cheered excitedly.

"You two..." Mimi and Jou sweatdropped.

---

'I'm gonna tell her...! I'm gonna tell her!' He thought over and over again as he continue to jump over houses to houses. He was lucky enough that the people are all inside their homes, so there wasn't much to worry about them.

His wound was throbbing with every steps he takes, but it's not enough to stop his determination.

Taichi ran and ran and ran until he instinctively went down on all fours and began propelling himself forward much faster, he never stopped. Then as he continue to jump and run around, he suddenly remembered his partner digimon.

Last time he saw him was when they were fighting DeathMeramon on top of Tokyo Tower. The poor digimon must be looking for him all this time, then if he is then there's a chance that he's back home with Hikari. It's possible.

"He's definitely back home, kid. Don't worry about the little guy, he's a tough one."

Taichi gasp upon hearing a familiar voice in his mind then immediately skid to a halt to make sure that he heard that right. "I-Ichimon?" He heaved a heavy breath.

"Yeah, it's me." The digimon chuckled. "What are you waiting for? Your sister is waiting for you!"

"How did you-"

"I heard your worries. YukiIchimon is gone, so you don't have to be paranoid. Now go! We'll talk later."

Taichi didn't waste any time and continued running towards the familiar housing complex just a couple miles away from where he is. He certainly have a lot of question for Ichimon but that can wait, first thing's first; go back home. He'd have to climb up in their balcony to avoid being seen by his parents. He's gonna take it slow, and tell his parents eventually.

He soon arrived at the very entrance of the building. The lights were turned on in some room, and one of them is his which puts his hopes up more.

Taichi extended his claws before jumping to a balcony to another one and the other. His wound throbbed even more but he ignored the pain and kept going until he's finally under his own balcony.

'Okay...this is it.' He thought to himself to help soothe his anxiety, but before he could even jump up, he heard familiar voices talking to each other right above him.

"Then the days of despair began, and before I knew it, I'd forgotten..." That voice...it sounds like that cat digimon he fought back in Vamdemon's castle. Tailmon...what is she doing in his house? "I forgot that I was waiting for someone...searching for someone..."

Taichi's furrowed as his anger started boil in his body, remembering the time when she almost killed all of them. Vamdemon is really desperate find the eighth child for that cat to be in his home.

"What are you talking about?"

Taichi went pale after hearing his sister's voice over him. Without having any second thought, he quickly jumped up the balcony and grabbed the cat digimon before she could even see what's coming.

"YOU." He growled, eyes contracting into slits as flames menacingly flickered in his mouth. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER!?"

Then he froze, but the mad glare remains glued on his face, an orange wand was suddenly pointed on his back.

"Let her go." Said the digimon with a pointy hat, pressing his wand more on the boy's back as a threat. However, that didn't faze Taichi as his grip tightened around Tailmon's neck, making her heaved out a heavy breath.

"W-Wizarmon...he's n-not an enemy..." Tailmon managed to say as she struggled in the boy's death grip.

Now that made Taichi confuse. The same digimon who tried to kill him and his friends is seemingly not being a huge threat as before. She can escape anytime she wants but the digimon was not even making any effort to break free.

"Are you sure?" The other digimon asked, only to earn a single nod of approval from his friend. Wizarmon lowered his weapon and backed away from the angry yet confused Taichi, hands up in the air to show no ill-intent.

However, Taichi didn't let go of her as his hrip tightened even more around her neck. "What games are you playing at, huh? Why are you here? And where's my sister!?"

Tailmon coughed as she raised up her hand to point at the young girl, who's been staring at them in utter shock and bewilderment this whole time, and behind her is the newly arrived Agumon, mouth hanged open upon seeing the familiar messy hair.

"Taichi! You're back!" The orange digimon exclaimed, rushing towards him to give him a huge bear hug, minding the bandages around his torso. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Where have you been?"

After some moments of hearing no reply from his partner, Agumon lifted his gaze to check why, only to see Taichi's widen eyes staring at his sister, and the same goes for Hikari, yet their expressions differs from each other. Tailmon was left forgotten as Taichi let her fall on the ground, Wizarmon was quick to be at his friend's side to check if anything was wrong.

"Onii-chan?"

Taichi froze in his spot, completely forgetting what he was doing and why he was here in the first place. His gaze remained fixated at his little sister, body trembling in anxiety, unable to speak.

"...is that you?" Hikari muttered in disbelief.

All the boy could do was nod to her, nothing more. He couldn't spit out any words, couldn't move, it's as if he was completely frozen in time.

His heart started to race, sweat dripping down his chin as he tries his best to stay calm and collected, yet it seems to be nearly impossible to do so when his sister is literally staring at him in utter shock, though she don't appear to be showing any signs of fear to him.

"You didn't tell her?" Tailmon muttered as she stood up and slowly went towards Taichi, who immediately snapped out of his trance and blocked her way. The cat digimon averted her gaze to the surprised girl and said, "He's the human every digimon is talking about. The human who turned into a digimon, much worst is that he turned into an extinct species; Chimon."

"Onii-chan?" Hikari lifted her gaze up to get a better look of his brother's new form. The tail, fangs, claws, eyes and ears...the new appearance definitely made her surprised, it was unexpected.

Taichi hesitated as he turns around to look at her over his shoulder. His eyes showing pure nervousness, and so did his trembling hands.

"Let's save the revelation for later," Wizarmon said. "I'm sure you want to know why we're here." He told the human turned digimon, earning a low growl from him.

"Vamdemon obviously sent you!" Taichi spat out.

"No, you're wrong. We don't work for him anymore." Tailmon shakes her head in denial, then slowly lifted up a Crest for the boy to see. "I am looking for my partner, the eighth child."

"Why do you have that?" Taichi asked, pointing at the Crest in curiousity. "And by the eighth child...you can't possibly mean..."

"It's fake. Vamdemon has the real one." Tailmon lowered her hand then slowly makes her way towards Hikari. "She's the missing child we've all been looking for. Hikari..."

The cat digimon held her hand in her paws as she smiled at her, a genuine one this time. "You're the one I've been trying to find all this time." Then the hand holding turned into a hug, which the girl happily accepted as she lifted her digimon up to bear hug her.

Hikari chuckled full heartedly then turned to look at her still bewildered brother staring at them. "Onii-chan, Tailmon is my partner digimon." She told him happily.

"Chi-no...Taichi!" Tailmon corrected herself as Hikari puts her down, then glanced at him with a serious look on her face. "I swear to protect her with my life!"

Taichi's fist clenched as he shot a sharp glare the digimon. "Even if what you say is true, you can't possibly expect me to trust you so easily, and who is this guy anyway?" He pointed at the wizard digimon.

Tailmon's gaze lowered in shamed as she remember what she had done to them. "That's my friend, Wizarmon." She shakes her head weakly as lifted her gaze up to look at Taichi, her eyes brimming with an apologetic look. "...I understand your decision. I am to blame for all of my misdeeds...but! I want to do the right thing starting today! I promise to protect Hikari with all my life!"

Wizarmon went up to Taichi, a Digivice clutched in his fist. "It doesn't matter whether you believe us or not. I only follow Tailmon, not Vamdemon. Here."

He handed over the device to the boy, which he reluctantly took from him and sniffed it if it was the real one.

"Why give the Digivice to Taichi?" Agumon asked.

"If Vamdemon ever finds out that Hikari is the Eighth Chosen Child and Tailmon is her digimon, both of them will be in danger." Wizarmon glances down to his feline friend and the human girl. "As long as you have it, both of them are safe."

Taichi nodded in understanding. "Okay, I'll hold onto this for now." He then clipped the device on his belt where his own Digivice is resting. "So, what are you going to do now?" He asked the wizard digimon.

"Hikari needs her crest, the real one." Wizarmon responded.

"What we have is a copy to find Hikari's Digivice." Tailmon replied, showing the fake crest to him. "Vamdemon has her real crest. We have to take it back."

"You guys have to wait here." Wizarmon told Taichi before turning around and walking away with Tailmon.

"Wait! Where is Vamdemon located? I'll go with you!" Taichi exclaimed, but his request was quickly denied by the wizard digimon.

"No! It's too dangerous! Especially when you're heavily wounded." He then jumped off and glided away from the building with Tailmon perched on his back.

"Tailmon!" Hikari yelled out as she watch the two digimon slowly fade into distance.

"They left." Agumon muttered in disbelief.

However, the certain child chose not to be left out of another battle again, he perched up on the balcony wall and eyed the small figure of the two who just recently left to know where they were heading.

"Onii-chan?"

Taichi flinched upon hearing his sister's voice. He scooted and inch away from her when she attempted to touch him, in which made her frown. "I-I'm gonna go with them." He stuttered, not daring to look at her staring eyes. "Vamdemon's not the kind of digimon to be taken so lightly."

"Taichi, you're wounded!" Agumon objected, not liking the idea of his partner but at the same time, he agreed to his opinion about Vamdemon.

"It's just a little scratch. Don't worry about me, buddy." He gave him a reassuring smile, but Agumon thinks otherwise, and so did Hikari.

Then a booming thunder all of sudden crackled above the small opening near the ocean in the distance. Gasping, Taichi's ears perked up and furrowed his eyes to try and sense what's happening to that side.

"Tailmon and Wizarmon are fighting!" Agumon exclaimed.

"Will they be okay?" Hikari asked her brother.

Taichi caught that pleading look in her eyes and the frown that she was giving to him. 'She really cares about Tailmon...'

He gave his sister a small nod to reassure her before glancing down to his digimon. "Agumon, hop onto my back! We're joining them!"

The digimon hesitated but did what he was told to do due to such crucial moment. He carefully perched on his back and held onto his shoulders to avoid falling off, minding the area where there are bandages and such. Still, even with his gentle hold he felt Taichi wince under his touch. Is he really that badly hurt?

"Wait! I'll go with you!" Hikari plead to his brother.

"It's dangerous, so you stay here!" He warned the girl before jumping down the balcony to balcony until he finally manages to land safely on the ground, leaving his little sister to stare at the booming thunder in the distance.

---

Meanwhile with Tailmon and Wizarmon's side; the fight had already began.

Wizarmon's staff flickered to life as he raised it in the air, summoning a bunch of lightning strikes to Vamdemon, which, unfortunately, was easily swatted away by his red cape.

"You should know the consequences of angering me!" Vamdemon exclaimed as he lowered himself on the ground.

However, as soon as he did, Tailmon came charging towards him, claws ready to strike, but she got immediately sent flying back when Vamdemon countered by hitting her with his back hand.

Wizarmon ran up to his friend's side as he gotten himself ready to attack. "Thunder Cloud!"

Unfortunately, it got deflected back by the vampire digimon with his palms that sent him down on the grassy ground.

"Bloody Stream!" Vamdemon's hand glowed as a red lasso immediately wrapped around the wizard digimon and dragged him to his side. "I'll finish you off first, Wizarmon!"

"If you're going to kill someone, Vamdemon, kill me instead!" Tailmon shouted, pure malice could be seen in her eyes as she stood her ground.

"Those eyes again." Vamdemon muttered in disgust. "They're not merely reflecting your hostility. They shine with the light of hope. The light that holds belief in your dreams." He smirked slyly.

"That's right! I've managed to live this long because of my belief!" Confidence filled the feline digimon, eyes remained locked onto Vamdemon's red ones.

"Because of mutual trust? Devoted friendship?" He scoffed, not liking her belief one bit. "Such fleeting dreams only shows what a fool you really are. There is no place for dreams in this world!"

Tailmon snarled. "As long as I keep believing, my dreams and hopes will continue to exist! In order to make my dreams into a reality..." She went closer to him, claws glistening in hostility. "...I will defeat you!"

Vamdemon raised a brow in mockery. "What?"

"If I don't defeat you, I won't be able to regain my true self."

"Regain your true self? Don't tell me..." Then realization hit Vamdemon like a truck, finally getting why his ex henchmen is against him. "You're the eighth digimon!?"

Tailmon attempted to strike him again with his claws, but was once again got hit by the vampire digimon, luckily she was able to land on her feet right beside Wizarmon then helped him stand up on his feet.

"If that's true, then that changes everything."

Wizarmon charged at him as he let out his battle cry.

"I'll send your beloved friend to hell first. Night Raid!" Vamdemon swayed his cape to the side then a bunch of bats emerged out of it and started to swarm around Wizarmon, who tries to swat them away but to no avail, until those said bats began to grab onto him and fly high up in the air.

"Wizarmon!" Tailmon ran towards him to help, but was to late as he was already to high for her reach.

The wizard digimon helplessly squirmed around to attempt an escape, however, the bats have already hovered above the ocean then dropped him at such height. He screams as he tried to keep his head above the surface for air but the current was making things hard for him as it hit his body over and over again.

"Wizarmon!" Tailmon cried out in distress, tears now falling like a waterfall on her cheeks.

Wizarmon choked and gasp as water began to fill up his lungs, limbs now weakening from fatigue. "Tailmon...!" His strength have finally left his body as he finally submerged into the darp depths of the ocean, leaving no signs of life from him.

"Wizarmon..." She whimpered, helplessness began to overwhelm her entire being. Vamdemon on the other hand, grinned ear to ear from the sight of the suffering digimon in front of him.

THUMP! THUMP!

Both Tailmon and Vamdemon's attention turned to the source of the sound, only to see the unexpected guest.

"We've come to help you, Tailmon!" Taichi and Greymon emerged out of the thick fog and immediately eyed Vamdemon warily.

"Taichi!" Tailmon cried out as she ran towards them.

Growling, Taichi leaped down from his digimon as both of their mouths began to glow bright orange.

"Mega Flame!"

"Flare Blast!"

However, their attack was easily deflected back towards them, merely missing both of them by hair. Vamdemon hovered over them, another sly smirk etched upon his face.

"It's an honor to see you appear before me voluntarily. Especially you." He pointed at Taichi as a dark chuckle escaped his mouth. "You are an extraordinary digimon. If you were to join me then taking over this world will be easy."

"I have no intention in joining you! Never in my life!" Taichi roared, firing another ball of fire at him, only to bounce into the ocean with just a single slap.

Vamdemon clicked his tongue and shrugged. "Such power flowing within you, yet you choose to waste all of it by saving all these worthless beings. I envy your unique power." Blood red lasso emerged out of his hand then quickly wraps around Greymon's body. "Bloody Stream!"

Greymon managed to dodge the incoming attack by swaying his body to the side, however he froze in pain as Vamdemon tightened the red rope around him then begins to mercilessly lash the helpless digimon.

"Blaze Claws!" Taichi flexed his claws and aimed straight at Vamdemon, eyes being filled in anger making the flames in his hand to fade into dark orange and become gooey-like.

The vampire digimon moved back and managed to avoid the incoming attack, but he unexpected screamed in pain as little droplets of magma burned his skin. Greymon gotten himself free from the weakened lasso then decided to step back warily.

The human turned digimon cringed as soon as he dropped on the ground and felt his wounds painfully throbbing from the force he used. Panting as he carefully stood up, he fished out his Digivice from his belt and aimed it at Greymon. "E-Evolve, Greymon!" He exclaimed.

Power began to flow in his entire being as he felt the familiar feeling change his form. "Greymon, super evolve! MetalGreymon!" Standing on the battle field is a giant mecha digimon, towering Vamdemon completely and making him back away from the newly evolved digimon.

"C-Chimon, evolve!" Taichi shut his eyes close as he shouted, a few seconds pass, he felt no change occur in his body. He shakily stared at the Digivice in his hand, the symbol of Courage being shown on the screen glowing brightly. Then he somehow sees the flow of power coming from it being given to MetalGreymon but not him. Finally, he suddenly remembered that his power of evolution doesn't just come from the Digivice...he's also using Ichimon's data in order to do it.

He snarled out of frustration as he held the device tighter in his clenched fist before jumping onto MetalGreymon's head. "We don't have to defeat him, but if there's ever an opening, go for it." He told his digimon, who nodded with him in agreement.

The cyber digimon roared as he made an attempt to hit Vamdemon with his metal claws but missed when the enemy backed away from the danger zone, like out of the battlefield; towards the ocean. However, MetalGreymon isn't gonna let him escape that easily. The metallic pods in his chest opened then fired two organic missiles towards Vamdemon. The missiles suddenly got engulfed in giant flames as it continue to fly towards Vamdemon at such speed.

The vampire digimon summoned the red whip in one of his hands and effortlessly made it explode before it could even hit him. "Did you think such childish tricks would work against me?" Vamdemon laughed as MetalGreymon suddenly glowed and shrinked back into his child form.

"Then how about this!?"

Vamdemon cried out in pain as he felt his shoulder burning. He growled and snatched Taichi from his back then punched him on the chest, making the boy weaken as he let go. Then he suddenly found himself being thrown towards the ground with such force that made him whimper in pain even more.

"T-Taichi...!" Agumon forcefully pushed himself off the ground and ran towards his partner's side. He gasps in surprise as soon as Taichi sit up and gotten himself a better look on his now bleeding chest.

"It's fine...I don't t-think the wound opened." Agumon took his arms and helped him up on his feet, while Taichi's other arm wrapped around his chest to prevent the blood from gushing out even more.

Vamdemon's eyes furrowed in curiosity as he slowly lowered himself on the ground. "If a Chosen Child purposefully came all this way here, then that must mean Tailmon really is the eighth digimon." He spat out, a pure venomous tone in his voice can be heard.

"Wh-what are you talking about!? I'm not the eighth digimon!" Tailmon tried to conceal the truth from the sinister digimon.

Vamdemon shakes his head. "I'll know that for certain soon enough."

"What do you mean!?" Taichi growled at him, hands clenching into fist again out of anger.

All of the sudden, bats began to circle around Tailmon then immediately clasp their feet on her body and took her up towards Vamdemon. "I'll use Tailmon as bait to lure out the eighth child. After I gather the children, she'll pick out the child for me." Vamdemon smirked. "Even without the crest, I'll find that child easily!"

"That's low, Vamdemon!" Taichi roared and tried to rescue the feline digimon out of the enemy's grasp, but pain have gotten the best of him, causing him to double over when he felt his wounds stings. "A-Agumon, help her!"

The digimon obeyed and quickly propelled himself towards Vamdemon, giving all the speed he could muster with his exhausted body.

"See you again." Vamdemon started to glide away with Tailmon being held captive by his bats.

"Baby Flame!" But the vampire digimon was already out of range.

"Wait!" Taichi screamed out as he put all his strenght into his arms to try and push himself off of the ground, but once again, pain took toll on his weakened body as he fell back down face first. Hissing in pain, he clawed the ground to vent out the anger and frustration that is starting to bubble inside him. "TAILMON!"

"Taichi!"

---

Meanwhile, Hikari remained in the same spot ever since her brother left, she didn't dare to look away from the area that's suppose to be the battlefield. She saw things glow and explode in that place, which doesn't really help her worryful state.

"Tailmon, you'll come back, right?" She muttered. Somehow, she felt a tinge of fear for her digimon. It's as if somethin had happened to her.

But aside from Tailmon, what worries her the most is her brother. She keeps wondering why he chose to hide it from her, and for how long has he been like that. And now that she knows the truth, she finally understands why he was behaving so weird for the past few days. He was unusually sensitive and seems completely upset.

"Onii-chan..."

A loud knock from the door suddenly echoed in the house, so she immediately ran to open it, hoping that it was who she think it is. As the door opened, her guess was right, but not fully. Standing in the doorway was Agumon, who is carrying her bloodied brother on his back.

"H-Hikari..." Taichi weakly lifted his gaze to look at her widen eyes. "I'm...s-sorry..."

With those words and the lack of the feline digimon anywhere, she already knew what he meant to say. But the worries for her digimon was taken aside as she ushered Agumon to get inside the house.

Quickly, she dashed to her parent's room to get whatever medical supplies they have. Unfortuntely, she don't know much about what items to take for her brother so she took the small case of medical supplies then hurriedly ran to their room, where Agumon laid down the wounded boy on the floor with a pillow for his head.

She put the red case down and opened it, only to be bewildered when she saw multiple items that she didn't recognize.

"I just...n-need some bandages and...w-wet towels..." Taichi told her when he saw her troubled face. He lifted his hands and shakily pointed at the white lint in the case. "T-that one..."

Hikari took it and went beside her brother's side. "Agumon?"

"It's okay. Stay here with him while I get those...towels." From the tone of his voice, it doesn't sound like the digimon knows what it is.

"It's in the closet in the bathroom." Hikari informed him before the digimon left, leaving the two completely alone for a moment.

Only the heavy rash breaths of his brother could be heard in the awfully quiet room. Hikari saw Taichi not making any eye contact with her again, so she carefully scooted closer to his side and hold his clawed hand, making him flinch and jerk his hand away despite the pain. "Onii-chan?" She quietly called. "How did you turn into a digimon?"

Taichi sighed and replied, still not daring to look at her. "I don't really know myself. I-I woke up...i-in the middle of the forest looking like this."

Hikari didn't say anything for a minute as she let her brother take deep breaths after his response. During that time, she examined her brother closely. Taichi's tail laid limp on the ground, sometimes it would twitch and move back and forth when she's close, his claws on both hand retracted, looking a little harmless than normal. Then his pointy ears drooped down on his head as if it was responding to his emotions. She slowly moved her hand up to his head and started scratching the back of his ears.

Taichi, meanwhile, found her touch comforting. A loud purr couldn't help but come from his throat from the way she scratch his ears gently. Hikari glanced at him, quite surprise to hear the sound coming from her brother. She chuckled whole heartedly and moved her other hand up to scratch his chin, making the purring grow louder, a slight smile appearing on Taichi's face.

"You're like a kitten." She mused.

Hearing that, the purring stopped as Taichi snapped out of his delighted trance then moved his his face away from her in embarrassment. "Don't do that." He grumbled, but her sister was too persistent as she begins to pet his wild hair.

"You're so fluffy!" Hikari saw his tail slightly moving back and forth from her touch, so she ran her finger through his messy hair, making his tail move slightly quicker than before from the pampering she is doing.

Then at the perfect time, the door bursts open, revealing Agumon holding dozens of white towels in his left hand while a small bucket of water was held on his right. "I got them!...uhhh..." He stared at the scene occuring in front of him when he heard Taichi purr from Hikari's petting spree. "What's that noise?"

"He's purring like a cat!" Hikari exclaimed happily, only to get her mouth covered by her brother who frantically tried to avoid that mocking look his digimon is gonna give him, and to avoid more petting sessions from Agumon and Hikari.

"It's just your imagination!" Taichi blurted out.

"I heard you make that sound before, Taichi. You don't need to hide it." Agumon told him, seemingly unbothered by his purrs.

The boy scuffed grumpily but didn't say anything about it any further. "A-Anyway, can s-somone...help me remove these bandages?"

"I got it." Agumon carefully helped him sit up, stopping a second when he sees his face grimace in pain. Taichi groaned as he leaned his back on the wall, then ever so carefully lifted his arms up for Agumon to easily cut the dirty bandages around his torso.

As soon as it was removed, Hikari let out a small gasp in surprise when she saw the multiple stitches all over his chest and near his abdomen. Not just her though, Agumon is just as surprised as she is, but didn't ask anything for now.

Taichi reached out for the towels but his strained body couldn't bear anymore movements, and it just made him utterly uncomfortable. He then saw someone from the corner of his eyes take the white towels and dipped it in the cold water. "I want to help, too." Hikari smiled at him as she squeezed the towel in her hands until it becomes damp. "I remember Mom doing this when you hurt yourself while playing soccer."

"O-Oh...well I can't help it when I keep tripping on rocks..." Taichi replied, sheepishly huffing a small puff of smoke. "Also, exlude the stitches and m-multiple wounds." He added.

"Didn't she rub an alcohol on your wo-"

"NO! NO ALCOHOL!" Taichi cried out, remembering the time when he accidentally cut himself with a knife when he was cooking and her mom suddenly putting a rubbing alcohol on it without any warning. He could still feel the wild sting electrifying his entire body, and that made him shiver down his spine by just thinking it.

"What's an alcohol?" Agumon asked as he tilted his head to the side questionably.

"You'll find out once I pour some in your wounds." Taichi commented mischieviously, smirking at the thought of it. Then he suddenly yelp in surprise when he felt his wound sting. He turned and saw Hikari still rubbing the damp towel gently on his bloody fur. "H-Hey! I thought that was water!?"

"It is." Hikari told him, now moving to his arms to remove the blood stains.

Taichi sighed deeply and let his little sister continue to clean him. "This sucks."

"You really have to be careful next time if you don't want this to happen again." Agumon told him, who is now wiping his bloodied chest clean.

"I somewhat doubt that." The boy muttered.

Silence made its way into the room again as Taichi dozed off during all this. Hikari and Agumon worked in silence as they don't want him to be bothered from his peaceful slumber. They figured that he needed it after the restless nights he's been having for the past few days, well Agumon did but Hikari did have that kind of feeling that he wasn't treating himself well.

The once clear water in the bucket became blood red from all the gore stain on Taichi's body, it was quite unsettling for Hikari so she asked Agumon to continue cleaning him up. Besides, it possibly needed a few more damp towels to rub before Taichi's fur becomes clean and shiny. It was quite hard to remove most of it due to how dry it became that it wouldn't come off even after you rub it multiple times, but with enough effort Agumon managed to get rid off all of it.

"What's next?" Hikari asked the digimon after he finished cleaning up.

"I think this one." Agumon showed her the small white lint in his clawed hand. "I think I saw Jou do this once when he was helping a bunch of injured digimon back in the Digital World, but I still don't know how he does it."

"Just roll it." Taichi unexpectedly spoke.

"Eh? You were awake?" Agumon asked, having not expected his partner to wake up.

Taichi nodded. "Couldn't sleep even if I wanted to." The boy took the small bandage from him, carefully held the edge of it and rolled it. He then placed it on his chest and looked at the two in front of him. "I can't...do this by myself."

Hikari went up to him and took the bandage from him. She didn't need her brother to tell her the instruction because she already saw her mother do it whenever she accidentally hurt herself. She began to wrap it around his torso, rolling and rolling it until it finally covers up the wounds.

"Thanks, Hikari." Taichi frowned, ears drooping once again. "...and sorry for keeping this as a secret."

To his surprise, he suddenly got tackled into a hug by her. "It's okay, Onii-chan. Do you feel better now?" She asked in a soft voice.

Taichi could feel himself tearing up from the unexpected reaction she gave him. He smiled, a genuine one this time, and returned the hug. "Y-yeah...I feel much better."

After a few moments of enjoying the wholesome minute with her, he decided to let go and finally take it all in. He exhaled, huffing out a small flame in the process, and rested his head on the wall.

"Whoa! You can breathe fire!" Hikari stared at the fading flame in awe.

Taichi chukled. "Yeah. It actually scared me when I first did it." He groaned as he stretched his arms and legs, popping the joints in his shoulders and fingers in the process, then slowly exhaled through his nose as sign of relief. He then took notice of the mess around him, then thought to himself that they needed to clean up. So he carefully stood up, heaving out many breaths in doing so as pain bloomed in his chest once again.

"H-Hey! You're still not fully recovered yet." Agumon gently pushed him down, staring at him in full concern. "You'll hurt yourself if you keep exerting your body like this."

"Can I at least help clean up this room? Mom and Dad will freak out once they see all of this." The digimon boy was right, the wall and floor are smeared with blood, the old bandages are just laying around and was still dripping, the towels have also become red from all the blood that it absorbed, the dirty water in the bucket looks like it just spilled.

"Me and Agumon will tidy up," Hikari said, "You should take an early rest, Onii-chan."

"A-Are you sure? I can still help." The boy asked in uncertainty.

Then he felt someone place a hand on his chest, looking up, he saw Agumon giving him a comforting gaze. "Rest." He simply told him.

Feeling no luck in persuading the two, Taichi gave up and decided to just watch the them pick up the bloodied cloths and wipe the stains on the floor and wall with the clean towel. He felt bad for not being of any help but insisting won't do him any good too since Agumon and Hikari wanted him to take a rest even though he's not that tired.

Then he felt his stomach grumble in hunger, a spoonful of soup didn't really help quench his hunger. The way his stomach just twisted to request food made him feel a little nauseous. When was the last time he satisfied his hunger? And just how long was he out cold? It did felt like he's been out for a whole day when he first woke up back at Koushiro's, and they left to Shibaura in the morning, now it's night time. Man, time is really messing with his mind right now.

Feeling stiff from his current position, he slowly shifted to the side to make himself more comfortable, however, with the way his wounds stings from his position just isn't making things easy. One of his ears perked up when he heard the door shut, he figured Agumon and Hikari went out to clean up the mess -and hide the blood before their parents arrive- but his guess were half true.

"Wanna move to that soft thing?" Agumon asked. Taichi was confused on what he was talking about at first but then he gets what he was talking about when he saw him pointing at their bed.

"That's a bed, Agumon." The boy told him as he extended his hand out for Agumon to take and help him up.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this...bed when we were in the Digital World." The digimon muttered gingerly then slowly helped his partner walk towards the said bed.

Taichi rolled his eyes and smiled. "You already saw a bed, remember? Back in that fake mansion Devimon used to trick us."

"That's an evil bed. This is a better one."

The human turned digimon carefully sat down on the soft cushion, heaving for a moment before laying down. Then his stomach suddenly grumbled once again, making him groan in discomfort as he felt himself become nauseous once more. "I'm sorry to ask you this but...is there any food in the kitchen? I'm kind of hungry." He said in a low voice, feeling bad from making his digimon do the work.

"I think there's still some sushi left. Hang on I'm gonna get it for you." And with that, Agumon ran out of the room before Taichi could even say anything.

Groaning, he plopped back down into his pillow, getting himself lost in his sea of thoughts after a minute of silence.

Everything happened so fast, yet he still couldn't believe those things really occured. He was being so paranoid and restless yesterday that he couldn't even keep up with their mission, but looking at himself now...he doesn't look as deranged as yesterday. Of course, he's thankful for that but he still couldn't help but feel uneasy now that things have calmed down. Just like everyone says; It's calm before the storm.

Obviously, it's the Vamdemon problem they are having right now but there's just something else, something that he couldn't help but fear the future. He might be overreacting about this, however, it's better to be careful than die without knowing what's coming. Whatever feeling he is getting, he's not liking it one bit.

Now that he think about it, both YukiIchimon and Ichimon mentioned about someone in the Digital World being the mastermind of all these mess, the one who is responsible for turning him into a digimon. He still don't know the full story yet, but this guy is definitely gonna be a huge problem in the near future there's no doubt about it.

"Onii-chan?"

Taichi turned and saw both Agumon and Hikari holding a tray of food. "We got rid of the blood." Agumon told him happily.

"How exactly?" His head tilted to the side quizzically, wondering how in the world they got rid of the a bloodied towel that fast.

"Koushiro called, he said he was looking for you." Hikari replied as she and Agumon went up to Taichi and placed down the trays of food on the bed. "I told him you're here, then he asked us to tell you to go to their house tomorrow."

"We asked him how to clean up the blood stains, then he told us to soak it in...bleach?" Agumon wasn't sure if he said that right so he glanced up to look at the girl, who just nodded her head to him. "Anyway, here's your food!"

"From what I can remember, you have to wait half an hour for it to completely remove the blood stains." Taichi just shrugged and shakes his head then took the chopstick from the tray. "As long as Mom and Dad doesn't see it, then everything's fine."

His attention returns back to the tray of food in front of him, he began drooling without him even knowing, then without catching a breath, he threw the chopsticks away and immediately stuffed his mouth full of food. Agumon was quite surprised to see him maul down every single bit of it in just a second, he felt a little betrayed by not being able to snatch even a single tinge of rice from the plate, and he was planning on taking half of the tray in the first place.

Hikari, meanwhile, is pouring a glass of water just in case her brother choke. Agumon did managed to make Taichi calm down and eat slowly before she could even say anything, and she is grateful for that.

It didn't take too long for Taichi to finish eating, he did share some with Agumon and they ended up mauling everything down. Of course, he asked his sister if she want some but the girl politely refuses since she already ate with Agumon a while ago. Talk about giant appetites. After satisfying his hunger, Taichi plops back down on his bed with a sigh of relief. "Thanks for the food..." He muttered.

Agumon nodded with him in agreement as he finishes up another can of soda. "I can't eat anymore..."

Hikari chuckled then took the trays from the bed and was about to walk towards the door but then she paused when she heard her brother mutter something, "I'm glad that...you didn't freak out when I showed up looking like this."

"I have no reason to be freaked out of." She smiled and decided to place down the tray on the study table and sit down right beside where her brother is resting.

"Still..." Taichi glances up and used his arms as a makeshift pillow. "...When I found out that I turned into a digimon, I kept thinking that everyone will hate me and will throw me out like I'm some kind of lost animal. But then, it was quite the opposite of what I had in mind. The digimons taught me how to use my powers properly to defend us from any harm, my friends helped me through the times when I keep losing hope, heck they even appointed me as their leader!"

Taichi paused for a moment, chuckling as he remembered that unexpected memory. "And now..." He glanced at her, a soft smile etched on his face. "You're also here with me by my side, not scared or bothered by the sudden revelation. You just..."

"...Treat you like how I always did." Hikari replied. "A brother."

He was taken aback by her sudden words. What he meant to say was, she just think that it was all a dream and might forget about it the next day, but he guessed her sentence was certainly much better than what he thought.

Hikari scooted closer to pet him, earning another round of purring as she continue to scratch his ear and chin. "You're still my brother...but a cat." She mused.

Taichi scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Ha. Ha. Very funny."

She then took his hand and gently placed hers over it, letting out a playful giggle when she felt how soft and fluffy his hand got. "You have no toe beans yet it's so soft."

Taichi took it all in for a moment as she watch her sister play around with his hand by squishing and poking it over and over again. Well that definitely isn't what he thought would happen but he was happy on the outcome. Squeezing her hand tight, Taichi sheepishly pointed at his feet and simply said, "Toe beans." Then Hikari immediately checked if it was true.

And to her surprise, it is. It was quite big than any other cats' that she'd seen, but toe beans are toe beans. "It's so cute!" She exclaimed as she playfully poked his feet, making Taichi tense as he tries to prevent himself from laughing and accidentally kick her.

"I'm not cute! I'm ferocious!" He told her, but Hikari seems to have ignored his last sentence as she stares at his tail. It was adorably swaying back and forth, which she guessed that it's because of her pampering that it started moving. Curious, she poked it a few times, then she heard another purr emanating from her brother.

Taichi moved his tail away from her and took it in his hand. "Stop that! This thing is sensitive!" He whined.

Hikari just chuckled at this then carefully ran her fingers through his messy hair again, for added measure she started scratching the behind one of his ears. This only escalated the purring and even got Taichi's tail wagging as it fell out of his grasp like a dog would. The boy's eyes fluttered and closed as his body went nearly limp, then slowly leaned his head closer to her hands instinctively. He have become putty in her hold without him even knowing as his mind was in a state of pure bliss, a lot of the tension just melting off his shoulders.

The girl was amused by how loud his purrs was getting, she even found it funny when his leg started moving like a dog. She continue to pamper him for a few minutes until she heard the purrs began to quiet down. Hikari saw his eyes closed peacefully. Somehow, it felt like this is the most peaceful sleep he have gotten. It was just a feeling but she was glad she could help him lighten up.

"Goodnight, Onii-chan."