Wind flutters by as the sun shines brightly over their heads. It was surely quiet but there is definitely no one here that can cause him any harm. The field was different than what he used to see when he first saw the place, but his thoughts on the changes of the entire environment were left forgotten as his mind went blank again for a moment.
"Hey! Earth to Taichi!"
The boy snapped out of his thoughts when someone snapped a finger in front of them.
"Jeez, you're really out of it, huh." Ichimon sighed deeply, this was the fifth time Taichi keeps getting lost in his own sea of thoughts mid conversation. "Ya' thinkin' 'bout your sister again?"
"S-sorry! Won't happen again."
The adult digimon just groaned. "You said that like a hundredth times already."
"I know, I know." Taichi scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I mean, it's really a surprise to see her reaction. I can't help but think about it."
The digimon knew he wasn't lying about that since he was there watching him last night get pampered by Hikari. Of course, he was laughing at Taichi because of how stupid he looks when he just melts in her little scratches. It was quite hilarious if he say so himself. Just by thinking about it makes him snicker.
"Why are you laughing?" Taichi wondered in bewilderment.
Ichimon immediately stopped and averted his eyes to avoid the curious look the boy is giving him. "Nothing." He then coughed and turns back to Taichi, now with a serious expression. "Since the sun is already rising, I guess story time needs to wait...or if you want, you can get that smart friend of yours to be involved to help you."
"You mean Koushiro?" Ichimon nodded. "Look, we already have a lot of issues in our hands and I don't want any of my friends to worry about another thing because of me."
"Kid, they're already worried. Just give them a chance to help you then perhaps they can help you back." Ichimon groaned when Taichi looks away, he then placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You're the leader right? You should listen to everyone around you if you want to grow."
The human turned digimon scoffed, unamused. "Since when do you know how to be one?"
Furrowing his eyes in frustration, Ichimon stood up and looks at the kid dead in the eyes. "Because I was one before I died." That got the kid's attention as his eyes widen in surprise. "I was just like you back then. Thinking that I can take anything on my own, but that was a mistake. I'm just trying to help you be better, don't make the same mistake as I did. If you force people to dependent on you then bad things will happen. You have to teach them how to survive on their own."
"If you change your mind, then call me. I'll be here waiting." The digimon turned his back on him, looked at him before walking away, leaving Taichi drown in his own wave of thoughts then eventually wake up.
"If you're still not up for it, then I'll be the one telling them myself."
His eyes snapped open in reality then let out a groan of annoyance when he heard his alarm clock ringing constantly. He remained still for a moment before lazily smacking the clock to stop. The annoying sound ceased, which left him thinking about the conversation he had with Ichimon in that dream-like environment in his own mind.
'You should listen to everyone around you if you want to grow.'
Those words echoed in his head over and over again. The digimon sounds so upset when he told him about his past occupation during that...time. But what happened exactly? Ichimon will definitely tell him about it later but he's still so confused and lost about such tale. Sure the story isn't complete yet but it feels like that small conversation he had with him already told half of the their true history.
Why in the world is he even interested in this? How is that even gonna help him change back? Was there even a connection between his change and that "war"? Everything is just so messed up! He doesn't know what to do now.
"Goodmorning, Onii-chan." A cheerful voice greeted.
"Mornin', Hikari." He sat up and looked at his sister. "You ready to go?"
The girl pushed her brother back down when he was trying to stand up, then before he could even ask what that was all about, Hikari took the small tray of food from the table and gave it to him. "You should eat some breakfast first. I'll go get the bag while you eat."
"Huh? Wait, what bag?" His question was left unanswered as Hikari quickly shut the door behind her. Sighing, he decided to eat what she brought him since he's hungry anyway. The tray consist of the usual breakfast his mother always prepare; Steamed rice, miso soup, fermented soy beans, seaweed and 2 small portions of vegetable salad. There was unusually too much food in the tray, which made him a bit confused. Then he suddenly remembered a certain heavy eater.
Looking behind him, there lay his digimon, who is sleeping soundly while hugging a pillow. Carefully, he shook him to awaken him from his slumber. "Hey, Agumon. Wake up."
The digimon blinked a few times before yawning momentarily then sitting up. "Wh-What? Did something happen?" He was quite delirious at the moment, but the smell of food helped him get some energy and move to sit on the edge of the bed beside Taichi. "What's that?" He asked, now smiling at the sight of the food.
Taichi gave him his own bowl of rice then gently placed down the tray between them to share. "Eat up. We'll go to Koushiro's house after this."
The boy didn't need any word of agreement as Agumon quickly gobbles up to food in his hand. Chuckling at the sight, Taichi picked up a fish for him and ate up. During that, Taichi could hear her sister and mother talking right behind the door, and from the sound of it, it seems like Hikari is trying to keep their mother from opening the door.
Taichi frowned, his parents must be wondering why he didn't show up, even though he's just in his room the whole time, hiding. He's still scared obviously. He managed to show himself to Hikari but she's different, she's just a kid. Adults, however, it would be a disaster if it takes the wrong turn. He doesn't even know if he have enough courage to tell them the truth, heck, even show himself like he did to his sister last night. This is really gonna be tough.
"I'm done!" Agumon announced cheerfully as he placed down his bowl on the clean tray. His partner did the same, then stood up to place it on the table since neither of them can go outside to place it in the sink to clean up.
Then at the perfect time, Hikari came in the room while holding a big pink bag in her hand. "What's that for?" Taichi wondered, raising a brow in confusion.
"It's for you." Placing down the bag on the floor, she opened the zipper and took out the remaining objects from it until it's finally empty. "Agumon told me that Mom thinks he's a doll..."
"And...?"
"You can hide in here."
Taichi deadpanned, not taking her words seriously while staring at the bag in her hands. "You do know that I'm bigger than that thing, right?" He commented, unamused by such suggestion. "And most importantly, how are you gonna carry me? I'm like heavier than Agumon!"
"I have an idea."
Taichi sighed grumpily as he look up at the small opening above him for his air. "Great idea." He said in full sarcasm.
Apparently, his entire body can squeeze in tight spaces like a cat would. He didn't know that he could do that in all of the days he spent as a digimon, yet his sister seems like she already knew what his unnatural body can do. He wanted to slap himself so bad now that he think of it. Of course, Hikari knew! They have a freaking pet cat in their apartment! And he's a cat digimon too! Why didn't he think of that in the first place.
"You okay in there, Taichi?" Agumon whispered to him.
"Yeah." Taichi sighed. "Don't worry about me, just keep quiet over there. People might hear you talking."
Right outside the bag he is hiding in, Agumon remained unmoving on Hikari's shoulder while holding the bag behind the girl in order to make it less heavy for her. They sometimes get curious glances from the people they pass by but whenever one approaches, Hikari always tells them that it was just a doll for her friend's sleepover. A clear excuse of course and that works.
Since it was summer this month, the hot weather is unbearable for the people, especially if you're Taichi. Having thick fur and being secluded in a bag is definitely not a good idea. Sure, he's fire based but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel the blazing sun toast him. It really doesn't make any sense but who is he to judge the laws of nature.
"Hikari...are we there yet?" Taichi groaned as bullets of sweat rained down his entire body.
"She said we're almost there." Agumon whispered to him.
"Augghhh..." The boy whined but didn't say much more because he didn't want to exhaust his little sister under all these blazing heat. She's doing all the work and here he is stuck in a bag, not being able to do anything but wait.
Lifting his head up to look at the small opening, he figured he could at least open it a bit further for fresh air. It was getting hard to breathe inside the bag due to the unbearable heat outside. As soon as he opened it, his nose quickly caught a lot of new smells, like; people, cars, trees, animals and many more. It was a bit obnoxious just to hear and smell all of it all at once.
"Hmm?" His nose twitched as he caught a new yet familiar smell. There was a faint scent of gunpowder and iron on that person he caught up to. And as they all say; curiosity kills the cat. Taichi carefully peeked his head out to see who that is, then to his shock, it was a policeman.
He immediately went back to into hiding then closed off the zipper of the bag. He was...scared -no, terrified. Just taking a small glimpse of their clothes and weapons just made him shake out of fear into his core.
'FIRE!'
BANG!
Dread took over his mind as he remembered the bone chilling scream of the girl from before. A tear shed from his eyes as his body just completely went out of control and trembled.
"Taichi?" Agumon heard a small sniffle coming from inside the bag. Without having second thoughts, he opened it just enough for him to see what his partner is doing, and to his surprise, he found him sobbing as his face contorted as if he was having a nightmare. "T-Taichi?"
He doesn't seem to have heard him as the boy's eyes shut tightly and quivered even more. "H-Hikari, something's wrong!"
His eyes snapped opened, and the first thing that came into his sight are dozens of guns being pointed at him. Taichi hitched a breath as he took a step back, but was unable to when he felt someone in his arms. Looking down, the familiar face terrified him even more; it was the same girl he saved back then. Tears welled up from her eyes and started hitting him as she shouts the same words over and over again.
"Monster! Freak!" and so on...
"N-No..." Fear latched into him as he just stood there and shiver, mouth hanging open, unable to comprehend what was happening and why. "Please...I didn't mean it..."
"EVERYONE GET IN POSITION!" The police men slowly approached him while their gun remained aiming at him.
The same feeling of sickness returned in his body, he felt numb and apparently unable to speak more further other than small whines. He looked back down at the crying girl, she still keeps hitting him even though it didn't do much. He wanted to let go of her and show no ill-intent to them, but that isn't happening as his grip suddenly tightened around her without his control.
He slowly felt himself sink his claws down in her flesh, making her to cry out of pain, while he just remained still in his place for he was unable to do anything to make it stop. Tears began to fall from his eyes as he was forced to watch the girl's torment by his own hands.
"GO! GO! GO!" The police began accelerating towards him.
Lifting his gaze up, he looked at the police men with his pleading eyes. He just wanted them to kill him straight away, just shoot him before he get the chance to do the same with the girl. Taichi cried his eyes out, the pain of this memory just broke him, both mentally and physically.
However, when he glances back down at the girl, it wasn't the same one he remembered holding during that time.
In his arms is now Hikari.
He began to hyperventilate as he tried to scream for everything to cease as her screams filled his ears. Claws sinking into her flesh even further, blood trickled down in his hands. Taichi heaved, he couldn't bear hearing her loud cries anymore. The first encounter already left him traumatized, having seconds is too much, especially when your sister is the one in your hands being tormented.
Just for how long is this gonna last?
Then all of the sudden, he felt his mouth open wide without his control and slowly leaned down into her neck. His eyes contracted into slits as fear once again filled his entire being. He made an attempt on shaking himself to try and avoid her sister's body, but unfortunately he lost all control and is now moving on its own.
'D-Don't...!' He begged but his prayers were not heard as he felt himself bite down into her flesh, effortlessly tearing up the muscles and bone as blood gushed out to his face.
The screams faded...
And so did the sounds of the police.
He sit there in horror, eyes wide while his mouth hanged open as he tasted the blood. He was too disturbed by it that he didn't even notice the environment turning pitch black.
"H-Hikari...?" His voice was back, but that wasn't worth celebrating about. His sister's body just lay there in her own pool of blood, eyes blank.
Taichi choked as he held his hand tight to the point when he could feel it turning cold due to the lack of blood circulating in, but he didn't care. Everything just happened so fast. He didn't know what to do anymore but to sit there and stare at Hikari's bloodied body.
"T-Taichi..." That voice...
Taichi reluctantly turned to look at where the source of the voice is coming from, then he was greeted with yet another horror.
"How co-could you...!" Yamato stared at him with his blank eyes, his entire body covered in blood. His shoulders shows a familiar big bloodied bite mark on it, indicating that something went in for a kill. Gabumon laid limp on his side, mouth appears to be seemingly forced to open. Takeru and Patamon's arms wrapped around the blonde's body, both their body covered in scratch and bite marks and are now gone due to blood lost.
"We thought we could trust you." Taichi whipped his head around and saw Sora standing there behind him. Her arms appeared to be cut of -no...something bit it off. Piyomon stood beside her, her head half open, brain visible publicly, and seems to be missing a leg.
"You're no leader..." Jou and Gomamon towered over him, their expression blank. Both of their jaws were gone, leaving the tongue to dangle around on their neck.
"You should've just left you there." Mimi and Koushiro, along with their digimons beside them kicked him on the stomach. Taichi reluctantly lifted his head up and saw their face melting. He was then forced to stay back down as Palmon and Tentomon sinked their sharp claws into his feet and hands, completely locking him in place.
Taichi knows he's dreaming, but this is just too much. He can't bear watching this anymore. This is much worst than his previous nightmares, it's excruciating. He suddenly found himself free from the digimon's hold, and he also realized that he's alone once again in this never ending torture -no...he wasn't alone. There's someone here...someone awfully familiar...
"Taichi..." Agumon crept closer to him, a broken expression glued on his face. "I did everything I could to protect you..." Flames circled around them both, but Taichi didn't care about the intense heat at the moment. His gaze remained fixated on his partner, feeling hurt from the way Agumon stared at him -the eyes of betrayal.
"But why?" The digimon was replaced with his adult form, Greymon, with just a blink of an eye as he walked towards him.
"N-No...Agumon...I'm sorry..." Those words automatically left his mouth due to the intense fear he was feeling. He knew what the digimon was talking about. The guilt of that very day never left him and still haunts him till this day, and it just grows every time he thinks about it. "It was my fault..."
Blinking, he saw that Greymon once again changed forms, but this time it was the one that sent chills down his spine just by looking at it...
SkullGreymon...
The skull digimon grabbed him in the air, hate oozing in his green toxic eyes as he tightened his grip around the tormented boy. "You did this to me." SkullGreymon's face melted but Taichi was too fixated on the digimon's eyes to notice.
In his perspective, Taichi could only see Agumon glaring at him with such hate, and he understands that. He felt guilty. He regretted everything he's done. "A-Agumon..." But it only came out as a whisper -a broken whisper.
SkullGreymon threw him into the ground then placed his skeletal hand on top of him to prevent him from escaping. Taichi didn't care anymore. All he wanted right now is to end this nightmare, but he knew it was no use by just wishing it just like that. So he remained still and watch the digimon lower the giant missile on his back and aim it towards him at such close range.
"Ground Zero!"
The missile dropped and exploded as soon as it touched Taichi, but to his confusion he was not harmed by it, only SkullGreymon was affected as the digimon disappeared into thin air when the smoke cleared. Taichi still didn't move, eyes still fixated at the spot where the skull digimon was. He doesn't know if he could take any more of these merciless torture. There was too much horrible scenes that he didn't even want to see nor remember in the first place.
After collecting himself, he suddenly noticed how calm everything seemed to be. He wasn't feeling good about this, instead he's more terrified than ever. He's experience too many nightmares than he could even imagine, yet he still wasn't used to it, it's probably because it gets worst every single night. However, this one is different. It just suddenly happened as if he was forced to see this.
But why?
Before he could even realize it, a clear white mirror appeared right before him. Taichi trembled and remained still on his spot, staring at his own broken reflection in the mirror. Taking deep breaths, he finally gained a little bit of courage to step up and get closer to it as he examined it all around then back to his own reflection.
He frowned upon seeing himself, he looks like he hasn't been sleeping for days -which is true but it's different this time. Not physically, but mentally. There were broken scars in his soul, a lot of it.
He felt...lost. Confused. Why can't he understand anything that's been happening? All these time, he's been trying to endure all the pain that was being given to him. Every time he wakes up in either from a nightmare or a dreamless slumber, he keeps asking himself if things would go back to the way it was. Of course, he knew that no one could answer that but himself.
"Who are you?" A voice whispered out to him, however he remains unbothered by it.
Taichi glanced down to look at his hands -clawed ones. "I..." Then he lifted his gaze up to look at himself once again, making an eye contact with his digimon self. "...I don't know."
"What do you wish?" The voiced asked.
"My wish...?" Taichi stared at his reflection, examining the changes in his body, he felt disgusted by it honestly. Yet he doesn't know why he was lost in thoughts. The first thing that came up to his mind was to be back being human, but that was when he first changed. Now? ...he don't know.
"Do you wish to remain powerless in times of need?"
The boy's eyes slightly widen when he saw his reflection changed into his human self, then when he checked himself he found out that he is also back to being human.
"Or..."
The mirror slightly dimmed, then in just a blink of an eye, he was back to being Chimon.
"Do you want to be of help?"
Taichi stared at his reflection, pondering for a moment before getting nothing but a dead end as an answer. He couldn't choose. But why? Why is he feeling these complicated things? What's going on with him?
Once he's back to being human, he can't help but get a bad feeling about their future obstacles. There was something odd but he couldn't put a finger on it.
But if he chooses to stay as a digimon, he might get stuck like that forever. However, he could still protect those he care about. Protect his friends...and Hikari.
It's difficult to choose. Just thinking about it makes his head hurt. Why does he always have to choose these impossible decisions?
"As a proof of one's life..." Taichi's eyes widen in surprise when he felt his mouth move on its own. Lifting his gaze up, he was met with the familiar icy blue eye staring back at him. It was also him, but half of his body is colored milky white while the other side remains the same color. "There exists the danger of death."
His hand unwillingly lifted up and combusted with a mix of blue and orange flame. "This proof exists as a flame," His hands clenched into a fist, the fire gotten big and soon morphed into a skull. "Painfully burning one's life away."
Then all of the sudden, he found himself being in the form of Ichimon, the white color of his half never left. "Yet though a life crumbles to dust," He covered his eyes as mirror shed a blinding light, then when he it was gone he saw his friends in front of him -not the twisted bloody ones, just them happily smiling. Seeing this just made him a little happy, which made him purse a small smile on his face, but that didn't last long as his own reflection faded while the others remain. "Time moves ever onward."
The other half of him sighed then slowly disintegrates into the mirror, that then formed into another him, but an awfully familiar one. The digimon's white fur flowed ever so softly in the cold wind. He opened his eyes, revealing those icy blue orbs staring at Taichi's fiery orange ones. "He who had been your proof..." YukiIchimon muttered with an unusual soft yet depressing tone. "...your life itself..." The snow digimon lifted his arm up until his hand touched the mirror.
Taichi also found himself doing this unconsciously, both their hands making contact -one warmth and the other as the cold air. "The answer has been lost...'" YukiIchimon frowned, eyes glimmering with genuine sadness. "...never to be found again."
The white digimon rested his forehead on the mirror as he closed his eyes. Taichi found the sight rather...upsetting, he don't know why he feels that way after what the digimon had done but...it somehow feel peaceful. The boy copied what YukiIchimon did as he rested his forehead against the mirror. He could hear the digimon's shallow breathing.
"Free those who have sinned from their own shackles...and bring light to both worlds as the flames distinguish and be ignited once more."
His voice faded...
Then everything went dark.
Gasping as his eyes snapped open, Taichi immediately sat up. Even with all the fur that's covering him, it is still clear that he's drenched in sweat. It was quite obvious since those small water droplets causes his fur to slightly darken and glimmer in the light.
"Onii-chan!"
Turning, he saw his little sister sitting on the side of the bed he is currently on -oddly enough, the room he is in looks familiar. Aside from that, he suddenly remembered the horrifying sight he saw in his dream that just made him worry. Shaking his head from the thought of it, Taichi remained silent as he averted his gaze from his sister, earning a small frown from her.
"What's wrong?" Hikari scooted closer and tried to touch his hand, but wasn't able to do so when Taichi moved away from her, fear could be clearly seen in his eyes. "O-Onii-chan..." She doesn't like the look of his face, she hasn't seen her brother to be so scared. Hikari doesn't like one bit of it. So she decided to do what he always do when she was small.
"Did you have a nightmare?" She asked in the most gentle tone as possible. She saw his drooped ears straightened up, and that means that he's attentive to what she's saying. Taichi shifted and hesitated on taking even the smallest glance at her, but he did give her a nod as a reply, which made Hikari slightly relieved.
Opening her arms, Hikari warily moved closer to her brother then gently wrapped her arms around his body to soothe the tension he was feeling. She could feel him shaking in her hold, so she decided to tighten her hug to reassure him that she was there. Soon enough, Taichi moved his arm over and returned the gesture.
"S-Sorry for worrying you..." Taichi muttered, ears drooping down in shame.
Hikari shook her head. "It's okay."
Sighing, Hikari finally released the hug after her brother was calm. She stood up away from the bed and let Taichi regain his composure. After taking in some deep breaths, Taichi takes a look around the room and realized where he is. "We're...at Koushiro's?"
Hikari nodded. "Agumon's in the living room with the others if you're wondering where he is. He's helping Koushiro with that device he have."
"The cloaking device?" Taichi wondered, though she doesn't seem to have heard it as she opened the door.
"Mr. and Mrs. Izumi said to call them when you're awake if that's okay with you..." Hikari eyed him in concern, quite uncertain about the idea after seeing his brother get easily spooked. She could see the hesitation in his eyes yet he still agreed with a small nod. "I'll be right back." She reassured him before shutting the door behind her to go to the living room.
It didn't take to long until Hikari, along with the others, came walking into the room and just stare at him for a moment. Kae was the first one to approach him, which definitely scares the boy by the sudden action but decided to stay calm when she gently pats his wild hair. "I'm glad things have worked out so well between you and your sister." She said.
"Y-Yeah...I'm glad too." Taichi relaxed in her touch that he somehow find his worries fading off of his shoulders. "Thanks for everything, Mr. and Mrs. Izumi."
Masami waves his hand sheepishly. "It's no problem, Taichi. As long as you're feeling better."
Agumon and Tentomon then walked up to him -or in Tentomon's case; fly- and showed him a cookie that has a bite on it while the bug digimon holds a plate full of said cookies and a bottle of water. "Drink up. Agumon and Hikari told us you suddenly freaked out then collapsed in the bag." Tentomon said, giving him the cold water.
"It must've been the heat that causes you to pass out." Koushiro pondered as he approached him with the familiar device in hand, but he wasn't even able to get closer to him as Taichi suddenly flinched and scooted away. Everyone in the room was confused on his sudden actions. His ears drooped down on the side while his tail protectively wraps around him, a glint of fear could be seen in his eyes. "Taichi? Is something wrong?"
The boy fearfully moved away from them until he was squeezing himself in the tight corner of the wall. The others where worried, but what they didn't know is that in Taichi's eyes they were the same bloodied version of what he'd seen in his nightmare. The entire room flashes between black and white then to its original hue.
"It's your fault." SkullGreymon growled.
'N-No! Make it stop!' Taichi covered his ears and shut his eyes close as he shakes his head in hopes that this another torment would end.
Then all of the sudden, he could feel his entire body turning cold and his consciousness slipping away. Panicked by this, he instinctively spewed out a large ball of flame towards the giant skull digimon as his hands combusted with fire then sinked his claws into the bed sheet, that is now slowly being enguled with fire. He heard a yelp from one of them but considering his condition at the moment, he didn't care.
The people in front of him screamed and tried approaching him, but everytime they do so Taichi would snap at them out of fear.
He then felt a gentle touch on his chest and heard a familiar voice inside his head.
"You're going on a time out." After hearing Ichimon's strict voice, his consciousness was immediately pushed back into the back of his mind while his body remained still for a moment with a blank expression until Ichimon took the wheel, eyes becoming full vibrant orange.
Everyone stared at him in utter bewilderment. They are still wary about the boy lashing out on them that they didn't even notice the change on the other's eyes, except for Hikari of course. The girl could somehow feel a different presence in his brother's body yet he was still present. She didn't feel threatened by anything that suddenly happened out of the blue, she just got freaked out by it and truth to be told she's certainly worried.
"Taichi?" Agumon tried calling out for his partner after seeing that the flames on the bed have died down. The digimon tensed when Taichi's eyes snapped open, revealing his eyes fully bathed in orange than normal.
"He's not him." Hikari muttered, earning a couple of confused looks from them.
"I see you can sense who's who in your brother's body. I'm impressed." Ichimon stared at her in amazement as he shifted to properly sit down. His gaze then turned to look at the wary looks coming from the unfamiliar ones. He gave them a small gesture by raising both hands up in the air to show no harm. "I'm a friend. Taichi's got a little carried away when he saw the nightmare versions of yourselves, so I put him on time out. Sorry about the sudden attack, Agumon."
"O-Oh! Um...It's no problem. It's just a little fire, nothing serious." Agumon reassured as he showed him the small burn on his arm.
"Glad to know." Ichimon coughed to address everyone's attention to him -he didn't need to since everyone is literally staring at him ever since he took over, but that's just how he is. "I'm Ichimon. The one who's been watching over your friend ever since he came back here in his own world."
"W-Wait...you're also the one who took over when he suddenly turned...feral and attacked us." Koushiro told him, earning a small snarl of disgust from the digimon -but it wasn't directed to any of them. Ichimon just doesn't like what happened yesterday.
"I was held captive in a cage by another one us -YukiIchimon. A virus type. Ice based power." The Ichimon explained to them. "Taichi helped me escape, and managed to remove him from his own data."
"Remove from his own data?" Tentomon questioned, quite confused about what he meant by it.
"I don't know what he's trying to do but it seems like he wanted to take control of the boy's body since he no longer have one. Well, neither of us does." Ichimon shrugged, then slowly slips down onto the floor and snatched Koushiro's laptop from his grasp, earning a small yelp of surprise from him. The digimon typed something on the device momentarilly before giving it back to the red head.
Koushiro takes a closer look to what Ichimon did to his gadget. It was in the Digimon data section and it appears that both Chimon and Ichimon's data were altered, and from the looks of it YukiIchimon's data is also there too.
"Read it later, kid." Ichimon crossed his arms. "For now, I need your help."
Perplexed, Agumon tilted his head to the side. "Help? What for?"
"You see, I've been talking to Taichi for quite some time now. You're friend is too unstable to listen to anyone right now so I figured I should come out of my own and blabber about that 'war' you're all talking about."
Kae gasp after hearing a certain word. "War?" She glances to her son, hoping to find some answer from him.
The red head brought up some couple of collected information he got from the digimons and explained it to both of his parents without bothering to look at them. "From what everyone told us, the Chimons and Ichimons went on a killing spree for more power in order to reach a higher level of their forms. Eventually, that led everyone to conclude the war by killing each and every one of them in order to cease the conflict."
Ichimon shakes his head as he growls. "That's false information." He saw Koushiro and the two digimons look at him in both interest and shock. "Obviously, I was there. That wasn't what happened!"
The digimon paced back and forth in the room, hand on his back, wondering if Taichi is attentive to what he's about to say. 'Hey, kid. Are you there?"
There was a moment of silence until he received a small groan from him. 'Y-Yeah...' Taichi sounds uneasy and upset. He'd have to talk to him later about this.
Ichimon cleared his throat as he turned to face everyone. "There was this weird digimon that attacked us. I don't know what it is for I never seen it before in my life, none of us knows. It was somewhat stuck between its physical and digital form...as if it just...died and got its data stuck or something."
"It didn't even let us think as it just suddenly killed us off one by one with no hesitation. Yet...we didn't fight back. Those who can fight are protecting those who can't. Then before we know it, that thing changed its form into ours. Pretending. Manipulating the newcomer's eyes." Ichimon scoffed as he closed his eyes. "That misunderstanding led to that so called 'war'. No one listened to any of us, we didn't fight back either. Then eventually, a friend of mine got close to the mastermind of the whole conflict, too close! Apparently, it can't enter the Digital World without a physical form so it made us fight as a sacrifice for his own deeds. Played everyone for a fool, but no one knows that. Only we, Ichimons, do."
Koushiro gestured him to pause by raising a hand up in the air, which Ichimon politely obeyed. "This digimon you're talking about, the main cause of the entire...fight, is it still..."
Ichimon nodded, already guessing what he was going to ask. "It is still alive, sadly. Though it is difficult to find it in plain sight. Our guess was its hiding between the realm between your world and ours, but we're still not sure about it. However, we are sure about one thing; it feeds on everyone's data in order to enter the Digital World. Their motive is still unknown but it's obviously not good for either of us."
Koushiro hummed, pondering. Questions that needed answers now flooded his mind. "A digimon stuck between physical and digital form? And can shapeshift into whatever form it sees? That's new. If that thing causes a fight between all of you and the other digimons in the past, then that might also means it's still doing it up to this day."
"It's possible." Ichimon shrugged in uncertainty. He furrowed his eyes as he takes a glance outside from the window. Oddly, he felt a small tinge of worry for some reason.
"Umm..." Tentomon brought up a claw in the air to get everyone's attention to him. "Isn't it kind of odd that Taichi turned into a Chimon out of all the digimons he could turn into? I mean, the war did happen to be a "fight" between the digimons and Ichimons. Can't be just a coincidence, right?"
"Must be..." Koushiro took his laptop and sat down in front of his computer as he began to do some research. That got the digimon's attention too, except Ichimon, as they both went to the red head's side to see what he was doing. Agumon doesn't really liked looking at the kid working all the time, but seeing that it was his partner's condition being checked on the monitor he can't help but see what's going on.
Only small mutterings by the three remain in the silent room. Ichimon also fell quiet after his small explanation and didn't bother on joining the Child of Knowledge to his small research thing. He'd rather wait for the final results than listen to words that he could not understand. Sighing, he decided to slump back down to bed and close his eyes as he waits for Taichi to calm down before he could give him back his body.
"What is it?" Hikari slightly flinched from the sudden question from Ichimon. She's been staring at him ever since he took control, and it looks like Ichimon noticed this. "You got something to ask?"
The digimon sounds so polite yet the tough nature of his still remains from the back of his voice. "Umm...I just wanted to ask if...my brother is okay."
Ichimon sat up and stared at her with confused yet reassuring eyes. He didn't expect that question if he's being honest. The girl is a bit hard to read for him though. "He's trying to recover from a bad dream. Why'd you ask?"
"Something scared him when we were walking around the streets, and when he woke up he looks more terrified than before. What happened to him?"
Ichimon breathed in. The girl is being straight forward. How is he even gonna answer that question when he didn't know what happened to the boy in his nightmare? Though he's definitely gonna make sure that Taichi gets the help he needed. So first thing's first; explain everything. "He's-"
He was immediately cut off when a hand suddenly covered his mouth -his own hand to clarify. "I'll tell her myself!" Taichi exclaimed frantically. Ichimon felt his consciousness being pulled back into the subconscious, he gritted his teeth as he struggled to stay in control. He growled as he pushed the kid's hand away from his mouth to talk.
"And when is that exactly!? You seriously need help, kid! OW!" He got punched by his right hand -which Taichi has control of- that got him tumbling down on the floor with a loud thud. Everyone's attention were now directed to him, all of them wearing a confused expression as they watch Ichimon choke himself then bite down on his own right arm. "You need this!"
"I'll do it as soon as things go back to normal!"
"And to do that you need them with you! ACK! Stop that!" Taichi yelp as Ichimon suddenly bites down on his hand once again. Both of them stumbled down multiple times and hits every furniture they come close to, luckily Agumon and Tentomon was there to catch every single thing that could break.
"What's...happening?" Masami turns to look at his son, who is also dumbfounded from what's happening in front of them.
"I think they're fighting...?" Koushiro shrugged. Honestly, he didn't know what's happening too.
Ichimon heaved a breath as Taichi's hand wrapped around his neck tightly. "Idiot! You'll kill us both!" He yelled out as he struggled to breath. Taichi could feel himself losing air too but he still kept his hand on the digimon's neck until Ichimon finally weakly pounded the floor as a sign of defeat. "Fine! Fine! I give! Jeez kid! Take your body!"
With that being said, Ichimon went back to the subconscious and let Taichi take control again as his usual dim orange looked around the surroundings then his body to check if he was back. After making sure, he groaned as he slumped back on the floor while covering his eyes with his arm.
He felt someone staring at him from above, only to find out that it was his own sister as she poke his forehead multiple times. "Stop." He said flatly. "It's me. He just went out of his own without my permission."
"Since when do I need permission to go out?" He heard Ichimon murmur in his head but decided to ignore it for the sake of his own pride and the almost massacred room of his friend.
He then see a shadow loom over him, curious eyes stared at his own as he felt someone poke his cheeks next. "Taichi?"
"Agumon, it's me." Taichi sat up and raised both his hands in the air and shakes them as proof. He was then tackled by his digimon with a giant hug, which he returned the gesture by wrapping an arm around Agumon and patting him on the head.
"If you want, I can spread the new info we got from Ichimon." Koushiro suggested as he takes his eyes off of the computer to look at Taichi with a unusual soft look on his face. "Maybe they might find a clue about why you turned into Chimon. Possibly a coincidence but who knows."
Taichi groaned as he stand up on his wobbly feet, luckily Hikari and Agumon was there to support him from both sides. "...fine. Just...don't tell them about YukiIchimon and what happened yesterday."
Both Kae and Masami frowned upon hearing this. "Taichi, you're keeping things from everyone again. You know that's not healthy, especially if its breaking you." Kae placed a hand on his shoulder, an uncertain gaze glued on her eyes.
Hesitating, Taichi stared at her for a moment before shaking her head and turning away. "I'll...tell them soon. Just not right now...please."
Kae frowned at this but decided to let the kid do what he wants for now. It's not like she can persuade him again like she did yesterday. Taichi might think they're forcing him to do the things he doesn't want to do and they don't want him to think like that. It's better for him to take things slow until he's finally able to come out himself.
Taichi sighed deeply then carefully approached his friend and asked, "Why were you calling me in the first place anyway? You said you needed me for something?"
Nodding, Koushiro took a familiar device from the table then gently latched it on Taichi's wrist. "Unfortunately, it can't conceal your form anymore because of the fatal damages it got, but I figured we can still use this for gathering data of yourself whenever things changes within or external. I also modified the design so it's more comfortable to wear."
The boy examined the new look of the gadget, it was quite a simple design really. It looks like the black arm band he wore back then, and it really is comfortable unlike the old one that keeps getting in the way when he's either running or fighting. A small smile crept upon his fanged lips. "Thanks, Koushiro. Anyway, where's Mimi and Jou? I thought they were coming today?" He asked.
"They just called," Tentomon said as he closed the door behind him after Agumon entered. "Jou got an exam to take and Mimi said she's stuck in traffic with her parents because of the police."
"When did you two even leave? I didn't hear any door opening." Taichi asked.
"You were being too sentimental. We left to get more cookies in the kitchen." Agumon told him before stuffing his mouth with cookies and milk.
"Look who's talking." Taichi sweatdropped as he watch his digimon devour another batch of cookies while Kae and Tentomon tried taking the plate and a carton of milk from him.
"I guess the police really are blocking the exits in Shibaura. It won't be long until they reach Odaiba too." Koushiro stated as he scroll up and down to his computer to check the news. "I think its safe if the digimons stay inside the house."
"Then we better head back home before the police block our way." Taichi turned to the two adults and bow down his head with Hikari as a sign of thankfulness. "Thanks for having us, Mr. and Mrs. Izumi."
"We'll be on our way now." Hikari added politely.
Agumon saw what the two siblings were doing and decided to copy them. "Thank you!" He cheerfully said before chowing down another cookie.
The two siblings stood up straight then went up to the door, Hikari opened it while Taichi carried Agumon on his back since the digimon is still busy eating. The two adults, along with Koushiro and Tentomon, followed them to the front door to make sure that they are ready to head out safely like they did when they got here. "Come again anytime you like!" Kae smiled as she wave here hand to them while watching Taichi protest about getting inside the big bag before he was finally forced by Agumon who just shoved him in all of the sudden.
"I'll try to gather as much information I need about Ichimon's story before telling them to everyone." Koushiro said, earning a small thumbs up from Taichi in the bag.
And with that, the three head outside and hurriedly ran along the streets. Thankfully, Hikari brought her brother's dark blue jacket for Agumon to wear as a disguise, and now carrying Taichi takes little effort now that the reptile digimon is helping her carry behind her. Taichi suggested to switch places with Agumon but he was bigger than his partner so the jacket won't really cover his legs and tail, so he's basically stuck hiding in the bag again while the other two does all the work.
It didn't take too long for them to arrive at their home since Hikari mostly taken a lot of shortcuts in order to avoid a whole pack of people in the streets. Her mother, who was too busy cooking lunch for the family to even notice the giant bag her daughter got, greeted her and asked her a few questions about the basic stuffs like; "how's your day?" "Are you hungry?" "Did you have fun?" And so on. Hikari managed to answer her as she leads Agumon into the room, then greeting her dad too before going in the room herself.
Taichi let out a sharp gasp as he jumped out of the bag straight to his bed as he breathes in and out constantly. "Fresh air!" He said in relief.
Agumon takes off the hoodie and neatly folded it since he was told to do it afterwards by Hikari. "It's weird though. It's not as hot as it is this morning."
"It isn't?" Taichi raised a brow questionably then hummed in wonder when he noticed something. "Now that you mention it, the bag wasn't suffocating me that much. But it's probably just the weather as usual. What do you think, Hikari?"
He receives no response from his little sister. "Hikari?" He glances at the balcony and saw her looking out at the distance, a gloomy scent around her being. Taichi got up and slowly approached her. "You worried about Tailmon?"
Hikari sighed but nods her head as a reply.
"I promise, we're gonna get her back." Taichi placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Right, Agumon?"
"Yeah!" The reptile digimon exclaimed happily.
"Take a rest for now, Hikari." Taichi pats her head. "Thanks for helping me go to Koushiro's. I owe you a lot."
Shaking her head, Hikari took his hand from her head then rubbed it gently, causing a soft purr to escape her brother's lips unintentionally. Taichi didn't mind this anymore though, since one; he's already gotten used to being pampered by his little sister, two; it's soothing, three; he made a rule that only Hikari and Agumon gets to see this side of him. It's gonna be embarrassing once his friends starts to have a purring festival on him.
Hikari glanced at him with an ever so innocent eyes and said, "I'm also worried about you."
"Huh? Why is that?" Taichi asked curiously.
"Your eyes turned blue when you woke up."
Fear struck the boy after hearing those words. He frantically, yet gently, took his sister's arms and crouched down to her size as he asked, "W-Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" His tone has a tinge of anger in it but he kept himself calm in order not to scare Hikari.
"Why are you so afraid of him?"
"What?"
"He was hurting." Hikari lowered her gaze, a frown now sketching her lips. "He's scared, Onii-chan."
Scared? YukiIchimon of all digimon is scared? From what he could remember, the ice digimon was merciless and was even planning on killing him and Ichimon. He couldn't even imagine YukiIchimon being all so kind, there was no way he would just change all of the sudden. It's just all so confusing. More importantly he saw him disappear in his mind, Ichimon was there too! This is just too much to handle today. Things are really getting more and more complicated.
"Did he do something to you while I was out?" He asked carefully, only to receive a small head shake from her as a response.
"He's hurt." Hikari replied, "He needs help, Onii-chan."
"Hikari, he's not-"
He was suddenly interrupted by Agumon, who is pointing at something in the distance. "Taichi, what's that?"
Taichi straightened himself and abruptly looked at where his digimon was pointing at, only to see a thick fog covering most of the building. Slowly, he backed away from the balcony into the room as he pulled his little sister with him before closing the glass door. He felt his fur stood up from the tense feeling his body is giving off. "Something's wrong." He mumbled.
The doorbell rang in their front door and was followed by a horrific shriek that awfully sounds like their mother then a faint wailing sound. "MOM!" Taichi didn't think twice as he barged out of his room and looked around to see what's going on. "W-what the-" Two Bakemons hovered over his mom and grabbed her by her legs then started pulling her out of the house. There was another scream coming from the living room, this time it was his father being attacked by another two Bakemons.
"Taichi!" Agumon called out as he went on his fighting stance.
"I'll take the two on the left, you take the right!" He sharply turned to his sister and pushed her in the room. "Stay there!"
Agumon didn't waste anytime and thrust his claws in one of the Bakemons as it completely dispersed into nothing but data. "Baby Flame!" The big fireball successfully hit the ghost digimon square in the chest and it also disappeared into data like the other one.
"Mom! Hang on!" Taichi leaped outside of their house then used the pole to propel him back towards the two Bakemons as he flexed his claws. "Blaze Claws!" The two digimons shrieked in pain before vanishing into nothingness. But their relief was short-lived as more Bakemons appeared and phased through the wall then grabbed his dad and mom once again.
"Onii-chan!"
"Hikari!" The door from his room breaks open then a single Bakemon came out, holding his little sister hostage in his demonic hands. Taichi glances at Agumon's side and saw that he was busy protecting his dad. Frustrated, his hands are also full just to save his mother from the ghost digimons that are still coming, he can't get to his sister like this.
'I have to save them...' Taichi roared in helplessness as he spewed out multiple lava balls at the digimons. Out of anger, his body releases an intense aura all around the room and soon became overwhelmingly hot for the Bakemons to take and it causes them to halt to a stop before turning their attention to Taichi.
Growling, Taichi wrapped his arms around his mother protectively. "Agumon!" He called out.
"Cross Fight!"
All the gathered Bakemons around him immediately disappeared after Agumon swiped his sharp claws at them all at once. The reptile digimon caught the look of worry in his partner's eyes towards Hikari and decided to go to her side to check on her well-being. He gave Taichi a thumbs up as a positive response.
"Are you okay, M- AHHH!" Huge pain erupted from his face as he found himself hitting his back on the wall. He hissed in pain, hand clenching from where it hurts.
"Stay back! Get away from us!"
Hesitating, he lifted his gaze up and saw his father holding a fire extinguisher in his hands. His emotions were starting to overwhelm him from the sight, the sore feeling on his face were now completely numb from the pain. "D-dad?" He reached out for him. "It's me...T-Taichi..." His voice shook in fear.
But Susumu hit him once more. Taichi choked and soon coughed out blood. His gaze remained glued on the ground, hand clenched on his arm.
He knew it...they hate him.
"Taichi!/Onii-chan!" Agumon went to his side while Hikari went in between his brother and father with her arms outstretched.
"Hikari, get away from those things!" Yuko tried to pull her away but the girl step back and kept her stance. "Hikari!"
"You're hurting him!" She shouted. "Stop hurting, Onii-chan!" She then hit her father on the stomach, it didn't hurt him much but it did caused him to let go of the fire extingusher. "Stop! Stop it!"
"Hikari! Listen to us-"
An awfully familiar wailing noise came back. Bakemons suddenly appeared around Susumu and Yuko out of the blue then grabbed them both. Then three Bakemons also appeared around Hikari unexpectedly, luckily she was able to escape thanks to Agumon's help while her brother wrapped around her protectively as his mouth glowed dangerously.
"Hikari!" Their parents screamed as the digimons have taken them out of their house.
"Mom! Dad!" Taichi and Agumon tried chasing after them but they were blocked by a couple of Bakemons in the hallway. One of his ears stood as the screams of his parents echoed from nearby, however, he found himself stuck in his place, unable to give chase to the digimons who kidnapped his parents. The hopeful glint in his eyes disappeared, and so did his will to fight.
"Baby Flame!" A fireball exploded right behind him then followed by a couple of pained shrieks from the Bakemons before disappearing. Agumon pulled his partner in the house and shakes him. "Don't think like that, Taichi! We can still save your parents!" He encouraged, seemingly knows what he was thinking.
The boy slapped his clawed hand away from him then carefully stood up. "I know. S-Sorry about that."
"Onii-chan..." Hikari gestured him to get closer, and as soon as he did, she gently sticks a small band aid on his face...where his father had hit him. Then she tackled him into a hug. "It's okay, Onii-chan. They'll understand once they listen to you."
Frowning, he returned the heartwarming gesture and buried his face under his sister's shoulder. "Y-yeah...I'm sure they will." With his sister's encouraging words, his spirit to fight slightly came back to him, enough to have the courage to save his parents. He then chuckled as let go of her and ruffle her hair. "Let's save the comfort for later, okay? We still got work to do. Let's go, Agumon!"
"Yeah!"
Taking his Digivice from his belt, he aimed it at his digimon as its light shone upon Agumon. "Agumon, evolve! Greymon!"
A giant hole appeared in the building as Greymon jumped down in the streets with a loud roar, getting the Bakemons' attention and startling all of the people in the process. Taichi soon jumped right behind with Hikari on his back then landed on Greymon's head to provide as much support as he could do since he couldn't (wouldn't) evolve.
"I-It's a dinosaur and a lion! Those monsters got my daughter!" Yuko screamed.
Taichi kept himself stable, but in the inside he was deeply hurt by the words his mother had called him. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he stood up and tried to reassure his parents -and the panicking people. "Mom! This isn't what it looks like!" He gritted his teeth and glances down at his digimon. "Greymon, let's save my parents!"
The adult digimon obeyed, but it only took him a few steps forward until something hit him on the shoulder that caused him to stumble back and roar in pain. Taichi's grip around his sister tightened, he wasn't making any damage on her this time since he kept his claws retracted to avoid harming her. His eyes furrowed and dangerously glared at Phantomon in front of them, the scythe on his hold appears to be what hurt Greymon.
"There's no point in resisting." Phantomon chuckled gleefully as the Bakemons started to gather by his side. He then pointed his weapon at the humans and instructed his allies. "Now! Take them all to Vamdemon!"
People screamed even louder as they were pushed by the Bakemons behind them. Apparently, even with hundreds of these civilians screaming, all Taichi could hear was his parents crying out for Hikari -a cry of worry for their daughter but not him. Oh how he wish he could cry right now but things were getting even more dangerous in his situation since Greymon is practically down.
A menacing growl unknowingly escaped his lips and soon erupted into a loud roar as his throat began to luminate. "FLARE BLAST!" A giant ball of lava spewed right out of his mouth as it went directly to Phantomon. Unfortunately, Taichi is two levels away from the digimon as his attack was easily sliced and disappeared into thin air with just a swipe of Phantmon's scythe.
"Mega Flame!"
Phantmon swiftly faded from the digimon's view, causing his attack to hit the building. Greymon groaned in annoyance and struggled to stand up. "I'm sorry, Taichi..." He stammered. "I promise to save your parents later...But for now, we have to run away."
Taichi was hesitant, but decided that it was their best option at this very crucial moment. He gave Greymon a small pat on the head as a sign of his agreement then they began to run away from the swarming digimons, his parent's calls becoming vague until the noise finally disappeared. He hated it. He was powerless to save them...Couldn't do anything.
Meanwhile at Big Sight where all of the people are held captive by Vamdemon.
Dozens of people who were captured by the digimons was kept here for inspections and tools for the vampire digimon. Some were panicking while the others remained still and waits for what's about to happen to them next. They weren't really expecting for anyone to save them from all the digimons that kept them here since they already knew how powerful the creatures are.
However, what they didn't know was amongst the crowd were two Chosen Childs that also got caught. One of them is Sora; she was on his way to Taichi's home to check on his well-being, Piyomon not being on her side that time because she thought there were too many police in the streets, but unfortunately she was caught by one of the Bakemons. And the second Child would be Mimi and Palmon; funny enough, she ran away with her parents and got stuck in the elevator when the Bakemons blocked their way out. Reasonably, even with Palmon's help they were still out-numbered so things really didn't go well.
"Sora." Mimi tapped her friend's shoulder and got a surprised look by her.
"They've caught you too, Mimi?"
The cinnamon haired girl sat down by her side and placed down a blanket from her hold, and under that blanket was Palmon. The small plant digimon peeked her head out of the soft fabric to look at her partner. "Should I evolve?"
Standing up, Sora quietly scouts the area first and saw a lot of Bakemons floating around the giant hallway. "The enemy is around us so let's stay low for now." She told Palmon, who nodded with her in agreement.
The girls observed the hostile digimons around them quietly, and every time one passes by they would hide their faces just in case one would recognize them. It wasn't really necessary since the Bakemons doesn't seem to care about the fact that there's a digimon and two Chosen Children amongst the crowd but it's better safe than sorry.
Time passes by, nothing changes with the Bakemons' position around them. They seem to be increasing every minute which raises their worries more, however it didn't concern Mimi as much as she worries Taichi's well-being. She wasn't able to pay him a visit this morning since there were more police today than usual, and it wouldn't be wise to travel with her digimon since the guards seems to be confiscating any suspicious items that people have. She didn't want to leave Palmon, and Palmon didn't want to leave her especially in their digimon situation.
Just the sight of Taichi laying on his own pool of blood spooked her, she couldn't even have a good night sleep last night from thinkin about it. He was in her hold, bleeding out and slowly dying. She didn't know what to do at that time. She was terrified. Up until now, that horrifying image still haunts her. Every time it does, Palmon would be there to comfort her and tell her that her friend is okay. Everyone's okay. But with their current situation today, Vamdemon hunting people and holding them captive, her worries only skyrocketed. There's definitely nothing okay with this.
"My child... My child...!" A loud whimper came from one of the people nearby, catching Sora's attention after hearing the woman's voice.
"Calm down!" A man right beside her pats her back for comfort.
Mimi went beside her friend after seeing what she was looking at, then suddenly realized who those two adults are. "Hey, Sora...aren't they...?"
The bearer of Love nodded with her. "It's Taichi's parents."
They heard Yuko sobbed and buried her face on her hand as she cried. "That dinosaur and lion must have eaten her by now...T-those monsters..."
"By dinosaur and lion..." Mimi gasp. "Agumon and Taichi...? Sora?"
Mimi saw her friend suddenly walk towards the two adults, the cinnamon haired girl wanted to follow but Palmon stopped her. Slowly approaching Yuko and Susumu, inside Sora's mind was full of worries about her friend. If the two mentioned their son with that word then that means they must've gotten the wrong idea about him.
"Please don't worry." She told them in the most softest voice possible, but in the inside she was a bit frustrated at them for using such foul word to her friend.
Yuko lifted her gaze and stared at her with teary eyes. "Sora...?"
"The dinosaur and lion are on our side. I'm sure they will come here with other good Digimons and save us." She smiled sweetly before turning her back on them but didn't walk away yet, instead she left a few words for them, "Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya...whatever that lion told you, please believe him. I'm sure he would be happy if you try to understand." Then she walked away, leaving the two adults contemplate there for a while.
Hours have passed after being captured, some people have gotten tired of waiting and decided to do all the escaping themselves. And those people are the employees who works at Fuji T.V., Mimi's parents, and after an hour of thinking, even Yuko and Susumu have joined in. Then eventually, Sora and Mimi sat down with them to hear their plans -and because Mimi's parents were there.
"Got it? The men will take down the guards." Instructed Susumu, though his voice seems to be shaking a bit. "So while we keep them busy, you will lead the women and children out of here."
The woman employee nodded to him in determination. "Understood." A soft hand tapped her shoulder, looking back, there were three mascots standing behind them.
"Do you want to help too?" The male employee asks, earning a nod from each one of them.
Then all of the sudden, an anxious Satoe stood up from her seat. "Excuse me..." She said,
"What is it?"
She clasps her hand together and plead, "Please don't make my husband participate in such a dangerous plan!"
Everyone stared at her in puzzlement. "Huh?"
Keisuke immediately stood up and shakes his hand in disapproval. "Hey now..."
"You be quiet, sweetie!" Satoe yelled at him then glanced back to Susumu with yet another pleading look on her face. "There are plenty of other men here, so my husband doesn't have to join you, right?"
"Umm, Ma'am, that's not..." Susumu stammered, then he was suddenly caught off guard when the woman started crying.
"He'll die!" She cried out. "If my husband dies, I'll follow after him and die too!"
She's being persistent, Susumu thought gingerly. "Okay, okay! I understand!" He coughed to address everyone's attention to him. "Well then, Tachikawa, you'll escort the women outside."
Hearing that, Satoe stopped crying as her usual cheery smiled reappeared on her face. "Isn't that great, honeybuns?" She hugged her husband gleefully.
From the side, both Mimi and Sora listened carefully on the adults' plan of escape. They wouldn't really call it much of a plan of course since they seem to be doing all these the other way, but who are they to judge. As the people are talking, Sora noticed something on the other male employee's lap who is wearing a headphone. She went closer then asked the other workers, "What is he listening too?"
The woman employee perked up with a small smile, "Sakurada?" That seems to be the man's name. "When he gets stressed, he listens to sutras."
"Sutras?" A certain memory of her and Jou back in the Digital World came back to her, it was that time when they stumbled upon a bunch of Bakemons in some kind of church. They managed to escape thanks to Jou's knowledge about ghosts and such.
"To fight against ghosts, you need to chant a sutra praying for God's good grace!" Jou's words echoed in the back of her mind. "By chanting the sutra, Bakemon's power will weaken!" She still find it a little weird by hey, it did help them escape that hellish church and avoided being eaten by a giant Bakemon.
Meanwhile, Susumu's hand shook in disbelief as he stare down on it. Guilt bloomed in his chest when he remembered what Sora had said to both him and his wife. If what she's saying is true then...God he felt terrible.
"Dear?" Yuko lay a hand on his own, even she was a bit out of it after that small talk with the girl. Both parents...both of them felt guilt...
"It'll be okay..." Susumu smiled in reassurance before lifting his gaze up to face everyone. "Let's go, everyone!"
"Okay!"
Finally, their plan started.
Susumu grabbed a metal pipe from nearby and immediately made his way through the horde of Bakemons as the others followed behind him warily. With a loud battlecry and the help of the three mascots behind him, he pummeled the enemy and led the people to the door. "Hurry!" He screamed out.
"Everyone stay close to me!" The woman employee yelled as she ran out of the door with the people following her from behind. As they stepped out of the door, multiple Bakemons emerged and charged straight at them, but luckily Sora was there to stop them as she lifted up a speaker over her head.
"Listen to this!" The sutra played then the Bakemons were successfully weakened as they fell on the ground. "Now!" Then they started to run once again, people screamed but didn't push anyone in front of them. Eventually they have finally reached the outside.
"All right! We've made it outside!" Satoe, along with all the people behind her cheered in joy upon feeling the warm sun touch their skin.
However, their joy was short-lived when a giant shadow loomed over them from the other side of the bridge. A giant reptile digimon towered the people as he roared, it was DarkTyrannomon.
"There's another one!" Satoe shrieked, and a giant wave of screams erupted from the people.
Keisuke stared at giant digimon over them and had his thoughts. Furrowing his eyes, he pulled away from his wife's hug and marched into the sea of people behind.
"Where are you going!?"
Obviously, he didn't like this plan...like, at all but his pride was all in his mind at the moment. Quickly, he hopped into the baggage cart and powered the engine on then stompped on the gas and drives straight at DarkTyrannomon as he cry out, "What a man must do!" But he was immediately kicked away by the digimon towards the giant saw structure and crashed in the process.
"Dad!" Mimi cried out, her feelings being passed down into the Digivice as it started to glow and take over Palmon's entire being.
"Palmon, evolve! Togemon!" The newly evolved digimon knocked down DarkTyrannomon by uppercutting him on his jaw. She kept her distance to him since she knew the digimon is a level away from her, but that didn't matter because she gotta do what she needs to in order to protect her precious partner from any danger that comes.
"Honey!/Papa!" Satoe and Mimi raced over to Keisuke's side and carefully helped him up. "Are you okay, honey?" The woman asked in concern.
"I am, but..." Keisuke groaned. "I made a fool of myself."
"No, that's not true!" Satoe shakes her head in denial as she held her husband close. "You were very cool!"
"Really?"
"Really!"
"Really!?"
"Really!"
Her parents are happy and recovered, Mimi's happy about that. But the fact that Togemon is holding back the giant dinosaur for them really makes the scene the need to be immediately cut off. "Hey...This isn't the time for that!" Mimi reminded them as she points at her digimon defending them.
"Once in a while doesn't hurt." Her father replied rather calm, clearly not bother by Togemon's scream of torment as she struggle to punch DarkTyrannomon who got her in his clutches.
"Yeah." Satoe responded.
"But you always do this!" Mimi exclaimed.
Then DarkTyrannomon threw the cactus digimon on the ground roughly, catching Mimi's attention as she gasp. "Togemon!"
DarkTyrannomon inhaled and breathes out a giant flame at Togemon. "You can do it, Togemon!" Mimi tried encouraging her digimon.
"I'm trying..." The digimon stammered as she slowly stood up on her feet and took another hit. Togemon is now struggling to stand up, fatigue have started to catch up to her.
Frowning, Mimi watched in panic as her digimon kept standing up and getting hit over and over again. Dread filled her being as an image of Taichi's bloodied body came flashing back to her mind. Every time Togemon gets knocked down or hit, the picture keeps appearing in front of her like a nightmare.
"Why?" People's screams echoed from behind as the Bakemons have started to take a hold of them one by one.
"Why?" Togemon wailed in pain as DarkTyrannomon's fangs sinked in her body and threw her from the nearby building as she groaned in discomfort. "Why are you doing this to us?"
She gritted her teeth as the image of her bloodied hand from her friend's wounded body constantly flashed in her mind. A loud cry of pain escaped Togemon's mouth as DarkTyrannomon hit her with his tail then scratched her on the back with his sharp claws. All of that torment, yet Togemon kept fighting for the sake of her partner's safety. But the sight was just too much for the girl.
"They're terrible! I can't forgive them! I'll never forgive those who hurt my friends!" She screamed.
The Digivice heeded her calls, the purity in her wishes, as both her Crest and Digivice glowed bright green, and so did Togemon. The pure enemy flowed through the digimon's body, completely changine her entire being into something more powerful. "Togemon, super evolve!" A bright light soon dispersed, then standing -or rather flying- on Togemon's place is now a beautiful pink fairy digimon. "Lilimon!"
DarkTyrannomon felt the sudden change of power from his opponent and decided to step back warily.
"Togemon evolved?" Mimi gasped in amazement from the sight of her digimon.
Lilimon smirked upon seeing the enemy back away, a giant flower appeared before her then bloomed, revealing a metallic cannon in the middle. "Flower Cannon!" A green pulse of energy spewed out and successfully hit DarkTyrannomon, causing the virus digimon to roar in pain.
"Lilimon?" Mimi stared at her in awe.
The fairy digimon smiled and waved at her partner happily. "Hi, Mimi! Do you think I'm a terrible taste?" She asked.
A smile crept in Mimi's lips as she shakes her head. "Not at all. You're very pretty and cute!"
Lilimon chuckled, winking. "Thank you!"
From behind, DarkTyrannomon took a chance to attempt to attack her but the fairy digimon was quick enough to dodge the incoming claw with a small teasing giggle. "Try to catch me if you can!" She flew up high in the sky then went straight at the virus digimon.
"Get him!" Mimi cheered.
"Hey, Mimi. It was your tears of purity that helped me to evolve." Lilimon smiled genuinely. "I want to cherish that heart of yours. That's why..."
"What are you going to do?" Mimi asked in bewilderment.
Lilimon just gave her a soft playful giggle. "Just watch." She dived straight down at DarkTyrannomon then circled around him. "Hana no Kubikazari!" A big flower necklace appeared around the enemy digimon's neck then suddenly his eyes started to dilate, his harsh movements halt.
"I've remove the evil virus from him using my flower power. He's not our enemy anymore." Lilimon explained, then flew up to the reptile digimon to pet him, which he happily accepted. "Good boy."
Mimi gasp in awe. "Wow!"
Unknown to them, the certain vampire digimon was watching their attempt of escape and battle from nearby. Seeing that DarkTyrannomon have failed to crush the Chosen Child and her digimon, Vamdemon decided to take the matters in his own hands. "A clever trick." He commented, unamused. Then as soon as DarkTyrannomon turned towards his direction, Vamdemon's hand glowed blood red then an energy whip formed. "Bloody Stream!"
The reptile digimon wailed in pure pain as he completely disappear into data without a trace.
"How could you do that!?" Lilimon gasp in horror.
Vamdemon hummed calmly. "All I've done is rid myself of some unnecessary rubbish." He told her dryly then pointed a finger at her. "You're next. Bloody Stream!" He threw his arm back then forward as the red whip went straight forward at Lilimon, but missed her by hair.
Flying up, Lilimon summoned her weapon again and aimed at the vampire digimon. "Flower Cannon!"
Meanwhile with Jou and Gomamon's situation. The bearer of Sincerity had finished his exams and was on his way to Odaiba since he wanted to pay Taichi a visit after what had happened yesterday. Unfortunately, the vehicles doesn't seem to be working for any transportation, his guess that it was probably of the huge fog surrounding Odaiba. He didn't know what's happening but like what Gomamon said, he's got a bad feeling about it.
Groaning, Jou rested his arms on the metal fence where there's no passersby that could hear his conversation with his digimon. He just came back from checking if any of the boats are working but was unlucky. "The boats don't work either. How do I get through that fog?"
Gomamon peeked his head out of the bag he's been hiding in, and asked, "Jou, don't they teach you that in school?"
"Of course not! Stuff like how to make a fire or how to wash dishes...You never learn about that in classroom!"
The small digimon blinked. "Then what do they teach you?"
Jou let out a long deep sigh as he slump is shoulders down in disappointment. "Who cares right now!" He glances at the concealed city. "What's more important is that fog!"
CRASH!
Backing away from the Bakemons and the newly arrived Phantomon, Sora is now left with nothing to defend herself with. She step back until a fence eventually blocked her from behind.
"Try chanting Buddah's name this time so you can die a peaceful death." Phantomon chuckled darkly, twirling his scythe beside him then pointed it at the young girl. "Your life is mine!"
Sora struggled to get out of the two Bakemons who got their grasp on her arms, but then to her surprise...
"Not a chance!" Two familiar voice screamed at the digimon.
"What!?"
The two impostors have revealed themselves as they threw away the Bakemon disguise, under that costume is her mother, Toshiko, and her digimon, Piyomon. The bird digimon flew up high in the air as her entire form got engulfed with a bright red light.
"Piyomon, evolve! Birdramon!"
The newly evolved digimon dives down and slammed the entire horde of Bakemons and a distressed Phantomon away from the two.
Sora suddenly found herself being hugged by her mother, so she resturned the gesture before quickly letting go and facing her. "Mom..."
"Run from here, Sora..." Toshiko held her gently on her arm while her expression becomes serious, then gave her daughter the blue beanie in her hand.
"You should, too!" Sora told her in concern.
All of the sudden, multiple Bakemons have started emerging again and they are heading straight towards both of them at such a quick pace. Toshiko held a hand out in front of her daughter protectively and took a step back. "Hurry up and go!"
"MOM!"
Taichi ran and ran throughout town to find a safe place for them to stay. Agumon's hurt after that digimon hit him on the shoulder but thankfully it wasn't really fatal. Now the reptile digimon is restoring his health on his back while he kept a hand on her sister's. Everything is in ruins. Vamdemon must've gotten bored looking for the eighth child and decided to unleash a nightmare in the city. The digimon was kidnapping adults and childrens, but he don't know where he keeps them prisoners. He'd have to think about that later after finding shelter.
He was getting tired already, legs are now starting to sore and Agumon's weight is putting pressure on his wounds. It hurts and he keeps flinching on every steps he takes. His breath is also starting to get heavy and shallow, the bandages around him is constricting his lungs from the additional weight that was added on his back. But as usual, that doesn't matter to him as he kept going. He didn't know how long he was running but one thing is for sure they are already on a different street.
Black spots have started to form around his vision, eyes fluttering for his body told him to sit and rest, take a breather. He ignored it. In their current situation, he don't think he could even take a small break from all the chaos that's been occuring at the moment. That Vamdemon really took this too far. He's gonna rip that face of his for sure.
"Are you okay?" Taichi asked after hearing his digimon groaning.
Agumon weakly nods. "Yeah, somewhat..."
He then stopped on his tracks when his nose picked up a scent from nearby. His instincts went on high alert as he held his sister tight and kept her close to him. "Onii-chan?" Hikari glanced at him.
"Stay close to me." He told her strictly, and she did what he asked as she moved her hold on his arm.
As he was trying to sniff out the scent he picked up, someone suddenly grabbed him by the tail and pulled him. Fortunately, Taichi's instincts quickly kicked in as he twisted out of its hold then rushed in to the spot where the deemed enemy is hiding in. His claws withdraw out and swiftly pushed the intruder in the steel wall by the neck as he growled and bared his teeth menacingly.
"Stop! It's me!"
Taichi paused, and got a better look on the person in his hold now that he recognize who it is. Out of all the friends he could encounter, why did he show up right in his face after trying to avoid him for days.
"Y-Yamato...?"