Izumi was afraid. Truly, deeply, undeniably afraid. Which in and of itself was not unusual; she'd had some terrifying experiences. It wasn't even a new emotion for the day, given their current situation. No, it wasn't the fear that was disturbing, it was its source. Takuya was shaking with a fury composed of anger, frustration, confusion, and anguish. He didn't want to hurt their friend; but if that were to be his choice, she knew now, as he was, he would shove the needle into Koichi's brain himself. For his little brother, he would do literally anything, even things he'd regret halfway through the act. Even things neither of them thought him capable of. She warned Koji away with a look and he understood, shepherding his twin out of the room with terrifying urgency.

"Shit," Takuya barely waited for the door to close behind them to swear, hitting the table again and causing Izumi to wince away. "Shit!"

"Don't be so dramatic," chastised Dorian, standing up and moving to his kitchenette. "It's not like we didn't know this was a possibility."

"Don't be dramatic?! My brother's only chance just walked out on us and you don't want me to be dramatic?!"

"Takuya, please, calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down! I'm sorry Izumi, I really am, but we tried it Koji's way and that didn't work. Shinya's still out there and I have to do whatever it takes to get him back safely! And if that means I have to make Koichi uncomfortable-"

"Were you not listening just now? He is terrified! I don't know what other way exists, but we need to look for it-"

"Why? Because Koichi's a little scared? Because you and Koji don't want to push him? He'd be fine!"

"You don't know that!"

"If I may," interrupted Dorian. He'd retrieved whatever he'd been looking for and now turned to face the couple, icy eyes impassive. "There might be a way to increase the odds in our favor."

Both Izumi and Takuya paused, regarding him with confusion and suspicion. His fingers were twisted around a small, white, screw cap container, obscuring it, though he grinned as if they were supposed to know what it held. When neither appeared to comprehend what was so amusing, Dorian turned back to the kitchenette, nodding to himself. Humming as if in thought, he grabbed a glass from the cabinet, filled it up with water from a reservoir, and, keeping his back to the couple, poured a white powder from the container into the water. It fogged the liquid for a moment before dissolving as he swirled. Then he turned to them and offered the glass to Takuya.

"I planned for this eventuality. Now, take this to your Chosen of Darkness and bring the brothers back up here."

"What is it," asked Izumi suspiciously, causing Takuya to pause, considering.

"Water," answered Dorian with a shrug. Still Takuya hesitated, causing Dorian's brow to crease a little. He let out a small sigh, his blue gaze never wavering from Takuya's vibrant orbs. "Do you want to save your brother or not?"

His jaw tightened and his features hardened in resolve. The Warrior of Flame took the glass from Dorian and started stiffly towards the door. Izumi grunted in disapproval, reaching out and hooking her fingers over his forearm. He didn't look back at her; he barely even paused, just pressed forward and out the door. Down the stairs. And into the lion's den. Koichi was standing there with his brother, as if they'd been having an intense conversation just before his entry. Too late he thought to knock, so instead he lingered in the doorway, trying to compress all his anxiety into the door handle.

What am I doing?

The thought barely had time to coalesce in his mind before he met the elder twin's inquisitive gaze and felt his will steel. What was necessary. He was doing what was necessary. He had no reason to suspect this "water" would actually hurt Koichi… at least, not permanently. The same could not be said for Tache's particles in Shinya's brain. Still, his body was only partially responsive, reluctant to step over this particular line even as his fraternal instincts heaved into the void beyond. His movements were stiff and disjointed and really incriminating. Koichi's trust proved greater than his fear and he not only accepted, but actually drank the glass Takuya handed to him. All the while confirming to Takuya that, morally ambiguous as it seemed, this was the only way. He wanted to let Koichi be comfortable, he really did; he just wasn't willing to sacrifice his little brother to that cause. No, he decided, opening the door and leading the twins back up the stairs, he'd put his faith in someone with actual successes credited to his name. Dorian had saved them in that alley, not Koji and most certainly not Koichi, and Dorian was the only one with a plan of action. Takuya chose to put his faith in that.

They were on the sixth floor landing before whatever Dorian had done to that water took effect. It started small, a tingle through the air that indicated Koichi was no longer close behind him. In learned unison, he and Koji turned, their eyes trained to the dark twin's form. He was panting as if the stair had been some great exertion, a sheen of sweat glistening not only on his face, but also on his arms and chest where his maroon V-neck T-shirt left skin exposed. One hand tightened around the glass Takuya'd given him while the other groped blindly at his back, looking for the railing. Then his eyes closed and his hands went limp. The glass shattered at his feet, spraying shards in all directions.

"Koichi!" Koji was the first to react, starting forward as instinct overruled foresight. Crunching under his feet made him pause, considering his options. Regardless, the sound of his voice jolted Koichi back, though he didn't seem to recognize anyone had spoken. He followed their horrified gazes to his feet, blinking in bemusement before arriving at a decision of his own. Without any regard for the consequences, he reached down and grasped a particularly large shard of glass, gripping it so tightly it cut into his hand. The sight of his brother's blood threw Koji into hysterics and he leapt across the minefield, fingers working at Koichi's fist as crimson liquid began to run towards his wrist.

"Koichi stop! Drop it! You'll hurt yourself!"

Koichi smiled at him, his grip not loosening despite his brother's best efforts.

"Isssfinn," his voice was slurred, his speech distorted and difficult to understand. "Illclen.. it up."

"Nii-san!" Koji gave him a wild, disbelieving look, his fingers worrying all the more urgently. "Nii-san, please let it go, please! You're hurting yourself! You're bleeding!"

He was ignored and brushed off as Koichi began to press forward once more, clearly intent on getting to Dorian's apartment. Glass crunched under his feet as he staggered, his face flushed and neutral. Sweat made his hair stick to his neck and if he had any sense of the damage that was being done to his body he didn't seem to care. Koji rounded on Takuya, livid, his own rage catching the Warrior of Flame a little off guard.

"What is this? What the hell is this!" Takuya flinched away, his brown eyes darting to Koichi's obviously drugged form.

"I don't know," he confessed, unsure if his ignorance of what, exactly, Dorian had put in that water made him more or less guilty. Whatever he'd thought, whatever worst-case scenario he'd worked up in his mind, it didn't even come close to this. Luckily for him, Koji had more immediate problems than punishing Takuya. He shoved the brunette aside with excessive force and went to corral his brother. Koichi was having none of it. He struggled, straining against Koji's superior physical strength. Then Koji felt a searing pain crash through his skull, extracting a yelp from his chest and causing his grip to loosen. There was a series of horrible cracking sounds like joints popping and Koichi tore free, dropping the glass shard and thrusting open the door.

"Oh my god," Izumi cried from just inside, her voice shrill and terrified, letting everyone know that she'd noticed the dark twin's blood and or dissociated state. "Where are you going? Koichi, stop! Let me look at your hands!"

"Isaright," he said, smiling at her. A drop of blood reached capacity on his pointer finger and fell to the ground, splashing bright red into the otherwise colorless room. Izumi opened her mouth to say more, but was cut off by Koji.

"Stay away from him," he growled from the doorway, one hand gripping the frame while the other pressed to his skull. His eyes had become blood shot and he looked… like someone she would've avoided under different circumstances. "Don't touch him."

"What's happened," she asked urgently, stepping out of Koichi's way and allowing him to wander to the table on whatever mission he'd assigned himself. "Is this Tache?"

"Ask your boyfriend," Koji hissed with venom, crossing the threshold and closing the door. A moment later Takuya followed, again closing the door. His face was pale, his expression severely shaken. "Ask him what he spiked into my brother's drink!"

"I spiked the water," Dorian's voice came from the other room. Koji felt the urge to go back there and murder the Frenchman and only an overwhelming concern for his twin's safety held him back. Koichi didn't seem to hear any of them; he'd stopped just shy of the table and seemed to be frozen there, gaze fixed on a point past the floor. His twin approached him cautiously, wary of startling him a second time. Dorian, unaware of the drama happening just beyond the shadows, continued, unfazed.

"Phencyclidine. It's been shown to cause substantial cortical activation in humans."

"Phenyl what?!"

"PCP. Ozone. Embalming Fluid. Hog. Angel Dust. Don't you have drugs in Japan?"

"What have you done to my brother!"

"PCP increases synaptic glutamate currents and glutamate is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter. More excitement in the brain, lower threshold for any activity induced by Tache's signal, higher probability of tapping into any information stream inherent to that signal. And, because the contact would be drug induced, it should terminate once the intoxication wares off. At least that's the theory."

"You drugged my brother because of a theory?! And you! Did you know about this or were you just following instructions!"

"They have Shinya! In my shoes you'd have done exactly the same thing!"

"When will this… drug… when will it ware off," Izumi asked, moving towards the chair room and refocusing the conversation. Dorian looked up from his work at the computer, frowning a little in thought.

"Normally 4-8 hours, but his case is probably unique. He seems to have an abnormal sensitivity; it usually takes at least half an hour for PCP to take effect after oral ingestion."

"I could've told you this would happen," spat Koji, still hovering by his twin's side. He desperately wanted to shepherd him back downstairs, to treat his hand and keep him safely away from this insanity. But he couldn't risk touching him- hurting him again. He didn't seem to register the pain in his limbs, which made upsetting him all the more dangerous. For the moment he seemed content, if not entirely there.

"We were supposed to have a moment to discuss how to proceed, but our timetable has accelerated. We can deal with trust issues and blame later; right now we need to take advantage of the PCP intoxication. I have the instrument all prepped, so if you would kindly bring him in here, we can get started."

"Koichi is not going anywhere near that thing! I am taking him downstairs to wait this out and when he comes to we are leaving!"

"You can't take him out of this room. In this state he is undoubtedly more vulnerable to wireless attack. It would be best if we initiated contact on our own terms in a controlled environment."

"Did you not hear what I just said?"

"I'm sorry, we seem to be experiencing a misunderstanding. You're under the impression that there's a choice involved."

Koichi gasped suddenly, his head snapping up as he stumbled backwards, struck by some invisible force. He collided with Koji's chest, bouncing off it and whirling around, fingers clawing at the table top, gaze wild. For a moment the twins met each other's eye, but any contact was brief at best. It was as if Koichi couldn't see them, like he couldn't see anything at all. His eyes flicked, following some fly as it buzzed around the room, his breath trapped in shallow gasps. That's when the pain started. Koji grunted, his hand moving involuntarily to his brow, pressing over his face for a moment. Water… he could hear water, the swelling of an ocean. And cold. He peered through his fingers and saw Koichi standing in a lake, holding hands coated in some kind of black gel as far away from his body as possible as water poured through his fingers. Koji closed the space between them, grasping his twin's face and forcing their gazes to meet. The dark twin's pulse raced beneath his cold, clammy skin, his pupils dilated and unseeing.

"Nii-san," he called, willing his brother to hear. "Nii-san, you have to calm down. You need to breathe. This isn't real- none of this is real! You've been drugged, but you're going to be fine. Calm down."

"Get him in here now!"

Koichi opened his mouth to say something, but no sound emerged. Instead a wave of static crashed through the room, raising the hairs on Izumi and Takuya's arms. The lights grew brighter, burning in the sudden surge of power. Koji was physically blown away. He released his brother and stumbled back, hands pressed firmly into his skull. Izumi rushed to his side, checking him over, her words and worries trying to simultaneously sooth and motivate. Takuya dove for Koichi, grasping at his arms and waist, dragging him forcibly into the back room.

"I'm sorry buddy," he murmured, wishing he could block out his friend's cries of protest. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. I'm sorry."

Dorian met him at the door, adding another pair of hands to direct Koichi's thrashing body towards the chair.

"I've attached and activated the cell," he grunted, holding the dark twin's right wrist to the armrest and securing it there with a strap. "Just… hold him still. Hold him still! Or he'll hurt himself even more. This will all be over soon."

Takuya nodded, following suit and securing Koichi's remaining limbs. Izumi pulled Koji up, dragging him into the room behind her and leaning him against a wall. He was unresponsive and, as she watched, his nose started to bleed. With a cry of frustration, she dug for a handkerchief or tissues or something in her pocket. Anything to stem the flow. Koji grabbed her wrist and gave her a wide-eyed, hard look, like he wanted to say something but couldn't. Electricity coursed through the air, tingling on her skin, making it impossible to even fake calm. Takuya grabbed Koichi's shoulders, pushing him as gently as he could into the chair so as to clasp the straps across his chest and lap.

Koichi screamed in earnest as his spine met the conductive gel along the chair's back, sending white light into the fiber optic chords and illuminating the entire room.

"Close the door," ordered Dorian, busying himself with fixing the headpiece. "If you want this to mean something you will close the door. We can't let anything else in or out."

Begrudgingly, Izumi abandoned the light twin and pulled the ajar door closed, throwing them into complete darkness were it not for the light from Dorian's machine. The lightning crashed out of the air, releasing its grip on the Digidestined and granting them a relief none could help but appreciate. Koji, free of whatever force that had cowed him, stood, his livid face accentuated by the blood track from one nostril over his lips. He strode forward, torn between beating Takuya, killing Dorian, and freeing his brother. The foreign Digidestined blocked his path, smart enough not to touch him, but still too bold to back down.

"It's done, Koji," he said in a low, even voice. "He's connected to Tache's signal now and the only way to end that is for the phencyclidine to run its course. If you want to help, tell him to relax. Ask him where they took Takuya's brother and how we can get him back. Then, in at most a couple of hours, it'll all be over. I understand that right now all you want to do is hurt me but that will not help your brother."

"I think in the long run it will."

"Maybe so. But in the short run Koichi needs you to help him through this ordeal. Tell him to stop fighting and let it happen. He'll listen if it comes from you."

Koichi gasped suddenly, tugging against the padded straps, fingers flexed, eyes wide. The capillaries within those eyes were enflamed and, as they watched, reached a stress capacity and burst. Blood pooled in the sclera, pupils dilated and black and consuming. Then the life left his body and he collapsed, head lulling against his chest, friends left in complete and total shock.

Content: Drug use