"I'm not saying I don't think you can do it! I'm just pointing out that you're in no shape to take Tache on!"
"I don't recall asking for your permission, Takuya." He said the name like a swear, causing the Warrior of Flame to wilt just a little. Koichi didn't notice.
"Come on buddy, it's not like you need my permission or even my approval for anything. And I get that you don't trust me. But you're still my friend and I'm worried! Can't you at least take a nap or something?"
"Nap? Are you serious right now," Bahar chided, folding her arms and leaning against the wall. Her black eyes caught Takuya's, hard and unyielding. Izumi moved between them, going to his side and interlacing their fingers.
"Takuya," she tried.
"Come on! How am I the only one who thinks storming the warehouse district right now is a terrible idea!"
"I have to stop Tache. I finally understand how."
"You can't do that if you're passed out! Look, Tache took my little brother too; I want that thing gone. But if I learned anything in the Digital World it's that you have to be ready for these sorts of fights!"
"I am ready."
"As much as I hate to agree with Mr. Moron over there, he's right about this one. So you've had a revelation, yay for you. You still can't go off half-cocked and expect everything to just work out. Get back in the chair and we'll try the kitty version again."
"No," Koichi said defiantly, turning to face them all head on. "I'm done with that thing, it's gotten us nowhere. This only ends one way and I'd rather get it over with."
"Koichi, will you take a moment and breathe," Izumi cut in. "You need to process this. It takes longer than five minutes to accept your… demons. Believe me."
"It's not the demons that I have to accept," he whispered, pressing his fingers into the tabletop. "It's the person."
"Koichi-"
"I don't have time to process! Don't you understand? We're-"
He stopped suddenly, pupils dilating. Everything around him seemed to freeze and in the stillness there was a knocking sound, a low, hollow crack that only he could hear. Once, then again, repeating at a slow but regular interval. God, when would it be over! His eyes shifted sideways, towards the window to his right. To the place where a shadowy hand was tapping the glass. Shivers shot down his arms as a fist clenched around his heart. It wasn't real. He knew it wasn't real. This was just another trick the Ocean was playing in his mind. The hand was not there. And still it was.
Koichi was aware of the silence in the room, of the others watching him cautiously. In the back of his mind he was thankful for their eyes; they would keep him from doing anything too stupid. Wordlessly, he moved over to the windowsill, gripping it between the solar panels. As if sensing his approach the hand stopped. It spread its fingers and pressed a palm to the glass. Black gel collected at the intersection, dripping back down its wrist to an out of sight elbow. Running in beads towards Koichi's skin. Again, he shivered, nausea forcing him to look away.
"Koichi…" Izumi tried, coming up behind him. "Are you-"
"Don't touch me," he warned, closing his eyes as willing himself to stay above the sound of water.
"It's here, isn't It," Bahar said in a flat tone.
"Yes."
"Think you can handle It?"
"I have to." Koichi swallowed hard, forcing his fists to uncurl and instead grab onto the chicken mesh.
"Whoa buddy, you think that's a good idea?"
"I'm letting it in. We need to know what it wants." He threw a glance over his shoulder, trying his best to look reassuring. Takuya and Izumi looked even more concerned. Bahar was battle-tight and unimpressed. Slowly, he pulled the iron away from the window, opening a hole in the Faraday Cage. Cell traffic hit him like a wave of heat even as the Ocean's cold blew past him.
It's alright, he thought, closing his eyes for a moment. Just be angry, be powerless, be afraid. It's not weakness; it's human. Just let yourself be a human.
The hand phased through the glass, causing Koichi to start. It made a move to grab him, but disintegrated mid thrust, collapsing into a stream of black-grey goo. He remembered this substance and it made his stomach knot. That last day of school. Shizuka in the back alley. Harbinger of the Ocean's offer. The gel oozed down the wall and collected on the floor, black mist surrounding it like an odor. Instinctively Koichi took a step back, but this time it flowed right past him. With an alarming intensity it moved towards his friends, coalescing into something terrible just behind Takuya.
His heart stopped and what little color remained in Koichi's face drained. Water flooded the room, knee deep and ice cold, and in that water a figure stood. He was drenched. Salt water dripped from his hair, his chin… his fingertips. Red rimmed his wide blue eyes. Their mother's eyes. Takuya's phone buzzed in his pocket, causing them all to jump. Cautiously, he pulled it out and then, equally cautious, answered.
"Hello… Koji? Koji is that you... You're what?! Man, are you okay…"
All around him the waves pushed and pulled, causing his exhausted form to waver. Koichi wanted to go to him, to grab him and pull him from the water. But he couldn't. He was frozen to the spot, trapped in a vision only he could see. Koji shivered and the movement was mirrored in his twin's body. His breath hung in a cloud of mist before him.
"Where have you been? What did they do to you? What's-… Koichi? You sure that's a good idea? Why do you need him…"
Behind him the tree loomed, black and massive and hungry. Koichi could see its pale roots, its prey cocooned in white flesh. He tried to yell, to tell Koji to run, but his voice was stuck and only a little choking sound managed to escape. The roots seemed to laugh at him, coming up on his brother, their inky offerings hanging from greedy tips.
"Koji, I don't know buddy. This is really sketchy. How do we know you're still, you know… But why do you need Koichi to come to you…"
They were too close! Koji had to sense them, had to know what was lurking just over his shoulder, yet he did nothing. He just stared at his twin, expressionless. With a sick, slithering terror, Koichi watched the mist turn black all around him. Passing over his lips, emanating from his body like a physical dark cloud. And his eyes… oh god his eyes.
"No… No this can't be happening. I don't believe it. He can't be…"
Takuya paused, giving the dark twin a very nervous, concerned look. "Hey, you doing okay Koichi?"
A cry tore his throat as one of the roots burrowed into the back of Koji's neck.
"No! You can't have him! I won't let you!"
Koji was saying something about moving to the edge of the warehouse district, but Takuya barely registered. The dark twin was doubled over, his hands pressed against his scalp, unabashedly screaming. Static burst in Takuya's ear, making Koji even harder to understand, and the lights flickered all around them.
Koichi was spouting nonsense now, sending uncontrolled pulses of energy through the room. The computer in the back flared bright white, then darkened. In its place yellow sparks showered down, bathing the chair's last functional moments in a final light. Flashes burned in the light bulbs, too bright, shattering them and raining glass around the Digidestined. Takuya didn't register the heat in his cell phone as it overloaded until it burnt his hand, causing him to yelp. It clattered to the floor, hissing a dying breath. And then everything just stopped.
The Chosen of Darkness straightened, staring around at the others with a blank expression. Tears ran freely down his face and his red eyes were further bloodshot. Blood ran from his ears and nose and down onto his shirt. His body trembled, and, after a long, tense moment, he just crumpled.
"Koichi!" Izumi's voice was shrill with panic as she ran to his side, grasping at his shoulders. "Koichi, are you alright?!"
"It has him…" Koichi choked, barely audible. He couldn't stop shaking, couldn't stop crying. "The Ocean has my brother…"
Koichi sat at the table, silent, with face in his hands as the others watched. It had taken a solid fifteen minutes for him to allow anyone besides Izumi close, then another ten to get him into a chair. Like trying to scoop water off the floor with nothing but your hands. For a while they'd just listened to him weep, all attempts at comfort long past. Now they listened to the silence. No one knew what to do or even say. Was there even a right thing? And did any of them even have the right? Things had started off so simply: Koichi good, Ocean bad. Of course, the Ocean was still bad, but it was the bad inside them. "Goodness" needed a more… flexible definition. Nothing they'd done had been "good" and yet it all needed doing. Everything brought them to this point, to this final, shattered moment, and everyone knew what came next. But how could they ask Koichi to do it?
"So…" Bahar said in a low, gravely voice, causing Takuya and Izumi to visibly jump. They looked at her with reproach, but she was pretty damn far past caring. Her sensitivity only stretched so much. They needed to move. "What are you gonna do?"
"It has my brother…" Koichi repeated, giving the floor a defeated look. "It has Koji… I don't understand… he's supposed to be better than me…"
"Okay, look, no one's better than the Ocean. You wanna beat it, you have to get down on its level. That's what makes it dangerous. Don't beat yourself up and don't blame Koji, alright?"
"Bahar," Izumi chided in a low voice. "Leave him be."
"He's been "being" for an hour now! I get this is hard, really. But we need to look at this objectively. Koji is a Chosen of Light, correct? So loosing him is a real set back."
"A set back?" Koichi's anger flared, raising his eyes to meet Bahar's. She smiled at his temper. "My brother's been brainwashed and you're calling it a set back?!"
"A Chosen of Light in the Dark Ocean is a major powerhouse. You're brother's not the first it's tried this with and he won't be the last. Fact is, when Koji gave in the Ocean got a whole lot stronger. Having it break through the Faraday Cage should scare you. We need to move and we need to do it now. So I'll ask again: what are you going to do?"
"He's not doing anything," said Takuya in a rush. "It's too dangerous for him. So Zumi and I will go, grab Koji, and drag his butt back here to detox. Once he's back we can come up with a plan."
"It's an obvious trap. Maybe Koichi shouldn't go…"
"No," he snapped, straightening. The russet streaks on his neck stood out vividly and his face still shone with the remnants of tears. But the pain inside him had hardened into rage. "No, I'm going. I'll bring Koji back."
"That's what Tache wants you to do! Come on buddy, think for a minute!"
"It's what has to be done. Koji's Digidestined, he won't "detox" like the others, don't you get that? Or did Dorian leave that part out."
The three gave Bahar varying degrees of shocked looks and she paused, licking her lips and nodding.
"Well, he won't. Koji's like Ysault; he'll only get back to normal when the Ocean is taken care of."
"And the only way that happens is for me to confront it," Koichi finished, featured solemn.
"Koichi, please," Izumi insisted, giving him a pleading look. "We want Koji back, but not if it costs us you. Are you sure about this?"
"No…" Koichi's gaze fell, his lips twisting into a small, mirthless smile. "Not even a little. That doesn't change anything. I'm afraid but I can't let fear stop me. I can't let it make me weak or the Ocean wins."
"Two hours ago I would've been with you two, but now there's only one way to the Ocean," Bahar stated, giving Takuya and Izumi a sideways look. "You can't protect you bud. Nothing can."
"I can't put it off anymore," Koichi said, voice softening. "I can't let Koji stay in that place. I want to go now."
Takuya and Izumi exchanged defeated looks. Really, it didn't matter what they wanted or thought was right. If Koichi was going they couldn't stop him. Physically could not prevent him from leaving. Not to mention Bahar was right; there wasn't another way. There was no more trying from a relatively safe environment, no more practicing. No way around it. And that made the two of them…
"What do you need," sighed Takuya.