I don't own digimon.
Session 108
Ynori
Every time he looked into that face, he found himself back in that day. It was always for a few brief moments, standing over the dirt meant to hold them in.
He looked up, finding the timekeeper staring back at him. The bodies of Lupe and ClockworkBiyomon sat at this asshole's feet, having been the last interrogators to take him on and subsequently fail.
"Why did you greet me like that?" TK remarked and got a cocky smile in return, choosing to just sit himself down.
"Not sure." the timekeeper answered. "Just seemed right."
He got an eye roll in return.
"So what's it going to be this time?" the timekeeper inquired and cracked a smile as TK watched on. It was the sort his friend would've cracked, whether the result of some boast or a triumphant victory. In a way, it made him yearn for those days. In a way, it made the whole situation he and everyone else found themselves in, ironic to some extent. Had they let themselves fall into that 'bimbo's' hands, they would've already reached this second trip once more. Possibly, things would've gone differently.
"You can still arrange that if you want." the timekeeper joked and watched his captor shake his head. "Oh. Don't you want to see them again?"
Their faces flash through his mind one more time.
Tai and Agumon, figments of something that he could never understand.
Sora and Biyomon, just copies of a woman that they had thought they had known, but didn't.
Lupe and ClockworkGabumon, creations of a clockwork bird who just wanted a family of her own.
Mimi and Palmon, the ones who were screwed over by forces far outside of their control.
Joe and Gomamon, who died a pointless death because of him.
Izzy and Tentomon, a duo that were never on their side to begin with.
Cody and Armadillomon, who would be turned later down the road.
Ririsu and VeeAquilamon, far too good for the world in Varia's eyes.
Kuro Neko and Bastemon, priestesses to a deity of darkness and possibly the only force of good in this world.
Ken and Wormmon, the only good people to possibly exist in this world.
And of course, Davis and Veemon, who always seemed to pull some incredible feat off when the chips were down.
That left just him, Evil TK. Of course, Patamon still occasionally joined. But those sorts of trips were a long faded memory of better days and hopeful times. Now, all that was of this place was a bunch of people in huts trapped in a struggle to free themselves from people that believed they knew better.
"I thought this was an interrogation, not a reflection upon yourself." the prisoner taunted and forced TK's gaze back to him. "I was expecting that you would at least be a challenge for me. Especially after I went easy on those two."
A twisted smile formed on his face, leaving mixed messages for the gentlemanly asshole. A majority of them were less than ideal, with a couple involving sexual assault involved.
"Aww… You really thought that I would go and do that? Man, you must really not know."
Evil TK placed a hand on his holster, debating whether or not to pull his gun out and just bring to an end.
"Not funny." He snarled and took a deep breath. "It just isn't it."
Right on cue, the prisoner began to laugh.
"You should've seen the look on your face."
TK's gaze shifts away, choosing to focus instead on one of the side walls. For what is supposed to be a holding cell/interrogation room for their prisoner, a good chunk of time had been put into it. The walls were to be far sturdy than they would ever need to be, possibly being capable of taking blows from the likes of Jestery or Selenemon. The floor had a similar design philosophy in mind, even if there wasn't really a threat that could really cause that much damage to the ground.
"When I heard that we caught you, the timekeeper, of all people..." TK inquired and slowly shifted to around the general area of his prisoner. "I thought you were some evil Davis wannabe, but I've changed my mind."
The timekeeper perked up, quite confused by TK's latest remark. Sure, there was a passing resemblance between the two, but it couldn't be that obvious, could it? No that was just silly.
"You're nothing but a poser, aren't you?"
A smile formed on TK's face. In response to that, the opponent chose to take on a blank look and let out a snicker.
"Oh." the timekeeper remarked, giving a shrug. Then, he began to glare intently towards TK, muttering something about possibilities and outcomes. But his chatter fell on deaf ears, mostly because his interrogator looked to be about ready to get up and be done with him. "Oh. So you're just going to leave me to this fate then?"
"Pretty much."
TK then got up, only for the timekeeper to begin to laugh at him. It was the sort one used to chill the bones of small children and sometimes an adult, especially if they were caught off guard by the outburst.
"That's it, huh?" the timekeeper taunted and watched TK turn around. "You wanna know what? Let's just settle this."
He then pulled out a familiar pair of dao broadswords, flashing them towards the gentlemanly asshole. TK took a deep breath and pulled his gun out, carefully loading a magazine in. While not the outcome he had expected, it was the one that he got. To some extent, the gentlemanly asshole had grown used to it. Possibly to used it. Not that he would never admit it, mind you.
The timekeeper took the first move, going for a charging slash. He answered back by dodging to the left and firing off a shot. The bullet managed to score a direct hit, but only to the arm. While not a major wound, it could start bleeding out at any moment. Which, would end this fight in a quick yet agonizing fashion. But he doubted that such an opportunity would come.
He fired off a second shot, just managing to pierce through the skin of the left leg as one of the timekeeper's blades came quite close to him. Next came a couple attempted stabs, which gave him just enough time to duck down and charge at his legs. Of course, his opponent seemed to notice and slashed at his currently exposed back. So TK did the natural thing in this situation: He aimed for the privates.
"You dick! You'll pay for that!"
TK let out a laugh, taking this opportunity to give his opponent a swift kick in that particular area.
"Too bad." he answered and watched his opponent wince in pain. "That was for dragging me into this mess."
He let out a sigh, reloading his gun in the process.
"Now, let me grant you the pain of my fallen friends."
For once in this entire fight, the timekeeper felt afraid. He tried to pull himself back up, only to find TK's foot knocking him back down.
"This one is for Sora."
The first gunshot went for the chest, seeming to reach for the shoulder.
"Can I do anything to make it better for you?"
He got no answer, not that it would've changed the response.
"Here's to Tai."
The second gunshot rings out, landing on the opposite side of the first. The timekeeper stayed silent, not that TK cared at this point.
"For Joe."
The third went to the foot, an almost ironic joke if you thought about it. But that probably wasn't what either party had in mind.
"No more…" the timekeeper whimpered and attempted to get up once more. But all that accomplished was getting smashed down into the ground. His eyes slid shut and he shut the world out, still hearing the sound of the next couple shots.
When his eyes did finally open up, TK's gun had moved up towards his head.
"Any last words?" he inquired and as tears began to fall from the timekeeper's face.
"I'm sorry... TK."
The whole world seemed to freeze as the words came out. After all this taunting, the gunshots and general fuck-all that occurred in the last couple minutes, everything seemed to come into focus.
"I'm sorry." he whispered and lowered his gun, only for Davis to push it back up.
"No, this is my fault." the former digidestined whispered and pushed himself away, throwing him his goggles. "Just go through it. It's my time to die."
TK took a deep breath, fighting the tears that fell down his face.
"I'm sorry."
He closed his eyes and let the gunshot ring out.
The next couple hours are a blur, with his only memory being that of grabbing his friends body and dragging it somewhere.
It's the appearance of Victoria that finally snaps him free.
"Oh my." she whispered and took a deep breath, taking in her frenemies handiwork. "I would expect you to be a good gravedigger of all things."
He made a glance towards her and her perfect lolita dress, tossing some of it at her.
"If you're here to gawk, scram." TK announced, but his arch-nemesis just stood there.
"Fine." she answered and dragged Davis's body. "Good riddance."
"Was this what you planned to do to him?"
"Maybe."
"Then why didn't you go through with it?"
"How can you be certain that I didn't?"
TK let out a groan and began to shovel dirt with his hands, only to watch Victoria switch to her slime form. She made her way over to the mound, grabbed hold and deposited it into the hole. Then she switched back just to smite him. After doing that, the bell rang twelve times.
"Oh, you did it. Fuck." Julie announced. "I didn't have anything really planned for this point. This works, I guess."
A bit outside the dark blades plantation, a tower sprouted forth and up towards the heavens, which seemed create a 'portal' to the dream world in the process. There the actual tower awaited.
"Now, nighty night!"
For those who weren't somehow in the digital world, they suddenly found themselves transported over.
Notes:
Technically, this is the last chapter of Digital Adventures Online. And by that I mean it was written last (before the bonus stuff). Out of any chapter written, this was one of the hardest to write. Maybe because it was the last one or just because I had to put someone everyone liked through a world of hell once more.
The twist of the timekeeper being Davis was something that was decided back around Session 50.
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Next Time: An event five years in the making. May the world hear our battle cry.