Me: I don't own Digimon. I hate these stupid disclaimers!
Tai: Why do you do them again?
Me: (sighs impatiently) What do I have to do-post a Stick it on your forehead?! So I can't claim you as property and make tons of money off of you!
Davis: Calm down, dude! Here, have a donut.
Me: Where'd you get the donuts and why are you eating them in my room?
Veemon: There was this donut shop somewhere in this town and Davis went inside to get some.
Me: He didn't take you in there with him, did he? I don't think America-or the world-are ready to know that Digimon still exist.
Veemon: Of course not! Davis isn't that stupid.
Davis: You tell him, Veemon! HEY! Who says I'm stupid? Was it T.M. again?
Me: (groans) I hate my life…
Digimon
Skirting the Edge
Chapter III-The Sword of Darkness
I narrowed my eyes with anger and briefly considered giving in to the powers that had taken over my body, but instantly discarded that idea. If I did, then the others would have to destroy me and delete WarGreymon, and I wasn't about to let my partner get deleted in the World of Darkness for my mistake. Speaking of which…
"Tai! What are you doing?" Matt asked as he came up to me, Sora at his heels. I felt my hands clench and knew I was preparing to launch a punch. I seriously hoped that Matt would land the first one, though.
"I've been purged from all emotion, former friend."
"Matt, don't listen to me! Get Sora out of here while you still can!"
"I suggest you get out of here while I lack the ability to cross worlds, otherwise your friend will destroy you." Daemon again. Wasn't this guy ever gonna give up?!
Turning toward Sora, I felt my heart contract in pain, and I knew I was speaking from the heart this time!
"You've enjoyed watching me suffer, don't you? You knew how I felt, but you decided to go for Matt anyway, didn't you?! You just love watching me squirm and get eaten away at, don't you?" Tears were coming down my cheeks, but I made no attempt to wipe them away. I was hurting, inside and outside, and it was time that she saw the pain she's inflicted upon me these past years.
Sora stood there, in shock. She was utterly amazed at the emotion on my face. I've always kept my emotions in check; even when she went to Matt that Christmas, I hid my feelings from her.
"Tai, I…"
"But telling you isn't enough, is it? No it isn't! You're gonna have to feel some pain! En garde!" I thrust my hand forward, and a beam of dark energy shimmered in front of it. Seconds afterward, a sword appeared in my hand. The other DigiDestined were shocked and worried. They were wondering the same thing I was-how'd that sword appear out of nowhere?
"Behold, DigiDestined: The Sword of Darkness! With this special weapon, your Digimon won't be able to survive!" Daemon's voice boomed above our heads. I groaned loudly as I fought to regain control of my body. I wasn't winning, because the sword rose upward toward Sora's throat!
"Sora, get out of the way!" Garudamon warned. I silently agreed with her.
"Please Sora, if you ever loved me once in your life, grab the sword by the hilt and kill me right now!"
Kari tackled me from behind at that moment and knocked the sword out of my hand. Sora grasped it and aimed it at my heart. I pulled Kari over my head and shoved her roughly to the ground.
"Do it! DO IT! Go ahead and finish me off right here!" I growled angrily. I pulled out my Digivice and its restorative powers caused WarGreymon to deDigivolve back to Agumon. The good news was, he was back to normal; the bad news, I wasn't.
"You know what must be done, for the good of the Digital World, the safety of the Real World, DigiDestined of Love. Kill him now before his evil spreads and takes over, just like someone should've killed the Digimon Emperor!" Sora shook with pain and sadness as the sword quivered in her hand. Matt came up beside her with Biyomon and Gabumon.
"It may be the only way to free him." Matt noted. Sora cried out and tossed the sword to the ground.
"NO! I can't kill Tai! There must be another way to get him back other than killing him."
Agumon agreed with her. "Sora's right. There's another force at work other than Daemon. Tai's being controlled by an evil more powerful than him! Even though Daemon gave him the Sword of Darkness, this other evil has almost total control over Tai's body."
"Then what do we do if we can't kill Tai?" Kari asked.
"We could try an exorcism. Didn't you guys have that as a movie in the Real World?" Gatomon questioned.
"That was in America! We might not have any other choice than to kill him." Matt insisted.
"Matt, think about this. If you were in Tai's position, what would he do?" Gabumon asked.
"He'd kill me in a heartbeat if it meant being with Sora, so I can't do any less!" Daemon laughed evilly as Matt grabbed the sword and thrust it forward.
"NO! DON'T DO IT, MATT!" Sora pleaded.
Agumon's eyes narrowed angrily and thanks to Azulongmon's power, he Warp-Digivolved!
"Agumon Warp-Digivolve to…WARGREYMON!!!"
"Don't even think about hurting Tai! Mega Claw!!" WarGreymon's claws collided with the Sword of Darkness and Matt was forced back a few feet.
"Matt, what were you thinking?" Biyomon yelled angrily as Matt suddenly groaned and dropped the Sword.
"I…I don't know. When I had the Sword, I had this unmistakable urge to just hurt Tai with it."
I got up off of the ground and, ignoring the pain I felt in my heart, grabbed the sword and ran off toward the ocean.
"Tai, wait!" WarGreymon flew after me, Sora, Biyomon and Kari keeping up as fast as they could. I struggled to not look back, knowing what I would see even if Sora weren't next to Matt.
"Don't follow me!" I demanded sadly, as I reached my destination-a rock face overlooking the Dark Ocean. I climbed it and reached the top.
"Tai, what are you doing?" WarGreymon asked as he touched ground and deDigivolved back to Agumon.
"I've got to do this. This way, I won't hurt anyone else. And, I especially won't hurt Sora…she'll be free to marry Matt with no complications from me."
"Tai, this isn't you talking! It's the being inside you that's controlling you. Remember what happened with Oikawa? What if you end up doing what he did-changing into data to save the Digital World? How would Sora feel about that?" Agumon asked.
"She'd feel some pain, but it would pass when she's swept up into Matt's arms." I bitterly replied.
"But this isn't how things are supposed to go! This isn't mentioned in the prophecy at-" Agumon stopped talking and covered his mouth up, but I'd already heard him.
"What prophecy? Agumon, is there something you're not telling me?" I demanded.
"Let's find a way to the Digital World. Then, you can talk to Gennai and he'll explain everything." I shook my head.
"You're not going to tell me about this prophecy?" I asked sadly. My partner shook his head.
"Then talking to Gennai would be a futile gesture." I finally took notice that a sheath was at my side, dark as the skies were around me. So, I put the sword in the sheath and jumped off just as Sora, Kari, Davis, Matt and the other DigiDestined came running in!
"Tai! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Sora and Kari both dived toward me, but it was way too late!
"It can't be…" Davis dropped to his knees in shock and disbelief.
Agumon stood there, a complacent look on his face.
"He's not gone…I can feel it." Matt felt like shaking him right then and there, but he knew Agumon was, in a way, telling the truth.
"What do you mean?" Veemon asked.
"Whenever we defeated a Digimon in the old days, it would delete and reconfigure itself into data. Gennai informed us that if one of the DigiDestined died in the heat of battle, their partner would be automatically deleted and reconfigured into data. The question is, would that Digimon be reborn at Primary Village?" Agumon explained.
"Why would Tai want to kill himself?" Gatomon asked.
"He was hesitating a bit, but I think I might've convinced him to do it when I accidentally let it slip out about the prophecy…"
At that instant, Biyomon, Gatomon, Gabumon, Tentomon, Palmon, Patamon and Gomamon's faces all shot upward and glared at Agumon; Veemon, Wormmon, Hawkmon and Armadillomon had confused looks on their faces.
"Prophecy? What prophecy?" Matt asked.
"How could you let it slip out about the prophecy?! You're supposed to be Tai's friend and not telling him about it could've signed his death warrant!" Biyomon yelled angrily as she continuously pecked on Agumon's head.
"OW! Tai wasn't supposed to-OW!-know about it until-OW!-after it happened! OW! And neither are-OW!-the rest, which includes-OW!-Sora! CUT IT OUT!" Agumon demanded angrily as he finally pushed Biyomon off his head and headed down the cliff.
"Where are you going, Agumon?" T.K. asked.
"To find Tai! At least someone on the team still cares about him!" Agumon snapped as he glared at Sora one final time before vanishing out of sight entirely.
"He's right! We've got to find him. He still has the Sword, so we should be careful." Sora cautioned as she started to climb down. Matt stopped her.
"We can't. It's almost night, and we should get some sleep. We can come back tomorrow and start searching." Kari pushed Matt out of her way and attempted to climb down.
"You wouldn't be saying that if Sora was the one down there, would you?! Sometimes I wonder why you got the Crest of Friendship in the first place!" Matt and Kari both glared at each other, fire blazing from their eyes.
"Just like your brother, always rushing into things without a plan…excuse me-former brother!"
That's when Kari snapped. She dived towards Matt and started pummeling the living daylights out of him!
"IF TAI CAN WIPE THE FLOOR WITH YOU, THAT MEANS I CAN, TOO! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT A KAMIYA CAN DO!" Kari growled as the two of them traded punches and blows. It took Gatomon, Gabumon, basically all of the Digimon, Davis, Ken, Yolei and T.K. together to finally separate the two.
"Stop it, Kari! This isn't going to get Tai back. And as much as I'd hate to admit it, Blond Boy's right. There's something here that's causing you guys to act crazy and we should all get back to the Real World now before you act any crazier." Gatomon cautioned.
With reluctance, Sora and Kari walked with the others to the spot that had the faintest hint of light.
"Portal of Darkness, open!" Ken yelled out. Once again, another portal opened up above their heads and they were safely pulled into it. All of the DigiDestined-especially Sora-couldn't help but feel that they were all leaving me behind for good…