Me: I don't own Digimon, yadda, yadda, yadda! I also don't own "Here We Go" off the aforementioned Digimon soundtrack.
Tai: Aren't you getting tired of these disclaimers?
Me: What would you rather have me say-I don't own Digimon and get right to the story?!
Tai: YES!
Me: Well, you're not me, so HA!
Digimon
Skirting the Edge
Chap. V-The Daggers of Love
Ken Ichijouji, Wormmon, Biyomon and Sora Takenouchi-Ishida returned to the old Elementary School one last time and, as Ken had stated, found Gennai waiting for them, still as young as he was during their World Tour.
"Gennai? I can't believe you're still alive after all this time!"
Sora smiled as Gennai embraced her gently. "Neither can I. On some mornings, it takes me a few moments to stretch my arms and then I remember-my arms don't need stretching! Now, to business. I'm sure Ken's told you about the whole thing with Tai, right?"
The young woman simply nodded and maintained her composure.
"Unfortunately, we can't track Tai for one reason-he no longer has his Digivice, but an old friend thought that would be a good reason for him not to have it; this way, he can't force him to Digivolve." Biyomon's head popped up at that instant.
"Huh? You mean…?"
"SURPRISE!" A familiar orange dinosaur appeared from behind the computer screen, holding a Digivice around his neck.
"Agumon!" Biyomon and Wormmon both hugged their old friend tightly and Agumon hugged them right back.
"I certainly feel the love in this room!" Agumon joked as they released him from the hug.
"Very funny!" Biyomon snapped cynically. "Now, what happened to you after you left us?"
"This may take a while, so does anyone have some lemon pie?" Agumon asked calmly.
"You don't have time for explanations or lemon pie! The three of you must go to the World of Darkness and save Tai from himself. To do that, you must destroy the Sword of Darkness." Gennai insisted.
"But with what? We don't have any weapons to counteract against that Sword!" Ken objected. Gennai nodded in response.
"I had planned to give you these weapons during your World Tour, but something came up that prevented that from occurring. I suppose now is as good a time as any to hand them out. Sora, these are for you." Sora gasped in shock as Gennai handed her a pair of Japanese sai daggers!
"What are these for, Gennai?"
"Those are your sai daggers-the Daggers of Love. Like the Sword of Darkness, they emit a beacon of pure energy and allow you to destroy any weapon or enemy with evil around it-or inside. They also help guide you to your true love when you'll need to realize it most."
Sora smiled broadly as she accepted the Daggers without complaint.
"Thank you, Gennai! But, what's that under the…oh."
Under the sheet that the Daggers had been on was a Sword that looked similar to the Sword of Darkness, but it had the Crest of Courage as a hilt. Sora picked it up and it glowed a faint red-orange like color.
"That is the Sword of Courage. Whoever wields that Sword has the power to defeat a Mega Digimon in one swipe! With the exception of your Daggers Sora, it's the only weapon that can actually survive in a battle against the Sword of Darkness. The question is, which Sword is the more powerful-the Sword of Courage or the Sword of Darkness?"
Ken chose that moment to speak up. "Gennai, why is it glowing?"
"That reason is simple enough. Have you told them about the prophecy yet?" Gennai asked directly to Biyomon and Agumon.
The two Digimon objected. "No! Of course not!"
"Good! There'll be time for that later. Since Tai's not here to harness the Sword's power, we need Daisuke. Where is he?" Gennai noted.
"Davis? The last time I saw him, he and Veemon were at the soccer field with his son." Sora explained.
Ken stood up. "Wormmon and I will go get them and bring them here. Wherever you find Tai at, his Digivice should respond and we'll be able to track you down."
Sora nodded. "Okay. You guys ready?" Biyomon and Agumon nodded.
"Then let's get going!"
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh…
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ohooooo…
Seconds later, Sora, Agumon and Biyomon found themselves at the cliff face where Tai had attempted to kill himself at years ago.
"Figures! Our last trip back and we land on this cliff! Why couldn't we have landed on the beach or somewhere cool?" Agumon complained impatiently. Neither Biyomon nor Sora responded to his question-Sora was visibly shaking, struggling to hide her tears and Biyomon was attempting to console her.
"This was where Tai tried t-to kill himself, isn't it?" Sora stuttered out. Agumon sweatdropped and eyed his friends with a worried look.
"No! Not at all. That cliff's somewhere else, on the other side of the beach. Let's get going. I've got a reading somewhere in the distance." Agumon then started forward, knowing that he'd lied to Sora, but also to try to avoid an onslaught of tears.
Near their location, a lone figure stepped out from behind some rocks, still carrying the Sword of Darkness in his hand.
"They're here…"
"Let me get this straight: Tai's alive in the World of Darkness somewhere? Sora went after him armed with nothing but a pair of sai daggers? And I'm not supposed to worry?"
Yamato "Matt" Ishida kept his anger in check, but barely as he eyed Gennai through his Dterminal at the NASA launch site.
"That's right. There's no need for you to worry about a thing-except the consequences of what may happen if she continues on her current path." At that comment, Matt was confused.
"'Her current path?' I don't understand. What do you mean?"
Gennai simply answered his question with another. "Do you remember what happened on that Christmas with a box of cookies and a certain concert?" A second later, he disappeared, leaving Matt alone in his solitude.
"Well Matt, what's wrong? Are we needed back home?" Gabumon asked.
"I think we are. Which means we don't have much time. Aren't T.K. and Kari visiting Mimi and Izzy in New York today?"
"Possibly. Although, I wouldn't know too much about it. The last time I saw Patamon was about a month ago, and he didn't mention travel plans to me."
"We've got to take that chance. Let's go!"
In enters Daisuke "Davis" Motomiya, followed by Miyako "Yolei" Inoue-Motomiya, Veemon and Hawkmon on Ken, Wormmon and Gennai.
"You're…lucky Jun was…willing to…look after the…kids today, Ken! What's up?" Davis gasped out.
Ken responded by pulling back the sheet, which revealed the Sword of Courage. Davis and Yolei stood in awe of its beauty.
"Technically, it belongs to Tai. But since he's not here, the honor is bestowed upon you, Daisuke, to join Sora in the World of Darkness and battle Tai to a standstill." Gennai explained.
Not only was Davis amazed as he picked up the Sword-and it started glowing that same color it had glowed earlier-he was worried; he knew how much power the Sword of Darkness held. What if the same was true for the Sword of Courage?
Gennai noticed his discomfort and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. This weapon and the Daggers of Love are the only ones that can withstand the powers of the Sword of Darkness. We've got a situation. Someone's opened an unauthorized gate into the Dark Ocean!"
"Who?" Yolei asked.
"Matt and T.K., but only Matt's gone through it along with Gabumon." Davis groaned.
"Then we gotta stop 'em-both Tai and Matt! Tai doesn't know what he's doing; Matt on the other hand is probably hell-bent on killing him!" Davis warned angrily.
"How do we get there Gennai?" Veemon asked.
"Use Ken's D3 to activate a portal and you'll be transported right there. Good luck."
Davis nodded and stood back as Ken prepared to activate another portal.
"Portal of Darkness, open!" he demanded. Once the portal opened up, Davis and Veemon went straight through, not knowing that Yolei had grabbed Hawkmon and jumped in right after them!
"The fair Sora Takenouchi…you haven't aged a bit."
Sora, Agumon and Biyomon turned to see Taichi "Tai" Kamiya facing them on top of another rock cliff, the Sword of Darkness gripped tightly in his hand.
"Taichi…?"
Sora was awestruck by how Tai looked, even if he was being controlled by evil. His bushy hair was gone, replaced by a crew cut. He still sported the blue coat with the paw prints on it and the headband, though.
"You look gorgeous…"
Agumon impatiently cleared his throat and that snapped Sora out of her trance.
"What are you doing?! You married Matt and after seeing Tai for five seconds, you're drooling all over him like a piece of steak? We're supposed to help him!"
"Oh, r-right! Tai, you need help. I want to make up for what I did." Tai glared at her with malice and contempt in his chocolate eyes, usually warm and caring but now with a coldness around them.
"You can't! You shattered my heart to pieces years ago and now you must pay the price of betrayal!" Tai rose the Sword upward to the skies and it gleamed brightly in the dim lighting.
"Tai, I didn't betray you! You told me to go to him when you could've told me to stop!"
"Am I supposed to be in the wrong here? All I wanted was for you to be happy and you spurned me! You stopped being my best friend and didn't even try to come after me! You left me here to rot in this world with Agumon as my only companion." Tears flowed freely from Tai's eyes with no intention of stopping.
"Tai, we could've tried to get back to the Real World by ourselves and found her. Then you could've told her then how you felt." Agumon advised.
"Don't think you won't get what's coming to you too, old friend! You stole my Digivice and tried to get out of here without me! Obviously, you succeeded." Tai turned away from his partner and back to Sora, the Sword quivering in his hand.
"I thought I could wait for you. For ten long years, I waited for you to come back, but you never did. Why? Too cozy in Matt's loving arms for you to even give a damn about me?"
Sora shivered with pain and sadness as she revealed the Daggers by her waist. "Tai, if you try something, I will have to stop you." Tai smirked, knowing that she'd had help from Gennai.
"You don't understand Sora: I want you to stop me!" That said, Tai leaped off of the rock with the Sword pointed straight at Sora's chest; Sora pulled out her Daggers and prepared to defend herself. Agumon and Biyomon waited patiently on the sidelines if they were needed to help…