Izzy: So…you finally decided to keep writing?

Me: Yeah, I guess I had enough time for me, so I think it's time to continue this story…

TK: I just don't know if that's good or bad…

CHAPTER 10

Master of the Sky

Hikari Kamiya looked with horror at the scene, which seemed like one from a science fiction movie. People running away in panic, as the giant creatures attacked the mall. They may not be so big, but they had the same effect on the people as if they were 100 ft higher. "Why?" she wondered. "Why are they doing this? Do they have any reasons at all?" Those were her questions, pretty good ones, in fact. Her brother, Taichi, and her friends, Davis and Sora, had the same expression in their faces. The same expression she had. An awkward mixture of anger, fear and confusion, and the disappointment of being unable to do anything. Maybe they could fight, but there was nothing their Digimon could do against two megas.

"There's only one thing we can do…" Sora shouted, as it was the only way to be heard in the middle of the sea of scared people.

"Yes. We must help evacuate the zone as quick as possible!" Tai agreed.

"But…what are we gonna do with them!? It doesn't matter if we evacuate the people, as soon as they finish with this area, they'll just go to another." Davis shouted.

"We cannot do anything, and you know that. Helping people is the priority now." Tai said, trying to calm down his friend. Suddenly, a noise caught their attention.

"The police are coming." Kari announced, even if that was obvious for all of them.

"Yeah, as if they could do anything…" Sora said, worried. But then, another figure gave her a small glimpse of hope. "Look! That's Izzy's car!"

She was right. Maybe it wasn't the best car ever, maybe it was nothing but a piece of junk, but somehow they felt relieved with the sight. Finally, the car stopped in front of them, and two people came out from it. Well, two people, a staff, and a laptop. Kari, Tai, Sora and Davis smiled at them, and waved hello, but the newcomers were too busy watching the catastrophic scene. Izzy couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing, and his Digimon Analyzer stated the obvious.

"WarGreymon…and MetalGarurumon…" Izzy said.

"Holy crap…" Takeru said, as he watched the destruction the two Digimon had already done. The other four Digi-Destined walked next to them, with the same worried expression on their faces.

"How long have they been here?" Izzy asked.

"Dunno. They were here when we arrived." Tai answered.

"Are there any people left in the building?" Izzy asked again.

"I hope not." Sora said.

The teens remained silent for a couple of minutes, just interrupted by the screams of the people, the continuous shouting of the policemen, and their futile attempts to approach the area. Suddenly, a big shadow covered the sun, and a third figure entered the scene.

"Look at that!" Davis shouted, and the other admitted it was a unique sight. A giant bird, with golden feathers and covered with flames, shining with a warm, bright light. When the bird landed, the two other Digimon stopped destroying buildings.

"And that's…" Takeru said.

"Phoenixmon." Izzy finished the sentence. "Biyomon's mega…"

"What!?" Tai and Sora shouted at the same time. Then, they noticed that Kari was looking at Takeru with great interest. Following Takeru's line of sight, they saw a young boy, who had been flying on the giant bird Digimon. A brunette, with dark hair and eyes as dark as a bottomless pit.

"Ka…Kazuo!?" Davis shouted.

"What!?" Kari said.

"Do you…do you know him, Kari?" Tai asked. Kari just nodded slowly.

"Yes…he sits next to me at school…"

The four Digi-Destined looked at TK, who had walked a few steps forward. He seemed very upset, and he was going to speak.

"You've gone too far, Kazuo!" The boy jumped off the giant bird, and walked in front of Takeru, whose expression hadn't changed at all.

"Oh, come on, Takeru! This is nothing compared with what I plan to do once you're gone."

"What do you think you're doing!? All this…senseless destruction…why!?" Davis shouted behind the two enemies. Immediately, Kazuo's smile disappeared. Now, he seemed angry.

"Shut up, you…mortal! How do you dare interrupt me, you insect!?" he shouted.

"Who are you calling insect!? I'll show you…!!!" Davis shouted as he charged forward, in an attempt to knock Kazuo out.

"Davis, stop!" TK said, and an invisible force sent the goggled boy back to his friends, who caught him in mid-air. Takeru looked at his opponent again. His smiled had returned. "I'm sorry; Davis, but he would have killed you."

"Thank you very much, Takeru, but I could have gotten rid of him too, you know."

"You would have killed him…" Everyone gasped with the idea. Kari couldn't believe what she was seeing. She only had one question in her head.

"Who…who are you!?" she shouted. Kazuo grinned and then laughed.

"My friend Takeru here can answer that question better than me."

"What do you want?" Sora asked.

"I was about to make the same question, Kazuo." TK said.

"You're talking about the Digimon, right Takeru?" Kazuo said. "You know why they are here. This is a new step of your training!"

"Training?" Tai asked. Kazuo sighed.

"You mortals wouldn't understand, even if I explained it." He walked back a few steps, and he spoke again. "I'd really like to continue this conversation, but I guess you have things to do, Takeru." Then, he walked next to the Digimon, and spoke for the last time.

"WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, Phoenixmon…kill him." And he disappeared. Immediately, the three "Digimon" fixed their eyes on the young sorcerer, who was already aware of what they were thinking. TK looked at his friends, and gave them final instructions.

"Get out of here, as fast as you can! Evacuate every single person in a 900 ft radius…and let's pray…"

"Can you defeat them?" Izzy asked. Everybody was surprised, as he hadn't talked in this whole time.

"I don't know, Iz." He said. "But I have to."

Cody Hida was smiling as he put a bottle of ketchup in a basket. It wasn't the first time he went shopping alone, but it was the first time he was supposed to cook with the things he bought. He could cook anything he wanted. He put some random ingredients in the basket while he tried to choose a dish to prepare.

"Any ideas?" Armadillomon, who was next to him, asked.

"No. Any suggestions?"

"Nope. But I know that whatever you cook, it will be delicious."

"Thanks." He said, as he put the final ingredients he chose. He noticed he was on the other side of the supermarket, but he could see Yolei near the entrance. Someone seemed to be with her, and he found out who he was when two Digimon walked in front of him.

"Hello, Cody." Wormmon said, showing his manners. Armadillomon was already fooling around with Hawkmon.

"Hey, Wormmon. How are you?"

"Fine, thanks. Are you shopping?"

"Indeed. I guess Ken is with Yolei, right?" Wormmon sighed. "Yeah…" Cody could understand Wormmon. He was jealous. Ken wouldn't spend much time with him, now that he's Yolei's boyfriend. He picked up the little Digimon, and walked to the other Digi-Destined, who seemed to be staring at something. The TV. Cody looked at the screen, and he found out why they seemed so interested. The original broadcast had been interrupted, and a special news report was on air. He listened carefully to the reporter.

"This is a live transmission from North Odaiba, where a group of monsters, already identified as "Digimon" have been destroying everything for the last forty-five minutes. The zone has already been evacuated, and the policemen have already blocked any access to the area…"

Cody looked at the screen, and recognized two of the wild Digimon: WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. He had never seen the giant bird, which flied at high speed at an invisible objective. He could hear Yolei gasp when the bird hit something. Something very small compare with it, and then a big explosion followed.

"We don't know what's happening now, but they seem to be fighting against something…or someone. Unfortunately, we can't get any closer, to give you a better look of the situation. The police had made several attempts to control the wild creatures, with no results. This is…"

Cody ignored the words from the reporter, as he knew even more than them. He could understand what was happening. TK was fighting with the Digimon. No one else but TK.

"We must go." He said softly. "The others are probably there."

"But…but you heard them, Cody." Yolei said. "No one can enter."

"No human can." He said. "But they can't stop Digimon. Aquilamon can take us, while Ken can go with Stingmon." Yolei looked at her boyfriend, expecting some support, but Ken knew what had to be done.

"Cody is right. We must go." He said, as he walked outside of the store. Yolei, Cody, and the Digimon followed him.

"Alright…Hawkmon, are you ready?"

"Always." The small bird said.

"Hawkmon, digivolve to…Aquilamon!"

Everyone looked at the bird Digimon, and sweatdropped. He hadn't digivolved at all.

"Yolei…I can't digivolve…what's wrong?"

"I…I don't know…"

"The Digivice. It doesn't work." Ken answered.

"Well, that explains why the others hadn't called us yet…" Cody joked, but it wasn't time to joke. "So…everything's in your hands now, TK. Good luck…"

"TERRA FORCE!"

"METAL WOLF CLAW!"

The attacks pierced through Takeru's magic shield, and he fell on what used to be the mall. He had very few time to get up, as WarGreymon was already on his way to slash him.

"Warp magic!" TK shouted, to disappear in the right moment. He reappeared on the roof of a nearby building, and moved just in time to avoid Phoenixmon's peck. He had been avoiding their attacks for the last fifteen minutes, and he couldn't find the chance to attack. The three creatures moved really fast, and it wouldn't be long before one of their techniques hit him. He had to do something, and it had to be done now. He knew that his only chance was using a spell that could hit the three of them, because he didn't have the speed or the ability to deal with each one separately, without being crushed by the other two. But he had to deal with the disadvantage of mobility. He needed a flying spell, but he needed time to create it. And those Digimon weren't willing to give him a second. "I don't think this can get any worse." He thought, but, of course, he was wrong. At the same time he warped back to the street, five teenagers were running in his direction. Of course, they stopped when TK suddenly appeared in front of them. And he looked tired. Mad and tired.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he shouted, menacingly.

"…we just wanted to check how you were." Kari said softly.

"Well, I'm bad, and now that you're here, I'm getting worse! Now get out!"

This time, Tai shouted back. "Hey you! Don't shout to my sister! She's just trying to be nice!"

"Well, but being nice will get her killed! All of you will get killed! Now, OUT! And the one who had the wonderful idea of coming here, don't even think about it ever again!" TK shouted, as he had reached the limit. Then, he noticed the look of Kari. She was in complete panic.

"Takeru, look out!" she cried, as she pointed to WarGreymon, who was charging again with his claws. TK did the only thing he could do to protect his friends: he blocked each claw with his correspondent hand. The Digi-Destined watched in shock how the two of them, Digimon and sorcerer, struggled to make the other one lose balance. It was now a matter of strength, and TK knew he was on the losers' side. It didn't get any better when he saw MetalGarurumon preparing his special attack.

"METAL WOLF CLAW!"

Takeru realized he could take advantage of this situation, and used WarGreymon as a shield, which got completely destroyed after the blast from the flying wolf. Unfortunately, TK didn't notice MetalGarurumon's charge, and didn't move quickly enough.


"Aaaarrggghh!!!!" TK cried in pain when the giant wolf's razor wings made a deep cut on his right arm. Kari also cried when she saw the blood coming out of it. Sora tried looking to another place, just to meet with Tai's chest, and finally surrendered, leaving the young, tall boy completely confused, as the girl hugged him, crying out loud. Izzy's face didn't show any expression, but his heart was filled with sorrow. Takeru was lying on the street, unable to move his arm. He quickly got up, as he knew the fight was not over. He didn't have time to heal the wound, as Phoenixmon was already charging, with the idea of doing the exact same thing with its sharp beak. This time, TK move really fast, avoiding the giant bird, and summoning the power of ice to freeze his opponent.

"Arctic Mist!" he shouted, and a thick fog covered the flying Digimon, making it shiver, as it noticed that its wings were getting frozen.

"Yes!" TK shouted, as he smiled with the pleasure of feeling that triumph was near. And his plan would have worked if it weren't for MetalGarurumon, who took advantage of Takeru's moment of joy, and rammed him with its head. TK cried again, as he felt powerful shocks of pain running through his spinal column, and his mind filled with the fear of a possible breakdown. He looked at his friend, and noticed that the two girls were crying. Crying for him. Even Davis felt sorry for him, and Tai was trying to comfort Sora, hugging her. He looked at Kari for the last time, and then everything was darkness.

Cody, Yolei and Ken were running through the empty street, getting closer and closer to the battle zone. It had taken them ages to pass through the police without being noticed, and now they were ready to help their friends, even if their Digimon were unable to fight. Finally, after several minutes of restless search, they found them, and they gasped at the horrible sight. They couldn't see Sora's face, as it was buried in Tai's chest. Tai had his eyes closed, and softly caressed Sora's hair. Davis was in shock; he couldn't move any muscle. Izzy still had that complete lack of expression on his face, but his fists were so tight that if he used a little more strength, blood would gush out of them. Finally, they looked at Kari, and the man lying next to her. The three Digi-Destined walked next to her, and Ken was the first to talk.

"Is he…is he alive?"

"He's still breathing, but barely…" Kari answered. Cody looked farther, at the two flying Digimon. They had stopped for a moment, but the metal wolf seemed to have a plan, as he walked several steps forward, getting closer and closer to the Digi-Destined. Cody could see his breathing, clod as ice, and then he realized what the evil Digimon was about to do.

"Everybody get away from here!" he shouted, as he took Kari with him and ran away from the unconscious TK. Yolei and Ken followed him without questions, as those were answered when MetalGarurumon attacked with a missile shower aimed to the one lying on the street.

"NO!" Kari cried, but there was nothing left to do. When the smoke faded away, there was nothing but a big hole on the ground.

"No!!! Takeru!!!"

When TK opened his eyes, it took him quite a while to realize where he was. He just found out when he saw the Staff of Hope laying next to him. He remembered the last time he had seen it. He had left it on the building roof, when he warped back to the floor. So, he was back on the building, but why?

"So…this is where the Priori Warp took me…good…" he thought, while he tried to get up, but his back didn't help him. He ended up on his knees, his hands holding the staff. He looked at the scene below him. He noticed that Cody, Yolei and Ken had arrived, and they had joined the others in their lamentation. The two enemy creatures were 150 ft away from them, and he didn't know they were Digimon-like creatures, he would have said they were laughing. TK knew he had to take full advantage of this moment, and use a surprise attack. But what could he do? His body didn't answer his orders anymore, and he was too tired, he knew he only had one chance. He had to choose one spell. One spell which had to destroy the two Mega Digimon. He had a whole list of spells he would like to use, but he had to take into account his enemies' power and his own. He had to take advantage of their weaknesses, and the nature of the battlefield. He looked at the Digimon, who were getting ready to fly away.

"They are flying away…flying…metal…hehehe…of course…"

TK summoned the last of his energies to finally get up, and with all the courage and might he had, he lifted his Staff high over him, and cast the last spell he would use that day.

"RAGE OF ZEUS!"

The voice of a young man made the Digi-Destined look up, just to find the silhouette of Takeru Kirahashi, and his staff, whose emerald was shining with a beautiful, bright green light. But Izzy was more interested in the sky over them.

"Look!" he shouted. And the other finally shared his concern. Storm clouds were filling not only Odaiba, but the whole city of Tokyo, and the threat of a thunder storm was near.

"Oh my God!" Yolei said softly.

"We have to get out of here! This is gonna be BIG!" Tai said, as he ran away with Sora. The others immediately followed him, filled with concern. But Davis noticed the happiness on Kari's face.

"You're happy that he's alive, huh?" he asked. Kari nodded.

"I…I just can't believe it…" she said.

While the boys and girls were running away, the fake Digimon were quiet, staring at their not-so-dead enemy. TK was grinning, as he prepared his magic attack, so the Digimon did the same.

"METAL WOLF CLAW!"

"CRIMSON FLARE!"

But they were useless, as the electricity flowing in the air completely disabled their abilities. They were shocked, and they just waited for the unavoidable. And Takeru didn't make them wait too long.

"Attack, NOW!!!"

And the end arrived, in the form of the biggest thunder shower ever. Thousands and thousands of lightning fell from the sky, making the ground collapse for amazing destruction. Finally, the biggest one, and of course, the most damaging, fell on MetalGarurumon and Phoenixmon, with a gigashock that completely destroyed them. A couple of minutes later, everything was over, and the moon was shining up there in the early night sky, as if nothing had happened. When the Digi-Destined returned, the only thing they found was Takeru Kirahashi, unconscious. But there was one thought in his mind.

"Mina…help…me…"

When Takeru woke up (again), he had a pleasant surprise. He was lying on his bed, at Mina's house. How had he ended up there, he ignored it, but he was sure that the battle he had been through hadn't been a nightmare, because his whole body ached. Not as much as when he was in the battlefield, but yet still a lot. "Mina must have used some of her healing abilities. Thank God the guys didn't take me to a hospital." He looked at the time. 10:50 P.M. "Man, it's late." He calculated that the fight had finished at 7:30 or 8:00 P.M. He wanted to sleep, he needed to sleep, but first he wanted to eat something. So, he changed his clothes, which pretty dirty and messy from the fight, and walked to the dining room. When he got there, he had the second surprise.

"What…what are you doing here!?" Takeru shouted when he saw the Digi-Destined, lively talking with Mina in the living room. When the sorceress heard his voice, she immediately hugged him as tight as she could. The others couldn't believe that he could get up just three hours after the fight.

"Oh, TK! I was so worried! I thought you were a goner!"

"Me? For God's sake, Mina, I thought you knew me better that that!" Takeru said, and he laughed. Mina just hugged him tighter, and the others couldn't believe that he could joke about something so serious.

"Mina…"

"Yes, honey?"

"Two things. First, stop calling me ´honey´! We're cousins, for God's sake!; and second, stop hugging me! My back is killing me!" Immediately, the woman let him go, and the others just laughed. Takeru noticed that Joe was also with them, and waved hello. As soon as Kari noticed it, she talked.

"Joe offered to help you get better. He's studying medicine, you know?" Takeru smiled.

"But no human doctor could have healed me in three hours. This must be Mina's doing, right?" Mina nodded happily.

"Full-Cure Potion…Davalos' favorite…" she said, as walked to the kitchen, to prepare something for her guests. TK slowly walked to the couch, where Kari had offered him a place.

"Don't you think it's getting a little late?" he asked. "You should go back home…" This time, Tai answered.

"We're adults, Takeru. We can go home a little late. We just couldn't leave without knowing you were ok."

"Thanks…"

"Besides…" Sora continued. "You have a lot of questions to answer."

TK looked at Mina, who had returned to the living room with Cokes for everyone, and dinner for him. He thanked her, and waited for her words.

"I have answered most of their questions. They already know everything about Kazuo, and the fake Digimon, and little things about me. But I guess now they want to know who you are." TK looked at Mina, and then he looked at Izzy. "I just can't tell them the truth…I just can't…" he thought as he stood up.

"Well, what do you want to know? You have already seen who I am."

"But…it's just that I can't believe it!" Davis said. "I mean…you two are…"

"Sorcerers." Mina finished. "Yes, we have mastered the arts of magic. But, of course, TK is a lot better than me when it comes to fighting." She said with a wink. TK smiled at her, and she slightly blushed. "Anything else?" she asked.

"I…I don't understand why Kazuo is doing all this…he looked so nice…" Kari said softly.

"It's not that he wants to, Kari. He's possessed. I thought Mina had told everything about it." TK said.

"I tried to explain it, but it's tough to get the idea of an Ultimate Force of Evil." Mina said.

"If it's the return of evil, then we'll kick his butt with our Digimon!" Tai shouted. TK sighed.

"No, Tai, it's not that easy. You may be the Digi-Destined, but there's nothing you can do."

"Why!?" Ken asked.

"This isn't another incarnation of evil, as the ones you fought in your adventures, as you told me yesterday in the park. This is the original source of evil, which has taken a material form, to create more destruction. All those enemies you fought in the past are mere insects compared with the power of the real Evil. Besides, you have already noticed that your Digivices don't work when he attacks. He uses powerful sealing spells, which don't allow the power of light to grow."

Everyone nodded, even if it was tough to understand for some of them (´some of them´ means Tai and Davis).

"But if we can't defeat him, who will?" Joe asked desperately.

"TK will." Mina answered immediately.

"Mina, there's no way I can win with my actual powers. You saw the trouble I had with a bunch of fake Mega Digimon."

"But you're the Chosen One, TK. I trust in you. Every sorcerer in this world and the World of Darkness trusts in you." Mina said as she hold TK's right hand.

"Ok, ok, now I'm the one with the questions." Ken said. "Did you just say ´World of Darkness´?" Mina nodded.

"Yes, I did. That's where the Academy of Magic is."

"Academy of Magic!?" Izzy asked, his mind filled with curiosity.

"Yes, that's where the sorcerers and sorceresses are trained. The younger you are, the better you become, or so they say. I entered the academy at the age of 7, and finished at the age of 56." Mina said.

"Fifty-six!? Then, how old are you!?" Davis shouted.

"You don't really want to know, Davis." TK said smiling.

"And then…how old are you, Takeru?" Kari asked, with a little deception in her eyes.

"Oh, no, don't worry, Kari. I'm REALLY sixteen." He said, and this time he was laughing.

"How long did you study there?" Kari asked.

"Ten years." He answered quickly. He knew that if he said one year and four months, that would take them to the date of his "death".

"And he's better than me." Mina said, and then she sighed, as she picked up the empty Coke cans.

Ten minutes later, they all were ready to go. Izzy offered to take Cody, Yolei, Ken and Joe, while Tai was going to take Davis and Sora. They were waiting for Kari, who was sharing some last words with TK.

"Then…I'll see you tomorrow, Takeru." She said softly.

"Be careful. You don't want to arrive late to school. As soon as you get home, go to bed." He said, and Kari giggled.

"Ok, dad!" She said, but before she could say something else, TK had kissed her on her right cheek. When he looked at the car, Tai and Davis were looking at him with sharp eyes, while Sora was hitting them and saying something like: "Oh, come on! He just came out from a near-death experience!" TK looked at Kari again. She was blushing, and she was trying to say something, so he helped her.

"Good night, Kari."

"…Good night, Takeru." She said, and she walked to the car. TK entered the house and closed the door, just to find Mina, who was looking at him with Tai and Davis' sharp eyes.

"Don't tell me you're jealous, Mina." He said as he walked in front of her, and gave her a little peek on her cheek. When he looked at her, she was looking at him with a daring face. Before he could do something about it, she was kissing him. Her passion lasted for more than half minute, when she finally let him go, and TK could catch some air.

"I was really worried, Taki." She said softly, but TK was really mad.

"MINA! What did I say about kissing me!? How long will it take you to realize that I DON'T LOVE YOU!?"

"Oh, come on! Accept that you liked it. Tell me, how was it?"

"You tongue tastes like Coke." He said as he walked to his room, and put an end to another day of his unique life.

Alright! Done! Reviews will be gladly accepted, and if I have time, I may send you a message showing my gratitude! Any special comments to daneel_ff@hotmail.com. See ya!