AN: Wow! Uploading fics is a lot more complicated than I remembered! How
long have I been gone?! Anyway, without further adieu…read on!
Disclaimer: …You're joking, right?
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Chapter 10
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The Shadoramon had more than just the ability to blend in with shadows. Their most powerful attack was Dark Oblivion, which sent a wave of shadows crashing around their target. The shadows enveloped every sense, closing the affected Digimon off from the world. The only way to get the darkness out of their system was to bleed it out of a wound.
The Shadoramon were more than happy to help in that matter.
T.K. watched as though from a distance as Birdramon and Greymon, hit with the same blast, crashed to the floor in what looked like mute howls of pain. Five Shadoramon darted forward to slash at the far bigger Digimon. Instead of blood, the two bled darkness until finally they could see again. Slowly they struggled to their feet.
A testament to the combined strength of the Chosen Digimon was that they were still winning.
"Electro Shocker!"
The war cries mingled like thunder in the tight, large hall as the battle swarmed around them.
"Needle Spray!"
"Nova Blast!"
"Meteor Wing!"
"Howling Blaster!"
"Harpoon Torpedo!"
A soft, whispering undercurrent of these attacks was the ever present, many voiced, "Dark Oblivion."
Even so, the battle quickly turned to favor the few over the multitude.
A Shadoramon's Dark Oblivion could handle a maximum of two Digimon before it got too diluted to do any good.
A Harpoon Torpedo could take down ten Shadoramon before it ran out of room and crashed into a wall.
Overhead, Angemon and Angewomon were feeling the wear of the challenge they had taken to light the room. They were running out of energy.
But not before the fight was finished.
This battle was theirs.
Mimi, realizing this, let out the breath she had been holding and sighed, her posture relaxing slightly, her eyes still trained on Togemon.
The war her Digimon fought no longer frightened her. There was no logical way they could loose now.
Suddenly the Shadoramon froze. They had gone totally rigid. Confused, Kari looked to her brother to find him staring back. He shrugged, showing he had no idea what was going on.
Light filled the room.
Angemon and Angewomon, confused, let their power go and drifted slowly to the ground. They quickly located their Destined before trading bewildered looks.
What in the world was going on?
One of the Shadoramon, trembling madly and curling in on itself slightly, screamed shrilly for no apparent reason.
The other remaining Shadoramon, anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five total, joined their voices to the noise. It rose in pitch until the Digidestined were forced to cover their ears. Even the other Digimon winced.
With a sudden explosion of power, the Shadoramon were reduced to nothing but Digital code.
"What," Sora stammered, "what?"
"A sample," came an emotionless voice, "of what dying from fear is like."
Slowly, filled with a dull dread, the Digidestined, scattered throughout the room but standing as one, turned to face Loyarimon. She was standing framed between two gargantuan doors and looked as calm and cold as she had when they first met. "Do not bother yourself with why I destroyed them. Suffice to say they were unnecessary."
Tai took a deep breath. "All right, Loyarimon," he began with more courage than he knew he could muster at that moment, "let's get this over with. What, exactly, do you want?"
"What my master has demanded of me."
"What's that? To protect this gate and destroy us?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Well, that was easy. "So, uh…" He glanced around. Delaying this battle would only mean buying more time. While normally that would be a good thing, this Key had his team seriously spooked. With too much time on their hands, they might do something they had never done before.
They might let their fear take over.
They would never run! Doing something like that would be an automatic victory for Loyarimon, and with her having one over them they would probably never be able to face her again. It was now or never. Everyone had to die eventually.
Right? "We're not going to loose," Tai insisted, hands clenched into fists, taking a small, determined step forward. "We might not look like it, but we've won every fight we've ever faced! You're not going to be able to destroy us. We won't let you!"
"This is not a matter of what you will and will not let happen, Taichi."
Tai bit off the first fearful comment that sprang to his lips. How the hell did you know my name? Instead he forced himself to smile cockily. "It is if we say so."
"Believe what you wish."
Greymon readied himself for battle at a small motion from Tai.
"What are you doing?" the boy demanded as Loyarimon held her hands out.
"Destroying you from the inside out."
Two balls of silver coated nightmare shot from her hands.
The first hit the soft flesh of an unguarded stomach.
Surprised, the Digidestined uttered a soft sound of pain as she dropped to the ground.
Numb denial tore at Tai. "Hikari!" he cried as he caught her. "No…no! My little sister didn't do anything to you! You were supposed to attack me, damn it!"
"Potty mouth," Kari gasped, hitting his cheek lightly. "I'll tell Mom." Suddenly she gasped and thrashed in his grip, biting off a scream.
"Isn't this your fear?" Loyarimon demanded coldly. "Having to watch your sister fight terror itself for her life. Having to watch her die a slow, painful death. Isn't this your greatest fear?"
Tai, gently rocking his baby sister in his arms as she sweated and trembled, looked up as the second terror ball hit its target.
Or, rather, hit the person who had thrown themselves between the power and its target.
"Not again!" T.K. wailed, catching Matt as his knees buckled and they both sunk to the floor. "Why…why are you always…!"
His older brother smiled once before gasping and screwing his eyes shut. No! He could feel her twisted power seeping through his body, weakening old wounds and poisoning his lungs. Soon it would all come back; soon his head would ache and scream and deny the existence of everything except pain; soon it would be hard to breath…
"Tai!" Kari screamed on the other side of the room. "Tai don't die! No!"
"Shh," the older brother murmured, trembling himself with the infectiousness of her fear. "It's all right, Kari. I'm here. I'm not dying. You're got to calm down, Kari. Your heart's pounding so fast…please, Kari, please. I'm not the one that's gonna die and I have never let you do anything first, so you'd better get control of yourself or I'll do something stupid and rash that would make you yell at me! Fight this thing, Kari! Fight!"
"Oh, God!" she moaned, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. "I can't do anything! Everyone…everyone's fighting and I can't even get up! Tai! Mom told you to protect me…but she told me to protect you, too! I can't get up and she's…she's…to you…leave him alone! Damn you, leave him alone!" She was sobbing and screaming and cursing her mental enemy.
"Get a grip!" Tai yelled, panicked, shaking her gently as he fought his own tears. "You can beat this! Come on, Kari!"
"Tai!"
T.K., holding his brother close, felt the fever assert itself. He felt as well as heard Matt's breathing grow labored and raspy. "Joe!" the little boy cried, pulling his brother even closer. "Joe! Do something!"
The other Digidestined, still lightly spread throughout the room, were shocked into motion as first Angewomon then Garurumon reversed back to Gatomon and Gabumon. Gabumon, connected to Matt in a way more basic than any other, moaned slightly before collapsing onto the hard floor. Soon Tsunomon was surrounded by the other Digimon as he gasped out Matt's name.
Joe, on the other side of the room, turned and dashed back down into the dungeon where his medical supplies had been left. Mimi swept after him.
Sora went to Tai's side and began talking both to him and Kari, alternately trying to make him calm down and yelling at her to be strong and fight.
Izzy, looking torn, finally settled his gaze on Loyarimon.
A small, sickening smile turned up the corners of her mouth as she watched the chaos she had caused.
"What did you do?" he whispered hoarsely. "What did you do to them?"
"My Fear," she returned in a murmur, her eyes half-lidded in enjoyment, "is killing you all. Those two are facing two different fears. Hers is mental; she lives in a nightmare of her own creation. His is physical; I gave to him the one thing he fears most: illness, severe and excruciating. At their pain, two more face their darkest fears. Their brothers, who know they are loosing the most important members of their families. Your leader has fought his entire life to protect his sister. Now he is failing. The boy has fought his entire life to know and love his older brother. He has fought a long battle to save that which has been taken from him too many times to count. Now he has lost that battle. His brother will die, and death is permanent. Those two sets of siblings are so close to each other. Brothers, sisters, best friends. They have always had faith everyone would make it out together. Now you will." Her cruel smile grew. "You will all leave in death."
Izzy turned on his heel to dash over to Kari. "Don't let her win," he hissed, fists clenched. "Don't you dare let her win. Do you hear me, T.K.? Matt? Don't you dare let her win! You can fight this! Fight her! We've never, ever lost before! We're a team! We can't be defeated by anyone, ever! Now defend that title! Beat her!"
Kari shrieked and thrashed in her brother's arms.
Lying in T.K.'s arms, Matt gasped, his back arching slightly and his eyes flying open as all his muscles contracted violently once. He fell limply back against his terrified brother, eyes hazed with fever. "T…K…" he gasped. "T.K.?"
"I'm here," the brother returned, shifting his hold slightly. "I'm here, Matt. You're gonna fight it, right? You're not going to give up. You're Yamato Ishida, you can't give up. You have a reputation, remember? A reputation that says you've never given up on anything in all your life. Right? Right?"
Matt only smiled faintly and concentrated on gasping in ragged breath after ragged breath. What T.K. didn't remember was that he'd already lost this particular battle before. It wasn't just the illness that had been brought back to life. It all felt the same- exactly the same- as it had before Sakura realized he was being poisoned. He was broken and infected and…and dying. Oh, God, that was a terrifying thought. Dying. His heart thundered.
I don't want to die!
"You're not gonna die!" T.K. sounded slightly more than hysterical. "Don't say anything about death! No one's going to die! As soon as we beat Loyarimon, we have just one more Gate before we win! Then we can go home. You're going to take me riding, remember? On your horses. You promised!"
Matt could feel blood slowly making breathing almost impossible. His energy was going so quickly. Someone had brought Tsunomon to him. The little Digimon looked…almost happy. So tired, but happy. Excited in an exhausted way.
Wherever we're going…we're going together. Right, Matt? This is our next adventure. Right?
Matt smiled gently and T.K. wiped the blood that had dripped from the corner of his mouth. Even in all this darkness, if he really concentrated, he could see…just a little bit of T.K. Just a little bit of his little brother's light. Just a little bit of hope. Slowly it got bigger until he couldn't see anything but the hope, anything but T.K.'s light.
"T.K…"
The little boy leaned forward. "What is it, Matt? I'm right here. What is it?"
"You're not…going to like this…but…"
"But what, Matt?"
Those beautiful, familiar eyes turned on him blindly, and T.K. bit back a sob. "I can't see…where we are anymore, T.K., but…I can still see you."
"W-what do you mean?" T.K. choked.
"I was…so scared. It's 'cause…everything was dark. There wasn't a trace of you, T.K. Not a bit of light. Now…now it's everywhere! I'm so warm…"
"Don't you dare be warm! If you die, I'll never…never…"
"I'm not afraid anymore, T.K. I'm not afraid. I've avoided this a long, long time. At least…I didn't want t-to die without you. That's one reason I didn't let myself stay dead back home. I didn't want to die without being able to see you and tell you how much I missed you. I had to let you know that I was never mad, not with you, and that I'll always, always love you."
"I don't want you to!" T.K. sobbed, large tears rolling down his cheeks to splash on his older brother's ashen face. "I'll go away, I'll leave you here all by yourself. I'll do anything, just don't die! Please, Matt! Don't die! I don't want to be here by myself anymore! I don't want to be an only child. I refuse to! Damn it, Matt, why did you get in the way? I wouldn't have died! My fear was…was…" T.K. was hushed by realization. Matt had to jump in the way. He had to. Because Matt sacrificing himself for T.K. and leaving the boy by himself had been his worst fear. "No," he whispered. "It's my fault. It's…it's all…oh, God, no. What have I done?"
"Don't be afraid." Matt's voice. T.K. looked down. His older brother looked very content, his head resting against T.K.'s chest. Breaths came in quick, shallow gasps. "Don't be afraid. I'm not. It's a weird feeling, being weak like this. But…you're with me, T.K. I was always strong because you knew I could be, because I had you with me. I loved having you for a little brother. I loved every moment of it. I'm going to keep being your big brother. I'll always be there for you. I'll become your new guardian angel, even if I have to petition to God Himself. Have faith. Don't ever stop believing we'll be together. I'll watch you live a nice long life…and I'll be there when you die an old man. Then you can come with me and we…we'll be brothers forever. No matter what."
"Do you promise?" T.K. sobbed quietly. "Do you promise? You'd better be my guardian angel, or I'll know why! Do you promise?"
"I…promise."
"Promise forever, Matt?"
A tiny smile curved his lips. "Forever…and ever…little brother. Forever…"
Even as Tai held Kari and begged her with Sora to be strong, even as Izzy knelt by T.K., numb to the bone with the very idea of what was happening, even as Joe and Mimi finally came flying back up the stairs, Matt's slow breath was the only sound in the room.
Joe and Mimi slowly stopped running and they watched T.K. hold Matt; Tai and Sora stopped yelling at Kari and turned where they knelt to watch Matt's grip on T.K.'s hand slowly slacken; Kari grew silent and listened to Matt's breathing.
It filled the room as Loyarimon smiled darkly and quietly gathered another blast.
The silence that followed the gentle sigh deafened them.
It was replaced by the cry of T.K.'s soul as he clutched his brother's empty body.
"No! Matt! NO! Oh, God, no! It's not fair. It's not fair!"
When Loyarimon's blast of Fear smashed into T.K., his empty eyes didn't even flicker.
His greatest fear was already happening.
Tears dripped onto his brother's gently smiling face.
He was gone.
Died, dead, gone forever.
He was alone.
It was a terrifying thought.
Don't be afraid. I'm not.
Izzy saw something flicker in T.K.'s sorrow filled eyes.
I'm not afraid. You're with me.
Matt…T.K.'s grieving mind was recalling Matt's final, fearless words.
Have faith. Don't ever stop believing we'll be together.
Faith…
I'm not afraid, T.K.
Don't be afraid…
We'll be brothers forever. No matter what.
A tiny smile lightened T.K.'s dark expression. "No matter what…" Power flared as Loyarimon's Fear lost its grip on the Chosen Child of Hope. Slowly he rested his brother's body on the floor and stood.
His back was to Loyarimon.
She took advantage of this to throw another ball of Fear at him. It hit a white barrier before it could get to him and disintegrated. Her eyes widened. "How did you…" She glared angrily. "Who are you?"
"Your antithesis," he responded, gazing lovingly but sadly at his brother's still form.
"What?"
"Your antithesis, Loyarimon." Slowly he turned, and she stared at the sign glowing dimly beneath his shirt. The symbol stilled only to blossom in a brilliant display of power on his forehead. "I am Hope." Even though he was facing her, tears of sorrow still slid down his cheeks.
Tai tore his eyes away from T.K. to study Kari's face, which was still twisted in fear. "Kari…" He sighed and propped her into a sitting position. Reality was refusing to set in for him, but…maybe he could make what was happening clear to his sister. "Matt's dead, Kari. It's…he died. Loyarimon used his and T.K.'s greatest fears to kill him. I thought T.K. was going to die too, but he didn't. It looks like he's faced his fear, sister. Can you let him stand by himself? He could take her down like he is, probably, but that won't do anyone any good. He'd die, too. I don't know what your fear is. It's probably something like dying or having someone you love die and not being able to do anything, and that is a scary thing. It frightens even me, but it's something we've got to get over. Matt didn't die afraid. We all heard him. He and Tsunomon both. They weren't afraid. His faith in T.K. brought T.K.'s hope back. He's using that hope to fight Loyarimon's Fear. Someone's got to help him. It's not me. I know it's not. Don't ask me how, I just do. So get up and go help him, Light. If someone who has lost his only brother can face Fear as Hope, someone who has seen Fear can face that Fear as Light. Till the very end, Matt preserved the faith that we can still win this. His brother is making sure we will. I'm not going to give that up and you can't either. You must face your fears and nurture that faith. We're going to win this. For Matt, we must win! Wake up, Light!"
Her eyes flashed open. A symbol burned on her chest. As she stood, that symbol darkened only to glow fiercely from her forehead once she faced Loyarimon. Light walked calmly to join Hope.
Loyarimon, grinning savagely, collected another ball of Fear to send to one of the other unprotected and dumbfounded Digidestined, too numb with shock to defend themselves. Matt was dead.
Light reached out and touched the Fear before it could be thrown. "This has no power now," she said frankly, and it exploded.
Loyarimon stared first at her empty hand, then at Hope and Light. "I can still kill you," she boasted.
"Death has nothing to do with this battle. You have already proven that."
She turned a glare on Hope. "What do you mean?"
"You have killed my brother. He is dead, yet we still rise to fight you."
"Your fear has no power," Light continued, "because we have already seen the worst you can do, and, while it is bad, it is not it is not quite bad enough to make us give in to it."
"You cannot make us abandon our faith in our cause."
"Faith," she gasped. "Faith does not exist!"
"It must."
"It doesn't!"
"If it did not," Light countered, "you would not."
She stared at them.
"You have forgotten what you were," Hope continued, "but we know. We have, in the depths of our minds, always known."
"Shut up," she whispered in a hushed voice. "Shut up."
"You were Loyarimon, Basic Digimon of Faith. You created and were created by the faith of others, the faith that everything will turn out right, the faith that those who are just will always succeed, the faith that, when this sad, sad world has done with us, we may all reunite once more."
"The faith that there is always another chance," the Digimon murmured. Her face was dark with despair. "There is no faith for me. I have made my choice. There is no second chance."
"There is always," Hope insisted nobly, "a second chance."
"There is always," Light added, "faith. You will always have faith. Otherwise you would have killed us long before we reached your castle. You believed in us. You had faith we would save you. You loved what you were."
"Yes," she whispered, looking down, "yes."
"You would do anything to be what you were."
"Yes."
"Then come." The two spoke in perfect harmony, each holding one hand out.
Hesitantly she took them. Once they had her hands, Hope and Light closed the circuit by clasping hands with each other. Power filled the room.
"Who am I? Tell me, I must know! I am not afraid anymore. Tell me who I am!"
Two voices blended as one. "You are Loyarimon, Basic Digimon of Faith."
"Faith? What is that?"
"Faith is that power which allows us to face our darkest fears."
"For even in fear, there is always a glow of faith."
Their voices, even when they spoke individually, radiated a joined power more awesome than Loyarimon had ever felt. "Who are you?" she asked in a whisper. "What are you?"
"I am Hope."
"I am Light."
"Hope? Light? What are those?"
"Hope is the Faith of eternity."
"Light is the Faith of power."
The two voices wove together again to demand of her, "Use your power of the ages once more."
A third voice cried joyously, "I will!"
Power exploded from where the three stood.
As the other Digidestined picked themselves up off the floor, Kari introduced the new Digimon solemnly. "This is the Basic Digimon of Faith, Loyarimon."
There were murmured greetings.
Her hair had melted from black to an almost glowing gold, as had her eyes. Her clothes had turned several different shades of gold and silver.
She looked very sad as she watched T.K. kneel by his still brother. He had no tears left to cry. The look of despair as he lifted Matt into a sorrowful hug was indescribable. Slowly Loyarimon walked over to the duo and knelt by T.K., touching Matt's golden hair gently with one hand. She smiled softly at the shattered Hope. "Have faith," she murmured, and cupped her hands together. A gold liquid gathered in her hands. She leaned forward to hold her hands over Matt and let the liquid slide between her delicate fingers into Matt's half open mouth.
Slowly the gold drained down his throat.
Slowly it infiltrated every fiber of his being to give him a golden aura.
Slowly the aura filtered back into him.
Very, very suddenly, Matt took a deep breath as his eyes flashed open and his back arched slightly.
T.K.'s sorrow ridden eyes widened as the older blond gasped and clutched at his little brother's shirt. "M-Matt!" he cried as Matt fought to cough and pant and breathe. The younger boy turned wondering eyes on the Basic Digimon of Faith, who held a groggy-looking Tsunomon in her arms, dripping more of the gold down his throat.
"It's an embodiment of all the faith in the room," she explained, speaking of the liquid Tsunomon was drinking. "All the faith he had, all the faith they have, all the faith you have and…all the faith I have. I know you can beat my last sister! Meloremon and Anamnemon are coming here later so we can get ready to help you in any way we can when it comes time to fight him. Well, actually." She set a very befuddled and confused Gabumon on the ground and folded her hands in her lap. "My sisters and I will be plotting what they can do. This is my limit for a while." She was looking a little transparent. Literally.
"Are…are you gonna…?" Izzy didn't seem able to finish the thought, but she got the point.
She smiled. "No, I'm not dying. It takes a lot of power to maintain a physical form, and I don't have much power anymore. I got a lot when I became Faith again, but…" She used a hand to indicate first Matt then Gabumon. "I had to set things right somehow."
T.K., moved beyond words as he hugged his fatigued brother against his chest, only smiled. More tears slipped down his cheeks and he rubbed them away impatiently.
Loyarimon looked sad again suddenly. "I…I…" Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Tai, who had come over with the others, carrying Kari in a basket hold as she dozed lightly. "You're the leader, right?"
He looked mutely at the others…those who were conscious, anyway. They nodded emphatically and he shrugged, setting Kari down lightly on the floor as she slipped from dozing to sleeping. "I guess."
"Well, um…then you might like to know the extent of what I've done to your teammate here. See, the Fear…he was afraid of getting so sick here he'd…die. That was the totality of his greatest fear. So…that's what I did. I…I gave him that awful disease again and reopened all his old wounds and…it's horrible. Anyway, that's why he died."
"Maybe, but you brought him back," Mimi defended, still looking slightly swamped by what had just happened.
Loyarimon winced. "Yes. I brought him back and fixed up his insides, but…"
"He's still sick, isn't he?" That was Joe. He was kneeling by Matt, the back of one hand rested lightly against the blond's forehead. "He's still very sick."
"Not as sick as he was, but sick all the same, yes." Loyarimon looked thoroughly miserable. "I'm so sorry. He's not sick enough to die again, but…it'll make the cause so much harder to fulfill! My sister…she will take advantage of this. Believe me, she will."
"Then he won't fight." Everyone turned to Tai, who looked only slightly concerned with this new turn of events. Everything was so overwhelming all ready. "Joe told me a while ago that Matt was getting worse everyday. Don't let this shock you too much, but I'm actually semi- prepared for this. Matt was never going to face the final Key. He was never going to lay eyes on her Gate. Joe, Mimi and I planned on leaving him at camp with a guard of a few of our Champion Digimon. If anything attacked, Garurumon and whoever decided to stay back could either defend him or, if worse came to worse, grab him and run. He couldn't fight them all. So, yes, him being this sick is a little bit of an…inconvenience, but it's something we can deal with, something we can work with, something we can live with. This whole thing would have been over if he had died. No way we could have picked ourselves up after something like that. He's our friend, the best and truest we could ever ask for, even if he is a little weird. So don't think about it like you've done some great bad thing. What happened to him happened to him because of the bad guy, not you. You just helped fix the damage."
Loyarimon smiled through her tears. "Thank you, Tai, but how can you be so sure your plan will work?"
He winked. "I have total faith in this misfit group of teens, that's how. By the way, that reminds me." He frowned slightly. "How do you know my name? You called me Taichi. The most you could have heard anyone say is Tai. So how'd you know?"
She giggled slightly into her hand. "You've watched too many spy movies," she responded slyly. "A total stranger knowing your full name…was one of your fears."
Tai blushed as the others laughed. Looking around for a distraction, his eyes rested on Kari, who was sleeping with one arm draped over T.K.'s leg, who was sleeping with a death grip on his brother's jacket. Matt was sleeping, too, though his slumber was slightly more fitful as beads of sweat rolled down his face. Joe was talking softly to Mimi, showing her a thermometer he had just taken from Matt's mouth. They both looked slightly concerned. Mimi rummaged through Joe's bag and pulled out three bottles. Each could be used to combat fevers, but only one had no drowsy side effects. She opened the bottle and shifted the pills inside around to take a count. She frowned at the number. Tai sighed. It had been a hard battle and now, with this last complication, it would be even harder.
"So," he heard Izzy begin resolutely, "you wouldn't happen to have any coverlets in your possession, would you?"
"Blankets," Sora sighed, following Izzy, Tentomon, Biyomon and Loyarimon from the room. "He means blankets."
They stayed at Loyarimon's castle for a week before Joe declared Matt ready to travel. During that time everyone devoted their time to preparing for the coming battle.
The next Basic Digimon was Piatymon, Lady of Pain.
Somehow this information did not cheer the Digidestined or their Digimon.
Silence had been a challenge.
Oblivion had been a fight for sanity.
Fear had killed one of them.
Now they had to face Pain?
Oh, goodie.
As Izzy set himself to learning every small detail of Piatymon he possibly could, Joe and Mimi rummaged through Loyarimon's castle looking for more supplies for their dwindling medical case. To their definition, they had more than one psychotic team member on their hands, and if they were going to face Pain, they were going to be prepared. Once her castle had been drained, they send the other Basic Digimon to their castles in search of more.
T.K. devoted his efforts to making Matt as comfortable as was humanly possible as he slowly regained some of his health.
Tai took what information Izzy gave him and began brainstorming. Only one of the Digidestined had the first clue what Tai was plotting. The brown haired leader was sitting on the floor by Matt's bed, handing a pad of paper with a rough battle sketch on it up to the sick blond, who looked a little tired but totally focused, when T.K. entered the room with another bowl of soup in hand.
He stared at them.
They stared back.
Finally Matt took the pad of paper and picked up a pencil, greeting his brother with a casual, "Hey T.K."
T.K. stared at Tai, who grinned conspiratorially back. Something was up. "What are you doing here?" the younger blond asked, coming fully in the room and closing the door behind him. (Joe was practically foaming at the mouth about castles and drafts.)
Tai shrugged, still grinning, and stood only to lean against the wall. "Making the invalid work."
T.K. sputtered. "Y-you're what?"
Another grin. "We'll all be fighting Piatymon while little Mattie here sleeps." Little Mattie made a rude noise and continued doodling alterations to the plan Tai had given him. "I thought I'd let him help a little."
"But he's sick! He needs rest, not work! Just let him sleep!"
"He can't sleep all the time and he can't get out of bed. Why not let him work his mind?"
"Are you kidding? This disease killed him twice. Isn't that reason enough to not make him work anything?"
Tai and Matt both frowned.
"T.K.," Matt began but Tai cut him off.
"Matt's not a baby. I understand that you're worried- everyone's worried- but he's sixteen. If he's tired, he'll sleep. If he's not, why shouldn't he work on something? It'll keep him from going stir crazy."
"Plus," Matt added coolly, handing the paper back to Tai, who looked at it and arched an eyebrow, "it was part of the deal."
"This is a little… fierce, don't you think?"
"Your point?"
Tai rolled his eyes. "Of course you'd think that, you won't be there."
"What do you mean?" T.K. demanded, giving the soup to his brother and ignoring the wince he got in return. (Matt was so sick of soup by now he could scream.) "What deal?"
"The deal," Matt responded, scooping up a bite of soup and letting it drip off the end of the spoon back into the bowl.
"What deal?"
Matt opened his mouth, smirking, but Tai cut him off again, still studying the plan. "Our deal. We made a deal. Matt gets to help with planning the battle but he doesn't get to join in. As long as he knows every detail of what's supposed to be happening, he's agreed to stay behind. Far, far behind."
T.K.'s mouth sagged open. Matt had agreed to that?
Tai caught T.K.'s look and grinned. "He's dumb, but he's not that dumb."
Matt, looking hugely aggravated, thwacked Tai in the face with a pillow. "Don't be a jerk," he said coolly, though his face displayed total irritation.
Tai tossed the pillow back, narrowly avoiding the soup, which Matt scrambled to protect. "You're lucky you're so sick," he smirked.
"Or else?" Matt challenged, smirking in return.
"Or else I'd kick your butt."
"You wish. Prove it when I'm better."
"You've been sick for years. Like I'm going to exploit that."
"You're just chicken."
Tai laughed. "Me? Scared of you? Now who's wishing?"
"Pompous looser. You'd better watch out."
"Why? I could beat you any day of the week."
"If you make me laugh at you," Matt warned, fighting a smile, "T.K. is going to become your worst nightmare."
Tai raised his hands in a sign of defeat, grinning, the pad of paper still held in one hand. "On that terrifying note, I think I'll leave now. Little baby's looking tired." Matt threw another pillow at him, which he caught and handed to T.K. "I feel sorry for you," he said seriously, though his eyes positively shone with mirth. "A patient like that must be a real pain in the a-"
This time the pillow caught Tai on the back of the head, making him stagger forward a step.
Tai tossed the pillow back, smacking Matt lightly in the face. "As I was saying, a patient like that must be a real …hand full."
"It's better than the alternative," T.K. insisted vehemently. "I'm glad Loyarimon gave him back."
Tai smiled as he left the room. "Me too, T.K. Me too. Try to keep that idiot in line, will ya? I'll be back later to discuss these…rather violent plans. Catch ya later!"
As her brother plotted and planned with Matt, Kari busied herself with making sure everyone remembered they were humans that needed food and rest. When a battle crossed the line between challenge and personal war, Digidestined tended to forget there were things beyond total victory. Killing Matt had turned this cause into a personal war.
Sora wandered the castle, doing this and that as she waited restlessly for the journey to begin again. Logically, this next test would be at least partially hers to master. Matt had helped Meloremon; Mimi, Joe and Izzy had helped Anamnemon; T.K. and Kari had helped Loyarimon. That left Piatymon to her and Tai. Pain. She and Tai would be facing…pain. In the dark recesses of her heart, Sora was worried.
Though she would never tell Tai that.
The Digimon themselves generally stuck with their Digidestined, running small errands whenever they could and helping out enthusiastically. Gabumon was not susceptible to the illness that had afflicted Matt. He therefore spent his time either standing watch over his Destined's room, eating, sleeping, or feeding Matt what little energy he could spare. If Gabumon had anything to say about it, the Chosen Child of Friendship would be healed in no time flat.
After the week passed with little incident, a large problem faced the Chosen Children and their Digimon.
They now had an invalid. A deeply unhappy and determinedly cooperative invalid, but an invalid nonetheless. He flat-out refused to be left at the castle. His little brother flat-out refused to let him walk.
So how would he get from place to place?
"Hmm…I have an idea," Izzy proclaimed. He called Tentomon over and had a brief conversation with him. Eventually the two nodded and separated. "T.K., can you get me Matt's Digivice?"
Matt snatched it off the bed next to him and tossed it to Izzy, muttering, "I can get my own bloody Digivice. I'm not totally helpless."
Izzy blinked once and turned his attention to the device. Once more he and Tentomon held a hushed conversation.
Just as Tai was about to comment about wasted daylight, and shouldn't they get going soon, Izzy's Digivice screamed and Tentomon Digivolved to Kabuterimon. At least, he started to. The power gathered around him but refocused in another direction. Tentomon held Matt's Digivice in his claws, and he directed the power circling him into the other Digivice, forcing Gabumon to Digivolve suddenly into Garurumon.
"Matt can ride Garurumon," Izzy explained easily, holding out his hand as Tentomon passed Matt's Digivice back to him. He tossed it back to its surprised owner, who was staring at Garurumon with a very confused expression. Garurumon himself seemed hardly able to understand what was going on.
"What'd you do?" Joe asked finally, arching an eyebrow.
Izzy shrugged, grinning. "It's just a little trick I've been computing for a while. I've always wanted to see if it would work. I've been breaking down the Digivolving process as much as possible since the first time I saw it all those years ago. I discovered it had three basic transformations of energy. First, our energy flows through the Digivices, forming it into a more basic Digital Energy. That energy radiates from our Digivices to surround the Digimon, where it becomes fuel more than energy. The fuel is what allows our Digimon to retain their status as Champion Digimon. Matt's too ill to be able to do the first step. He doesn't have enough spare energy for it to be converted into Digital Energy. I would suggest having someone else hold his Digivice and feed it power, but our Digivices would not accept anyone else's power save the one for which it was created. Step one is an individual process and therefore cannot be filled in by anyone else. Steps two and three, however, are much more…generic. Once enough Digital Energy is available, all that's left is to form it. So I tried feeding the basic Digital Energy from Tentomon's Digivolution to Matt's Digivice, so only step three was left: forming the energy to fuel. Apparently it worked."
"So." Sora hesitated. "So who's keeping Garurumon as Garurumon?"
"I am. My energy is bypassing my Digivice to flow through Tentomon and back into Matt's Digivice as Digital Energy."
"That seems like a lot of wasted energy," Matt protested. "Tentomon probably won't be able to Digivolve if you're supporting Garurumon, either. What are you going to do if we get attacked?"
Izzy shrugged. "I'll either keep Tentomon with me and let Garurumon fight or, more likely, I'll stop the energy flow and redirect it back to Tentomon, who could then Digivolve easily."
"That's a great idea, Izzy," Tai complimented, smiling.
"He shouldn't have to sacrifice his energy and protection for me, Tai."
The leader shrugged. "It's better than having to carry you. We can all take turns powering Garurumon. Unless you've decided to stay here."
Matt's sour look was answer enough.
"All right then." Tai rubbed his hands together. "Mount up, Matt! Let's get going!"
AN: Well, there you go. Hopefully it won't take me a year to post more. ^_^;; I *PLAN* to be a very busy writer this summer. But we'll see what happens. Remember: Write a review; inspire an author. REVIEW PLEASE!!!
Aloha and pineapples!
-Angel Baby
Disclaimer: …You're joking, right?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 10
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Shadoramon had more than just the ability to blend in with shadows. Their most powerful attack was Dark Oblivion, which sent a wave of shadows crashing around their target. The shadows enveloped every sense, closing the affected Digimon off from the world. The only way to get the darkness out of their system was to bleed it out of a wound.
The Shadoramon were more than happy to help in that matter.
T.K. watched as though from a distance as Birdramon and Greymon, hit with the same blast, crashed to the floor in what looked like mute howls of pain. Five Shadoramon darted forward to slash at the far bigger Digimon. Instead of blood, the two bled darkness until finally they could see again. Slowly they struggled to their feet.
A testament to the combined strength of the Chosen Digimon was that they were still winning.
"Electro Shocker!"
The war cries mingled like thunder in the tight, large hall as the battle swarmed around them.
"Needle Spray!"
"Nova Blast!"
"Meteor Wing!"
"Howling Blaster!"
"Harpoon Torpedo!"
A soft, whispering undercurrent of these attacks was the ever present, many voiced, "Dark Oblivion."
Even so, the battle quickly turned to favor the few over the multitude.
A Shadoramon's Dark Oblivion could handle a maximum of two Digimon before it got too diluted to do any good.
A Harpoon Torpedo could take down ten Shadoramon before it ran out of room and crashed into a wall.
Overhead, Angemon and Angewomon were feeling the wear of the challenge they had taken to light the room. They were running out of energy.
But not before the fight was finished.
This battle was theirs.
Mimi, realizing this, let out the breath she had been holding and sighed, her posture relaxing slightly, her eyes still trained on Togemon.
The war her Digimon fought no longer frightened her. There was no logical way they could loose now.
Suddenly the Shadoramon froze. They had gone totally rigid. Confused, Kari looked to her brother to find him staring back. He shrugged, showing he had no idea what was going on.
Light filled the room.
Angemon and Angewomon, confused, let their power go and drifted slowly to the ground. They quickly located their Destined before trading bewildered looks.
What in the world was going on?
One of the Shadoramon, trembling madly and curling in on itself slightly, screamed shrilly for no apparent reason.
The other remaining Shadoramon, anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five total, joined their voices to the noise. It rose in pitch until the Digidestined were forced to cover their ears. Even the other Digimon winced.
With a sudden explosion of power, the Shadoramon were reduced to nothing but Digital code.
"What," Sora stammered, "what?"
"A sample," came an emotionless voice, "of what dying from fear is like."
Slowly, filled with a dull dread, the Digidestined, scattered throughout the room but standing as one, turned to face Loyarimon. She was standing framed between two gargantuan doors and looked as calm and cold as she had when they first met. "Do not bother yourself with why I destroyed them. Suffice to say they were unnecessary."
Tai took a deep breath. "All right, Loyarimon," he began with more courage than he knew he could muster at that moment, "let's get this over with. What, exactly, do you want?"
"What my master has demanded of me."
"What's that? To protect this gate and destroy us?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Well, that was easy. "So, uh…" He glanced around. Delaying this battle would only mean buying more time. While normally that would be a good thing, this Key had his team seriously spooked. With too much time on their hands, they might do something they had never done before.
They might let their fear take over.
They would never run! Doing something like that would be an automatic victory for Loyarimon, and with her having one over them they would probably never be able to face her again. It was now or never. Everyone had to die eventually.
Right? "We're not going to loose," Tai insisted, hands clenched into fists, taking a small, determined step forward. "We might not look like it, but we've won every fight we've ever faced! You're not going to be able to destroy us. We won't let you!"
"This is not a matter of what you will and will not let happen, Taichi."
Tai bit off the first fearful comment that sprang to his lips. How the hell did you know my name? Instead he forced himself to smile cockily. "It is if we say so."
"Believe what you wish."
Greymon readied himself for battle at a small motion from Tai.
"What are you doing?" the boy demanded as Loyarimon held her hands out.
"Destroying you from the inside out."
Two balls of silver coated nightmare shot from her hands.
The first hit the soft flesh of an unguarded stomach.
Surprised, the Digidestined uttered a soft sound of pain as she dropped to the ground.
Numb denial tore at Tai. "Hikari!" he cried as he caught her. "No…no! My little sister didn't do anything to you! You were supposed to attack me, damn it!"
"Potty mouth," Kari gasped, hitting his cheek lightly. "I'll tell Mom." Suddenly she gasped and thrashed in his grip, biting off a scream.
"Isn't this your fear?" Loyarimon demanded coldly. "Having to watch your sister fight terror itself for her life. Having to watch her die a slow, painful death. Isn't this your greatest fear?"
Tai, gently rocking his baby sister in his arms as she sweated and trembled, looked up as the second terror ball hit its target.
Or, rather, hit the person who had thrown themselves between the power and its target.
"Not again!" T.K. wailed, catching Matt as his knees buckled and they both sunk to the floor. "Why…why are you always…!"
His older brother smiled once before gasping and screwing his eyes shut. No! He could feel her twisted power seeping through his body, weakening old wounds and poisoning his lungs. Soon it would all come back; soon his head would ache and scream and deny the existence of everything except pain; soon it would be hard to breath…
"Tai!" Kari screamed on the other side of the room. "Tai don't die! No!"
"Shh," the older brother murmured, trembling himself with the infectiousness of her fear. "It's all right, Kari. I'm here. I'm not dying. You're got to calm down, Kari. Your heart's pounding so fast…please, Kari, please. I'm not the one that's gonna die and I have never let you do anything first, so you'd better get control of yourself or I'll do something stupid and rash that would make you yell at me! Fight this thing, Kari! Fight!"
"Oh, God!" she moaned, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. "I can't do anything! Everyone…everyone's fighting and I can't even get up! Tai! Mom told you to protect me…but she told me to protect you, too! I can't get up and she's…she's…to you…leave him alone! Damn you, leave him alone!" She was sobbing and screaming and cursing her mental enemy.
"Get a grip!" Tai yelled, panicked, shaking her gently as he fought his own tears. "You can beat this! Come on, Kari!"
"Tai!"
T.K., holding his brother close, felt the fever assert itself. He felt as well as heard Matt's breathing grow labored and raspy. "Joe!" the little boy cried, pulling his brother even closer. "Joe! Do something!"
The other Digidestined, still lightly spread throughout the room, were shocked into motion as first Angewomon then Garurumon reversed back to Gatomon and Gabumon. Gabumon, connected to Matt in a way more basic than any other, moaned slightly before collapsing onto the hard floor. Soon Tsunomon was surrounded by the other Digimon as he gasped out Matt's name.
Joe, on the other side of the room, turned and dashed back down into the dungeon where his medical supplies had been left. Mimi swept after him.
Sora went to Tai's side and began talking both to him and Kari, alternately trying to make him calm down and yelling at her to be strong and fight.
Izzy, looking torn, finally settled his gaze on Loyarimon.
A small, sickening smile turned up the corners of her mouth as she watched the chaos she had caused.
"What did you do?" he whispered hoarsely. "What did you do to them?"
"My Fear," she returned in a murmur, her eyes half-lidded in enjoyment, "is killing you all. Those two are facing two different fears. Hers is mental; she lives in a nightmare of her own creation. His is physical; I gave to him the one thing he fears most: illness, severe and excruciating. At their pain, two more face their darkest fears. Their brothers, who know they are loosing the most important members of their families. Your leader has fought his entire life to protect his sister. Now he is failing. The boy has fought his entire life to know and love his older brother. He has fought a long battle to save that which has been taken from him too many times to count. Now he has lost that battle. His brother will die, and death is permanent. Those two sets of siblings are so close to each other. Brothers, sisters, best friends. They have always had faith everyone would make it out together. Now you will." Her cruel smile grew. "You will all leave in death."
Izzy turned on his heel to dash over to Kari. "Don't let her win," he hissed, fists clenched. "Don't you dare let her win. Do you hear me, T.K.? Matt? Don't you dare let her win! You can fight this! Fight her! We've never, ever lost before! We're a team! We can't be defeated by anyone, ever! Now defend that title! Beat her!"
Kari shrieked and thrashed in her brother's arms.
Lying in T.K.'s arms, Matt gasped, his back arching slightly and his eyes flying open as all his muscles contracted violently once. He fell limply back against his terrified brother, eyes hazed with fever. "T…K…" he gasped. "T.K.?"
"I'm here," the brother returned, shifting his hold slightly. "I'm here, Matt. You're gonna fight it, right? You're not going to give up. You're Yamato Ishida, you can't give up. You have a reputation, remember? A reputation that says you've never given up on anything in all your life. Right? Right?"
Matt only smiled faintly and concentrated on gasping in ragged breath after ragged breath. What T.K. didn't remember was that he'd already lost this particular battle before. It wasn't just the illness that had been brought back to life. It all felt the same- exactly the same- as it had before Sakura realized he was being poisoned. He was broken and infected and…and dying. Oh, God, that was a terrifying thought. Dying. His heart thundered.
I don't want to die!
"You're not gonna die!" T.K. sounded slightly more than hysterical. "Don't say anything about death! No one's going to die! As soon as we beat Loyarimon, we have just one more Gate before we win! Then we can go home. You're going to take me riding, remember? On your horses. You promised!"
Matt could feel blood slowly making breathing almost impossible. His energy was going so quickly. Someone had brought Tsunomon to him. The little Digimon looked…almost happy. So tired, but happy. Excited in an exhausted way.
Wherever we're going…we're going together. Right, Matt? This is our next adventure. Right?
Matt smiled gently and T.K. wiped the blood that had dripped from the corner of his mouth. Even in all this darkness, if he really concentrated, he could see…just a little bit of T.K. Just a little bit of his little brother's light. Just a little bit of hope. Slowly it got bigger until he couldn't see anything but the hope, anything but T.K.'s light.
"T.K…"
The little boy leaned forward. "What is it, Matt? I'm right here. What is it?"
"You're not…going to like this…but…"
"But what, Matt?"
Those beautiful, familiar eyes turned on him blindly, and T.K. bit back a sob. "I can't see…where we are anymore, T.K., but…I can still see you."
"W-what do you mean?" T.K. choked.
"I was…so scared. It's 'cause…everything was dark. There wasn't a trace of you, T.K. Not a bit of light. Now…now it's everywhere! I'm so warm…"
"Don't you dare be warm! If you die, I'll never…never…"
"I'm not afraid anymore, T.K. I'm not afraid. I've avoided this a long, long time. At least…I didn't want t-to die without you. That's one reason I didn't let myself stay dead back home. I didn't want to die without being able to see you and tell you how much I missed you. I had to let you know that I was never mad, not with you, and that I'll always, always love you."
"I don't want you to!" T.K. sobbed, large tears rolling down his cheeks to splash on his older brother's ashen face. "I'll go away, I'll leave you here all by yourself. I'll do anything, just don't die! Please, Matt! Don't die! I don't want to be here by myself anymore! I don't want to be an only child. I refuse to! Damn it, Matt, why did you get in the way? I wouldn't have died! My fear was…was…" T.K. was hushed by realization. Matt had to jump in the way. He had to. Because Matt sacrificing himself for T.K. and leaving the boy by himself had been his worst fear. "No," he whispered. "It's my fault. It's…it's all…oh, God, no. What have I done?"
"Don't be afraid." Matt's voice. T.K. looked down. His older brother looked very content, his head resting against T.K.'s chest. Breaths came in quick, shallow gasps. "Don't be afraid. I'm not. It's a weird feeling, being weak like this. But…you're with me, T.K. I was always strong because you knew I could be, because I had you with me. I loved having you for a little brother. I loved every moment of it. I'm going to keep being your big brother. I'll always be there for you. I'll become your new guardian angel, even if I have to petition to God Himself. Have faith. Don't ever stop believing we'll be together. I'll watch you live a nice long life…and I'll be there when you die an old man. Then you can come with me and we…we'll be brothers forever. No matter what."
"Do you promise?" T.K. sobbed quietly. "Do you promise? You'd better be my guardian angel, or I'll know why! Do you promise?"
"I…promise."
"Promise forever, Matt?"
A tiny smile curved his lips. "Forever…and ever…little brother. Forever…"
Even as Tai held Kari and begged her with Sora to be strong, even as Izzy knelt by T.K., numb to the bone with the very idea of what was happening, even as Joe and Mimi finally came flying back up the stairs, Matt's slow breath was the only sound in the room.
Joe and Mimi slowly stopped running and they watched T.K. hold Matt; Tai and Sora stopped yelling at Kari and turned where they knelt to watch Matt's grip on T.K.'s hand slowly slacken; Kari grew silent and listened to Matt's breathing.
It filled the room as Loyarimon smiled darkly and quietly gathered another blast.
The silence that followed the gentle sigh deafened them.
It was replaced by the cry of T.K.'s soul as he clutched his brother's empty body.
"No! Matt! NO! Oh, God, no! It's not fair. It's not fair!"
When Loyarimon's blast of Fear smashed into T.K., his empty eyes didn't even flicker.
His greatest fear was already happening.
Tears dripped onto his brother's gently smiling face.
He was gone.
Died, dead, gone forever.
He was alone.
It was a terrifying thought.
Don't be afraid. I'm not.
Izzy saw something flicker in T.K.'s sorrow filled eyes.
I'm not afraid. You're with me.
Matt…T.K.'s grieving mind was recalling Matt's final, fearless words.
Have faith. Don't ever stop believing we'll be together.
Faith…
I'm not afraid, T.K.
Don't be afraid…
We'll be brothers forever. No matter what.
A tiny smile lightened T.K.'s dark expression. "No matter what…" Power flared as Loyarimon's Fear lost its grip on the Chosen Child of Hope. Slowly he rested his brother's body on the floor and stood.
His back was to Loyarimon.
She took advantage of this to throw another ball of Fear at him. It hit a white barrier before it could get to him and disintegrated. Her eyes widened. "How did you…" She glared angrily. "Who are you?"
"Your antithesis," he responded, gazing lovingly but sadly at his brother's still form.
"What?"
"Your antithesis, Loyarimon." Slowly he turned, and she stared at the sign glowing dimly beneath his shirt. The symbol stilled only to blossom in a brilliant display of power on his forehead. "I am Hope." Even though he was facing her, tears of sorrow still slid down his cheeks.
Tai tore his eyes away from T.K. to study Kari's face, which was still twisted in fear. "Kari…" He sighed and propped her into a sitting position. Reality was refusing to set in for him, but…maybe he could make what was happening clear to his sister. "Matt's dead, Kari. It's…he died. Loyarimon used his and T.K.'s greatest fears to kill him. I thought T.K. was going to die too, but he didn't. It looks like he's faced his fear, sister. Can you let him stand by himself? He could take her down like he is, probably, but that won't do anyone any good. He'd die, too. I don't know what your fear is. It's probably something like dying or having someone you love die and not being able to do anything, and that is a scary thing. It frightens even me, but it's something we've got to get over. Matt didn't die afraid. We all heard him. He and Tsunomon both. They weren't afraid. His faith in T.K. brought T.K.'s hope back. He's using that hope to fight Loyarimon's Fear. Someone's got to help him. It's not me. I know it's not. Don't ask me how, I just do. So get up and go help him, Light. If someone who has lost his only brother can face Fear as Hope, someone who has seen Fear can face that Fear as Light. Till the very end, Matt preserved the faith that we can still win this. His brother is making sure we will. I'm not going to give that up and you can't either. You must face your fears and nurture that faith. We're going to win this. For Matt, we must win! Wake up, Light!"
Her eyes flashed open. A symbol burned on her chest. As she stood, that symbol darkened only to glow fiercely from her forehead once she faced Loyarimon. Light walked calmly to join Hope.
Loyarimon, grinning savagely, collected another ball of Fear to send to one of the other unprotected and dumbfounded Digidestined, too numb with shock to defend themselves. Matt was dead.
Light reached out and touched the Fear before it could be thrown. "This has no power now," she said frankly, and it exploded.
Loyarimon stared first at her empty hand, then at Hope and Light. "I can still kill you," she boasted.
"Death has nothing to do with this battle. You have already proven that."
She turned a glare on Hope. "What do you mean?"
"You have killed my brother. He is dead, yet we still rise to fight you."
"Your fear has no power," Light continued, "because we have already seen the worst you can do, and, while it is bad, it is not it is not quite bad enough to make us give in to it."
"You cannot make us abandon our faith in our cause."
"Faith," she gasped. "Faith does not exist!"
"It must."
"It doesn't!"
"If it did not," Light countered, "you would not."
She stared at them.
"You have forgotten what you were," Hope continued, "but we know. We have, in the depths of our minds, always known."
"Shut up," she whispered in a hushed voice. "Shut up."
"You were Loyarimon, Basic Digimon of Faith. You created and were created by the faith of others, the faith that everything will turn out right, the faith that those who are just will always succeed, the faith that, when this sad, sad world has done with us, we may all reunite once more."
"The faith that there is always another chance," the Digimon murmured. Her face was dark with despair. "There is no faith for me. I have made my choice. There is no second chance."
"There is always," Hope insisted nobly, "a second chance."
"There is always," Light added, "faith. You will always have faith. Otherwise you would have killed us long before we reached your castle. You believed in us. You had faith we would save you. You loved what you were."
"Yes," she whispered, looking down, "yes."
"You would do anything to be what you were."
"Yes."
"Then come." The two spoke in perfect harmony, each holding one hand out.
Hesitantly she took them. Once they had her hands, Hope and Light closed the circuit by clasping hands with each other. Power filled the room.
"Who am I? Tell me, I must know! I am not afraid anymore. Tell me who I am!"
Two voices blended as one. "You are Loyarimon, Basic Digimon of Faith."
"Faith? What is that?"
"Faith is that power which allows us to face our darkest fears."
"For even in fear, there is always a glow of faith."
Their voices, even when they spoke individually, radiated a joined power more awesome than Loyarimon had ever felt. "Who are you?" she asked in a whisper. "What are you?"
"I am Hope."
"I am Light."
"Hope? Light? What are those?"
"Hope is the Faith of eternity."
"Light is the Faith of power."
The two voices wove together again to demand of her, "Use your power of the ages once more."
A third voice cried joyously, "I will!"
Power exploded from where the three stood.
As the other Digidestined picked themselves up off the floor, Kari introduced the new Digimon solemnly. "This is the Basic Digimon of Faith, Loyarimon."
There were murmured greetings.
Her hair had melted from black to an almost glowing gold, as had her eyes. Her clothes had turned several different shades of gold and silver.
She looked very sad as she watched T.K. kneel by his still brother. He had no tears left to cry. The look of despair as he lifted Matt into a sorrowful hug was indescribable. Slowly Loyarimon walked over to the duo and knelt by T.K., touching Matt's golden hair gently with one hand. She smiled softly at the shattered Hope. "Have faith," she murmured, and cupped her hands together. A gold liquid gathered in her hands. She leaned forward to hold her hands over Matt and let the liquid slide between her delicate fingers into Matt's half open mouth.
Slowly the gold drained down his throat.
Slowly it infiltrated every fiber of his being to give him a golden aura.
Slowly the aura filtered back into him.
Very, very suddenly, Matt took a deep breath as his eyes flashed open and his back arched slightly.
T.K.'s sorrow ridden eyes widened as the older blond gasped and clutched at his little brother's shirt. "M-Matt!" he cried as Matt fought to cough and pant and breathe. The younger boy turned wondering eyes on the Basic Digimon of Faith, who held a groggy-looking Tsunomon in her arms, dripping more of the gold down his throat.
"It's an embodiment of all the faith in the room," she explained, speaking of the liquid Tsunomon was drinking. "All the faith he had, all the faith they have, all the faith you have and…all the faith I have. I know you can beat my last sister! Meloremon and Anamnemon are coming here later so we can get ready to help you in any way we can when it comes time to fight him. Well, actually." She set a very befuddled and confused Gabumon on the ground and folded her hands in her lap. "My sisters and I will be plotting what they can do. This is my limit for a while." She was looking a little transparent. Literally.
"Are…are you gonna…?" Izzy didn't seem able to finish the thought, but she got the point.
She smiled. "No, I'm not dying. It takes a lot of power to maintain a physical form, and I don't have much power anymore. I got a lot when I became Faith again, but…" She used a hand to indicate first Matt then Gabumon. "I had to set things right somehow."
T.K., moved beyond words as he hugged his fatigued brother against his chest, only smiled. More tears slipped down his cheeks and he rubbed them away impatiently.
Loyarimon looked sad again suddenly. "I…I…" Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Tai, who had come over with the others, carrying Kari in a basket hold as she dozed lightly. "You're the leader, right?"
He looked mutely at the others…those who were conscious, anyway. They nodded emphatically and he shrugged, setting Kari down lightly on the floor as she slipped from dozing to sleeping. "I guess."
"Well, um…then you might like to know the extent of what I've done to your teammate here. See, the Fear…he was afraid of getting so sick here he'd…die. That was the totality of his greatest fear. So…that's what I did. I…I gave him that awful disease again and reopened all his old wounds and…it's horrible. Anyway, that's why he died."
"Maybe, but you brought him back," Mimi defended, still looking slightly swamped by what had just happened.
Loyarimon winced. "Yes. I brought him back and fixed up his insides, but…"
"He's still sick, isn't he?" That was Joe. He was kneeling by Matt, the back of one hand rested lightly against the blond's forehead. "He's still very sick."
"Not as sick as he was, but sick all the same, yes." Loyarimon looked thoroughly miserable. "I'm so sorry. He's not sick enough to die again, but…it'll make the cause so much harder to fulfill! My sister…she will take advantage of this. Believe me, she will."
"Then he won't fight." Everyone turned to Tai, who looked only slightly concerned with this new turn of events. Everything was so overwhelming all ready. "Joe told me a while ago that Matt was getting worse everyday. Don't let this shock you too much, but I'm actually semi- prepared for this. Matt was never going to face the final Key. He was never going to lay eyes on her Gate. Joe, Mimi and I planned on leaving him at camp with a guard of a few of our Champion Digimon. If anything attacked, Garurumon and whoever decided to stay back could either defend him or, if worse came to worse, grab him and run. He couldn't fight them all. So, yes, him being this sick is a little bit of an…inconvenience, but it's something we can deal with, something we can work with, something we can live with. This whole thing would have been over if he had died. No way we could have picked ourselves up after something like that. He's our friend, the best and truest we could ever ask for, even if he is a little weird. So don't think about it like you've done some great bad thing. What happened to him happened to him because of the bad guy, not you. You just helped fix the damage."
Loyarimon smiled through her tears. "Thank you, Tai, but how can you be so sure your plan will work?"
He winked. "I have total faith in this misfit group of teens, that's how. By the way, that reminds me." He frowned slightly. "How do you know my name? You called me Taichi. The most you could have heard anyone say is Tai. So how'd you know?"
She giggled slightly into her hand. "You've watched too many spy movies," she responded slyly. "A total stranger knowing your full name…was one of your fears."
Tai blushed as the others laughed. Looking around for a distraction, his eyes rested on Kari, who was sleeping with one arm draped over T.K.'s leg, who was sleeping with a death grip on his brother's jacket. Matt was sleeping, too, though his slumber was slightly more fitful as beads of sweat rolled down his face. Joe was talking softly to Mimi, showing her a thermometer he had just taken from Matt's mouth. They both looked slightly concerned. Mimi rummaged through Joe's bag and pulled out three bottles. Each could be used to combat fevers, but only one had no drowsy side effects. She opened the bottle and shifted the pills inside around to take a count. She frowned at the number. Tai sighed. It had been a hard battle and now, with this last complication, it would be even harder.
"So," he heard Izzy begin resolutely, "you wouldn't happen to have any coverlets in your possession, would you?"
"Blankets," Sora sighed, following Izzy, Tentomon, Biyomon and Loyarimon from the room. "He means blankets."
They stayed at Loyarimon's castle for a week before Joe declared Matt ready to travel. During that time everyone devoted their time to preparing for the coming battle.
The next Basic Digimon was Piatymon, Lady of Pain.
Somehow this information did not cheer the Digidestined or their Digimon.
Silence had been a challenge.
Oblivion had been a fight for sanity.
Fear had killed one of them.
Now they had to face Pain?
Oh, goodie.
As Izzy set himself to learning every small detail of Piatymon he possibly could, Joe and Mimi rummaged through Loyarimon's castle looking for more supplies for their dwindling medical case. To their definition, they had more than one psychotic team member on their hands, and if they were going to face Pain, they were going to be prepared. Once her castle had been drained, they send the other Basic Digimon to their castles in search of more.
T.K. devoted his efforts to making Matt as comfortable as was humanly possible as he slowly regained some of his health.
Tai took what information Izzy gave him and began brainstorming. Only one of the Digidestined had the first clue what Tai was plotting. The brown haired leader was sitting on the floor by Matt's bed, handing a pad of paper with a rough battle sketch on it up to the sick blond, who looked a little tired but totally focused, when T.K. entered the room with another bowl of soup in hand.
He stared at them.
They stared back.
Finally Matt took the pad of paper and picked up a pencil, greeting his brother with a casual, "Hey T.K."
T.K. stared at Tai, who grinned conspiratorially back. Something was up. "What are you doing here?" the younger blond asked, coming fully in the room and closing the door behind him. (Joe was practically foaming at the mouth about castles and drafts.)
Tai shrugged, still grinning, and stood only to lean against the wall. "Making the invalid work."
T.K. sputtered. "Y-you're what?"
Another grin. "We'll all be fighting Piatymon while little Mattie here sleeps." Little Mattie made a rude noise and continued doodling alterations to the plan Tai had given him. "I thought I'd let him help a little."
"But he's sick! He needs rest, not work! Just let him sleep!"
"He can't sleep all the time and he can't get out of bed. Why not let him work his mind?"
"Are you kidding? This disease killed him twice. Isn't that reason enough to not make him work anything?"
Tai and Matt both frowned.
"T.K.," Matt began but Tai cut him off.
"Matt's not a baby. I understand that you're worried- everyone's worried- but he's sixteen. If he's tired, he'll sleep. If he's not, why shouldn't he work on something? It'll keep him from going stir crazy."
"Plus," Matt added coolly, handing the paper back to Tai, who looked at it and arched an eyebrow, "it was part of the deal."
"This is a little… fierce, don't you think?"
"Your point?"
Tai rolled his eyes. "Of course you'd think that, you won't be there."
"What do you mean?" T.K. demanded, giving the soup to his brother and ignoring the wince he got in return. (Matt was so sick of soup by now he could scream.) "What deal?"
"The deal," Matt responded, scooping up a bite of soup and letting it drip off the end of the spoon back into the bowl.
"What deal?"
Matt opened his mouth, smirking, but Tai cut him off again, still studying the plan. "Our deal. We made a deal. Matt gets to help with planning the battle but he doesn't get to join in. As long as he knows every detail of what's supposed to be happening, he's agreed to stay behind. Far, far behind."
T.K.'s mouth sagged open. Matt had agreed to that?
Tai caught T.K.'s look and grinned. "He's dumb, but he's not that dumb."
Matt, looking hugely aggravated, thwacked Tai in the face with a pillow. "Don't be a jerk," he said coolly, though his face displayed total irritation.
Tai tossed the pillow back, narrowly avoiding the soup, which Matt scrambled to protect. "You're lucky you're so sick," he smirked.
"Or else?" Matt challenged, smirking in return.
"Or else I'd kick your butt."
"You wish. Prove it when I'm better."
"You've been sick for years. Like I'm going to exploit that."
"You're just chicken."
Tai laughed. "Me? Scared of you? Now who's wishing?"
"Pompous looser. You'd better watch out."
"Why? I could beat you any day of the week."
"If you make me laugh at you," Matt warned, fighting a smile, "T.K. is going to become your worst nightmare."
Tai raised his hands in a sign of defeat, grinning, the pad of paper still held in one hand. "On that terrifying note, I think I'll leave now. Little baby's looking tired." Matt threw another pillow at him, which he caught and handed to T.K. "I feel sorry for you," he said seriously, though his eyes positively shone with mirth. "A patient like that must be a real pain in the a-"
This time the pillow caught Tai on the back of the head, making him stagger forward a step.
Tai tossed the pillow back, smacking Matt lightly in the face. "As I was saying, a patient like that must be a real …hand full."
"It's better than the alternative," T.K. insisted vehemently. "I'm glad Loyarimon gave him back."
Tai smiled as he left the room. "Me too, T.K. Me too. Try to keep that idiot in line, will ya? I'll be back later to discuss these…rather violent plans. Catch ya later!"
As her brother plotted and planned with Matt, Kari busied herself with making sure everyone remembered they were humans that needed food and rest. When a battle crossed the line between challenge and personal war, Digidestined tended to forget there were things beyond total victory. Killing Matt had turned this cause into a personal war.
Sora wandered the castle, doing this and that as she waited restlessly for the journey to begin again. Logically, this next test would be at least partially hers to master. Matt had helped Meloremon; Mimi, Joe and Izzy had helped Anamnemon; T.K. and Kari had helped Loyarimon. That left Piatymon to her and Tai. Pain. She and Tai would be facing…pain. In the dark recesses of her heart, Sora was worried.
Though she would never tell Tai that.
The Digimon themselves generally stuck with their Digidestined, running small errands whenever they could and helping out enthusiastically. Gabumon was not susceptible to the illness that had afflicted Matt. He therefore spent his time either standing watch over his Destined's room, eating, sleeping, or feeding Matt what little energy he could spare. If Gabumon had anything to say about it, the Chosen Child of Friendship would be healed in no time flat.
After the week passed with little incident, a large problem faced the Chosen Children and their Digimon.
They now had an invalid. A deeply unhappy and determinedly cooperative invalid, but an invalid nonetheless. He flat-out refused to be left at the castle. His little brother flat-out refused to let him walk.
So how would he get from place to place?
"Hmm…I have an idea," Izzy proclaimed. He called Tentomon over and had a brief conversation with him. Eventually the two nodded and separated. "T.K., can you get me Matt's Digivice?"
Matt snatched it off the bed next to him and tossed it to Izzy, muttering, "I can get my own bloody Digivice. I'm not totally helpless."
Izzy blinked once and turned his attention to the device. Once more he and Tentomon held a hushed conversation.
Just as Tai was about to comment about wasted daylight, and shouldn't they get going soon, Izzy's Digivice screamed and Tentomon Digivolved to Kabuterimon. At least, he started to. The power gathered around him but refocused in another direction. Tentomon held Matt's Digivice in his claws, and he directed the power circling him into the other Digivice, forcing Gabumon to Digivolve suddenly into Garurumon.
"Matt can ride Garurumon," Izzy explained easily, holding out his hand as Tentomon passed Matt's Digivice back to him. He tossed it back to its surprised owner, who was staring at Garurumon with a very confused expression. Garurumon himself seemed hardly able to understand what was going on.
"What'd you do?" Joe asked finally, arching an eyebrow.
Izzy shrugged, grinning. "It's just a little trick I've been computing for a while. I've always wanted to see if it would work. I've been breaking down the Digivolving process as much as possible since the first time I saw it all those years ago. I discovered it had three basic transformations of energy. First, our energy flows through the Digivices, forming it into a more basic Digital Energy. That energy radiates from our Digivices to surround the Digimon, where it becomes fuel more than energy. The fuel is what allows our Digimon to retain their status as Champion Digimon. Matt's too ill to be able to do the first step. He doesn't have enough spare energy for it to be converted into Digital Energy. I would suggest having someone else hold his Digivice and feed it power, but our Digivices would not accept anyone else's power save the one for which it was created. Step one is an individual process and therefore cannot be filled in by anyone else. Steps two and three, however, are much more…generic. Once enough Digital Energy is available, all that's left is to form it. So I tried feeding the basic Digital Energy from Tentomon's Digivolution to Matt's Digivice, so only step three was left: forming the energy to fuel. Apparently it worked."
"So." Sora hesitated. "So who's keeping Garurumon as Garurumon?"
"I am. My energy is bypassing my Digivice to flow through Tentomon and back into Matt's Digivice as Digital Energy."
"That seems like a lot of wasted energy," Matt protested. "Tentomon probably won't be able to Digivolve if you're supporting Garurumon, either. What are you going to do if we get attacked?"
Izzy shrugged. "I'll either keep Tentomon with me and let Garurumon fight or, more likely, I'll stop the energy flow and redirect it back to Tentomon, who could then Digivolve easily."
"That's a great idea, Izzy," Tai complimented, smiling.
"He shouldn't have to sacrifice his energy and protection for me, Tai."
The leader shrugged. "It's better than having to carry you. We can all take turns powering Garurumon. Unless you've decided to stay here."
Matt's sour look was answer enough.
"All right then." Tai rubbed his hands together. "Mount up, Matt! Let's get going!"
AN: Well, there you go. Hopefully it won't take me a year to post more. ^_^;; I *PLAN* to be a very busy writer this summer. But we'll see what happens. Remember: Write a review; inspire an author. REVIEW PLEASE!!!
Aloha and pineapples!
-Angel Baby