AN: It's like I said, every Saturday, if I can. ^_^ This is so, so very close to being done… By the end of this chapter, Central Fortress will be within reach! Wah-haha! Anyway. I'm really tired and I have to go support my twin sister, who made it to Nationals. ^_~ Yay for her! Yet I had to work all day by myself. SO TIRED!!
Bye-bee!! Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: …
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Chapter Twelve
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Staring at the still form of his only brother, T.K. took a faltering step forward as Garurumon came tearing into the room, Gatomon on his back. Breathing hard, Garurumon sank to the floor as Gabumon.
"They took him in the middle of the night!" Gatomon exclaimed, running up to Kari. "We didn't even hear them come!"
"It's all right," the girl said firmly. "We'll get him back."
Piatymon smiled a small, cruel smile that said, quite clearly, don't bet on it.
"Give him back," T.K. demanded hoarsely, taking another step forward. Tai grabbed the younger boy's shoulder to keep him from doing anything stupid, but he still begged again, "Please give him back. He's…he's a very important person to us. You can't have him. Give him back."
Piatymon's smile became, if possible, crueler. She tightened her one-armed grip on Matt, making his face contort in agony. "Why should I return him? His pain is like red wine to me, heady, intoxicating. I love him and his delicious pain. Return him? No. I think not."
T.K. growled almost inaudibly and strained against Tai's restrictive hold.
"What do you want from us?" the leader demanded, expression hard.
"Nothing, at the moment," Piatymon assured, smile sweet suddenly. "In a few weeks—or a few days, depending on how I feel—when I'm finished with this one, I'll come after someone else. In the meantime, you can just try to live your lives to the fullest. Strike up a desperate romance to fill up what little time you have left with some hollow meaning. Or you could commit suicide. I promise I'd watch, especially if you slit your wrists. Nothing is more enjoyable than slit wrists. Except, maybe, a stab wound." Her gaze drifted to Joe, who was just finishing with Izzy's shoulder. "It would be most ironic if you killed yourself. No one would be able to help you. Yes, most entertaining." She settled herself on the floor, watching them, Matt's torso pillowed on her lap. One of her hand wrapped around his broken left arm and began to grip it rhythmically, like some sort of caress gone horribly wrong.
Still unconscious, Matt gasped, and he squirmed in anguish.
"Go on," she offered, arcing an eyebrow at Joe. "I love it when doctors suicide."
"You…horrible…" His fists were clenched by his side, his entire body trembling with rage. "Gomamon!"
"Right! Gomamon Digivolve TO!" Light and the screaming of a Digivice filled the room, followed by a war cry. "IKKAKUMON!"
Piatymon tittered. "What do you hope that will accomplish?"
"Harpoon Torpedo!"
Furious at the attack, Piatymon stood, letting Matt drop to the floor. She flicked one hand in anger and the attack went flying away, disregarded. She narrowed her eyes at Ikkakumon, who stood his ground.
Joe suddenly got a sinking feeling.
A flash of power exploded from the dainty figure, smashing into the huge Digimon and sending him crashing against the wall with a hollow cry. He tumbled to the ground as Gomamon only to be caught by a horrified Joe.
"Sorry," the little Digimon murmured.
"My fault," Joe choked out, tears filling his eyes. "It was a dumb idea, anyway. You were wonderful, though."
"Is he ok?" Tai asked, jogging up to the two.
"Yes," the doctor said in a clipped tone, furious at himself. "At least, he will be."
"I could try," Agumon offered, looking up at his Destined.
"Out of the question," was the flat response. "None of you Digimon are going to try that. It's pointless. This is something we have to figure out on our own." He smiled down at his distressed Digimon. "Don't worry; I have a feeling that you'll have a bigger role real soon." Assuming we can beat this one.
"Watch out!" someone yelled.
Surprised, the four looked back towards the way they'd come. Tai was tackled to the ground seconds before another blast of pain-energy went whizzing over his head.
In the background, Piatymon laughed.
"You," the tackler gasped, sitting up, "all right?"
"Thanks to you," Tai said shakily, helping Izzy up. "Are you ok?"
The genius was clutching his shoulder, jaw set against the pain.
Glancing toward his team, Tai saw Piatymon's rapturous look and the way she was drifting closer to the Chosen Child of Knowledge and a plan was born.
A stupid, reckless, desperate plan, but a plan, none-the-less.
"Joe," Tai murmured softly, too low for Piatymon to hear as she turn suddenly and began heading back toward Matt, "if I distracted her, could you get to Matt? Could you and the others keep her away from him? Because…I dunno, he doesn't look like he's doing too well. I'm a little…concerned."
Joe looked at Tai, surprised. "How would you get her away?"
Tai's eyes were shaded by his bangs, his expression unreadable. "That's not important. If I could manage it, would you get him to safety?"
"I could try," he promised.
"I'll help," Izzy said, straightening but still clutching his shoulder.
"No," Tai refused, shaking his head. "Matt's enough pain sitting by himself. If you were over there, too, we might have a problem. Joe, you get to Matt. Izzy, you have T.K. bring the aid bag to them. Don't let Mimi go over cause she's hurt, too. No one who's been recently hurt can go anywhere near Matt, not even you, Gomamon."
Joe, who was beginning to catch on, handed his unresisting but deeply unhappy Digimon to Izzy, who nodded.
"Ok." Tai took a deep breath and shot a glance over at Piatymon, who was crouched by Matt, stroking his cheek and looking for all the world as though she were entranced by him.
Which, Izzy felt compelled to admit, noticing that she had her entire weight leaned on his broken arm, she just might be.
"Go to the others," Tai ordered shortly, and turned away. Agumon followed him, having some idea about what he was going to do, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to help.
This was Tai's fight, after all.
Sora, white and trembling, looked over as Joe and Izzy rejoined the group. Izzy went immediately over to T.K., who was plotting in desperate undertones with Patamon as Mimi and Palmon tried to talk sense into them.
The three had a brief, intense conversation. Then Mimi got Joe's medical bag and, to the surprise of Sora, handed it to T.K., who looked slightly baffled but took it anyway.
Behind them, one of Piatymon's windows shattered.
Piatymon, pressing her nails into the boy's bandages with something like fascination, froze as a new, fresh pain washed over her, tickling her senses like champagne. Pulling away from her pain-weary favorite Digidestined, she turned and stood in the same motion, drifting toward her new quarry before she could even figure out who she was looking for.
The realization hit her suddenly, stunning her even as she fed off the pain.
Tai glared back at her defiantly, a large shard of glass held in his right hand. A wound in the crook of his left arm dripped blood onto the floor.
"What are you doing?" Piatymon asked, standing in front of him. Her own confusion made the pain he was feeling somehow less potent.
"Getting you away from Matt."
"Why?"
"Because he's hurt and needs to be taken care of."
"But why do you even care?" she demanded, her confusion turning into anger.
Tai took a deep breath. "I care because he's my friend, and he'd do the same for me."
"Well, it doesn't even matter," she hissed, hands clawed. "His pain is still header than yours!" Turning, she froze in shock again. The rest of the Digidestined and their Digimon had formed a wall of resistance between her and the boy, who was now being very gently tended to by the little doctor. "You brats-!"
Another wave of bitter-sweet pain washed over her and she whirled around.
Tai was breathing hard, one eye shut against the pain. He was grasping the shard of glass in both hands. Blood pooled on the ground.
Behind her, Sora shook her head silently, imploring him to stop.
He never even saw her. "Stay away from my team!" he demanded, straightening, glass still clasped in his hands.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, practically begged of him, a strange feeling welling in her chest. For some reason, his sacrifice was so sad… "It's not that important! You're all going to die anyway! Why put yourself through extra pain? Do you like hurting? Are you some kind of masochist or something?"
"No," he half laughed, half cried. It hurt so much. "Actually, I've never liked pain at all. But…it's a part of life, right? You either deal with it or crumble. I don't plan on crumbling. There's too much at stake."
"What's at stake?" she demanded, taking another step toward him.
"Everything that I've ever cared about. I won't let you hurt them. I won't."
"What's to stop me?"
Tai smiled. "The glass, of course. And the pain."
She blinked at him.
"Yes, you see, I figured you out. Your attention is naturally drawn toward the newest, freshest pain. You only pay attention to those who hurt worse than anyone else. I don't think I'm hurting quite as bad as Matt yet, but my pain's newer. That'll keep your attention." He smirked. "Right?"
She tried to growl angrily, tried to work up some anger, but what he was doing seemed so familiar. Feeling nostalgic suddenly, she drifted closer to him, drawn more to his fighting spirit than his pain. Then she realized what she was doing and drew back.
"What were you before?" Tai asked seriously, catching her gaze and locking it with his own.
He was so much stronger than her… She could feel herself bowing under the intensity of his look. "Before what?" she asked weakly, attempting to hold her ground.
"Before this enemy of ours and the Digital World turned you into Pain. You weren't always like this."
Piatymon refused to answer, though she could no more glare at him than look away.
"Let me guess," he continued, smiling slightly. "Stop me when I get it right. Let's see…what's the opposite of Pain? Mmm…comfort? No? Let's keep thinking, then… How about kindness? Peace? Sympathy?"
She winced slightly.
"Ah-ha! I'm close, aren't I? Ok, then, going on the sympathy thing. How about-"
"You know," she hissed. "Don't pretend like you don't know already!"
And she was right. Something powerful was growing in Tai's chest, something strong and warm, like a sun, something that both belonged to and defined him. Whatever it was had already revealed her past to him, laid it out like a picture for him to see, to use as he saw fit.
It was the same thing that had brought Matt back and made them all above the Laws of the Digiworld.
"Why would you turn away from Compassion?" he asked softly, confused.
"Why wouldn't I?" she asked in return, shaking now. "All I could do was cry. People get hurt every day. What good does showing compassion do anyone? None."
"It makes people stronger," Tai argued. "People who feel pain and keep it to themselves are weaker because they're alone. You brought people the strength to survive because they knew they weren't alone. And you turned away from that? How very sad."
Piatymon, Basic Digimon of Fear, felt ashamed of herself and her decision for the very first time.
Her shame hid itself in anger and she turned back to the other Digidestined, determined to make them hurt.
One of the girls stood before all the others, face set, arms spread. "I won't let you hurt them!" she cried. She was obviously afraid, obviously trembling, and obviously not going to move.
"Out of my way," the Digimon growled. A spark of pain behind her almost made her turn, but she knew she couldn't face that boy again.
"No," the girl said flatly. "I won't. You will not hurt them again."
"It's ok, Sora!" someone from the group of six called to her. "We'll take her together!"
Sora shook her head, arms still spread. "I will not allow anyone I love to be put through any more pain. I will not let Tai face this by himself."
"Why?" Piatymon was coming more and more unglued as the battle of wills continued.
"It's like Tai said," Sora explained gently. "Pain is a part of life. The best we can do—the very best any of us can do—is accept the pain that is ours and help our friends and loved ones with whatever pain is theirs. After all, hurts are only temporary. Care and love and, most importantly, compassion last a lifetime."
"What would you know?" the Digimon growled, advancing on Sora. "You're just a child!"
Sora smiled, as though sharing in a joke.
They both knew—everyone could guess—that she wasn't just a child anymore. The power that was building in Tai was also waking in Sora, different but the same, similar but totally unique.
In an effort to stop the madness, Piatymon lunged forward, hands reaching for Sora's neck. The girl never acknowledged her; she was looking over her shoulder at something, her face very sad.
A tidal wave of pain seared through her suddenly, wrenching her around.
Tai stood there, head bowed, breathing hard, the glass shard shoved into his left shoulder. With a grunt of effort he yanked it out again, letting it clatter to the ground. One hand was fisted and pressed against the wound to stunt the bleeding. He looked up at her and smiled through the agony. "It hurts now," he admitted in a gasp, "but not as much as it would have if I'd let you hurt them. This won't hurt later; that would ache forever."
She glided toward him, tears on her cheeks. Reaching out to his would, she caressed it, seeking to understand more than hurt. "Why?" she asked again.
"Because it was worth it; because I had to. Because I want you to understand the true nature of pain so you will remember the true nature of compassion."
"What is pain?"
"Loneliness," Sora said gently, coming up from behind to stand next to Tai and hold her own hand over his wound.
"Weakness," Tai agreed, still smiling.
"We are stronger when we can depend on each other."
"You were stronger when you allowed others to depend on you. You were better."
"You were wiser."
"You were…whole."
"What was I?" she begged of them, watching in morbid fascination as Tai's blood spilled over all three of their hands. "What am I?"
Their voices blended into one as the power building within them was finally released in the form of two signs on their foreheads: Love and Courage. "You are Piatymon, Basic Digimon of Compassion."
"What is Compassion?"
"Compassion is what strengthens the world."
"Compassion is the common trait of everything living, the ability of people to be more than they are naturally, more than they are alone."
"How do you know this?" Piatymon asked in a hushed reverent whisper. "Who are you?"
"I am Love."
"I am Courage."
"What are Love and Courage?"
"Love is the Compassion of devotion."
"Courage is the Compassion of valor."
Yet again the two voices became one. "Do you deny us?"
"No."
"Do you deny yourself?"
"No. I could never, not again."
"Do you embrace what you are?"
Her voice echoed around them, filled with joy. "Yes!"
Their power exploded from them in twin super-novas, filling the room. After a lifetime of only a few seconds, the power retreated back into the Chosen Children of Courage and Love.
Tai and Sora smiled tiredly.
"Everybody," Sora began, pushing the newly reformed Digimon in front of her.
"Meet Piatymon," Tai finished, "Basic Digimon of Compassion and our last stop before the Big Bad Mon."
She smiled shyly. Her hair was a light violet that bled to an almost white that sparkled. Her eyes were the gentle blue of glacial ice. The cloths floating around her were soft tones of blue and purple, some dark, some light.
Without saying anything, she drifted over to where Matt lay. Though at first T.K. was wary, he relinquished his spot by his brother to her when she looked at him, her eyes filled with regret and sorrow. She pillowed his head on her lap. Immediately a palpable red aura flared around him, centering on his left arm and chest. Singing softly in a language older than the sky, she wove her hands into the stringy, tangled red aura and began manipulating it, unknotting strands. As the stands came loose, she moved them away from him where they crumbled into nothingness. Matt's face began to lose some of its tension; his breathing evened out and his entire body began to slacken.
"What are you doing?" T.K. asked in a whisper.
Piatymon didn't answer.
"She's singing him peace and removing the pain she herself tangled around him. It's part of her ability as Compassion. Because she understands pain, she can undo it."
Surprised, T.K. turned to find Meloremon, Anamnemon, and Loyarimon standing beside Tai and Sora, who were swaying on their feet.
"I'm going to take a nap," Tai announced as he sat down. Then he was lying on his side, out cold.
Sora, without a word, smiled sleepily as her legs simply folded.
With matching serene smiles, the three Basic Digimon produced many pillows, blankets and sheets.
Joe took one of the sheets and immediately began tearing it into strips.
Bandages.
After all, now he had Mimi, Izzy, and Tai to take care of as well.
"Why're you here?" Kari asked, accepting the blankets from Loyarimon and going with Mimi to make Sora and Tai more comfortable.
"You converted our last sister," Anamnemon explained, still transparent and the only one not carrying anything.
Meloremon handed her blankets and pillows to T.K., who took them to his brother. "Now that she's back to her normal self, all you have left is to face him."
"Where is he?" Izzy asked, bewildered. "There's nothing on my computer program that details his location in reference to our current location. Whenever we were on the hunt for any of you, there was always a distinct location in correlation to where we were."
"There should be a Basic Digimon of Translation to help us with Izzy," Kari sighed from her spot by her brother.
Loyarimon smiled as she answered, "You have no set location because there is no set location for where you have to go."
"Then where must we go?"
"Just as soon as the other three wake up, we four will take you to Central Fortress, where you will learn of the evil that has befallen the Digital World."
"Central Fortress?" Gatomon breathed in wonder. "We're really going to Central Fortress?"
"Yes," Meloremon assured, head slightly tilted as she listened to her sister sing. "But first we will allow time to heal. The travel to the Fortress takes energy, and three of your number might not survive the journey just yet. So, for the moment, let us rest."
And, for the moment, they did.
When Matt woke up three, almost four days later, he was intensely confused. After everything had been explained to him, he was still bewildered. He understood that Tai and Sora had changed Piatymon back; he understood that he was in Piatymon's castle being tended by all four of the Basic Digimon; he understood that they were on the brink of facing the Evil, whoever and whatever that was.
He could not, for the life of him, figure out where a good deal of his pain had gone, or why T.K. was being very, very possessive of him all of a sudden.
Ok, so Piatymon was taking special care to…unknot?…a large portion of his pain every night and every morning and whenever something happened to make the ache flare. That was actually kind of nice; it felt like a massage, only better because at the end he felt thousands of times healthier.
T.K. he just could not understand. Yes, he'd gotten so sick he couldn't even be moved. Yes, the Mistress of Pain had taken him in the middle of the night and delighted in torturing him. Yes, he'd almost been in a seriously damaging situation. Again.
So?
The Chosen Child of Hope, for his part, was unable to communicate the level of distress he'd been at since the moment he'd left his beloved older brother's side. Matt's incomprehension didn't seem to bother the littler boy, though. As long as he was here, right?
Finally, after a few more days of pampering, Tai held a war council with Matt. Matt let the leader know, in no uncertain words, that he was tired of just sitting around.
If there was some ass to kick, it was time to get kicking.
Tai couldn't agree more.
The others, however, took a bit of convincing. Though Mimi, Sora, and Kari really didn't have any problems with getting a move on, the doctor and the little brother had already held a war council of their own and were being very stubborn.
"You're not ready," T.K. said flatly, eyes narrowed at his brother.
"How do you know?" Matt shot back, bristling. He hated being told what he could and couldn't do.
"Because you're still in pain! Don't deny it, either, because Piatymon's still taking care of you! She wouldn't do that if you were ok, so don't try to tell me that you're fine!"
"I never said I was fine."
"Oh, so you're not fine but you're ready to get cracking?"
"Sure," was the easy response.
"Matt!" T.K. chastened, frowning. Behind him, Joe was tsking and shaking his head. They were all—Digidestined, Digimon, and Basic Digimon—gathered in the room that had been converted into Joe's sickbay. Tai and Matt were sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by blankets, pillows, paper and pencils, in the same position they'd been in when their war council had been disrupted. T.K. and Joe were standing over them, openly opposing their decision to move on to the next step of their systematic defense of the Digiworld.
"I think he can handle it," Tai assured enthusiastically, rifting through the papers around him. "Matt and I have been planning this for a while and-"
"You're not ready, either," Joe interrupted, shaking a finger at Tai.
Tai only blinked at him. "I'm fine."
"You call being shredded by a shard of glass and bleeding all over everything fine?"
"Sure."
"Why do we let them talk to each other?" T.K. demanded of Joe, irritated. "Whenever they have any time to conspire together, something or someone always ends up in trouble."
"Hey!" Tai protested, frowning and standing. "It's not our fault that we want to get this final confrontation over with! You and Joe shouldn't worry so much!"
"Someone has to!" Joe exclaimed, taking a step forward.
"Not all the time!" Matt argued, standing as well. Piatymon looked surprised and started to move toward him, but he waved her off with a hand, standing defiantly by Tai.
"See?" T.K. crossed his arms, looking smug. "Piatymon's still trying to fix your pain. That means you can't possibly be ready."
"I'm standing, aren't I?"
"Just because you're standing," Joe replied tersely, "doesn't mean you're ready to face the final Evil."
"Who says?" Tai challenged.
"We do!"
"Who says you get to decide?" Matt asked in a yell, raspy voice taking most of the volume away from his anger. He advanced a step, his right hand clenched by his side, left lying in its sling.
"If you're not using enough sense to make realistic decisions based on what you're really physically capable of doing," T.K. growled back, practically nose-to-nose with his older brother, "then what other choice do we have?"
"I'm not even bleeding anymore almost!" Tai was shouting at Joe.
The doctor was just as far in the leader's face as the brothers were in each other's. "Almost isn't good enough!" he hollered in return.
"Please," Piatymon murmured gently, reaching out to Tai and Matt.
"Make them understand!" all four Digidestined yelled at the same time, pointing at their rivals.
"Stop being pigheaded!"
"Stop making my decisions for me!"
"You have to let your wounds heal!"
"You have to let me fight!"
"Make him understand!"
"Stop!" Kari cried, leaping forward to push T.K. and Matt apart. Izzy helped her as Mimi and Sora dragged Joe and Tai away from each other.
"We're the Digidestined!" Mimi said, almost in tears.
"We shouldn't fight," Izzy added, looking upset.
"Why are you wasting time fighting?" Sora begged of Tai, pulling on his arm.
"Because this has to be done," he replied in a voice that had suddenly become very tired. "It has to be done."
"This is helping?" Izzy demanded, shaking T.K. to get his brain working again.
"No," the blond admitted, sighing.
"Just rest," Kari instructed gently, pushing Matt back towards his makeshift bed. "It wouldn't kill you to rest a few more days, would it?"
He was obviously in pain as he sat, and Piatymon immediately posted herself by him, sorting through the knotted red agony-aura. "Maybe not me," he relented finally. "But the longer we put this off the more powerful our enemy becomes. Can we afford to wait?"
"Right now," Joe said softly, under his breath, "I think we're just going to have to risk it. What good does it do us to make it to Central Fortress one Destined down?"
"Don't you see the logic?" Mimi asked as she began ripping more bandages. Both Matt and Tai were bleeding through their wrappings, though neither seemed to notice. "Both of you, don't you see that we could never succeed without you?"
"The Digital World can't stand much more of the chaos this Evil is creating," Tai said, sinking down onto his haphazard bed and pealing off his shirt so Mimi could redress his worst wound.
"How much longer do you think we can afford to postpone this battle?" Matt asked, allowing Joe to tend his myriad of wounds, including the one on his left hand that had been among the first received from the Araknamon. It always broke open and bled freely whenever he clenched his hand with any force.
"As long as it takes," T.K. assured with a tint of panic coloring his tone.
"That's not soon enough," Tai disagreed, frowning. He winced as Mimi carefully applied an antibacterial cream that stung before beginning to wrap his torso in sterile strips.
T.K. frowned as well. "But-"
"No," Izzy interrupted, arms crossed. "He's correct, T.K. We have to determine when we will be ready to go. We must have a set date or our own hesitance to face this Evil will lead to further procrastination and the ultimate demise of the Digiworld."
T.K. processed that for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Fine, we can decide when we're going to go. But it won't be in the next week."
"Yes it will," Matt and Tai chorused, stubbornness flaring to the surface.
"Tomorrow," Matt said with a note of finality.
"No later," Tai agreed.
"Let's compromise," Joe suggested, tucking and tying the ends of Matt's bandages.
"Compromise how?" T.K. asked warily.
"I got this one," Kari chirped, grinning. She turned to Matt and her brother, who looked at her with matching expressions of total seriousness. "How about we leave in six days?"
They traded an uncertain glance. As their respective doctors stood with their remaining supplies, the two wounded held a quick conversation. Finally they sat back.
"We'll give you one day," Tai announced.
"Five," T.K. haggled, crossing his arms.
"Two."
"Ok, four."
"Two."
"Three. That's my final offer."
"Done," Tai agreed, and sat back, looking pleased.
"Three days," Matt moaned, flopping back on his pillows. "What am I going to do for three days to entertain myself?" A sheet fluttered over him, blinding him. Sitting up, he pulled the sheet off and looked up in confusion at Sora, who smiled and handed him a pair of scissors.
"Cut these into bandages. That'll take up some time, probably."
"Yeah but," he accepted the scissors, "what else can I do?"
"Take a nap," T.K. suggested.
Matt shot him a sour look.
"You too," Sora told Tai, patting his head gently as though he were a dog as she passed.
He scowled at her and opened his mouth. Almost immediately a sheet and scissors were thrust into his hands. He stared at them a moment before the total insanity of the situation presented itself to him and stuck him, for no reason whatsoever, as funny. Suddenly, inexplicably, he broke out into gales of wild laughter.
After a moment's pause, the laughter spread infectiously throughout the room, passing from Digidestined to Digimon until everyone was almost doubled over. There was no reason for the laugher, but it successfully defused the remaining tension.
"Three days," Izzy said almost as a warning as everyone left the sickbay.
The two invalids sighed, snipping in good humor at their sheets. "Three days," they agreed.
Night came.
Tai propped himself up on one elbow, looking blindly towards the side of the room where he knew Matt was.
Rheumatic fever was not a good thing to have. He could tell this by the way Matt's breathing sounded. There was something in his chest, something heavy that made inhaling hard, that made his breath rattle and gasp and made Tai's chest tighten in compassion.
As if on cue the door to the sickbay opened. Gabumon crept in, leading Joe over to his Digidestined. Worry seemed to radiate from the small pelt-bearing Digimon.
After a moment, Joe's soft voice echoed through the room. "I'm sorry, Gabumon. There's just not much I can do. All I can say for sure is that we've got to get him to a real doctor and a real hospital soon. I don't know how much longer he's going to be able to bear up under this kind of pain. Piatymon?"
She materialized next to the doctor at his summons. "Yes?" she asked in a whisper. Then she noticed Matt and seemed to become very sad. "Poor thing," she murmured, and reached out to him, trying to take his pain away as only she could. "This isn't a permanent fix, you know."
"I know," Joe sighed, "but it helps."
"A little," the Basic Digimon of Compassion agreed.
"Anything is better than nothing," Gabumon assured the two firmly, laying a gentle paw on the forehead of the most important person in the world to him.
"You're helping, too," Piatymon pointed out, smiling mournfully at the little Digimon. "I can sense that you're taking part of his pain and illness. Even if you can't get this particular sickness, it's draining you."
"I can't let him die again; neither of us is strong enough to come back a third time."
But we would bring you back, Tai promised in his own mind, lying back with one hand tucked under his head. The other was draped over his stomach as he stared at the ceiling and contemplated. If neither of them could drag the other back, we'd do the dragging. I know we would. That's what being a Digidestined's about, right? That's the point of a team. If one can't do it, the others help. Right?
Agumon, tucked against his Digidestined's side, nodded in his sleep.
Sure, Tai. We could do that if we had to. Absolutely. Without a doubt.
Eventually Joe went back to wherever it was he slept, even though Piatymon stayed with Matt and Gabumon.
Eventually, though his mind was working until the very last moment, Tai slept again, too.
Morning followed.
The first day.
The day wasn't particularly interesting, no matter how the Chosen Children looked at it.
Matt's false show of bravo regarding his illness had backfired. Now, instead of pretending to be healing, he could barely sit up for long periods of time. Cutting bandages was right out of the question.
The Four Basic Digimon, in order to keep him occupied and get it out of the way, stationed themselves in the sickbay and told stories about Central Fortress.
As the Digidestined listened, they found themselves becoming most enthralled with any story that concerned the locked room in the very center of the Fortress. The Basic Digimon didn't know what was in there and couldn't figure out what interested the Children so, but they told the story whenever asked.
Behind the eight-sided wall, through the winding corridors, down the labyrinth of hallways, in the heart of Central Fortress, was a room. It was locked in eight ways with eight protections for eight reasons, or so the legend went. The room had been created before the Basic Digimon, before Central Fortress. It was the Seat of the Digiworld, the Beginning of Everything.
And yet no one knew for sure what was in it.
"I have a theory," was all Izzy would say if asked.
In truth, all of the Destined, save Matt, who was too tired for thought, had the same theory.
The Power of Eight. Somehow the two were connected. Whatever that room was, it had something to do with the Power. It had to.
After hearing the story for the thousandth time, T.K. found himself seated by his brother as the sun set, Patamon in his lap, Gabumon dozing with his chin on Matt's stomach. Tai was in the castle's main room, eating dinner and plotting with the others. Only the two blonds and their respective Digimon were currently in the sickbay.
"The day after tomorrow, Matt." T.K. was speaking to his slumbering brother as though the boy could hear him, gently laying a cold compress against his hot forehead and smoothing wild strands of hair away from his face. "I'm not sure how the travel to Central Fortress is going to effect you, but…I hate to say it, but you're just gonna have to take it. I'm so afraid of what this trip will do to you. On the other hand, I'm even more afraid of what staying in the Digital World will do to you. You need professional medical help; Joe was the first to admit it, which actually isn't that surprising. How are we going to do this?" the young blond asked as a sigh, putting his face in his hands. "How the hell are we going to do this without losing anybody?"
"Have faith," Loyarimon whispered, appearing by his side. She smiled sadly at him when he looked at her and took his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Everything will work itself out; it always does, with you eight. You're greater than you think, all of you. Greater, stronger, more prepared to deal with this Evil. Its true form is not as wonderful or ferocious as you would think. You will handle it; I am sure of it."
"May I be as hopeful as you," the Chosen Child of Hope sighed, standing with Patamon snoozing in his arms.
"You are the one who taught me hope and faith," she reminded him, smiling gently before kissing Matt's forehead and dissolving from the room.
"Then let me always remember what it is I taught you," the Child muttered, and, sparing one last glance at his brother, left the room.
Night came.
Morning followed.
The second day.
"No way we're listening to you," Kari said flatly, towering over her brother with her hands on her hips as he snipped innocently at a blanket, cutting it into what were now considered professional strips. "You only ever have bad ideas when you're as obsessed with progress as you have been lately."
On the other side of the sickbay, T.K., Joe, and Mimi were fussing over Matt, who was trying to reassure them and eat his lunch at the same time.
"So what time do you think we should leave tomorrow?" the Chosen Child of Courage asked smoothly.
Snip, snip.
Kari and Sora traded a glance. "Izzy?" they asked as one, turning to their scapegoat.
The Child in question, sitting in the corner minding his own business as he played a highly competitive game with Tentomon, his laptop plugged into the wall, jumped at the sound of his name, looking up and around as he tried to figure out what was going on.
"Huh?" he said intelligently, then glanced down at his computer screen and gagged in horror.
"Your character seems to have expired," Tentomon informed him, sounding smugger than usual.
"So it seems," Izzy agreed dryly. He turned his attention back to the two girls. "Did you need assistance with something?"
They traded a tolerant look. "What time tomorrow do you think we should head over to Central Fortress?"
The genius shrugged, turning his laptop slightly so Tentomon could fiddle with it and start a new game. "I believe that Tai has a better sense about topics relating to general team welfare. I would suggest you ask him." Then he was fully absorbed in his game again, laughing softly with Tentomon as they played.
"Never mind him," Sora instructed, turning back to Tai. "You knew he'd say that, didn't you?"
The leader only practiced looking both innocent and smug at the same time.
Snip, snip.
"Joe," Kari called, trying to get his attention. "What time do you-"
"Hold on a sec, Kari."
"Ok, then. T.K., Mimi, what do you-"
"The people you're trying to reach have been disconnected," T.K. replied, not even turning to her. "Please try to reestablish your connection after the Chosen Child of Friendship has eaten three more apple slices. C'mon, Matt, they're good for you."
"Never mind them, too," Sora sighed. She narrowed her eyes at Tai.
Snip, snip.
"You really want us to ask you, don't you?"
Snip, snip. "Whatever you think is best."
Another sigh. "You're so pompous."
He smiled. Snip, snip. "So now what?"
Kari and Sora traded a glance, shared a sigh, and plopped down on either side of their leader. "What time do you think we should leave for Central Fortress tomorrow?" Kari asked resolutely.
Snip, snip.
"Thirty minutes after Matt wakes up."
Snip, snip.
The two girls started, surprised. "Why?" Sora asked, bewildered.
"Because." Snip, snip. "He's the teammate we should be most concerned about, right?"
"Right."
"So, going on that. He's always in his top physical condition, as sad as that may be-"
"Hey, I'm still in the room over here, Tai!"
"-always in top shape," the brown-haired boy continued, ignoring both the outburst and the many lectures that followed it, "about half an hour after he wakes up. He'll have eaten breakfast-"
"You mean I'll have had breakfast shoved down my throat, don't you?"
"-and be in the best shape he'll be in for travel about that time." Snip, snip. "Don't you think?"
The girls traded amazed looks.
"He's not as dumb as I thought he was," Kari admitted to Sora, who nodded solemnly.
"Hey!" Tai protested, cutting halted as he frowned at the girls.
"It's the truth," Matt called from his side of the room. "Any time you show any sort of intelligence it shocks the general public because you look so stupid naturally."
"Hey!"
"Would you shut up, Matt!" T.K. demanded of his brother harshly, smacking him lightly.
"I'm sorry," the older blond laughed, rubbing his arm where T.K. had hit him. "He was begging for it!"
"I don't care," Mimi and Joe said together flatly.
Matt sighed.
"Damn!" Izzy cursed, startling everyone in the room. "Died again!"
There was a pause where everyone looked at everyone else. Then, suddenly, inexplicably, the Chosen Children burst into laughter.
The Digimon could only sigh.
Night came.
Morning followed.
The third day.
Half way into the ninth hour of that third and final day, the Digidestined and their Digimon were transported to Central Fortress, the beginning and ending of the Digital World.
And so began the first steps towards the final battle against the Evil.
AN: See you next week, people! Assuming you all review with lovely comments…ne?? Ja!
-Angel Baby