Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon
Author's Note to the Readers:
First, I would like to say that this took such a long time to re-edit because it is a difficult piece. The concept was good, but the execution has some flaws. Besides, season 1 Joe, which is the deepest analysis we have of Joe, would never say that, only a changed Joe would, which made it even harder.
That said, I must admit that there wil be a temporary ( 1 month) suspension probably in publication. I confess that I've been writing well ahead of where I've been publishing, but now I may have written mysef into a corner. It's going to take me a bit to work my way out of it, and I'll be spending what free time I have working on that rather than publishing new material. Additionally, the series is turning out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. I'm almost done, but the tremendous length of the saga is beginning to bog me down. Still, not bad for a first attempt at an epic.
Secondly, I have another reason for suspending. Some (a fair number) of the following episodes will take place in the real world. I think I'm going to postpone them until I manage to get to Tokyo and take a look around, which won't happen until the end of this month. So you should expect me back in September sometime.
Finally, the good news is that I really did write in advance, so once I straighten out my ending issues, I can publish much faster.
Sorry for keeping y'all waiting.
-danAlwyn
Episode XXI
A Voice in the Darkness
"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of a continent, a part of the main;"
John Donne, Meditation XVII
"I don't see anything." Patamon reported, hovering outside the windows on the beats of his little wings. "I really don't."
"That's okay Patamon." TK responded, leaning out the window to take a look at the world around. "It doesn't look like there's anything to see out there."
"Except trees." Gatomon landed on TK's head, preventing Patamon from landing in his favorite spot. When the small mammal looked affronted Gatomon stuck her tongue out at him.
"Now watch it." Kari grabbed Gatomon's tail warningly. "You could be the one we send out to look at all the trees."
"I'll be good. I promise." Gatomon jumped back off of TK's head and landed in Kari's arms.
"Well, you haven't been good at it so far." Kari smiled as TK slid an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.
"Find something Ken?" TK asked as the boy genius re-emerged back into the daylight once more.
Ken shrugged. "Not really. I mean, what was I supposed to find? This place is historically fascinating. The buildings and rooms are all monuments to our heritage and our history. But if I don't want to sound like an essay on civics, there really is nothing here. Only copies of Japanese history. And that's not much use to us now."
"So there's nothing here." TK repeated, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling, when all of their D3s triggered.
"It's Yolei." Ken said tersely after a moment. "She wants us. She says it's not life threatening, but it's urgent."
"Well, what are we sitting around here for?" Gatomon asked, as the others dashed for the nearest stairwell.
"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the front." Gennai stood before the assembled senior officers of Fourth and Fifth Wings. "And welcome to Midgard."
There was only dead silence from the audience. Gennai had passed around the operational orders for Mjolnir and the overall operation, Midgard, only an hour before. Now the Citadel Tactical Command was finally assembled and willing to take questions.
There were not many, the orders were very specific, and the intelligence extremely detailed.
"What's the operational status of Mjolnir?" Asked the Head Operations Officer of Fifth Wing.
"Technically, we have all the problems licked." Cortell responded calmly. "The only problem will be launching it, and that will require enough forces in opposition of the transit point. Which means that we'll have to draw them in when we really need them."
"This will cost the Light Carrier wings pretty heavily. And our screen will definitely have some holes in it." Gennai explained the news calmly. "But we think that it's worth it if it means that we will end up with the concentration of forces opposing us that we expect."
The staff officers nodded. There was little else for them to do.
"I've collected many samples and done extensive research many times over." Izzy muttered to himself as he pried himself awake. "And no matter how many times I believe that I have accounted for all the possibilities, I am continually astounded by how many different hard and sharp objects that I can sleep on."
"What was it this time Izzy?" Sora wanted to know.
"I managed to roll off onto my gear. I spent the whole night, or what part of it we slept through, sleeping on top of my own shoes."
"That's new." Sora admitted.
"I just hurt. Who else is up?"
"Well, for once, the digimon. We really ended up not using them much in last night's battle, so they're pretty rested and ready to go. I think Gomamon is up and fishing already. Gabumon has been wandering around for a while with Agumon. I think they were out gathering something for breakfast. Matt's up already, he doesn't seem to need sleep as much of the rest of us."
Izzy thought about that for a moment, but he simply could not resist needling his red-headed friend. "And how would you know about that?"
"Because Iwhy youit's nothing like that." Her face was now nearly as red as her hair. "And here I thought you were the nice one Izumi."
"I am. Imagine what would have happened if you had said the same thing to Davis." Izzy grinned malevolently.
Sora could not help but laugh at that one. "I suppose so. Yeah, I understand. And one day, when you have a girlfriend, revenge will be so sweet."
"I live in foreboding of that day. Speaking of such topics, is everything patched up on that end? I don't mean to pry but I hate it when these things fall apart on me halfway through."
Sora nodded. "Yeah, Matt and I patched some things up, and so did Tai and I. I think I still need to have a talk with them, but right now we're ready to hit the bad guys, if not quite ready to hit the clubs."
"That's all I ask. Let's see what the others are up to."
"So who are you?" Kari asked after a moment of silence.
"Hnngghhh" The other digimon made a strangled sound into a cup of water, blotting out his voice.
"He looks like an off-color version of Wizardmon." Patamon whispered into his companions' ear. TK just nodded.
"My name" the strange digimon gasped after a moment. "Is Sorcerymon. I am a prisoner of Machinedramon. Who are you?"
"We're the guys who wiped your late jailor all over the floor." Davis bragged, striking a pose he probably thought was heroic. "We kicked his tail."
"Seriously." Veemon added, to back up his partner.
"Truly. You defeated Machinedramon?" That's incredible. Wait a minute" Sorcerymon's eyes narrowed suddenly. "How do I know that you aren't just leading me into some sort of trap from him?"
"With his castle in ruins and his henchmen nowhere to be found? Be serious." Yolei snorted.
"There is that." Sorcerymon mused.
"We've wiped the floor with Machinedramon." TK confirmed suddenly. "And we took care of Khartan's little pet Reaver too. And next, we get him."
"Reaver? Wait! You're human beings! You must be with Citadel! If that's true, maybe you can take out Khartan!"
"We think they sent us." Cody shrugged. "They really didn't give us much of a choice."
"Don't worry, they never do." Sorcerymon looked much more confident now. "But that means that we still have a fighting chance, and that means that I can help you win this little war, once and for all."
"And how are you going to do that?" Ken asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because I used to serve Lord SaberLeomon when he was ruler of this land. I lived in his fortress. And I know a few ways in and out that I doubt Khartan knows about yet. Will that help?"
"That, ladies and gentleman, is our ticket in." Davis proclaimed.
"So, what's the score?" Matt asked, kicking off the meeting. He was busy trying to fry something that looked vaguely fishlike. The entire group was getting tired of fish, but, considering the only other things they could find were birds, which were too fast to catch, and digimon, which nobody even suggested, they had little other choice. Matt was doing his best to spice things up any way he could, but he was not having that much success. After all, fish tends to taste like fish.
"The score is, him one, us zero." Sora retorted, but she was sitting comfortably next to him, with Tai next to her.
"I suppose that's about the way it works." Izzy replied. "Although it's more constructive to think of it as a prolonged stalemate."
"Oh yeah," Joe rolled his eyes at Izzy. "I feel better already."
They all laughed, remembering the first time this particular argument had come up way back when they were fighting the Dark Masters.
"So what do we do now?" Agumon asked, looking at Tai.
"Don't ask me." Tai muttered. "Izzy seems to be in charge now."
Everyone winced uncomfortably, but Izzy refused to take what was being offered. "That's not true Tai, and we know it. I took charge because I was best suited to, but you're a much better leader than I am because you can decide things and get them done. Right?"
"Okay, I guess."
"The best option is to wait for a while." Piximon reported from where he was sitting. "With the message we sent, it will only take a day for the others to join us, and with them, we have quite a formidable army. Since I suspect that Daemon is chasing after us in person, we could have quite a showdown out here. I think it's time to give him a heck of a surprise."
"Are we up to it?" Gabumon asked the others.
"We better be." Izzy returned darkly.
"So, a back way, eh?" Davis looked at the quick map that Ken had drawn on the scanner.
"Yes, and its well hidden. In fact, it isn't even supposed to be a way in. It's an aqueduct that used to run under the fortress. We replaced it with more modern water lines, but we never closed it up." Sorcerymon scratched his head. "It's protected by a few metal gates, but I can use a magical charm to open them up."
"Can you guide us around inside the fortress?" TK asked.
Sorcerymon shook his head. "No, probably not. You see, not long after moving in Khartan redesigned most of the fortress. I'm not sure why, but probably to appease his twisted sense of aesthetics."
"I don't even know what those words mean." Veemon grumbled.
"I'll explain them later." Davis whispered.
"How?" Yolei asked. "You don't even know yourself."
"I do too!"
"Ahem!" Sorcerymon brought everyone's attention back to him. "As I was saying before the two of you stole the show, it will be difficult to determine where he is. However, just from experience, he probably took up residence at the top of the tower, which has the best view. Overlords seem to like that for some reason."
"Why do they always have their rooms at the top?" Armadillomon grumbled.
"It's a defensive thing." Hawkmon returned lightly. "You see, if they put there rooms way up there all those of us who have come to conquer them have to trudge up a zillion flights of stairs on our way up. We'll be too tired when we get to the top to fight them."
"It isn't quite that high." Sorcerymon protested.
"What happened to the rest of SaberLeomon's followers?" TK asked.
For a moment Sorcerymon looked stricken, but he quickly recovered, shaking his head to remove any trace of his shock. "It's difficult to explain. You see, our world was once larger and more prosperous, home to humans and digimon alike. The great war changed all that all those years ago. Most of the great cities are now only ruins. Where they once were is only barren wasteland, carnage of war. Most of the civilians were evacuated through the massive transit points, warped to other worlds far away. For twenty years this place was on the front lines of a prolonged battle, never important enough for a major battle to decide its fate, but always important enough for the fighting to continue.
"We don't know how the war ended really. Only that, as time passed, the forces of darkness and of light abandoned this world to its own devices. To tell the truth, those who had hidden in the mountains and forests all those years while battle raged in the north tended not to care why the fighting was over. All that was important was that it was.
"It took years more to build our way back, from a small group of tiny communities to a nation once more. We were still small and weak, and we left the transit point alone mostly. It was only when SaberLeomon had grown enough in strength that we felt strong enough to challenge the darkness. We managed to seal the transit points, and, in our pride, declared our independence from both darkness and light.
"That's when it all fell apart. We could resist the forces of evil digimon when they attacked directly, but there were a lot of them. They really didn't want to die, so they put the fortress under siege. That lasted about a year, us slipping in and out, them waiting for something to happen. Then Khartan came.
"He destroyed our army, Ultimates and Champions all, in a matter of an hour, and then, with the help of his demons, captured the fortress, and sent our people into flight. Fortunately, there weren't that many of us, so we escaped into the forests and mountains once more. Only those unable to flee stayed.
"I must be one of the last of the royal circle to survive. They were going to execute me when they could, but they never got around to it. Now, since you seem to have the power to fight Khartan, I'm going with you. I don't know if we can win, but the truth is, if I've got to go down, I'd rather go down fighting."
"And we're going with you." Davis exclaimed. Within moments he, Ken and Sorcerymon were bogged down in planning. TK walked over to Kari, noticing that she was looking pale.
"What's wrong Kari?" he asked tenderly.
"A war killed this world." She whispered through clenched teeth. "You saw the ruinsthe emptinessthe desolation. War ravaged this world and broke its people. And that's what we're going to do again, isn't it?"
"Do we have a choice Kari? Do we really?"
"We could stop, we could try to escape"
"Really Kari? Would you doom the inhabitants of this world to save yourself, to stop yourself from damaging the ruins? I admit that sooner or later all of this has to stop, but first we have to win. And that means victory. Can you really abandon all those who still do live here just because you don't want to hurt anybody else?"
"NoI guess you're right, it's just that"
"It hurts." TK placed a hand on her cheek gently. "It hurts inside, in the heart. I wish to God that we didn't have to do this. I wish that we could have given this job to someone else, but we can't. We're the ones here, and if we turn our backs, we're just as bad as the people who did the damage in the first place."
Kari looked at him tearfully, then threw her arms around him, clutching him close. "Oh TK! I've just seen too much war, too much fightingI don't know what to do anymore. It's justwe never had a choice, did we?"
"Some people have a choice." TK tried to stay strong, but his mind was swimming with all the horrors the digital world had ever shown him. "We have destiny. And we hope that's enough."
Tai snapped another stick off against an inoffensive tree. The constant waiting was getting on his nerves and it was really beginning to show. Everything around him had become the target of violence, the subject of many different forms of abuse, from rock throwing to bare handed beating. From outside his range Izzy and Piximon watched carefully.
"We're going to defeat ourselves if this keeps up." Izzy murmured.
"Yes. You are not yet prepared to fight against Daemon. Especially if you continue in this manner." Piximon returned in all seriousness.
"Well, that's the way the cookie crumbles." Izzy replied, and then turned more serious. "So, can we really do this."
"I have faith in you." Piximon replied, giving Izzy his peculiar smile.
"I think I can live with that."
"I wonder sometimes how much damage I would have caused." Ken considered as he walked along a forest path, side by side with his faithful companion. "If I had remained faithful to evil, would I one day have led an invasion of the earth, of the real world. I wonder, I really do."
"Ken, don't worry about it. You'll make yourself sick." Wormmon protested.
"No, I'm over that now. I just wonder if I have that strength, that cunning, still inside of me."
"I hope not." Wormmon jumped up on a log and jumped off the other side while Ken merely stepped over.
"I don't know about that. You see, knowledge and skill are like a sword."
"A sword? Why is that?"
"Because a sword has two sides. It isn't evil really, but it isn't really good either. It just sort of is. Whether it's good or evil depends on who's holding it."
"And you think you can hold the sword the right way?" Wormmon inquired.
"Well, maybe." Ken confessed. "Using that much of my power might tempt me again, but I'm hoping that it won't. You see, I think I could have conquered the earth with my army of digimon slaves. I probably could have taken most of the world apart with my powers. Now the question becomes, can I use it for good?"
"You can do anything you want Ken." Wormmon replied, voicing his confidence.
"No. But together all of us can. And if we can, the bad guys better watch out for us, eh?"
"So far it looks like we're winning." TK told the others as they left the ruins of Machinedramon's castle behind them. They were all stone faced and unusually quiet. It was only two days to get to the base of Khartan's fortress, and none of them were doing much besides thinking about that fateful confrontation.
"Here's to the future." Davis nodded at him as he walked ahead and led the group off to another battle.
"Given the disappearance of Machinedramon, it is now completely obvious that those digidestined were able to defeat him." Bane stood back from his master.
"Digidestined, eh? What a ridiculous name. Gennai can be quite foolish like that sometimes. Nevertheless I have no wish to combat him at this moment. Let them come, I assume that they are coming here next." Khartan turned lazily in his floating throne, eyes brushing the maps adorning the walls.
"I must admit Master, that I don't know for certain."
"So they have evaded your little spy-nets. Hmmmwell it is no matter. I probably won't even be here when they get here, and they're no threat to me. And if Daemon finishes up with that other group soon, they never will be either."
"Of course not Master."
"Oh, and Bane"
"Yes Master?"
"Stop calling me Master. It sticks in your throat."
Dinner among the elder digidestined was a quiet, subdued affair. Izzy was quiet and reflecting. Matt and Tai were both silent, thinking about siblings or their own failures in this world. Sora was considering her future, and Joe was thinking about the past. Even Mimi was strangely quiet. The digimon, sensing this unnatural stillness, this lack of motion and spirit, stayed quiet as well.
It was unnerving. Usually meals were a time filled with laughter and happiness, teasing and joking. Now it was all quiet. The fact that Daemon had swatted them like flies had done nothing for their self-confidence, or for their spirit. Now they were sitting their like they had been used up and forgotten, already beaten. During the night they had fought spectacularly, but Izzy had to admit that as daylight faded away, and they prepared to sleep once more, that whatever the day had done for them, it had not been good. Given all that time to brood about their problems and their failings, the kids who had once had the courage to save the world had fallen into a deep depression.
And now there was only the crackling of a fire and a small pile of firewood, sitting there almost unattended. As the shadows drew close they drew apart and, alone and in the cold, quietly fell into a deep slumber.
Outside, as the night drew close, despair began to stalk them.
Tai stumbled through nightmare after nightmare. In every one he was assaulted by the brutal smell of burned flesh, the screams of agony of his friends. The crackle of flames, the smell of boiling oil, the crack of the whip, all these sensations and more followed him through nightmarish hell after hell. At every stop he cried and begged for forgiveness, for a chance to change things, but every time he failed, every time he lost another friend to screaming torments. And through it all, the ghostly specter of his sister, lost, bleeding and alone haunted him.
And what was worse was that, as he plowed through every nightmare, breached the realms into every personal hell, he knew that he deserved every second of that terrible experience.
Izzy jerked awaked with a start, only remembering a brief image of darkness and fear from his nightmare. For a moment he sat there, trying to still his beating heart, and then he opened his laptop to see if he could do some work that would calm him. He had just opened it when a voice he heard made it stop in shock.
After a second he realized it was just the night watchman, Joe, talking to himself or to Gomamon. He sighed quickly and returned himself to a few calculations. It was not until he heard what Joe was actually saying that he stopped dead, all his attention focused on the words watching over him. Almost instinctively he turned the laptop to audio record mode, trying to suck all those words in.
Joe's voice kept him company for some time.
Breakfast was as quiet as dinner had been, a void, empty of conversation, and feeling somehow empty and desolate. It was not until they were finished that Izzy began to speak.
"I recorded some very odd things last night." He began, absently tapping keys on his laptop.
"Really, what?" Sora asked.
"Joe."
"What? Me?" Joe looked flustered for a moment, and then turned pale as he realized what Izzy must have recorded on his laptop.
Izzy merely pushed a button on the side of the laptop, and the compressed audio file began to play.
"all of us, the whole team, we're just a bunch of frauds." Joe's voice crackled through the speakers, coming through unnaturally crisp and clear.
"You see Gomamon, we all pretend that we can't win this. That we're a bunch of little kids sitting here not ready for having to deal with this. But the truth is that we're the most experienced, best equipped and greatest team on the planet. The truth is that, come the next day, we're going to kick Daemon's rear, because we're stronger than any of us ever dream is possible."
"You are stronger than you were." The digitized Gomamon responded.
"It's not just that pal. It's the fact that we're all a bunch of frauds. Maybe we're so scared of what we're becoming that maybe we don't see it. We like to pretend that we don't like each other so much, that we care about other things, but the truth is, no matter how we hide it, that we may be the closest friends on the planet.
"We're a team Gomamon. We try to pretend that we're not. We have our fights, our arguments and our disagreements. But the truth is that everybody has those. Maybe I see it clearer because I try to stay clear of our disagreements more, but something is definitely there. We're so strong that it scares me sometimes, when I can see it clearly. Well, I guess it really doesn't scare me, but the truth is, it can be a bit unnerving.
"I mean, think about it. How many years have we been doing this for? How many times have we been thrown into the breach without so much as an apology or time for a last handshake before we face death? But we always get through whatever they can throw at us, because we're strong inside.
"I think that part of our problem is the fact that we don't think we're very strong. Tai gets a bit hotheaded at times; Matt tends to withdraw into himself. Mimi can act a little foolishly at times, and Sora can be temperamental when she thinks she needs to be. Izzy can withdraw into his computer world, and I can turn into a total coward. I mean, it looks like we're completely dysfunctional sometimes."
"But you aren't" Gomamon responded.
"'Course we aren't." Joe continued calmly. "If we were dysfunctional, do you think we would still be here? No, we'd be dead, and the world would be in ruins. No, we usually get it together in the last minute, and pretend that we don't know why.
"I won't pretend that things are perfect, but look at the qualities we all have, that we all bring together. Tai may be hotheaded at times, but he usually makes the right decisions, and that's more important than anything. He keeps us together, and he keeps us going, even if we hate him for it, and that makes him even more admirable. I don't know what we would do without him, but the last time we tried, the group just fell apart. He's got a lot of courage, and you can depend on him in a fight, just the kind of thing we need to get out of this alive.
"Matt may be quiet and withdrawn, but he's the best friend you could ever have. I mean, look at him. He keeps his tongue still usually, but if you're in trouble, he'll be there. No matter how hard he tries to wear the mask of the popular rock star, we all know deep inside that if one of us is in trouble he'll drop whatever he's doing and run to help us out. We know that he'll always be there for us, no matter how much trouble we get ourselves into.
"Mimi pretends that she's still just focused on fashion and on boys and things like that, but she never really was, and she isn't now. She cares about people, and all of us know that. Even if the way she demonstrates it isn't always the best, she cares about everyone, and is perfectly willing to sacrifice her own comforts for the sake of others. She might seem to fragile and flighty, to not care about anything important in the outside world, but in the digital world, she can be herself. She can be the kind and caring person she is, and we all depend on her.
"As for Sora, well, TK had it right on the spot. She's our surrogate mother, and there's nothing more important than that. Even if she thinks she isn't strong enough or deep enough or has enough love for all of us or whatever today's crisis is, she's still is, or does. It's confusing, but the truth is, she brings a lot to us, and she'll always be ready to support us through everything. It's nice to have a shoulder to cry on sometimes, and we know that she'll always provide one. She keeps the team together, and we can depend on her for everything.
"And Izzy, well, look at him. It used to be that he wouldn't even give you the time of day if you asked him while he was on his computer. Now, whenever he loses himself in technology or science, he's always willing to break out and give you a hand to do what needs to be done. He'll explain anything to you, usually again and again and again and again until you get it right. And he's learned how to apply his knowledge to what we're doing, to help us.
"And even I've got some good factors now. I'm responsible. I'll take care of things. It's what I do."
"We know you all do good Joe." Gomamon sounded appeasing.
"It's more than that. We've finally got to the point where, if we work together, we don't have weaknesses anymore. We can fight, we can survive and we can take care of each other. If someone starts to slow down, Tai slows the group down, or Sora asks for a rest, or Izzy wants us to stop to investigate something. If we get in trouble in a fight everyone knows instinctively where everyone else is and what they're doing at that moment. Help arrives in seconds. We're a team, a living breathing single person who just happens to have six bodies. Twelve counting you guys. And don't think that we aren't. We just don't see it because it's part of us now. It's impossible to think of us treking through the digital world on an important assignment without each other. Without Izzy's constant analysis of the surroundings, Mimi's airy comments, Sora's supportive banter, Matt's taciturn silence, Tai's bluster and, even though I hate to admit it, my continual pessimism, we feel empty. It just doesn't seem to have occurred to everyone that the reason behind that is that we are a real team. A true force to be reckoned with.
"I used to wonder if we got our crests randomly, if they were randomly assigned or something. Now I think I know why we got them, and I think that it makes sense. We share our traits with everyone. Each person who has a crest does their best to spread their trait around, and is best cut out for it. Our friendship, our courage, our love, our sincerity, our knowledge and our reliability. If only one person has courage, that doesn't help us very much, but when we work together and share our traits, that's what makes us stronger.
"And that's why we're going to win next time. Not because we've got really strong digimon, or because we have a great plan. We're going to win because we've learned to eat Tai's cooking, to enjoy Sora singing when she's happy, to ignore Mimi's good-natured complaints, to put up with Matt's silence, or Izzy's occasionally inability to pay attention to us, or my pessimism. We've learned how to deal with all of that, and that's what makes us strong enough to win. Because we're a team now and there's nothing we can't do."
"I don't know Joe, It sounds pretty corny." Gomamon returned teasingly.
"It may be corny, but it's true." There was still passion in Joe's voice. "Together, once we work out our little problems, we're unbeatable. There isn't anything that can even slow us down, and we know it. All we have to do is rely on each other, and then there's no way we can lose.
"Tomorrow we're going to hit Daemon, and we're going to start losing right away. But, just as it seems that we're about to get wiped out, Izzy will have a brainstorm, or Tai will come up with a brilliant master plan and lead us to victory. Or Mimi will find a way to distract the enemy, while everyone else smashes him. If someone gets injured, Sora will take him to safety, or I will, while Matt distracts Daemon and whatever he brings with him. I've lost count of the times when we've almost been killed, but the key word here is almost. We always pull it together in the last minute, but we never realize just how good we've gotten, precisely because that is what happens. And that's why we're going to win tomorrow. He couldn't get us before, and he won't now."
"I'm with you there old buddy." Gomamon could be heard smiling, even if nobody could see him. "I'm with you there."
Izzy closed the audio file and looked around at everyone. "There's our answer. There's what we're going to do. We're going to fight just like we always do, we're going to work together like we always have, and we're going to win, because that's what we do. It's the kind of people we are.
"I must admit that what Joe said was completely true, and that it's probably the best thing that anyone's ever said about me. Being smart may be good, but it's nothing compared to being a friend. And it's why we're going to win, because everyone here is together and united, and we're all standing together against darkness and evil. And maybe it sounds like something that came off of a kid's show or something, but it's still the truth, and that makes it important."
"I agree totally." Sora joined in. "We have grown and changed a lot. We've got all the crests where it counts, and I think that may have something to do with our success. Matt told me once that all this stuff about the crests used to sound corny and all, but the amazing thing is that it turns out to be true, and we turn out having to use it. We may sound like we're writing an essay on civic virtues, but we believe in what we're doing."
"I remember when Gennai once confirmed our guess that the Digital World is a combination of digital data and people's dreams." Joe muttered, still red. "I realized then that if we believed in ourselves and each other here, in the middle of this world, that we would be able to succeed. That's where our powers are from."
"Hmmman interesting theory." Izzy noted.
Tai laughed. It was a sound that started out tenuously, as if he were somehow afraid that it might break him, might shatter him, but it grew louder and louder, stronger and stronger. It rose from the depths of his soul to shake the pillars of the world, and the color returned to his face in a rush. And so did the realization that, even if he had fallen down, he still could get up again. "I must admit I was kinda down that I let all you guys down, but I guess we got out of it all right, so we must still be good. I'm glad that we all still believe in each other, because I never stopped believing in you. Maybe my crest doesn't glow in battle yet, but it glows inside of me, and I think that this is where it counts."
"I'm with him." Matt told them. "I was a bit upset that you guys were doing all the work while it was my brother in the line, but we're all really in this together. And if we are, we've got each other to lean on. Every quality in our crests is backed by the qualities we have in each other, and we're a real team."
"So it's time to start acting like it." Izzy finished.
"It doesn't matter what Daemon did before." Tai stuck his hand out and the others put their hands on top of his, forming a column of impossible strength. "This time we'll finish him."
Author's Note to the Readers:
First, I would like to say that this took such a long time to re-edit because it is a difficult piece. The concept was good, but the execution has some flaws. Besides, season 1 Joe, which is the deepest analysis we have of Joe, would never say that, only a changed Joe would, which made it even harder.
That said, I must admit that there wil be a temporary ( 1 month) suspension probably in publication. I confess that I've been writing well ahead of where I've been publishing, but now I may have written mysef into a corner. It's going to take me a bit to work my way out of it, and I'll be spending what free time I have working on that rather than publishing new material. Additionally, the series is turning out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. I'm almost done, but the tremendous length of the saga is beginning to bog me down. Still, not bad for a first attempt at an epic.
Secondly, I have another reason for suspending. Some (a fair number) of the following episodes will take place in the real world. I think I'm going to postpone them until I manage to get to Tokyo and take a look around, which won't happen until the end of this month. So you should expect me back in September sometime.
Finally, the good news is that I really did write in advance, so once I straighten out my ending issues, I can publish much faster.
Sorry for keeping y'all waiting.
-danAlwyn
A Voice in the Darkness
"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of a continent, a part of the main;"
John Donne, Meditation XVII
"That's okay Patamon." TK responded, leaning out the window to take a look at the world around. "It doesn't look like there's anything to see out there."
"Except trees." Gatomon landed on TK's head, preventing Patamon from landing in his favorite spot. When the small mammal looked affronted Gatomon stuck her tongue out at him.
"Now watch it." Kari grabbed Gatomon's tail warningly. "You could be the one we send out to look at all the trees."
"I'll be good. I promise." Gatomon jumped back off of TK's head and landed in Kari's arms.
"Well, you haven't been good at it so far." Kari smiled as TK slid an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.
"Find something Ken?" TK asked as the boy genius re-emerged back into the daylight once more.
Ken shrugged. "Not really. I mean, what was I supposed to find? This place is historically fascinating. The buildings and rooms are all monuments to our heritage and our history. But if I don't want to sound like an essay on civics, there really is nothing here. Only copies of Japanese history. And that's not much use to us now."
"So there's nothing here." TK repeated, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling, when all of their D3s triggered.
"It's Yolei." Ken said tersely after a moment. "She wants us. She says it's not life threatening, but it's urgent."
"Well, what are we sitting around here for?" Gatomon asked, as the others dashed for the nearest stairwell.
"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the front." Gennai stood before the assembled senior officers of Fourth and Fifth Wings. "And welcome to Midgard."
There was only dead silence from the audience. Gennai had passed around the operational orders for Mjolnir and the overall operation, Midgard, only an hour before. Now the Citadel Tactical Command was finally assembled and willing to take questions.
There were not many, the orders were very specific, and the intelligence extremely detailed.
"What's the operational status of Mjolnir?" Asked the Head Operations Officer of Fifth Wing.
"Technically, we have all the problems licked." Cortell responded calmly. "The only problem will be launching it, and that will require enough forces in opposition of the transit point. Which means that we'll have to draw them in when we really need them."
"This will cost the Light Carrier wings pretty heavily. And our screen will definitely have some holes in it." Gennai explained the news calmly. "But we think that it's worth it if it means that we will end up with the concentration of forces opposing us that we expect."
The staff officers nodded. There was little else for them to do.
"I've collected many samples and done extensive research many times over." Izzy muttered to himself as he pried himself awake. "And no matter how many times I believe that I have accounted for all the possibilities, I am continually astounded by how many different hard and sharp objects that I can sleep on."
"What was it this time Izzy?" Sora wanted to know.
"I managed to roll off onto my gear. I spent the whole night, or what part of it we slept through, sleeping on top of my own shoes."
"That's new." Sora admitted.
"I just hurt. Who else is up?"
"Well, for once, the digimon. We really ended up not using them much in last night's battle, so they're pretty rested and ready to go. I think Gomamon is up and fishing already. Gabumon has been wandering around for a while with Agumon. I think they were out gathering something for breakfast. Matt's up already, he doesn't seem to need sleep as much of the rest of us."
Izzy thought about that for a moment, but he simply could not resist needling his red-headed friend. "And how would you know about that?"
"Because Iwhy youit's nothing like that." Her face was now nearly as red as her hair. "And here I thought you were the nice one Izumi."
"I am. Imagine what would have happened if you had said the same thing to Davis." Izzy grinned malevolently.
Sora could not help but laugh at that one. "I suppose so. Yeah, I understand. And one day, when you have a girlfriend, revenge will be so sweet."
"I live in foreboding of that day. Speaking of such topics, is everything patched up on that end? I don't mean to pry but I hate it when these things fall apart on me halfway through."
Sora nodded. "Yeah, Matt and I patched some things up, and so did Tai and I. I think I still need to have a talk with them, but right now we're ready to hit the bad guys, if not quite ready to hit the clubs."
"That's all I ask. Let's see what the others are up to."
"So who are you?" Kari asked after a moment of silence.
"Hnngghhh" The other digimon made a strangled sound into a cup of water, blotting out his voice.
"He looks like an off-color version of Wizardmon." Patamon whispered into his companions' ear. TK just nodded.
"My name" the strange digimon gasped after a moment. "Is Sorcerymon. I am a prisoner of Machinedramon. Who are you?"
"We're the guys who wiped your late jailor all over the floor." Davis bragged, striking a pose he probably thought was heroic. "We kicked his tail."
"Seriously." Veemon added, to back up his partner.
"Truly. You defeated Machinedramon?" That's incredible. Wait a minute" Sorcerymon's eyes narrowed suddenly. "How do I know that you aren't just leading me into some sort of trap from him?"
"With his castle in ruins and his henchmen nowhere to be found? Be serious." Yolei snorted.
"There is that." Sorcerymon mused.
"We've wiped the floor with Machinedramon." TK confirmed suddenly. "And we took care of Khartan's little pet Reaver too. And next, we get him."
"Reaver? Wait! You're human beings! You must be with Citadel! If that's true, maybe you can take out Khartan!"
"We think they sent us." Cody shrugged. "They really didn't give us much of a choice."
"Don't worry, they never do." Sorcerymon looked much more confident now. "But that means that we still have a fighting chance, and that means that I can help you win this little war, once and for all."
"And how are you going to do that?" Ken asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because I used to serve Lord SaberLeomon when he was ruler of this land. I lived in his fortress. And I know a few ways in and out that I doubt Khartan knows about yet. Will that help?"
"That, ladies and gentleman, is our ticket in." Davis proclaimed.
"So, what's the score?" Matt asked, kicking off the meeting. He was busy trying to fry something that looked vaguely fishlike. The entire group was getting tired of fish, but, considering the only other things they could find were birds, which were too fast to catch, and digimon, which nobody even suggested, they had little other choice. Matt was doing his best to spice things up any way he could, but he was not having that much success. After all, fish tends to taste like fish.
"The score is, him one, us zero." Sora retorted, but she was sitting comfortably next to him, with Tai next to her.
"I suppose that's about the way it works." Izzy replied. "Although it's more constructive to think of it as a prolonged stalemate."
"Oh yeah," Joe rolled his eyes at Izzy. "I feel better already."
They all laughed, remembering the first time this particular argument had come up way back when they were fighting the Dark Masters.
"So what do we do now?" Agumon asked, looking at Tai.
"Don't ask me." Tai muttered. "Izzy seems to be in charge now."
Everyone winced uncomfortably, but Izzy refused to take what was being offered. "That's not true Tai, and we know it. I took charge because I was best suited to, but you're a much better leader than I am because you can decide things and get them done. Right?"
"Okay, I guess."
"The best option is to wait for a while." Piximon reported from where he was sitting. "With the message we sent, it will only take a day for the others to join us, and with them, we have quite a formidable army. Since I suspect that Daemon is chasing after us in person, we could have quite a showdown out here. I think it's time to give him a heck of a surprise."
"Are we up to it?" Gabumon asked the others.
"We better be." Izzy returned darkly.
"So, a back way, eh?" Davis looked at the quick map that Ken had drawn on the scanner.
"Yes, and its well hidden. In fact, it isn't even supposed to be a way in. It's an aqueduct that used to run under the fortress. We replaced it with more modern water lines, but we never closed it up." Sorcerymon scratched his head. "It's protected by a few metal gates, but I can use a magical charm to open them up."
"Can you guide us around inside the fortress?" TK asked.
Sorcerymon shook his head. "No, probably not. You see, not long after moving in Khartan redesigned most of the fortress. I'm not sure why, but probably to appease his twisted sense of aesthetics."
"I don't even know what those words mean." Veemon grumbled.
"I'll explain them later." Davis whispered.
"How?" Yolei asked. "You don't even know yourself."
"I do too!"
"Ahem!" Sorcerymon brought everyone's attention back to him. "As I was saying before the two of you stole the show, it will be difficult to determine where he is. However, just from experience, he probably took up residence at the top of the tower, which has the best view. Overlords seem to like that for some reason."
"Why do they always have their rooms at the top?" Armadillomon grumbled.
"It's a defensive thing." Hawkmon returned lightly. "You see, if they put there rooms way up there all those of us who have come to conquer them have to trudge up a zillion flights of stairs on our way up. We'll be too tired when we get to the top to fight them."
"It isn't quite that high." Sorcerymon protested.
"What happened to the rest of SaberLeomon's followers?" TK asked.
For a moment Sorcerymon looked stricken, but he quickly recovered, shaking his head to remove any trace of his shock. "It's difficult to explain. You see, our world was once larger and more prosperous, home to humans and digimon alike. The great war changed all that all those years ago. Most of the great cities are now only ruins. Where they once were is only barren wasteland, carnage of war. Most of the civilians were evacuated through the massive transit points, warped to other worlds far away. For twenty years this place was on the front lines of a prolonged battle, never important enough for a major battle to decide its fate, but always important enough for the fighting to continue.
"We don't know how the war ended really. Only that, as time passed, the forces of darkness and of light abandoned this world to its own devices. To tell the truth, those who had hidden in the mountains and forests all those years while battle raged in the north tended not to care why the fighting was over. All that was important was that it was.
"It took years more to build our way back, from a small group of tiny communities to a nation once more. We were still small and weak, and we left the transit point alone mostly. It was only when SaberLeomon had grown enough in strength that we felt strong enough to challenge the darkness. We managed to seal the transit points, and, in our pride, declared our independence from both darkness and light.
"That's when it all fell apart. We could resist the forces of evil digimon when they attacked directly, but there were a lot of them. They really didn't want to die, so they put the fortress under siege. That lasted about a year, us slipping in and out, them waiting for something to happen. Then Khartan came.
"He destroyed our army, Ultimates and Champions all, in a matter of an hour, and then, with the help of his demons, captured the fortress, and sent our people into flight. Fortunately, there weren't that many of us, so we escaped into the forests and mountains once more. Only those unable to flee stayed.
"I must be one of the last of the royal circle to survive. They were going to execute me when they could, but they never got around to it. Now, since you seem to have the power to fight Khartan, I'm going with you. I don't know if we can win, but the truth is, if I've got to go down, I'd rather go down fighting."
"And we're going with you." Davis exclaimed. Within moments he, Ken and Sorcerymon were bogged down in planning. TK walked over to Kari, noticing that she was looking pale.
"What's wrong Kari?" he asked tenderly.
"A war killed this world." She whispered through clenched teeth. "You saw the ruinsthe emptinessthe desolation. War ravaged this world and broke its people. And that's what we're going to do again, isn't it?"
"Do we have a choice Kari? Do we really?"
"We could stop, we could try to escape"
"Really Kari? Would you doom the inhabitants of this world to save yourself, to stop yourself from damaging the ruins? I admit that sooner or later all of this has to stop, but first we have to win. And that means victory. Can you really abandon all those who still do live here just because you don't want to hurt anybody else?"
"NoI guess you're right, it's just that"
"It hurts." TK placed a hand on her cheek gently. "It hurts inside, in the heart. I wish to God that we didn't have to do this. I wish that we could have given this job to someone else, but we can't. We're the ones here, and if we turn our backs, we're just as bad as the people who did the damage in the first place."
Kari looked at him tearfully, then threw her arms around him, clutching him close. "Oh TK! I've just seen too much war, too much fightingI don't know what to do anymore. It's justwe never had a choice, did we?"
"Some people have a choice." TK tried to stay strong, but his mind was swimming with all the horrors the digital world had ever shown him. "We have destiny. And we hope that's enough."
Tai snapped another stick off against an inoffensive tree. The constant waiting was getting on his nerves and it was really beginning to show. Everything around him had become the target of violence, the subject of many different forms of abuse, from rock throwing to bare handed beating. From outside his range Izzy and Piximon watched carefully.
"We're going to defeat ourselves if this keeps up." Izzy murmured.
"Yes. You are not yet prepared to fight against Daemon. Especially if you continue in this manner." Piximon returned in all seriousness.
"Well, that's the way the cookie crumbles." Izzy replied, and then turned more serious. "So, can we really do this."
"I have faith in you." Piximon replied, giving Izzy his peculiar smile.
"I think I can live with that."
"I wonder sometimes how much damage I would have caused." Ken considered as he walked along a forest path, side by side with his faithful companion. "If I had remained faithful to evil, would I one day have led an invasion of the earth, of the real world. I wonder, I really do."
"Ken, don't worry about it. You'll make yourself sick." Wormmon protested.
"No, I'm over that now. I just wonder if I have that strength, that cunning, still inside of me."
"I hope not." Wormmon jumped up on a log and jumped off the other side while Ken merely stepped over.
"I don't know about that. You see, knowledge and skill are like a sword."
"A sword? Why is that?"
"Because a sword has two sides. It isn't evil really, but it isn't really good either. It just sort of is. Whether it's good or evil depends on who's holding it."
"And you think you can hold the sword the right way?" Wormmon inquired.
"Well, maybe." Ken confessed. "Using that much of my power might tempt me again, but I'm hoping that it won't. You see, I think I could have conquered the earth with my army of digimon slaves. I probably could have taken most of the world apart with my powers. Now the question becomes, can I use it for good?"
"You can do anything you want Ken." Wormmon replied, voicing his confidence.
"No. But together all of us can. And if we can, the bad guys better watch out for us, eh?"
"So far it looks like we're winning." TK told the others as they left the ruins of Machinedramon's castle behind them. They were all stone faced and unusually quiet. It was only two days to get to the base of Khartan's fortress, and none of them were doing much besides thinking about that fateful confrontation.
"Here's to the future." Davis nodded at him as he walked ahead and led the group off to another battle.
"Given the disappearance of Machinedramon, it is now completely obvious that those digidestined were able to defeat him." Bane stood back from his master.
"Digidestined, eh? What a ridiculous name. Gennai can be quite foolish like that sometimes. Nevertheless I have no wish to combat him at this moment. Let them come, I assume that they are coming here next." Khartan turned lazily in his floating throne, eyes brushing the maps adorning the walls.
"I must admit Master, that I don't know for certain."
"So they have evaded your little spy-nets. Hmmmwell it is no matter. I probably won't even be here when they get here, and they're no threat to me. And if Daemon finishes up with that other group soon, they never will be either."
"Of course not Master."
"Oh, and Bane"
"Yes Master?"
"Stop calling me Master. It sticks in your throat."
Dinner among the elder digidestined was a quiet, subdued affair. Izzy was quiet and reflecting. Matt and Tai were both silent, thinking about siblings or their own failures in this world. Sora was considering her future, and Joe was thinking about the past. Even Mimi was strangely quiet. The digimon, sensing this unnatural stillness, this lack of motion and spirit, stayed quiet as well.
It was unnerving. Usually meals were a time filled with laughter and happiness, teasing and joking. Now it was all quiet. The fact that Daemon had swatted them like flies had done nothing for their self-confidence, or for their spirit. Now they were sitting their like they had been used up and forgotten, already beaten. During the night they had fought spectacularly, but Izzy had to admit that as daylight faded away, and they prepared to sleep once more, that whatever the day had done for them, it had not been good. Given all that time to brood about their problems and their failings, the kids who had once had the courage to save the world had fallen into a deep depression.
And now there was only the crackling of a fire and a small pile of firewood, sitting there almost unattended. As the shadows drew close they drew apart and, alone and in the cold, quietly fell into a deep slumber.
Outside, as the night drew close, despair began to stalk them.
Tai stumbled through nightmare after nightmare. In every one he was assaulted by the brutal smell of burned flesh, the screams of agony of his friends. The crackle of flames, the smell of boiling oil, the crack of the whip, all these sensations and more followed him through nightmarish hell after hell. At every stop he cried and begged for forgiveness, for a chance to change things, but every time he failed, every time he lost another friend to screaming torments. And through it all, the ghostly specter of his sister, lost, bleeding and alone haunted him.
And what was worse was that, as he plowed through every nightmare, breached the realms into every personal hell, he knew that he deserved every second of that terrible experience.
Izzy jerked awaked with a start, only remembering a brief image of darkness and fear from his nightmare. For a moment he sat there, trying to still his beating heart, and then he opened his laptop to see if he could do some work that would calm him. He had just opened it when a voice he heard made it stop in shock.
After a second he realized it was just the night watchman, Joe, talking to himself or to Gomamon. He sighed quickly and returned himself to a few calculations. It was not until he heard what Joe was actually saying that he stopped dead, all his attention focused on the words watching over him. Almost instinctively he turned the laptop to audio record mode, trying to suck all those words in.
Joe's voice kept him company for some time.
Breakfast was as quiet as dinner had been, a void, empty of conversation, and feeling somehow empty and desolate. It was not until they were finished that Izzy began to speak.
"I recorded some very odd things last night." He began, absently tapping keys on his laptop.
"Really, what?" Sora asked.
"Joe."
"What? Me?" Joe looked flustered for a moment, and then turned pale as he realized what Izzy must have recorded on his laptop.
Izzy merely pushed a button on the side of the laptop, and the compressed audio file began to play.
"all of us, the whole team, we're just a bunch of frauds." Joe's voice crackled through the speakers, coming through unnaturally crisp and clear.
"You see Gomamon, we all pretend that we can't win this. That we're a bunch of little kids sitting here not ready for having to deal with this. But the truth is that we're the most experienced, best equipped and greatest team on the planet. The truth is that, come the next day, we're going to kick Daemon's rear, because we're stronger than any of us ever dream is possible."
"You are stronger than you were." The digitized Gomamon responded.
"It's not just that pal. It's the fact that we're all a bunch of frauds. Maybe we're so scared of what we're becoming that maybe we don't see it. We like to pretend that we don't like each other so much, that we care about other things, but the truth is, no matter how we hide it, that we may be the closest friends on the planet.
"We're a team Gomamon. We try to pretend that we're not. We have our fights, our arguments and our disagreements. But the truth is that everybody has those. Maybe I see it clearer because I try to stay clear of our disagreements more, but something is definitely there. We're so strong that it scares me sometimes, when I can see it clearly. Well, I guess it really doesn't scare me, but the truth is, it can be a bit unnerving.
"I mean, think about it. How many years have we been doing this for? How many times have we been thrown into the breach without so much as an apology or time for a last handshake before we face death? But we always get through whatever they can throw at us, because we're strong inside.
"I think that part of our problem is the fact that we don't think we're very strong. Tai gets a bit hotheaded at times; Matt tends to withdraw into himself. Mimi can act a little foolishly at times, and Sora can be temperamental when she thinks she needs to be. Izzy can withdraw into his computer world, and I can turn into a total coward. I mean, it looks like we're completely dysfunctional sometimes."
"But you aren't" Gomamon responded.
"'Course we aren't." Joe continued calmly. "If we were dysfunctional, do you think we would still be here? No, we'd be dead, and the world would be in ruins. No, we usually get it together in the last minute, and pretend that we don't know why.
"I won't pretend that things are perfect, but look at the qualities we all have, that we all bring together. Tai may be hotheaded at times, but he usually makes the right decisions, and that's more important than anything. He keeps us together, and he keeps us going, even if we hate him for it, and that makes him even more admirable. I don't know what we would do without him, but the last time we tried, the group just fell apart. He's got a lot of courage, and you can depend on him in a fight, just the kind of thing we need to get out of this alive.
"Matt may be quiet and withdrawn, but he's the best friend you could ever have. I mean, look at him. He keeps his tongue still usually, but if you're in trouble, he'll be there. No matter how hard he tries to wear the mask of the popular rock star, we all know deep inside that if one of us is in trouble he'll drop whatever he's doing and run to help us out. We know that he'll always be there for us, no matter how much trouble we get ourselves into.
"Mimi pretends that she's still just focused on fashion and on boys and things like that, but she never really was, and she isn't now. She cares about people, and all of us know that. Even if the way she demonstrates it isn't always the best, she cares about everyone, and is perfectly willing to sacrifice her own comforts for the sake of others. She might seem to fragile and flighty, to not care about anything important in the outside world, but in the digital world, she can be herself. She can be the kind and caring person she is, and we all depend on her.
"As for Sora, well, TK had it right on the spot. She's our surrogate mother, and there's nothing more important than that. Even if she thinks she isn't strong enough or deep enough or has enough love for all of us or whatever today's crisis is, she's still is, or does. It's confusing, but the truth is, she brings a lot to us, and she'll always be ready to support us through everything. It's nice to have a shoulder to cry on sometimes, and we know that she'll always provide one. She keeps the team together, and we can depend on her for everything.
"And Izzy, well, look at him. It used to be that he wouldn't even give you the time of day if you asked him while he was on his computer. Now, whenever he loses himself in technology or science, he's always willing to break out and give you a hand to do what needs to be done. He'll explain anything to you, usually again and again and again and again until you get it right. And he's learned how to apply his knowledge to what we're doing, to help us.
"And even I've got some good factors now. I'm responsible. I'll take care of things. It's what I do."
"We know you all do good Joe." Gomamon sounded appeasing.
"It's more than that. We've finally got to the point where, if we work together, we don't have weaknesses anymore. We can fight, we can survive and we can take care of each other. If someone starts to slow down, Tai slows the group down, or Sora asks for a rest, or Izzy wants us to stop to investigate something. If we get in trouble in a fight everyone knows instinctively where everyone else is and what they're doing at that moment. Help arrives in seconds. We're a team, a living breathing single person who just happens to have six bodies. Twelve counting you guys. And don't think that we aren't. We just don't see it because it's part of us now. It's impossible to think of us treking through the digital world on an important assignment without each other. Without Izzy's constant analysis of the surroundings, Mimi's airy comments, Sora's supportive banter, Matt's taciturn silence, Tai's bluster and, even though I hate to admit it, my continual pessimism, we feel empty. It just doesn't seem to have occurred to everyone that the reason behind that is that we are a real team. A true force to be reckoned with.
"I used to wonder if we got our crests randomly, if they were randomly assigned or something. Now I think I know why we got them, and I think that it makes sense. We share our traits with everyone. Each person who has a crest does their best to spread their trait around, and is best cut out for it. Our friendship, our courage, our love, our sincerity, our knowledge and our reliability. If only one person has courage, that doesn't help us very much, but when we work together and share our traits, that's what makes us stronger.
"And that's why we're going to win next time. Not because we've got really strong digimon, or because we have a great plan. We're going to win because we've learned to eat Tai's cooking, to enjoy Sora singing when she's happy, to ignore Mimi's good-natured complaints, to put up with Matt's silence, or Izzy's occasionally inability to pay attention to us, or my pessimism. We've learned how to deal with all of that, and that's what makes us strong enough to win. Because we're a team now and there's nothing we can't do."
"I don't know Joe, It sounds pretty corny." Gomamon returned teasingly.
"It may be corny, but it's true." There was still passion in Joe's voice. "Together, once we work out our little problems, we're unbeatable. There isn't anything that can even slow us down, and we know it. All we have to do is rely on each other, and then there's no way we can lose.
"Tomorrow we're going to hit Daemon, and we're going to start losing right away. But, just as it seems that we're about to get wiped out, Izzy will have a brainstorm, or Tai will come up with a brilliant master plan and lead us to victory. Or Mimi will find a way to distract the enemy, while everyone else smashes him. If someone gets injured, Sora will take him to safety, or I will, while Matt distracts Daemon and whatever he brings with him. I've lost count of the times when we've almost been killed, but the key word here is almost. We always pull it together in the last minute, but we never realize just how good we've gotten, precisely because that is what happens. And that's why we're going to win tomorrow. He couldn't get us before, and he won't now."
"I'm with you there old buddy." Gomamon could be heard smiling, even if nobody could see him. "I'm with you there."
Izzy closed the audio file and looked around at everyone. "There's our answer. There's what we're going to do. We're going to fight just like we always do, we're going to work together like we always have, and we're going to win, because that's what we do. It's the kind of people we are.
"I must admit that what Joe said was completely true, and that it's probably the best thing that anyone's ever said about me. Being smart may be good, but it's nothing compared to being a friend. And it's why we're going to win, because everyone here is together and united, and we're all standing together against darkness and evil. And maybe it sounds like something that came off of a kid's show or something, but it's still the truth, and that makes it important."
"I agree totally." Sora joined in. "We have grown and changed a lot. We've got all the crests where it counts, and I think that may have something to do with our success. Matt told me once that all this stuff about the crests used to sound corny and all, but the amazing thing is that it turns out to be true, and we turn out having to use it. We may sound like we're writing an essay on civic virtues, but we believe in what we're doing."
"I remember when Gennai once confirmed our guess that the Digital World is a combination of digital data and people's dreams." Joe muttered, still red. "I realized then that if we believed in ourselves and each other here, in the middle of this world, that we would be able to succeed. That's where our powers are from."
"Hmmman interesting theory." Izzy noted.
Tai laughed. It was a sound that started out tenuously, as if he were somehow afraid that it might break him, might shatter him, but it grew louder and louder, stronger and stronger. It rose from the depths of his soul to shake the pillars of the world, and the color returned to his face in a rush. And so did the realization that, even if he had fallen down, he still could get up again. "I must admit I was kinda down that I let all you guys down, but I guess we got out of it all right, so we must still be good. I'm glad that we all still believe in each other, because I never stopped believing in you. Maybe my crest doesn't glow in battle yet, but it glows inside of me, and I think that this is where it counts."
"I'm with him." Matt told them. "I was a bit upset that you guys were doing all the work while it was my brother in the line, but we're all really in this together. And if we are, we've got each other to lean on. Every quality in our crests is backed by the qualities we have in each other, and we're a real team."
"So it's time to start acting like it." Izzy finished.
"It doesn't matter what Daemon did before." Tai stuck his hand out and the others put their hands on top of his, forming a column of impossible strength. "This time we'll finish him."