Disclaimer:I don't own Digimon. Nor do I claim to.
Author's Note: Well this took me freakin' forever. Unfortunately, it's not even close to my standards, but every time I rewrite it, I don't get any closer. I'm sorry it takes me so long to do this stuff, but so it goes. I'll try to be faster. I've had some pretty heavy writer's block. On the other hand I finally got a copy of Digimon Movie 4, which has some pretty awesome scenes. I'll try to incorporate some of that stuff in the future.
Important Note: This story arc is drawing to a close, which means that it's about time to change to a new title. After the next episode, the story will be continued under the title of
Acts of War: Holding the Line
Which should hopefully wrap everything up.
Thanks for bearing with me!
Episode XXV
Reunion
"You're up early." Tai stood next to TK, both of them watching the sun rise above a distant mountain range. Before them a lake they had discovered shimmered in the rays of the rising sun.
"Something on your mind Tai?" The younger digidestined had removed his hat, but he still looked like plain old TK.
"Yeah, I just want to say, even though it's hard, that I hope you and my sister have a wonderful life, or time, or whatever. I know it sometimes takes a lot to make me realize that I'm wrong about some things, and this is no exception. But I think I understand that Kari's grown up now. She's a year ahead of where she should be because of all this digi-world time stuff, and now she's a lot ahead of where she should be mentally. I mean she's ready to make her own choices, and I respect that. Besides, I think that you're a great choice myself."
"Thanks Tai." TK smiled. "You don't know how much it means to me to have your support for this."
"You better watch out though. I'm not going to make this too easy on you. I still have a reputation to maintain." Tai joked, ruffling TK's hair.
"So, is there anything about Kari I should know?" TK asked, throwing a rock in the lake and smiling at the reflections of the sun.
"Like what?" Tai replied, sitting down next to him.
"What she likes, where she likes to eat...stuff like that."
"Oh, I see. Well, get comfortable, this will take a while."
"So how's it been with you?" Joe was busy washing dishes from last night, both of his arms elbow deep in soap, but he was still looking like he was having a pleasant time.
"I don't know. I suppose I'm still getting used to this, the seriousness of this and all that. It just seems too big for me, for all of us." Cody polished a plate with his towel and looked at it dubiously, as if it would grow dirt once he turned his back.
"Well that's what life is like." Joe responded. "Are you ready for what's coming?"
"Yeah, even though I'm scared. After all, we have to fight for our home next."
"Well, we've done that before. Cheer up, we'll get him. After all, he ran from us already, didn't he?"
"Well, he ran in the wrong direction." Cody complained.
"Ah, that's nothing. We'll get in gear and take him...won't we Gomamon?" Joe turned to his partner who was watching them with interest.
"It sounds good to me."
"Ahhh..." Matt yawned and woke up, blinking from the long sleep, and surveyed his bedroom with sleepy interest. The only people in the boy's room was Davis, still snoring on the bed, Veemon right beside him, both completely oblivious to the world. Matt grinned, considered doing something horrible, and then stood up and left the room heading for the bathroom.
After a quick immersion in hot water, wearing cleaner clothes and feeling much better the teenage rock star made it into the living room where Izzy and Ken were talking to each other in low, excited voices, clearly carrying on the conversation they had been having yesterday. The two of them were making excited gestures in the air, but their eyes were truly glued to Izzy's computer screen. Matt smiled at that too before making his way into the kitchen, where Joe and Cody, having just finished dishes from last night's dinner, were starting on breakfast.
Matt got out the frying pan and leaned over to help them just as Sora and Kari entered the kitchen from the other direction, both laughing at something.
"So what's for breakfast?" Sora looked over at Matt with appealing eyes.
"Whatever you help fix." Matt laughed, miming throwing an egg at her. Sora stuck out her tongue at him and moved over next to Joe to help slice the loaf of bread that he had found in the refrigerator. Kari smiled at both of them, and then giggled as Joe, so startled at Sora's appearance through his intense concentration on the bread, almost managed to take off his own fingers.
His yelp of surprise was still echoing as Tai and TK walked in from outside, looking hungry. "So what's cooking?" they both asked as one.
Everyone else groaned. Sora pretended to whack Tai over the head with the loaf of bread, while Kari gave TK a glare that turned into a rather goofy grin.
"What?" Tai asked.
"Out!" Matt pointed. "Out of my kitchen!"
Laughing out loud, and yelling too, all those who were not helping to cook quickly walked out of the building.
"Breakfast!" Matt called, thumping the side of the doorway.
Mimi and Yolei, both still rubbing sleep out of their eyes, tumbled into the dining room. Davis, sopping wet, had required a more dramatic means to wake him up, and now, after chasing Ken through half the house, was digging in with an appetite. The others were already eating and drinking, enjoying Matt's cooking, and their own company.
"It's good to be back together." Yolei remarked. "Please pass the bread Sora.."
"Of course."
"The eggs please..."
"Could I have another helping of those fried mushrooms..."
"Of course..."
"You're fat enough already..."
"I AM NOT!"
"Could you break it up and pass the toast back?"
The conversation at breakfast was like so many of their old meetings, meetings they had been part of what seemed like years ago. They were friends once again, as always, talking to each other as if they were still in Odaiba or walking through the streets of Tokyo, carefree and happy. Weeks of disaster, death and destruction fell away as easily as the dirt they had cleaned off. Dismay and despair were erased with the flick of fingers, with the casual conversation that flooded their beings. The digidestined were back in action once again.
"So now that you have reunited, I suppose that this is the time for talk of action." Babamon reappeared briefly, upsetting Joe, who had been drinking a quiet cup of tea and seemed quite startled to have the wizened old digimon appear right next to him.
"Any advice?" Ken asked her.
"I have some." The door opened, seemingly of its own accord, and then, floating through the air a young image of Gennai came through, his eyes narrowed in concentration.
"Gennai!" They yelled.
"I have some news, good and bad. What do you want?"
"The bad first, let's get it over with." Tai decided with his old decisiveness, and everyone nodded.
"All right...here it goes. When Tai and his group came through they upset the balance of the gate. As a result Khartan was able to lock it behind him. As it stands, you actually can't use it."
"So how do we get back home?" Davis jerked up, eyes wide.
"I'm getting to that." Gennai sounded annoyed. "There will be a time tomorrow when the gate will be available to transfer through."
"When?" Izzy asked.
"I don't know." Gennai responded carefully.
Everybody groaned in unison. Gomamon rolled his eyes.
"I don't know because it will start as soon as Justice finishes his preliminary bombardment, and that depends on how long intelligence tells him that he should go on. That means that I can only say that it should happen sometime early tomorrow afternoon."
"How will we know?" Biyomon asked.
"Simple. The Gate will release a great burst of heat and light, and illuminate the entire castle, filling every corner, every nook with light. At least, we hope that's all it will do. You only have a few minutes to go through the gate after that, but that should blow open any protections on it."
"How are you bombarding things?" Babamon asked from behind, causing Joe to start again.
"You haven't heard then?" Gennai's face grew even darker, even more tired and worn looking, and for a moment it looked more like the face of Gennai as an old man again. His brows drew low over his face. "It started over For-kalas. The Darkness Crest must have been getting desparate to keep their holdings there. They allowed for the use of strategic-level nuclear weapons."
Babamon drew in a sharp breath. The digidestined had no idea where this was, but their faces grew white as they understood the import.
"Fortunately we had been expecting something of the sort. We got all of them but one, but that one killed almost twenty thousand people on the flank, most of them refugees. The council decided to respond as the treaty permits. We hit back as hard as we could of course." Gennai's face was rapidly darkening toward black. He seemed to be seething with internal anger.
"Anti-matter." Babamon's voice was thinned and strained, as if she wanted not to hear the word coming out of her mouth.
"Twenty warheads. It's estimated that we got almost five million people in one mass strike. And that counts for most of the twenty-third and nearly half the available Manhunter firepower, not to mention chunks of their other fleets."
"But there were civilian casualties." Babamon pressed.
"Oh yes." Gennai laughed grimly. "The council doesn't sleep to well at night any more."
"Things are as they must be." Babamon quoted. "We are fools to change our destiny."
"But we are fools to cease to fight it." Gennai returned.
"So," Tai continued, trying to keep out of this discussion. "we have to do this tomorrow. In the afternoon you say."
"Be ready." Gennai stared at them. "I can't tell you more than that."
"What about Khartan?" Kari asked, keeping her eye on their true enemy.
"I don't know. He's up to something on Earth, but I don't think that he's ready to launch an all-out war of conquest. He's too wise to try something like that. Nevertheless I fear that he is up to something quite large. The only advice that I can give you and your companions on Earth is to be wary always, always ready for whatever is to come next."
"Will there ever be peace?" Sora asked sadly.
"Yes, yes, one day. But I fear not for us." And Gennai stared at something that he could not see, smiling grimly.
"I would be a fool to refuse Gennai's advice. I suggest that you not make the same mistake." Babamon reclined against a chair.
"So we go off now, and prepare to attack tomorrow." Tai pointed at images in the map Ken had manufactured for them.
"Or get there tonight and wait." Izzy countered.
"That sounds good." Tentomon remarked. "Although I could be biased."
"Either way, we need a plan, and I think this is our best shot." Tai looked around. "We absolutely have to win this. More than ever before is at stake. The other digidestined are completely unprepared. We're the only ones who can save the world again, and this time we're not getting any miracles. So this is for real, right?"
"Right." They all responded.
"So here's the plan so far. MegaKabuterimon is large enough to carry us to the castle itself, something that means that we can get there almost immediately. We can use the same disguised access. Sorcerymon, are there any other entries you're aware of that he might not know?"
"No." Sorcerymon shook his head.
"So we close on the bastard and take him apart. We already know that the power of Omnimon and ImperialDramon is enough to take out something like that, and I think that together we're going to be near invincible." Tai looked around. "That doesn't mean that we take chances though. Ken?"
Ken stepped up, flawlessly taking control of the group. "We have orders this time, especially since this time is for keeps. Once that moment of light happens, we have no choice. The most important thing is that we get through that gate. Without the gate, without one of us returning to Earth, there's no chance for the real world. Someone has to warn them, or has to help organize them. So, if we're engaged in battle once that light goes off everyone who can better head for the gate. You have to leave anyone else behind." Ken's voice grew pained, his eyes wavered, but he managed to hold steady. "I know how horrible it sounds, but we absolutely must get back to Earth. Without that everything we do is meaningless. Digidestined, heroes, I'm sorry, but the survival of the Earth is beyond all of us. If some of us get trapped here..." his voice choked off for a moment before resuming. "...well, the only thing you can do is get out of here. With Khartan gone you can liberate this world. I'm sure you'll find a way home soon, but we have to leave you. I'm sorry."
Everyone stayed silent. There was nothing they could say.
"Sir, our ammo carriers are here. We have resupply for our last cruisers." The orderly stood there, strictly at attention, staring sightlessly at Justice's back.
"Very good." Justice rumbled, in a voice that shook the floor. "Carry on."
The orderly left and Courage turned around again, tracing the lines of the corridor with laser-sharp eyes. "Well, that's the last of it. Once we have resupply the fleet will be awaiting your command."
"How about our ground cover?" Justice asked, refusing to make eye contact.
"Ready to go sir."
"Very good. Send the fleet to level 2. Inform Admiral Marhaks that this whole thing is about to come down on his shoulders."
Courage nodded. Admiral Marhaks commanded the forward bombardment weapons divisions that were standing by the gateway. In a matter of minutes heavy warheads mounted on huge missiles would be firing their way through the twists and turns of interdimensional space, arriving at their target on another world, hopefully shattering the defenses of the inner ring. Not that any of this would matter anyway.
Justice let his vision stray away again, away from the reports and the huge mess of numbers that were keeping the war running. Instead they centered on the huge mountainous peaks that loomed outside the upper deck, peaks that dominated the viewscreen he was staring at. It was almost as if he was trying to bore a hole in the rock by staring at it for too long.
A flight of Phoenixmon zoomed by, clearly heading for forward battle positions. Justice smiled grimly and nodded, giving their battle-lust the final benediction.
"Battle three to ready position." Courage snaps behind him. Their was a chorus of recognition behind them as everyone else straps in and straps down.
Fighters scream off their landing decks, some heading for certain death, some just for a few hours of terror. Weapons masters run through a final, unnecessary check, all corrections already having been made.
"Let's get this show on the road."
Three people clustered together. Izzy, Mimi and Ken stared deep into each others eyes.
"One of us has to make it back." Izzy emphasized, smashing his hand against his open palm. "It is essential. As soon as you make it through the doorway, you have to initiate Phase One. This is the big one, the one we've been waiting for. Can we do it?"
"Of course." Ken grinned at him. "Phase One will be easy."
"Who has real combat experience out there thought?" Izzy asked.
"I know that Team Eagle has been busy. They do a lot. Probably the Australians and the Russians and the European Legion as well." Mimi mused to herself.
"Well that gives us a starting point." Ken nodded. "Those teams will form the nexus and fulcrum of our new defense."
"The question is..." Izzy asked slowly. "Will any of the others be able to help?"
Nighttime came slowly.
Tai had insisted that they sleep through the day to rest up for the night's endeavous. He had even gotten to the point where he had offered to send Davis around with a stick and send everybody to bed the hard way. This created all sorts of problems, grumbling and mumbling around the camp, hard looks directed in Tai's direction. He ignored them all, and everyone felt glad. It looked like the old self-confident Tai had taken command again, and they were all happy that he had. Even Davis was looking a lot happier.
After a fitful afternoon of sleep they had all managed to rise around nightfall. In fact most of them had been drifting in and out of exhausted slumber throughout the afternoon, sometimes coming to talk to Tai, sometimes not. Sometimes they had spoken to Babamon, whose wisdom gave them the answers to questions they had not known they had. Sometimes they just sat quietly, watching the sun slowly pass through the sky.
Babamon talked to them of their plans for the future, of the way in which they hoped to succeed. She congratulated them on their heroic feats, and promised to look forward to their new ones. She and Sorcerymon apparently remembered each other from some time long ago, because they talked for a long while. But throughout it all she was looking at all of them like she would never see them again. It was only when nightfall came, when the moon rose grudgingly over the horizon, that she stood up to talk to them.
"I hope you understand how precious you are to this world, and how precious is the gift of Hope you have brought us." Babamon smiled at them. "I know that you can succeed out there today, and I hope that you do. I know that you carry the strength within to pass any trial, survive any test. If all goes well we will not meet again on this world. I hope that you succeed in your endeavor, I hope that you return to save your world, I am glad that you came, I am glad that you gave us what you did. And since your success means that we will not meet again, I give you my farewells. May fortune favor wherever you go digidestined." With that she gave them all a low bow.
They bowed back, but were at a loss for words. There was nothing except silence as they boarded MegaKabuterimon and took off into the night sky.
When they looked back finally both Babamon and her house were gone.
They came silently, like wraiths, creeping through the tunnels under the castle. Every time they heard a noise, they froze. The terror pumping in their hearts kept them moving forward. This was no longer about them, the weight of every other life on the face of the Earth seemed to be weighing heavily on them.
Hiding under tables and chairs while a single digimon checked the corridors ahead, sneaking around through the corridors that normally only servants used, they passed straight through to the top of the castle. Every moment they were alert, waiting for the sound that would tell them that they had been discovered, that the guards were on their way.
This time their caution seemed to be justified. It seemed that Khartan's boast about taking his army to the real world was hollow. The place was filled with hostile digimon, each one stalking after their masters. Patrols of Bakemon trailed through the palace at large while, through the scarce windows, they could watch other, more monstrous digimon take up positions outside, keeping a careful eye on the castle grounds. Everywhere there were hordes of digimon, waiting for the digidestined to show up and make their move.
Fortunately Sorcerymon was able to demonstrate his true worth. He glided through the corridors like a ghost, avoiding every patrol that was running around on the ground floors. It appeared that all those years of living in the fortress had given him extensive knowledge of the different ways through it, and he used every trick he still had left up his sleeve.
"Now what?" Izzy would ask, scanning ahead with his laptop while Ken helped with his scanner. Once they were certain that there were no enemy digimon around Sorcerymon would point and they would sneak through empty deserted hallways, always waiting for the tense moment when a patrol would come. More than once they were caught in a narrow passage, holding their breath and waiting for their enemy to pass them by. Once TK almost walked right into a Bakemon who, fortunately, was turned in the other direction. Once a digimon saw Joe's profile through a door, but they managed to hide when the searchers came looking for something. Once Davis got stuck in a hiding spot and it took five tense minutes to free him. Once a collapsing piece of furniture almost got them caught, but they ran away just in time.
They backtracked more than once, twisting and turning their way through collapsed rooms and hallways as the way Sorcerymon had at first indicated turned out to be trapped. Eventually they reached the area around the Grand Hall.
"So now what?" Yolei hissed. "Through the hall?"
"Not a good idea." Ken whispered back, pointing at his scanner. "It seems that they're waiting for us."
"Well, that's the only way up." Sorcerymon insisted.
"Maybe not." Cody was looking up. "Look."
Up above them the ceiling was twisted and broken. It appeared that their first battle inside the castle had caused some serious damage everywhere, and part of that damage was that the upper levels now had huge holes in their floors. Right above them was a gap that was just the right size, twenty meters in the air.
"So how do we get up there?" Matt asked.
"We could fly." Patamon suggested.
"No, we can't be carried up there, I don't think you guys are up to it yet." Tai mused. "We need a rope."
"Yeah Tai." Matt muttered sarcastically. "Let's just sit here until you find us a rope."
Sora felt a sudden tug in her pack. It repeated itself, feeling almost as if she was trying to hold an eager puppy contained in it. With a puzzled glance she pulled her pack off and opened it, revealing the stick, carved with intricate wooden flowers, that she had received on her first day here. Suddenly, as she loosened her grip around it, it seemed to explode into action, growing until it reached the hole in the ceiling, like a fireman's pole.
"Wow." Gabumon muttered.
"That's convenient." Hawkmon elaborated.
"So how do we climb that?" Joe wanted to know, tilting his head back.
Sora shrugged and took hold of it. Suddenly it felt as if she were upside down, and she began sliding rapidly towards the ceiling, and through the hole, just barely making it without scratching herself. On the other side there was nothing except waste, destruction and darkness, the corridor apparently having been trashed by the struggle between Sickle and Omnimon. She collapsed quickly to one side, overcome by the sudden adrenaline rush.
"Sora, are you all right?" Biyomon was floating on the other side of the crack.
Sora peered down at the others and gave them a thumbs-up sign. Tai grinned and grabbed hold of the rod, clearly trying to climb it. His mouth nearly fell open as he also seemed to be sliding in the wrong direction, with Agumon right behind him. He popped out the top end and landed heavily on his feet and blinked a few times.
"Whoa." He managed to say, before Matt popped through after him, eyes also wide.
"I like this thing." Matt commented, a moment before an emerging Joe catapulted into him and knocked him to the ground.
It took about five minutes for them to not only get all the way up but to convince the stick that it should shrink down again. Sora felt like she was talking to a stubborn dog, but she eventually managed to stick the thing back in her pack.
"So now where?" Izzy asked.
"See anything?" TK inquired, peering around the darkness.
"Not here." Izzy replied.
"What time is it?" Ken looked around in the darkness.
"About noon." Izzy replied looking at his computer.
"Noon!" They hissed together, remembering only in the last moment that they had to keep from shouting.
"How long did it take us to get through the castle?" TK muttered, clutching his head.
"Too long." Ken returned grimly. "We need to go."
"Do you know where the gate is?" Sora asked Sorcerymon intently.
"That way, I think." Sorcerymon pointed. "But to tell you the truth, I really don't know."
"Let's go!" Izzy snapped his laptop closed.
It felt like they were running a race. The images of loved ones kept popping up in their heads, driving them onwards as if they had whips planted in their souls to drive them onwards and upwards, through all the petty distractions surrounding them. They scrambled over rubble, through fallen columns and statues, and up the shattered remains of staircases.
Here and there they could see breath-taking views of mountains and forests below as they staggered past huge rents in the wall, but they paid no attention, desperately trying to run up the stairs to the top of the castle. It was only when they got through the first levels that they really got in trouble.
A patrol of Bakemon turned the corner in front of them. Tai realized that they had gotten careless in their sudden rush, and now were completely out of options.
"Attack!" he yelled, pointing, just as the Bakemon rounded the corner.
Surprised, he watched as TK and Ken catapulted past him, TK striking out with his staff like it was a living extension of his arm. Ken kicked and punched, giving their surprised digimon a second to get into the battle. Then Agumon and Gabumon rushed past, opening fire, all hope of surprise lost, and Hawkmon and Biyomon soared by overheads, and then, to Tai's further surprise, Cody ran past, holding his unsheathed sword.
"Well leader boy..." Matt murmured in Tai's ear after Cody had run past. "What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?"
Tai charged off after the now retreating Bakemon. Within moments the white ghosts had been kicked, punched or generally pummeled into temporary oblivion.
"You've picked up some tricks." Tai whispered to TK as they set out running again.
"Tell me about it." TK responded.
"Maybe later." Tai grinned at him. He almost stepped on the Veggiemon who rounded the corner right then. TK reacted instantly and thunked the creature on the head with his heavy staff. Gatomon jumped by and took care of the rest of the patrol, her claws flashing with lightnings and fire.
"C'mon." The feline whispered, gesturing with her paw.
"Follow." Tai spoke the word, then raced on, running past barricades and rubble. Every once in a while digimon would jump out and try to surprise them, but the digidestined were ready for them now. It was a simple matter for Agumon and Gabumon, Ken and TK, Gatomon and Veemon to take care of their opponents. Not that there weren't bad times. Davis ended up accidentally slammed into a wall, Patamon was a bit dizzy from being batted around. Gatomon had what would have qualified in a human as a black eye. Ken had one too. But they kept going, speeding recklessly into the heart of the castle.
"We've got to get through." Izzy muttered as Tentomon blasted a Vilemon out of the sky a few meters away. "We've got to do this faster."
"We are doing this faster." Agumon barked back, and they were. Running though the patrols was a lot faster than creeping, but Izzy kept nervously checking the time on his digivice, and Tai's face was contorted with the urgency of their mission.
"Stop." Sorcerymon whispered suddenly, holding up a hand and peering through a broken down wall.
On the other side of the wall, visible through a crack was a huge room. It was packed full of digimon, bigger ones this time, Mekanorimon, huge lumbering metallic giants, Deltamon with their three massive heads, huge Champions and giant Ultimates. A nameless blackness lurked in the back of the room. Everywhere the forces of darkness had congregated, waiting it seemed, for them. And there, standing against the back of the room, glowing with eldritch power and abilities stood a doorway, patterns shifting rapidly over its surface.
The Gate.
"Well that's just grand." Tai muttered. "What do we do now?"