Even the purest light creates a shadow.
Chapter 1:
By Ben Myatt.
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He had seen them.
As Davis 'Daisuke' Motomiya walked through the rainy Odaiba streets, he looked inside himself, searching for some reason why he had lost again.
Kari and TK. It all came back to them, no matter which way he looked at it, he could find no other reason for why he felt so miserable. And so here he was, walking in the rain.
He closed his eyes, and allowed the water to run over his skin, mingling with the tears that leaked from beneath the lids. He kicked a stone that lay in the street, sending it spinning across the road.
The fourteen year old carried on walking, barely noticing the sound of footsteps coming up behind him.
"Davis?"
He stopped. It was Kari's voice, but strangely, he didn't feel the same quickening of his heart that he always had before. All he felt was emptiness. He didn't stop.
"Davis!"
There was an urgency in her voice, and finally, he turned, and his agonized face was enough to make her catch her breath.
"What do you want, Kari?"
She kept her eyes locked with his, as she spoke.
"I need to talk to you…"
"You don't need to say a word!" He yelled.
She recoiled from the vehemence of his words, and the bitterness that was written all over his features was enough to make her blood run cold.
"What do you…?"
"You know damned well what I mean, Kari! I saw you with him! Together, with your goddamn lips wrapped around each other!"
She felt her own anger spike.
"And what the hell does that have to do with you, Davis!? I made my choice, and quite frankly, if you don't like it, you can go to hell!"
"Did you even give a thought to how I would feel, Kari? Huh? Or did you not look far enough to see past yourself? I really liked you, Kari!?! And you didn't even give a damn!"
"You know what? I didn't! All I saw when I looked at you was a spoilt little boy who thought he had to have his own way, because he was the best. What, you thought that because you were our 'Leader…'" she put a mocking emphasis on the word. " …That I would go out with you? You weren't even worth the time of day!"
He just stared at her, still as stone in the downpour. Then he moved. Reaching a hand up to his forehead, he pulled off his goggles; the pair Tai had given him. Without ever tearing his eyes away from hers, he threw them to the floor. Then he turned, and walked away into the rain.
Kari didn't move, for a moment, and the she stepped forward, and picked the goggles from the floor. One of the Lenses had shattered under the impact, and as she looked into them, she realised that she had not only lost a friend, she had lost something else as well.
"Davis! I'm sorry!"
But the only answer was the tapping of the rain on the ground.
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Davis walked into his home, and slammed the door. His mother called from the lounge area.
"Davis, Is that you, honey?"
"Yeah."
He went into his room, and closed the door gently behind him. Then he threw himself on the bed, and started to cry.
"Davis?"
DemiVeemon crawled out from under the covers, and came up to stand beside his companion's head.
"What's wrong?"
"Kari… And TK…"
DemiVeemon knew instinctively what the brown-haired boy meant, and sighed.
"Davis… it's not as if we didn't expect it."
Davis rolled over, turning his head away from the small Digimon.
"That doesn't make it hurt any less. Leave me alone."
"Davis…"
"Leave me alone, DemiVeemon!"
DemiVeemon took the hint. He stood, and walked over to the door, pulling it open, he walked out into the lounge area.
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Davis didn't know how long he slept, but when he woke, the clock on his bedside table showed him that it was the small hours of the morning. He knew he wouldn't get any more sleep this night, so he walked over to the computer that sat on his desk. Pulling his D3 out on its chain from around his neck, he pressed the activation stud on the side.
"Digi-port, open."
The portal opened on his computer screen, a shining gateway to another world, and he stepped forward, feeling the same disorientation as his molecules were digitised and sent streaming into the bright moonlight of one of the many plains in the digital world.
He looked into the east, and saw the ocean, far beneath the cliffs. With nothing better to do, he started walking towards it. Finally he dropped at the cliff edge, sitting and looking down into the bay.
The tears came again then. He tried desperately to blink them away, but a wretched sob escaped from his throat, and for a moment, he was tempted to stand, and send himself hurling down into the ocean below. At this height, it would be like hitting concrete.
'Daisuke…'
He spun, but seeing no one, he turned back to the cliff face.
'Daisuke…'
Once again he turned, but still there was no one there.
"Daisuke Motomiya."
He jumped, for this time, the voice had seemed more real than before, and it had come from behind him.
From the cliff edge.
He turned, not without some trepidation.
If he had been expecting a big, monstrous form of evil, he was bitterly disappointed.
The figure that stood there was clothed normally, a battered jacket white t-shirt, faded jeans and scuffed trainers offsetting the mop of brown hair that came down to the figures shoulders.
The young man fixed him with a baleful stare. Davis glared back.
"Okay, who are you, and what do you want?"
"Me? The names Gray. And what I want is you, Motomiya."
"Me?"
Gray sighed.
"Yes, you. Is it that difficult to understand?"
Davis glared at him.
"Why? Why do you want me?"
In answer, Gray swept his arm in an arc, encompassing the whole of the digital world in its sweep.
"Look at it. So pure, so beautiful. And yet soon enough it's going to be exploited by greedy corporations who want to take it over and use it fro their own ends, just like they do with Earth."
Davis looked unimpressed.
"And what the hell does that have to do with me?"
"It has everything to do with you. You're a Digidestined, one of those chosen to defend this place against those who would seek to destroy it. You have a divine duty to keep the Digital world free for those it was intended."
"I know well enough what I'm supposed to do with my time" Snarled Davis.
"What I want to know from you, Gray, if that is your real name, is what you get out of it."
A look of anger crossed the young man's face.
"What do you mean, what do I get out of it? All that I want is to make the digital world free for it's chosen children. Free for those her it was given too."
Davis couldn't hide the scepticism on his face. Gray looked at him sadly.
"I see that you do not believe me. Maybe you are not the right person, as I thought you were."
Davis shrugged.
"Well, forgive me for being cynical, but most people who try and do good in the digital world tend to have their own agenda."
A sad look crossed Gray's face, and he pulled an envelope out of his pocket.
"I understand that you might be suspicious. I cannot blame you, considering what you have faced before."
He held out the envelope to Davis, but the Digidestined didn't move. Gray dropped the envelope onto the ground.
"Inside the envelope is a SIM card. If you want to learn more, Put it inside a cell phone, and call the number stored in the memory."
He turned, and a Digiport opened. Gray stepped through, and the port closed before Davis could speak again. He stepped forward, and picked up the small envelope. Tucking it into his pocket, he turned, and walked away.
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"So you haven't seen him since last night?" Asked Yolei.
She was sitting with Kari and TK in the food court of the Odaiba mall, and they were discussing Davis and Kari's fight of the night before.
Kari looked thoroughly miserable.
"We should have told him." She said quietly.
TK placed his hand over hers.
"Would it have actually made a difference?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know, TK. I just wish it could have been less painful for him…"
"I'm not sure anything could have done that."
She stared at the table, and TK put his hand under her chin, lifting her face. He leant forward, and gently kissed her on the lips.
Unfortunately, Daisuke Motomiya happened to walk into the food court at that moment. He saw TK's hand on Kari's slender wrist. He saw the blonde Digidestined cup Kari's face in his palm. And then he saw TK gently place his lips on hers.
Then Yolei saw him.
"Davis!"
Kari and TK broke apart in shock, and twisted in their seats to look at him. They felt their blood run cold at the look they saw.
Davis's face was dead. No emotion showed on his features.
Except for his eyes. Those eyes that now burned with sadness, mingled with anger. But the anger seemed to be directed within, at himself, rather than at either TK or Kari. But most apparent was the pain. It was as if that in that simple act of a kiss they had driven a knife deep into his heart. They started to get up, but Davis turned on his heel, and vanished into the crowd.
"Oh god…" whispered Kari.
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Davis walked as fast as he could out of the mall, no stopping until he was two blocks away.
He pulled out his cell phone and removed the back. Removing the battery, he pulled out his own SIM card, and placed in the one from the envelope. He turned on the phone, and entered the memory dial-up. The number flashed across the screen, and he held the phone to his ear. The other end was picked up almost immediately.
"Gray." Said the voice.
"This is Daisuke Motomiya. I'm in. whatever it is, I'm in."
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In the digital world, Gray turned to the figure that stood in the shadows.
"He's joined us."
"Good, that will help you achieve your cause."
"Why are you helping me?"
"Because I want to see your dreams come true."
And Gray, being pure-minded, believed him.
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(A/N)
And that's the first chapter done. Anyone who knows me, and how I write, knows that I tend to regulate the flow of my writing. On this, however, it depends on all of us. We'll get the chapters out, that's a certainty, but timing depends on our various commitments. Please be patient with us.
On a separate subject, we're always on the lookout for new members. If you're interested, contact us on the group email. It's right there on our profile, see???