"I wonder, how many wishes have come true?
How many tears have been shed?
The answer is still
Waiting in the future."
Sora Takenouchi—"Shiny Days"
(Translated by tiara)
With Broken Wings
Chapter Eleven: "Shiny Days, Part Three"
Kouji quickly took a sip of water from his canteen, his voice becoming worn from all the talking he'd done that day.
"There's still something I don't understand," Izumi commented. "Taiyou said that she wanted people to know you were responsible for her father's death and Sakiko's mother's death, and that you were worse than Kouichi. But you had nothing to do with their deaths. You were in the slave camp at the time. Your only connection was by chance."
"Sometimes chance—fate—deals a bad hand," he replied.
"What do you mean?"
After six hours of reading and translating for her stepson, Satomi was interrupted by the sounds of the other slaves re-entering the cellblock. The paper in Kouji's ears was enough to block most of the loud noise, but there was no denying the fact that the echoing of the constant talking was making him very uncomfortable. The curtain was momentarily pushed aside as Kousei and Tomoko entered.
"Kouji, are you okay?" Tomoko checked, her motherly instincts taking over in full charge.
"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine for now. Just a little sore."
"Your eyes aren't hurting, are they?" she questioned, handing him his jacket to put on.
"No," he assured. "I'm fine. Satomi's been reading to me and making sure I don't get up from this spot."
"Thank you for taking care of him," Tomoko addressed Satomi. It had been one of the first times the two mothers had actually spoken, which eased the pressure on the rest of the family. "Now, um, let's heat up dinner."
She walked over to a small electric stove and turned on the burner underneath a large metal pot. Her ex-husband took a paper bag and removed a blackened loaf of sliced bread. Satomi went to the faucet to get water for everyone, and Kouji attempted to get up to help set for dinner.
"If you can't get up, don't," his father reprimanded. "You were barely able to walk out there, so there's no point in injuring yourself further." Defeated, Kouji sat down. It was one of the first times that day he'd actually admitted that he was unable to function normally.
"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, so you can finish up that chapter of what you were reading," Tomoko suggested.
"No, it's okay," Kouji replied. "I can wait to hear the rest tomorrow. If you see that guy with all the books, thank him for me." It was suddenly evident by the way he was trying to make sure they heard him that there was something wrong with his voice, and it wasn't puberty. He didn't seem to be able to raise the level of his voice, and when he did, it sounded strained.
"Does your throat hurt?" Satomi asked. "You have been out in the cold a lot recently."
"No, it's not that," he answered. "The doctors said my vocal cords are burned, so I have difficulty controlling the level of my voice. They said in a couple of years, I might heal enough with puberty and everything so my voice will sound normal, but it's not likely. My voice will only get deeper, not louder. And my hearing might be sensitive for the rest of my life too."
"The electrical whip," Tomoko realized. "It was around your neck for so long…" Kouji nodded.
"It's one of the things I'm going to have to live with," he replied.
"There are so many things you shouldn't have to live with," Tomoko reasoned, hugging him carefully. The simple act of reassurance was more for her than Kouji, as her composure was soon regained. "Let's eat." She offered him a bowl of tomato soup.
"Thank you," he answered, and carefully sipped a spoonful. It tasted like someone had taken ketchup, added water, brought it to a boil, and dubbed it soup. Despite the revolting flavor, he ate it anyway, as a beggar was in no position to be a chooser. He was offered a slice of the burnt bread, and he found it marginally better than the soup. Besides the obvious fact that it was so burnt that it barely qualified as food anymore, it was crusty and hard to chew, forcing him to soften it in the bland ketchup-water soup. But it was a lot more filling than just liquids.
Suddenly, he was aware that the adults were staring at him. "What?"
"It's nothing," his father assured. "It's just good seeing you here, alive."
"It's good to be here," he commented so quietly that they weren't sure if they were supposed to hear it or not. A soft cry was heard from nearby, prompting Satomi to get up and retrieve her daughter. "Do you need help?" Kouji checked.
"Not much," Satomi protested. "I only need to change her diaper, and I'll feed her soon, but I doubt it would hurt if you held her. Just let me change her first." A quick diaper change later, Kouri was gently placed in Kouji's arms.
The infant stared at her brother, unable to recognize him. It is said that babies like looking at faces and, like adults, prefer a "pretty" face to an "ugly" one. While adults, teenagers, and the elderly know that there are some times when a person's face will be "flawed," children and infants will make it known that someone is that way. Perhaps it was the ellipses that blocked her view of Kouji's eyes or just the simple fact that she hadn't seen him in over a month that caused the reaction, but whatever the reason, Kouri only blinked at him. Realizing she may have caused more harm than good, Satomi tried to take her daughter back, only to have two tiny but powerful lungs scream out in resistance, causing everyone's ears to hurt.
Kouri stared at the new face once more, determined to figure out whom it belonged to. She liked the gentle way he held her, and even the calloused texture of his hands, but there was something she didn't like: a dark aura left behind on him from his experiences. Finally, after an eternity of silence, the newcomer began singing very softly, using a melody played on a guitar only a lifetime ago. But before he could even begin the next line, Kouri smiled at Kouji and giggled, almost as if saying, "Why are you singing such a sad song? We're all here together! You should be happy."
"You must be magic, Kouji," Satomi decided. "She hasn't laughed or even smiled since that day."
"That's the song you've been working on, isn't it?" Kousei recognized. His son nodded.
"Why don't you sing the whole thing?" Tomoko suggested. "Or at least as much as you have right now."
Softly, he sang every verse of the song, causing everyone who could hear him to stop what they were doing and listen. It was the only time music had ever been heard in the halls of the base, and every moment of it was treasured. After the final line was sung, a round of applause sounded from those in the surrounding cells who'd been able to hear. Kouri simply giggled, looking proud and serenely content in her brother's arms.
"I've heard you playing the tune on your guitar at home," Kousei remembered. "But why did you choose such somber lyrics?"
"I came up with the lyrics during my shifts, when the only real light came from the blue stars and moon."
"And the regret?" Kousei pressed. His son didn't answer. Instead, the young warrior glanced up at the adults.
"What happened to you after our capture? I was never allowed to know."
"The first morning, we were sifting through whatever remained of the house," Kousei explained. "Few things remained from the fire. Whatever remained of your stuff was either sold or destroyed. We managed to save some things—Kouri's baby book, yours, a few photo albums—anything that survived." He handed Kouji his baby book. "This seems to be the only surviving record of your existence." It contained his birth certificate, baby pictures, school photos, and pictures from vacations and field trips. The other half of the information—Kouichi's, and maybe some more of Kouji's—was at Tomoko's.
"I have a few pictures in my cell," Kouji informed. "When I woke up, I was holding them."
"Izumi's doing, no doubt," Satomi determined. "She was in there with you for an hour. If anything, she was the most brokenhearted about what happened to you." Kouji felt that he understood why a little too well.
The cell door suddenly burst open, and a very angry Kouichi Kimura entered, heading directly for the boy sitting against the wall. In the blink of an eye, he had his hand pressed against Kouji's neck. The adults grabbed at Kouichi, trying to get his hand away from the younger twin's neck, but somehow the Warrior of Darkness was too strong. Finally, the Digimon Kaiser let go, and Kouji gasped for breath. Miraculously, he'd managed to hold onto Kouri the whole time, and she was crying now out of fear. Carefully, he handed her to Satomi, afraid of what might happen next.
"Get up," Kouichi ordered.
"He can't," his father replied.
Kouichi grabbed Kouji's arm and roughly pulled him to his feet. "Get up!" Kouichi took the two halves of the Black Ring and began to place them around Kouji's neck, but the younger resisted the elder.
"Kouichi, stop," Tomoko urged.
"There's no point to the ring," Kouji reasoned, his voice quiet and calm. "I won't be able to evolve for at least three weeks, and why control my muscles when I can't control them myself?"
"Consider this rehabilitation then," Kouichi argued. "You have the freedom to go anywhere you want so long as you're back before sunrise. No guards. You're on your own."
"The catch?"
"You have to wear the ring."
"No deal."
"What?"
"You heard me. I said I won't do it."
"A night of freedom and you're giving it up?"
"You may call it freedom, but I don't."
"That wasn't an invitation; that was an order. This is the last bit of kindness I'll show to you," Kouichi promised. "If you were smart, you'd take it." The next thing anyone knew, he'd raised his whip over his head and was preparing to bring it down. Out of sheer human instinct, Kouji closed his eyes, ready to feel the weight hit him. Suddenly, Kouichi gave a surprised yell, and the weight harmlessly hit the wall. Kouji opened his eyes and was more than a little surprised to see his father fending off a very angry eleven-year-old. But even more surprising was a dark aura Kouichi was emitting, nearly breaking away to attack the others in the cell.
"Kouichi, I'll do it," he agreed. "One hour."
Kouichi pulled his arm free. "I knew you'd see it my way." The darkness surrounding him calmed down somewhat and re-entered his body. "For your cooperation, I'll let you go without the ring for this night only, but you will be accompanied."
Slowly and weakly, Kouji stepped out of the cell and began walking down the passage. He'd reached Cells 8 and 16 when Kouichi cracked his whip, using the weight to propel Kouji into the bars of Cell 16 with a loud clank that caught everyone's attention even more effectively than the song had. Kouichi came over, lifted Kouji by the shirt collar and whispered, "If you ever pull a stunt like that again, your family will be killed in the most gruesome way you can think of." He then pulled him to his feet. "You are neither human nor Digimon any longer, understand, halfling? You are a slave, and not worth saving or killing. You are the lowest form of life. You are no more than a mistake of nature, a mutant—an evolutionary reject. Understand?" Kouji nodded and was forced to walk on.
If there was anything worse than Kouichi's torture and "pep talks," it was his sense of humor: lousy and totally inappropriate. He'd decided (probably to rub in how weak Kouji was) that the chaperone would be a seven-year-old girl, ironically enough from Cellblock 24, one of the orphan cellblocks. An inquisitive girl by nature, Toshiko followed Kouji around endlessly until he finally reached a quiet park in Odaiba.
"Why are we here?" she asked.
"It's the most deserted place in town. It's the closest either of us is going to get to an escape for now." He sat down on a bench and stared at the sky.
"What are you looking at?"
"The stars."
"I don't see any. Just the moon."
"Keep looking. You'll see them soon."
Toshiko squinted and stared into the inky blue-blackness of the sky. Two, perhaps three, blue stars appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
"They're pretty," she commented. Suddenly, she noticed he was breathing hard and clutching his chest. "What's wrong?"
"I have a problem breathing," he answered. "My chest hurts when I strain myself. Listen, I want you to do something, and you have to. It's important."
"What is it?"
"You have to get out of here. You have to get somewhere safe. Escape."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"The Kaiser kills anyone who sees me. You have to escape before he can get to you too."
"But where do I go?"
Kouji stood up. "Come on. We're heading for the train station."
Keeping an eye out for anyone following them, they quickly hurried to the nearest train station. Desperate to get her to safety, he walked up to a ticket counter.
"One ticket please," he requested.
"600.65 yen please," the ticket keeper stated.
Kouji searched through his pockets, and feigned a shocked look. "My money! Someone stole it!"
Hearing this, a white-haired woman removed a thousand yen and handed it over to the ticket keeper. Then she handed the change to Kouji.
"I can't accept this," he replied.
"Just take it. I won't live forever, you know, and I can't take this with me." Her statement was rather unsettling, but Kouji had to get Toshiko out of Odaiba, so he took the money and headed for the nearest train.
"Here," he informed. "This train will take you to Tamachi. When you get there, find the Resistance, or anyone who can help you."
"What about you?" she questioned.
"I have to stay here. This is your chance for something better. Take it."
The woman suddenly walked up to him.
"Don't worry," she assured. "I'll take care of her."
"Who are you?"
"One of the Adult Digimon told me to watch out for you. Your sacrifice is brave. Now, you'd better hurry back to the base before your hour is up." Confused, Kouji nodded and ran.
"Someone other than Dr. Tenshi was watching out for you?" Izumi questioned, barely believing what she'd heard.
"Yeah. I know it's weird, but someone knew who I was in there. Maybe Dr. Tenshi told one of the Digimon my name, and they told that woman. I mean, it's obvious that he told Kage and Taiyou who I was, so anything's possible. I sometimes hear from Toshiko and that woman. So far, they're doing okay in Tamachi. Toshiko's going to school in some private academy there, and she's doing really well. They're living in the Tamachi T.M. apartment complex, and they invited me to come and visit one day, but I couldn't."
"Too bad," Izumi commented. "It's nice to hear that you were able to find out they were okay, but I suppose it would have been nice to see them again after three years."
He nodded. "And Kouichi was furious about Toshiko's escape—so mad in fact that rumor spread that he'd started punishing one Digimon almost as badly as he did me. But the slaves all saw Toshiko's escape as hope for the future, and that someday, they'd be able to leave that hellhole too. But…"
"But that's not the end of the story, is it?"
"No. After my three weeks were up and I was sent back to Cell 24, Dr. Tenshi managed to talk Kouichi into having me work the day shifts. It meant I'd have to evolve, but there were more slaves around so Reiyama and Renamon couldn't follow me the whole time. My senses were readapting to daylight and some sound, even though my voice never healed. I thought I was able to throw everything they threw at me. But it was on one day that I learned I'd never be able to handle what Kouichi gave…"
Half a week had come and gone since his return to Cell 24. The day shifts were bad, but tolerable. He still wasn't being fed, but he had plenty of water now that the warm March weather was yielding to spring. Evolving had become less painful, even if it was draining. Every once in a while, his evolutions would fail, causing him to revert to his human state. As there was no solution to that problem yet, he was free to devolve to human form so long as no one was around. But someone had been around one time, and had described a young boy "being consumed completely by a bright flash of light." The slave that had reported it was executed the next day, but that didn't stop myths from spreading about a curse placed on whomever saw "the Kaiser's brother." But even so, Kouji made sure to be very cautious about his devolutions, knowing that more people would die if these fluxes went unfixed.
It was March 12, a beautiful, cloudless Wednesday in Kouji's hometown of Yokohama—well, it would have been if he hadn't noticed some immature, selfish human adult setting off an explosion. The blame was immediately shifted to Wolfmon and his current partner, Koemon, leading to an informal investigation.
"Which one of you did it?" Reiyama demanded.
"It was an…" Koemon started.
"I did," Wolfmon interrupted. She stared at him in shock while the others looked upon him with malice. "It was an accident. I think there was a leak in the weapons…" Before he could finish, Reiyama hit him across the face with his gun. Though he hit the asphalt, he got up carefully so as not to show any weakness to his wardens.
"Fox Leaf Arrowhead!"
The white leaves stung his face as they gouged into his skin. He'd entirely given up on fighting back, knowing that it was pointless and could cost his family their lives. After thirty seconds of abuse from Reiyama and Renamon, Kouichi slashed at him with the electric blade, which accidentally jammed itself in Wolfmon's armor. He'd been attacked by worse, but in his weakened state, his evolution failed as the electricity easily coursed through the metal and burned at the boy inside. A dome of DigiCode appeared around him as the H-Spirit lost all power. Afraid that the twin's identity would be revealed, Kouichi discreetly pressed a button on his digivice, causing Wolfmon to devolve into Strabimon.
Carefully, the Child form of the great warrior removed the blade from his left arm, knowing that there would be some burns on his human skin. The blade was then removed from the whip, and the electrically charged leather cracked across his body. Again and again it hit him, eventually forcing him to his hands and knees. Kouichi then left, pleased with his work.
"Koemon," Reiyama addressed, "head off to work with that rookie, Kotemon."
"Yes, sir," she answered. But before leaving, she turned to her hero. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. For now."
"What's your name?"
"Strabimon."
"Are you going to be able to evolve again?"
"Yes. By tomorrow. Now, get moving. Reiyama might report you talking to me."
By ten o'clock that night, everyone on Cellblock 31 knew his identity.
Once everyone was indeed gone, Strabimon used his true devolution and returned to a beaten Kouji Minamoto.
"Need help?" Dr. Tenshi questioned.
"No. I'm okay." He got to his feet and brushed the dirt off himself. "What are you doing in Yokohama? I thought your office was in Chiba."
"It is, but I've been tracking down clues to the assassination of a colleague of mine. Tell me, have you ever heard of the First Two?"
"No. News doesn't reach my cell."
"The Kaiser is directly responsible for two assassinations: the first—of his brother, and the second—of my colleague." He then looked at the boy. "May I ask a question?"
"Go ahead."
"I hope you're not offended, but what happened to your shirt and sneakers?" Kouji's jacket, T-shirt, and sneakers were all missing. As the boy walked down the street barefoot, the sun slowly tanned his upper body. Though he was still grossly thin, he was looking healthier; his skin was already a light gold—much more preferable to his sickly pallor of three weeks before.
"Escape prevention," Kouji explained. "As long as we're in the cities, we have more of a chance of escaping into the crowd. Some of us are missing shoes—others, shirts. I'm missing both because I'm the one they want to find first. Plus, they think I've already tried to escape. In all stores, both a shirt and shoes are required, so none of us can remain in the city. Our only chance is to find a Resistance settlement."
"I saw what happened," Dr. Tenshi confessed. "I saw that poor excuse for a man detonate those weapons. So the same incident doesn't repeat itself, take this." He handed the boy an odd device hooked onto a leather cord. "A mine defuser I've developed for the Resistance."
"I thought you were a doctor, not a scientist," he replied, placing the device in his pocket, along with some Fox Leaf Arrowheads he'd gathered.
"A doctor by profession; a scientist by nature."
"Well, anyway, why did you mention the First Two?"
"Apparently, you are the key to the identity of the first victim. Both he and my colleague were directly or indirectly linked to you."
Kouji lowered his head. "Then you know…"
"All I know about you is simply speculation. I have found thousands of Kimuras all over the Tokyo area. It is possible that any number of those Kimuras could have had a murdered family member. Coincidences happen."
"Or maybe not," interrupted a cruel drawl. There was a gunshot and Dr. Tenshi fell to the ground, dying instantly from a bullet to his heart. Standing behind him were Kouichi and Reiyama.
"I guess that's the First Three now," Kouichi commented.
For three months, Kouji had been forced to hold back a stockpile of anger more dangerous than any weapon man could make. People were dying left and right because of him, and countless others were suffering in silence. This final assassination was the last straw.
Reiyama's gun went off, causing a bullet to just miss Kouji as it tore past his back, drawing blood. Somehow, he had managed to lunge forward and begin the most violent fight he'd ever been in. In all his life, he couldn't remember a time when he'd fought that dirty, or worse than it. The roles of Kaiser and slave were forgotten. Kouichi's infamous position and Kouji's nameless existence no longer had any meaning. They were both halflings now; they were on an even playing field: two boys fighting. True, Kouichi had a weapon, but Kouji still had the advantage. While Kouichi snapped his whip in a useless attempt to lash his opponent, Kouji managed to get in a few good punches he'd learned from months of beating via Renamon. Without a shirt to grab, he was able to avoid being thrown, unlike his and Takuya's weakness when they fought. The one thing that caused him to lose was Reiyama's gun as it hit the back of his head. He fell to the asphalt, unconscious.
"Wake up!" Kouichi ordered, splashing the entire sink full of water on Kouji. The other boy coughed and sputtered as he slowly opened his eyes. His head pounded with a throbbing pain. His vision faded in and out, but he finally managed to focus on his brother's form. The uncontrolled rage burst up again, causing him to aimlessly try and pull himself free from the black shackles that held him against the wall.
"Finally," Kouichi continued. "I didn't want you to miss your punishment." The whip lashed across Kouji's body, leaving behind a painful red welt on his chest. There was a crackle of electricity, and the whip bit into him again, this time producing a bleeding cut. And so the torture continued for an hour and a half; Kouichi wanted Kouji to remember this day. Kouji put up with the pain as best he could, but he eventually found it to be too much to bear. Ragged, choked gasps for breath escaped him every time the whip hit him. His skin was burnt red from the electricity. Every once in a while, the shocks would stop and restart his heart like a defibrillator. When the whip stopped hitting him, his head slumped forward. Kouichi exited the cell, leaving him hanging against the wall by his wrists and ankles.
Kouji didn't know why, but for fifteen minutes he remained in that position, almost as if he was letting his brother win. His breathing was still shallow, but his heart and lungs had slowed down enough so he didn't have to worry quite as much, even though his position on the wall made it difficult to breathe and made him very dizzy.
The door opened, but he couldn't hear it or see it. He didn't respond to anything until his father, mother, and stepmother called out his name. Weakly, he lifted his head to see them. His heart wrenched in pain as he realized they too would be prisoners in this dimly lit hellhole. But they didn't seem to care. Even though they couldn't get him down, they treated his wounds and fed him without once acting like something was wrong. They were together again, and that was what mattered until the final member of their family could join them.
"So Taiyou blames you for her father's death," Izumi realized. Kouji nodded. "But you're not responsible."
"But I am…in a way. If I'd only…"
"Only what? You couldn't stop Kouichi from cutting you. And even if you could, Dr. Tenshi wouldn't have abandoned you. He'd do the same as Dr. Yamamoto and Dr. Matsumoto: continue caring for a patient no matter what the cost."
A dark shadow suddenly loomed overhead. The two Legendary Warriors glanced up to see Cyberdramon hovering over their location. Ignoring old instincts to fight, they ran for cover, but the only refuge available was the trees. Kouji cupped his hands together to give Izumi a boost into a tall oak. She reached down her hand to help him up, but the menacing Perfect was heading in their direction. Seeing no other options, Kouji began looking around for a weapon.
Cyberdramon soon approached the unarmed teenager. But he didn't attack. Rather, he seemed to be listening, and occasionally sniffing. He made a wild swing, narrowly missing the young man, causing both Chosen's hearts to race. Cyberdramon swung again, missing. Because of the uncoordinated movements, Kouji was suddenly aware that this Cyberdramon was blind and dependant on all his other senses in order to attack. The rain had washed away Kouji's and Izumi's scents, further crippling him. Kouji fought to keep his breathing under control, but there was little he could do for his racing heart, which continued to pump adrenaline into his system. Cyberdramon continued to advance, backing his unwilling opponent into a tree trunk. He sniffed again and listened, causing Kouji to force a wavering calm through his body. Finally, their blind assailant left, heading for the site of their departure.
For a while, both humans remained frozen, not wanting to summon the frightening Digimon again, but once they were sure he was far enough out of earshot, Izumi jumped down from her hiding place.
"Are you all right?" she checked.
"Yeah," Kouji answered, taking this moment to catch his breath. "That's as close as I ever want to get to a Cyberdramon."
"Where do you think he's headed?"
"Where else? The castle."
"Erase Claw!" Cyberdramon attacked, blindly hitting the tree branches.
"Air Shot!" Patamon attacked, trying to help his friends.
"Patamon, you'll only get hurt," Bokomon scolded. "Get back over here, and leave the battle to the others."
"Without evolving, you wouldn't be a match for Cyberdramon," Taiyou added. "And even at the Adult level, there's no guarantee you'd be able to fend off a Perfect."
"Tai!" Tori cried. "There's no need to tell him that!"
"I doubt this is the time for arguing like this," Peng decided. "He's still advancing!"
Weapons fired at the ferocious creature attacking them, but all their efforts seemed to encourage the blind Perfect rather than discourage him.
"Spirit Evolution! Shutumon!" Izumi's shout preceded her appearance for soon Shutumon was observed appearing on the scene, followed on foot by Kouji.
"You again?" Taiyou asked. "Don't you ever know when to quit?"
Kouji ignored her rudeness and placed into effect their battle plan. "Izumi, do you see any way of stopping him?" Cyberdramon turned to the sound of Kouji's voice.
"Wind of Pain!" Shutumon ordered the minute the Perfect's attention was diverted. Soundlessly, Kouji ran to another location.
"Watch out!" he shouted in a fake warning. "He's behind you!"
"Cyber Nail!" Cyberdramon thrust his attack forward, hitting only air.
"Gilgamesh Slicer!" Shutumon attacked from the side, further enraging the enemy. But he managed to hit her with one of his powerful arms, knocking her from the sky. As she devolved, plummeting to the ground below, Kouji ran over and grabbed her wrist to prevent her from falling any further. Lightning flashed, yielding to a loud explosion of thunder. The ear-splitting thunder crash was just what Taiyou "Tai" Tenshi needed.
Gracefully, she leapt into the air and tackled Cyberdramon. The assaulted Digimon flew high into the air and began to thrash about in an attempt to dislodge her, but it was useless.
"Fire, idiots!" she shouted from his back. Weapons and attacks fired at Cyberdramon, eventually causing his black DigiCode to show.
"DigiCode Scan!" Kouji ordered, neutralizing the darkness.
"This isn't right," Liu observed. Instead of coming down, Cyberdramon began flying higher and higher, up to where the atmosphere was thinner.
"But Cyberdramon's not being controlled anymore," Neemon pointed out. Bokomon snapped his counterpart's pants.
"Cyberdramon is a Digimon whose sole purpose is fighting," Bokomon explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "There's no chance of stopping him now."
"I can't even see them anymore," Patamon commented.
In the air, Taiyou was determined not to give up without a fight. She had no weapon, so she continued to kick her captor and pull herself up to tug at his wings.
"You're only going to die more quickly if you do that," Cyberdramon determined.
"Then so be it." With one hand, she held onto his neck tightly, while the other grabbed one of his wings. She pressed it down and felt Cyberdramon's altitude drop. Seeing that this was the answer, she broke it with a tremendous burst of energy. Cyberdramon shouted in agony and began to wildly spiral to the forest canopy below. When they had just about hit the ground, Taiyou jumped off with a flip and landed perfectly. Behind her, Cyberdramon lifted himself from the crater into which he'd fallen and approached the woman in a fighting stance. She smiled. "So, you want more?"
Cyberdramon charged her, but she sidestepped him. After that first time, however, he'd figured out her moves exactly and expected her sidestep, so he grabbed at her. She grabbed his arm and was pulled into the air, but she let go and fell on him in a tackle. Keeping her knees close to his neck, she held him still while he tried to fight her off. Growing tired of this, she dug her fingernails into his skin and calmly ordered, "Cyberdramon, obey. The battle is over. I win." She stood up and began to walk off, but he aimed an Erase Claw at her. Rapidly, she dodged it and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back. "Cyberdramon, you will obey me. The battle is over. Now if you don't want anything more than a broken wing, I suggest you leave now."
As she walked away, he called out, "Wait!"
She turned around. "Is there something you want?"
"Certain Digimon have been partnering with those they feel are the strongest fighters in the Resistance. I would like to form a partnership with you, if you accept."
"I accept," Taiyou answered with a ghost of a smile on her face. The others arrived, and Izumi approached Cyberdramon to bandage his wing. He growled.
"Uh, maybe you should bandage it," she decided, seeing how he was obeying Taiyou. She took the bandage and carefully wrapped up his wing.
"Tai," Tori addressed, "while you were fighting, we heard Kouji's story about what happened to your father. He's not responsible."
"Your point?" she asked.
"Please, just listen to his story," Izumi pleaded. "If you'll only take a minute…" She looked at Kouji, who shook his head in a gesture of "Forget it."
Taiyou stepped up to Kouji, Cyberdramon following closely.
"Leave," she ordered. "The next time we meet, I can't guarantee I'll be able to control my partner."
He nodded in comprehension. "Come on, Izumi. We'd better leave now if we want to catch up with the others."
"Right," she agreed, her voice revealing how unsure she was about everything.
They bowed in respect to the humans and said goodbye to Bokomon, Neemon, and Patamon. When they approached Taiyou and Cyberdramon, they both bowed (Kouji a little awkwardly), but Taiyou only bowed back to Izumi, as if telling Kouji, "Just because we're on the same side, it doesn't mean I have to like you." Cyberdramon didn't bow, which was probably not an act of disrespect, but just a display that it was not a custom of Digimon. But Liu bowed to both in the Chinese style, as though making up for Taiyou's disrespect and Cyberdramon's discomfort at such a foreign custom.
As they continued walking toward the D.C./Fuji Resistance, Izumi turned to Kouji and asked, "Why didn't you try and argue your case?"
He adjusted his bag and looked up at the gray sky, barely visible through the thick canopy. A gentle rain fell through, almost as if mocking them. "It wouldn't have done any good. Taiyou needs someone to blame. I'm not asking for friends, but for someone who will help fight Kouichi. Taiyou can forgive me if she wants, but it's up to time to tell." Izumi nodded. She didn't agree, but she at least understood.
Halfling: a very derogatory term for a human/Digimon hybrid. Basically means "illegitimate child of a human and Digimon" or "cannot be one or the other." Equivalent to the words "kaq" (literally, "dirt under the foot") or "trangshi" ("outcast; unlucky") from Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic or "mudblood" from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. Can also be used for matrix evolutions such as Takato/Guilmon's Dukemon, Ruki/Renamon's Sakuyamon, Jenrya/Terriermon's SaintGalgomon, or Ryo/Cyberdramon's Justimon. Same definition, though not as disparaging, used by Lady Iapetus.
The halfling connection to Iapetus was unintentional, as I read the fic that contained it after I wrote this chapter. I intended to have "halfling" as a term much like "half-breed" in InuYasha and Rocker Starlight's "Dark Diaries." Toshiko's name comes from Toshiko Fujita, who played Taichi in Adventure. The soup came from that public service announcement about feeding the children. The one with the mother stealing the ketchup from the fast food place. Also, the whole menu came from G Gundam: At Argo's prison in Neo Russia, the prisoners are given soup and bread.