I know that broken wings do not fly."
Kouichi Kimura—"Oreta Tsubasa de"
(Translated by KarenSedai)
With Broken Wings
Chapter Sixteen: "Oreta Tsubasa de, Part Three"
Hikari and Kage looked out on the seemingly endless streets of Jiyuugaoka. It was eerily silent and devoid of any living beings, sans them and their part of the army. An early warning set in place by Toshiko Kawamaru had cleared citizens from the streets of Tokyo and its neighboring cities.
Takeru and Himi stood in between two familiar apartments in the district of Hikarigaoka. Thanks to the Crest of Kindness, they'd know that Kouji had been there, but had moved on before the residents moved back in. Takeru marveled at the irony: Ten years ago, on this very spot, the greatest war he'd ever know had begun; and now, the second greatest war he'd known was going to end here.
Miyako and Sakiko patiently waited as they stood in the shadow of the Fuji TV station near Odaiba. Though patience had never been one of Miyako's virtues, she had no desire to begin the battle this soon. And undoubtedly, the workers in the station were quickly trying to broadcast the small Resistance group on TV. An unexpected thrill combined with fear as Miyako looked at Kotemon and Koemon. She didn't have the heart to tell them that they would not be much help, but just looking at Sakiko with her brown hair seeming to be consumed by lavender flames made Miyako feel as though there was at least a slight chance of winning.
Iori stood beside the Perfect levels of the Three Great Angels in Shinjuku. Bokomon and Neemon stood nearby, determined not to abandon the two teams of Chosen Children in these dire circumstances. A cold wind blew, almost as an omen of what was to happen. He shivered a bit, but stood his ground. He had been ordered to run if things took a turn for the worst, but he didn't think he would. He shivered again with the realization of what was to come. At least, he hoped he wouldn't.
Daisuke and Taiyou stood ready in her hometown of Chiba. Momentarily, Daisuke wondered if Taiyou's desire for revenge would outweigh her sense of justice, just as it had on many occasions for Hikari over the past three years. But then he noted the determination on her face, and he knew that the fight would be focused against the true enemy and not her scapegoat.
Ken, Takuya, Junpei, Tomoki, and Izumi calmly awaited the signal to begin the battle. Their location was Kouji's home in Yokohama, and just as Archnemon said, Imperials were prowling about. Ken checked his digivice, observing a red blip that was the Crest of Kindness, not far from them. He then spoke clearly into a microphone attached to his ear:
"They're here."
Kage heard Ken's message and nodded. "BlackWarGreymon, fire the first warning shot."
"Gaia Force!"
When a red sun appeared in the skies over the Tokyo area, both the Resistance and the Imperial Guard ran to action.
"Spirit Evolution!"
"Vritramon!"
"Bolgmon!"
"Blizzarmon!"
"Shutumon!"
Meanwhile, inside the base, Kouji hid to avoid being spotted by the hordes of Imperial mercenaries and soldiers storming out. Danger was all around him, and his heart was beating wildly. Once the last guard exited, he slipped in and made his way to the keypad, his legs stiff from the sitting position he'd taken for several hours.
He removed the cover of the keypad and chose two wires to attach to his defuser. And just as simply as Ryo and Jenrya said it would be, he melted the circuitry, freeing a whole corridor of slaves.
"Hikari," he informed over his digivice, holding it in his right hand, "I started freeing the slaves. All the Imperials are gone."
"Good," she answered. "Keep your movements random so Kouichi can't predict them."
"I will."
"This isn't going to be easy," Kage commented, avoiding the first bullet that came at him. Hikari looked back at him.
"Nothing ever is."
Iori stared at the stampede of enemy forces coming toward them.
"Bokomon, is there anything in your book about a battle of this magnitude?" he asked.
"No."
"Then there soon will be."
Though his only weapon was a kendo sword, his techniques proved useful against the Digimon. His army was no small concern either as humans and Digimon alike fought against the charging Imperials. HolyAngemon, Angewomon, and Antiramon were an unstoppable combination in the face of almost certain failure. Keeping his mind off the infinite number of casualties that would be sustained, Iori contacted the others.
"Shinjuku here," he answered. "Stage One successful."
"All right," Daisuke replied. "Break away for rendezvous."
"Roger," he answered. "Everyone, Attack Plan: Delta-Roku!"
Antiramon removed one of his bladed arms form a demolished MechaNorimon and glanced at his two fellow former gods. They nodded their agreement and followed the retreating forms Iori, Neemon, and Bokomon.
"Take chase!" an Imperial commander ordered, and they soon followed.
Meanwhile, in Chiba, Daisuke and Taiyou were just about to call the Delta-Roku order when Taiyou spotted trouble.
"Daisuke!" she warned, pointing to an obviously pregnant woman standing outside a grocery store.
"What's going on here?" she demanded as the two teenagers came over to her.
"Ma'am, it's not safe here," Daisuke informed, taking her hand. "We're going to get you to safety."
"You're not taking me anywhere!" she argued, twisting his arm. "I know who you are! You're Resistance, and you're not succeeding in…" Her angry rant suddenly became screams of pain as she tightly gripped Daisuke's hand, breaking several fingers. She lost her grip on her shopping cart and sank to the ground, clutching both Daisuke's hand and her bulging abdomen.
"Oh, don't tell me this is what I think it is!" Daisuke begged. "Taiyou, lay out your jacket on the ground. Use mine to wrap the baby when it comes out."
"Holy crap!" Taiyou declared, followed by several profanities that no child under the age of forty-two should hear, all preceded by the word "holy." It would be hard to believe for followers of any religion that that many things could possibly be sacred. "Cyberdramon, everyone! Plan Delta-San!" She then turned to Daisuke. "Check in her groceries for anything that can help: plastic bags, rubber gloves, towels…"
"Gotcha," he agreed. "Ma'am, you're going to have to let go of my hand right now. We're going to try and deliver your baby."
"You'll just kill it!"
"Ma'am, listen," Taiyou reasoned in her kindest voice, "if we don't do something this minute, your baby might die without us. Daisuke, you'd better hurry. I have a feeling these aren't the first of her contractions." He began to run off to follow orders. "And Daisuke?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't look when it happens." He nodded, all too happy to comply. Taiyou, meanwhile, was trying to soothe the mother-to-be.
"Chiba here," he alerted as he searched for the items Taiyou had requested. "Change of plans. We've got a Delta-San here!"
"Daisuke, what happened?" Takeru asked.
"Too long a story, not enough time," he answered. "Basically, Taiyou and I can't join you guys yet. Just keep heading for Ken's location."
Himi then came on the line. "We won't be able to. We have a Delta-San as well."
He, MetalGarurumon, and Takeru looked at the overwhelming mass of soldiers and mercenaries charging toward them in a human and Digimon stampede. Every single one of them literally looked bloodthirsty. This was a battle that would not be won easily, yet Takeru laughed.
"Why are you laughing?" Himi questioned. "We're going up against inevitable odds, and we're going to die. There are now 'ifs' or 'maybes' about it. We are going to die."
"We Chosen have a disease—a very infectious disease that we share with the Tamers," Takeru explained. "We may have passed it to Ryo, who passed it to them, or they may have contracted it on their own. The Chosen here have it, so I'm surprised these Tamers don't have it."
"And what is this disease?" Himi asked.
Takeru turned to him, sporting a large smile. "A little thing called 'hope.'"
Himi stared at him in surprise. He expected courage or perhaps insanity, for that was how he would have described them. But out of all the virtues, he never would have anticipated hope.
"Himi-san!" MetalGarurumon alerted. "Takaishi-san!" Both humans looked up to see WarGreymon flying toward them.
The Ultimate landed in front of the charging army, freezing them in their tracks.
"The Kaiser has ordered me to take this opponent on myself," he informed.
He's got to be crazy to send one Ultimate against another, Takeru thought. That fight would take way too long—Yamato and Taichi proved it seven years ago. Why would Kouichi ruin the perfect chance to kill us quickly? Unless… He took in his breath sharply, almost in a gasp but not quite. "MetalGarurumon, be ready!"
"Why, Takaishi-san?"
"I think he's going to force a fusion."
-------
After only forty-five to fifty minutes of labor, the woman in Chiba gave birth to a healthy child…and then another…and then another. Taiyou used shoelaces to cut off bleeding to the triplets' umbilical cords, and Daisuke provided his knife to cut the precious cords. The newborns were warmly wrapped in his soft, red fleece jacket, and placed in their mother's arms.
"Come on, Daisuke," Taiyou ordered, removing the plastic bags she'd used as gloves and discarding them on the ground. "Time to go."
"I think not," a female voice behind them argued. "Flower Cannon!"
The attack whizzed past Daisuke's ear, singing his shoulder a bit.
Wonderful, he thought sarcastically. First that woman breaks my hand, and now Lilymon wants a rematch. This is just not my day. He held up his knife and turned to face his nemesis. "You see the dragon on here? That represents V-mon, who taught me everything I needed to know about friendship and especially courage. V-mon is empowering me through this. With him, I can take you out myself!" He suddenly charged Lilymon, desperately fighting with all the strength he had. "Taiyou, Cyberdramon! Get that woman and her babies to a hospital, and then head for the others!"
"No," Taiyou replied. "They'll be fine for now, and I'm sure that no matter who the victor is, the four will be taken care of. Hear me, Lilymon? If you win, you have to promise to get them to safety." The Perfect looked uncertain.
"There is no blood left on them," Cyberdramon assured. "My Tamer saw to it." Lilymon nodded, if not reluctantly, and resumed her battle with them.
"So, Taiyou, why did you decide to assist me?" Daisuke questioned.
"Your leadership was better than I've seen before, even from my own brother," she explained. "You would take on a powerful enemy alone, without asking for help. You surprised me, goggle head."
"Kouji would do the same," he informed.
"Yes, well…" Taiyou had a slightly sharper edge to her voice. "Let me fight one battle at a time."
"All right then," he agreed, pulling Taichi's goggles back on top of his head. Somehow, it felt just like old times.
Sakiko and Miyako, in the meantime, had almost reached the rendezvous point when a tall Digimon in gleaming white armor and a scarlet cape touched down in front of them.
"Great," Miyako muttered. "It had to be Dukemon."
"There's no way we can win this battle," Sakiko determined. "Kotemon, Koemon, stand down."
There was an obvious satisfaction in Dukemon as he towered over the two humans and their army. He brought his saber down, ready to attack, when an arrow, a sword, and two axes struck his back, tearing his cape.
"Holy Arrow!"
"Excalibur!"
"Treasure Ax!"
A second round of attacks did no more than anger the already infuriated Ultimate. A red, hateful, burning glow surrounded him, and the remainder of his cape shredded away to reveal ten shining, iridescently white-feathered wings. The white armor became crimson, and a double-bladed sword appeared in his right hand while a single blade rested in his left. He was truly a sight to behold, regardless of his affiliation.
"He's reached the Crimson Mode," Miyako realized in awe and fear.
"The what?" Sakiko questioned.
"It was something Ryo told us about," she answered. "In the final battle against the D-Reaper—an enemy like none they'd previously faced—Takato and his partner Guilmon's matrix evolved form, Dukemon, merged with a Digimon called Grani, forming the Crimson Mode. But Grani doesn't exist in this world, so it's shouldn't be possible."
"The Kaiser," Sakiko determined, receiving a nod from Miyako.
Dukemon turned to the three former Great Angels, his swords outstretched.
"Quo Vadis!"
The two angels in the sky quickly flew out of the way to avoid the attack. Antiramon ran in for an attack, but was soon stopped cold.
"Invincible Sword!"
Antiramon hit the ground, hard, just stages away from unconsciousness. Koemon and Kotemon tightly gripped each other, afraid of how the events would turn out.
Meanwhile, Himi and Takeru were still desperately battling WarGreymon, trying to keep him from fusing with MetalGarurumon. But "trying," unfortunately, was the key word.
"Gaia Force!"
"Cocytus Breath!"
Another explosion formed from the collision of attacks. Himi covered his eyes to avoid the blinding glare while Takeru stared into it with cold fear.
"This will never work!" the Child of Hope finally declared.
"What do you mean?" Himi asked.
"Years ago, our leader Taichi and my brother Yamato got in a huge fight that involved their Digimon, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. The fight ended in a draw only because Hikari interrupted it. Both Digimon were so drained that they returned to their Baby II levels. If MetalGarurumon can't hold out any longer, WarGreymon can force a fusion. I've seen Omegamon in battle before. He's unstoppable."
"Himi-san," MetalGarurumon addressed, "I won't fail you."
Himi looked back at the battle upon hearing his partner's voice. "I know you won't. But you're the last hope we have."
------
Kouji defused the final keypad, releasing the slaves on Cellblock 1. Though his movements had been random, he'd decided to save the lowest level for last to make for an easy escape.
His arm still hung limply at his side. He'd tried popping it back into joint, but his thick armor didn't allow it. But in the end, it really didn't matter; his ligaments were torn and pained him just as much. His tendons were close to sharing the same fate as his ligaments, and the blood vessels in his muscles had ripped open.
He made his way out to follow the other slaves on their exodus to freedom, but before he knew what happened, a sharp object was stabbed into his right side, puncturing his kidney. He pulled away quickly to see Sakuyamon behind him, the bottom of her staff dripping with his blood. Though his vision swam due to his head injury, he could see the smile she wore. Toxins leaked into his bloodstream, also affecting his thought processes and making him lightheaded. But despite all this, he turned and ran.
"Rice Cord!"
The fox spirits flew all around him, trying to keep him from the exit. Each time he touched one, he felt the pain of its element: fire, lightning, air, or water. All around him, walls crumbled as the base collapsed. He only just escaped before the fortress disintegrated into dust.
No, wait… It gave off too evil an aura to be dust.
Carefully, not wanting to touch it, Kouji made his way to the pile of dust to see that was what it was not. The base had been constructed of no more than black DigiCode and gray sand.
Sand…
"'You pressure it, and it will become something you don't expect,'" he quoted, remembering Kouichi's words from those three long years ago.
"Precisely," answered a voice from behind him.
And as he looked into the eyes of the devil, the eyes that were exactly like his, Kouji wondered how it could possibly have come down to this.
-------
"Quo Vadis!"
"Flame Storm!"
Vritramon's attack completely took Dukemon off-guard, making up for the last battle three days before. The winged Ultimate turned his attention to the newcomers, all but forgetting his previous nemeses.
"Double Thunder!"
"Avalanche Step!"
Bolgmon and Blizzarmon's double-team attack was no match for Dukemon in his Crimson Mode. He swatted the attacks aside easily, as one would a pesky fly.
"Corona Blaster!"
Vritramon's fiery bullets began pelting Dukemon's red armor, annoying him even more. He turned his attention to the new nuisance on his hands and held out both of his shining swords to attack.
"Wind of Pain!" Shutumon interrupted, blasting at him from behind. Sparkling feathers from his wings flew forward, catching the twilight sun that slowly disappeared in the west. But rather than seek revenge on Shutumon for that clever move, Dukemon looked into the distance, observing an adversary speeding from the horizon.
"Garuru Cannon!"
The powerful blast only barely missed Dukemon, but both he and the Legendary Warriors could feel the slipstream from it.
"Omegamon!" Miyako exclaimed. He carefully placed Himi and Takeru on the ground before flying in the sky to join the fray.
"Looks like the rest of us are all here," Ken observed. "Only Kouji, Daisuke, and Taiyou are missing."
"Takeru, how did MetalGarurumon fuse without WarGreymon's persona interfering?" Hikari asked.
"It was only because I remembered how Ryo said he got Cyberdramon: by Monodramon forcing a jogress on Millenniumon."
"So MetalGarurumon took a leap of faith and forced a fusion with WarGreymon," Himi finished. "I just have to make sure that none of Kouichi's power slips into him."
"Invincible Sword!" Dukemon attacked.
"Grey Sword!" Omegamon responded. Both swords struck each other over and over in a never-ending battle of wits, strength, and agility.
"Quo Vadis!"
"Garuru Cannon!"
"At this rate, the battle will never end," Hikari realized.
"I'm afraid to say it, but Omegamon may have to score a killing blow," Ken commented. "Iori, you should…"
"No," he replied calmly and evenly. "I'm a Chosen Child too. I began this war with all of you, and I'm going to end it just the same. Besides, I'm leader in Daisuke's place." His tone soon changed, sounding like he was swallowing tears in order to strengthen it. "My father always told me to keep to my responsibilities."
"I hope you don't regret this," Ken answered, reminded that he could not give orders to the mission commander.
I hope so too, Iori thought, watching the battle once more.
-------
Daisuke stabbed his knife into Lilymon once more, leaving blood behind on her chest. She clutched it painfully, and glared at him with cold, unforgiving eyes. Her anger appeared to be her power, and it could withstand the worst he gave her.
"Erase Claw!"
But Lilymon was no longer able to hold off Cyberdramon's attack. Both a black and an iridescent DigiCode ring appeared for Taiyou to scan. Daisuke merely stood holding his blade, thankful that Iori didn't have to see the course of their actions.
"Daisuke," Taiyou addressed, trying to catch her breath, "head off to help your friends. Cyberdramon and I will get this woman and her babies to the hospital."
"Are you sure?"
"Just go!"
Without a second thought, Daisuke sprinted for the others' location, activating his headset. Halfway through, his knee gave out, but he kept his pace through a limp.
"Kage! It's Motomiya! I'm heading for rendezvous, but I blew my knee out trying to run."
"All right, Daisuke," Kage replied. He then turned to his partner. "BlackWarGreymon, head for his location. Don't stop for anyone or anything." The Ultimate nodded and flew off to pick up Daisuke, leaving the others to watch Omegamon and Dukemon's restless battle.
-------
"Amazing, isn't it?" Kouichi asked. "That sand comes from the Dark Ocean—part of the World of Darkness, a place where just about anything can be created: Dark Towers, Black Rings, the Black Digivice, or even this base."
"Is this what you meant by sand being changed?" Kouji questioned, ignoring all but his mirror image in front of him. Kouichi merely smiled.
"Incredible, the changes that have taken place within you, as well as on the outside," he commented. "When we first met, you showed no ingenuity, no originality in your fighting. And now?" He laughed momentarily. "I must admit, halfling, that fire was impressive, even for you. I would not have expected you to try something so suicidal. But that is the style of the Chosen, is it not? All or nothing? Since when have you considered yourself one of them?" Kouji stood his ground, not answering. "You may be strong, but you are not that strong. Sakuyamon, leave us."
"As you command," she answered, dropping her staff into the sand.
Kouichi turned his attention back to Kouji. "Do you recognize where we are? This beach? These sandy shores?" Kouji didn't reply; he didn't have to. He knew every grain of sand on that beach, every wave that washed up on shore. There was no way he could ever forget. He had in essence died there, only to be reborn a month later in the stinking hellhole of Cell 24. "Fitting, isn't it, that we should be here now, standing in our own footprints from the past? Things have truly come full circle: It all began here, and it will end here."
"Yes, it will, but not for me," Kouji replied, pulling out his other saber. He charged, but Kouichi blocked with Sakuyamon's staff.
"That's right," he commented sneeringly. "You were always good at saber techniques." He pushed Kouji's arm back with the staff before using it to strike him at his stab wound. Kouji fell to the gray sand in indescribable pain while Kouichi stared at him.
"Little known fact about pure Digimon," he informed. "In this world, human blood poisons them. From the sickened look on Sakuyamon's face, I'd say halfling blood has the same effect."
Anger burned at Kouji, violently begging him to let it spill over in uncontrolled rage. But he remembered Iori's training and so suppressed those emotions into as serene a complex as he could manage. Too many times as an eleven-year-old child he'd let his anger get the best of him, whether it was a juvenile argument with Takuya or the battle against Karatenmon. Rather than make another mistake like those, he calmly stood up and held his weapon in an advancing stance. As he held it, Kouichi stared at him. Momentarily, there was the eleven-year-old child dressed in a yellow T-shirt, a dark blue jacket, and gray athletic pants, his hair tied back and covered by a blue bandana, his soul that of the proverbial lone wolf. The image faded to the slightly taller twelve-year-old dressed in Osamu's attire, both the bandana and the need to be alienated gone. And finally, he saw the Kouji of the present: dressed in the armor shells of his Spirits of Light, his hair still tied back (although several wisps had flown in front of his face, a problem he always had when he chose to abandon the bandana when he was younger), ready to fight for a cause he believed in—no matter what the consequences would be. The years did not show on his set face; save for a scraped forehead and a thin white scar underneath his right eye, he looked exactly the same.
They charged each other once again, saber against staff. Beside them the sun was sinking below the horizon. Whoever could hold out past nightfall would win. Kouji felt the rings of the staff beat against his back as the elaborately designed ornament bit into his body. He fell into the poisonous gray sands again while Kouichi fired at him with the laser pistol. Luckily for him, his metal armor managed to block the burning laser, so the only harm done was an uncomfortable heat coursing through it. But that was enough to stimulate the adrenaline in him. As long as that kept pumping through him, he didn't need the blood that dripped to the ground.
Over and over, the saber and staff struck each other in a never-ending dance of savage destruction—where had he last thought that? At the riverbank when he fought Ken. It was amazing that he could recall such a dance when he hadn't been able to form verbal thought. But for him, emotions were always more powerful than words.
Kouichi aimed a blow at his neck, but thanks to Iori's training, Kouji was ready. Swiftly, he knocked the laser from Kouichi's hand and struck a hard blow to his left arm. While his opponent clutched his wound, Kouji deftly grabbed the pistol and cocked it once. Iori once told him never to take an opponent's weapon, but this weapon had been his to begin with in the first place. Kouichi had been the fool to take it. Kouji stared hard into his adversary's eyes, slowly pressing the trigger.
"I'm sorry, Kouichi," he whispered.
The beam struck Kouichi's face, right between his eyes. It was so similar to the way Ophanimon's symbol had hit him all those years ago. But his mind wandered to another past, one that hadn't actually existed.
"Niisan… Ototo-chan…"
He collapsed to the white, moonlit sands, and a bluish-white light escaped his digivice. Immediately, the armor disappeared from Kouji's body, yielding to the dark blue tank top and pants he'd worn to the Digital World. Sadly, his shoes from that day now rested at the bottom of some ocean in the Digital World. It was too bad; he really liked those sneakers. They had been the ones Kage had given them, and they had still fit after three years of his growing.
He carefully made his way over and checked Kouichi's pulse and breathing. Both were normal. Finding that, he half-limped to the water, feeling as though he had to drag his entire right side. His stab wound was burning, and the action of moving his right arm or leg felt like it tore the skin and muscle from his side. But he had the Dark Ocean sand on him, and he knew it was more important to get that off than it was to get medical attention for both him and Kouichi.
Several rinsings in the ocean waters later, all of the sand had washed off his body. Finished, he knelt down, holding the laser he'd used to subdue Kouichi. As he looked at it, he began thinking aloud—an old habit of his from the Digital World.
"Niisan?" he repeated. "What did he mean by that? He's the oldest." The terrified look of realization on Kouichi's face haunted his mind. "What was it? What was it that scared him so much?" Unable to discover the answer, he held his defuser, touching the Black Ring. After all that time, he'd completely forgotten about it, like the ring was a part of him. It was unbroken, and would remain that way unless Kouichi was dead.
No, Kouji silently protested. I won't kill my brother. The word "brother" had such a foreign sound to him. How long had it been since he'd last uttered that word? How long had it been since he'd last used it to describe a young man who was once again his brother?
And now he removed the Crest from within the layers of bandages on his hand. It had been Kouri's good luck charm for him, and though he didn't believe in luck, he knew this tiny glass sliver was helping him in more ways than Kouri thought it would.
A hard weight struck the back of his head, exactly in the tender spot that had connected with the tile earlier that evening. Kouji never felt himself fall, but he could certainly feel the cold saltwater as he fell into it.
A blade ripped open his stab wound, causing blood to spill into the water around him. He knew that he could not remain in that position or face certain death. Quickly, he pulled himself up and coughed up the water and blood that had found his lungs.
"Halfling, get up!" ordered a cruel voice that sounded so much like both Ken and Kouichi at the same time. Confused, Kouji turned to see Kouichi—and yet it wasn't Kouichi. In the pale moonlight, he could see that his twin's irises had been completely swallowed up by black, and a smile crueler than any before played on his lips.
"Kaiser?" Kouji realized.
"It's about time we met face-to-face," he replied.
"But how?"
"Your pathetic brother and I fused, but like with Ken, I broke away once danger was near. This body may not be very comfortable, but it will do for now."
"For now?"
"Is that all you can do: ask questions? You are truly more pathetic than Kouichi led me to believe. But I suppose even you can understand—understand how it feels for there to be two of you. You have one consciousness to maintain, and yet you feel responsibility for another. It makes Kouichi crazy. He hates it, and he hates you for existing symbiotically with him." He struck Kouji with the whip, seeing to it that the weight hit his broken left shoulder. "And I hate it too—because it makes everything so difficult to conduct!" He then grabbed Kouji's laser and cocked it three times. An insane feeling of accomplishment flooded him as he pressed the indent that was the trigger. Finally, the nuisance twin brother would be gone! A red laser shot out, heading directly for Kouji, who refused to move. At last, the only person who had stood in his way would be dead.
Kouji quickly brought up his digivice, absorbing the fatal red light. The symbol of the Spirit of Light appeared on the screen, and a white-blue ray stuck the Kaiser.
"What?" he exclaimed. "How?"
"A laser is no more than a beam of light," Kouji explained simply, his voice tired. He clenched his hand into a fist and shoved it into his enemy's left eye. The Crest of Kindness broke with the impact, and his body screamed in agony at the movement, but he didn't care. This would be over and by his rules. As tiny magenta glass shards fell to the sand, the Kaiser stared back at Kouji.
"Glass," he commented in surprise. "No more than pressured sand. It shatters, and yet you didn't."
Several bands of black DigiCode appeared around his body, circling him like the globes of data the Chosen scanned to utilize their B-Spirits. A feeling of nostalgia swept through Kouji as he held out his D-scanner.
"Dark assassin, slave like me, come back to the light that gave you your name—no." It was the first time he had chanted something as he scanned, and he wanted to speak his heart. This could not be the same thing Kouji the Digimon would have said three or four years ago. It needed to be from Kouji the human, the brother. It needed to be from his own heart as well as from the others', a plea, a prayer. "My brother, Kouichi, come back to your family, your friends, and everyone else who cared about you. For the sake of the worlds, and in memory of Osamu Ichijouji, let this light guide you back to us. DigiCode Scan!"
First one band of data entered the device, and then another, and another. It was all happening even faster than when he and Takuya had scanned Lucemon's data as Susanoomon. Before he could stop it, all of the Kaiser's data was being scanned, sending an unwanted cold pain through him. The Kaiser was penetrating his mind, and trying to kill his psyche. He knew this would come, even though he'd never experienced it before. It was as if someone had told him it would come. He wanted to let go of the device, to stop the Darkness from entering him, but a voice he'd never heard before urged him not to:
"Hold on just a little longer. It's almost done."
The voice was almost exactly like Ken's, only softer and more compassionate than passionate. Though Kouji didn't know the voice that spoke to him, he felt that he should.
The Darkness showed him a desert in the Digital World, where the Digimon Kaiser was tied to a pole against a stormy black sky. This Kaiser was dressed in Ken's old garb, and appeared to be half-dead. Digimon began verbally condemning him, though Kouji doubted the Kaiser could hear their words. After the charges against him had been named, the Kaiser felt the sharp pain of an Elecmon's attack, followed by a Unimon, and then a Gotsumon. For a split-second, the attacks paused, allowing an unfamiliar brown-haired boy to leave, and several new people to join the execution. And as each attacked, Kouji was able to recognize each one's relationship to the Kaiser.
A gold beam of light, like the first rays of dawn, shot out of a symbol on the screen of the blue-and-white digivice of Daisuke Motomiya, who had brought about Ken's defeat. It struck his face—maybe hitting his nose, but no blood or breakage showed. The blow, however, was strong enough to snap his head back.
After than came a purple one, from the pink-and-purple digivice of Izumi Orimoto, who had once been Kouichi's girlfriend. Hers hit his left cheek, throwing the right side of his face into the pole.
A green one soon followed from the white-and-green digivice of Takeru Takaishi, the person who had confronted Ken and defeated him in hand-to-hand combat. And just as much of the gentleman he once was, he finished Izumi's job by striking the right side.
The next was yellow, from the yellow-and-white digivice of a young Iori Hida, who had not been able to forgive Ken's sins and shared a mutual connection through a man named Yukio Oikawa. Though he was a normally passive youth, his sense of justice discarded his nonviolent lifestyle in his blow: to the chin, snapping the Kaiser's head back even more roughly than Daisuke's did.
An orange streak, like flames, escaped the red-and-black digivice of Takuya Kanbara, who had been the first to identify Kouichi in the Real World. This one struck from the top, throwing the left side of his face into his broken body.
And finally, Kouji saw himself at the age of eleven, holding the laser pistol Kage had given him. His hands shook as he aimed—there was no way he could shoot his brother! But behind him was the Kaiser's older brother, a boy identical to the tyrant, dressed in green and blue. Osamu understood Kouji's fears, but he also understood the justice that had to be delivered. He'd deliver it himself if necessary, but he didn't have the ability to hold physical objects.
"Fire!" he ordered with tears streaming down his face. Kouji pressed the trigger and sent a lethal red beam between the Kaiser's eyes. The goggles were blown off, and the Kaiser's data exploded, followed by the data of the Digimon executioners.
An invisible opponent struck them all, claiming its dues. Daisuke's right knee suddenly shattered, forcing him to fall to the sand. In a way, it complemented the leadership he'd lost to a team that broke apart: He was a ruler now falling to his knees.
The unseen chains of friendship that Takeru held suddenly disintegrated as the quality that attracted so many friends grew hard and cold. His innocence vanished and was replaced by jealousy and hatred toward one person: the singer that Hikari had become obsessed with.
Iori's sanity seemed to entirely leave him, causing his hands to peel and bleed. He placed his blood-covered palms against his head, trying to fight the insanity that was beginning to claim him.
Takuya and Izumi shared fates similar to one another. Their joy of life faded into bleak nothingness. All they could feel was the sharp sorrow of losing one of their closest friends. Takuya then turned, all memories of his friend fading into nothingness while Izumi fell into a coma nearby.
Wounds opened in Kouji's wrists, sending blood onto the sand below. His entire body became riddled with injuries as he fell to the ground, feeling Death coming for him once again. Osamu merely watched them all in agony, infuriated that he was unable to help them. These were the sacrifices all seven were forced to make, but they were by no means welcomed.
The image finally passed, and the last of the data entered the digivice. Kouji felt all the strength in him fade as all feeling in his legs was lost, and he collapsed to his knees on the sand.
"I…killed him?" he whispered, barely able to believe what he'd just experienced.
"We killed him," the voice corrected. From the voice, a translucent figure appeared—Osamu. Slowly, the bluish glow around him faded, allowing him to take on a more solid form. "It was something we all had to do. It was something I had to do for Ken, even though I was forced to sacrifice both myself and Wormmon to do it. Your only sacrifice was yourself, but I couldn't let the Kaiser kill you, so I let that image pass through. I had to show you that you weren't alone in doing this, that others were taking the sacrifice as well. The ones you saw were only the ones with a connection to Ken and Kouichi, but all of the Chosen and Tamers had made a sacrifice, whether it seemed important to them or not. But it was most taxing on you because you gave everything you had. It was just as you said three years ago: If Kouichi killed you, he would be killing himself. If not for the others, you would have died, and it would have been the only way to save him."
"The…the Kaiser…" Kouji began.
"His soul is now imprisoned in your digivice," Osamu explained. "He will remain there with the light as his prison, preventing him from escaping—just as when Kouichi entrusted you with the Spirits of Darkness. But just because he's gone, don't think it's over. It's only just the beginning." The Black Ring suddenly shattered and fell off Kouji's neck. He stared at the shards of black metal in shock. "What's wrong?"
"Kouichi said that as long as he was alive, I would have the ring…"
"No," Osamu corrected. "He said as long as he existed, it would remain, and he said that as the Kaiser. The Kaiser no longer exists, so you are free from the ring's curse. But you will have other curses to deal with, though not all of them will be Black Rings. Do you understand?"
Kouji lowered his head as though in shame. "All over the world, I'm known. I can't escape their knowing. My life is in danger, and so are the lives of my friends." Kouichi could be heard breathing and shivering in the night, but that offered no relief to Kouji, who stared at the screen of his digivice, knowing what creature now lived inside. The screen caught his reflection—the reflection of a human. A Digimon hadn't won this war, but a human had. An inexplicable thrill swept through him—different from the post-battle adrenaline rush he normally got. This time, he'd won the battle as a human and not a Digimon, as a brother and not a warrior, just as the way he'd seemed to die before on that beach. It was a feeling unlike any he'd ever experienced before.
"I think that when that road comes up ahead, you'll be able to take it," Osamu decided, looking at him. A black raven soared around him and let a single feather fall to his feet. Then a bright and shining light filled him, seeming to burn him from the inside out. Kouji stared at him the whole time, as though saying the goodbye Ken never got to say. But he couldn't help but think of the myths surrounding his "death" Sakiko had told him about. In one of those myths, a glance upon his body would cause a person to be burned by a vengeful light from the inside out. Osamu had been watching him all this time without ever once burning. But the brilliance that seemed to be doing just that to him now was far from vengeful. Nor was it hateful. It was the promise of a brother who had to make amends for his sins by adopting two new younger brothers. The light faded, leaving no more than two injured human boys on a cold beach. Kouji shivered under the blue moon above him, resisting the cold.
The last thing he was aware of was just how warm the sand was as the left side of his face pressed into it.
-------
"Garuru Cannon!"
The arm that was MetalGarurumon's head fired a single shot, hitting Dukemon square in the chest. Feathers flew away from his wings as he fell toward the ground. A dark ring of DigiCode appeared from his body and dissipated into the sky.
"What?" Himi questioned as the great Ultimate devolved into an innocent Guilmon, only to fall on his bottom.
"Ow!" the Child declared with a giggle.
"That's the Digimon you were just fighting?" Daisuke questioned.
"Hard to believe…" Sakiko commented.
Omegamon descended to the ground and defused to two Child Digimon: Agumon and Gabumon. Exhausted from the battle, both collapsed to the asphalt in a barely conscious state. Himi ran over just the same as any Chosen or Tamer would, and tried to hold up Gabumon.
"Himi-san…" Gabumon began.
"Don't try to talk," Himi instructed.
"But, Himi-san, it's Agumon," he insisted. "I could feel it… The Kaiser's control on him is gone."
"What?"
"He's right," Hikari agreed. "There is a sudden shift in the powers of Light and Darkness. I think it's finally over."
Guilmon waddled over and helped Agumon walk to Himi. Both looked at him with longing eyes.
"What is it?" he asked.
"We would like you to be our Tamer," Agumon stated.
"Please?" Guilmon begged. "Could you, please?"
"But, I can't…"
"Yutaka onii-chan," Tomoki interrupted. "It's all right. You'll be able to do it."
Himi groaned. "Oh boy. I can't wait till we find Mom and Dad. This whole Tamer thing is going to be one long explanation."
"Well, we have a friend who's a Chosen with two partners," Takeru remembered. "I guess no rules are broken if a Tamer has three."
Agumon and Guilmon cheered while Gabumon smiled innocently. Himi, unable to resist their burst of infectious joy, nodded his approval.
"Now that we have everything all settled, we'd better find Kouji," Ken decided. He took out his D-3 and switched to tracking mode. His face became tense as he began pressing other buttons.
"What's wrong?" Shutumon questioned.
"I can't find the Crest of Kindness," he admitted. "I don't know where he is."
Familiar panic swept through Blizzarmon, Bolgmon, and Vritramon: the first of their recovered memories. The sense of dread they experienced at the rebirth of their digivices was no different from what they felt now with the death of the Crest.
"We have to find him," Vritramon insisted, his voice thick with apprehension.
"We'll help," Kage volunteered.
"No, you stay here," Daisuke replied. "No offense, but this is something that only Chosen can do. It's kind of personal. Besides, you still have jobs to do here."
"Yeah," Himi realized. "We'd better get our parents out of hiding."
"Someone let Kouji's parents in on everything," Miyako requested.
"I'll do it," Taiyou volunteered, riding in on Cyberdramon's back. Everyone looked at her uneasily. "Hey, I may not like the little halfling, but I'll do this much for him."
"We'd better trust her," Hikari decided. "I have a strange feeling we're running out of time."
Agreeing, the other Chosen quickly made a rush to find their missing friend. It took them two hours to scour the area, but they finally found two bodies lying on the beach sands. Upon seeing them, tear-blurred, black-and-white memories flooded from the human minds within Vritramon, Bolgmon, and Blizzarmon. The unbearable feelings that had tortured them for the five months they'd believed Kouji was dead were back in full force, drowning them in fear. But Shutumon reached the twins before the others could, and released a long overdue sigh of relief.
"They're both okay," she alerted, invoking whoops of delight from the others. "Kouichi's just got some minor burns and a black eye. I haven't checked Kouji yet, but I can hear him breathing." The first thing she saw when she walked over to him was a large splotch of blood on the back of his shirt. Hikari gasped in shock, remembering her old nightmare of seeing him drowning in blood. Shutumon quickly scooped him up in her arms, feeling his cold skin. "He's shivering. And his skin is so cold." Ken and Takeru began to remove their jackets, but she halted them. "No, so long as we get them to the hospital fast, they'll be okay."
"The fastest way is to fly," Vritramon determined, scooping up Kouichi. "Let's go."
The two Digimon flew into the evening sky, the other two following them on foot. It was exactly as it had been three years ago, only now they had two victims, and they were much older and more mature—just as they seemed to be in these B-Spirits. After them came five of the other six Chosen; only Ken remained.
A familiar presence lingered under the starry sky, causing the Ichijouji boy to stray from his friends. Though he could see no one about, he knew someone was there.
"Arigatou gozaimasu, Osamu niisan."
Delta: Greek letter for "D"
Roku: Japanese number 6
San: Japanese number 3
Thanks to Nic/Ken's luver for constantly reading the raw versions of the chapters, Loner Fox and Red Outburst for staying hooked on DMF, and Brian from DMF for saying it was good. Thanks also to Kristen/Winter Night Phantom for putting up with my crap the whole time, and to Kelly for coming up with Alice's outfit in part two. The obvious music to play for the final battle is "Oreta Tsubasa de."