Fordina: Um… I'd like to apologize before we do anything else.

Soccer Chicka: Why? It hasn't been that long.

Fordina: It's been over three months O.o

Soccer Chicka: …

Fordina: Yeah. That's what I thought.

Soccer Chicka: Guess we should get this thing started huh?

Fordina: Un, we should. Guys?

Ken: You do it.

Tai: Why me?

Ken: Because.

Tai: *sighs* Soccer Chicka and Fordina don't own Digimon or Card Captor Sakura. They do however own anybody that isn't in either of those animes.

Ken: Too lazy to list the names?

Tai: There's too many x.x

Desperate Days

By: Fordina and Soccer Chicka

Chapter 13

"This anger, this frustration…it has to stop!" James yelled at himself.

He covered his sweaty face in his hands. He had run all the way home, stripped off his sweaty clothes and ran into the bathroom.

He looked into the mirror and scowled. His deep blue eyes looked at his reflection in distaste, and his black hair was rumpled and standing on end. His finely toned chest was tanned and overall he was a good-looking guy, but to James, all he saw in the mirror was a worthless teenager with some whacked out power. He felt his anger building once more and to head it off he started to run the shower.

He turned the tap so it was as hot as he could take it, slipped off his black boxers and stepped into the water flow. He sighed. The water ran down his tawny back causing him to move the muscles in his shoulders to release the tension. He stood there for five minutes, just letting the water stream down his face and back; thinking.

So far, this had ultimately been one of the worst weeks in his life. He was out of the contest, Traci knew how he felt, some crazy kid knew about his powers and now Karen did too. And he couldn't even imagine facing any one of them again. The teacher in the contest would yell, causing his temper to flare and release his power. He would see Traci, and it was almost guaranteed that she had told that idiot Jen. Jen would laugh and make fun of him. He'd end up taking out his anger on her. She'd be seriously hurt. Even if he didn't like her, he couldn't stand to see anyone hurt… not again. Traci would never forgive him. She probably wouldn't forgive him anyway. He could just see it now. 'Eww, how could James like me?! He's so stupid and ugly! Gross!' Deep inside James knew this wasn't true, that she wouldn't be so heartless and react like that. His heart told him that, but his brain thought otherwise.

That crazy Li kid was going to spill the beans on him and he was sure he couldn't control the anger that would come then. Since when had he lost that iron hard control? He knew when…he knew exactly when it started to fade. It was when he started to trust someone. Was he to find another way to control it… or to live alone for the rest of his life… just to protect him, from himself?

At this thought he pounded the shower wall causing a tremor to shake the whole house. Small pieces of dust and plaster coated James. He quickly washed it off. He had to find a way to curb his power. He couldn't let it hurt anyone… not here… not anywhere near him. He had to find a way… a special place where it could be released without hurting anyone he cared about. Or anyone at all. But where? The only way to find out was to try. He was scared, but what else was there to do? Slowly he called upon his worst memory.

His cheeks burned, his head reeling, as he lay sprawled on the ground. Swearing, yelling, it all seemed to be coming from somewhere far away, coming from people he didn't know or understand. And yet, it was happening right in front of him. A tall, proud man, pounding a beautiful woman. She fell and James remembered a hoarse scream rising from his throat. The man turned to him, fist raised. James crouched further down and closed his eyes, expecting the blow to come hard and fast. He waited, but it never came. A crash sent his eyes fluttering open in curiosity. The woman, bleeding from the nose and mouth was standing over the man, his father, holding what was left of a lamp. She told him to run to the police, but he never got there that night. He was tired, bloody and hungry as he climbed onto a park bench and fell into a nightmarish sleep that haunted James, even to this day.

His anger built with every blow, every painful image. He could feel the ground shaking, felt the need to let the power go. But the hot water on his back reminded him of where he was. He was home. He was near family and friends. He would not hurt them; he would not be his father. Silently he pulled the power back, back inside himself, and pushed it outward. Not into his home, but into somewhere where he knew they wouldn't be hurt. Some place where humans weren't living. Somewhere he believed to be vacant. But it wasn't.

He sent his power to the Digital World.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Agumon and Gatomon were sitting down for lunch, sharing a bunch of wild berries. They had heard it before they felt it. A rumble, slow and deep at first, but growing with more intensity every second that passed. It was almost upon them when Agumon's instincts kicked in. It wasn't something they could fight. 'Run.' It told him.

He grabbed Gatomon's paw and led her through the forest. Deep inside Agumon knew they couldn't outrun it, but Agumon knew where at least one of them would be safe. He ran at full speed with Gatomon loping beside him. There it was, a small cave sturdy enough to withstand this Earth Rumble as he had come to think of it. He grabbed Gatomon once more, and threw her inside the cave. Gatomon yelled in frustration.

"Agumon! What about you?" She yelled over the roaring.

"Tell Tai that I'm sorry! Tell him he's the best friend I've ever had! I'll never forget you Gatomon!" Agumon yelled back as the earthen wall was almost on top of him. "Don't forget me!" The wall hit the ground with outstanding force and Gatomon had to crouch back inside the cave to avoid being hit. As the roaring slowly stopped and the air cleared. Gatomon poked her head out.

"Agumon!" Gatomon cried. She was frantic. "How can I tell Tai?" She blinked as red-hot tears pricked her eyes. Then she saw him, lying under a pile of rocks. She rushed to him and slid a paw under his head. "Agumon?"

He looked horrible. Bruised and cut, it looked like he'd never make it. "Gato… don't forget… what I told… you…" His eyes rolled back in his head and his world went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Li!" Karen yelled as she ran into his and Eriol's hotel room.

Jumping, Li and Sakura separated quickly, blushing fluently as Karen stood in the doorway wide eyed.

"I—I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt anything," she giggled.

Li glared heavily at his cousin and snapped at her, "What is it that you wanted when you just happen to barge in on a locked door?"

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that I have news on James."

"That guy you're obsessed with?" Li asked.

"I am not obsessed!"

"Right."

"Anyway!" Karen said heatedly. "As I was trying to say, James—"

"Has some sort of power in him that causes him to make the ground shake." Li finished for her.

Gapping Karen stared at him, "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I knew last week. I've been keeping a very close eye on that guy. Although, that'll be a lot harder now since he's out of the contest…"

"Oh! I can still help out on that!"

"Right, because you're one of his groupies now."

"Shut up!" Li just smirked. "I'll ignore those snide comments and do you this one favour because you're family."

"Oh would you please? That'd be oh so helpful!" Li commented sarcastically.

"Uh!" Karen huffed then left the hotel room.

Sighing Li turned back to Sakura; "You okay?" He asked, just noticing that she hadn't moved since Karen had entered the room.

Sakura nodded faintly, "Uh-huh."

Raising an eyebrow Li nodded, "Alright…" he said as he turned away again, only to be pounced on two seconds later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm having a really nice time to-night Davis."

"Yeah, me too Rita. I'm ah… really glad I got to meet you…"

Blushing Rita looked down at her hands; "I'm glad of that too."

Smiling Davis looked down at Rita; "I should go for it… I've waited long enough for it to be okay…" he thought as he lifted her head with his hand.

Rita looked up at him in surprise, her eyes glistening in the moonlight, "Davis?"

"Shh…" He said as he brought his lips down to her own.

Smiling Rita leant upwards to meet him half way when she suddenly screamed.

Eyes snapping open Davis looked at her surprised, "What's wrong?"

Eyes wide Rita pointed behind them, "W-w-what i-is t-that?" she stuttered.

Turning Davis groaned in annoyance. "What the hell?"

"What is it Davis?" Rita asked forcing herself to sound as calm as she could while she latched onto his arm.

Davis just sighed.

"Davis?" She asked again. "You know what it is don't you?" He nodded silently. "Then what is it?" She asked as she looked over at the huge creature walking through the city.

"His name is Shogongekomon. And I have no idea how he got here. But he's harmless. Usually anyway."

"Where did it come from?"

"A place called the Digital World."

"Digital World?"

"Yeah… it's like a parallel universe to our own…" Davis turned to look at her, "Rita… you—you can't tell anyone about any of this."

"Why not?"

"Well… because you aren't even supposed to know about it… Heck, I don't even think I was supposed to know."

"Then how do you know?"

"I became one of the protectors of that world." Rita stared at him unbelieving. "I know what you're thinking. You probably think I'm insane right?"

Rita shook her head, "No… no I don't think so."

"Well, that's good I guess."

"But are you sure we can't tell my friends? I mean… I think we've already seen one of these things before."

"Huh?" Davis asked confused. "Oh! I remember that happening… that was a Numemon." He told her.

"That gross green thing?"

"Yeah. They aren't one of the prettiest of the Digimon. But it's the first one I ever saw too."

"Digimon?"

"Yeah, that's what they're called. Short for Digital Monsters."

"Oh…" she paused. "So… we can't tell them anything about this?"

"Well…" Davis said uncertainly. She stared up at him with pleading eyes. Davis cringed, "Ah, come on! Don't give me that look!" She continued to stare. "Well… ah… you see…" he stuttered. "Oh fine! But I should go and find Tai or someone… they'll be able to explain all this a hell of a lot better then I will be able to."

"Oh thanks Davis!" Rita cheered, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and giving him a peck on the cheek.

Davis blushed, "Well, if I had known about that I would have told you about them sooner."

"What?"

Eyes wide Davis said, "Nothing."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tai scratched his head and looked around. Nothing was familiar. He had long passed any landmark he recognized. But at the moment, he didn't give a damn. He walked down a tidy residential street, and as he walked, his head spun in a million different directions.

What was up with Izzy…? This kid was seriously messing up his already complex and screwed up life. He had never been a problem before… Just been Izzy, the smart kid. Why all of a sudden was he acting like him? It was something Tai just couldn't fathom. Sure, he was great… but Izzy? He had his own way of doing things.

Still there was Sora. She hadn't paid him one bit of attention since they'd arrived. She barely even said hello to him when she saw him. He wanted to give her a piece of his mind but, as usual, he was sure it would be wasted. She hadn't listened to him before, so why would she start now? Better to not even open his mouth.

And Jen. She confused him to no end. What was she doing… going and kissing him like that? And then she runs off with Izzy… with no explanation! Just that he was the one playing on her. He hadn't even looked at any other girl lately! And that's what confused him most of all. How could he be playing on her… when she was running around with the other guys? If anything, it was her playing on him. Girls were just way too confusing for their own good.

Oh, and of course that blinking Digimon was still a mystery. He had no idea where it came from. In the Digital World… there were usually no black and white blinking monsters. Unless of course, it was a ghost… Wait… Ghost? Could that be it? He'd have to ponder that thought more. But not now, not when he already had too much on his mind.

As he walked, he kicked a couple of stones and listened to a dog bark, when another sound caught his ears. A faint buzzing, almost as if a TV had gone on the fritz. He looked around in curiosity. It was close by, but he couldn't see anything.

Checking in his pockets, his hand curled around a familiar smooth surface and he quickly pulled it out. The shiny exterior of his Digivice shone in the dying sun. As he looked closer however, the usual screen telling him the time and date wasn't there. Not even the little tracker light shone.

"What the…? What the hell is wrong with this thing? Musta bumped it or something…" He fiddled around with the buttons a bit, but still no response. Not even an indicator light telling him it was on. Just… static. Trying not to panic, Tai did everything he could think of that would even get a response from the thing. He shook it, and then finally slammed it on the ground, still with no avail. Whipping out his D-Terminal Tai sent out a message to every one of the Digidestined, hoping one of them would receive it. Not realizing Tai had two extra people in his address book, he had clicked all the addresses. Tai paced impatiently as he waited for a response. A sudden beep brought him back to the present.

"Matt!" Tai cried out loud. He pressed a button on his D-Terminal, which caused Matt's message to pop up. Matt's usual coolness was reflected in his response. 'What's wrong now, Tai?' Tai read aloud in a mimicking voice. "Bastard!" Tai quickly typed his response, including several callings of 'bastard' and 'asshole'.

Another beeping brought Tai to look at the Terminal's screen again. 'Oh, so now I'm a Digidestined? I'm important enough to know special 'Digi information'?' Jen's jeering answer angered him, but he ignored it enough to write. 'Yes, you're important enough.'

A beep again, and Jen's quick response of 'Really?' shocked him. He looked at it for a second. 'Yes', he typed slowly, pondering if he really meant it. If he did or not, it didn't matter, he needed that response from Matt. As soon as he thought this, Matt's reply beeped its way into his D-Terminal. He opened it hesitantly. Matt's too short answer blinked back at him. 'Tai, I think Agumon's gone.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tbc…