(Chapter 12 indeed. We're winding down, and we're presently in the
month of March. Following the last chapter, for those of you who have read
everything, is an incredibly hard chapter to follow. However, I won't let
you down yet. I've got two more segments left and they're going to be just
what is needed to bring the story full-circle. What's more, it's pure
TaKari focus from here on out. Two chapters left; two final chances to put
everything on the line and make this book as good as it can possibly be.
Here's try number one - Chapter 12.)
The Ivani Chronicles : Book 2 - Reminiscence : Chapter 12 - Head Like a Hole
"Hey mom, have you seen my other shoe somewhere?" TK's request met no reply, which wasn't particularly surprising to the blond-haired boy as he continued running around his apartment seeking the wayward shoe. His mother was on the phone, deeply engrossed in talking to the person on the other end of the phone line. Such meant that TK was to have no help in his hunt. The boy paid it no heed, instead dropping to his stomach in order to better see beneath his bed for any clues to the shoe's whereabouts.
After another few minutes of scouring his room for the shoe in his room, TK gave a sigh and admitted defeat. Returning to his feet, he headed back out the door towards the living room for a second examination of that room. It was then that TK stumbled, sent downwards to once again greet the floor. Glancing back, TK saw his missing shoe had been resting in his path. With a grunt, TK threw himself back to his knees and put his shoe on. "How on Earth did I miss that?" TK asked of himself. After a minute, he figured it was best to not question his own blindness and simply be thankful that he had found his shoe before he was late to leave.
TK jumped to his feet, smiling when he noticed that both of his shoes were attached to his feet properly. The boy then gave a glance to his side, swiping his backpack up from the ground. "I won't really be needing you today, but the teacher still wants us to bring things in if something goes wrong," TK told the backpack. Knowing that no response would come from the green sack, he shook his head and threw the bag's shoulder straps to their correct place on his body. Stifling a yawn, TK walked from his room out into the kitchen to say goodbye to his mother.
"I'm gonna get going to pick up Kari now," TK stated as he entered the kitchen. Ms. Takaishi put her hand over the bottom portion of the receiver to address her son.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to give you and Kari a ride to school?" Ms. Takaishi asked. TK shook his head.
"I know you're gonna be coming anyways," TK said, "but Kari and I have a sort of ritual of walking to school together. Thanks for offering, but with the warming weather we'd prefer to walk." Ms. Takaishi nodded in both acceptance and agreement.
"It is the last day of March," Ms. Takaishi replied in reasoning, "And it's also a Friday. Well, if you two would like to walk, that's fine." TK smiled, hugging his mother.
"We'll see you in a little while, though," TK assured his mother. He stepped back from his mother, moving slowly for the door as he continued, "We leave at eight o' clock sharp, so be sure to be on time. We should get back around two or three in the afternoon, and then Kari and I will gladly accept a ride home." TK's eager smile was met by an incredulous glare from his mother.
"Oh, really?" Ms. Takaishi asked satirically, "Did I not just hear that you and Kari have no need of my services?" TK's head drooped past his shoulders.
"Mom," TK said in a groan. "We'd like to walk one way, but we'd also like to get a ride for the other way." Ms. Takaishi shrugged her shoulders, smiling at the downcast boy.
"We'll talk after the trip, okay?" TK nodded, his spirits returning, to his mother's statement. "Now you'd best get going," she continued. "You're gonna have to move quickly if you want to get to the Kamiya's and to school before both of you are late." Ms. Takaishi pointed to the clock on the wall to confirm her point. TK looked up at the wall, suddenly swallowing hard.
"Good point," TK said. He was still for a moment, and then he rushed for the door. "See you in a little while!" He called over his shoulder. Before he could receive a response, the main door of the Takaishi apartment thudded closed behind him. Ms. Takaishi smiled at the door as she brought the phone back to her mouth.
"Sorry about that," Ms. Takaishi said into the phone. Then, after a brief pause, the woman remembered where the conversation had been before she interrupted it. "So there's no one you could find to watch him for you?" She asked.
"No," Maddie's voice answered through the phone. "Everyone I know from other people I've worked with is either at school or unavailable because of previous engagements."
"I'm sorry," Ms. Takaishi said regretfully. "I wish I could take care of Ryan, but TK asked me to chaperone for his class field trip today. What do you think you and Ivan will do?"
"It's not a big deal if we stay home, so I think that's what we'll do," Maddie informed the woman. "It is an emergency of sorts, after all, and I think that Ivan and I could both use a little time free of obligations." Ms. Takaishi nodded to herself.
"That's understandable," Ms. Takaishi said. "You and Ivan do so much, I'm surprised that you two haven't collapsed from exhaustion already."
"Ivan and I are used to it," the other end replied. "We had a campaign in the Digital World that went on for eight months once, and we all thought it was just as grueling as the school years we could remember once we got through it. But when the opportunity presents itself, we'd have to be fools to give up the chance to rest."
"I'm sure you're wanting to spend some time with your whole family together, too." Maddie giggled over the line at ms. Takaishi's comment.
"Yeah, that too," Maddie admitted. Ms. Takaishi smiled as Maddie continued, "It's been a while since we had the chance to be together for more than half an hour and have Ryan awake with us. The last time that I can remember was the plane flight, but even then we were stuck in those coach airplane chairs. That's really not the most appealing way to spend time together."
"You've got that right," Ms. Takaishi affirmed. "Make the most of your day off, Maddie. You don't know how long it'll be until another opportunity like this rolls around."
"I'll be sure to," Maddie said. "I'm sure Ivan will be happy with the news, too. He's been killing himself between his schoolwork, real work, and us. Though he'll probably spend the first half of the day sleeping, Ryan will be delighted to have more time to crawl on him."
Ms. Takaishi laughed. "More time?" she asked, intrigued.
"Well, Ivan has Ryan climb on his back when he's doing push-ups and stuff to keep himself in shape," Maddie said nonchalantly. "Each time his daddy claps between a push-up, Ryan counts. Ryan usually gets confused around ten or eleven, but that makes it all the more adorable to watch." Ms. Takaishi continued to laugh at the thought. Her own experiences with the child, too, came to mind to the blond-haired woman's further amusement.
"Ryan's quite the character," Ms. Takaishi said as her laughter trailed off. Then, with a shake of her head, she added, "But I really shouldn't keep you from your day. No doubt you'd like a few extra hours of sleep, right?"
"I guess so," Maddie answered. "We'll just have to come up with some method of keeping Ryan bemused until we're ready to get up. Convincing him to go back to bed so quickly would really be a challenge." Ms. Takaishi nodded to herself.
"Good luck with it," Ms. Takaishi said.
"Thanks," Maddie responded quickly. "And you be sure to have fun on the field trip today." After a brief pause, Maddie went on to ask, "Where is it that you're going today, anyways?"
"We're headed to the Nurakano Research Facility," Ms. Takaishi told her. "It's about twenty minutes away from Odaiba, so we'll be taking a school bus over there. TK said that there were a couple openings for chaperones, and the idea of going to look at a research facility sounded like a really good idea for a report. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity."
"Now you're making me jealous," Maddie said in a joking tone. "Be sure to take a lot of pictures and notes for me, okay?"
"If they let me, I'll take a picture of everything I see," Ms. Takaishi said. "Don't worry, Maddie; I'll do what I can to bin the experience back for you."
"Thanks so much, Ms. Takaishi," Maddie said giddily over the far end of the phone. "Now go have fun with TK over at Nurakano. Ryan and I are going to have a little discussion about whether he'll consent to letting his Dad and I sleep in a little more today." Ms. Takaishi smirked.
"Okay, Maddie," Ms. Takaishi finalized, "Good luck with Ryan. We'll talk to you when we get back."
"I'll be looking forward to all of your stories," Maddie said. "Talk to you later."
"Goodbye, Maddie." At that, Ms. Takaishi turned and replaced the phone in its cradle. Her attention was quickly drawn to the clock, followed by her bedroom. "Time's running short," Ms. Takaishi said as she walked briskly down the hallway to her bedroom, "TK's bus leaves in half an hour for the facility in half an hour and I still have to get dressed and ready." Her closet was the first target of her bedroom, quickly drawing out proper garments for a day of business with her son's class. As she proceeded, her thoughts drifted to what she could learn from the doctors and scientists at the facility on the latest research. Moreover, she wondered if she would have the opportunity of getting a more proper interview for one of her upcoming articles.
"Well, that completes the attendance check," Sensei Modo called from the front of the bus, facing its back in the center aisle. He placed a clipboard he had been holding down on the nearest bus seat. "We'll be getting underway very shortly," He continued. "I hope you're all ready for the exciting day ahead of us. Today we're going to the Nurakano Research Facility. They're well known for their many achievements and their contributions to today's medical society. Mr. Lida Nurakano first began the research style in 1932. Since then, his findings have been revealed to a select group of Lida's colleagues. Together, they founded the facility and have since operated under generous money grants from the Japanese government. Among their accomplishments are the molecular designing of a new formula of aspirin, the creation of."
TK gave a look sideways to the person he was sitting with. "How long do you suppose he'll go on for?" TK's companion, Kari, looked to her boyfriend from the teacher at the front of the bus.
"Should we place bets?" Kari joked in response. "It's Sensei Modo. Knowing him, we won't leave here until it's nearly noon. When he gets impassioned into a lecture, you know you won't hear the end of it until it's dark outside." TK sighed, throwing his head back against the bus couch.
"Why does Sensei Modo have to be our health instructor, anyways?" TK said in a whispered whine. Though several other students had also taken to talking instead of listening to the teacher's explanation of their destination, TK still felt out of place joining the crowd with his mother sitting only a dozen rows in front of him. Nonetheless, TK added, "He's supposed to be the school's vice principal, isn't he? Shouldn't he be down there in his office or something?" Kari shrugged.
"The school budget's terrible," Kari said sadly. "Because of that, we're stuck with teachers teaching more classes and even the vice principal stepping in to take control of our health course."
"Silly school budget," TK said lowly. Tuning out the teacher's voice, TK turned his focus to Kari. "So are you looking forward to this?" He asked. Kari giggled.
"That's at least the fifth time you've asked me since you picked me up this morning," Kari said, her eyes fixated with an adoring glow in TK's. The blond-haired boy cringed slightly.
"Sorry," he said quickly, "I guess I've just been at a loss for conversation lately." Kari smiled, leaning her chin on TK's shoulder.
"Relax, TK," Kari told him, "You don't always have to come up with something incredibly important for us to talk about." One of the girl's hands slipped around TK's back gently. "Just being able to be with you is enough to keep me appeased." TK watched Kari, his eyes softening.
"It still feels a little awkward after all the weird stuff we went through, though," TK said regretfully. Kari's head shook back and forth against TK's shoulder, her eyes closing as she hugged him with her arm around his waist.
"I know it was weird," Kari said quickly, "But that's all past us now. It took me some time, but you know that I'd never want to be away from you permanently. Just keep being the wonderful person that you are, TK. You don't need to try at it; the more effort you put in, the more awkward it will feel."
"I guess," TK said in slow acceptance.
"And you know that I'm crazy about you," Kari said, her other hand joining the first around TK's waist. "There's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be than right next to you." TK's lips curled upwards as he exhaled. He restrained from letting his arms take their natural course and hug the girl back, but let his head simply rest on top of hers.
"I know," TK said softly, letting his eyes slide closed in Kari's embrace. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be, either. It's just taking me a little time to adjust to things being like they were." Kari's head bobbed slightly.
"We'll get there, TK," She assured him, "And then it'll be even better than before. After all, whatever doesn't break us only makes us stronger."
"I sure hope you're right about that," TK said. Kari's arms squeezed around him in reassurance. With a sigh, TK nuzzled his head against Kari's shoulder, pressing against her neck with his forehead. "I wouldn't ever let anything break us, no matter who or what it is that tries to. Things would never be the same without you in my life like this."
Kari's head nodded, rubbing against TK's cheek lightly. "I know, TK," Kari replied in his ear. "I won't let anything take us apart, either. Even if I need some space at times, I don't ever want you out of my life. You're too important." Kari trailed off, her face hiding against the blond-haired boy's neck. TK grinned to himself, mirroring the motion of affection on Kari's neck. He stayed in the position for a while, reveling in the simplicity of being next to his girlfriend again. The scent of her hair drifted lazily through his senses, further relaxing his nerves.
Reluctantly, TK slowly withdrew after a moment. His body had felt the bus lurch into motion and, with a glance, he noticed that Sensei Modo had, at last, found a seat and completed his lecture. His eyes looked back, connecting with Kari's. Her russet eyes glittered, accompanying her smile with perfect grace while she looked back at TK. In those eyes, TK could see the validity of her statements to him, and the unquestionable love that she bore him. She refrained from mentioning it in the present circumstances, just as he did, but the adoration she had for the blond-haired boy didn't waver. Blinking, Maddie smirked at the slightly stunned look on TK's face from breaking eye contact.
"We can get more comfortable later," Kari said in reference to after school. "It's Friday, so we can hang out tonight and help you sort out everything else that's bothering you, okay?" TK nodded with a drop of his gaze, disappointed that he would have to wait. However, his dismay lasted only a moment since he knew that waiting through the day free of classes would be well worth having time to spend with Kari and without the rest of his class surrounding him.
"But for right now," Kari went on, "I think it's best if we keep from showing our love in front of everybody else before we become too much of a spectacle." TK glanced about the bus and noticed a few heads suddenly snap their attention to something out of the bus window or to the floor by their feet. The boy sighed, looking back at Kari with a joking smile.
"I guess we're really just that exciting to watch," TK said sarcastically. Kari beamed, sitting back up against the bus seat and disengaging her arms from TK's waist.
"Ya think?" Kari asked excitedly. "Maybe we could start videotaping ourselves and sell it to people. Do you think we could make a business out of it?" TK laughed with the brown-haired girl, shaking his head.
"Of course," TK went along, "And we'll get Ivan and Maddie to be our special guests. We could even play up with Yolei and Ken for some sort of triple-date." Through her laughing, Kari caught TK's last comment.
"Wait," Kari said once their laughter had calmed somewhat, "Did Ken finally ask Yolei out?" TK shrugged, throwing his vision to the bus's low ceiling.
"Beats me," TK said vaguely. "He likes her a lot, and she really likes him. They just can't really get around to saying that to each other. That, and they're kind of far apart." Kari nodded solemnly, her eyes looking out the bus window to the water that could be glimpsed between passing buildings.
"The distance definitely isn't helpful at all," Kari agreed. "But even if they are separated by that, it's not like it's too hard to get there from here. Maybe it's an hour on the subway lines?"
"About that, yeah," TK said with a nod of his head. "And soon enough they're gonna be able to drive it and then distance like that won't matter at all." TK brought his eyes from the bus' ceiling to look over Kari's shoulder out the window. "Maybe that's what they're waiting for before they decide to admit how they feel."
"Maybe," Kari said, her tone rising to a wistful note. "Whatever it is, I hope they can get over it and get together soon. They looked so adorable at the dance together. And now Yolei goes to visit Ken almost every weekend. She insists that she's only going to get some extra help for her geometry class because it's so different from algebra, but the look she gets in her eyes tells me differently." TK smirked at his own memory of Yolei's explanations as to why she disappeared to Ken's house weekly.
"You don't think that they." TK let his voice trail off, having only partially thought about the idea before he brought it up. Kari gasped slightly, turning to face TK.
"Do you think they have already?" Kari asked eagerly. TK shrugged, looking with surprise at the sudden light that had come to Kari's face. "Oh, I bet you're right," Kari said in a low, near-scheming voice. "Those two always were so clever. Disappearing here and there to be together without giving us the least bit of a notion that they were a couple already."
"Don't go jumping to conclusions on me now, Kari," TK said as a joking warning. Kari looked up to TK, confused. "That's what everyone did about us, too, and we always hated it when we were younger. We were best friends for years and spent time together constantly. Yolei and Ken could be doing that, too."
"But that's so much less romantic," Kari said dejectedly. TK grinned, though he resisted taking any further action of showing how cute he found the girl when she pretended to be a hopeless romantic.
"What do you think people thought about us when we were just friends in middle school?" TK countered.
"Okay, okay," Kari receded. "It was really aggravating to have everyone thinking we were an item when we were only friends, I'll give you that."
"Then I'd suggest you treat others the way you'd wish to be treated," TK advised gently. "Even if that won't be an issue in the future, we can at least try to set a good example. Ken and Yolei will let us know when they're ready, and until then, we can believe what they say." Kari nodded in grudging acceptance.
"I still think they're cute," Kari stated, looking out the window once more. TK stared at the girl's back for a moment, and then found that he was laughing. Kari looked back at TK, perplexed. "What's so funny?" she asked. However, before her question could be answered, Sensei Modo stood briskly at the front of the bus. In perfect synchronization, the bus halted.
"Okay, kids, we're here," Sensei Modo called down the center aisle to all of his students. "Let's get moving before they decide to cancel our tour for being so late." TK and Kari exchanged glances before focusing their sight on the teacher with a spark of anger. "We'll be staying together with the chaperones, alright?"
"Yes, Sensei Modo," the bus cabin responded unanimously.
"And what's the kind of behavior we use here?" The teacher furthered.
"Our very best, Sensei Modo," came the second response.
"Good. Now let's exit the bus in that manner and be sure to get as much as you can out of this place. There will be a quiz when we return on Monday." The students filling the bus groaned, some shouting out in protest of such a heinous plan. Sensei Modo seemed to not hear their voices, adding, "We'll report back to the bus at twelve-thirty for lunch before we return to the high school. Come on." As Sensei Modo finished, the driver opened the bus doors and the teacher stepped down and out of the vehicle. The chaperones were quick to follow and, less enthusiastically, the students fell into line after them.
"Ready for the wonderful world of medicine?" TK said dryly as he jumped to the concrete sidewalk from the bus. Kari rolled her eyes as she jumped after him.
"Sure," She replied unenthusiastically. "But I bet Maddie would love to be in our shoes right now. She'd be able to see all the latest medical technology that they have here." TK gave her a confused sidelong glance.
"You really think she cares about our medicines with the knowledge she acquired in the Digital World?" TK asked in a rhetorical manner. "Compared to that, this stuff must seem elementary." Kari shrugged, looking up at the great white concrete structure they had stopped in front of. Along the front wall, in large and trim iridescent navy-blue letters was printed "Nurakano M R S." Aside from a few windows placed regimentally along the wall and the set of doors up a small flight of white stairs, the remainder of the building was the same stark white against the background of light blue sky and royal blue water.
"I still think she'd be interested in their theories," Kari insisted. "And who knows? Maybe she'd care to tell them some of her own expertise. You know that helping other people comes first in her mind, so I think it'd be natural that she would want to help educate other people with what she knows."
"This is true," TK agreed as he followed his classmates towards the concrete building. The blond-haired boy opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by a sudden shout from the steps leading to the building's entryway.
"Salutations to Sensei Modo's health class from Odaiba High School," The voice called. "I'm Mr. Yiguro and I'll be your tour guide through the Nurakano Medical Research Facility. Inside this building is some of the finest medical equipment in all of Japan and even the world. We began this foundation in 1952, twenty years after Mr. Lida Nurakano began his medical research on the relationship between the different organs of the human body. Between Mr. Nurakano's own generous donations and support from the Japanese government, Nurakano M R S has been able to continue working for the past fifty-two years to bring you some of the greatest medicines of the day. One of the most prominent creations by our staff is a new substance that works in place of aspirin, as well as."
TK's attention flagged quickly at the monotony of the second explanation of information he had already read in his health class. He gave a glance to Kari beside him, who looked back with a shrug of acceptance. TK looked back to the man, who was bald and had a voice deep enough to challenge the depths of the ocean. His voice continued to move excitedly, but TK gave his words no mind. Rather, the boy growled inwardly as he reluctantly remained with his class outside, waiting impatiently for the man to stop talking and get on with his tour.
"So what would you like to do now?" Ivan asked, rubbing his eyes lazily. The brown-haired boy then shook his head roughly before looking back at his son. Ryan squealed unintelligibly, rather than responding as he made his way from the pile of books beside his father's chair. Ivan watched Ryan stare at the toy chest set against the wall, filled with a wide variety of toddler toys. The infant ultimately decided on drawing out a large pad of paper and a box of crayons. "Drawing it is," Ivan said unnecessarily with a small smile at his son's quick decision. "Okay, bring that stuff on over here and I'll help you get set up."
"Drawing time," Ryan chimed as he struggled to carry the box and pad back to the coffee table in the center of the living room. Ivan's quick movements allowed him to help the child before Ryan lost his balance. "Thanks," Ryan said as the articles he bore were set down on the table.
"I should've gotten up to help you before," Ivan apologized. "You're just getting so independent so quickly.
"I know, daddy," Ryan said blandly with a roll of his eyes. Ivan chuckled as he helped Ryan onto the couch cushion nearest Ivan's chair.
"You're quite the character, big guy," Ivan told him. With an adjustment of the table, Ivan moved the table closer to his son so that he would be able to use his coloring tools better. Once Ryan was settled and had a red crayon moving roughly across the page, Ivan returned to his original seat. A nudge of the screen upwards brought his laptop display back into view.
"What're you making today, Ryan?" Ivan asked while his computer began uploading another file. Ryan looked up, a wide grin plastered across his face.
"It's a heart," Ryan explained. "I'm making it for mommy." Ivan smiled, his body relaxing against the chair as he exhaled.
"That's very sweet of you, buddy," Ivan said. "I'm sure that mommy will love it." Ryan squeaked in glee as his attention flew once again to the paper before him. Ivan scratched the back of his head with a soft laugh. "But good luck with keeping her from seeing it."
"Keeping who from seeing what?" A distinct voice asked from the living room's doorframe. Ivan and Ryan both looked up, the latter more shocked at the appearance of his mother. Maddie sighed, her weight leaning further against the framework. "What an adorable sight," She said contentedly, "My two boys all busy working away in the middle of the day. You're gonna end up spending your time just like your daddy if you don't look out, honey." Ryan, his artwork temporarily forgotten jumped from the couch and dashed to his mother.
"Mommy," Ryan cried joyously, his arms wrapping about the girl's legs. Maddie giggled and picked the child up in her arms. "You're awake now!" Maddie nodded, rubbing her forehead affectionately against his.
"Yep," She told him. "And kudos to your father for keeping an eye on you while I slept in. What've the two of you been up to, anyways?" Ryan glanced over at Ivan, who winked as he moved Ryan's picture out of view. He stashed the notepad beneath the stack of books beside his chair.
"We read," Ryan said excitedly. "We read all those books." One of his small hands reached out, pointing vaguely to the side of Ivan's chair. "Before that we were playing with blocks, then daddy did his push-ups with me. I had fun. But it's more fun with you mommy." Ryan confirmed his statement with the wrapping of his arms around his mother's neck. Ivan's eyes looked at the child suspiciously.
"Oh really?" Ivan asked with feigned incredulity. "I guess I'm just not worth having around anymore then, huh? If mommy's just so exciting and fun, why would you ever put up with me?"
"I love you too, daddy," Ryan said. His tone gave the impression that Ivan had given the same fit on more than one occasion in the past. "I just like playing with mommy more." Ivan sighed, smiling in secret as he hid his head behind the laptop screen.
"The truth hurts, don't it?" Maddie said playfully. Ivan's head bobbed in an out of view over the top of the computer screen in recognition. Maddie giggled at the sight of her boyfriend until the child she carried once again stole her attention.
"Can we play now?" Ryan asked hopefully. Maddie nodded. The brown-haired girl shook her head as to calm her laughter. She then carried Ryan over to the toy box that had been brought in some six months ago. Her eyes looked over all of the possibilities lying within the chest.
"What do you feel like playing with today?" Maddie questioned as she knelt down next to the box. Ryan looked around, question evident in his eyes. He examined the plush animals of various colors, the differently sized blocks, the other half of his book collection, the cardboard boxes containing puzzles, and the pile of plastic noisemakers that were stored in the wooden chest. His hands eventually fell upon the books.
"Can we read?" Ryan asked as he tugged the books from their cramped position against the puzzle boxes. "I wanna have you read. Daddy and you both read good, but I wanna hear you now." Maddie shook her head in the affirmative with another laugh to answer her son. Her hands assisted him in removing the books from the toy box.
"You really are vicious today, aren't ya big guy?" Ivan said from his seat. "Even after all the time I spend out doing stuff, you still don't want to play with me if you can play with mommy." Maddie sighed good-naturedly, hugging Ryan briefly as she set him on his feet with the books in his hands.
"Go get comfy," Maddie told her son, "I'm gonna go try to cheer daddy up. I'll be over in a minute, okay?"
"'Kay, mommy," Ryan responded, waddling over to the couch and jumping up onto the cushions. Maddie, meanwhile, stood up and walked over to the arm of Ivan's chair. Her hands reached over, brushing across the boy's shoulders to get his attention. Ivan looked up from the computer screen, managing a small smile.
"What's up?" Maddie asked as she sat on the arm of the chair. Ivan shrugged. His hands took Maddie's and guided her arms to wrap around his neck. Maddie followed the boy's lead. His weight leaned back in to her arms while Maddie happily hugged the boy closer to herself. Her eyes stayed melded to Ivan's. She felt her heart warmed by the ever-present vibrant glow of life and love glimmering in Ivan's sapphire eyes. It was no new sensation, but the look he gave to her, and only to her, never ceased to make Maddie feel serene and indescribably comfortable.
"I was only kidding around," Ivan said after a moment of peaceful silence. "Did you sleep well? I hope Ryan and I didn't wake you up or anything."
Maddie's reactive nod came with a slight delay, caused by her lack of attention to anything but her boyfriend's comforting eyes. It was the same comfort Maddie had found in Ivan's eyes every day after her friend's unfortunate passing. Their bond had never been so important as far as Maddie could remember, with the possible exception of Jason's actions the past year. She knew that Ivan had been even more deeply scarred, since he had to witness the act with his own eyes. Maddie had been spared of that, but her heart was torn nonetheless. Zero's death had been so unsuspected and sudden, she had barely been able to cope with it. It was Ivan's permanent devotion to her well being that had kept her from drowning in sadness, and Ivan's eternally optimistic attitude that kept her hopeful about her friend's current condition in the afterlife. She shook her head, dismissing the thoughts with a smile. It had been a few weeks since Maddie's sadness had ebbed from an open wound to a neglected scar. She still missed the black-haired boy, but her life persisted beyond the misery inspired by his choice. "I slept great," Maddie clarified. "You didn't wake me."
"You feeling alright?" Ivan furthered, brushing a hand across the girl's cheek with a look of concern taking over in his eyes. Maddie grinned and nodded with more conviction.
"I'm fine," she stated. "I was just feeling a little nostalgic. It was you I was worried about not feeling okay." Ivan smiled back at the girl, nuzzling his body closer to hers. His one hand slipped down past Maddie's ear to her neck while the other wove around Maddie's waist, hugging her gently.
"Well, if you're sure that you're okay, and I'm sure that I'm okay, then what're we doing?" Ivan said slowly, confused amusement ringing in his voice. Maddie giggled, hugging the boy's neck to her shoulder. She could feel the boy's gentle lips pressing against her neck, sending a surge of serenity through her body.
"Being close, I guess," Maddie managed to reply. She let her hands rub the boy's neck in response to his actions.
"Mommy, are you done yet?" The impatient question sent Ivan and Maddie recoiling from one another sharply. Ivan grinned sheepishly, his eyes fixating on his computer screen. Maddie jumped to her feet, laughing nervously as her hand pressed against her neck where Ivan had kissed her.
"Yeah, I'm coming, honey," Maddie assured her son as she started to walk around Ivan's chair to the couch to join her son. However, Maddie had only reached the other side of Ivan's chair when the computer beeped loudly. All three present in the room looked at the laptop with interest. "What's up?" Maddie voiced the others' question. Ivan shrugged, his hands moving rapidly across the keys and mouse.
"Looks like we got another E-mail," Ivan said as he accessed the link to his mail site. "Maybe someone decided to check up on us since we're out of school today?" Maddie shrugged, looking over Ivan's shoulder. A second later, she beckoned Ryan over to her.
"Come look at this, honey," Maddie instructed her son. Ryan dutifully responded, bouncing over into his mother's waiting arms. The closeness of his mother seemed to alleviate his former grief about being ignored by his parents while they put their arms around each other. His eyes looked eagerly to whatever had grabbed his parents' attention on the computer screen.
"It's from Hakin," Ivan told the others leaning over his shoulder. An instant later, Ivan's laptop displayed a short message in plain black text against the otherwise white field:
Hey Ivan & Co,
This is Hakin checking in from the Digital World. Susan and myself just completed the endeavors in the northern plants and gathered all the intelligence that we could. Radio silence was broken only a few minutes ago. We've got the site mapped out as well as the original construction blueprints. We came up with an effective infiltration plan for the eastern plant, but we can't do it alone. We request immediate back up of the Dragoon kind, if you catch my drift. There's a TV near our current position, through which we saw a few sentinel drones disappear, perhaps fifteen minutes ago. We've secured the site since then and no other threats have presented themselves since. The TV's located at 140 by 032. Get in here pronto so that we can get our plan underway. If we act quickly, we might be able to finally take down one of the Drone plants. Hope that you and Maddie are well. See you soon.
-Hakin the Striker, Dragoon of Friendship and Knowledge
Ivan blinked, rereading the message. His eyes wandered over to Maddie's face, then to Ryan's confused expression. The silence continued to hang over the three as they beheld the rather startling E-mail. "Well, what're we waiting for?" Ivan said loudly, shattering the silence. Maddie's eyes looked at the brown-haired boy, seeing a familiar fire and a mischievous grin come to his lips. Maddie felt herself smile as well.
"It's been a year," she said slowly. "It's about time we got back there. With this plan Hakin and Susan have invented, I bet we'll find ourselves in quite the opportune position to take out the eastern plant finally." Ivan nodded eagerly, looking once more at the computer screen.
"That bit about drones disappearing into the TV is a bit unsettling," Ivan commented. "Nonetheless, we don't have much time. Say twenty-four hours." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "At twelve-thirty tomorrow morning, April first, we're heading out."
"What about Ryan?" Maddie inquired with a sudden wave of worry. Ryan looked up, still completely befuddled as to what his parents were talking about.
"He's coming with us," Ivan said simply as he rose from his chair. "He'll come with us and we'll keep him safe. We've talked about this before, Maddie. Maybe we'll be in a more dangerous place than we'd been planning, but we can't leave him here. Ryan's a part of our family now, and he'll move when we do. You wouldn't want to be separated from us anyways, would you buddy?" Ryan shook his head vigorously.
"Where we going?" Ryan asked.
"To the Digital World," Maddie explained gently. Ivan nodded in her support. "It's the place where daddy and I met, and where we've helped a lot of our other friends out of trouble. We came here to take a little break from that and met you. Now I guess it is time that we head back there."
"Which means it's time to start packing up," Ivan told them. "We can't bring too much with us, Ryan, so you have to choose just a couple toys to bring. All the other toys we'll drop off with Ms. Takaishi in the morning. I'm sure she wouldn't mind holding onto them for you until we come back here. Same goes for us, Maddie." Maddie nodded in understanding. Ivan then glanced back at the screen for a final confirmation that Hakin did indeed need him back. Then, with a deep breath, Ivan flashed an excited gaze to his girlfriend and called, "Let's get moving!"
"And over here on your left is one of the newest medical testing labs," The droning voice of the teacher wore on. TK's attention had long since left the man and taken to staring at the many random objects strewn about the immaculate corridors and behind the glass windows. He noticed racks of doctor's robes, crates of precision instruments, and even a pile of long pipes and construction tools. "They're currently working on this room; the heating pipes, as you can see, still need to be installed. But soon enough, those steel rods will be all out of sight so that water and warmth can be channeled in here for our workers through vents. Since this room is still being worked on, I've been given permission to show you around in here." Since there was no alternative, TK's feet trudged along with the rest of the class through the sliding glass door into the large open room. As the air of the room swept over TK's skin, a sudden rush of nervousness came to him. He glanced at his mother and Kari, but neither of them seemed to feel the drop of air pressure.
"This lab is very large," The tour guide went on. His voice echoed around the great chamber, creating an almost eerie effect. "It's so big so that we can eventually have overhead displays installed to make maximum use of the surface area for walking. For right now, we only have these computers over here." His hand waved out to both sides, indicating the columns of tables, each occupied by a computer that lined either side of the room. Just as white as the rest of the building, TK's eyes began to hurt at the repetitive color scheme. "Only one programmer's working in here today, and that's my good friend, Bill." TK looked over the shoulders of his classmates in front of him. Next to the guide was a young man poring over a lit computer screen.
"Hey," The man, apparently named Bill, said absent-mindedly. "This computer's almost done Mr. Yiguro. Once it's set, then there's just the other three up there and they'll all be connected to the mainframe." The bald class guide smiled to the class before him.
"Bill is our executive computer programmer," Mr. Yiguro explained. "He's responsible for the alignment and networking present between all of the computers in the Nurakano Facility. He even helped with the design of our mainframe, a big super-computer that acts as a storage bank for every scientist and doctor on the premises. It provides easy access to any files in any location of the building so that files can be shared and hypothesis tested in separate labs with the same identical instructions." TK paid the guide's commentary little mind. Instead, the blond-haired boy's attention was focused on the computer screen that Bill was typing at, or rather what little he could see with the man's black hair obscuring TK's view. It was then that Bill's hands stopped in their motions.
"Mr. Yiguro?" Bill asked brusquely. The tour guide looked over at the man in front of the computer. TK couldn't make out Bill's expression, but from the sound of the man's tone he knew something was wrong.
"What is it?" Mr. Yiguro asked with a slight connotation of impatience. One of Bill's hands reached up hesitantly and tapped on the glass of the monitor. The guide leaned over the computer programmer's shoulder, looking at the computer screen. Mr. Yiguro promptly jumped back from the screen with a scream of, "What the Hel-"
However, the guide found himself cut off crisply by a blinding flash of light from the computer screen. TK was forced to look away along with all the others in the room. He then felt a buzzing in his pocket - the vibration of his Digivice. A sudden dropping feeling came to TK's stomach as he looked back through the fading light. Whatever was to appear certainly meant the worst was coming from the Digital World.
Mr. Yiguro and Bill had both fallen to the ground. Whether they were alive or dead, TK couldn't tell. It wasn't until a few seconds later that he noticed them crawling for further cover underneath the computer tables. Their sudden desire for cover was evident to TK, though - four sentinel drones stood in the area adjacent to the illuminated computer screen. The swords carried by each of the drones flashed into view as the mechanical beings moved from the computer towards the center aisle, glinting in the white illumination of the unwelcoming white room. Without any further provocation, the majority of TK's class erupted in screams and churned for the door out of the room, followed by Sensei Modo and most of the chaperones. It wasn't surprising to the blond-haired boy; he would have loved to be able to run from the devastatingly sinister mechanizations. In contrast to his desires, TK stood his ground with a scowl on his face.
"Bow down before the one you serve," The drones said in a monotone, icy threat. TK was startled to hear the drones speak, but gave it no thought as he glared at the robotic creations. The statement, however, only further frightened the children running from the scene.
"You really need to kill us that badly?" TK said sarcastically to the drone quadruplet. No response came from the machines. They only continued to walk forward, outstretching their unarmed hands towards TK and, he noticed suddenly, Kari. The brown-haired girl was standing beside him, the same defiant look shining in her eyes. TK smiled to himself in the comfort of having support from his girlfriend. "You want us?" TK challenged. His arm rose to a protective position of Kari. The drones' intent seemed to go in accordance with TK's comment, their steps drawing ever closer to TK whilst their sword-bearing arms rose up.
"Get back!" a sudden cry interrupted the scene. TK faltered, looking with surprise as his mother dove between himself and the robots. "Leave my son alone, you, you medical research experiments!" TK's eyes widened in shock. His hand reached out to send his mother to safety. But before he could say anything to stop his mother, she was struck to the ground by the hilt of the foremost drone's sword. The drone's optical sensors never strayed from their set gaze on TK. The other machines followed his lead, stepping over the unconscious woman as a trickle of blood ran from her temple. Any students remaining in the room, along with the tour guide and computer programmer decided that the exit of the room seemed like the perfect plan. TK's demeanor broke into a wave of undiluted aggression.
"That was my mother," TK cried out, leaping backwards as one sword swung out at his midsection. "Come on," He taunted with narrowed eyes, "Let's dance, you bastards." Kari looked at TK, worry in her eyes. TK noticed her concern as he backed himself and Kari both away from the oncoming drones. "They can't take you away from me," TK told her, "They can't. They want to mess with my mom, you and me, then they'll face the consequences."
TK's mind realized that he would have a very hard time backing up his words against the four swords of his adversaries without even a weapon of his own. Moreover, he hadn't ever faced drones without Ivan or Houndramon around to assist him. The prospect of facing off against four of them alone seemed all but impossible. However, he realized that there was no other option and his eyes scanned the room desperately for something he could use to fight against the drones with. The lab coats seemed hardly useful, while the computers and the tables on which they rested seemed little better. His eyes then caught sight of the construction equipment stashed in the room's corner. With a reestablishment of his grin, TK put his arm around Kari's shoulders and ushered her quickly to the corner of the room.
"Stay here," he told her. His hands dropped to the ground, sorting through the pipes for one of a proper length. His wish was granted by a long, straight pipe section of six and a half feet. Leaping to his feet and spinning the makeshift staff in his hands, TK turned to face the still- approaching drones. "I'll take care of them."
A glare that Kari didn't recognize flashed heatedly in TK's eyes, chilling her blood - the glare of vengeance. She prayed that his anger and piety didn't cause him to be too overzealous in whatever he did. Her heart was also beating rapidly at the likelihood of an imminent and at least violent, if not lethal fight. Kari then looked at Ms. Takaishi. Her body was lying twisted and still on the ground. Kari doubted that she was dead, but knew that any attack against someone that TK held so dearly would certainly inspire his anger.
"Bow down before the one you serve," The drones ordered again, their hands reaching out to take hold of TK's shoulders. TK solidified his stance by bending his knees and readied his staff.
"The one I serve?" TK asked bitterly. "Who would that be? Or do you want me to bow down to your twisted creator? I'd rather die than give you control." TK brought his staff down with a vicious strike against the nearest artificial limb. The clash of metal shook through TK's staff and the drone both, which made TK glad that he had insisted on wearing gloves for the chilly weather that day. As a few stray wires dangled out of the drone's wrist, the limb retracted to the machine's side.
"You're going to get what you deserve," The drone said in an unnaturally monotone threat. TK had little time to reflect on the tone, however, as he was thrown into a pitched battle against the drone. His metal staff was flung to the side, intercepting the first swipe of the drone. TK then jumped up, supporting himself on his staff, and kicked the drone squarely in the stomach. The drone stumbled backwards into its companions before stepping forwards once again. TK took the moment to draw the drones away from Kari. Their attention was so focused on eliminating the blond-haired boy that they followed his movements back into the center aisle without so much as glancing at Kari's shivering form.
The foremost drone stepped forward from the others, silently stating that he wished to destroy the child on his own. TK gave a brief sigh of relief at the thought of only having to handle one robotic menace at a time. His mind still tried to decipher what the drones meant by coming to capture he and Kari without any previous hints to their coming. He didn't have any time to think about that presently, however, as the drone began swinging viciously for the staff-bearing warrior. TK's weapon again met the drone's, though his timing was lagging as the drone increased its pace.
The drone spun and swung out horizontally for TK's neck. TK's pipe stayed the blade inches from the boy's vital limb. He swung the bottom of the staff upwards in counter, only to have the end caught by the drone's hand. The hand forced TK's staff upwards, sending TK sprawling with it. The cold, hard white tiles of the floor bruised TK's shoulder on the impact. With a reverse roll, TK found his feet once again and readied his staff once again. A glimpse of the drones at the end of the aisle told him that they were, indeed simply watching the combat and waiting their turn.
Another horizontal strike came towards TK's torso. His weapon halted the attack again, but more effectively; TK let the staff slide closer to his hip as to not throw the drone back. Then TK made a sharp spinning motion with his pipe. Since the blade was in contact with the staff, TK was able to clear the blade over his head and toss it aside. The drone was likewise spun in order to keep from losing its arm to which the longsword was welded. With the drone's back momentarily open, TK's staff came down with a harsh reverberation against the drone's core processing unit. The drone staggered forwards, away from TK.
A second later, the machine stood back up straight and readied to swing around at TK. The second, however, was long enough for TK to adjust his grip on the impromptu staff and lunge forward. Targeting the same location as his first connecting strike, TK witnessed more of the circuitry comprising the drone's central computer break apart and scatter to the ground. The weapon-wielding arm fell limp to its side and it again stumbled from the attack. TK continued his onslaught, striking again and again at the drone's back. It took only a few more hits for the creation to fall prone to the ground and the green light of its eyes to fade out completely. TK let out a sigh as he hopped over the robotic corpse and glared at the remaining trio of enemies.
"Bow down before the one you serve," The drones repeated in their cold, emotionless, and recorded voices. TK smirked despite himself, twirling his imitation staff idly.
"Don't you realize that your statement's getting old?" TK said in a bored tone. "You can't take her away from me, and you certain as hell won't take me alive." TK gestured to the drones, urging one of them to attack him. The middle of the three drones responded, stepping from its companions without hesitation. The remaining two stepped together, lying in wait for their opportunity. TK smiled as his next victim came forth and thrust at TK's head.
TK spun his staff and knocked the fatal point mere inches from his forehead. The drone countered with a back swing, but was again halted by TK's expertly timed block. The drone drew back for a brief moment before lunging forwards again. This time TK's stomach was the target. TK's agile reflexes were all to keep him from being skewered this time, his hands not reacting in time. However, the felled drone's still frame on the ground halted the quick shuffling backwards. TK tripped backwards, landing roughly on his shoulder for a second time. Moreover, TK's opponent dove on top of him and began a ruthless assault. TK, being so limited by the confines the drone placed him in, could barely dodge his head to either side to avoid the deadly stabs of the drone's sword.
As TK's head evaded the drone's stabs, he tried to think of a way to get free. The drone had taken a surprisingly traditional mount position on TK's stomach and the weight of the machine was quickly robbing him of air. With a flash of inspiration, TK thrust his hips upwards. The drone, unsuspecting, was thrown forwards and off balance. It was subsequently unable to attack the warrior beneath it since both of its arms were needed to keep it from collapsing on top of TK altogether. TK set his staff on his right side as he grappled with the violent creation. Placing one hand on the armed limb of the drone and the other on its hip joint, TK threw all of his weight into a single push for escape. As its armed hand slipped from the ground, the drone was easily forced over and to the ground. TK then reversed the position and assumed his own mount position while pinning the drone's sword-wielding hand across its neck. It took both of the boy's arms to keep the arm from rising and as a result, TK received a pair of punches to his stomach from the drone's free hand. The blond-haired boy groaned.
Without an option, TK let go and gave up his normally advantageous position. If TK had been able to effectively punch back against the machine, he would have fared far better, but the metallic plating of the drone left him unable to do so. However, as TK rolled over his staff and was instantly rearmed, he spun around and drove down on the drone's still- rising body. Caught unaware, the drone tripped to the side into a desk. TK tried for a second hit against the head of the drone, but found his pipe blocked and parried by the drone's longsword. TK made a third attempt with a thrust to the drone's central computer. It retaliated with a second parry, which TK had been expecting. While the drone was distracted with the evasion of one end of TK's staff, he followed with the motion and brought the other end of the staff down again upon the drone's unprotected skull. The consequential force of the drone colliding with the table a second time broke the wooden surface and sent the robot to the ground. TK wasted no time in continuing his merciless assault against the robot's head. Processing chips scattered across the floor; the second robotic destroyer was made inoperable.
"Any other takers?" TK said as he caught his breath. He shook his head, throwing droplets of perspiration across the center aisle, onto the tables and floor. His eyes focused on the two remaining machines, staring at him in the middle of the center aisle. Without so much as a glance at each other, the drones simultaneously stepped forward towards TK.
"You're going to get what you deserve," They stated with lethal determination. TK sneered, letting the pipe he held revolve once in his hands. His fingers then tightened on the metal beneath his gloves, his muscles tensing in preparation for the remaining two drones. The soreness of his shoulder and his stomach throbbed, but he paid no attention to them at the prospect of far greater pain if he let his focus waver.
"Two for one deal, now?" TK asked with sarcastic surprise as his adversaries advanced. "So much for mechanical chivalry." Side-stepping the first attack, TK's staff collided with the other drone's sword. TK moved the staff back and forth rapidly, knocking away each of the attacks from either side of his body. However, his hands alone were not fast enough and TK soon found himself dodging frequently and only in the nick of time to avoid his own demise. Such left the blond-haired boy with no opening to place an attack of his own. All of his energy was devoted to keep from falling victim to one of the two drones' cruel weapons.
Unable to focus on a single attacker, TK could feel the pressure of the two drones as they continued to push him backwards. The lack of space eliminated any advantages that he could gain from the length of his pipe. It also hemmed in his defensive movements. He needed space and he was going to get it. As TK's heel tapped against the unmoving form of the first drone to fall, TK took a breath and continued his blocking without giving any more ground. TK managed a simultaneous block of both enemy swords, their robotic programming causing them to act in synchronization. The drones used their combined power to push down on TK's staff, feeling the obstruction slowly give in and their weapons' edges near the boy's skin. TK played along fully with the two drones; letting his legs bend down to give them leeway. When he felt that the moment was right, TK force his right hand upwards and dropped his left. The resulting shift in pressure sent the drone on TK's right backwards and the drone on his left stuttering forwards. With the break of pressure, TK vaulted himself backwards with a spring of his legs. TK amazed himself at the wonder of performing his first back-handspring, due solely to his present rush of adrenaline - adrenaline that he knew was fading fast. He wiped the back of his sleeve across his face, soaking it with the same sweat that was causing his shirt to moisten.
With a cushion of space, TK Swung out at the drone that had fallen towards him. Its sword managed to stop the first strike, while the second impacted against the drone's unarmed wrist. TK struck again and again at the robot, attempting to beat past its defenses. However, before he could score any significant hits on the one opponent, its ally returned to the fray and took the offensive on TK. The blond-haired boy sighed as he was swept into another series of deflecting the sword point from piercing his body. His timing lagged as the slightly damaged drone became offensive as well. TK yearned for some sort of change to the monotony of the pitched combat. His only apparent chance was in single combat, but the assault of two drones at once left him without a chance to counterattack. TK then noticed that, although more limiting, the thin pathways between the desks to either side of him were not wide enough for both drones to attack him at once. With a grin, TK took a quick sidestep into the nearest such path. To his surprise, the drone nearest him continued to attack while the other followed without attempting to find an opening.
TK took a leap back and stood his ground. Once again providing himself with space, He let his pipe lash out at his aggressor. The drone was unable to close the distance without endangering its own operation, instead parrying the boy's weapon as best it could in the confined combat space. TK, too, suffered from the confines of the area, his attacks limited to only vertical strikes and thrusts. The latter he hadn't tried yet, but when his staff was knocked back down from an unsuccessful uppercut, he pulled the staff back and drove it forward. Using his armpit to brace and solidify his strike, the staff penetrated through the drone's feeble defenses. Shuffling forward, TK drove the staff further into its artificial torso and heard the satisfying crunch of electronic circuitry. Whipping the staff upwards and bringing the other end from the ground into the stunned drone's head, the machine staggered violently and the lights of its optical sensors flickered faintly. TK spun the staff above his head to ensure as much power in his final strike as possible, then brought the weapon down with a deafening crack against the drone's head. It was subsequently hurtled to the ground before TK's feet, inert.
TK only received a second to revel in his accomplishment before his staff's presence became mandatory above his head to halt the final drone's sword. The blade came crashing down with a force that surprised the boy, caused by the drone's increased force from jumping over the downed drone. TK was thrown backwards to the floor roughly, stopped when his head collided with the leg nearest to the wall of the desk on his left. A dull ache throbbed through his head at the result, while his eyes widened in shock at the pipe that he was holding. It had been severed into two pieces. But once more, TK was allotted no time to reflect nor to brush the sweat that fell into his eyes as the drone pursued its victim with a swing to his head. TK rolled beneath the table in reaction, letting the drone's sword hit only the tiled floor. TK came out on the other side of the table, only to see the drone clear the wooden table and land with perfect form before thrusting once more at TK. TK was able to evade the sword with a swing of one of the pipe's halves and used the moment to roll backwards to his feet. The boy gave ground to the drone quickly while his mind tried to develop a method in which to fight, now that he was unable to block its sword with both of his hands, bracing on either side of the actual strike as he did with the full staff.
"Bow down before the one you serve," The drone commanded viciously. It drove down on TK relentlessly, but was only able to strike air as TK moved around in circles through the maze of tables. Only occasionally was TK forced to block or dodge the drone's attacks, the second of which he was far more opt to do since he couldn't keep the pipe from buckling when the drone's sword connected with it. However, TK was panting as he made more and more lucky saves with the ducking of his body. His adrenaline had long since given out and what little resolve he had left was burning down quickly. Between the aches of his shoulder, stomach, head, and now even his hands from the continual exchanged blows between the remnants of his weapon and the drone's steel rendered the gloves ineffective, he was unable to keep his focus on the imminent danger reaching out for his neck and torso. An idea struck him then, a desperate idea. His mind gave no other alternatives, so TK decided that he might as well try it out.
TK knocked the drone's blade away when he was about to be struck in the side and dashed backwards, getting as much distance as he could between himself and the drone. TK stopped at the far end of the center aisle, just as the drone wrenched its sword from the table TK had hit it into. The drone, whether by its own preference or its own limitations, simply walked towards TK. TK smiled, his eyes narrowing as he took aim with his right arm. Then, after leaning backwards, TK lurched forwards and sent one half of the pipe hurtling, a swirling vortex, at the drone's ocular sensors. To the surprise of the blond-haired boy, the pipe-half connected accurately with a deadening metallic thud. The drone recoiled roughly from the sudden, violent collision. When the head rose again, the visual capacity of the drone was apparently gone. A gaping chunk was absent in the face of the machine.
"Your head's like a hole, now," TK said fiercely as he took slow, menacing steps forward. "It's just as black as your soul. You want me to bow down before you? You can't take my dignity; you can't that from me. I'd rather die than give you control. And if your master can hear you, you can pass the message along." The drone lurched forwards, its sword lashing out wildly at where TK's voice had come from. TK, seeing the blind drone's movements ahead of time, easily evaded the attack to the side and brought his remaining piece of pipe down viciously on the back of the drone's head. The drone lurched forwards, only to be kicked to the ground by TK's foot. The blond-haired boy finalized the drone's destruction with a series of sharp blows to the drone's back. The machine twitched and writhed for a few moments before finally lying prone on the ground. TK straightened his back, looking down upon the robot with utter disdain.
"Bow down before you?" TK asked bitterly. "No, you can bow down before me, you goddamn murderers." He tossed the last of his weapon carelessly aside, walking away from the bodies of the four fallen drones. "You got what you deserve."
TK's legs only carried him to the other end of the center aisle before they gave out and dropped the boy to his knees, a few feet from his mother. The fatigue and heart-wrenching fear that the prolonged combat induced made him want to vomit. His arms wrapped around his stomach, both from the soreness of being punched multiple times and from the intimation of being sick. He shivered, despite the sweat streaming down his face and permeating his skin. Even his jeans were damp from the fighting. His heart felt so empty, however, that his body was chilled involuntarily. Chilled, that is, until a pair of strong, loving arms wrapped tightly about TK's frame.
"Are you okay?" Kari asked quickly, her lips pressing firmly to the boy's forehead afterwards. TK smirked, letting his body give out in the girl's arms.
"I'll be alright," TK replied hoarsely. Kari adjusted her position so that TK's upper body was cradled in her arms just above her cross-legged lap. The boy managed a weak smile up at the wet, smiling eyes of his girlfriend.
"You scared me half to death," Kari told the boy. She let one of her hands brush across TK's cheek, clearing his skin of perspiration and his damp, matted hair. Her hand cupped the boy's face, her thumb rubbing delicately across his cheek. "You're so stupid," Kari said desperately, though it was evident that she meant quite the opposite. TK's smile widened slightly.
"I'm glad you have such faith in me," TK replied in a quiet, but still facetious tone. Kari shook her head as her arms hugged the boy's head tightly to her stomach.
"Don't go pulling any more stunts like that on me," Kari pleaded. "I don't know what I'd do if you got hit by one of their swords. I-" TK's hand raised up weakly, requesting her silence. She obeyed, looking curiously to the boy's face. TK winced slightly as his hand fell back to the ground.
"If I hadn't intervened then who knows where we'd all be now," TK told her. "They were going to take you away from me; I could never let them separate us without a fight." TK looked up into Kari's glittering crimson eyes and lifted his hand to rest on hers upon his cheek. "How would we have gone out tonight like we planned to if I let them take you away from me?" Kari could feel her will crumbling as the unbidden tears slid from her eyes. TK's expression became inviting, his arm rising up to Kari's shoulder. The brown- haired girl gladly accepted his offer, kicking her legs out behind her and burying her head in TK's shirt. Dancing his fingers lazily through the girl's hair, TK held her tightly with his other arm. He ignored the painful surge of having pressure applied to the shoulder he had thrice impacted the ground with.
Kari's lapse of sadness passed after a few minutes' time. Sensei Modo then appeared, a shocked expression upon his face. Kari quickly hid her tears behind a sleeve before jumping to her feet and bowing to the teacher. TK struggled to sit up and decided it wasn't worth the effort to regain his feet at the moment.
"What the Hell happened here?" Sensei Modo asked loudly, looking around the room in astonishment. He noticed the four destroyed drones, the one broken table, several other tables with rough cuts in the wood, and two three-foot sections of piping littering the floor some thirty feet from where TK and Kari were. He also noticed Ms. Takaishi's unconscious form.
"We'll explain later," Kari said quickly. "To keep things simple, TK managed to stop the machines that came into the room and now we need to get an ambulance for Ms. Takaishi in case her injury is serious." After processing Kari's words, Sensei Modo nodded slowly. Another glance at Ms' Takaishi sent the man dashing down the hallway to the nearest telephone. Kari turned back around with a sigh, seeing TK looking back up at her with worry.
"Serious?" TK repeated breathlessly. Kari dropped her head, knowing that TK would not be happy at the prospect of his mother's safety. "I can't believe she even did that," TK continued. "My mother was only trying to help keep us safe, and they just knocked her aside." TK grunted as he stood up straight once again. "Mimi's timeless words never seem to fade from my memory." Kari looked at her boyfriend curiously. TK forced a smile to his sore head. "For so long our parents have been looking after us. Now it's our turn to come through for them."
"What're you talking about, TK?" Kari asked, looking at the boy with curiosity. TK sighed, waving his hand over the place where the carnage had so recently taken place.
"You really think that they won't be back?" TK countered skeptically. "They've never come here before, and I don't think that this was a fluke. They want you, or me, or maybe even both of us. They won't ever succeed in that, but we can't have them come here a second time. It's far too dangerous to the people we love."
"So what do you suggest?" Kari continued, not entirely sure that she wanted to have an answer. She had a feeling she already knew what he would say.
"We'll bring the fight to them," TK said definitively. "We're going to go back to the Digital World and put a stop to whoever the Hell is trying to kidnap us." Kari sighed, looking at the boy before her sadly. "We've done it before," TK told her. "We've put countless adversaries down over there. No one's ever been able to beat us and I'm certainly not thinking that today's the day that changes."
"But our Digimon can't-" TK cut her off with a shake of his head.
"I don't know how we'll do it," TK interrupted, "But we've done it in the past when our Digimon could barely fight. Now we're older and not so helpless ourselves." TK could see that Kari wasn't enjoying any of his speech. He sighed, opening his arms to the girl. She gladly returned the embrace, rocking in his arms gently. "The bottom line is that they hit my mom," TK said gently. "I'd just as soon not care about what's going on here, but we've learned enough in history class about what statutory neglect accomplishes." Kari nodded reluctantly.
"But I don't want to see you getting yourself hurt like last time we were there," Kari protested into TK's shirt. "If Maddie hadn't been there, things wouldn't have turned out so well." TK pressed his lip against Kari's cheek reassuringly.
"Don't think I'm naïve enough to try and go do this alone," TK said with a sudden spark of positive attitude. Kari leaned back, looking at the boy's azure eyes questioningly. TK smiled back at her. "I have a pretty good suspicion that Ivan and Maddie would be more than happy to join us on the mission. What we'll do with Ryan, I'm not sure, but I know that Maddie would never stand to be separated from her son. As such, I'd put my money on him coming with us Sacagawea style." Kari giggled briefly at the possibility. Then, the brown-haired girl nodded her acceptance.
"Okay, TK," Kari said. "If you want to go through with this, then you've got me behind you the whole way." She leaned up and kissed the boy's cheek tenderly. "You've got my heart. You've got my love. I wouldn't ever abandon you. With your life, so too is mine to go. Together we travel, together we live, and divided we fall, right?" TK nodded solemnly in reply, his hands sliding from the girl's side to her face.
"Together we live, and together we love," TK added. The blond-haired boy then brought his lips to meet hers, confirming his pact of dedication to the girl. Their mouths parted a few moments later, leaving TK with a sense of revitalization. He hugged the girl tightly in his unspoken thanks. Their bodies then followed the lead of their lips, stepping apart until only one of Kari's hands was held tightly by one of TK's. Their eyes cast down the center aisle before them, looking at the four annihilated drones. TK glanced behind himself, smiling forlornly at his mother. He resisted the urge to hug her for fear of making his mother's injuries more severe and possibly pushing the woman over the edge into death. "Don't worry, mom," TK said to himself as his eyes traveled back to the drone corpses. "Let me protect you now. Just hang on, and we'll get back at them for doing this to you." His mouth closed as his mind remembered the two-line phrase that the drones had repeated during the course of combat. With a vicious smile, TK repeated their words in mocking of their own vain attempts.
"You're going to get what you deserve."
(Boo-yah, that's the 12th chapter for you. What now? I've got a three-day deadline to finish this book. If it's not up by Thursday, then consider yourselves out of luck for the next week. I'm going to be in Rome for all of Feb. vacation and as such, you'll all have to miss my momentous final chapter until I get back. I hope you all feel somewhat fulfilled on your desires to see some serious TaKari for once, and I apologize for what little of my own characters appeared. It was a necessary sacrifice. While you wait for my next installment, give me a review! It always helps to know what people find to be good/bad/who knows what in my writing. Until next time, Kudos!)
The Ivani Chronicles : Book 2 - Reminiscence : Chapter 12 - Head Like a Hole
"Hey mom, have you seen my other shoe somewhere?" TK's request met no reply, which wasn't particularly surprising to the blond-haired boy as he continued running around his apartment seeking the wayward shoe. His mother was on the phone, deeply engrossed in talking to the person on the other end of the phone line. Such meant that TK was to have no help in his hunt. The boy paid it no heed, instead dropping to his stomach in order to better see beneath his bed for any clues to the shoe's whereabouts.
After another few minutes of scouring his room for the shoe in his room, TK gave a sigh and admitted defeat. Returning to his feet, he headed back out the door towards the living room for a second examination of that room. It was then that TK stumbled, sent downwards to once again greet the floor. Glancing back, TK saw his missing shoe had been resting in his path. With a grunt, TK threw himself back to his knees and put his shoe on. "How on Earth did I miss that?" TK asked of himself. After a minute, he figured it was best to not question his own blindness and simply be thankful that he had found his shoe before he was late to leave.
TK jumped to his feet, smiling when he noticed that both of his shoes were attached to his feet properly. The boy then gave a glance to his side, swiping his backpack up from the ground. "I won't really be needing you today, but the teacher still wants us to bring things in if something goes wrong," TK told the backpack. Knowing that no response would come from the green sack, he shook his head and threw the bag's shoulder straps to their correct place on his body. Stifling a yawn, TK walked from his room out into the kitchen to say goodbye to his mother.
"I'm gonna get going to pick up Kari now," TK stated as he entered the kitchen. Ms. Takaishi put her hand over the bottom portion of the receiver to address her son.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to give you and Kari a ride to school?" Ms. Takaishi asked. TK shook his head.
"I know you're gonna be coming anyways," TK said, "but Kari and I have a sort of ritual of walking to school together. Thanks for offering, but with the warming weather we'd prefer to walk." Ms. Takaishi nodded in both acceptance and agreement.
"It is the last day of March," Ms. Takaishi replied in reasoning, "And it's also a Friday. Well, if you two would like to walk, that's fine." TK smiled, hugging his mother.
"We'll see you in a little while, though," TK assured his mother. He stepped back from his mother, moving slowly for the door as he continued, "We leave at eight o' clock sharp, so be sure to be on time. We should get back around two or three in the afternoon, and then Kari and I will gladly accept a ride home." TK's eager smile was met by an incredulous glare from his mother.
"Oh, really?" Ms. Takaishi asked satirically, "Did I not just hear that you and Kari have no need of my services?" TK's head drooped past his shoulders.
"Mom," TK said in a groan. "We'd like to walk one way, but we'd also like to get a ride for the other way." Ms. Takaishi shrugged her shoulders, smiling at the downcast boy.
"We'll talk after the trip, okay?" TK nodded, his spirits returning, to his mother's statement. "Now you'd best get going," she continued. "You're gonna have to move quickly if you want to get to the Kamiya's and to school before both of you are late." Ms. Takaishi pointed to the clock on the wall to confirm her point. TK looked up at the wall, suddenly swallowing hard.
"Good point," TK said. He was still for a moment, and then he rushed for the door. "See you in a little while!" He called over his shoulder. Before he could receive a response, the main door of the Takaishi apartment thudded closed behind him. Ms. Takaishi smiled at the door as she brought the phone back to her mouth.
"Sorry about that," Ms. Takaishi said into the phone. Then, after a brief pause, the woman remembered where the conversation had been before she interrupted it. "So there's no one you could find to watch him for you?" She asked.
"No," Maddie's voice answered through the phone. "Everyone I know from other people I've worked with is either at school or unavailable because of previous engagements."
"I'm sorry," Ms. Takaishi said regretfully. "I wish I could take care of Ryan, but TK asked me to chaperone for his class field trip today. What do you think you and Ivan will do?"
"It's not a big deal if we stay home, so I think that's what we'll do," Maddie informed the woman. "It is an emergency of sorts, after all, and I think that Ivan and I could both use a little time free of obligations." Ms. Takaishi nodded to herself.
"That's understandable," Ms. Takaishi said. "You and Ivan do so much, I'm surprised that you two haven't collapsed from exhaustion already."
"Ivan and I are used to it," the other end replied. "We had a campaign in the Digital World that went on for eight months once, and we all thought it was just as grueling as the school years we could remember once we got through it. But when the opportunity presents itself, we'd have to be fools to give up the chance to rest."
"I'm sure you're wanting to spend some time with your whole family together, too." Maddie giggled over the line at ms. Takaishi's comment.
"Yeah, that too," Maddie admitted. Ms. Takaishi smiled as Maddie continued, "It's been a while since we had the chance to be together for more than half an hour and have Ryan awake with us. The last time that I can remember was the plane flight, but even then we were stuck in those coach airplane chairs. That's really not the most appealing way to spend time together."
"You've got that right," Ms. Takaishi affirmed. "Make the most of your day off, Maddie. You don't know how long it'll be until another opportunity like this rolls around."
"I'll be sure to," Maddie said. "I'm sure Ivan will be happy with the news, too. He's been killing himself between his schoolwork, real work, and us. Though he'll probably spend the first half of the day sleeping, Ryan will be delighted to have more time to crawl on him."
Ms. Takaishi laughed. "More time?" she asked, intrigued.
"Well, Ivan has Ryan climb on his back when he's doing push-ups and stuff to keep himself in shape," Maddie said nonchalantly. "Each time his daddy claps between a push-up, Ryan counts. Ryan usually gets confused around ten or eleven, but that makes it all the more adorable to watch." Ms. Takaishi continued to laugh at the thought. Her own experiences with the child, too, came to mind to the blond-haired woman's further amusement.
"Ryan's quite the character," Ms. Takaishi said as her laughter trailed off. Then, with a shake of her head, she added, "But I really shouldn't keep you from your day. No doubt you'd like a few extra hours of sleep, right?"
"I guess so," Maddie answered. "We'll just have to come up with some method of keeping Ryan bemused until we're ready to get up. Convincing him to go back to bed so quickly would really be a challenge." Ms. Takaishi nodded to herself.
"Good luck with it," Ms. Takaishi said.
"Thanks," Maddie responded quickly. "And you be sure to have fun on the field trip today." After a brief pause, Maddie went on to ask, "Where is it that you're going today, anyways?"
"We're headed to the Nurakano Research Facility," Ms. Takaishi told her. "It's about twenty minutes away from Odaiba, so we'll be taking a school bus over there. TK said that there were a couple openings for chaperones, and the idea of going to look at a research facility sounded like a really good idea for a report. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity."
"Now you're making me jealous," Maddie said in a joking tone. "Be sure to take a lot of pictures and notes for me, okay?"
"If they let me, I'll take a picture of everything I see," Ms. Takaishi said. "Don't worry, Maddie; I'll do what I can to bin the experience back for you."
"Thanks so much, Ms. Takaishi," Maddie said giddily over the far end of the phone. "Now go have fun with TK over at Nurakano. Ryan and I are going to have a little discussion about whether he'll consent to letting his Dad and I sleep in a little more today." Ms. Takaishi smirked.
"Okay, Maddie," Ms. Takaishi finalized, "Good luck with Ryan. We'll talk to you when we get back."
"I'll be looking forward to all of your stories," Maddie said. "Talk to you later."
"Goodbye, Maddie." At that, Ms. Takaishi turned and replaced the phone in its cradle. Her attention was quickly drawn to the clock, followed by her bedroom. "Time's running short," Ms. Takaishi said as she walked briskly down the hallway to her bedroom, "TK's bus leaves in half an hour for the facility in half an hour and I still have to get dressed and ready." Her closet was the first target of her bedroom, quickly drawing out proper garments for a day of business with her son's class. As she proceeded, her thoughts drifted to what she could learn from the doctors and scientists at the facility on the latest research. Moreover, she wondered if she would have the opportunity of getting a more proper interview for one of her upcoming articles.
"Well, that completes the attendance check," Sensei Modo called from the front of the bus, facing its back in the center aisle. He placed a clipboard he had been holding down on the nearest bus seat. "We'll be getting underway very shortly," He continued. "I hope you're all ready for the exciting day ahead of us. Today we're going to the Nurakano Research Facility. They're well known for their many achievements and their contributions to today's medical society. Mr. Lida Nurakano first began the research style in 1932. Since then, his findings have been revealed to a select group of Lida's colleagues. Together, they founded the facility and have since operated under generous money grants from the Japanese government. Among their accomplishments are the molecular designing of a new formula of aspirin, the creation of."
TK gave a look sideways to the person he was sitting with. "How long do you suppose he'll go on for?" TK's companion, Kari, looked to her boyfriend from the teacher at the front of the bus.
"Should we place bets?" Kari joked in response. "It's Sensei Modo. Knowing him, we won't leave here until it's nearly noon. When he gets impassioned into a lecture, you know you won't hear the end of it until it's dark outside." TK sighed, throwing his head back against the bus couch.
"Why does Sensei Modo have to be our health instructor, anyways?" TK said in a whispered whine. Though several other students had also taken to talking instead of listening to the teacher's explanation of their destination, TK still felt out of place joining the crowd with his mother sitting only a dozen rows in front of him. Nonetheless, TK added, "He's supposed to be the school's vice principal, isn't he? Shouldn't he be down there in his office or something?" Kari shrugged.
"The school budget's terrible," Kari said sadly. "Because of that, we're stuck with teachers teaching more classes and even the vice principal stepping in to take control of our health course."
"Silly school budget," TK said lowly. Tuning out the teacher's voice, TK turned his focus to Kari. "So are you looking forward to this?" He asked. Kari giggled.
"That's at least the fifth time you've asked me since you picked me up this morning," Kari said, her eyes fixated with an adoring glow in TK's. The blond-haired boy cringed slightly.
"Sorry," he said quickly, "I guess I've just been at a loss for conversation lately." Kari smiled, leaning her chin on TK's shoulder.
"Relax, TK," Kari told him, "You don't always have to come up with something incredibly important for us to talk about." One of the girl's hands slipped around TK's back gently. "Just being able to be with you is enough to keep me appeased." TK watched Kari, his eyes softening.
"It still feels a little awkward after all the weird stuff we went through, though," TK said regretfully. Kari's head shook back and forth against TK's shoulder, her eyes closing as she hugged him with her arm around his waist.
"I know it was weird," Kari said quickly, "But that's all past us now. It took me some time, but you know that I'd never want to be away from you permanently. Just keep being the wonderful person that you are, TK. You don't need to try at it; the more effort you put in, the more awkward it will feel."
"I guess," TK said in slow acceptance.
"And you know that I'm crazy about you," Kari said, her other hand joining the first around TK's waist. "There's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be than right next to you." TK's lips curled upwards as he exhaled. He restrained from letting his arms take their natural course and hug the girl back, but let his head simply rest on top of hers.
"I know," TK said softly, letting his eyes slide closed in Kari's embrace. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be, either. It's just taking me a little time to adjust to things being like they were." Kari's head bobbed slightly.
"We'll get there, TK," She assured him, "And then it'll be even better than before. After all, whatever doesn't break us only makes us stronger."
"I sure hope you're right about that," TK said. Kari's arms squeezed around him in reassurance. With a sigh, TK nuzzled his head against Kari's shoulder, pressing against her neck with his forehead. "I wouldn't ever let anything break us, no matter who or what it is that tries to. Things would never be the same without you in my life like this."
Kari's head nodded, rubbing against TK's cheek lightly. "I know, TK," Kari replied in his ear. "I won't let anything take us apart, either. Even if I need some space at times, I don't ever want you out of my life. You're too important." Kari trailed off, her face hiding against the blond-haired boy's neck. TK grinned to himself, mirroring the motion of affection on Kari's neck. He stayed in the position for a while, reveling in the simplicity of being next to his girlfriend again. The scent of her hair drifted lazily through his senses, further relaxing his nerves.
Reluctantly, TK slowly withdrew after a moment. His body had felt the bus lurch into motion and, with a glance, he noticed that Sensei Modo had, at last, found a seat and completed his lecture. His eyes looked back, connecting with Kari's. Her russet eyes glittered, accompanying her smile with perfect grace while she looked back at TK. In those eyes, TK could see the validity of her statements to him, and the unquestionable love that she bore him. She refrained from mentioning it in the present circumstances, just as he did, but the adoration she had for the blond-haired boy didn't waver. Blinking, Maddie smirked at the slightly stunned look on TK's face from breaking eye contact.
"We can get more comfortable later," Kari said in reference to after school. "It's Friday, so we can hang out tonight and help you sort out everything else that's bothering you, okay?" TK nodded with a drop of his gaze, disappointed that he would have to wait. However, his dismay lasted only a moment since he knew that waiting through the day free of classes would be well worth having time to spend with Kari and without the rest of his class surrounding him.
"But for right now," Kari went on, "I think it's best if we keep from showing our love in front of everybody else before we become too much of a spectacle." TK glanced about the bus and noticed a few heads suddenly snap their attention to something out of the bus window or to the floor by their feet. The boy sighed, looking back at Kari with a joking smile.
"I guess we're really just that exciting to watch," TK said sarcastically. Kari beamed, sitting back up against the bus seat and disengaging her arms from TK's waist.
"Ya think?" Kari asked excitedly. "Maybe we could start videotaping ourselves and sell it to people. Do you think we could make a business out of it?" TK laughed with the brown-haired girl, shaking his head.
"Of course," TK went along, "And we'll get Ivan and Maddie to be our special guests. We could even play up with Yolei and Ken for some sort of triple-date." Through her laughing, Kari caught TK's last comment.
"Wait," Kari said once their laughter had calmed somewhat, "Did Ken finally ask Yolei out?" TK shrugged, throwing his vision to the bus's low ceiling.
"Beats me," TK said vaguely. "He likes her a lot, and she really likes him. They just can't really get around to saying that to each other. That, and they're kind of far apart." Kari nodded solemnly, her eyes looking out the bus window to the water that could be glimpsed between passing buildings.
"The distance definitely isn't helpful at all," Kari agreed. "But even if they are separated by that, it's not like it's too hard to get there from here. Maybe it's an hour on the subway lines?"
"About that, yeah," TK said with a nod of his head. "And soon enough they're gonna be able to drive it and then distance like that won't matter at all." TK brought his eyes from the bus' ceiling to look over Kari's shoulder out the window. "Maybe that's what they're waiting for before they decide to admit how they feel."
"Maybe," Kari said, her tone rising to a wistful note. "Whatever it is, I hope they can get over it and get together soon. They looked so adorable at the dance together. And now Yolei goes to visit Ken almost every weekend. She insists that she's only going to get some extra help for her geometry class because it's so different from algebra, but the look she gets in her eyes tells me differently." TK smirked at his own memory of Yolei's explanations as to why she disappeared to Ken's house weekly.
"You don't think that they." TK let his voice trail off, having only partially thought about the idea before he brought it up. Kari gasped slightly, turning to face TK.
"Do you think they have already?" Kari asked eagerly. TK shrugged, looking with surprise at the sudden light that had come to Kari's face. "Oh, I bet you're right," Kari said in a low, near-scheming voice. "Those two always were so clever. Disappearing here and there to be together without giving us the least bit of a notion that they were a couple already."
"Don't go jumping to conclusions on me now, Kari," TK said as a joking warning. Kari looked up to TK, confused. "That's what everyone did about us, too, and we always hated it when we were younger. We were best friends for years and spent time together constantly. Yolei and Ken could be doing that, too."
"But that's so much less romantic," Kari said dejectedly. TK grinned, though he resisted taking any further action of showing how cute he found the girl when she pretended to be a hopeless romantic.
"What do you think people thought about us when we were just friends in middle school?" TK countered.
"Okay, okay," Kari receded. "It was really aggravating to have everyone thinking we were an item when we were only friends, I'll give you that."
"Then I'd suggest you treat others the way you'd wish to be treated," TK advised gently. "Even if that won't be an issue in the future, we can at least try to set a good example. Ken and Yolei will let us know when they're ready, and until then, we can believe what they say." Kari nodded in grudging acceptance.
"I still think they're cute," Kari stated, looking out the window once more. TK stared at the girl's back for a moment, and then found that he was laughing. Kari looked back at TK, perplexed. "What's so funny?" she asked. However, before her question could be answered, Sensei Modo stood briskly at the front of the bus. In perfect synchronization, the bus halted.
"Okay, kids, we're here," Sensei Modo called down the center aisle to all of his students. "Let's get moving before they decide to cancel our tour for being so late." TK and Kari exchanged glances before focusing their sight on the teacher with a spark of anger. "We'll be staying together with the chaperones, alright?"
"Yes, Sensei Modo," the bus cabin responded unanimously.
"And what's the kind of behavior we use here?" The teacher furthered.
"Our very best, Sensei Modo," came the second response.
"Good. Now let's exit the bus in that manner and be sure to get as much as you can out of this place. There will be a quiz when we return on Monday." The students filling the bus groaned, some shouting out in protest of such a heinous plan. Sensei Modo seemed to not hear their voices, adding, "We'll report back to the bus at twelve-thirty for lunch before we return to the high school. Come on." As Sensei Modo finished, the driver opened the bus doors and the teacher stepped down and out of the vehicle. The chaperones were quick to follow and, less enthusiastically, the students fell into line after them.
"Ready for the wonderful world of medicine?" TK said dryly as he jumped to the concrete sidewalk from the bus. Kari rolled her eyes as she jumped after him.
"Sure," She replied unenthusiastically. "But I bet Maddie would love to be in our shoes right now. She'd be able to see all the latest medical technology that they have here." TK gave her a confused sidelong glance.
"You really think she cares about our medicines with the knowledge she acquired in the Digital World?" TK asked in a rhetorical manner. "Compared to that, this stuff must seem elementary." Kari shrugged, looking up at the great white concrete structure they had stopped in front of. Along the front wall, in large and trim iridescent navy-blue letters was printed "Nurakano M R S." Aside from a few windows placed regimentally along the wall and the set of doors up a small flight of white stairs, the remainder of the building was the same stark white against the background of light blue sky and royal blue water.
"I still think she'd be interested in their theories," Kari insisted. "And who knows? Maybe she'd care to tell them some of her own expertise. You know that helping other people comes first in her mind, so I think it'd be natural that she would want to help educate other people with what she knows."
"This is true," TK agreed as he followed his classmates towards the concrete building. The blond-haired boy opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by a sudden shout from the steps leading to the building's entryway.
"Salutations to Sensei Modo's health class from Odaiba High School," The voice called. "I'm Mr. Yiguro and I'll be your tour guide through the Nurakano Medical Research Facility. Inside this building is some of the finest medical equipment in all of Japan and even the world. We began this foundation in 1952, twenty years after Mr. Lida Nurakano began his medical research on the relationship between the different organs of the human body. Between Mr. Nurakano's own generous donations and support from the Japanese government, Nurakano M R S has been able to continue working for the past fifty-two years to bring you some of the greatest medicines of the day. One of the most prominent creations by our staff is a new substance that works in place of aspirin, as well as."
TK's attention flagged quickly at the monotony of the second explanation of information he had already read in his health class. He gave a glance to Kari beside him, who looked back with a shrug of acceptance. TK looked back to the man, who was bald and had a voice deep enough to challenge the depths of the ocean. His voice continued to move excitedly, but TK gave his words no mind. Rather, the boy growled inwardly as he reluctantly remained with his class outside, waiting impatiently for the man to stop talking and get on with his tour.
"So what would you like to do now?" Ivan asked, rubbing his eyes lazily. The brown-haired boy then shook his head roughly before looking back at his son. Ryan squealed unintelligibly, rather than responding as he made his way from the pile of books beside his father's chair. Ivan watched Ryan stare at the toy chest set against the wall, filled with a wide variety of toddler toys. The infant ultimately decided on drawing out a large pad of paper and a box of crayons. "Drawing it is," Ivan said unnecessarily with a small smile at his son's quick decision. "Okay, bring that stuff on over here and I'll help you get set up."
"Drawing time," Ryan chimed as he struggled to carry the box and pad back to the coffee table in the center of the living room. Ivan's quick movements allowed him to help the child before Ryan lost his balance. "Thanks," Ryan said as the articles he bore were set down on the table.
"I should've gotten up to help you before," Ivan apologized. "You're just getting so independent so quickly.
"I know, daddy," Ryan said blandly with a roll of his eyes. Ivan chuckled as he helped Ryan onto the couch cushion nearest Ivan's chair.
"You're quite the character, big guy," Ivan told him. With an adjustment of the table, Ivan moved the table closer to his son so that he would be able to use his coloring tools better. Once Ryan was settled and had a red crayon moving roughly across the page, Ivan returned to his original seat. A nudge of the screen upwards brought his laptop display back into view.
"What're you making today, Ryan?" Ivan asked while his computer began uploading another file. Ryan looked up, a wide grin plastered across his face.
"It's a heart," Ryan explained. "I'm making it for mommy." Ivan smiled, his body relaxing against the chair as he exhaled.
"That's very sweet of you, buddy," Ivan said. "I'm sure that mommy will love it." Ryan squeaked in glee as his attention flew once again to the paper before him. Ivan scratched the back of his head with a soft laugh. "But good luck with keeping her from seeing it."
"Keeping who from seeing what?" A distinct voice asked from the living room's doorframe. Ivan and Ryan both looked up, the latter more shocked at the appearance of his mother. Maddie sighed, her weight leaning further against the framework. "What an adorable sight," She said contentedly, "My two boys all busy working away in the middle of the day. You're gonna end up spending your time just like your daddy if you don't look out, honey." Ryan, his artwork temporarily forgotten jumped from the couch and dashed to his mother.
"Mommy," Ryan cried joyously, his arms wrapping about the girl's legs. Maddie giggled and picked the child up in her arms. "You're awake now!" Maddie nodded, rubbing her forehead affectionately against his.
"Yep," She told him. "And kudos to your father for keeping an eye on you while I slept in. What've the two of you been up to, anyways?" Ryan glanced over at Ivan, who winked as he moved Ryan's picture out of view. He stashed the notepad beneath the stack of books beside his chair.
"We read," Ryan said excitedly. "We read all those books." One of his small hands reached out, pointing vaguely to the side of Ivan's chair. "Before that we were playing with blocks, then daddy did his push-ups with me. I had fun. But it's more fun with you mommy." Ryan confirmed his statement with the wrapping of his arms around his mother's neck. Ivan's eyes looked at the child suspiciously.
"Oh really?" Ivan asked with feigned incredulity. "I guess I'm just not worth having around anymore then, huh? If mommy's just so exciting and fun, why would you ever put up with me?"
"I love you too, daddy," Ryan said. His tone gave the impression that Ivan had given the same fit on more than one occasion in the past. "I just like playing with mommy more." Ivan sighed, smiling in secret as he hid his head behind the laptop screen.
"The truth hurts, don't it?" Maddie said playfully. Ivan's head bobbed in an out of view over the top of the computer screen in recognition. Maddie giggled at the sight of her boyfriend until the child she carried once again stole her attention.
"Can we play now?" Ryan asked hopefully. Maddie nodded. The brown-haired girl shook her head as to calm her laughter. She then carried Ryan over to the toy box that had been brought in some six months ago. Her eyes looked over all of the possibilities lying within the chest.
"What do you feel like playing with today?" Maddie questioned as she knelt down next to the box. Ryan looked around, question evident in his eyes. He examined the plush animals of various colors, the differently sized blocks, the other half of his book collection, the cardboard boxes containing puzzles, and the pile of plastic noisemakers that were stored in the wooden chest. His hands eventually fell upon the books.
"Can we read?" Ryan asked as he tugged the books from their cramped position against the puzzle boxes. "I wanna have you read. Daddy and you both read good, but I wanna hear you now." Maddie shook her head in the affirmative with another laugh to answer her son. Her hands assisted him in removing the books from the toy box.
"You really are vicious today, aren't ya big guy?" Ivan said from his seat. "Even after all the time I spend out doing stuff, you still don't want to play with me if you can play with mommy." Maddie sighed good-naturedly, hugging Ryan briefly as she set him on his feet with the books in his hands.
"Go get comfy," Maddie told her son, "I'm gonna go try to cheer daddy up. I'll be over in a minute, okay?"
"'Kay, mommy," Ryan responded, waddling over to the couch and jumping up onto the cushions. Maddie, meanwhile, stood up and walked over to the arm of Ivan's chair. Her hands reached over, brushing across the boy's shoulders to get his attention. Ivan looked up from the computer screen, managing a small smile.
"What's up?" Maddie asked as she sat on the arm of the chair. Ivan shrugged. His hands took Maddie's and guided her arms to wrap around his neck. Maddie followed the boy's lead. His weight leaned back in to her arms while Maddie happily hugged the boy closer to herself. Her eyes stayed melded to Ivan's. She felt her heart warmed by the ever-present vibrant glow of life and love glimmering in Ivan's sapphire eyes. It was no new sensation, but the look he gave to her, and only to her, never ceased to make Maddie feel serene and indescribably comfortable.
"I was only kidding around," Ivan said after a moment of peaceful silence. "Did you sleep well? I hope Ryan and I didn't wake you up or anything."
Maddie's reactive nod came with a slight delay, caused by her lack of attention to anything but her boyfriend's comforting eyes. It was the same comfort Maddie had found in Ivan's eyes every day after her friend's unfortunate passing. Their bond had never been so important as far as Maddie could remember, with the possible exception of Jason's actions the past year. She knew that Ivan had been even more deeply scarred, since he had to witness the act with his own eyes. Maddie had been spared of that, but her heart was torn nonetheless. Zero's death had been so unsuspected and sudden, she had barely been able to cope with it. It was Ivan's permanent devotion to her well being that had kept her from drowning in sadness, and Ivan's eternally optimistic attitude that kept her hopeful about her friend's current condition in the afterlife. She shook her head, dismissing the thoughts with a smile. It had been a few weeks since Maddie's sadness had ebbed from an open wound to a neglected scar. She still missed the black-haired boy, but her life persisted beyond the misery inspired by his choice. "I slept great," Maddie clarified. "You didn't wake me."
"You feeling alright?" Ivan furthered, brushing a hand across the girl's cheek with a look of concern taking over in his eyes. Maddie grinned and nodded with more conviction.
"I'm fine," she stated. "I was just feeling a little nostalgic. It was you I was worried about not feeling okay." Ivan smiled back at the girl, nuzzling his body closer to hers. His one hand slipped down past Maddie's ear to her neck while the other wove around Maddie's waist, hugging her gently.
"Well, if you're sure that you're okay, and I'm sure that I'm okay, then what're we doing?" Ivan said slowly, confused amusement ringing in his voice. Maddie giggled, hugging the boy's neck to her shoulder. She could feel the boy's gentle lips pressing against her neck, sending a surge of serenity through her body.
"Being close, I guess," Maddie managed to reply. She let her hands rub the boy's neck in response to his actions.
"Mommy, are you done yet?" The impatient question sent Ivan and Maddie recoiling from one another sharply. Ivan grinned sheepishly, his eyes fixating on his computer screen. Maddie jumped to her feet, laughing nervously as her hand pressed against her neck where Ivan had kissed her.
"Yeah, I'm coming, honey," Maddie assured her son as she started to walk around Ivan's chair to the couch to join her son. However, Maddie had only reached the other side of Ivan's chair when the computer beeped loudly. All three present in the room looked at the laptop with interest. "What's up?" Maddie voiced the others' question. Ivan shrugged, his hands moving rapidly across the keys and mouse.
"Looks like we got another E-mail," Ivan said as he accessed the link to his mail site. "Maybe someone decided to check up on us since we're out of school today?" Maddie shrugged, looking over Ivan's shoulder. A second later, she beckoned Ryan over to her.
"Come look at this, honey," Maddie instructed her son. Ryan dutifully responded, bouncing over into his mother's waiting arms. The closeness of his mother seemed to alleviate his former grief about being ignored by his parents while they put their arms around each other. His eyes looked eagerly to whatever had grabbed his parents' attention on the computer screen.
"It's from Hakin," Ivan told the others leaning over his shoulder. An instant later, Ivan's laptop displayed a short message in plain black text against the otherwise white field:
Hey Ivan & Co,
This is Hakin checking in from the Digital World. Susan and myself just completed the endeavors in the northern plants and gathered all the intelligence that we could. Radio silence was broken only a few minutes ago. We've got the site mapped out as well as the original construction blueprints. We came up with an effective infiltration plan for the eastern plant, but we can't do it alone. We request immediate back up of the Dragoon kind, if you catch my drift. There's a TV near our current position, through which we saw a few sentinel drones disappear, perhaps fifteen minutes ago. We've secured the site since then and no other threats have presented themselves since. The TV's located at 140 by 032. Get in here pronto so that we can get our plan underway. If we act quickly, we might be able to finally take down one of the Drone plants. Hope that you and Maddie are well. See you soon.
-Hakin the Striker, Dragoon of Friendship and Knowledge
Ivan blinked, rereading the message. His eyes wandered over to Maddie's face, then to Ryan's confused expression. The silence continued to hang over the three as they beheld the rather startling E-mail. "Well, what're we waiting for?" Ivan said loudly, shattering the silence. Maddie's eyes looked at the brown-haired boy, seeing a familiar fire and a mischievous grin come to his lips. Maddie felt herself smile as well.
"It's been a year," she said slowly. "It's about time we got back there. With this plan Hakin and Susan have invented, I bet we'll find ourselves in quite the opportune position to take out the eastern plant finally." Ivan nodded eagerly, looking once more at the computer screen.
"That bit about drones disappearing into the TV is a bit unsettling," Ivan commented. "Nonetheless, we don't have much time. Say twenty-four hours." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "At twelve-thirty tomorrow morning, April first, we're heading out."
"What about Ryan?" Maddie inquired with a sudden wave of worry. Ryan looked up, still completely befuddled as to what his parents were talking about.
"He's coming with us," Ivan said simply as he rose from his chair. "He'll come with us and we'll keep him safe. We've talked about this before, Maddie. Maybe we'll be in a more dangerous place than we'd been planning, but we can't leave him here. Ryan's a part of our family now, and he'll move when we do. You wouldn't want to be separated from us anyways, would you buddy?" Ryan shook his head vigorously.
"Where we going?" Ryan asked.
"To the Digital World," Maddie explained gently. Ivan nodded in her support. "It's the place where daddy and I met, and where we've helped a lot of our other friends out of trouble. We came here to take a little break from that and met you. Now I guess it is time that we head back there."
"Which means it's time to start packing up," Ivan told them. "We can't bring too much with us, Ryan, so you have to choose just a couple toys to bring. All the other toys we'll drop off with Ms. Takaishi in the morning. I'm sure she wouldn't mind holding onto them for you until we come back here. Same goes for us, Maddie." Maddie nodded in understanding. Ivan then glanced back at the screen for a final confirmation that Hakin did indeed need him back. Then, with a deep breath, Ivan flashed an excited gaze to his girlfriend and called, "Let's get moving!"
"And over here on your left is one of the newest medical testing labs," The droning voice of the teacher wore on. TK's attention had long since left the man and taken to staring at the many random objects strewn about the immaculate corridors and behind the glass windows. He noticed racks of doctor's robes, crates of precision instruments, and even a pile of long pipes and construction tools. "They're currently working on this room; the heating pipes, as you can see, still need to be installed. But soon enough, those steel rods will be all out of sight so that water and warmth can be channeled in here for our workers through vents. Since this room is still being worked on, I've been given permission to show you around in here." Since there was no alternative, TK's feet trudged along with the rest of the class through the sliding glass door into the large open room. As the air of the room swept over TK's skin, a sudden rush of nervousness came to him. He glanced at his mother and Kari, but neither of them seemed to feel the drop of air pressure.
"This lab is very large," The tour guide went on. His voice echoed around the great chamber, creating an almost eerie effect. "It's so big so that we can eventually have overhead displays installed to make maximum use of the surface area for walking. For right now, we only have these computers over here." His hand waved out to both sides, indicating the columns of tables, each occupied by a computer that lined either side of the room. Just as white as the rest of the building, TK's eyes began to hurt at the repetitive color scheme. "Only one programmer's working in here today, and that's my good friend, Bill." TK looked over the shoulders of his classmates in front of him. Next to the guide was a young man poring over a lit computer screen.
"Hey," The man, apparently named Bill, said absent-mindedly. "This computer's almost done Mr. Yiguro. Once it's set, then there's just the other three up there and they'll all be connected to the mainframe." The bald class guide smiled to the class before him.
"Bill is our executive computer programmer," Mr. Yiguro explained. "He's responsible for the alignment and networking present between all of the computers in the Nurakano Facility. He even helped with the design of our mainframe, a big super-computer that acts as a storage bank for every scientist and doctor on the premises. It provides easy access to any files in any location of the building so that files can be shared and hypothesis tested in separate labs with the same identical instructions." TK paid the guide's commentary little mind. Instead, the blond-haired boy's attention was focused on the computer screen that Bill was typing at, or rather what little he could see with the man's black hair obscuring TK's view. It was then that Bill's hands stopped in their motions.
"Mr. Yiguro?" Bill asked brusquely. The tour guide looked over at the man in front of the computer. TK couldn't make out Bill's expression, but from the sound of the man's tone he knew something was wrong.
"What is it?" Mr. Yiguro asked with a slight connotation of impatience. One of Bill's hands reached up hesitantly and tapped on the glass of the monitor. The guide leaned over the computer programmer's shoulder, looking at the computer screen. Mr. Yiguro promptly jumped back from the screen with a scream of, "What the Hel-"
However, the guide found himself cut off crisply by a blinding flash of light from the computer screen. TK was forced to look away along with all the others in the room. He then felt a buzzing in his pocket - the vibration of his Digivice. A sudden dropping feeling came to TK's stomach as he looked back through the fading light. Whatever was to appear certainly meant the worst was coming from the Digital World.
Mr. Yiguro and Bill had both fallen to the ground. Whether they were alive or dead, TK couldn't tell. It wasn't until a few seconds later that he noticed them crawling for further cover underneath the computer tables. Their sudden desire for cover was evident to TK, though - four sentinel drones stood in the area adjacent to the illuminated computer screen. The swords carried by each of the drones flashed into view as the mechanical beings moved from the computer towards the center aisle, glinting in the white illumination of the unwelcoming white room. Without any further provocation, the majority of TK's class erupted in screams and churned for the door out of the room, followed by Sensei Modo and most of the chaperones. It wasn't surprising to the blond-haired boy; he would have loved to be able to run from the devastatingly sinister mechanizations. In contrast to his desires, TK stood his ground with a scowl on his face.
"Bow down before the one you serve," The drones said in a monotone, icy threat. TK was startled to hear the drones speak, but gave it no thought as he glared at the robotic creations. The statement, however, only further frightened the children running from the scene.
"You really need to kill us that badly?" TK said sarcastically to the drone quadruplet. No response came from the machines. They only continued to walk forward, outstretching their unarmed hands towards TK and, he noticed suddenly, Kari. The brown-haired girl was standing beside him, the same defiant look shining in her eyes. TK smiled to himself in the comfort of having support from his girlfriend. "You want us?" TK challenged. His arm rose to a protective position of Kari. The drones' intent seemed to go in accordance with TK's comment, their steps drawing ever closer to TK whilst their sword-bearing arms rose up.
"Get back!" a sudden cry interrupted the scene. TK faltered, looking with surprise as his mother dove between himself and the robots. "Leave my son alone, you, you medical research experiments!" TK's eyes widened in shock. His hand reached out to send his mother to safety. But before he could say anything to stop his mother, she was struck to the ground by the hilt of the foremost drone's sword. The drone's optical sensors never strayed from their set gaze on TK. The other machines followed his lead, stepping over the unconscious woman as a trickle of blood ran from her temple. Any students remaining in the room, along with the tour guide and computer programmer decided that the exit of the room seemed like the perfect plan. TK's demeanor broke into a wave of undiluted aggression.
"That was my mother," TK cried out, leaping backwards as one sword swung out at his midsection. "Come on," He taunted with narrowed eyes, "Let's dance, you bastards." Kari looked at TK, worry in her eyes. TK noticed her concern as he backed himself and Kari both away from the oncoming drones. "They can't take you away from me," TK told her, "They can't. They want to mess with my mom, you and me, then they'll face the consequences."
TK's mind realized that he would have a very hard time backing up his words against the four swords of his adversaries without even a weapon of his own. Moreover, he hadn't ever faced drones without Ivan or Houndramon around to assist him. The prospect of facing off against four of them alone seemed all but impossible. However, he realized that there was no other option and his eyes scanned the room desperately for something he could use to fight against the drones with. The lab coats seemed hardly useful, while the computers and the tables on which they rested seemed little better. His eyes then caught sight of the construction equipment stashed in the room's corner. With a reestablishment of his grin, TK put his arm around Kari's shoulders and ushered her quickly to the corner of the room.
"Stay here," he told her. His hands dropped to the ground, sorting through the pipes for one of a proper length. His wish was granted by a long, straight pipe section of six and a half feet. Leaping to his feet and spinning the makeshift staff in his hands, TK turned to face the still- approaching drones. "I'll take care of them."
A glare that Kari didn't recognize flashed heatedly in TK's eyes, chilling her blood - the glare of vengeance. She prayed that his anger and piety didn't cause him to be too overzealous in whatever he did. Her heart was also beating rapidly at the likelihood of an imminent and at least violent, if not lethal fight. Kari then looked at Ms. Takaishi. Her body was lying twisted and still on the ground. Kari doubted that she was dead, but knew that any attack against someone that TK held so dearly would certainly inspire his anger.
"Bow down before the one you serve," The drones ordered again, their hands reaching out to take hold of TK's shoulders. TK solidified his stance by bending his knees and readied his staff.
"The one I serve?" TK asked bitterly. "Who would that be? Or do you want me to bow down to your twisted creator? I'd rather die than give you control." TK brought his staff down with a vicious strike against the nearest artificial limb. The clash of metal shook through TK's staff and the drone both, which made TK glad that he had insisted on wearing gloves for the chilly weather that day. As a few stray wires dangled out of the drone's wrist, the limb retracted to the machine's side.
"You're going to get what you deserve," The drone said in an unnaturally monotone threat. TK had little time to reflect on the tone, however, as he was thrown into a pitched battle against the drone. His metal staff was flung to the side, intercepting the first swipe of the drone. TK then jumped up, supporting himself on his staff, and kicked the drone squarely in the stomach. The drone stumbled backwards into its companions before stepping forwards once again. TK took the moment to draw the drones away from Kari. Their attention was so focused on eliminating the blond-haired boy that they followed his movements back into the center aisle without so much as glancing at Kari's shivering form.
The foremost drone stepped forward from the others, silently stating that he wished to destroy the child on his own. TK gave a brief sigh of relief at the thought of only having to handle one robotic menace at a time. His mind still tried to decipher what the drones meant by coming to capture he and Kari without any previous hints to their coming. He didn't have any time to think about that presently, however, as the drone began swinging viciously for the staff-bearing warrior. TK's weapon again met the drone's, though his timing was lagging as the drone increased its pace.
The drone spun and swung out horizontally for TK's neck. TK's pipe stayed the blade inches from the boy's vital limb. He swung the bottom of the staff upwards in counter, only to have the end caught by the drone's hand. The hand forced TK's staff upwards, sending TK sprawling with it. The cold, hard white tiles of the floor bruised TK's shoulder on the impact. With a reverse roll, TK found his feet once again and readied his staff once again. A glimpse of the drones at the end of the aisle told him that they were, indeed simply watching the combat and waiting their turn.
Another horizontal strike came towards TK's torso. His weapon halted the attack again, but more effectively; TK let the staff slide closer to his hip as to not throw the drone back. Then TK made a sharp spinning motion with his pipe. Since the blade was in contact with the staff, TK was able to clear the blade over his head and toss it aside. The drone was likewise spun in order to keep from losing its arm to which the longsword was welded. With the drone's back momentarily open, TK's staff came down with a harsh reverberation against the drone's core processing unit. The drone staggered forwards, away from TK.
A second later, the machine stood back up straight and readied to swing around at TK. The second, however, was long enough for TK to adjust his grip on the impromptu staff and lunge forward. Targeting the same location as his first connecting strike, TK witnessed more of the circuitry comprising the drone's central computer break apart and scatter to the ground. The weapon-wielding arm fell limp to its side and it again stumbled from the attack. TK continued his onslaught, striking again and again at the drone's back. It took only a few more hits for the creation to fall prone to the ground and the green light of its eyes to fade out completely. TK let out a sigh as he hopped over the robotic corpse and glared at the remaining trio of enemies.
"Bow down before the one you serve," The drones repeated in their cold, emotionless, and recorded voices. TK smirked despite himself, twirling his imitation staff idly.
"Don't you realize that your statement's getting old?" TK said in a bored tone. "You can't take her away from me, and you certain as hell won't take me alive." TK gestured to the drones, urging one of them to attack him. The middle of the three drones responded, stepping from its companions without hesitation. The remaining two stepped together, lying in wait for their opportunity. TK smiled as his next victim came forth and thrust at TK's head.
TK spun his staff and knocked the fatal point mere inches from his forehead. The drone countered with a back swing, but was again halted by TK's expertly timed block. The drone drew back for a brief moment before lunging forwards again. This time TK's stomach was the target. TK's agile reflexes were all to keep him from being skewered this time, his hands not reacting in time. However, the felled drone's still frame on the ground halted the quick shuffling backwards. TK tripped backwards, landing roughly on his shoulder for a second time. Moreover, TK's opponent dove on top of him and began a ruthless assault. TK, being so limited by the confines the drone placed him in, could barely dodge his head to either side to avoid the deadly stabs of the drone's sword.
As TK's head evaded the drone's stabs, he tried to think of a way to get free. The drone had taken a surprisingly traditional mount position on TK's stomach and the weight of the machine was quickly robbing him of air. With a flash of inspiration, TK thrust his hips upwards. The drone, unsuspecting, was thrown forwards and off balance. It was subsequently unable to attack the warrior beneath it since both of its arms were needed to keep it from collapsing on top of TK altogether. TK set his staff on his right side as he grappled with the violent creation. Placing one hand on the armed limb of the drone and the other on its hip joint, TK threw all of his weight into a single push for escape. As its armed hand slipped from the ground, the drone was easily forced over and to the ground. TK then reversed the position and assumed his own mount position while pinning the drone's sword-wielding hand across its neck. It took both of the boy's arms to keep the arm from rising and as a result, TK received a pair of punches to his stomach from the drone's free hand. The blond-haired boy groaned.
Without an option, TK let go and gave up his normally advantageous position. If TK had been able to effectively punch back against the machine, he would have fared far better, but the metallic plating of the drone left him unable to do so. However, as TK rolled over his staff and was instantly rearmed, he spun around and drove down on the drone's still- rising body. Caught unaware, the drone tripped to the side into a desk. TK tried for a second hit against the head of the drone, but found his pipe blocked and parried by the drone's longsword. TK made a third attempt with a thrust to the drone's central computer. It retaliated with a second parry, which TK had been expecting. While the drone was distracted with the evasion of one end of TK's staff, he followed with the motion and brought the other end of the staff down again upon the drone's unprotected skull. The consequential force of the drone colliding with the table a second time broke the wooden surface and sent the robot to the ground. TK wasted no time in continuing his merciless assault against the robot's head. Processing chips scattered across the floor; the second robotic destroyer was made inoperable.
"Any other takers?" TK said as he caught his breath. He shook his head, throwing droplets of perspiration across the center aisle, onto the tables and floor. His eyes focused on the two remaining machines, staring at him in the middle of the center aisle. Without so much as a glance at each other, the drones simultaneously stepped forward towards TK.
"You're going to get what you deserve," They stated with lethal determination. TK sneered, letting the pipe he held revolve once in his hands. His fingers then tightened on the metal beneath his gloves, his muscles tensing in preparation for the remaining two drones. The soreness of his shoulder and his stomach throbbed, but he paid no attention to them at the prospect of far greater pain if he let his focus waver.
"Two for one deal, now?" TK asked with sarcastic surprise as his adversaries advanced. "So much for mechanical chivalry." Side-stepping the first attack, TK's staff collided with the other drone's sword. TK moved the staff back and forth rapidly, knocking away each of the attacks from either side of his body. However, his hands alone were not fast enough and TK soon found himself dodging frequently and only in the nick of time to avoid his own demise. Such left the blond-haired boy with no opening to place an attack of his own. All of his energy was devoted to keep from falling victim to one of the two drones' cruel weapons.
Unable to focus on a single attacker, TK could feel the pressure of the two drones as they continued to push him backwards. The lack of space eliminated any advantages that he could gain from the length of his pipe. It also hemmed in his defensive movements. He needed space and he was going to get it. As TK's heel tapped against the unmoving form of the first drone to fall, TK took a breath and continued his blocking without giving any more ground. TK managed a simultaneous block of both enemy swords, their robotic programming causing them to act in synchronization. The drones used their combined power to push down on TK's staff, feeling the obstruction slowly give in and their weapons' edges near the boy's skin. TK played along fully with the two drones; letting his legs bend down to give them leeway. When he felt that the moment was right, TK force his right hand upwards and dropped his left. The resulting shift in pressure sent the drone on TK's right backwards and the drone on his left stuttering forwards. With the break of pressure, TK vaulted himself backwards with a spring of his legs. TK amazed himself at the wonder of performing his first back-handspring, due solely to his present rush of adrenaline - adrenaline that he knew was fading fast. He wiped the back of his sleeve across his face, soaking it with the same sweat that was causing his shirt to moisten.
With a cushion of space, TK Swung out at the drone that had fallen towards him. Its sword managed to stop the first strike, while the second impacted against the drone's unarmed wrist. TK struck again and again at the robot, attempting to beat past its defenses. However, before he could score any significant hits on the one opponent, its ally returned to the fray and took the offensive on TK. The blond-haired boy sighed as he was swept into another series of deflecting the sword point from piercing his body. His timing lagged as the slightly damaged drone became offensive as well. TK yearned for some sort of change to the monotony of the pitched combat. His only apparent chance was in single combat, but the assault of two drones at once left him without a chance to counterattack. TK then noticed that, although more limiting, the thin pathways between the desks to either side of him were not wide enough for both drones to attack him at once. With a grin, TK took a quick sidestep into the nearest such path. To his surprise, the drone nearest him continued to attack while the other followed without attempting to find an opening.
TK took a leap back and stood his ground. Once again providing himself with space, He let his pipe lash out at his aggressor. The drone was unable to close the distance without endangering its own operation, instead parrying the boy's weapon as best it could in the confined combat space. TK, too, suffered from the confines of the area, his attacks limited to only vertical strikes and thrusts. The latter he hadn't tried yet, but when his staff was knocked back down from an unsuccessful uppercut, he pulled the staff back and drove it forward. Using his armpit to brace and solidify his strike, the staff penetrated through the drone's feeble defenses. Shuffling forward, TK drove the staff further into its artificial torso and heard the satisfying crunch of electronic circuitry. Whipping the staff upwards and bringing the other end from the ground into the stunned drone's head, the machine staggered violently and the lights of its optical sensors flickered faintly. TK spun the staff above his head to ensure as much power in his final strike as possible, then brought the weapon down with a deafening crack against the drone's head. It was subsequently hurtled to the ground before TK's feet, inert.
TK only received a second to revel in his accomplishment before his staff's presence became mandatory above his head to halt the final drone's sword. The blade came crashing down with a force that surprised the boy, caused by the drone's increased force from jumping over the downed drone. TK was thrown backwards to the floor roughly, stopped when his head collided with the leg nearest to the wall of the desk on his left. A dull ache throbbed through his head at the result, while his eyes widened in shock at the pipe that he was holding. It had been severed into two pieces. But once more, TK was allotted no time to reflect nor to brush the sweat that fell into his eyes as the drone pursued its victim with a swing to his head. TK rolled beneath the table in reaction, letting the drone's sword hit only the tiled floor. TK came out on the other side of the table, only to see the drone clear the wooden table and land with perfect form before thrusting once more at TK. TK was able to evade the sword with a swing of one of the pipe's halves and used the moment to roll backwards to his feet. The boy gave ground to the drone quickly while his mind tried to develop a method in which to fight, now that he was unable to block its sword with both of his hands, bracing on either side of the actual strike as he did with the full staff.
"Bow down before the one you serve," The drone commanded viciously. It drove down on TK relentlessly, but was only able to strike air as TK moved around in circles through the maze of tables. Only occasionally was TK forced to block or dodge the drone's attacks, the second of which he was far more opt to do since he couldn't keep the pipe from buckling when the drone's sword connected with it. However, TK was panting as he made more and more lucky saves with the ducking of his body. His adrenaline had long since given out and what little resolve he had left was burning down quickly. Between the aches of his shoulder, stomach, head, and now even his hands from the continual exchanged blows between the remnants of his weapon and the drone's steel rendered the gloves ineffective, he was unable to keep his focus on the imminent danger reaching out for his neck and torso. An idea struck him then, a desperate idea. His mind gave no other alternatives, so TK decided that he might as well try it out.
TK knocked the drone's blade away when he was about to be struck in the side and dashed backwards, getting as much distance as he could between himself and the drone. TK stopped at the far end of the center aisle, just as the drone wrenched its sword from the table TK had hit it into. The drone, whether by its own preference or its own limitations, simply walked towards TK. TK smiled, his eyes narrowing as he took aim with his right arm. Then, after leaning backwards, TK lurched forwards and sent one half of the pipe hurtling, a swirling vortex, at the drone's ocular sensors. To the surprise of the blond-haired boy, the pipe-half connected accurately with a deadening metallic thud. The drone recoiled roughly from the sudden, violent collision. When the head rose again, the visual capacity of the drone was apparently gone. A gaping chunk was absent in the face of the machine.
"Your head's like a hole, now," TK said fiercely as he took slow, menacing steps forward. "It's just as black as your soul. You want me to bow down before you? You can't take my dignity; you can't that from me. I'd rather die than give you control. And if your master can hear you, you can pass the message along." The drone lurched forwards, its sword lashing out wildly at where TK's voice had come from. TK, seeing the blind drone's movements ahead of time, easily evaded the attack to the side and brought his remaining piece of pipe down viciously on the back of the drone's head. The drone lurched forwards, only to be kicked to the ground by TK's foot. The blond-haired boy finalized the drone's destruction with a series of sharp blows to the drone's back. The machine twitched and writhed for a few moments before finally lying prone on the ground. TK straightened his back, looking down upon the robot with utter disdain.
"Bow down before you?" TK asked bitterly. "No, you can bow down before me, you goddamn murderers." He tossed the last of his weapon carelessly aside, walking away from the bodies of the four fallen drones. "You got what you deserve."
TK's legs only carried him to the other end of the center aisle before they gave out and dropped the boy to his knees, a few feet from his mother. The fatigue and heart-wrenching fear that the prolonged combat induced made him want to vomit. His arms wrapped around his stomach, both from the soreness of being punched multiple times and from the intimation of being sick. He shivered, despite the sweat streaming down his face and permeating his skin. Even his jeans were damp from the fighting. His heart felt so empty, however, that his body was chilled involuntarily. Chilled, that is, until a pair of strong, loving arms wrapped tightly about TK's frame.
"Are you okay?" Kari asked quickly, her lips pressing firmly to the boy's forehead afterwards. TK smirked, letting his body give out in the girl's arms.
"I'll be alright," TK replied hoarsely. Kari adjusted her position so that TK's upper body was cradled in her arms just above her cross-legged lap. The boy managed a weak smile up at the wet, smiling eyes of his girlfriend.
"You scared me half to death," Kari told the boy. She let one of her hands brush across TK's cheek, clearing his skin of perspiration and his damp, matted hair. Her hand cupped the boy's face, her thumb rubbing delicately across his cheek. "You're so stupid," Kari said desperately, though it was evident that she meant quite the opposite. TK's smile widened slightly.
"I'm glad you have such faith in me," TK replied in a quiet, but still facetious tone. Kari shook her head as her arms hugged the boy's head tightly to her stomach.
"Don't go pulling any more stunts like that on me," Kari pleaded. "I don't know what I'd do if you got hit by one of their swords. I-" TK's hand raised up weakly, requesting her silence. She obeyed, looking curiously to the boy's face. TK winced slightly as his hand fell back to the ground.
"If I hadn't intervened then who knows where we'd all be now," TK told her. "They were going to take you away from me; I could never let them separate us without a fight." TK looked up into Kari's glittering crimson eyes and lifted his hand to rest on hers upon his cheek. "How would we have gone out tonight like we planned to if I let them take you away from me?" Kari could feel her will crumbling as the unbidden tears slid from her eyes. TK's expression became inviting, his arm rising up to Kari's shoulder. The brown- haired girl gladly accepted his offer, kicking her legs out behind her and burying her head in TK's shirt. Dancing his fingers lazily through the girl's hair, TK held her tightly with his other arm. He ignored the painful surge of having pressure applied to the shoulder he had thrice impacted the ground with.
Kari's lapse of sadness passed after a few minutes' time. Sensei Modo then appeared, a shocked expression upon his face. Kari quickly hid her tears behind a sleeve before jumping to her feet and bowing to the teacher. TK struggled to sit up and decided it wasn't worth the effort to regain his feet at the moment.
"What the Hell happened here?" Sensei Modo asked loudly, looking around the room in astonishment. He noticed the four destroyed drones, the one broken table, several other tables with rough cuts in the wood, and two three-foot sections of piping littering the floor some thirty feet from where TK and Kari were. He also noticed Ms. Takaishi's unconscious form.
"We'll explain later," Kari said quickly. "To keep things simple, TK managed to stop the machines that came into the room and now we need to get an ambulance for Ms. Takaishi in case her injury is serious." After processing Kari's words, Sensei Modo nodded slowly. Another glance at Ms' Takaishi sent the man dashing down the hallway to the nearest telephone. Kari turned back around with a sigh, seeing TK looking back up at her with worry.
"Serious?" TK repeated breathlessly. Kari dropped her head, knowing that TK would not be happy at the prospect of his mother's safety. "I can't believe she even did that," TK continued. "My mother was only trying to help keep us safe, and they just knocked her aside." TK grunted as he stood up straight once again. "Mimi's timeless words never seem to fade from my memory." Kari looked at her boyfriend curiously. TK forced a smile to his sore head. "For so long our parents have been looking after us. Now it's our turn to come through for them."
"What're you talking about, TK?" Kari asked, looking at the boy with curiosity. TK sighed, waving his hand over the place where the carnage had so recently taken place.
"You really think that they won't be back?" TK countered skeptically. "They've never come here before, and I don't think that this was a fluke. They want you, or me, or maybe even both of us. They won't ever succeed in that, but we can't have them come here a second time. It's far too dangerous to the people we love."
"So what do you suggest?" Kari continued, not entirely sure that she wanted to have an answer. She had a feeling she already knew what he would say.
"We'll bring the fight to them," TK said definitively. "We're going to go back to the Digital World and put a stop to whoever the Hell is trying to kidnap us." Kari sighed, looking at the boy before her sadly. "We've done it before," TK told her. "We've put countless adversaries down over there. No one's ever been able to beat us and I'm certainly not thinking that today's the day that changes."
"But our Digimon can't-" TK cut her off with a shake of his head.
"I don't know how we'll do it," TK interrupted, "But we've done it in the past when our Digimon could barely fight. Now we're older and not so helpless ourselves." TK could see that Kari wasn't enjoying any of his speech. He sighed, opening his arms to the girl. She gladly returned the embrace, rocking in his arms gently. "The bottom line is that they hit my mom," TK said gently. "I'd just as soon not care about what's going on here, but we've learned enough in history class about what statutory neglect accomplishes." Kari nodded reluctantly.
"But I don't want to see you getting yourself hurt like last time we were there," Kari protested into TK's shirt. "If Maddie hadn't been there, things wouldn't have turned out so well." TK pressed his lip against Kari's cheek reassuringly.
"Don't think I'm naïve enough to try and go do this alone," TK said with a sudden spark of positive attitude. Kari leaned back, looking at the boy's azure eyes questioningly. TK smiled back at her. "I have a pretty good suspicion that Ivan and Maddie would be more than happy to join us on the mission. What we'll do with Ryan, I'm not sure, but I know that Maddie would never stand to be separated from her son. As such, I'd put my money on him coming with us Sacagawea style." Kari giggled briefly at the possibility. Then, the brown-haired girl nodded her acceptance.
"Okay, TK," Kari said. "If you want to go through with this, then you've got me behind you the whole way." She leaned up and kissed the boy's cheek tenderly. "You've got my heart. You've got my love. I wouldn't ever abandon you. With your life, so too is mine to go. Together we travel, together we live, and divided we fall, right?" TK nodded solemnly in reply, his hands sliding from the girl's side to her face.
"Together we live, and together we love," TK added. The blond-haired boy then brought his lips to meet hers, confirming his pact of dedication to the girl. Their mouths parted a few moments later, leaving TK with a sense of revitalization. He hugged the girl tightly in his unspoken thanks. Their bodies then followed the lead of their lips, stepping apart until only one of Kari's hands was held tightly by one of TK's. Their eyes cast down the center aisle before them, looking at the four annihilated drones. TK glanced behind himself, smiling forlornly at his mother. He resisted the urge to hug her for fear of making his mother's injuries more severe and possibly pushing the woman over the edge into death. "Don't worry, mom," TK said to himself as his eyes traveled back to the drone corpses. "Let me protect you now. Just hang on, and we'll get back at them for doing this to you." His mouth closed as his mind remembered the two-line phrase that the drones had repeated during the course of combat. With a vicious smile, TK repeated their words in mocking of their own vain attempts.
"You're going to get what you deserve."
(Boo-yah, that's the 12th chapter for you. What now? I've got a three-day deadline to finish this book. If it's not up by Thursday, then consider yourselves out of luck for the next week. I'm going to be in Rome for all of Feb. vacation and as such, you'll all have to miss my momentous final chapter until I get back. I hope you all feel somewhat fulfilled on your desires to see some serious TaKari for once, and I apologize for what little of my own characters appeared. It was a necessary sacrifice. While you wait for my next installment, give me a review! It always helps to know what people find to be good/bad/who knows what in my writing. Until next time, Kudos!)
