Digimon: Death of Akume

Chapter 9: Tragedy at River Canyon

"Help me! Please!" The young boy cried out to the girl on the top of the canyon side. The boy was slipping, 1,000 feet above the ground. He had been hiking with a group of friends and a guide. The girl got down on her stomach and reached for the boy. She was just beginning to get a grip on his hand when the rock he was hanging on to fell out of the cliff wall.

"I've got you!" She yelled down to him. "Don't let go of my hand!" Unfortunately for the young boy, he was wearing gloves. The glove began to slip off his hand.

"Ah! Help! My glove is slipping!" He yelled to her, but it was already to late. His glove slipped off his hand, and the boy fell down through the air. "Ah!" He yelled.

"No!" The girl yelled as the boy knocked off the side of the canyon three times before hitting bottom with a sickening crunch that echoed through the canyon.

***

"Ah!" Sora yelled as she woke up from the nightmare, sitting up straight and stiff as a board. She began to cry again. It was the third night after the terrible accident had happened. She had had the nightmare every night since then, and she couldn't stop envisioning his face as his hand slipped out of the glove. She had gone with her friend, Serena, and Serena's little brother, Trevor, the one who had fallen, and a bunch of other kids she didn't know to River Canyon. Trevor had been horsing around near the edge of the path. He had been warned several times not to do that throughout the trip up, but he had continued on. When they were almost at the top of their climb, he had slipped on a patch of mud hidden beneath the autumn leaves. Sora had tried to save him, but he just slipped from her hands. Sora had been the only one able to move to try and help the boy, all of the others had been scared stiff. She believed that her time in the Digiworld gave her a better reaction time to danger than most people because she faced so much of it. Sora's mother stepped into the room.

"Oh, sweetheart, did you have that dream again?" Her mother asked her. Sora nodded.

"I, I tried to save him, I honestly did, but, but, he just slipped right out of my hands." Sora said and began crying harder.

"I know you did, Sweetheart. There was nothing more you could have done, you did your best to save him. I don't think anyone could have done a better job." Her mother reassured her.

"I know, but I just can't get his face out of my thoughts." Sora said.

"Well, at least you're getting more sleep, look it's almost five thirty." Sora just gave a low whimper. "Why don't you stay up for the rest of the night, there's not much time left to sleep anyway. We can watch a short video together or something."

"Okay, Mom." Sora replied and walked out into the living room with her mother. Her mother put a video tape in and they watched it.

***

"Three days ago, right here at River Canyon, a young boy tragically fell to an early death. A group of people including one, Trevor Benton, planned a fun filled afternoon of hiking to the highest point of the canyon. The group was nearly to the top, a staggering 1,000 feet above the ground, when tragedy struck. Young Trevor was playing when he slipped on a patch of mud hidden by the leaves and fell over the side of the canyon. He grabbed on to a rock sticking out from the side of the canyon and a few seconds later the rock fell out of the canyon wall. A young girl, Sora Takenouchi, grabbed the boys hand just as the rock came loose, unfortunately, the boys glove slipped off the his hand and he fell to a grisly death." The reporter on the television said.

"What? Sora was there? Oh, no!" Kari said, "Tai, come here!"

"What is it Kari?" Tai asked in alarm

"You remember that kid who fell at River Canyon the other day?" She asked him

"Yeah, I feel sorry for that girl who tried to save him, though. That must have been awful for her." He replied

"Well, that girl who tried to save the little boy was Sora." Kari replied.

"What? Sora? Oh, no!" Tai said, "I'm going to call her right away." Tai said as he picked up the phone to call his friend. He dialed her number and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello, Takenouchi residence." Sora's mother said on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Mrs. Takenouchi, can I speak to Sora please?" Tai asked her

"You're not another reporter are you?" Mrs. Takenouchi asked him

"No, it's just me, Tai." He said kindly

"Okay, I guess. I'll go get Sora." She replied and put the phone down to get her daughter. After a few minuets, Sora picked up the phone.

"Hi, Tai." Sora said to him, "I suppose you've heard about the accident."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry you had to go through that. I was wondering why you weren't in school." Tai said.

"I'm fine, Tai. I'll see you at school today." Sora replied

"Just remember if you get mobbed by people trying to say they're sorry about what happened, you know who to hide behind." Tai said jokingly. Sora also laughed at this. Little did they know it would come pretty close to happening. They said goodbye and hung up.

***

At school that day Sora found Serena first thing. Sora walked up to her friend. Serena glared at Sora for a few seconds, then she spoke.

"What are *you* doing here?" Serena asked coldly.

"I need to talk to you." Sora said, ignoring the glare.

"Fine. Let's go." Serena replied. The two girls walked to the bathroom. Once they were their, Serena saw there was no one in the bathroom. Serena was angry, that much was clear, but how angry was she really? Sora would soon find out.

"What did you want to talk about, Sora?" Serena asked, saying Sora with enough sarcasm to flood an Olympic size pool.

"Why are you so angry at me?" Sora asked calmly.

"Why? Why am I so angry at you?" Serena yelled at Sora, "Because you killed my brother!"

"Hey, I was the only one who moved to save him! If I hadn't moved who would you blame then?" Sora shot back, raising her voice a bit. Serena was enraged, she rushed at Sora. Sora sidestepped and Serena ran past her, barely missing hitting the wall. Serena turned and got ready to rush Sora. Sora took a stance and prepared to face her new enemy.

"Serena, stop this now!" Sora yelled at her foe. Serena charged straight at Sora, her fist drawn back. Just as Serena reached Sora, Sora reached out and grabbed the arm not aiming for her face and used Serena's momentum to swing her around and then release Serena in the direction she came from. Serena lightly slammed her back into the wall. Serena got up and began charging at Sora again as another girl entered the room, distracting Sora. Serena rammed full force into Sora, pushing her up against a wall. The other girl ran out and got a teacher. When the teacher came in, Sora had gotten several punches to the face and now was a bleeding, crumpled heap on the floor. Serena had jumped out the first story window.

"Sora, are you alright?" The teacher asked her, but no response came. Sora had been knocked out cold. The teacher had a stretcher from the nurses' office come down to take her up to the nurse's office.

~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~

Sora woke up to a nurse, teacher, and police officer looking down at her. She let loose a low moan.

"Tai?" She asked. "Where's Tai?"

"Tai who, honey?" The nurse asked her.

"Tai Kamiya." Sora replied. The nurse left and came back a few minuets later with Tai in tow.

"Sora, are you alright?" Tai asked her.

"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting her, of all people, attacking me." Sora said to him as he looked down at her.

"Well, it's all over now." Tai said to her. He lightly rubbed his hand against her bruised cheek. Sora smiled up at him, then the police officer cleared his throat.

"What is your name?" He asked Sora.

"Sora Takenouchi. Is this an official interview on the fight?" Sora asked the officer.

"Yes, Miss Takenouchi, it is." He said then continued with the questions. "Who attacked you?"

"Serena Benton."

"Is there a motive that you are aware of?"

"She believes I killed her little brother, Trevor Benton. I had been trying to save him, but his hand slipped out of the glove he was wearing. It was the accident up at River Canyon."

"Any other motives?"

"No."

"Did you actively try to hurt Serena Benton in any way?"

"No!" Sora was angry he had thought she would do that.

"I'm sorry, Miss. Interview protocol." He said to her, then continued. "Did anyone witness the fight taking place?"

"Yes. I don't know who she was, but she was the one who called the teacher into the bathroom. She looked a lot like Mimi."

"What?" Tai asked her. "Mimi came here by plane this morning. She's in the hall waiting to see if you are okay!"

"Then maybe it was Mimi." Sora said thoughtfully.

"Mimi who?" The officer asked

"Mimi Tachikawa." Sora replied as Tai left to go get Mimi.

"Were did he go?"

"He probably went to get Mimi." Just then Tai came back in with Mimi behind him.

"Mimi! It's good to see you again." Sora said to her old friend.

"That girl who beat you up makes me mad. Why, if Biy-" Mimi started to say Biyomon, but Tai covered her mouth quickly.

"Mimi, they don't know about the Digimon. I do not want to have to explain the whole thing." Tai grumbled at Mimi.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Mimi said with a laugh. Sora and Tai sweat dropped.

"What was that all about?" The officer asked

"It would take to long to explain it and you wouldn't even understand it, let alone believe it." Sora said to him.

"Is it illegal?"

"I wouldn't think so. If there are any laws about it, we've never heard about them." Sora replied. The officer sighed and turned to Mimi. He then began interviewing her. Then he interviewed all the Digidestined. From there he went and interviewed the entire school. What a job. It turned out that Mimi had been the one who called the teacher into the bathroom.

***

Later that night, all the Digidestined, including the new ones and their Digimon, met at Sora's house. They each had to be checked by the police. They were guarding her house from Serena. They all gathered in the living room to talk about the fight. Sora and Tai were sitting on the couch together. Everyone else was sitting on couches, chairs, and bean bags. Sora had a bandage over one eye, a band aid on her forehead (the cut on her forehead was what had caused a lot of the blood.), and had a broken lip (Meaning that in the fight her lip had split open, also giving off a lot of blood.).

(A/N: I know for a fact that facial wounds are very bloody. I have the scar to prove it. The scar also proves why I don't play hockey anymore.)

"So, what can we do about this Serena girl? She still hasn't been found by the cops." Joe said.

"Yes, When the police find her they will arrest her, but until then we need a plan to keep Sora safe." Izzy commented.

"You know, the police *are* protecting me." Sora said to them.

"True, but one can never be to careful." Cody said

"I agree, we need to give additional protection." Kari replied.

"In both worlds." Gatomon added.

"Why in both worlds?" asked Davis.

"Because, we never knew Ken was the Emperor. So how are we supposed to know if Serena's a Digidestined." T.K. said

"Right, for all we know, she could be establishing herself as the Emperor's third in command as we speak." Tai said. Just then his Digivice went off.

"Well, I know I can't go. Those police officers are tailing me where ever I go." Sora said.

"I'll stay back with Sora, you guys can handle this one. If you need me, you know my e-mail." Izzy said to them.

"I'll stay, too. After all, there's safety in numbers." Joe replied. All the other Digidestined nodded their approval and left for the middle school.