Digimon is the property of TOEI Animation, and Akiyoshi Hongo, we are just
borrowing their characters and certain situations to tell our story. Domino
and Dice are our little darlings, Hikari and mine's that is. We gain no
money from this.
Story by Hikari and Wanderer D
***
It was weird, being back home again... Domino thought... *home* The Digital World had kind of become her surrogate domicile... and she had thought of it as her home for so long... only to learn that she wasn't really from there at all... It was like being jerked from one reality into another, and now she wasn't sure which one was real and which was fantasy... But, no, this was what was really real... this was her home, this was where she truly belonged... It was where Dice belonged, too... Domino could only wish she could have made him see that.
She sighed.
He had never really paid much attention to her in the first place, except to pick on her. Oh, sure, he was her big brother, and he had defended her before... but she often wondered if it wasn't just to inflate his own ego, and see how many people he could push around. David had always liked to be in charge... or not?
Domino's blood boiled at the thought of him. How could he do this to her? How *could* he? After she had--after *all* of them had given him a second chance... after giving him the opportunity to turn right, to come clean, and to wash Myotismon's poison from his life... how could he turn back on them? How could he fall right back into the spider's tangled web of deception?
She sighed again, and Sora cast her an uneasy glance.
"Everything okay, Domino?" she asked.
Domino looked at her, then at Biyomon, then back at her.
"You want me to be honest?" She asked. She nodded. "No, everything's *not* okay, everything's *lousy*..."
"But, Domino, we're home now, we're in the Real World, this is where Sora was born, and you, too... right?" Biyomon asked, and Domino seemed amused by her naïveté.
"I don't know anymore, Biyomon..." she admitted. "Anymore, I'm just not sure *where* I belong..."
Sora smiled and scooped her up from the ground as we made our way to her home.
"You belong with us, Domino," she said with a small smile, "wherever we may go."
And for the first time since they had arrived, Domino smiled.
Sora pulled out her house keys and they walked through the ingress into her house. It was small, as an apartment would be expected to be... but not confining. Domino thought she believed the word was "cozy". It looked just right for a single mom and daughter. Sora placed Domino down on the floor, and Biyomon fluttered down beside her. She cast Sora an uneasy glance.
"Sora..." Domino asked, and she looked at her. "Ano... could I... could I use your phone...?"
Sora gave the Gatomon a funny look.
"The phone?" she echoed. "Whaddya need the phone for?"
Domino shifted uncomfortably. "Well... I... kinda think I should... call my parents..."
Sora balked. She hadn't thought of that. Never mind the problems She and the others might have had explaining to their parents why these unusual little creatures had come home with them... how do you explain to your parents that you've *become* one?
She frowned. "Demo... you're not from Japan... are you?" A look of concern crossed her face. "You're American?"
Domino twitched her nose. "Yah, I live on the east coast, a place called Pennsylvania..." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Um... mom's not gonna like this though..."
Biyomon frowned. "Not like what?"
Domino sat down primly. "Well, there's a 14-hour time difference between Japan and the east coast of America... which means if it's mid-afternoon here... it's early morning there... like before sunrise..." She made a face.
"Besides," she added, "how long has it been? I've lost track of how many days we were in the Digital World... Tai said that time passes differently there than here, he said that he hadn't even been home a whole day when he disappeared, but it had been *weeks* in the Digiworld..." She frowned. "Even if it hasn't been a very long time... how on earth do I explain to Mom how I got to Japan?"
Sora did not know what to say.
"Well... you could just say that something important has come up, and you can't really explain right now..." Sora suggested, "but you just wanted to let her know you're okay?"
Domino rolled her large green eyes. "Oh, suuuure, that's gonna go over really well..."
Biyomon grinned. "Well, you're a long way from home... it's not like she can ground you for it..."
Sora shot her a warning glance, and Biyomon clapped her feathers over her mouth. "Sorry..."
Sora picked up the cordless phone and extended it toward Domino. Domino looked down at her paws.
"Um... could I ask you to dial for me...?"
Ring ring... ring ring...
Domino's heart pounded in her throat as she heard the ring on the other end of the phone. What would she say? What would they say? She found herself wishing no one would answer, so she could just leave a message on the answering machine--
Click,
"Hello?"
Her blood ran cold. The groggy voice on the other end of the line was, unmistakably her mother's. She only hoped she hadn't worn herself ragged worrying about David and her...
"M-mom?" I said feebly. "Mom, it's me... It's Devinne..."
"Devinne?! Oh my God, Devinne! Where have you been?! We've been looking for you and your brother!" She practically shouted to the phone.
She broke down, sobbing to the phone. "Where are you? Are you okay? Is your brother there with you?"
Domino balked. She had hoped her mother wouldn't react like this... but she somehow knew she would...
"Where are you, Devinne?!" "Devinne?!"
"I'm... I'm fine Mom... I'm just fine..." she said. "And David's--"
She balked. David was... well... what was she supposed to say to that?
"David's okay, too..." she fudged. "We're..." She winced. This wasn't going to go over well. "We're in...Japan..." She quickly moved the phone a few inches from her large ears to defend herself from the tirade to follow.
"JAPAN! Devinne! How did you get there?!"
"It's kind of a long story, Mom... and I haven't really got time to tell it right now... but I'll explain everything later, I promise..."
She sighed
"I just wanted to tell you we're okay... and that we'll be home soon..." She paused. "But there's something important we have to do first..."
"You're right, you will!" Apparently mom was getting herself back together. "We're going to get you two back! I'm getting a flight booked right now! We'll meet at the Airport in two days!"
Domino set her jaw. "We can't do that Mom... we have to take care of something first... it's important. We can't come home yet... please understand..."
"I don't care, young lady! You were gone for THREE WEEKS AND YOU TURNED UP IN JAPAN! So, you'd better be there when we arrive!"
Domino's eyes narrowed. "Why are you so stubborn about this? Mom, I know you're worried, but we're fine! Don't be rash, you can't afford a ticket to Japan... besides, you don't even know where we ARE! Japan is a big place...you'd never find us..." There was a cold tone in her voice. "I don't know just how much time has passed, and I am sorry for worrying you like I know we did... but I've done a lot of growing up in the time that passed... You... you wouldn't even know me now..." She paused, and an icy tone crept into her voice. "I'm sorry, Mom, but you can't come get us... not now, not yet... We're not done here yet."
"Listen to me, young lady! We're going for you whether you like it or not!" Mom sighed "I want to speak with David."
Domino paused, suddenly meek, then her eyes flashed. "David can't come to the phone right now Mom," she said harshly. "He's... busy."
There was a pause of awkward silence, as if her mother couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Something's happened to him, right?!" Her mom wailed through the phone.
Domino hesitated, then her eyes narrowed. "It's nothing I can't fix Mom, I promise you that."
"Oh, God! Devinne! He's my son! You're my daughter! Please..." Her voice faded... "please.."
Domino paused. "Mom..." she whispered.
Then her features hardened. "Don't worry about us, Mom... we're safe... I won't let anything happen to David, you have my word..." Domino frowned. I'll get him back, I promise... she added silently. "We'll be coming home soon... Don't be stupid, you won't find us... we can't come home until we're done here..."
Mom sniffed. "Devinne... you called through a collect call... of course I can find you..."
Domino's eyes flashed again. "I won't be here, Mom..."
"Where David and I are going... you won't be able to follow, I guarantee you that..." She sighed, and tried to reason again with her. "But stop worrying so much... we're gonna be fine..."
"Well," her voice hardened. "I will. Two days. Tokyo Airport... please be there..."
With that she hung up.
Domino's lively green eyes suddenly turned dark and cold. "No, Mom... I'm sorry..." She glared at the phone, and then hurled it across the room. "But we WON'T be there!!!"***
* * *
Dice overlooked the Tokyo Tower from the building he was currently at. He could clearly see the blasts from the battle between the Digidestined and Skullmeramon. He noticed something in his eyes and wiped the tears forcefully with the back of his gloved paw.
Why did it have to happen? The Digidestined seemed to be honest, Tai... Izzy, hell, Domino was with them! But... they had killed his friends. They had killed Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon.
Dice stood up. He would face them one last time as a... one last time in peace.
***
The dust cleared, and the only indication of Skullmeramon having ever been there, was a dark stain on the ground.
Tai and the rest cheered on, looking in approval to their latest victory. They were interrupted by slow clapping. Everyone looked up, Domino even letting out a small gasp of surprise, as Dice looked down at them from a higher point on the tower.
"Congratulations, Digidestined. It seems you defeated yet another enemy..."
***
Domino narrowed her eyes. "Dice... what are you doing here?" She took a small step forward. "Come to end it all yourself? What, was Myotismon too cowardly to show himself? He had to send his petty frontline lackeys instead?" She spat out the words in bitter anger.
Dice looked at her coldly. She talked like that, when she knew he was perfectly capable of killing her. Frontline lackey indeed! "Don't talk about petty." That was a laugh. Petty, she said, as if she didn't know.
She shot the children a look that could be interpreted as nothing but a direct order to back off. This was her fight now, not theirs.
Dice jumped down to land in front of them, lifting his paws in a sign of no aggression. "Don't worry I didn't come to fight."
"Then what are you here for, Traitor?" Tai snapped.
Domino stepped on his foot.
"I..." Dice looked away. "I trusted you, Tai. All of you."
Tai narrowed his brown eyes in pure fury. "And we did WHAT to betray that trust, Dice?"
Izzy frowned. "It would seem that you were the one who did the backstabbing..."
"Today... my two best friends, who came here only to..." his voice cracked. "... to help me... they... were killed."
Tai almost sneered. "What, you called that giant can of sterno a friend?" he jeered. "He'd have cooked you in an instant, with no compunctions." He paused. "But then, you seem to have no qualms about spilling blood on your paws, either..."
"And the Digidestined killed them." Dice finished, ignoring their remarks. He looked at them coldly. "I held no love for Skullmeramon. HE was a killer. But.. not Gotsumon. And neither was Pumpkinmon."
"They told me... that... that they wanted to take a look at the city. It..." Dice walked a little away. "It seemed fun, they said."
Domino frowned. Not in anger anymore, but in confusion. "Pumpkinmon?" she asked. "Gotsumon?" She shook her head in befuddlement. "Dice... I don't even know them..."
Tai paused, suddenly rather puzzled himself. "Dice, you have to know that we wouldn't ever destroy a Digimon unless they were a direct threat..."
Sora nodded. "If Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon weren't killers... then what reason would we have to destroy them?"
Dice looked at her. "No, you didn't." He growled, and his eyes shone red for the briefest of moments. "You didn't NEED to, all you saw were a couple of Digimon NOT of your group and that marked them as targets!"
He flexed his hands. "The most they would've done... would have been stealing an Ice-cream cone." He shut his eyes for a moment, letting a couple of tears run down his chin. "WHY?! HOW COULD YOU DO IT?! I DON'T CARE IF IT WAS MATT, OR TAI, OR JOE! BUT THEY DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE!"
Domino couldn't stand it anymore. This had to stop. Even if he was on the opposing team now, she couldn't just stand by and watch this happen to her best friend... and to her brother.
"Dice!" she cried, rushing forward. "Dice, please... you have to listen to me..." She stopped a foot or so in front of him, and the destined seemed a little concerned by her proximity.
Dice lifted his head to give her an angry, and yet torn, glance. She regarded him with sad eyes. "Dice...I dunno who tells you these things... I dunno why you believe that Leomon is dead, I dunno why you think that these kids would kill anyone unless they had no choice..." She paused and reached one paw out to him. "...but you're being lied to..."
Dice slapped the hand aside. "Who says Leomon is alive?" He regarded her coldly now. "What proof do you have?"
She winced and turned away. "The old Dice never would have needed proof, he would have believed me, regardless."
"The old Dice was a credulous idiot." He stated coldly.
She snapped her head up to give him an equally cold stare. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded. "What could Myotismon have told you that you would turn against me to help him?"
"So what if I don't have proof he's alive... who gave you the 'proof' he's DEAD?"
"I JUST SAW MY TWO BEST FRIENDS DIE, DOMINO!" Dice shouted exasperated. "THEY WENT OUT THEY DIDN'T COME BACK!" he glared at the Digidestined.
"THEY SAVED MY LIFE WHEN I WAS ALMOST DEAD AFTER THE STORM! AND I WASN'T THERE! AND NEITHER WERE YOU! AND YOU ARE WITH THOSE WHO KILLED THEM! WHAT PROOF DO I NEED? THEY'RE DEAD AND EVERYONE ELSE IS ALIVE. THAT ENOUGH PROOF FOR YOU?"
"YOU WERE DEAD, DICE!" she cried. "I saw Leomon on the beaches of File Island--alone, without his Salamon student. HE told me that you had died at sea." She angrily slapped tears from her face and shook her head. "Don't you understand, Dice? I wanted nothing more than to find you alive... but when I did... I almost wished you had stayed dead... What hurts more, Dice, thinking your best friend is dead... or knowing that they've fallen into such a state that you're not sure if they're even alive anymore!?"
She turned away. "No, I wasn't there," she added ruefully. "But had I been, would it have made any goddamn difference?"
Dice's eyes turned to slits. "Maybe. You tell me."
She shook her head sadly. "Why, Dice? What has he done for you that I didn't? What sort of friendship could he have possibly given you that I couldn't? I forgave you, Dice! I forgave you things that no one should ever be forgiven! Your hands were stained with the blood of innocents, and all I ever did was wash that away and tell you it didn't matter... doesn't that count for anything? I gave you a second chance, I convinced the children that there was good in you, even if it wasn't obvious! And now I'm not sure who the bigger fool is, you for making false promises or me for believing them."
"I will not forgive them this time, Domino. And I don't expect you to understand what I did... yes, you would sacrifice yourself for your friends, rather than fight. That will do them so much good when, after you're dead they come for them." Dice growled. He looked at Tai and the others, and for the briefest of seconds, a look of regret crossed his face. "Next time... we're enemies."
"You have two choices, Domino... either you leave this group of killers. Or you go down- you die with them."
She narrowed her eyes in anger. "How dare you give ME the ultimatum," she growled. "You're the one who broke the promise, Dice... not me..."
"Did I?" he asked sarcastically.
"We shook on it... friends forever..." She curled her lip. "And look who's making threats... Some friend..."
"Didn't I say I would fight for those I loved? Well, two of them are dead." Dice snapped back.
She choked back a sob. "But I'm still here, Dice," she said, "and it means nothing... is this what you do to everything you're given, Dice? Do you stomp it all into the dirt, just like you did with me? Do you look upon every gift you're given with such indifference that you would rather give it up than do the right thing? do I mean that little to you? God, Dice, there was a time when our friendship meant more to me than anything on this earth. But I don't think it ever meant that much to you... did it? Pff, like you'd tell me anyway, we're like strangers now... I don't even know you anymore."
"You knew me better than anyone, Dice... This isn't you, not the real you..." she continued, shaking her head. "Oh, God, don't you remember?"
Dice looked at each of them. "And I wish I had known you all better." He bit back a bitter laugh. "Doesn't matter now, does it? Today... today I break all links I have with you, Domino. I won't have to remember. Maybe one day you'll understand, I'm doing this for all of us, for all Digimon."
"Why can't you remember it?" she wailed. "This is not me, that is not you... this isn't us! We're not really Digimon, Dice..."
Dice looked at her in surprise. "What did you say?"
Her eyes betrayed nothing but ice. "You're so bent on destroying the humans... but don't you remember what you told me? About being more human than you think? Well, you are... We're humans... the both of us..." She whispered harshly. "I know you'll never believe me when I tell you that, but it's the truth... "
Dice's claws shaked. "Is that what they told you, Domino? Don't believe them! We're better because we're Digimon! Humans envy and hate us, and you believe that crap?"
"Just like Leomon and the children... it's a living truth. "She shook her head. "You're wrong, Dice, they didn't tell me anything..." She gestured at the Destined. "I dunno how to make you believe me... You used to trust me, Dice, without any compunction at all... what changed? I'm still the same person I always was... why aren't you?"
"You're not thinking right, Domino..." he pointed at himself. "Look at me, I'm a Gatomon, not a human."
"If you look within your heart, if you even have it anymore... maybe you'll see it..." She took a small step toward him. "Does the darkness really corrupt you so, even at first touch? You're my brother, Dice... your name is David, mine is Devinne... we live in a house, in a small city, and you love to pick on me... Oh God, why can't you remember? Has your soul really become so full of hatred and anger that you would reject even your own past? Your own future?"
"NO!" Dice shouted at her, and pushed her back. "You only tell me this to confuse me!"
"Physical forms mean nothing, Dice, it's your heart that makes you what you are!" she shouted. "Look at me, Dice..."
"Why would I lie?" she asked. "Why would I try to deceive you? How would that benefit me?" She paused again, torn between anger, fear, and desperation.
"Why? Why?! Because there's only a few I can trust, Domino. And you're not one of them!" Dice snarled.
"Don't you ever think, Dice? Don't you ever plan ahead, or think of what the repercussions of your actions will be? The beating of a butterfly's wings, and all that? What if you make a left turn instead of a right? What if you say no instead of yes--does it change your appearance?" She scowled. "No, it doesn't... it changes your heart tho... and that's all that matters. It doesn't mean a thing what you look like on the outside, on the inside you're a human, whether you believe it or not..." She took a deep breath. "And if you would just stop and look at this from my vantage point... you might see it. In the long run, could you ever have been anyone else? Or are you destined to end up at he same place, regardless of the roads you take to get there? Either way, you have to choose." She eyed him harshly.
"Don't give ME the ultimatum, Dice, for it is you who must make the decision. You have two roads before you, Dice, but you have to choose which one to take. I tried already... I tried, I chose the road for you once, but you wouldn't walk it... So now you have to make the choice yourself...on your own. There lie two paths ahead of you... One will lead you to me....and the Digidestined... the other will lead you to Myotismon. It's up to you which road you take... light or darkness, Dice, that's about all it boils down to. You can come with us, or you can stay behind, I don't care anymore. I learned that caring didn't get me anywhere. Not with you. It never did, even before we were..." She winced and looked away. "Do you really have so little respect for yourself that you would allow yourself to be reduced to this?" she went on, staring at the cement beneath her feet. "A killer?" She snapped her head up. "This monster?"
Dice looked away. "Domino, I'm not the one that's going to die, I can assure you of that. While I don't care much for Myotismon, there are some Digimon I care too much for, to let ANY of you get close."
She growled low in the back of her throat.
"Anything to cut a corner, huh? That's how you always were... you cheated, always... Even at your own damn video games... You'd take any shortcut to get to what you want, even betraying your own friends, turning to darkness... Is that really the answer to your prayers?"
"And it was always your way to ignore the facts and attack the only few things you could immediately name. I don't do this for Myotismon, Domino, you'd better remember that." Dice growled.
She scowled. "Fine, then, go ahead... Cut the corners, find the loopholes! You always have, and I guess you always will, why did I think that things would be any different in THIS world?" Her face contorted in anger. "No," she said suddenly, "you know what? You know what, Dice... it WILL be different this time... and do you know why? Because this time I won't be here to rescue you... I won't catch you when you fall, when Myotismon decides you've outlived your usefulness to him..." She nearly spit she was so angry. "Go on, build your goddamn campfires with gasoline! Just don't expect me to come running with a bag of ice when you get burned!" Damn it all, even if what she had said wasn't completely true... David hadn't been this way... he had never betrayed her trust or his friends. But she was going to bring him back!
"You're crazy." Dice stated.
Her tone suddenly softened. "Am I? Is it crazy to care about somebody else more than you do yourself?"
She shook her head. "I don't want to fight you Dice," she admitted. "I don't want to hurt you..." He scoffed at that, and she scowled. "Just because we can't be friends anymore, doesn't mean we have to be enemies..." She looked at him. "And if our difference in opinions pits us against one another, then I will fight your broken beliefs and your fallen dreams... but I will never fight you."
"I'd do anything for... for love. Even lay myself to die." Dice looked at her sadly. "Even fight you. Even when you'll fight dreams and hopes that you won't understand."
"It may end up that one of us kills the other... and that would be a real shame... but if that is how we are destined to go, then so be it." She sat down. "Truth is, Dice... I'm tired of running from it. I don't really know how this happened, how we became what we are, but I do know this: you are my brother, whether you think I'm telling the truth or not. If you kill me, then you may never really figure it out." She shrugged. "The choice is yours." She stood back up. "However, I fear that you are the one who may never understand..."
Dice smiled bitterly. "We'll see. You see, Domino, you don't fight for the Digidestined, you fight for yourself. You fight to cover up these... delusions you have. You fight to hide the fear that maybe you're wrong. You fight alongside the Digidestined, because you wanted to, no-one forced you. I was wrong. I see that now. But know that I won't change my mind, because I also chose my way."
She looked over her shoulder at the Digidestined, then swung her head back to Dice. "If that is what you believe, Dice... then you go right ahead and believe that..." She scowled. "I don't know how to make you understand it, but you don't know how wrong you are." She looked at the Digidestined then back at him. "But maybe that's the point" she said suddenly. "Maybe you do have to choose your own way... maybe all I have to do is let go, and you'll realize your folly," she added, turning to look back over her shoulder as she motioned for the children to leave. "Sometimes you have to do that, or so they say... You have to let go of the things you love before they realize what they've lost."
Dice closed his eyes, and seemed to think for a moment calming a bit. When he opened his eyes, though, they weren't the usual blue. It was a cold blue. Uncaring; brutal.
Dice walked to the side of Tokyo Tower, looking down. By now, everyone had deserted the tower, and groups of police officers were covering the area around it.
"You have to set them free to bring them back," Domino called after him. He paused, but did not look over his shoulder at her. "It sounds counterproductive, ne? If I have to let go, then I will... if that's what it takes to bring you back, then so be it...I have to do *something*..." She sighed. "Maybe I've lost my meaning to you, Dice... but you haven't lost yours to me... you'll always be my friend... and if letting go is the only way, then it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make..." She smiled. "That's all sacrifice is, you know, giving up something good for the chance--even the slimmest chance--at something better..."
Dice looked back at everyone. "I know, Domino. That's what I'm doing. I'm leaving. Next time we meet, you won't go back home." He then walked to the center of the tower. "Fangs of the Saber." the Black Gatomon stated. A bright, red flash stunned them, and they could hear Dice's voice as their sight cleared. "There won't be much left to clean up."
Domino whirled. "What the--?"
When everyone could look again, Tokyo Tower had a hole in it. 12 feet in radius and crossing the tower down from where they were, to leave a crater in the ground, far bellow.
Domino and the Digidestined stood and stared. The Gatomon then remembered a song she had loved, once, in a life that seemed so far away.
Shadows they fall on the stage of your own life,
Trailing behind footsteps.
There's comfort in ghosts who are no longer with you,
Hiding behind your death.
I let you down you've lost your taste,
I'm losing ground I fall from grace.
Well just listen,
Sometimes,
You gotta set free what you love just to bring it back,
Oh, would you ever lose me? Would you ever let go for that?
And if the love is real you gotta' let yourself go,
Just to bring it back.
Sometimes,
Just to bring it back.
Hiding inside my asylum I'm always,
Hanging on by a thread.
I can't expect you to respect me until I've
Learned to respect myself.
I've let you down you've lost your taste,
I'm losing ground I miss your face.
Well just listen,
Well just listen,
Sometimes... sometimes...
You gotta set free what you love just to bring it back,
Oh, would you ever lose me? Would you ever let go for that?
And if the love is real you gotta' let yourself go,
Just to bring it back.
Sometimes,
Just to bring it back.
Story by Hikari and Wanderer D
***
It was weird, being back home again... Domino thought... *home* The Digital World had kind of become her surrogate domicile... and she had thought of it as her home for so long... only to learn that she wasn't really from there at all... It was like being jerked from one reality into another, and now she wasn't sure which one was real and which was fantasy... But, no, this was what was really real... this was her home, this was where she truly belonged... It was where Dice belonged, too... Domino could only wish she could have made him see that.
She sighed.
He had never really paid much attention to her in the first place, except to pick on her. Oh, sure, he was her big brother, and he had defended her before... but she often wondered if it wasn't just to inflate his own ego, and see how many people he could push around. David had always liked to be in charge... or not?
Domino's blood boiled at the thought of him. How could he do this to her? How *could* he? After she had--after *all* of them had given him a second chance... after giving him the opportunity to turn right, to come clean, and to wash Myotismon's poison from his life... how could he turn back on them? How could he fall right back into the spider's tangled web of deception?
She sighed again, and Sora cast her an uneasy glance.
"Everything okay, Domino?" she asked.
Domino looked at her, then at Biyomon, then back at her.
"You want me to be honest?" She asked. She nodded. "No, everything's *not* okay, everything's *lousy*..."
"But, Domino, we're home now, we're in the Real World, this is where Sora was born, and you, too... right?" Biyomon asked, and Domino seemed amused by her naïveté.
"I don't know anymore, Biyomon..." she admitted. "Anymore, I'm just not sure *where* I belong..."
Sora smiled and scooped her up from the ground as we made our way to her home.
"You belong with us, Domino," she said with a small smile, "wherever we may go."
And for the first time since they had arrived, Domino smiled.
Sora pulled out her house keys and they walked through the ingress into her house. It was small, as an apartment would be expected to be... but not confining. Domino thought she believed the word was "cozy". It looked just right for a single mom and daughter. Sora placed Domino down on the floor, and Biyomon fluttered down beside her. She cast Sora an uneasy glance.
"Sora..." Domino asked, and she looked at her. "Ano... could I... could I use your phone...?"
Sora gave the Gatomon a funny look.
"The phone?" she echoed. "Whaddya need the phone for?"
Domino shifted uncomfortably. "Well... I... kinda think I should... call my parents..."
Sora balked. She hadn't thought of that. Never mind the problems She and the others might have had explaining to their parents why these unusual little creatures had come home with them... how do you explain to your parents that you've *become* one?
She frowned. "Demo... you're not from Japan... are you?" A look of concern crossed her face. "You're American?"
Domino twitched her nose. "Yah, I live on the east coast, a place called Pennsylvania..." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Um... mom's not gonna like this though..."
Biyomon frowned. "Not like what?"
Domino sat down primly. "Well, there's a 14-hour time difference between Japan and the east coast of America... which means if it's mid-afternoon here... it's early morning there... like before sunrise..." She made a face.
"Besides," she added, "how long has it been? I've lost track of how many days we were in the Digital World... Tai said that time passes differently there than here, he said that he hadn't even been home a whole day when he disappeared, but it had been *weeks* in the Digiworld..." She frowned. "Even if it hasn't been a very long time... how on earth do I explain to Mom how I got to Japan?"
Sora did not know what to say.
"Well... you could just say that something important has come up, and you can't really explain right now..." Sora suggested, "but you just wanted to let her know you're okay?"
Domino rolled her large green eyes. "Oh, suuuure, that's gonna go over really well..."
Biyomon grinned. "Well, you're a long way from home... it's not like she can ground you for it..."
Sora shot her a warning glance, and Biyomon clapped her feathers over her mouth. "Sorry..."
Sora picked up the cordless phone and extended it toward Domino. Domino looked down at her paws.
"Um... could I ask you to dial for me...?"
Ring ring... ring ring...
Domino's heart pounded in her throat as she heard the ring on the other end of the phone. What would she say? What would they say? She found herself wishing no one would answer, so she could just leave a message on the answering machine--
Click,
"Hello?"
Her blood ran cold. The groggy voice on the other end of the line was, unmistakably her mother's. She only hoped she hadn't worn herself ragged worrying about David and her...
"M-mom?" I said feebly. "Mom, it's me... It's Devinne..."
"Devinne?! Oh my God, Devinne! Where have you been?! We've been looking for you and your brother!" She practically shouted to the phone.
She broke down, sobbing to the phone. "Where are you? Are you okay? Is your brother there with you?"
Domino balked. She had hoped her mother wouldn't react like this... but she somehow knew she would...
"Where are you, Devinne?!" "Devinne?!"
"I'm... I'm fine Mom... I'm just fine..." she said. "And David's--"
She balked. David was... well... what was she supposed to say to that?
"David's okay, too..." she fudged. "We're..." She winced. This wasn't going to go over well. "We're in...Japan..." She quickly moved the phone a few inches from her large ears to defend herself from the tirade to follow.
"JAPAN! Devinne! How did you get there?!"
"It's kind of a long story, Mom... and I haven't really got time to tell it right now... but I'll explain everything later, I promise..."
She sighed
"I just wanted to tell you we're okay... and that we'll be home soon..." She paused. "But there's something important we have to do first..."
"You're right, you will!" Apparently mom was getting herself back together. "We're going to get you two back! I'm getting a flight booked right now! We'll meet at the Airport in two days!"
Domino set her jaw. "We can't do that Mom... we have to take care of something first... it's important. We can't come home yet... please understand..."
"I don't care, young lady! You were gone for THREE WEEKS AND YOU TURNED UP IN JAPAN! So, you'd better be there when we arrive!"
Domino's eyes narrowed. "Why are you so stubborn about this? Mom, I know you're worried, but we're fine! Don't be rash, you can't afford a ticket to Japan... besides, you don't even know where we ARE! Japan is a big place...you'd never find us..." There was a cold tone in her voice. "I don't know just how much time has passed, and I am sorry for worrying you like I know we did... but I've done a lot of growing up in the time that passed... You... you wouldn't even know me now..." She paused, and an icy tone crept into her voice. "I'm sorry, Mom, but you can't come get us... not now, not yet... We're not done here yet."
"Listen to me, young lady! We're going for you whether you like it or not!" Mom sighed "I want to speak with David."
Domino paused, suddenly meek, then her eyes flashed. "David can't come to the phone right now Mom," she said harshly. "He's... busy."
There was a pause of awkward silence, as if her mother couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Something's happened to him, right?!" Her mom wailed through the phone.
Domino hesitated, then her eyes narrowed. "It's nothing I can't fix Mom, I promise you that."
"Oh, God! Devinne! He's my son! You're my daughter! Please..." Her voice faded... "please.."
Domino paused. "Mom..." she whispered.
Then her features hardened. "Don't worry about us, Mom... we're safe... I won't let anything happen to David, you have my word..." Domino frowned. I'll get him back, I promise... she added silently. "We'll be coming home soon... Don't be stupid, you won't find us... we can't come home until we're done here..."
Mom sniffed. "Devinne... you called through a collect call... of course I can find you..."
Domino's eyes flashed again. "I won't be here, Mom..."
"Where David and I are going... you won't be able to follow, I guarantee you that..." She sighed, and tried to reason again with her. "But stop worrying so much... we're gonna be fine..."
"Well," her voice hardened. "I will. Two days. Tokyo Airport... please be there..."
With that she hung up.
Domino's lively green eyes suddenly turned dark and cold. "No, Mom... I'm sorry..." She glared at the phone, and then hurled it across the room. "But we WON'T be there!!!"***
* * *
Dice overlooked the Tokyo Tower from the building he was currently at. He could clearly see the blasts from the battle between the Digidestined and Skullmeramon. He noticed something in his eyes and wiped the tears forcefully with the back of his gloved paw.
Why did it have to happen? The Digidestined seemed to be honest, Tai... Izzy, hell, Domino was with them! But... they had killed his friends. They had killed Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon.
Dice stood up. He would face them one last time as a... one last time in peace.
***
The dust cleared, and the only indication of Skullmeramon having ever been there, was a dark stain on the ground.
Tai and the rest cheered on, looking in approval to their latest victory. They were interrupted by slow clapping. Everyone looked up, Domino even letting out a small gasp of surprise, as Dice looked down at them from a higher point on the tower.
"Congratulations, Digidestined. It seems you defeated yet another enemy..."
***
Domino narrowed her eyes. "Dice... what are you doing here?" She took a small step forward. "Come to end it all yourself? What, was Myotismon too cowardly to show himself? He had to send his petty frontline lackeys instead?" She spat out the words in bitter anger.
Dice looked at her coldly. She talked like that, when she knew he was perfectly capable of killing her. Frontline lackey indeed! "Don't talk about petty." That was a laugh. Petty, she said, as if she didn't know.
She shot the children a look that could be interpreted as nothing but a direct order to back off. This was her fight now, not theirs.
Dice jumped down to land in front of them, lifting his paws in a sign of no aggression. "Don't worry I didn't come to fight."
"Then what are you here for, Traitor?" Tai snapped.
Domino stepped on his foot.
"I..." Dice looked away. "I trusted you, Tai. All of you."
Tai narrowed his brown eyes in pure fury. "And we did WHAT to betray that trust, Dice?"
Izzy frowned. "It would seem that you were the one who did the backstabbing..."
"Today... my two best friends, who came here only to..." his voice cracked. "... to help me... they... were killed."
Tai almost sneered. "What, you called that giant can of sterno a friend?" he jeered. "He'd have cooked you in an instant, with no compunctions." He paused. "But then, you seem to have no qualms about spilling blood on your paws, either..."
"And the Digidestined killed them." Dice finished, ignoring their remarks. He looked at them coldly. "I held no love for Skullmeramon. HE was a killer. But.. not Gotsumon. And neither was Pumpkinmon."
"They told me... that... that they wanted to take a look at the city. It..." Dice walked a little away. "It seemed fun, they said."
Domino frowned. Not in anger anymore, but in confusion. "Pumpkinmon?" she asked. "Gotsumon?" She shook her head in befuddlement. "Dice... I don't even know them..."
Tai paused, suddenly rather puzzled himself. "Dice, you have to know that we wouldn't ever destroy a Digimon unless they were a direct threat..."
Sora nodded. "If Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon weren't killers... then what reason would we have to destroy them?"
Dice looked at her. "No, you didn't." He growled, and his eyes shone red for the briefest of moments. "You didn't NEED to, all you saw were a couple of Digimon NOT of your group and that marked them as targets!"
He flexed his hands. "The most they would've done... would have been stealing an Ice-cream cone." He shut his eyes for a moment, letting a couple of tears run down his chin. "WHY?! HOW COULD YOU DO IT?! I DON'T CARE IF IT WAS MATT, OR TAI, OR JOE! BUT THEY DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE!"
Domino couldn't stand it anymore. This had to stop. Even if he was on the opposing team now, she couldn't just stand by and watch this happen to her best friend... and to her brother.
"Dice!" she cried, rushing forward. "Dice, please... you have to listen to me..." She stopped a foot or so in front of him, and the destined seemed a little concerned by her proximity.
Dice lifted his head to give her an angry, and yet torn, glance. She regarded him with sad eyes. "Dice...I dunno who tells you these things... I dunno why you believe that Leomon is dead, I dunno why you think that these kids would kill anyone unless they had no choice..." She paused and reached one paw out to him. "...but you're being lied to..."
Dice slapped the hand aside. "Who says Leomon is alive?" He regarded her coldly now. "What proof do you have?"
She winced and turned away. "The old Dice never would have needed proof, he would have believed me, regardless."
"The old Dice was a credulous idiot." He stated coldly.
She snapped her head up to give him an equally cold stare. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded. "What could Myotismon have told you that you would turn against me to help him?"
"So what if I don't have proof he's alive... who gave you the 'proof' he's DEAD?"
"I JUST SAW MY TWO BEST FRIENDS DIE, DOMINO!" Dice shouted exasperated. "THEY WENT OUT THEY DIDN'T COME BACK!" he glared at the Digidestined.
"THEY SAVED MY LIFE WHEN I WAS ALMOST DEAD AFTER THE STORM! AND I WASN'T THERE! AND NEITHER WERE YOU! AND YOU ARE WITH THOSE WHO KILLED THEM! WHAT PROOF DO I NEED? THEY'RE DEAD AND EVERYONE ELSE IS ALIVE. THAT ENOUGH PROOF FOR YOU?"
"YOU WERE DEAD, DICE!" she cried. "I saw Leomon on the beaches of File Island--alone, without his Salamon student. HE told me that you had died at sea." She angrily slapped tears from her face and shook her head. "Don't you understand, Dice? I wanted nothing more than to find you alive... but when I did... I almost wished you had stayed dead... What hurts more, Dice, thinking your best friend is dead... or knowing that they've fallen into such a state that you're not sure if they're even alive anymore!?"
She turned away. "No, I wasn't there," she added ruefully. "But had I been, would it have made any goddamn difference?"
Dice's eyes turned to slits. "Maybe. You tell me."
She shook her head sadly. "Why, Dice? What has he done for you that I didn't? What sort of friendship could he have possibly given you that I couldn't? I forgave you, Dice! I forgave you things that no one should ever be forgiven! Your hands were stained with the blood of innocents, and all I ever did was wash that away and tell you it didn't matter... doesn't that count for anything? I gave you a second chance, I convinced the children that there was good in you, even if it wasn't obvious! And now I'm not sure who the bigger fool is, you for making false promises or me for believing them."
"I will not forgive them this time, Domino. And I don't expect you to understand what I did... yes, you would sacrifice yourself for your friends, rather than fight. That will do them so much good when, after you're dead they come for them." Dice growled. He looked at Tai and the others, and for the briefest of seconds, a look of regret crossed his face. "Next time... we're enemies."
"You have two choices, Domino... either you leave this group of killers. Or you go down- you die with them."
She narrowed her eyes in anger. "How dare you give ME the ultimatum," she growled. "You're the one who broke the promise, Dice... not me..."
"Did I?" he asked sarcastically.
"We shook on it... friends forever..." She curled her lip. "And look who's making threats... Some friend..."
"Didn't I say I would fight for those I loved? Well, two of them are dead." Dice snapped back.
She choked back a sob. "But I'm still here, Dice," she said, "and it means nothing... is this what you do to everything you're given, Dice? Do you stomp it all into the dirt, just like you did with me? Do you look upon every gift you're given with such indifference that you would rather give it up than do the right thing? do I mean that little to you? God, Dice, there was a time when our friendship meant more to me than anything on this earth. But I don't think it ever meant that much to you... did it? Pff, like you'd tell me anyway, we're like strangers now... I don't even know you anymore."
"You knew me better than anyone, Dice... This isn't you, not the real you..." she continued, shaking her head. "Oh, God, don't you remember?"
Dice looked at each of them. "And I wish I had known you all better." He bit back a bitter laugh. "Doesn't matter now, does it? Today... today I break all links I have with you, Domino. I won't have to remember. Maybe one day you'll understand, I'm doing this for all of us, for all Digimon."
"Why can't you remember it?" she wailed. "This is not me, that is not you... this isn't us! We're not really Digimon, Dice..."
Dice looked at her in surprise. "What did you say?"
Her eyes betrayed nothing but ice. "You're so bent on destroying the humans... but don't you remember what you told me? About being more human than you think? Well, you are... We're humans... the both of us..." She whispered harshly. "I know you'll never believe me when I tell you that, but it's the truth... "
Dice's claws shaked. "Is that what they told you, Domino? Don't believe them! We're better because we're Digimon! Humans envy and hate us, and you believe that crap?"
"Just like Leomon and the children... it's a living truth. "She shook her head. "You're wrong, Dice, they didn't tell me anything..." She gestured at the Destined. "I dunno how to make you believe me... You used to trust me, Dice, without any compunction at all... what changed? I'm still the same person I always was... why aren't you?"
"You're not thinking right, Domino..." he pointed at himself. "Look at me, I'm a Gatomon, not a human."
"If you look within your heart, if you even have it anymore... maybe you'll see it..." She took a small step toward him. "Does the darkness really corrupt you so, even at first touch? You're my brother, Dice... your name is David, mine is Devinne... we live in a house, in a small city, and you love to pick on me... Oh God, why can't you remember? Has your soul really become so full of hatred and anger that you would reject even your own past? Your own future?"
"NO!" Dice shouted at her, and pushed her back. "You only tell me this to confuse me!"
"Physical forms mean nothing, Dice, it's your heart that makes you what you are!" she shouted. "Look at me, Dice..."
"Why would I lie?" she asked. "Why would I try to deceive you? How would that benefit me?" She paused again, torn between anger, fear, and desperation.
"Why? Why?! Because there's only a few I can trust, Domino. And you're not one of them!" Dice snarled.
"Don't you ever think, Dice? Don't you ever plan ahead, or think of what the repercussions of your actions will be? The beating of a butterfly's wings, and all that? What if you make a left turn instead of a right? What if you say no instead of yes--does it change your appearance?" She scowled. "No, it doesn't... it changes your heart tho... and that's all that matters. It doesn't mean a thing what you look like on the outside, on the inside you're a human, whether you believe it or not..." She took a deep breath. "And if you would just stop and look at this from my vantage point... you might see it. In the long run, could you ever have been anyone else? Or are you destined to end up at he same place, regardless of the roads you take to get there? Either way, you have to choose." She eyed him harshly.
"Don't give ME the ultimatum, Dice, for it is you who must make the decision. You have two roads before you, Dice, but you have to choose which one to take. I tried already... I tried, I chose the road for you once, but you wouldn't walk it... So now you have to make the choice yourself...on your own. There lie two paths ahead of you... One will lead you to me....and the Digidestined... the other will lead you to Myotismon. It's up to you which road you take... light or darkness, Dice, that's about all it boils down to. You can come with us, or you can stay behind, I don't care anymore. I learned that caring didn't get me anywhere. Not with you. It never did, even before we were..." She winced and looked away. "Do you really have so little respect for yourself that you would allow yourself to be reduced to this?" she went on, staring at the cement beneath her feet. "A killer?" She snapped her head up. "This monster?"
Dice looked away. "Domino, I'm not the one that's going to die, I can assure you of that. While I don't care much for Myotismon, there are some Digimon I care too much for, to let ANY of you get close."
She growled low in the back of her throat.
"Anything to cut a corner, huh? That's how you always were... you cheated, always... Even at your own damn video games... You'd take any shortcut to get to what you want, even betraying your own friends, turning to darkness... Is that really the answer to your prayers?"
"And it was always your way to ignore the facts and attack the only few things you could immediately name. I don't do this for Myotismon, Domino, you'd better remember that." Dice growled.
She scowled. "Fine, then, go ahead... Cut the corners, find the loopholes! You always have, and I guess you always will, why did I think that things would be any different in THIS world?" Her face contorted in anger. "No," she said suddenly, "you know what? You know what, Dice... it WILL be different this time... and do you know why? Because this time I won't be here to rescue you... I won't catch you when you fall, when Myotismon decides you've outlived your usefulness to him..." She nearly spit she was so angry. "Go on, build your goddamn campfires with gasoline! Just don't expect me to come running with a bag of ice when you get burned!" Damn it all, even if what she had said wasn't completely true... David hadn't been this way... he had never betrayed her trust or his friends. But she was going to bring him back!
"You're crazy." Dice stated.
Her tone suddenly softened. "Am I? Is it crazy to care about somebody else more than you do yourself?"
She shook her head. "I don't want to fight you Dice," she admitted. "I don't want to hurt you..." He scoffed at that, and she scowled. "Just because we can't be friends anymore, doesn't mean we have to be enemies..." She looked at him. "And if our difference in opinions pits us against one another, then I will fight your broken beliefs and your fallen dreams... but I will never fight you."
"I'd do anything for... for love. Even lay myself to die." Dice looked at her sadly. "Even fight you. Even when you'll fight dreams and hopes that you won't understand."
"It may end up that one of us kills the other... and that would be a real shame... but if that is how we are destined to go, then so be it." She sat down. "Truth is, Dice... I'm tired of running from it. I don't really know how this happened, how we became what we are, but I do know this: you are my brother, whether you think I'm telling the truth or not. If you kill me, then you may never really figure it out." She shrugged. "The choice is yours." She stood back up. "However, I fear that you are the one who may never understand..."
Dice smiled bitterly. "We'll see. You see, Domino, you don't fight for the Digidestined, you fight for yourself. You fight to cover up these... delusions you have. You fight to hide the fear that maybe you're wrong. You fight alongside the Digidestined, because you wanted to, no-one forced you. I was wrong. I see that now. But know that I won't change my mind, because I also chose my way."
She looked over her shoulder at the Digidestined, then swung her head back to Dice. "If that is what you believe, Dice... then you go right ahead and believe that..." She scowled. "I don't know how to make you understand it, but you don't know how wrong you are." She looked at the Digidestined then back at him. "But maybe that's the point" she said suddenly. "Maybe you do have to choose your own way... maybe all I have to do is let go, and you'll realize your folly," she added, turning to look back over her shoulder as she motioned for the children to leave. "Sometimes you have to do that, or so they say... You have to let go of the things you love before they realize what they've lost."
Dice closed his eyes, and seemed to think for a moment calming a bit. When he opened his eyes, though, they weren't the usual blue. It was a cold blue. Uncaring; brutal.
Dice walked to the side of Tokyo Tower, looking down. By now, everyone had deserted the tower, and groups of police officers were covering the area around it.
"You have to set them free to bring them back," Domino called after him. He paused, but did not look over his shoulder at her. "It sounds counterproductive, ne? If I have to let go, then I will... if that's what it takes to bring you back, then so be it...I have to do *something*..." She sighed. "Maybe I've lost my meaning to you, Dice... but you haven't lost yours to me... you'll always be my friend... and if letting go is the only way, then it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make..." She smiled. "That's all sacrifice is, you know, giving up something good for the chance--even the slimmest chance--at something better..."
Dice looked back at everyone. "I know, Domino. That's what I'm doing. I'm leaving. Next time we meet, you won't go back home." He then walked to the center of the tower. "Fangs of the Saber." the Black Gatomon stated. A bright, red flash stunned them, and they could hear Dice's voice as their sight cleared. "There won't be much left to clean up."
Domino whirled. "What the--?"
When everyone could look again, Tokyo Tower had a hole in it. 12 feet in radius and crossing the tower down from where they were, to leave a crater in the ground, far bellow.
Domino and the Digidestined stood and stared. The Gatomon then remembered a song she had loved, once, in a life that seemed so far away.
Shadows they fall on the stage of your own life,
Trailing behind footsteps.
There's comfort in ghosts who are no longer with you,
Hiding behind your death.
I let you down you've lost your taste,
I'm losing ground I fall from grace.
Well just listen,
Sometimes,
You gotta set free what you love just to bring it back,
Oh, would you ever lose me? Would you ever let go for that?
And if the love is real you gotta' let yourself go,
Just to bring it back.
Sometimes,
Just to bring it back.
Hiding inside my asylum I'm always,
Hanging on by a thread.
I can't expect you to respect me until I've
Learned to respect myself.
I've let you down you've lost your taste,
I'm losing ground I miss your face.
Well just listen,
Well just listen,
Sometimes... sometimes...
You gotta set free what you love just to bring it back,
Oh, would you ever lose me? Would you ever let go for that?
And if the love is real you gotta' let yourself go,
Just to bring it back.
Sometimes,
Just to bring it back.