It's coming out of his chest. Daisuke thought as he starred at Takeru, standing trancelike just behind the battle. The green light had enveloped him, and he was crying and screaming, in terrible pain. And then... the golden chalice wrested its way out of his body.
"Chalice of Hope." Takeru hissed, feeling the energy powering him up.
"Daisuke chan, I feel strange." Chibimon told him. He hopped out of his arms and ran out to the battle.
"No! You'll get hurt!"
In mid hop, Chibimon stopped. The Chalice of Hope shot a light to him, and he morphed into a large, horned dragon.
"AeroVeemon!"
Daisuke twitched and looked over at his Digimon, following the newly Digivolved Seraphimon into battle.
"Seven Heavens." The giant angel said, his voice echoing throughout icon. Seven globes of light appeared, and he thrust them forth, melting away both Pocky and Bon Bon. There wasn't even a dark residue.
"Ha ha!" Daisuke pointed at Yugo. "Is that all you've got!"
The boy growled and summoned more creatures. "Marmalade!! Fluffernutter!! To my aide! You have to win, there's too much at stake!"
"Vee Pulse!" The huge blue dragon screamed, shooting forth a V shaped wave of energy. The new creatures were knocked back.
"Nyah nyah!" Daisuke yelled. "You rock, Take kun!"
"Stop taunting the homicidal maniac!" Takeru admonished. Seraphimon chuckled at them. He spun around and shot his diamond hard feathers, cutting through the beasts.
"Golden Wing!"
"Save some for me!" AeroVeemon called. He ran up to them and brandished the sharp horns protruding from his arms. "Dragon Glaive!"
Yugo twitched in frustration.
Taichi stood before the open gate, waiting for his group to mentally prepare themselves for what they would be facing.
"Mimi san... before we go into the gate." Jyou looked away for a moment. He wasn't sure he had the courage to ask. Sweat trickled down his brow, and he was certain he looked like an idiot, standing there and trying to say something he didn't have the guts for.
"Before we go into the gate?" She encouraged, smiling brightly. Finally.
"Ano, well. I love you, Mimi."
"Yes." Mimi smiled and turned his face back to hers. Look at me, Jyou chan. I've been waiting. I know you can do it.
"I... well. I wanted to ask..."
"Yes??"
Jyou started intensely into her eyes. So beautiful... such purity... "Nothing. Just... be careful."
He let her go and turned to join the others. Jyou jerked stop. Mimi was holding onto his hand fiercely.
"I have the Crest of Sincerity, because I can't go without saying and acting how I truly feel! Jyou, marry me."
"Wha-??"
"Don't ask questions, Jyou. Just say yes." She glared obstinately. Jyou sputtered for a moment, then clenched his fists.
"Of course, I'll marry you." Jyou whispered tearfully as he swept her into his embrace.
"Good luck." She whispered back. "I love you. Don't worry. We'll all be coming back safe."
"Dude, Mimi chan, way to steal my thunder." Yamato muttered as the others around them clapped. Taichi looked over at him.
"Huh? What was that about thunder?" He looked up at the dark sky.
"Nothing. Let's jet."
"Are you guys ready?" Taichi asked them all. "Remember what we're facing here. We don't want to kill these kids, but we may have to. They're strong, and ruthless, and won't stop until the Digital World is sucked dry and every Digimon has become their personal toy. We must do what we were called here to do."
The Digidestine nodded solemnly in agreement.
"We're going to win." Iori said resolutely. Miyako pumped her fist in the air.
"That's right! Come on, guys! Let's go kick some butt!"
"Passionate." Iori mumbled wryly as he stepped through the gate.
"That's enough. You've failed, Yugo." Gally said, appearing on the battlefield below. Yugo screamed out in rage.
"I tried!! I really tried!" He told her, bursting into tears, littering the ground with blue little gems.
"I know you tried. And now it's my turn." She turned her head and eyed the appearing Digidestine. "So we have the whole group, now do we? Ah, well. Well-executed teamwork is a must for the hero, but it won't have any effect concerning what I'm doing. Even with two of the Holy Relics, you don't have enough power to defeat me in my greatest form."
"You're pretty confident for a kid who's about to get a really hard spanking!" Daisuke yelled. Takeru put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
"NO!" Yugo shrieked running haphazardly down the hill in his frantic attempt to reach Gally. "You can't! Not the Final Summon!!"
"Yugo..." She said fondly. Then a cruel laugh escaped her lips, creating an eerie echo around them. Gally's eyes burned with wild passion. "My brother is dead. Shoujo has destroyed herself. Someone has to stop them. Stop these wreakers of the Light!"
"What?" Hikari almost dropped her D3 at Gally's tirade. The girl spit on the ground.
"I must have a place in things. I will not be insignificant!!" She screamed. "If there is Light there must be Darkness or they will be nothing!"
"You're our leader!" Yugo pleaded. Sweat-soaked auburn strands fell across his face, partially hiding his fraught expression from Gally. "I want you to lead me! I want to grow up with you, Gally! To become a strong and determined Summoner like you!"
"You make the mistake of trusting the Darkling, Yugo." She shook her small head at him sadly. "I trust only the dark wind, the dark wings that support this fallen angel. I am the Darkness. Darkness will not be eliminated. We will survive."
Yugo fell to his knees. "But the Darkling-"
"Was a creature created of the Light and the Darkness. She has the capacity for good and evil, which made using her life energy too precarious!" Gally brushed a hand through her hair. "Creature of Kindness, how dare you deceive my brethren?"
Ken's knees buckled, and he was barely caught by Daisuke' strong arms before slamming into the ground.
"I can't stand." Ken whispered apologetically. Daisuke gently rested him on the ground, sitting behind him to prop him up.
"Don't worry. I've got you. I'm not going to let anything happen." Daisuke promised squeezing his hand. Ken relaxed in his arms, gazing into Daisuke' courageous eyes.
The Darkling appeared. She looked back at Ken briefly, before tentatively walking forward, her wispy ghostlike body leaving a shining trail of light as she passed.
"I did not deceive them. They used my power of their own free will. I had no choice in the matter. And subsequently, as we are still linked, they took the power of my father as well. You drain him. It is unfair. I will not let you use my power to hurt the Light."
"There must be balance." Gally hissed. The Darkling cocked her head. The spiraling field of stars within her eyes stopped abruptly. First there was blackness, then they cleared into two enormous fields of tender blue.
"What you are doing hardly creates balance. Light and Dark must coexist to exist at all. But you will fight for what you believe in."
"I will."
"I ask you not to destroy yourself. But you will do as your karma begs of you." Her young, clear voice continued reasonably. "But you will no longer use my power for your purposes. From this day, I, as my father before me, choose to use my power for my own purposes. And in that respect, I choose the Light.
There one thing you should know about the dark wind, but I will not tell you, the black wings of fallen angels. If you do not discover this on your own, the information is useless. If you should live, think on it, and I hope you find your answers. Farewell, Gally. I will not see you again."
"Farewell, Sam." Gally snickered. "Too bad I'm going to kill all the Digidestine here and now, and you won't even have a chance to be born."
"Is she saying what I think she's saying?" Koushiro sputtered incredulously. Ken sighed and gently touched his stomach.
"Sam... Be strong." He whispered. She turned and smiled at them.
"Thank you for teaching me." She called as she faded away.
"Doko wanted a fair fight. Shoujo wanted to play. Yugo wants to be me. I want to win. This is the last battle, come what may." Gally posed her bauble daintily in front of her face. "Because, you see, I'm one of those all or nothing types. Either you are destroyed, or I am. There is no in-between this time. So I think it fit for me to say good-bye. For one side here will cease to exist by the fall of the glorious king star."
The red light engulfed the field as Gally began to chant. "Black beast that hath sustained me."
Ken shielded his eyes and used what little energy he had to build a barrier to protect his baby. He felt two delicate hands join his on his stomach.
"Hikari chan." He looked deep into her warm eyes.
"She's mine, too." Hikari said firmly kneeling beside him. "I have a right to defend her from the Dark Magic."
"Black beast that is indebted to me. I call you for the eternal struggle. Come to me, make my strength yours, and we shall fight as one. Your thoughts to mine, one in spirit, one in power, one in pain. I call upon you for defense of the Darkness."
Yugo collapsed in front of the Digidestine. He sobbed pathetically. "Gally, no. Not this. Not this..."
Gally winked broadly at Yugo before speaking her final line.
"Final Summon!!!"
The Digidestine watched in abject horror as rivers of blood burst from her eyes, and another creature of throbbing black appeared before them. With a great ripping sound, the girl's very flesh departed from her body, flying of its own will and grafting itself upon the forming creature. Bloody black wings burst out of the mess, and her bleeding eyes darted from their bony sockets and embedded themselves in the creature. In a final motion, her bones dismantled and structured themselves onto the beast, until it was a towering, screaming black seraphim.
Three sets of black, bleeding wings, three sets of muscular, bony arms. An angel of death, with the deep, rich brown eyes of a little girl, encased in the bitter, darkness scarred face of a monster. It screeched at them angrily.
"Come to me, warriors of the Light!" It called to them mockingly. "See what you can do!"
"She's merged herself with her beast!" Koushiro extrapolated. "If we kill the monster, she'll die, too."
"How can we kill a little girl like that?" Sora asked. Taichi jumped aside as a sanguine fist narrowly missed him. The creature laughed.
"Weaklings. Can't even defeat a little girl." The voice was a disturbing mesh of a child and a wolverine.
"We have to!" Taichi urged. "Look how powerful she is!"
Gally shot her razor-like feathers at them, slicing through Hououmon's wing and cutting Iori's leg badly.
"I've had enough. I can't stand to hurt people, but we have to stop this." Iori told them, leaning back on his good leg. "Taichi san's right. We do what we have to do."
"Yeah!" Daisuke cheered. "AeroVeemon, get over here!"
"Ready Daisuke chan?"
"Totally!"
Soon Hououmon, Omegamon, Imperialdramon, and Valhallamon were surrounding Gally, making use of every attack.
"Iori kun. Are you ready?" Takeru asked.
Iori looked up seriously and nodded. "You?"
"Absolutely." He raised the Chalice of Hope to the sky. Using both sides of myself, I'm more powerful than I could have ever imagined. "Now Shakkouamon!"
The metallic eyes burst open as the Digimon morphed into a sleeker creature, with long tentacles hanging off of its head and strong, slim limbs that were ornamented with cryptic runes of the secrets of the Digital World.
"Kiboumon!"
"Wow again." Daisuke remarked, punching Iori's arm.
"Harmonious Fist!" Kiboumon cried, seeming to disappear. They couldn't see him again until Gally had fallen over, and he'd appeared on the other side. "Valhallamon! We need to work together to defeat her!"
"Right." The birdlike angel declared. "Imperialdramon?"
"Positron Laser!" He declared, aiming it at the other two. Valhallamon and Kiboumon caught the energy and ran through Gally, crossing paths.
"Double Strike!" They yelled. She wrestled away, and took a fighting stance, clenching her fists as she wrapped herself in energy, and the majority of her bloody wounds healed. She cocked her head expectantly and extending one hand, palm towards the sky, motioned them on. She clicked her tongue and whistled for them.
"Come on. What are you waiting for my little pets?"
Omegamon shot his Garuru Cannon, blazing out the blue fire. "Shut up."
"Oh, does baby want seconds?" Gally hissed and shot back her black feathers. Utilizing her many hands, spirals of Dark Magic shot out and burned several of the Digimon.
"Isn't there something we can do?" Sora asked. Hikari looked up at her.
"It depends on what you mean by something. I could fight her myself, but I couldn't do it while my Digimon was fighting."
"Hika chan, you'd be killed." Ken protested.
"That's not an option." Takeru said. Iori dug into his pocket and pulled out the Partner Relic they'd found before.
"Daisuke kun, Miyako san, get over here."
The two crowded around Iori and looked at the golden piece resting in his palm.
"Touch it."
"Huh?" Daisuke scratched the back of his head in confusion, having missed the entire conversation on Holy Relics and their uses. Miyako grabbed his hand and forced it over to the Relic.
"Just do it, Dai kun." She ordered, closing her eyes in concentration. After a moment, the runes began to glow, and the Relic disappeared.
"Where'd it... go?" Daisuke realized, he was now holding a long, broad sword, which should have been far too heavy for him to carry. Too heavy for Iori and Miyako, who had similar swords, only with different Crests engraved in their hilts. "A sword?"
"I don't even know how to use a sword!" Miyako cried. Iori shrugged.
"Point and jab. Hold the fort, Takeru kun." He told his partner as he ran out in spite of his wounded gate into the field.
"Iori chan, no!" Miyako grabbed after him, but Daisuke was already headed out with him. "You idiots will not get killed without me!"
Gally flung another round of deadly feathers in the approaching Digidestine's direction, and Miyako screamed, raising her sword in response. To her complete amazement, she was still alive. The sword had protected her.
"Yaata!" She cried passionately, making a more determined beeline for their enemy. "Let's go!"
Iori was already in the front of the battle, dueling valiantly with one of her arms. Miyako jumped up and took a slice at it.
Daisuke tripped, but managed to plunge his sword deep into her leg.
"Watch out for our Digimons' attacks!" Sora called with worry. Don't leave me. Please don't leave me.
"I'll be careful, Sora chan!" Hououmon promised, flinging a Starlight Explosion to her back.
Omegamon nodded to the other Digimon and backpedaled to gain momentum.
"Giga Death!" Imperialdramon called. Lillymon swung by and picked the three warrior Digidestine out of the way as the great energy was caught by the others, and unleashed into an massive combined attack.
"Grey Sword!"
"Divine Sword!"
"Harmonious Fist!"
"Thor's Hammer!"
Iori frowned and looked to Daisuke and pointed across the battlefield. "Head over there!"
Daisuke nodded and took Miyako's hand as they rushed across the field. Looking back, Iori was leaning heavily on his sword, still bleeding.
"You stay here. I'll be in place in a minute."
Miyako raised her sword in defense and waited.
The barrage of attacks on Gally continued, though every so often, she would break away, and heal the worst of her wounds. However, the arm that Iori and Miyako had managed to severe, had yet to fully regenerate, and the Digimon were focusing on that side to attack.
"I'm ready! Taichi! Guys!" Daisuke yelled. "Hold up your Digivices!!"
Taichi nodded and motioned the others to follow his lead. Raising the symbol of their commitment, the Digivices lit up, shooting light out to their companions.
Next time, I want the sword. Taichi thought. Hikari looked over to her brother and smiled.
At least they won't be in pain anymore... Sora was thinking, focusing on emitting the energy needed for whatever plan Daisuke and Iori had.
Hear that? Hikari shot over to Takeru giving him a wink. He blinked with general bewilderment but nodded.
Yeah...
Let's go. She directed as she and Ken simultaneously raised their D3s.
Iori, Miyako and Daisuke raised their swords above their heads. With their eyes closed, they concentrated and a beam of light shot around them, connecting them together, and restricting Gally to the area between their circle.
In correspondence, the creatures surrounded Gally, and set off attack after attack. Wresting away, Gally screamed out in rage and terror. She could no longer heal herself.
"Last chance to change your mind!" Daisuke yelled. The black seraph snarled at him and threw a mass of energy to the ground, the resulting wave nearly knocking him to the ground.
"Everybody, hold your ground!" Taichi ordered. Iori gritted his teeth fiercely, holding himself upright, so not to disturb the containing field in which they had trapped Gally. Without the option of regeneration, their Digimon had the chance to defeat her. "Omegamon, go!"
"Finish her off, Kiboumon!" Takeru cried. The Digimon simultaneously swooped down to deliver their killing blows.
The death squall echoed over the land, and a residual shock wave burst from Gally. The Digimon were knocked backward, and watched in horror as her chest burst open. They could all see her pounding black heart. With a final scream, she began to fall apart, bones dropping away, feathers shooting out, and dark blood leaking all over the land. At last, she lay motionless, and nothing remained but the broken, mutated body of a little black seraph. Her eyes starred blankly at the darkened sky in frozen anger.
Miyako fell to her knees and began to cry for the little girl. Mimi, eyes on Yugo as she passed Iori and Daisuke limping back to rejoin the group, walked over to Miyako calmly and held her in her arms.
"It's okay. It's okay." She whispered to her.
Yugo burst out laughing. "Once upon a time..."
The other Digidestine looked over to him, wondering if they would have to repeat the horror they'd just faced.
"There were four friends who were students of the Summoning Arts." His practiced voice rang out over the bloody field, captivating their attentions, telling them the "why" they so needed to know. "They had more talent than any other students of the time, and they cared about each other very, very much. Their entire lives centered around learning and basking in the magic of their realm. This time was good.
But one day their master decided his students were so gifted, that they must be tested early, so to further his reputation as the best of Summoning teachers. He took them into a world of illusion and showed them their worst fears and deepest evils. However, instead of honing their art with the understanding of good and evil, they embraced that inner Darkness. In their innocence they accepted that part of their nature. It looked fun. So they killed with glee, Summoned evil creatures to wreak havoc on the land, and tortured the innocent to spread the Darkness inside them.
In his shame, the master told all that the children were evil to begin with. But any great sage understands, monsters are not normal beasts. They are not Summoned. They are made.
The beautiful brunette who was the most skilled in magics lead the group around their world, hiding from those who would destroy them, and practicing their Dark Arts. Unfortunately, one of the children had been driven insane by her master's mistreatment, and absorbed his knowledge completely, leaving him an empty shell. No rebirth, no new chances. She became a remorseless eater of souls.
Another became a savage hunter who thirsted for the ecstasy of the kill.
The last, the storyteller, simply wanted everyone to feel the pain he felt inside.
One day, a creature that defied the definition of the Light and Darkness was conceived, by pure random chance? No, by the whim of an experimenter such as the children's master. The creature was born of two incredibly powerful beings, and using this creature, the beautiful brunette took her followers into a land where only children can go. But this Haven became their grave."
Yugo gazed at the Digidestine sadly. He raised his bauble up to chest level and began to chant in the esoteric language they'd heard from the children before. The bauble burned with blue energy and slid deftly into the boy's chest.
"I'm not as strong as Gally. I have no Final Summon."
The Digidestine could feel the backlash of energy churning up the air around them.
"Hold on." Taichi ordered. Yugo began to walk away. He turned quickly to face them.
"See ya." He smiled madly as the energy continued to fill his little body. "I will grow to be a man. And wreck the world."
The group braced themselves, as the power peaked, and the boy exploded from the gathered energy. The releasing power brought about a whirlwind.
"Mimi, grab my hand!" Jyou yelled, reaching desperately through the wind, missing her hand each time.
"I'm trying, Jyou!"
"Ken chan, hold on!"
"Stay with me!" Taichi demanded, his arms firmly around Yamato's waist.
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Miyako!!" Sora screamed as she was sucked into the gate.
The next thing they knew, they were sitting in the middle of the street, having landed hard from the impromptu gate. The tangled mass of arms and legs was almost comparable to the bungle they'd created in the computer lab in the old days.
"Where... are we?" Iori managed, sitting up. A car screeched to a halt right behind him.
"Get out of the road, you punks!" The man yelled, swerving around them.
"Why don't you watch where you're going, you liquored up old bastard!" Yamato yelled back. Taichi grabbed his fist. "OI! Who can't see a bunch of people sitting in the middle of the damn road?"
"I'm guessing we're back home..." Jyou began looking around, doing a mental head count. "Where's Mimi san?"
Sora struggled to her feet and began ushering Iori to the side of the road. "She's... not here. Neither is Koushiro kun, or Miya chan!"
"They must be back in the Digital World." Taichi concluded. He dusted himself off, and motioned for the others to follow. "We need to get to a computer, and see if we can't open up a Digital gate or something."
Hikari put her hand behind Ken's back, trying to help him to his feet. He winced and resisted the movement.
"Hikari chan, please don't." He said quickly.
Hikari leveled her face to meet his, clenched in pain. "Why? Ken, what's wrong?"
"I don't know." He whispered, clenching his jaw. He had curled himself up protectively against his knees, and Hikari could only rub his back in support. Falling out of the sky certainly hadn't helped how he'd been feeling during the battle, and now a tight band of pain had wrapped itself around his stomach. He was almost as afraid as he'd been when he realized the Dark Ocean knew about Sam. Jyou kneeled beside him and wormed a hand inside to feel against his stomach. He frowned and shook his head.
"I need to find out how far we are from Tanaka's lab." Jyou told them, picking up a pay phone and dialing. He had a good guess of what was happening, but without the proper medical instruments, there was nothing he could do. And he doubted a regular hospital would be of any use to him either, under the circumstances. Imagine the press on that one. I doubt this is the way Ken kun wants his parents to find out they're going to be grandparents. "I'll call a cab company out here. We'll head to Tanaka's, and Taichi kun, you take Sora kun, Yamato kun, and Iori kun to a hospital."
"But we need to get Miya chan!" Sora protested. "The time there is going faster, and they could need us."
Biomon rubbed Sora's leg with her feathered wing. "They have their Digimon with them. They can make it until we can rescue them."
"I'm not doing anything else until we get you guys some medical attention." Jyou stated firmly. "Hello, Jim's Taxis? I need two taxis to come out to... Um where are we?"
"Station Street, outside of the collage campus, I think." Yamato told him.
"We're on the corner of Station Street. Uh-huh." Jyou continued. "Do you have any idea how long it will take to get to the lab on the other side of campus.... okay, we'll ask the driver."
Jyou turned, hands on hips. "There we go. Now... does anyone have any money?"
"I had some until I lost my clothes." Hikari said with a little amusement. Ken tugged on her sleeve and motioned to the pockets on the red sweater she was wearing. She stuck her hand inside and felt around. She came up with Ken's wallet and looked inside. "I hope this is enough yen. Anyone else?"
The others dug around in their pockets for more money.
"You realize doctors don't have much at first." Jyou complained, dumping a little out into the pile. Yamato chuckled.
"I just don't carry it with me. I've got tons of money."
"Sure you do, Yamato. That's why I have to pick up the bill whenever we get a pizza." Takeru retorted, finding a few yen in his back pockets.
"I'm just trying to keep it from being awkward. Me being a star and all that." Yamato said, brandishing his credit card. "I'll give them my number. A cab fare can't be that much."
"Oh, says the guy who doesn't want it to be awkward. Huh, superstar?" Taichi grabbed him around the waist and hugged. Sora sighed.
"Great, now what about Miya?"
"There..." Ken took a breath and tried again to speak. "There should be computer consoles at Dr. Tanaka's lab."
"Yeah," Takeru added. "We'll do our best to get them out of there before too much time has passed."
"Don't worry, Sora kun." Taichi said softly. Sora looked over to Taichi seriously, trying to decide how to answer him. Despite their friendship, they had a habit of misunderstanding one another. She leaned over and squished him in a hug, and subsequently, Yamato as well, since Taichi still had his arms around him.
"Shut-up, Tai kun."
"Whatever you say, Sora kun." Taichi grinned. Yamato snickered at the both of them.
"Wanna join the group hug, Iori kun?"
"Ano, thank you. No." Iori made a mocking bow, then leaned against the phone booth, and shifted his weight to his good leg. Despite Sora's worries, he'd felt his section of the Partner Relic slide into his hand, waiting to be used. Miyako would certainly be able to take care of herself. He looked up to hear the squealing of tires bending around the corner. "Do you really want to ride with that guy, Jyou san?"
"No choice. Come on, Ken kun, let's go." Jyou said. Daisuke offered a hand as Ken tried to rise, gasping in pain. Hikari started to force him back down, but he waved his hand, and with her hand on his back supporting him, and Daisuke slid underneath his other arm, Ken eventually managed to get off the ground.
Hikari ushered Ken inside the cab, only to see Daisuke on the other side of the backseat.
"I'm coming, too." He declared as their Digimon scrambled in over their feet. Takeru scooted in beside Daisuke.
"Me too."
Jyou rolled his eyes and took the front seat. "How long is it going to take to get to the lab on the other side of the college?"
"Maybe fifteen, twenty minutes." The cabbie told him, peering at the strange foursome sitting in his backseat. There was a blond, or a half blond, half black haired man who appeared to have a black tattoo running down the right side of his face. He supposed a look like that would scare away the small children. Probably a serial killer or something. Then there was the man he seemed to be only too happy to be sitting close to, wearing goggles on his head.
Next was a... he wasn't sure. He'd thought it was a man, but he did have long hair... the complexion was so pale at the moment, he wasn't sure it he... she was completely there. The pretty woman next to him, clothed only in a sweater, it appeared, was rubbing his... her distended belly and telling him the baby would be all right. Maybe they were a lesbian couple. He inclined his head toward the serious man sitting in his front seat and whispered. "Is she going to be okay?"
He looked surprised and turned his head to the group sitting in the back. His eyes widened and he snapped his head back to the cabbie.
"She'll be fine." He whispered. "We just need to get her to her doctor right away. She's... a very special case."
The cabbie nodded dumbly and refocused his attention on driving, which was just as well, since he'd been making Jyou carsick with all of his sharp turns.
"I hope you're not too squished, Ken chan." Hikari said softly. She didn't like the way the cabbie had been looking at them. Daisuke snorted.
"Is that a jab at me?"
"You didn't have to come, Daisuke kun. Jyou kun and I can take care of this." Hikari replied. Daisuke was smirking at her for some reason, and Takeru had looked away and was fanning himself with his hat.
"You're awfully protective all of a sudden." Daisuke shot back.
"It happens to be my daughter in jeopardy. I think I have a right to be protective."
"How could you possibly know it's yours?"
"Would you two just hush?!" Ken asked sharply. He sighed heavily and leaned his head on Hikari's shoulder. "I'm okay, Hikari chan. She feels more secure with all the people she knows around."
Hikari made another experimental rub and listened hard for the soft thoughts of the baby. Ken had been right. She did feel more secure. But there was something else.
Ken had his eyes clenched shut, bracing himself for the bumps along the road. It hurt inside whenever he moved. "She's afraid, too. But that's my fault."
"Don't be." She whispered gently to Sam, knowing she would get the gist, at least, if she couldn't understand the actual words yet. "We're here. We'll all be here to protect you."
"Was she really that ghost we saw?" Daisuke whispered, glancing warily at the driver, who kept looking in his rearview mirror at them. Takeru rolled his eyes, and leaning on Daisuke, inserted himself into the conversation.
"It was most likely an astral projection. I've heard of them before."
Hikari shook her head. "I doubt she'll even remember. She pitched herself out when she had to, in order to survive."
"I still don't understand how you think that kid is yours. I bet it's mine." Daisuke said saucily, giving Ken a loud smack on the cheek. Ken blushed as he bit his lip, trying not to laugh. Takeru wasn't so successful and let out a loud snort.
"God help her if it is yours." Hikari shot back, nuzzling her head against Ken's.
The cabbie blinked hard as he turned the corner. He'd figured it out. She was a particularly masculine woman having a baby; the pretty one on her right was a crossdresser and was fighting with the man with the goggles over who was the father. The half-blond was probably the goggleguy's Goth boyfriend.
Iori frowned seriously as he waited impatiently beside Taichi. The doctors had already stitched up his leg, and sent him on his way. He was more worried about Yamato and Sora, though they had seemed to be well on the mend before they'd left the Digital World. Jyou's insistence that they see a doctor worried him. After all, most of the procedures he'd performed in the Digital World had nothing to do with his expertise.
Actually, the hard part had been coming up with a story for why these people had been so badly injured. And why it shouldn't be on the news.
Sora simply claimed that she couldn't remember a thing, and mention, offhandedly that she was a lawyer, and so insinuating that if any of their stories ended up on that night's news broadcast, they'd be in a world of legal trouble. For Yamato on the other hand, it had been difficult for them to keep the police out of the matter. Considering it wasn't every day an idol came in looking as though he'd been attacked and left for dead. Yamato eventually promised to give them a description of the attacker for them later if they'd just leave him alone. He was tired, and they wanted to do an exploratory surgery on both of them.
Iori had just returned from sneaking their Digimon some snacks from the cafeteria. They'd decided that it would be best not to let it become public that they were trying to fix the rift with the Digital World until they were certain something could be done about it. Iori studied Taichi's face as the man slumped back in one of the uncomfortable chairs they'd provided for the waiting room, thumbing through a magazine, which was probably about a year old. Iori starred sedately at the cover, but recognized it immediately. Yamato's band.
"I wouldn't listen to that nonsense if I were you." Iori told him in a soft, but authoritative tone. Taichi looked up curiously.
"What are you talking about? It's just a magazine."
"I happen to have read that magazine. Especially the interview with a certain lead singer for The Revolution Wolves." Iori rested his hands on his legs, as he looked Taichi over. He'd never had much interaction with the man. Other than the fact he was dating the brother of one of his closest friends, they really had nothing in common, save for being Digidestine. Still, he could tell that the article had hurt him, even though he'd agreed to it prior to the actual interview.
"Tai kun, I'll tell them if you want me to." Yamato snapped sharply. Taichi sprawled himself over their 'big ugly chair' that had made its way through three major moves and half a dozen after concert parties.
"If your manager thinks it would be better for you to stay in the closet, Yama chan, there you stay. Okay? I mean, if it's going to hurt your career, I don't want that." Taichi sighed. Yamato clicked his tongue dismissively, and Taichi smiled at the thought he brushed Jade Crue off so easily for him. "I mean it."
"I know, Tai kun.." Matt turned back to him, and cupped his face in his hands. He slid into the overstuffed chair right into Taichi's lap. "And when the stupid magazine chick says, is there anyone special in your life? You're okay with me saying... no?"
"All the girls want you, Yama chan. I have you. You're mine, not theirs. I know that, no matter what some magazine says."
Yamto's strong jaw line tensed, frozen in indecision. Taichi looked into his midnight blue eyes, watching them turn in contemplation. They closed swiftly as Yamato made up his mind, and kissed him deeply. Fiercely, forcing his mouth open to receive his hot and willing tongue.
I'm yours. You're mine. Nothing changes that for me. Ever.
"So... does the insatiable Ishida Yamato have a steady girlfriend for all the fangirls to envy?"
Click! Click! "There you go, Yama, baby. Give me a little pout for the inside cover."
"Nah. Like you said, I'm having the time of my life... but I don't have a girlfriend."
The reporter bit the end of her pencil. "You sound a little doubtful."
"No." Yamato tossed his hair back and smiled vibrantly at the photographer. "There's no one special."
"It's just for his career. Who cares what everyone else thinks? Our friends and family know. That's all that matters." Taichi told him. Iori arched a brow.
"But you don't believe that. And Yamato san doesn't think you do either."
"Iori kun, I'm not up for this psychoanalysis junk right now, okay?"
Iori blinked at him solemnly. "Wasn't what I was really going for."
Taichi sighed and slumped further into the chair. "It isn't right to ask Yama chan to choose between his career and me. We could.... you know. Not be someday. And then where would he be?"
"Probably suicidal." Iori remarked wryly. "I don't see you two breaking up anytime soon. In fact..."
Iori paused and snatched the magazine from him. He flipped through it until he found the picture he was looking for. "This looks just right to me."
Iori held of the picture they had taken of Matt and Taichi lounging around in their apartment together up for Taichi to see. He rested his hand in his head heavily, and starred at the picture.
"Jade Crue didn't want them to put that picture in the article."
"Because you two look so close. It was after that those idiot tabloids started publishing their 'proof' of Yamato's affairs with other guys. They'd been publishing the stories about the girls before. You should know, none of them are true. He would tell you if he'd done something."
"I know that." Taichi protested averting his gaze in irritation to the bland white ceiling. Iori leaned over to him.
"Do you?"
"Yes! Geez, you sound like Hika chan. I know Yama chan... he wouldn't..." Taichi shut his eyes firmly and gritted his teeth. "I'm not even going to think about it. It isn't..."
"Possible." Iori finished. He cocked his head. "You know... you are scared, and I don't blame you. It isn't like he hasn't left you before... for the purpose of his image."
"Don't talk about Yamato chan like that." Taichi said softly.
"He hurt you, and he knew it." Iori replied harshly. "If you won't face it with him, I'm going to say it to you. If you two plan on keeping this relationship going, and I say this as a friend, you need to start telling each other how you feel. You've know each other long enough... to stop guess what the other is feeling, and start asking. Because it means something, Taichi san. To both of you."
Dr. Tanaka drew a dark strand of hair back behind her ear, which had errantly fallen out of her customary knot at the back of her head. She reached out apprehensively and touched the pained face of her student and specimen in one.
"Can someone please explain to me what's going on here?" She hissed drawing Ken in with her arm and shutting the door to the lab quickly, giving the grinning cab driver a cold look. Idiot.
"Please... Dr. Tanaka..." Ken whispered.
"Quiet. One of you." She snapped quickly, repositioning her elliptical glasses on her nose. Tanaka guided Ken to a chair and made him sit.
Jyou watched keenly as she polished her stethoscope and began to check his heartbeat.
"You've heard of the Digital World."
"Who hasn't? But didn't it... close or something?" She replied offhandedly. Hikari stayed obstinately by his side as she gave Ken a brief checkup. Wormon postioned himself beside the chair and looked up at Dr. Tanaka, who paused a moment to look at the creature in confusion. "Hurry. I need to know this before I try to take him into surgery."
"Long story short, the Digital World doesn't close." Takeru informed her. "We were taken there unexpectedly, and the time flow there is faster than ours at the moment."
Dr. Tanaka looked back at him with confusion. "Well, I'm a geneticist, not a physicist. So... those things..."
She inclined her head to indicate the various Digimon around her. Takeru nodded and she looked over Ken with a mixture of disbelief and worry. Taking a deep breath she stood and picked up her phone.
"Ren. I need you in here right away. Yeah, you'd better clean up." Tanaka solemnly took a vial from the counter and began filling a syringe.
"What are you going to do?" Jyou asked suspiciously. He still wasn't certain of how to treat this doctor, who, to him at least, had completely thrown the Hippocratic oath out the window. She rubbed a piece of gauze against Ken's arm and quickly injected him with the anesthetic.
"How was that?"
"Hm?" Ken looked over at her, half-lidded. She smiled. He hadn't even noticed.
"It's the best I can do for now." She held out her hand for Ken to follow. "I need to do a deeper examination."
"Why? What's wrong?" Ken pulled back as she tried to calm him with a cold hand.
"I'm not certain, but I could make an educated guess. I'm hoping not to take the baby now, but I'll certainly have to make sure you're not hemorrhaging." She turned her head to the side as a young brown haired woman walked in. Her auburn eyes were wide and serious, and her chin-length hair was pinned back with butterfly hairclips on either side of her head, with a few mingled streaks of other colors dyed in.
"Doctor?" She asked in surprise. It wasn't often they had visitors, though she recognized Daisuke right away. Her eyes widened even further when she caught a glimpse of her coworker Dr. Tanaka snapped her fingers impatiently at the woman.
"Ren, set up the ultrasound please." She clipped. Ren blinked twice and scurried over to the equipment and began to set it up. Tanaka turned her attention back to Ken.
"Have you experienced any kind of trauma or strange occurrences lately? Anything that might have put undue stress on the baby?"
"You could say that."
"What?" She snapped. Ken leaned back on his hand as she starred him down.
"Well, most recently, I fell from the sky." Ken said quietly, though with a touch of amusement. Tanaka bit her lip and straightened herself, thinking this over.
"Um, doctor." Ren said softly, avoiding the eyes of their visitors and flushing as she popped her head back into the room.
"What, Ren."
"I think while we're doing the ultrasound, we should do an amnio as well." She suggested softly. Tanaka raised a brow but nodded.
"But let's see what's going on in here first. Come on, Ken."
Ren smiled at him and patted the table in an indication for Ken to climb up there, which wasn't an easy task. Hikari held his hand tightly as Tanaka squeezed some gel onto his belly and began to scan.
Daisuke gaped at what he saw in the monitor. It wasn't as though it hadn't been real for him. Ever since Ken had let him feel the little munchkin move for the first time, he'd tossed everything he'd learned in sex ed class aside and accepted this for truth. However, it was one thing to rub a friend's belly, another to see inside of him. Ken was half-smiling, a tear running down his face, mostly from relief, Daisuke guessed.
"Marginal tear. It appears to have stopped bleeding, for now. She looks all right, Ken, but this doesn't bode well for the remainder of the pregnancy. When I get the results back from the amniocentesis I can make a better determination whether or not we need to take her early." Tanaka diagnosed, studying the screen seriously. Ken sighed heavily in relief, and she suddenly broke a smile for the first time. "No comments on the jellyfish girl this time?"
"Ah-ha!" Ken laughed, obviously relieving some tension. "She's not a jellyfish any more, doctor. She Digivolved into a demon."
"Oh, how terrible." Ren giggled. Tanaka snapped her fingers and Ren fumbled her fingers, and eventually came up with a syringe. "Hold really still, Ken."
"After I take this, I'm going to set you up in our room in the back, with a nutrient drip. Not that there's anything wrong with wandering around another dimension for half your pregnancy." Tanaka remarked sardonically, as Ken winced. She deftly pulled the syringe out and handed it to Ren, who hurried off. She took another needle in hand and prepped his other arm. "Just wait here for a few minutes. What you have is a small section where the placenta is pulling away from the uterus. I'm going to give you some medication now, and if it doesn't look any more promising by the morning, I'll have to hope she can survive in the incubator."
"I understand." Ken said. Tanaka walked over to her coat, which had been carelessly strewn on over a chair and pulled something out of it.
"I'll be back in a moment." She notified them, heading outside without another word. Jyou headed after her.
Hikari began playing with Ken's hair. "You scare me."
"Not like I planned on that." He admitted, taking the hand closest to him and kissing it lightly. Daisuke smirked and walked over to the other side of the bed, and snatched Ken's other hand for his own, to Hikari's intense aggravation. She stroked Ken cheek softly, held a finger up, and walked into the other room.
"Daisuke chan." Takeru chided softly grabbed hold of him and shaking him playfully.
"Oh, like I ever get such a good chance to rib Hikari." Daisuke replied, fluffing Takeru soft hair with his hands. Ken smiled.
"You two are so cute."
"You are Hika chan are so cute you make me think I'm getting morning sickness." Takeru rebuffed. He leaned over and gave Ken a kiss on the forehead.
"Um, Ren is it?" Hikari said, entering the room where she'd gone to do an analysis.
The dark haired woman smiled up at her from her work. "Renee, actually. But Ken nicknamed me Ren. Either is fine."
"Can I ask you a favor?"
"Anything for a friend of Ken's."
Hikari cocked her head and took a seat on a stool, just a bit a ways from the scientist.
"How long have you know Ken anyway?"
"Only a few years. I'm from America, really, and I spent a year or two at his school... in Tamachi when we were about eight or so, but I didn't know him well. I was learning Japanese at the time, and my parents wanted me to get a taste of good old Japanese self-discipline. I of course had to go back, but Dr. Tanaka offered to help me finish off my degree with the work we were doing here. Genetics and gene splicing are my specialties. Ken and I have worked pretty closely on this project for a year and a half. He's always scolding me about the responsibilities of a scientist, and I'm always saying I'm dying to make a monster to destroy Tokyo." Ren smirked and looked up once again to gaze over Hikari. "Nice outfit you've got there."
"An Ichijoji original."
"I recognize that sweater. Daisuke doesn't mind you wearing it?"
Hikari shrugged. "I'd be naked if Ken chan hadn't lent it to me. Though I doubt he gives a damn either way."
Ren chuckled. "So what did you need?"
Tanaka blew out a clear smoke ring and sighed heavily.
"You really get that much pleasure out of your work?" Jyou asked harshly, coming out to see Tanaka with the cigarette to her lips.
"Not lately, no. Of course, it isn't often one has the opportunity to endanger the life of your closest associates, now is it?" She snapped back. Narrowing her eyes irritably, Tanaka turned her head to Jyou. "Going to report me?"
"I haven't decided whether or not you manipulated Ken kun."
"I did." She said flatly. Jyou started in surprise at the swift answer. "I have to say, he probably knew what I was trying to do. I wanted him on my side. He's a brilliant man, and could help us immensely with all the projects we're doing here."
"And as a guinea pig?"
"I had no intention of letting that happen, but I wasn't given much of a choice, Mr..."
"Kido. Dr. Kido Jyou."
"Dr. Kido." She repeated with appreciation. "I don't know what you expect me to say. Save I really had no choice in the matter after our surrogates backed out on us. Only Ren and Ken were completely in on the details of the project... and Ren simply isn't healthy enough to have taken over. Ken wouldn't have accepted that. I... misjudged him."
"You thought he wouldn't be attached to the baby, if he didn't know it was his?"
"Yes. Little did I know, it was the other way around. He would have been more receptive to the idea of terminating the experiment if he'd know it was his child."
"Why not use yourself for the rest of the project?" Jyou asked. Tanaka sniffed pointedly.
"I'm too old. And neither Ren nor Ken have the surgical training required to deal with this. I could bring in others, but none of them have the information or skill required." Taking another long drag on her cigarette, she looked sideways at him, with a very nonchalant expression on her face. "You realize I only offered Ken a part in the project because I wanted his DNA on the source list. I didn't want him this involved."
"I can imagine." Jyou conceded, his thoughts wandering to his missing fiancée momentarily.
Taichi sat quietly in the chair beside of Yamato's hospital bed. Gently, he took his hand, wondering if Yamato would speak, or was too drugged to talk with him.
"I love you, Yamato." Taichi said. Yamato looked over at him and shot him an inquiring look. Taichi wasn't really one to talk overly about his feelings.
"I love you, too." Yamato replied. Taichi smiled and looked downward, as if gathering strength. Yamato was pretty openly affectionate, unless the cameras were around.
"I'm an idiot. I know that. But I have to ask-"
"Taichi, you're the only one. The only one I ever loved."
Taichi looked up with fear. "Why do you say it like that?"
"You remember..." Yamato closed his eyes and sighed before looking up again. "You remember Cannes?"
Taichi let go of Yamato's hand and sat completely still, pressing his lips into a firm line.
"I think that actually happened. I can't really remember..."
"You slept with her?" Taichi's voice cracked. Yamato shook his head.
"Yes, I'm pretty sure."
"Monique." Taichi slammed his head into his palm, resting the elbow on Yamato's bed.
"As well as a few other people at that party, and the ones after the two shows that week."
Taichi wasn't sure if he should be outraged or not. He personally didn't like the idea of Yamato becoming intimate with someone besides himself, but really, they hadn't been an official couple yet. And he sort of suspected that Yamato had slept with someone else then. It didn't make that little tramps any less of a pack of hookers.
"And there's something else."
Taichi felt the tears forming in his eyes. What now?
"The tabloid... about the concert in Chicago, and that guy... Sean?"?"
"You slept with him."
"Yeah."
"Is... that it?"
"No. You need to know, none of them meant anything. At all." Yamato told him firmly. Taichi looked at him uncertainly.
"I means something to me." Taichi whispered. Sean had hardly been Yamato's type. He remembered that night. And was entirely surprised that Yamato even remembered enough to tell him. "And it obviously means a great deal to you, or you wouldn't be telling me."
"I slept with then, but that was it. I never loved them, I was just so...." Yamato grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes. "You're the only one for me."
Taichi got up and headed out the door. "I... need to think about this."
"You'll be the only person I really loved in all my life." Yamato told him. "Even if... there will never be anyone else who would really have my heart."
Taichi stood, turned from him, thinking hard and smiling to himself. "If... promise me, you'll stop the after concert partying. I mean... the party, I don't mind. The drinking, okay... in moderation, but Touga and his drugs..."
"Of course."
"And..." Taichi stopped himself. "I don't know, Yamato. I knew about them. I thought that part was understood. We hadn't... Well, I was there with Sean? Don't you remember?"
Yamato looked up at him in surprise. "You were there?"
"You really don't remember, do you? You were going by those damn pictures they put out about a month ago."
"You were there?" Yamato demanded again. Taichi chuckled.
"I don't know if you can count it as cheating if your boyfriend is part of the threesome. But... I knew you were screwing around with some other guys... that one really bothered you, ne?"
"I think I must be missing the best parts of my life. I can't imagine you in a threesome. Well, besides that one... in high school with Sora."
Taichi burst out laughing. "Sometimes I hate you, Yama chan. That so did nothing for me whatsoever."
"Didn't really do anything for her, either." Yamato grinned. "But that was the point, ne?"
"Yeah. I appreciate getting to watch you with Sora kun and Mimi chan though." Taichi walked back over, and kissed him softly on the lips. "You're braver than I give you credit for. Those were the only times?"
"Yup. Well... that I can remeber." Yamato looked sheepish as Taichi had ever seen him.
"Well, I'm not thrilled about some things in our relationship, but we can talk about that later, I guess. We'll make an arrangement. As long as you're all mine now, I don't really care..."
Yamato traced the curve of Taichi's face affectionately with one finger. "You don't want us to be a secret."
"No, I don't. But I don't want you to lose your fans."
"Don't worry about that. It's not important."
Taichi met his lips with a stronger passion, tickling the back of his neck.
"Ahem." The nurse said disapprovingly as she walked in. "Generally, we require rest after surgery."
"Ah, yeah." Taichi blushed furiously and headed out of the room. "I'm going to go check on Sora kun, okay?"
Yamato nodded as the nurse busied herself checking his vitals.
Walking swiftly down the hall, he headed for the room he'd been told was Sora's. She'd probably have a roommate, but he didn't really care. He didn't need to talk about anything intimate with her.
He opened the door to a darkened room, and started to leave, assuming she was asleep.
"Taichi?" Sora's voice came timidly out of the dark.
"Yeah, it's just me, Sora kun." He poked his head into the room, not that he could see anything.
"You can turn on the light and come in." She offered hopefully. Taichi complied and switched on the light, revealing his friend, in a hospital gown, and rather pale lying on the bed.
"Yama chan's surgery went fine... though the doctors want him to get some rest." Taichi began. Sora smirked.
"I'd imagine they'd want him to rest." She said sardonically. "What exactly were you two trying to do?"
"Ano..." Taichi scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I was just trying to give him a massage. On his face."
Sora responded with a sad smile, and Taichi took position in a chair by her bed.
"So how did you turn out? Everything accounted for?"
"Taichi kun... do you think Miya is okay?"
"Yeah. It's not like she's alone. She has her Digimon, and she has Mimi chan and Kou kun. Between the three of them, they'll make it. Or kill Koushiro."
"Yeah."
"You didn't answer my question."
"No."
"No... what?" Taichi watched her, as she rested her hands on her ribcage, and starred down at them.
"I want children, Tai kun."
"Etoo..."
"I'm not offering up my services!" She corrected him aggressively. "I'm just saying, sometimes, life really sucks."
"What happened?"
"Shoujo chan totaled me. I'm completely scarred inside. I..."
Taichi blinked for a moment, trying to put together what she was saying. He could see her face starting to mottle from the attempt not to cry, and he leaned over and forced a hug on her.
"It's okay, Sora cjam. You haven't lost Miyako chan. No matter what, you have her. And you have us." Taichi sighed, realizing that would probably be it for her sanity. You can't have kids, but you won't lose her. Digidestine look out for one another.
Takeru had managed to sneak away from the others for a few moments, though it hadn't been too terribly difficult. Everyone was concerned about Ken, of course, and how they were going to managed to retrieve their missing members. Between the three of them, he was sure he, Ken and Hikari could managed to get them back to their own dimension sans a real Digital Gate, but none of them were really at full strength.
It had taken practically a whole world full of Digidestine to open a gate without them.
Focusing his thoughts, Takeru forced himself, with his own hands, to look up into the unisex's mirror.
"Everything I'd denied from day one. Everything I've hidden away from myself..." Takeru reached up in horror to touch the scarred image in front of him. The cabbie had been starring at them, but he'd forgotten, that at the moment he was rather odd looking. The curling, at times jagged dark scar had wound its way up his face. His right eye was completely black. He didn't even recognize himself.
Even though I was able to use the Chalice, I feel like I've failed... having to turn to my darker half for strength. How do I even know which half is in control? The one hateful obsidian eye starred back at him accusingly. Failure. Weakling. Of all people, I should have stayed pure.
He wasn't entirely certain what had happened to the relics since they'd come home, but he was quite sure that the Chalice was still with him. He could feel it. Inside him. Throbbing. And waiting.
"This isn't over yet." Takeru told the vision of his nightmares, glaring back at him from the mirror. "Something is still off. And now I can feel it too."
He listened at the door, hoping they had actually managed to get Ken to sleep and then rested himself against the wall, thinking about the revelations of his dreams, and what they would mean for him.
The face of the red haired man flashed before his eyes, taunting him with a phantom that might, or might not exist. A lover he knew would mean nothing and everything all at once.
"This isn't over." He whispered again, heading back into the lab.
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