Matt fingered the harmonica for a few more seconds before placing it
on the top of the pile of clothes he had pulled out and walked into the
living room. He found Sora already finished, dressed and watching T.V.
and so walked straight into the bathroom. He let the hot water run over
his face then listened to the sounds coming from his stereo installed on
the other side of the bathroom. The tune soothed Matt's heart and he soon
found himself singing along with it,
"When you feel all alone and the world has turned it's back on you
Give me a moment please, to tame your wild, wild heart
Let me be the one you call
If you jump, I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart, I can mend your broken heart
If you need to crash, then crash and burn your not alone."
Matt held the long note for as long as he could with the water running
into his mouth. Rubbing his face, Matt stepped out of the shower and wrapped
his towel around his waist then proceeded to clean his teeth and style
his hair (Which didn't take as long as it did before, as he was going for
a more natural look). Taking a glance at his watch, Matt noticed the time
and quickly pulled his clothes on and almost without breaking stride, picked
up his electronic artillery and walked outside the door then waited for
Sora to join him, who had remembered both of their books and lecture pads.
Matt smiled his thanks and locked the door as Sora called for the elevator.
The drive over to Mimi's was quiet apart from the CD player that Matt had
turned on, blasting out tunes from his bands last album. Sora noticed that
most of the songs were quite sad sounding and about love, remembering that
the time was just after she and Tai had started going out. Shaking her
thoughts out of her head and noticed that they had just pulled up infront
of Mimi's place and watched as the former holder of the crest of Sincerity
ran down to the car, a huge smile on her face.
"Hey guys!" Mimi exclaimed as she got in the back.
"Good morning, Ma'am. Where to today?" Matt asked in a fake British
accent.
"Ummm... I would like to go to the mall, but I guess you can take me
there after our lectures. Hey! That's an idea, we could all go to the mall
tonight. There's a sale on and there's all those new movies out now..."
Mimi continued chatting to them and was pleased when they made no attempt
to interupt her, Matt and Sora, however, were bored out of their brains
and were wishing that the journey was over. Matt pulled up into a space
that was right next to Tai's car, turned the engine off and got out.
"So, I'll meet you in the library and we can go from there." Mimi told
Matt, Sora and Tai (who had meantime got out of his car) as Izzy and Joe
walked up.
"Go where?" Izzy asked, wondering what could be happening. Joe just
looked at Mimi while waiting for her answer.
"The mall after everyone's lectures." she replied and Joe let out a
groan.
"I can't. I've got so much study I need to do this year, I can't fall
behind."
Izzy let out an exasperated sigh, "Joe, you are so far ahead you could
be teaching everyone in your course! You need to get out sometimes."
"Yeah, Gomamon wouldn't want you to be stuck in your room all the time."
Tai said, knowing that they all could be pursuaded to do something if there
was a mention of their digimon.
"Alright!! I'll go. But only for Gomamon." Joe warned them, hoping
they wouldn't get him to make this a regular occurance.
"Fine Joe, just so long as you're going with us." Sora told him and
smiled.
"Hey, what about the young'uns?" Mimi asked.
"Well, there's a 99% chance that T.K. and Kari are going to be there,
then Davis will be following them, Cody and Ken will be trying to get him
to stop it and Yolei will be going 'cause Ken's there." Matt explained
to them.
"Well, all we'll have to do is find T.K and Kari and we'll find the
rest." Izzy concluded and nodded his head before heading off to his afternoon
lecture.
"See ya at the library then." Joe said as he walked off in the opposite
direction.
"Oh, shit! My lecture started 5 minutes ago. I'll see ya guys there."
Tai said after giving Sora a kiss and ran off down the path.
"I may as well get going too then." Mimi told them as she walked off
waving, "See ya at the library!"
"Shall we go then my dear?" Matt asked Sora as he held his arm out
to her.
"I think we shall." Sora replied, chuckling as they walked off to their
lecture. The hall was almost empty when they arrived so they took up seats
about half-way up the hall, so they could still hear without being too
close to the front.
"So you are coming this afternoon, or are you going to make up an excuse
that you have band practice tonight?" Sora asked Matt as he got his stuff
out of his bag.
"Oh, bloody hell!" he exclaimed as he allowed his head to hit his hand,
"I completely forgot, the guys and I DO have a rehersal tonight."
"You're kidding me? Man, you are really messed up at the moment, not
even remembering your band."
"Thank you Sora." Matt said sarcastically, shaking his head.
"Oh, I didn't mean it that way Matt." Sora said as she helplessly watched
him pack his things into his bag and walk over her to the aisle then up
the stairs and out the door, "I'm sorry."
'Man, I'm a complete baka! I should have thought. I hope he doesn't
hate me for too long.' Sora thought as the rest of the class started filing
into the hall and looked at her strangely.
"Why did she have to say that?" Matt muttered to himself as he ordered
another beer and looked around him. So this was what the Student Bar looked
like.
"I haven't seen you in here before Matt." the bartender said as he
placed the glass on a coaster infront of Matt.
"I haven't had a reason yet..."
"Willis."
"Willis? You're Izzy's friend aren't you?" Matt asked and Willis nodded
his head,
"I'm just glad that I only have lectures on Mondays and Wednesdays,
even if it is all day."
"Mine are all spread out over the week, but most times I've got a morning
or afternoon off." Matt replied.
"Speaking of which, aren't you supposed to be in a lecture right now?"
"Yeah..." Matt said, trailing off.
"You don't feel like it, decided to wag or what?"
"Sora just... Urgh! I don't know what she just did, but it hurt me."
Matt told the man behind the bar, who was pouring his own soft drink.
"Love hurts don't it?"at this comment, Matt looked up at Willis, eyes
wide.
"How the hell did you know?" Matt demanded and Willis just chuckled.
"Everyone in the group knows, except maybe Tai and Sora."
"But no. It's not to do with my love for her or anything." Matt told
him and Willis leaned on the counter,
"What's up?"
"My dad was admitted to hospital last night, after we found out about
his cancer we aren't taking any chances, and I admit, it's messed me up
a bit, but she didn't have to make it sound like I was a complete fool
with no brains." Matt said as his right fist clenched up. Willis sighed
and shook his head,
"She probably didn't realise what she was saying until after she said
it. You yourself know that Sora's not like that!"
Matt frowned and shook his head, "Yeah, I know. But it just really
hurt me you know."
"Yeah, I know." Willis replied and took Matt's finished glass back.
"Well, it was nice finally meeting you Willis. I guess I'll go and
see if my bands ready to practice."
"Nice to meet you too Matt. I'll see you around."
"Are we all here?" Mimi asked as she picked up her books and shoved
them into her bag. There was one thing she had determined when she was
waiting for them... Waiting was boring. She got up out of her chair and
stood in the middle of the group.
"Wait a sec. Matt's not here yet." Sora said as she looked around,
hoping to see him.
"Matt's not coming, he set me an SMS message saying he had band practice."
Mimi replied, surprised that Sora didn't know. Matt had told her in their
classes hadn't he?
"He sent me the same message." Izzy said, as did Joe and Tai.
"Didn't he say anything to you during the lectures?" Joe asked.
"No, he walked out of the first one before it even began." Sora told
them, "I haven't seen him since then."
"What did you do?" Tai wondered, jokingly. Sora took his question as
being serious,
"I said that his father's going to hospital must have messed him up
badly 'cause he forgot his band practice."
"Is father's in hospital?" Izzy yelled, "What's wrong?"
Sora looked away from them, not sure whether to tell them or not. Matt
hadn't told them for a reason and she knew that she didn't want him more
mad at her than he already was.
"I think you'll have to ask him, better yet just wait until he tells
everyone else."
Tai was annoyed but knew that it wasn't Sora's place to tell them.
"O.K. Let's get going then." and the rest of them walked off, Tai with
his hand around Sora's waist and Sora looking around to see if Matt was
there.
"Oh, Sora. Why couldn't I have had the courage to tell you first?" Matt
whispered to himself as he watched the others all walk off to the mall,
Tai hanging onto Sora.
'Because you're a coward that's why! That's why you've only got the
crest of Friendship and not Courage!' a little voice inside his head was
saying. Matt didn't want to believe it, but he knew that at least part
of it was true. He didn't possess the same courage that Tai had and he
was willing to let situations take place around him with a smile on his
face, even when he didn't like them. But he knew that he had a different
kind of courage. The courage to go on with his life no matter what. When
Sora had turned up on his doorstep announcing that she had a date with
Tai those 3 years ago, his heart had torn completely in two. But he went
on. He even played at the prom when Tai and Sora were there, no surprise
that they won King and Queen of the prom. Matt even forced himself to play
the song when they went out onto the dance floor after being crowned. The
look of contentment on Sora's face when she looked up at him at that point
blasted what pieces were left into a million others, but still he went
on. He had to, for his dad, for his mum, for his other friends but most
importantly he had to go on......for T.K.
Matt shook himself out of his reverie and noticed that he had tuned
his electric guitar perfectly without even paying attention to it. He had
chosen to extend his range of instruments, to now include the electric
guitar, saxophone, drums and piano as well as the harmonica and bass.
"You guys ready?" Matt asked and the other members of his band nodded,
"O.K, one, two, three, four."
The instruments all powered up at the same time, causing a huge blast
of sound to erupt from the auditorium. They could hear the screams of their
fans even over the volume and the fact that they were all outside the locked
doors. Matt closed his eyes and cleared his head before he began to sing.
"This feeling deep inside
Is one that I can't ignore
No matter how I try
I just can't get you out of my mind
Lonely nights are my existance
That I can't take anymore
I just want you with me
But that's too much to ask
You can't see me
Through the light in your eyes
You know who I am
But you don't care
What fate may do to me
This love is one I can't bear on my own
I need to know now
Before I go
Please just give me a chance
My life's not much
I know that now
God's eyes are on me
I'd give up the rest of my life
Just for one night with you
You can't see me
Through the light in your eyes
You know who I am
But you don't care
What fate may do to me
Just tell me now
Before it's too late
I really need to go
The world is large,
There's lots in store
For a lonely wolf like me"
At this point Matt didn't see the 8 digimon that walked around from
the back door up to the front seats and sat down. Gabumon smiled sadly
at the words 'Lonely wolf.' Matt had known all along that that was what
the others thought of him and now he was using it in his songs.
"You can't see me
Through the light in your eyes
You know who I am
But you don't care
What fate may have in store for me."
The music slowly faded away and more shouts could be heard, but they
seemed oddly familiar and were closer than outside. Matt opened his eyes
to see the original 8 digimon, Gabumon, Agumon, Biyomon, Gomamon, Tentomon,
Palmon, Patamon and Gatomon. Surprised, Matt jumped off the stage and walked
over to them.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked them and was answered when
Gabumon launched himself onto Matt.
"Just to visit you." he replied, smiling. Matt laughed as the other
7 digimon jumped on him as well and started play attacking him. The other
band members saw this as the end of the rehersal, packed up their stuff
and walked home.
"Ah, too many mons! I can't take it! I give, I give!" Matt exclaimed
as they were all laughing and slowly they began to jump off him.
"Now, what are you guys doing here?" Matt asked again.
"T.K. and Kari came to us and told us about your father Matt." Patamon
said, "So we decided to come and cheer you up."
"How come the other's aren't listening to your singing?" Palmon asked,
wanting to see Mimi again.
"They're at the mall at the moment." Matt told them.
"Well, when are they getting here?" asked Agumon.
"They probably won't be coming here. How about I take you all to my
place and we can get them from there?" Matt suggested.
"An excellent idea, our chance for success will be greater if we chose
that option." Tentomon commented and so all the other digimon agreed. Matt
ran over to his bag and pulled out a number of jumpers that he had left
in his bag and forgot to put into the wash and tossed them to the digimon.
There were 3 digimon left without a disguise.
"Hey Patamon, would you mind if I took you out to the car in my bag?"
Matt asked, hoping that the incidents with T.K.'s smelling gym socks hadn't
scared the young digimon for life.
"I guess your bag couldn't be any worse than T.K.'s so O.K" he chirped,
smiling.
"Gatomon and Biyomon can just go along as you are normally, just act
like a bird Biyomon and you like a cat Gatomon. I don't need anymore attention
drawn to me than usual." Matt said as he packed his guitar and bass away
in their cases. "We'll have to make a run for my car so be as fast as you
can or you'll see all these humans running towards you. I'll open the car
before we get there, so all you have to do is open the door and get in.
I don't care if there's not enough space, you'll just have to deal with
it. O.K., now everyone got that?" there was a round of heads nodding, "Good."
"I'll take one of your guitars for you Matt." Gabumon said and snatched
it from Matt's hand before he could argue.
"I'll take the other one." Agumon offered and did the same as Gabumon.
"Alright." Matt sighed, "Just so long as you don't break it."
The two digimon nodded and all were ready to run out to Matt's car.
"Gabumon knows which car is mine, so if you lose sight of me, follow
him." and with that, Matt opened the back door and all bolted towards Matt's
MG. All heard the scream "He's over there!" from Jun and ran even faster.
Matt pressed the unlock button on his keys and sighed with relief when
they opened, hurrying all the digimon into the car and making sure to place
Patamon carefully into the back of the car.
"Everyone ready?" Matt asked as he turned the key and the Roadster
roared into life.
"We're alright, just GO!" Gomamon yelled, enjoying this bit of excitement.
Matt pressed the clutch, selected reverse and gunned the car out of the
spot. Quickly changing into first, Matt was about to light the wheels up
and take off when Jun jumped onto the bonnet. All the digimon and Matt
yelled in fear as she tried to smash the windscreen to get to him.
"Go Matt Go!" Biyomon screeched which snapped Matt out of his transe.
An evil smile spread over Matt's face as he gunned the engine, again and
again. Suddenly he took his foot off the clutch and roared down the carpark,
expertly taking a corner at 70 km/h, all watched as Jun slid off the bonnet
and rolled a couple times on the grass.
A cheer erupted from the car that could be heard within a 2 mile radius,
all the digimon clapping and laughing.
"Great driving Matt." Gatomon complemented, while still laughing.
"Thank you Gatomon. I tried." Matt replied, which caused another fit
of laughter from the occupants of the car.
The rest of the drive home was nice and peaceful, all the digimon enjoying
being in the real world again and Matt was giving them a quick guided tour
around Odaiba on the way.
"Can we get something to eat?" Agumon asked, "We're all pretty hungry."
Matt smiled as he looked at the 7 digimon in the back seat, "Sure,
how about we get drive-thru McDonalds?"
A chours of "Yay!" and "Yes please" was heard as Matt turned right
into the street that contained one of the few drive-thru McDonalds resturants
in Japan.
"What would you mon like?" Matt asked as he drove up to the speaker.
He regretted asking that question when everyone answered him at the same
time.
"One at a time, starting with Gabumon." Matt told them to which a groan
came from the back.
"I'll have a Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal please Matt."
"I'll have the same thing." said Biyomon
"Me too." squeaked Patamon.
"I'll have a Big Mac meal Matt." Agumon said, as did Tentomon.
"I'll have a Veggie Burger meal." Palmon chirped.
"A Fillet O' Fish meal please Matt." Gatomon requested.
"Yeah, can I have that too please?" Gomamon asked.
"Sure, guys. It's fine." Matt said as he rolled down his window.
"Good afternoon, can I take your order please."
"Yes, thanks. I'll have 4 Quarter Pounder with Cheese meals, two Big
Mac meals, two Fillet 'O Fish meals and one Veggie Burger meal thanks."
Matt relayed the order.
"No problem, that will be 3,800 yen. Please drive forward to the first
window."
Matt knew the voice was familiar and he realised why when he pulled
up at the window.
"Yolei, I didn't know you worked here!" Matt exclaimed as he handed
her the money.
"Yeah, mum suggested I get a job a somewhere other than the family
store. Why so many meals, you don't have that many mouths to feed." Yolei
inquired.
"Uh, I do now." Matt replied as he pointed next to and behind him.
Yolei's eyes went wide when she saw the digimon in the back seat.
"Where are the other's? Where's Hawkmon?" she asked and wasn't encouraged
by the looks she saw on the digimon's faces.
"Hey, why don't you come over to my place when you get off. Everyone'll
probably be there and I think these guys have something to tell us." Matt
suggested and Yolei nodded.
"I knock off at 7, so I'll see ya then."
"Bye." Matt said as he drove up to the next window.
"Here's your order sir." the other employee said as he handed the drinks
and the bags over to Matt, who passed them on to Gabumon, who passed them
to the others in the back. Soon, all that could be heard was the digimon
munching on fries as they drove through the busy streets on their way to
Matt's apartment.
"These are good!" Agumon exclaimed as he proceeded to stuff the rest
of his fries into his mouth.
"Well, we're here!" Matt told them as he got out of his car and pulled
out his two guitars. Matt opened the door to his apartment and was surprised
to find T.K. and Kari there waiting for him. They in turn were surprised
to see the Digimon that were surrounding his feet.
"T.K.!"
"Kari!" Patamon and Gatomon cheered as they ran up to their respective
partners.
"What are you guys doing here?" Kari asked.
"I think we should wait until the others get here." Gabumon said as
he picked up Matt's bass and his dinner and sat down at the table.
"He's right." Agumon said as he repeated Gabumon's actions.
"Man, this place was a pigsty. You're lucky we agreed to clean it up
Matt." T.K said as Patamon flew onto his digibuddy's head.
"Can we watch T.V?" Gomamon asked, tugging on Matt's pants.
"Sure Gomamon, knock yourself out!" Matt replied and with that Gomamon
'ran' over and jumped onto the couch and turned the T.V on. Palmon and
Tentomon joined him as Biyomon flew onto Matt's head.
"Have you asked Sora out yet?"
This question took Matt completely off guard. "Uh, Biyo, Sora's going
out with Tai."
"I know. I just wanted to see you sweat. Plus I'm wondering why you
didn't ask her before Tai." Biyomon replied.
"I just..." Matt started but was interupted by T.K.
"Didn't have the balls to do it?"
"T.K.!" Matt yelled at his brother, seeing Kari trying to hold back
her laughter and trying not to choke on the sandwich that T.K. had made.
"I hate to say this Matt, but I think T.K.'s right." Kari told him.
Every other digimon agreed, even Gabumon and Agumon.
"The whole world's against me!" Matt exclaimed.
"Drama Queen." T.K. muttered and recieved a cold glare from Matt with
Kari giggling.
"Why don't we get around to communicating with the other's?" Tentomon
suggested and soon Matt, T.K. and Kari were trying to get in touch with
the other Digidestined.
"O.K. I think that's everyone." Matt said as he hung up the phone after
speaking to Izzy.
"Not yet, we can't get a hold of Yolei." T.K. said.
"I've already spoken to her. She'll be over at 7." Matt told them as
he explained that she was working at McDonalds now.
"We knew that, we just didn't know that she was working Friday nights."
Kari replied.
"Well now we do." T.K. stated and went back to watching T.V with Patamon
on his head.
"How long?"
"About..." Matt was interupted by a knock at the door, "Now."
He got up to get the door and stepped aside to allow Sora to get inside
the door.
"I'm so sorry about what I said before Matt. I didn't mean it the way
it sounded. I..." Sora was cut off by Matt placing a finger on her lips
and saying,
"It's O.K. I realised after that you didn't mean it that way. It's
fine, I forgive you."
Sora sighed and gave him a tight hug out of gratitude and when she
opened her eyes after pulling away from Matt, she saw something she wasn't
expecting apart from T.K. and Kari standing there with amused looks on
their faces.
It was Biyomon on top of Matt's head. And Gabumon on the floor next
to him, and Palmon, Tentomon, Gomamon, Agumon, Gatomon and Patamon.
"Biyo?" Sora asked in a state of shock.
"Yep!" the pink bird digimon chirped as she flew off Matt's head and
into the arms of her friend and companion. Tears came to Sora's eyes as
she realised this wasn't an illusion and that all their friends were really
in the real world.
"At least you didn't get tackled by all of them." Matt commented as
he smiled, patting Gabumon on the head, "Come on inside."
Sora walked through the door to see the rest of them all fed and diving
into the fridge and freezer for desert.
"What are you..." she began but was interupted by the door again.
"What was this emergency you called us about?!" Joe demanded as he
and the others stormed in and almost peed his pants when he felt something
tug on his leg and say, "Jeez, you still are a worry wort aren't you?"
"PALMON!!!!!!" Mimi screamed as she ran over to her digimon and the
two hugged.
"Izzy!" Tentomon flew over to Izzy and hopped on his back.
"Hey Tai!" Agumon exclaimed as he ran to his friend and tackled him.
The loudest shout came from Joe though...
"GOMAMON HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO SCARE ME LIKE THAT!!??"
"I don't know, so many that I can't remember." Gomamon remarked then
smiled, a smile slowly starting to creep over Joe's face as well.
Davis, Yolei, Cody and Ken all walked into the apartment, not sure
of how to take the absence of their digimon.
"Where are the others?" Davis asked shakily, he had a feeling that
something had happened to Veemon, but he hoped that he was wrong.
"I guess we can tell them now." Biyomon said, suddenly turning serious.
Agumon nodded his head and Gabumon stepped forward.
"We have a small problem..."
"Talk about an understatement!" Gatomon remarked before letting Gabumon
continue.
"As I was about to say, the other digimon have been turned to the dark
side. There's a new Emperor and he's not happy."