Davis was beyond pissed. Not only did TK lied right into his face, but he had to lie to cover this!
"Well, you DID lie back at him," stated Veemon," So does that makes the both of you even?"
"That's not the point, " Davis was not in the mood, " I'll explain it to you later, right after I rip TK's beating heart out….'
Veemon sighed," Can we at least lets see what they're up to first, we don't want another misunderstanding like the last time."
"Sigh, you just had to bring that up don't you?" Davis was still trying to repress that particular memory
"Hey, what are friends for?" teased Veemon, as they silently trailed their fellow digidestined.
This was definitely not the best of days for Davis. After 'saving' his best friend from and angry mob of teachers, the last thing he needs is to catch TK secretly dating Kari behind his back. Not too long ago, the both of them had sworn to be open about their relationship with Kari, and no matter what happens, they would still be friends. Unknowing to each other, both of them had their finger crossed behind their backs while agreeing to that promise.
Hehe…Sucker…! Muttered both of them as they walked away.
"Anyway, we better hurry," Davis sped up " Come on Veemon!"
"Shhhhhh! Keep it down!" whispered Veemon as he tries to catch up with his friend. " You really don't get this whole sneaking around business, do you? "
" What can I say? I'm a 'in-your-face!' kind of guy… " Replied Davis from the distance, then to himself, " Just you wait TK…!"
TK sneezed.
" Cold? " Kari giggled
" Nah, I'm fine, must be the pollens " Smiled TK, Davis must have been talking behind my back again….
Completely opposite to Davis, TK was having the time of his life. No one could dampen his spirit right now. Nothing could be more perfect at the moment, he couldn't ask for anything more, and why would he? He was taking a stroll in the most romantic place in Odaiba with the prettiest girl in Odaiba.
Ah…Alone at last, TK smiled to himself (But we know better, don't we folks? wink wink) as he walked through the dim lighted path, I own Tai and Matt one for this, they really do know their stuff…
The flowers along the yellow brick road, literally, were blooming again, adding to the romantic atmosphere TK wanted. The park was awfully quiet at this time of the day, usually there would be groups of senior citizen resting along the benches or crowds of young children playing on the field. Thankfully, none of the above could be found today. Continuing their short journey, they soon arrival at the location both their brothers mentioned. TK remembered the speech Matt gave him about a week ago.
According to Matt, the secret to a great profession of love (AN: Dear readers, the following tips are made up, do not attempt to try them, as I will not guarantee that it would work!) is not to push anything. Always be nice to the girl, and try to step up to take the fall for any mistakes. This would easily get to into her good books.
No problem with that, Davis always makes me look like the good guy!
After a period of time when both of you become closer, begin making arrangements to take her out on a date that would eventually lead to your first kiss with her. Which is where TK is right now.
" That was a great meal, " smiled Kari, " How did you find that place, TK? "
" Well, my dad took both Matt and me here a few weeks ago" Replied TK cheerfully, " I fell in love with it ever since…"
The path eventually led them to a secluded location that few people knew about. The flowers blooming here were especial beautiful. They were covered in a rainbow of different colours, the atmosphere became one of tranquility, calming and peaceful. The bright sunlight in the sky has been blocked by the thick trees of the surrounding, hence protecting the digidestined from its harm.
" Wow…" whispered Kari as she admired the scenery before her eyes.
TK nodded, " Amazing, isn't it? "
They stood like that, side by side, for the next five-minute. It was even more beautiful then either of them had imagined. It was beyond words. Kari was the first to spoke again.
" Damn, I wish I had brought my camera with me…" Kari groaned, she had left it at home since it was a school day.
" Never mind, it's probably better that way, " Kari looked at him, asking a silent question.
" Some people wouldn't know how to enjoy this kind of beauty "
Kari laughed," Yeah, they'll probably mess this whole place up…. "Kari turned towards the patch roses at the corner.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said dreamily.
"Yeah, just like you." T.K. said moving closer to her.
Kari glanced up, but said nothing. T.K. moved closer to her, until they were practically touching.
" Kari, there is something I have always wanted to tell, " TK grazed into her eyes, " But I never had the courage to do so… "
" What is it, TK? " Kari asked, her voice barely audible.
TK swallowed his fears, This is it!!!!
"I…I…I really, really, like you Kari." T.K. replied, his voice reflecting the same loudness as her.
Kari took a deep breath. "I think I like you a lot too." The girl said cautiously, as she looked deep into his eyes.
"As in more than just a friend?" T.K. asked.
"Yes; I think so." Kari said, whispering every word.
They were two young teenagers, alone in the most romantic place in Odaiba, and had just confessed their feelings to each other, and finally, their lips were just inches of each other. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what comes next.
TK wrapped her up in his arms and placed his lips over hers. Kari held still in shock for almost a full minute, and then simply melted against him. Things were definably looking up for them.
" Come on Veemon, lets go…"
" But Davis…! "
" That's enough, we have no business here… "
" Davis...? "
Davis was walking the road of broken dreams. He had followed TK and Kari into the secret garden, he had seen them confessing their feelings to each other, and had witness that kiss. The kiss was like a hammer, it had shattered Davis's dreams into millions of pieces. And now Davis is walking on those broken pieces, every step that he takes felt as if he was walking now glass. Each step more painful than the last.
" DAVIS…?!"
He was a lost man, a broken man. An empty void had replace his heart. The world around him was no longer of any concern, his eyes saw nothing but flashes of that kiss, over and over again like a broken video. He didn't know where he was going or what he was doing. He couldn't even hear his friend beside him. He was sinking fast into a bottomless abyss.
" DAVIS MOTOMIYA!!! SNAP OUT OF IT!!!" Shrieked Veemon in desperation, he grabbed Davis by the shirt and begin shaking some sense into him.
Suddenly, a bright light erupted from the abyss, a hand reached out and pulled Davis from his inner darkness and back into the living world again. Davis's clouded vision his been cleared. He blinked a few times before he remembered what had just happened.
" Huh?…wh…what? " Davis was covered in cold sweat. He felt a strange breathlessness in himself. He soon realized that he had been holding his breath ever since he left the park.
" Davis! You're back! " Veemon launch himself into Davis, applying a squeeze that would make a boa constrictor glow in envy.
"Vee…mon…..I…can't…. Breathe!! "
"Huh? OH! Sorry Davis!" Veemon released him from his deadly clutches.
Rubbing his rib, Davis dropped immediately onto the ground and sighed. It was game-over for him. All his efforts had been for nothing. He had lost again to TK, it was the biggest lost ever. Veemon's words might had saved him from the darkness, but it's effects still remain. Veemon didn't know how to help his friend.
Seeing his best friend's sad face, " I'm fine Veemon, " smiled Davis, " Really! I'm just… I'm just so tired…."
Veemon was not completely convinced, " Why don't we visit Tai, he'll know what to do! "
" Veemon, that's the LAST thing I'll do right now…" Davis sighed, he looked up to the blue sky, remembering his conversion with Tai, " Me and Tai have more things in common than I preferred…"
"You don't say…" Mocked a voice behind Davis. "The day just keeps getting worse for you my friend!"
" What the…?! Who's that?! " Davis shoot-up less than a second, causing his legs to go numb, he swiveled around to see who the intruder was. There was no one behind them.
" Up here buddy,"
Davis responded to the sound of the voice, and was rewarded a tall, silver-haired figure in dark cloak, standing on a thin branch of the tree, a smaller branch had conceived his face. A hander of a sword could be seen sticking out from the back of his shoulder. The figure wore a talisman with a strange emblem on it, one that Davis had never encounter before.
" Who the hell are you? " Demanded Davis as both Veemon and himself positions themselves for a fight.
" Like you, I am a 'digidestined', so to speak, " answered the John Doe, " But that's not the point…"
Faster than anything humanly possible, the mystery dude leap off the branch that he was preached on, and slide up in front of Davis before he could blink. Both Davis and Veemon were caught unprepared by this sudden burst of speed. Davis did a double take.
" How did you do that?! " Davis exclaimed
" Practice…" laughed the nameless face, " But enough of me, you are the one I came to talk to "
With the branch out of the way, Davis could see clearly the face of John Doe. He was older that Davis by about a few years, give or take, but still couldn't be more than 18. His eyes were emerald-green, they gave Davis a feeling of ancient power radiating from within. His skin was almost the colour of ivory with some evidence of battle-scratches. From the way he moved just now, Davis could tell he was not strange to combats. Whoever this guy is, it's clear that he's no pushover.
" We could use someone with your abilities, " The silver-haired teenage turned " But this is not the place to talk about such matters…"
Before Davis could ask what he meant by that, a symbol appeared beneath his and Veemon feet. A microsecond later, blinding light exploded from it, engulfing both of them. When the light faded away, all three boys were gone.
In the middle of nowhere
When Davis opened his eyes, he could tell that both them were no longer in Odaiba, in fact, he would guess that they were not in Japan at all. The clues that had led him to this conclusion were A) his clothes are different, B) the sky is shrouded by dark and angry clouds, and C) they are standing on top of a hundred foot tower in the middle of a dark, raging sea.
" Oh, crap… "
" I see your enjoying yourselves, " It was the man in black " But it's time to get down to business Davis… "
Davis was not in his best of moods, " You wanna talk business?! Fine, who the hell are you? "
The silver-haired teenage smiled," I apologize, my name is Lance, just as I have said before, I am a digidestined like yourself. "
Veemon wasn't convince, " If you really are a digidestined as you claim, then where is your digivice? " He seems so familiar….
Not missing a beat, Lance took out his digivice, or what looks like a digivice. It was more of a triangled shape than Davis's D-3, a distinctive silver 'ring' of some sort surrounded the circular screen of the digivice, tattooed on the ring were symbols of the digimon alphabets, glowing in an emerald-green light, the digivice itself was mostly black. Davis didn't like the idea of a black coloured digivice, he had a bad experience with one before.
" New model? " asked Davis
" New to you anyway, " Lance returned the digivice back into his cloak.
Davis pressed on," Where are we? The dark ocean? "
" We're…how should I say this? In the middle of nowhere " Laughed Lance in a sly matter.
" What you mean 'nowhere'! " Davis demanded, the freezing temperature was getting to him.
" Well you see," Lance turned to face him " As I said before, I need to speak to you about certain 'sensitive' matter, therefore I decided to bring us here, '
The waves were crashing against the wall of the tower, mimicking the sound of the explosion produced by Veemon earlier today. The howling wind was colder than anything Davis felt before, it was as if it went through his skin and bones and piece into his soul. The sky was slowing being overrun by the wave of dark clouds approaching from the distance. It was a cold day in hell, and it was about to get worse.
" Allow me to explain, the digi-world is like a big computer, different places in that world is a sort of software by itself, " Continued Lance, " Software can be created or altered to suit its purpose. "
" What does any of those have to do with this place? " Veemon puzzled.
" It means that he created this place, " Davis answered, " We're in a program…"
" Very clever Davis, " Lance nodded " My friends and I created this place to have this meeting, it's just like constructing a web page, cool huh? "
" Charming, " Davis rolled his eyes, " You wanted to talk to me about business? So cut the chitchat. "
" Tsk tsk tsk, " snickered Lance, " Impatient now I see, but first I must apologize to Veemon for my actions this morning… "
" Huh? What are you talking about? "Lance had pulled the 'lost in translation' on him, Nothing happened this morning, excepted…
Then the answer struck him like lightning, " It was you! You're the lunatic that threw me across the road!!! Irecognize that voice anywhere "
" WHAT!!! You're the wracked job that nailed my tail end!!! " Davis was still feeling sore over it
" Er…Ya, sorry about that, hehe " Lance's sweat dropped, " I was running out of ideas! And besides , I saved your life didn't I ?! "
" You nearly killed me! "
" I've got a hole in my…well, you get the point…. "
More sweat dropped, " moving on…hehe…."
Davis took a deep breathe, " Alright, You nearly killed us both (Sorry!), you kidnapped us to this freaking place, I believe you own us an explanation here buddy…"
"Right, right," Straightening his cloak " My fellow colleagues and I wish to bring you into our cause…"
A wooden table with a jet black suitcase was seen behind Lance. He stroll leisurely towards the table and input the combination to the lock on the suitcase. A satisfying Click! was heard, and the suitcase opened it's jaws, revealing a single, neatly printed paper. Another unusual emblem was seen on the top, right-hand corner of the sheet.
" We are offering you a job, " Lance stepped aside to let Davis see the paper. " This is a contract, it will bind you to us for the next four to five years. "
Facing Davis, " Sign it, and come with me…"
" You make it sound as if I had agreed to it already, " sneered Davis " Why should I do it? "
" Why NOT do it? " countered Lance, " You already loss Kari, what other reasons do you need to stay? "
Ouch! Low- Bro, " How did you kn…. You have been spying on me, haven't you? " Davis sighed
" Well, I wouldn't call it 'spying'…" Lance corrected, " I was merely 'observing a positive candidate for the job'…"
" Whatever, " Davis rolled his eyes and walked away from the table, " I'm not signing up for anything, so you can take your trash and shove it up your boss's…! "
" And what good will it do to you? " mocked Lance, " What? You trying to play tough now? Who are you trying to impress? Kari? Your friends? "
Davis froze in his tracks, and it's not because of the wind.
" Didn't really work at all did it? " Lance took a step toward him, " No matter what you do, they'll never respect you…."
Veemon saw what he was doing, " Don't listen to him, Davis! That's not true! "
Lance took another step, " And what would you know?! He wasn't there with you at the computer lab… You remember it, don't you, Davis? "
Davis fell to his knees and begin to shiver uncontrollably.
" Davis !! " Veemon yelled
" You remember, don't you Davis? " His voice was distanced, Veemon's voice was distance, the freezing hell around him disappeared.
Davis remembered.
Last week…Davis Motomiya walked strode down the hallway of his school, taking a leisurely pace towards the computer room. He was brimming with excitement. Spring break started the day after tomorrow, and he was going with the others to check out the Digital World.
Davis secretly hoped that he and Kari would work together in one area. That way, he'd get to show her how cool he really was. And there wouldn't be any TK to get in his way. That would be perfect!
Davis reached the computer lab room and saw that the door was closed. He was a little late, but he was sure that others would be inside waiting for him. He reached for the handle when he heard voices talking inside.
"He's late again." That was Cody.
Yolei's voice came next, "He's always late." Davis felt a little annoyed with that remark. He continued to listen.
"You mean like how we're always late?" Davis held back a snigger at Poromon's remark.
"Quiet." Yolei growled.
"He's probably just finishing soccer practice," There was TK. "Heh, we'll probably hear about it, whether we want to or not." Davis could feel the blood rush to his face. Where did TJ, -er, TK get off saying that?
Kari's voice finally perked up, "Yeah. We'll probably hear about his 'amazing goals' and 'how he was the best player on the team.' Hehe." Davis' face fell. Kari was laughing at him?
Cody said, "He's been even more arrogant since Imperial-dramon mode changed into paladin mode." Everyone groaned in agreement. Davis couldn't believe what he was hearing. They were all making fun of him! Behind his back!
Kari sighed, "He thinks he's the king of the world just because of that. The only reason it happened in the first place was because of the energy from Omnimon. I'm beginning to get really tired of his showing off."
TK said, "I still remember when he didn't even know what a Champion was. You should have seen his face when Patamon digivolved to Angemon. His jaw hit the floor. Ha ha!"
Patamon spoke up, "I can't help it if I'm impressive." Both Digimon and digidestined started laughing.
Kari said, "Remember how scared he was when all those Numemon came out of a vending machine? Now there was a funny face!"
Gatomon said, "And how scared he was when he first saw Patamon and myself? Now that was funny!" Davis' hand fell away from the handle. How could they laugh about that? Did they think that he was just some kind of a living joke? Davis felt his eyes begin to burn.
He turned around and walked away…
" Get up, Davis… " Spat Lance, " I have no time for pity scenes right now, "
Veemon gave him a look of pure, undiluted venom. He then rushes to Davis's side to aid him. Davis, still traumatize by the experience, was not aware of anything other that the howling of the winter gales, the crashing of the torrential waves, and the sound of Lance's voice.
" I don't believe in fate or destiny, " Lance continued his pace to break Davis " That's why it hurts me to see you give up because of what your friends say, and I thought Tai taught you better…"
Davis remains silent.
" I'm offering you a chance to prove them wrong, " Lance advanced closer, " All the things they believe in, all the things that makes them weak… "
" You are stronger then you think Davis…And it time you prove it to the world…" Lance was now in front of Davis, he got down. " 'Fate', 'Destiny' are just an excuse for things that they want to cover-up… "
Lance look into Davis's eyes, " I'm sorry for your loss, I know how it feels. You have been too reliable on the others, time to break away, time to separate the boys from the men. Get up Davis, its time to choose…"
Lance then smiled, " What you got to lose, heh? "
Davis didn't know what to do, so he said the only thing that came to his mind, the only thing that makes sense to him at that moment.
" Got a pen? "
Lance laughed, then pulled him up, and they walked to the table again. Davis knows he's making a deal with the devil, but he really didn't care anymore. He wanted to get away from all of them, he wanted to leave them. Davis wasn't dumb, he had no golden vision for this decision. He had no illusion that he was a hero. But at that moment, in that freezing, god-forsaken tower, it doesn't matter.
In front of the contract again, Lance took out a pen from his inner pocket, Davis accepted it silently. His finger met the cold exterior of it. He presses the pen, and was rewarded by a stinging sensation on the thumb, a bloody hole appeared. Davis arched his eyebrow.
" It's a blood signature, " Lance answered the silent-question.
" Davis…" Veemon was worried, " Are you sure this is what you want? "
That was Davis's reasoning's last line of defense, the final pit stop before he crossed over the 'point-of-no-return'.
" No, "Davis answered truthfully, " But it's sure as hell better then the other option…"
Taking a deep breath, Davis signed his name on the contract. It glowed scarlet-red for a second or two. With that done, he threw the pen back to Lance. Davis felt as if he had just traded his soul away.
" So what now? " He asked
Replacing back the pen, " You will be notify about your pay, as for what you're supposed to do, it's up to you to decide, nobody can tell you what to do with your life, right? "
Davis turned toward the stormy clouds, which was starting to clear up. The air was warming up as well. " So when do I start? "
Closing the suitcase, Lance faced his back " Oh that, well… How bout now? "
With that said, Lance whipped out his weapon before neither Davis nor Veemon could comprehend what was just said, and knocked both of them out cold with lightning speed.
Admiring his work, " I never get tired of doing that… "
Author's notes: And that conclusion chapter 3. Please review! By the way, from the next chapters onward, it's when the action really begins!