Chapter 7: Endless Nightmares
"Jennifer, you attack from the left! Joey, you go in from the right! I'm taking him head on!" Blizagamon and Tempesmon fired at the same time, unleashing a blizzard storm upon the dark beast unlike any other to ever have existed, including during the Ice Age. I ran at him from the front, flowing every ounce of hope and power I had in preparation for my attack.
"Celestial Fist!" The attacks slammed into him with amazing force; the power of three Megas had to be more than enough to stop him, no matter how powerful he was.
"Mwa ha ha..." The sinister laugh engulfed us. "You still think you have a chance? Forget it! Love, Friendship, Hope, they are all tools of the weak." The creature leveled another city block effortlessly.
"You won't get away with this!" Joey had really grown up. He fired his blizzards upon it again, but to no avail.
"I already have. DOOM'S REQUIEM!" A blast of what can only be described as pure darkness shot at Blizzagamon, blowing him into millions of bits of data. However, before they could go far, the monster absorbed them, the same way he had done all the others.
"NO!" Joey was gone. How could he be gone?
"You're nothing but a monster! How could you do this to those who are innocent?" Tempestmon raged against him, but met Joey's fate. I watched in horror as Jennifer's data was absorbed.
"You've taken everything from me. I will kill you, if I have to die over and over for all of eternity, even if I have to become like you, I will kill you."
"Give me your best shot." I could feel the energy whipping about through me, gathering itself again in my hands, my gloves. But instead of attacking, I waited longer.
"Well? I'm waiting. I am offering you a free shot, punk. That way, you can dwell on your pathetic honor forever as a part of me, heh." And yet I hesitated. I felt like I was about to burst, as the energy I focused began to overcharge.
"This is your last warning. Hit me now so that I may kill you, or you can just die where you stand."
"HOLY NOVA!!!" I could feel the blast empty out of me, throwing such force towards him, that I was recoiled into a building three blocks away. It was hard to get good traction on the wet road. I watched as the fiery looking beam, larger than some five story tall buildings, impacted him. "I can only hope." As the shot dissipated, I saw him standing there, crouching slightly; I had only winded him.
"Very nice, if I still needed troops, I would draft you in an instant. Oh well, I'll put your power to good use. DOOM'S REQUIEM!" The darkness hit me. Pain, endless, unimaginable pain. I could feel all my fears, all my darkest memories arise within me at the same time. The darkest parts of my life flashed before my eyes as I finally lost my last ounces of hope forever...
"AHHH!!!" I was sitting up in the bed, in a cold sweat. I looked around trying to reassure myself that it had just been another nightmare. Gennai ran in the room.
"What's wrong!?" He saw me sitting up, breathless with my eyes wide open. "Are you okay? What was it this time?"
"He was in the real world. He didn't kill us, he made us him. He absorbed us; everyone. Digimon, digidestined, the world; he absorbed existence." I was shaking violently and ran to bathroom. It was a dry heave, thankfully, so I didn't have to deal with the disgusting taste you get when you hurl.
"I'm sorry James; there is nothing I can do about nightmares. Can you go back to sleep?" Gennai was still standing there in his robe when I stumbled back from the restroom. The thought made me stop. Go back to sleep and face that horror again? I'd rather die.
"No, I'm done sleeping for the night." I looked at the clock: 2:00 AM. "Is there any coffee left?"
"Yes, go make some and relax. Maybe you can go back to sleep later." Yeah right, every time I closed my eyes a new death awaited me. "I'm going back to bed. Try and get some sleep James, you've been awake for days."
"I'll be fine." With that he returned to his room.
"James, there is something I've wanted to tell you." Jennifer and I held each other close. It was like one of those final scenes in a romance movie where the protagonists finally kiss. "I love you. I've always loved you. It's because of you that I have the Crest of Love." We hugged romantically for minutes. I wanted this to last forever. "Kiss me." As we came closer, she blew apart. Data scattered everywhere as I opened my eyes. Daemon stood behind where Jennifer had once been.
"Your turn lover boy."
"Hey James! Gennai's been calling to you for ten minutes! You're going to miss breakfast!" I forced my eyes open and looked at the doorway. Chris was standing there impatiently. He didn't really care if I ever got up; he just wanted to go eat.
"I'll be down in a second." I looked at the clock: 8:00 AM. Gennai was usually kind enough to let us sleep in. I tried to think of why he would be getting us up early, but I was too tired. The nightmares had been coming more often than before, appearing whenever I closed my eyes, since I fell asleep whenever I did. Exhaustion weighed heavily on me as I dragged myself out of bed and into the hall. I had slept with my clothes on, too tired to take them off at night, including my shoes. I just lied on the covers and let sleep come on its own; it never took long.
"Hey James! Come on, Gennai made Cinnamon Rolls!" Another first. Gennai always made Japanese food. Why was he acting so differently? Joey had came to try where Chris had failed at getting me up. I turned the corner.
"You're not Gennai." I blurted without thinking. Kristen gave me a crushing look.
"Wow, you amaze me how much more ignorant you get every day."
"I thought you would never notice." The man, who looked exactly like Gennai and wore the same robes turned around from the cinnamon rolls he was putting icing on. Kristen just gave him a shocked look.
"What?"
"I'm not Gennai; I'm an associate of his. He went to the creators for the day. He'll be back by this evening."
"How long can that be? I mean, it didn't get sunny until just a few minutes ago." The house may have been underwater, but the sun still shined through the water and windows, dancing on the floors throughout the house.
"It's longer than you think. Oops." The man dropped the pack of icing on one of the cinnamon rolls, messing up the carefully placed icing on it. "And you'd think I'd be more experienced at this than Gennai!" The man laughed and fixed his mistake.
"Why did he go?" Jennifer didn't say much, so we all paid attention whenever she said something. It was odd; at school, she never shut up.
"He had some questions and some business to take care of." Translation: None of your damn business.
We ate the cinnamon rolls, which tasted like some generic brand from a grocery store, and went about our usual day of figuring out how the heck to work our digivices. Everybody, except me of course, could digivolve, but they weren't very skilled at controlling themselves. We would fight each other to train some and then just run around tearing up Gennai's house having fun. I trained some with the others, but I found it more helpful to train by myself. I had a lot of trouble bringing up the flames because I was tired, not to mention that having to jump about worrying about what the others were about to do didn't help me any. Agumon and Tentomon trained some too, but really sat back giving tips to Kazemon and Kumamon about fighting as a digimon. It was really pretty funny. Kazemon would end up blowing winds into herself and Kumamon ended up freezing various parts of the room, including the rest of us on various occasions. Agumon would have to melt the ice to get us out.
Gennai arrived late in the afternoon and relieved his friend of babysitting us, who by the way never told us his name. "Everybody! Hurry here! Now!" I was in the kitchen chugging my third coffee that evening; I was living on caffeine. "I have some good news and some bad news." Everybody stood around Gennai and waited.
"You're going home." Cheering ensues. "Wait, I'm not done yet. That's the good news. The bad news is that you are going home."
"What? How could that be bad news?"
"Remember Chris, I told you that you all would have to save both worlds. It seems our timetables have just been severely truncated. The worlds are merging."
"What does that mean?" I was reminded that Joey was still a little kid. He acted older than some of us sometimes, but there was a lot he still didn't understand.
"The worlds are beginning to link to each other. That means portals are opening up that digimon are using to get to your world. I don't think the worlds are close enough yet for powerful, evil digimon to get though, but they soon will be. You are going home, but to fight."
"How do we get home?"
"Do any of you remember how Myotismon got to the real world?"
"Yeah! That was a great one! He went through that big door with those cards!" Joey filled the silence; nobody would answer to that one, even though we knew the answer. We were afraid what it might mean.
"That's right Joey. That gate was left unsealed after the original digidestined went through. However, the portal behind it closed, leaving the gate to open to nothing but wall. Now that the worlds are close again, the portal has reappeared. The dark gods have realized this and have sent their generals to go take it. The castle is back under evil command."
"The dark gods?" The tension was building in the room. Kristen was the only one that stood with a straight face. Everybody else was wearing worried or sad looks. "Who are they?"
"The dark gods are..."
"The most evil, twisted digimon to have ever existed. Daemon and another, unidentified digimon are who have been pulling the worlds together to take them both over. They've sent their minions to stop us from getting back." I cut off Gennai. He looked at me with a disapproving frown, but picked up where I left off.
"That's right. Frostkawagamon, the Meramon, that Gazimon, they were all working for the dark gods. They are determined to either rule or destroy both worlds. They have been biding their time, waiting for the other Virus type digimon to be reborn in Primary Village. You must hurry to Myotismon's castle and get to the real world before the Generals get there to organize the invasion."
"Invasion!?" We all shouted in unison; I'm sure somebody whispered 'Jinx', but I don't know who.
"You don't think they don't learn from their mistakes, do you? Whenever they try to do it alone, they are defeated. They are working in numbers and power now. You all must do the same."
"How?" Chris was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, peeved that they had to go home to fight harder.
"The portal leads to Japan and it just so happens I have a few more things for you to take with you." Gennai zipped open a black, leather bag he had brought with him and pulled out eggs.
"Digieggs." Joey whispered to himself in awe.
"Primary Village is a shambles. Luck is on our side that I found these."
"But you said they wouldn't remember." Kristen pointed out Gennai's earlier comments as he placed the two eggs in one of our backpacks He went about and did the same until all the packs carried two of the ten digieggs.
"They will when they see these." Tears were welling up in Agumon's and Tentomon's eyes.
"But what about us? We can't be partners to two people!" Tentomon was a bit repulsive. It isn't often you see a two foot tall fly cry.
"You have two duties now, and I suggest you fulfill them both. You're old friends gave more than they thought they would when they gave up being digidestined. Besides, you won't have to protect them... physically. They are grown now. They can protect themselves." Agumon pondered at what Gennai had said for a moment then looked up.
"What do you mean 'physically'?" Gennai acted like he didn't hear him.
"Now go, every second you waste here is another digimon you will have to fight to get home." We grabbed our bags.
"James."
"Need something Gennai?"
"Here." He handed me a bottle of Nyquil and a box. "There is coffee in there for if you need it. I suggest though, you take that Nyquil when you stop for camp and finish this whole nightmare thing. You don't have time for foolishness like this."
"Yes sir. Um... thanks. You're a real pal man." Gennai was awestruck for a moment. He had been helping digidestined for a long time, but I don't think he had ever met kids like us. I would of grabbed his hand and done the 'Split-Second, knock the wind out of your friend when you impact' hug, but Gennai was rushing us out the door.
"Watch your thoughts and moves. Your nightmares aren't natural and before this night is over, you will have to face your fears." The water split and we walked up the stairs out of the lake. We all took turns saying goodbye.
"By Gennai!" Joey jumped; he was afraid Gennai wouldn't see him by us because he was short.
"See ya dude!" Goggles and all waved.
"Thank you Gennai!" Jennifer was smiling, which made me smile. It was contagious.
"Farewell!" Kristen would always stand out because of her intelligence.
"Peace out man!" Hey, I had a cool image I had to keep up. I had my shades lying on my head, with my gloves closed tightly around my digivice. I felt like I had a job to do, a purpose. The sun set as the water crashed back, sending us on our way at last.
We had walked for about two miles before we decided we were tired of tripping up on roots, rocks, sticks, and each other in the dark shadows of the forest.
"Hey! Gennai put in more stuff in our packs!" Chris was right. We each had gotten one more thing, each on unique. Jennifer had a lightweight pan for cooking in the wild over a campfire. Kristen had a book filled with information on digimon and a jar of peanut butter.
"I think that one is for me Kristen!" Tentomon hovered eagerly by her when she pulled out the peanut butter.
Joey had a new blue sweater, since his last one had been used ragged as a bag and medical equipment during our travel through the deserts. He had been walking around with just his light blue t-shirt. Chris had a new pair of familiar looking goggles. The ones he had worn here were dry-rotted from the elements. The new ones looked really durable. Gennai had also packed some hot sauce for Agumon. Me, I didn't find anything, so I guessed the coffee had been my gift. To tell the truth I used to hate coffee, but after weeks of drinking it, I had acquired a taste for it.
We set up camp and lit a fire. We didn't cook anything but just ate some oranges and apples Gennai had packed. We had eaten before we had left.
"Good night everybody." Jennifer lied down and fell asleep in no time, along with Joey, Agumon, Tentomon, and Kristen, leaving Chris and I alone.
"I see why you lied."
"Say what?"
"I see why you lied about knowing them."
"I only lied about Jennifer, I really didn't know Kristen."
"Is that why you two flirt so much?"
"Dude! She is, like, three years younger than me! It may not matter in twenty years, but right now it does! You are a sick man with a sick mind; you know that?"
"Hey, nothing wrong with watching over the flocks by night."
"Wow, perverted for a twelve year old, aren't we? Have you even hit puberty yet?"
"Hey man, I'm thirteen. There is a world of difference."
"What difference? A few days maybe? You may be thirteen, but you act like a twenty year old geek staring at porno on the web."
"Take that back!"
"Make me, short man." In reality Chris was only a little shorter than Jen and I. I'd guess about 5'4". Chris jumped up and ran over to kick me while I was still sitting back against a tree. I caught dodged him and pulled his other leg out from under him. He fell with a thud and only got angrier.
"Poor baby, likes girls and fights like one too!" Jennifer and Kristen would of smoked me if they had heard that, but thankfully they slept through the fighting.
"Shut up!" It was fun making Chris angry.
"Surely you can come up with a better comeback than that. Whatever, just go back to 'watching over the flocks.' I've got z's to catch."
"No! I'm not done with you!" Chris was standing nearly in the campfire. I was amazed that his sneakers didn't catch fire.
"Yeah well I'm done with you." I sat down where I had been a few seconds earlier and leaned against the tree, pulling my shades down over my eyes so I could sleep. Chris just stood stupefied, unsure of what to say. I assume he was feeling the same way I did when Gennai had stayed calm against my rash fury.
I opened my eyes and knew something was wrong. I lifted my shades and tried to look around. I couldn't see anything; it was completely black.
"Chris? Jen? Joey? Agumon? Somebody!?" I yelled into the darkness and stood up. I looked down, I could see myself clearly like it was noon, but I was walking in darkness.
"What is going on here?"
"Mwa ha ha..."
"Who's there?" I jerked around and tried to see where the laughing was coming from.
"You're mine now. Every group has one, the odd one out."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know it, don't you? Remember? Matt, Ken, Koji; they were all the darker ones. But I never thought I would be so lucky as to get the Digidestined of Hope."
"You, you're the one causing my nightmares." Fear began to trickle down my spine. This must have been what Gennai had warned me about. I recalled what he said. 'Watch your thoughts and movements.'
"Intuitive are we? Well you see, I thrive and live on the darkness within the children who come here. However, those damned digivices you all carry around make my survival significantly harder. I often had to attain outside help to get you all isolated and draw out the darkness within you, but you were different. You were brimming with dark thoughts and dreams. Best of all, you had no digivice and when you finally did get one, it changed to match your pain, your evil."
"Kiss my ass and get out of my head. Do them in either order, I care not." I closed my eyes and cleared my head to bring up the fire around my gloves.
"Oh no, you don't get to do that. Not here. Here I make the rules." My eyes opened back up involuntarily and I could feel myself being jerked about, shadow images of myself following me like a mouse tail on Windows.
"This is my mind, get out!"
"No, it is mine now, along with all of the others."
"What?"
"I know you have noticed Jennifer. She was particularly easy to conquer, even with her digivice. She has the crest of that which she knows not."
"Nonsense. She knows love, and if she doesn't, then I'll show her what love is."
"Oh? I see the sparks beginning to fly between the dark ones. Ha, I'll stop it before it ever becomes a threat!" A floor flew up and stopped at my feet as a light began to come from nowhere. "You say it is your mind, lets see how well you know it." The platform was large, about the size of a city block. Around it was a bottomless drop-off. The sky about me and around the place was a mix of night and fire. It was a dark sky with splotches of what looked like where the sky itself was on fire.
"Where am I?"
"Your mind. This is what it looks like. Chaotic isn't it?"
"Bullshit."
"Fine, I'll prove it." The platform began to spin rapidly, making me dizzy and blurring my vision. I could tell things were changing, but I couldn't see how. When the spinning stopped, I was laying down, on a trampoline; my trampoline.
"Justin!?" I called out, no response.
"Justin!!?" Still no response. Please not again. I jumped on the trampoline and saw him floating face down in the pool.
"JUSTIN!!!" I jumped off the trampoline and nearly broke my leg. I ran through the bushes, but I didn't jump into the pool.
"Wait, this can't be real. That's not Justin." The child floating in the pool was shorter than my little brother. He wore a light blue sweatshirt and blue jeans. He had on white sneakers and had blonde hair. "Oh no." I climbed down from the bushes, which were elevated and separated by a wall from the pool. I stepped in and rolled over the body; it was Joey. I would have yelled, but I choked on my own breath. I felt like passing out, but something stopped me.
"This still isn't real."
"Of course it is."
"No, if this were real, the tree-house would be up there."
"What!?" It was true; a large oak was in my home's backyard and had a tree-house my dad had built in it. It wasn't there.
"This is an illusion."
"No its not! Grrr..." The world began to spin again and I lost my vision. When it came back, I was in the city with the beast of darkness destroying everything. Joey and Jennifer stood by me, ready to digivolve.
"Give us the word James."
"Don't."
"What? Why? We have to stop them."
"Because this isn't real." I turned to Jen. "You aren't real! You can't fool me! You're illusions are worthless!"
"Then if I can't make you destroy yourself then I'll have to do it myself." I could see a new darkness flowing into the manifestation leveling the imaginary city. Jen and Joey were gone, figments in the winds of my mind. The beast grew larger and turned to me.
"This body is mine now! For years I have failed but with you I shall finally succeed! Die!!!" The blast of darkness came at me, hitting me just as before. I could see all of the terrible events of my life flash before my eyes...
"Whitney? Whitney!? Oh my god! Call 911!" A flash and another memory came.
"I love you son!" My dad had tears in his eyes. "I fought but the policemen will be here in a little while to take you to a place downtown!" Another flash.
"Come on mutha fucka." The teen whipped out a knife and took a stab at me, I narrowly dodged it. "Bitch." Another memory, then another; it was nonstop.
"STOP!!! THIS IS MY MIND AND YOU ARE NOT WELCOME!!!" I threw my arms down and the darkness departed. The abomination stood shocked.
"What!? No! It's not possible!"
"I just made it possible. And you know what?" I began to let my energy flow; here, in my imagination, my mind, it was limitless. "You showed me a few new tricks here! HOLY NOVA!" The glittering brilliance left my hands and tore into the creature, almost larger than it had been in my nightmare. I no longer experienced recoil or exhaustion. Here, I ruled, this was my mind and in it anything I wanted could happen.
"There are others you know! Others who will feed off your misery and woe! It is too alluring to be left alone! You are too much a gain!"
"Then they will be destroyed the same way as you." The dark monster gave one last yell and fell apart into what looked like data, but I knew it wasn't. In my mind, there wasn't data, just thoughts and memories. I looked at the new, smaller dark clouds amongst the ruined towers. When I looked into one individually, I would see a haunting memory from my past.
"I'm done here."
I woke up in a cold sweat and slung the shades off my face. Lying panting in front of me was a digimon. It didn't really have any form, it had no body. I could hear panting but could see no mouth. I pulled out my digivice and scanned him. Memoriamon... Strength Varies.
"I guess you'd be pretty weak now."
"What the? You're awake! No!"
"Remember this?" I focused and punched him. "Celestial Fist!" I watched as he blew apart into data. I thought to myself. Everybody else had names for their attacks and attributes, so why couldn't I? Celestial Fist, it sounded cool and powerful, a perfect for my still newfound power.
I leaned back against the tree and lowered my shades again, but I couldn't fall asleep. I reached into my pack and pulled out the Nyquil.
"Down the hatch."