111break111

What now?

Ch.9 pt3- Confuses

PG

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I can't believe this!" Gatomon hissed as she stormed around the cliff side and pacing from edge to middle. "How could we miss this? How could I let it happen! I shouldn't' have let myself become to emotional, I let Kari down!"

"It's not your fault Gatomon." Gabumon was desperately trying to calm the feline digimon down. She had been like this since the commotion was calmed down and Matt began narrating just what happened when he and Kari reached the top cliff.

"Why didn't I transform the moment I saw them? I didn't I recognize the danger, the implications of what could have happened?"

"You were hoping, like the others, that TK and Angemon had escaped." Gabumon assured her, "Gatomon, you were as shocked as all of us-."

'Exactly!" Gatomon cried, tears in her eyes. "I, of all of us, should have known better! I let Kari down!"

"Gatomon…."

"Just…just leave me alone! I don't need your pity!" Gatomon ran off, wanting to be alone.

Gabumon watched her go. She was wrong, if anyone should know what to expect it should have been him and Matt. TK had the same look on his face Matt did when Matt attacked Tai. And yet…the look was different at the same time. TK's was more…he wasn't sure how to describe it really. Not…really….

"Gatomon, wait!" HE couldn't; let her continue thinking she was the only one to blame. HE had to talk to her, he had to….

"Gatomon, you have to listen to me!"

Gatomon stopped suddenly, but it wasn't' because of Gabumon. She turned around quickly and threw her paws out to stop him.

"Gabumon, no!"

But it was too late. Gabumon reached Gatomon before he registered what she said, his foot crashing through the rock and dirt, and the ground beneath them caved in.

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"This is it?"

"Yeah." I watched Tai as he examined the remains of the door that had been blown open, the one TK had come out of and the one that was now portal free, apparently.

"Izzy, check this out." Tai stepped aside and motioned for Izzy to come forward. And as the young genius did as he was told Tai came over to me and put his arm around my shoulder.

"Look, man." Tai began, "I know this looks bad but we've been in these kind of situations before. And I know what your gonna say, so don't' say it."

I closed my mouth, seeing as how I was going to mention the one thing neither of us ever brought up, and stared at him, wondering what he was getting at. I was pretty surprised that he wasn't angry with me right now, seeing as how it was my fault to begin with and-.

"First off Matt," Tai started, interrupting my thoughts, "we never bring that time up for a reason. And that same reason is why I am not going mention the fact that if you'd listened…." Tai trailed off and took a deep breath. That was when I realized that he was holding it in, keeping his anger at bay for a specific reason. I think I knew what that reason was.

"You get the picture." Tai began again. "I know what you're going through so I am not going to press the matter. Right now the important thing is we both have to find our siblings. And if Izzy confirms our very bad suspicions then we are going to have to try and think of another way to do that. And that means finding Gennai."

"Tai, your welcome to express your anger." I stated softly. HE looked at me in surprise. "It's my fault. I should have made her stay behind. If I had then…then Kari would still be with us right now and TK…."

"Would have killed you." Tai finished my trailed off sentence, even though that wasn't what I was going to say.

I was startled and expressed it. "What?"

"TK would have killed you flat out if Kari hadn't been here, wouldn't' he have?"

"I don't; know. I think…I think he would have made a different approach, but in a way, yeah. But I think I would have been taken first. The same reason that pegramon was taking me, TK would have-."

"Matt." Tai began calmly. He removed his arm from my shoulder and rubbed his head, shaking it slightly. "This is a very delicate situation, I don't' know how we are really going to handle it. I mean…I want to do something I know I can't do because TK is…. Well he is obviously not himself and if he hurts Kari I…."

"I understand Tai." I stated, "I will tell you one thing though." I looked up at Tai. He was staring at me uncertainly. I think my tone startled him, the seriousness in my voice, the determination he found there. He didn't like the look in my eye and I didn't like what I was about to tell him. "If it comes down to it…if there is no choice Tai, if I can't do anything, anything to bring TK back…."

"Matt, no." Tai stated, "Don't do this to yourself man."

"Tai, someone has to think of the possibility. We don't; know what was done to him and I know this isn't anything like what happened to Ken. This is…this is different. And if it comes down to it then…just let me be the one."

"Matt, I don't think this is a good line of thought." Tai replied softly, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"It's not." I replied, "But we have to face the truth. It's something we have always managed to avoid but you know? What would have happened if I had continued my rampage? Tai, I was trying to-."

"Matt, I said not to go there." Tai interrupted me sharply. "We've managed to go this long without bringing it up, I would like to continue with the trend."

"It's blocked."

Both Tai and I jumped at the sound of Izzy's voice breaking through our conversation. We turned around quickly to see a concerned Izzy standing by the door, his laptop on the floor with a snowy screen.

"Blocked?" Tai repeated

Izzy nodded. "There is no way to open up a portal without even a hint of a weakness in the barrier. Something is blocking any kind of c0nnection and I don't' think we can open a new portal by ourselves. We've never done it before."

"Well, now is the perfect time to try, right?" Tai asked with some of his old optimism back.

"Matt, Tai!"

Tai and I turned as Sora ran in looking more then a little scattered and rather frantic.

"What is it?" Tai asked

"It's Gatomon and Gabumon! She cried, "None of us can find them anywhere!"

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"Now look what you did!" Gatomon cried furiously at the blue canineish digimon, "What do we do now?"

"I didn't do anything!" Gabumon replied defensively, "If you hadn't gone storming off I wouldn't' have followed you!"

"I told you I wanted to be left alone!"

"Yes, but you don't understand. I understand more then you think I do. Remember, I helped Matt willingly."

Gatomon was silent for a moment, her eyes averted form Gabumon and her ears turned down. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Gabumon relaxed slightly. Now that he had that settled they just had to figure out how to get back to the others.

"Where are we anyway?" Gatomon asked as she looked around her new surroundings.

They were in some sort of cave; it looked like, a dark one at that. When Gatomon looked up, trying to see where they had come in from, all she saw was darkness. There was not top to the cave, not that she could see and she usually had great night vision!

That only meant one thing. IT was really, really, really high.

"I'm not sure." Gabumon replied to her query. "What I would like to know, however, is how the ground caved in in the first place."

"To much weight fatso." Gatomon replied snidely.

"No, how did it get weak enough to collapse beneath us." Gabumon ignored her jib and continued staring around.

It was a pretty large cave and it looked as if there was a tunnel within the cave.

"I think it has something to do with the cave though, but is the cave natural or did someone make it?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Gatomon asked, "It's probably natural."

"Not necessarily." Gabumon countered as he started to walk the length of the tunnel, "If it was created then that would cause the ground to weaken the way it did. So then the question remains, why? What is the point of the tunnel?"

"And the significance of the question is?"

"Where does it lead?"

"How does that help us?"

"It could lead us to Kari!"

Without a second word Gatomon zipped passed Gabumon and headed down the tunnel.

"Wait!" Gabumon cried in exasperation, "There could be enemies in here!"

"Then don't; get caught!"

Gabumon ran after Gatomon but he knew he wasn't as fast as she was. HE wasn't sure if he could catch up to her, but he knew he had to at least try to restrain her a little.

"Wait for me!" Gabumon cried again, "You don't' know what's ahead! The least you can do is approach with caution!"

Gatomon stopped, panting. They had run quite a distance and she couldn't' see the large cavern they had been in anymore. But she did see Gabumon, who was trying to catch up to her. She had also heard what he said and hated to admit it but he was right."

When he caught up to her he was out of breath, but that didn't' stop him form berating her.

"Next…next time…I men…mention anything about…Kari to you…remind me…." Gabumon collapsed to the ground and Gatomon lowered her ears, bending down to help him up.

"Sorry about that, I'm just worried about Kari, that's all."

"And I'm…worried about Matt." Gabumon replied. As his breath finally started coming back. "And we're all worried about TK and Patamon. Now, let's follow the tunnel, slowly, and carefully. Maybe we'll find something that way, and maybe, just maybe, find them. Right?"

"Right."

"Okay then."

They continued down the tunnel, which seemed to stretch on forever, and found nothing. Not a sign of another turn or an end in sight. Just as Gabumon and Gatomon thought they would never reach the end, however, the tunnel began to brighten slightly and an end was spotted.

"Finally!" Gatomon cried as she saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Gabumon asked softly.

"Hear what?"

"Listen."

As they listened Gatomon began to her distant voices, echoing off the walls. They were definitely distant, but whomever they belonged to was standing close enough to the cave for their voices to echo. They couldn't tell who they were, what they were, or how friendly they were. Only that they were there. As the two crept closer to the end Gatomon began to get a strange sensation that she knew she had felt before. One of a mixed presence. Glancing at Gabumon she noticed that he seemed to have the same sensation running along his spine.

"It's the presence I felt yesterday." She murmured, "When Kari I were lagging behind before you and Matt were attacked."

"The voices are getting louder." Gabumon replied, "There's…two of them, no three! Listen!"

As the two got closer the voices got clearer. They were able to hear bits and pieces of the conversation, it sounded like someone was yelling. When they finally got into clear hearing range they exchanged looks, backed into the wall, and silently agreed to continue until they reached the end of the cave, all the while listening to the conversati00on being shouted.

"You have to stop this!" A frantic female voice cried desperately, "It's suicide!"

"Or in your case Digi-cide." The second voice was older sounding but still female. IT had an amused, yet guarded sound to it, almost as if it was daring someone to stop its cynical humor.

"I'm following orders." The third voice was male, low and husky.

"Please." The first girl stated, her frantic tone getting a slight angry edge. "Why do you follow someone who will willingly kill you for no reason?"

"He can't answer that." The woman replied to the girl, the cynical amusement gone to be replaced with a sort of bemused understanding, "You know that. He's being controlled just as that monster controls everyone else."

"Did he tell you to kill me or what!" the girl's tone changed drastically then. The frantic note in her voice disappeared altogether, the anger taking its place along with a note sadness.

"No." the male stated firmly. "Not exactly, anyway. He said if I must, I must, but for me to stay alive at least long enough to keep you out of the way"

"Oh, so he's finally starting to learn from his mistakes?" The girl's tone changed again, a bit haughty now. Still greaved though and filled with sarcasm

"He does not wish to destroy you right now." The male replied, "He still needs you, after all. We all do."

"He has no idea what will happen if and when I die." The girls voice made an abrupt u-turn as she seemed to loose all the steam she had left. Her voice had gone low and if it hadn't been for Gatomon and Gabumon being almost at the entrance to the cave they would have missed it altogether.

AS of now the two digimon could see shapes in the light, but the shapes moved then. Away form the cave entrance.

"Before you get the chance to die," The male voice continued, "you'll see all the others die before you. Before you ever get a chance to tell them the truth. You will see destiny ripped apart and there will be nothing you can do to stop it."

"He's never going to win." The girl now sounded as if she were going to cry.

"My job has most sufficiently been carried out." The male stated softly "By this time the light has probably already been taken. Once that happens…."

"I KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN!" the woman screamed, cutting the male off sharply, heatedly. When she continued it was with a startling amount of passion and even a touch of bitterness. "It won't happen that way! We can't let it! It's our job, our life to keep that from happening!"

"I will stop him." The girl agreed. Her voice seemed strengthened once again, determination dripping off every word. "And hopefully…" She choked on her sentence, "find a way to bring you back."

"I am where I belong." The male stated, an absent, almost automatic reply that reminded Gatomon and Gabumon way too much of TK when they saw him last.

"No your not." The woman responded quietly, "You're not even close to where you belong."

Gabumon and Gatomon reached the cave mouth and peaked around the edge. The scene before them was more confusing then the argument the voices had.

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"This is getting ridiculous!" to say the least I was exasperated.

"I know." Tai grated next to me, "We've looked all over this cliff and can't find them anywhere! Twice!"

"Three actually." I amended.

"What are we supposed to do now?" I kicked at a rock that lay next to my feet, with my bad foot and hissed when a surge of pain shot through my leg.

"You okay Ma-."

A sharp glare from me stopped Tai from finishing his sentence and he held his hands up in mock surrender, his forehead beginning to show a bit of sweat.

"Aheh. I'll, uh, just be over here."

I watched as Tai headed over towards Davis who was getting reprimanded by Yolie for something and turned to stare out over the mountain at the world below. When a hand fell on my shoulder I glanced around and saw Sora staring down as well, love and understanding radiating off her face like the sun radiating solar rays. When she looked at me her eyes had the same light on them and I felt myself feel a little calmer.

Until she said the one thing I was really, really getting tired of hearing!

"It's going to be fine Matt." She murmured and I felt irritation build. "Don't worry."

"Don't worry?" I exploded, not meaning to. "Don't worry? How can I not worry? First TK gets kidnapped during a family picnic then I'm attacked and get my leg broken. Then, of all the stupid ideas in the world, I head off to look for TK on my own, allowing Kari to tag along for the ride, and wind up allowing her to get Kidnapped as well by my own brother for crying out loud! Then, if that wasn't bad enough, Gabumon and Gatomon go missing! Don't tell me not to worry when every time I think it's safe to stop worrying soemth8ign else goes wrong! I mean, how much can one person take? I'm beginning to feel like someone is out to get me! And I don't;' mean the creep that took TK, I mean some sort of powerful being that directs the laws of the universe Sora! IF it's not one thing it's another! What are going to do when every time we turn around something bad starts to happen? And the worst part is things can always get wor-."

I never finished. A sharp pain hit my cheek with the force of a palm flat slap and I stood with my face turned towards the valley below, my eyes registering only shock, as it dawned on me that I had been slapped.

Again.

"I turned my head back to Sora to see her with her head down, her arms at hers side and hands in fists. She was rigid and shaking furiously, her eyes shadowed by her hair.

"Sora?" I asked softly, hoping she didn't decide to punch me again.

She lifted her head, her eyes angry, and began a tirade of her own as she used her hands to emphasize her point.

"I can't believe you!" She cried curiously, "If it's not one thing it's another! You always have to find the down side of something and start dwelling on it! There is no need for you to get as depressed as you do, to beat yourself up over everything! Yes, it was your fault that you couldn't wait until morning to reach the mountain and it was partially your fault that Kari went with you, but it's as much her own as yours in that regard! But it is nowhere near your fault that she was taken Matt! That wouldn't have happened if TK hadn't been the one to show up in the first place! You need to stop acting like this Matt, stop blaming yourself for things you can't help! Stop trying to find things wrong, stop nit picking! Just…just stop!"

I stared at Sora; her eyes sparkling with unshed tears and her face rosy from her tirade. I knew only way to get her to shut up, one way to stop her before she managed to get around to punching me again. I reached out, dropping my staff, and grabbed her by the shoulders. She stopped shouting right away, startled by my sudden contact. I knew I had her then and before she could think to stop me I pulled her in close, pressing her chest against mine and pressing my lips against hers so fiercely that her reaction time was cut in half of what it normally would have been but she did manage to relax, right before she slapped me again. Of course, it wasn't as hard and she didn't start yelling again. I smiled at her, though, and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. She stared at me for a long time, tears glistening, and then lowered her head into my chest.

"Matt…sometimes…sometimes I just hate you, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know." I replied as I wrapped my arms around her. "I know."

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k2: Man, I sure seem to like to show those pity parties, don't I?

MK: If it's not one thing, it's another! (83