Chapter 26 - Shattered Lives
I fell.
I'm not sure how long I fell, or how far, but I know I fell, even as my scream echoed out into the void. The creatures were fighting, just as they had all those years ago.
Like they were doing when mama died.
My mother had died defending me from some ghost-thing. And in the end, it hadn't mattered, because she was dead, and they found me anyways.
And now they were fighting again.
And it looks like I'm the first casualty. Maybe I'll see mama again…
And then I hit the water and blacked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is beyond bad… I just hope that one's on our side.
Other than ChaosGallantmon out there on the bridge, I was the only Digidestined out here. The others were coming, and I didn't know if they would make it in time. ChaosGallantmon was a mystery. He admitted that he had wanted Sora for something, but had also saved our lives.
Gomamon was digivolved to Zudomon, but I didn't think we'd last long against MetalSeadramon, much less ChaosGallantmon.
Then I heard a scream.
I looked and I saw someone falling.
"Zudomon!"
"I see her, Joe!"
Zudomon swam out and got her. I couldn't quite see who it was from my perch behind his head, but Zudomon stopped suddenly.
"Oh, Joe…"
"Zudomon?"
"You'd better take a look Joe…"
"Of course I should. A med-student is better than nothing, right?"
"That's not what I meant Joe…"
Huh?
I looked down at Zudomon's rising hand.
"Oh… no… Carmela. Zudomon, about face! Get us to shore! Now!"
"You got it, Joe!"
Oh jeeze, oh jeeze, oh jeeze…
I was climbing down off of Zudomon before we even reached shore, I landed in water up to my knees, but I ignored it, running as best I could over to where Zudomon was placing Carmela down. I rushed over to her and began checking her over for injuries.
Please be okay Carmela, please…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"RIVER OF POWER!"
I let the Gorgon take another beating. I didn't have much choice, if I didn't the bridge would collapse. Not only did that mean I would lose my support structure, but a lot of innocent people would get hurt.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
MetalSeadramon easily avoided my attack. It wasn't that hard. I couldn't move and my attacks both go in a straight line.
*GRANI!*
Damn, still no answer…
I could see Zudomon and Joe out of the corner of my eye, obsessing over the girl that had fallen.
I'm glad she's going to be okay, but I could really use some support fi… crap!
With a loud groan of tearing metal, the bridge gave out, and I began tumbling towards the water myself.
Then I slammed into something hard as I started moving upwards again.
*Grani?!*
*You called, Takato?*
*I didn't think you could hear me…*
*I could hear you, but… let's save it for later.*
*Right. Let's end this. Now.*
I leapt to my feet, Grani doing some fancy flying to make sure I didn't fall off, and we set out for the scaled serpent.
"ULTIMATE STREAM!"
We swooped out of the way of the attack and kept going. Then, without warning, we dived for the sea, leading him on, before shooting out just over the water.
"JUDECCA PRISON!"
This attack was also easy for MetalSeadramon to dodge, but the next two attacks hit dead on.
"FLOWER CANNON!"
"HORN BUSTER!"
MetalSeadramon flinched though not really injured, and turned to greet his new foes. Grani and I came up from below, my lance extended.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
My attack slammed into him at close range, and MetalSeadramon roared in pain. As we passed, I noted movement on top of it's head.
A human?! Well, that would certainly explain a lot…
These attacks had been way too calculated to be done by a digimon like MetalSeadramon. It was way too arrogant for one thing. It would have stuck around to fight, not run at the first sign of trouble.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The phone rang.
Given my mother was out, and grandfather was at the dojo, I left Upamon to answer it despite the fact that he was still very upset.
"Hida Residence."
[Cody? It's Yolie. How fast can you get down to the bridge? MetalSeadramon's out there over the water, and only Joe is out there right now.]
I looked over at Upamon, who was just sitting there, eyes wide with fright.
Sorry Joe…
"I don't think I can Yolie. Upamon's not in any condition to fight right now."
[What's wrong?]
"It's…"
Upamon was giving me a look. I closed my eyes.
Only for you Upamon.
"He really wore himself out yesterday. He's exhausted right now."
[I understand Cody. Thanks anyways. We'll manage, don't worry.]
"Yeah. Bye Yolie."
[See you!]
I looked over at Upamon. He looked back, tears in his eyes.
"They can't know Cody, they can't know…"
I sighed and squatted down next to him before sitting completely and taking him into my lap.
"What do you want me to do then? We can't ignore this forever."
"I know, but…"
He looked up at me eyes wide with fright.
"What? You can tell me anything Upamon. You know that…"
He burst into tears and started crying.
"I don't want to be him again Cody! I like how it is now. I like us! I don't even know how I was like that before, but I don't want to be that way again! I don't want to be him again… but ever since I evolved into Scorpiomon…"
I finally understood.
"You're afraid of being a MetalSeadramon again?"
He nodded.
"I don't want to be him again Cody… I don't want to be that way…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I watched from the bridge as Lilymon and MegaKabuterimon flew around MetalSeadramon.
"FLOWER CANNON!"
I grinned as the attack hit dead on.
I don't care what it takes MetalSeadramon. You'll give Lou his Tortomon back.
Next to me Izzy squeezed my hand reassuringly. I looked over and he smiled at me. I smiled back, but then returned my attention to the fight.
Come on Lillymon. Show him that we're not afraid of him.
Lou was a good friend, and so was his Tortomon. It wasn't right that he had been taken away. It just wasn't.
And we'll get Tortomon back. Somehow.
"HORN BUSTER!"
MegaKabuterimon was doing his best to support Lillymon too. Then, suddenly, MetalSeadramon's tail came out of nowhere, striking Lillymon dead on, sending her crashing down to the bay below.
"Lillymon!"
"MegaKabuterimon!"
Huh?
I glanced away from Lillymon shortly to see what was wrong, just to see MegaKabuterimon swoop by, catching Lillymon on his back. I smiled as Lillymon recovered, and started flying again, while the black knight kept MetalSeadramon busy.
Thanks Izzy…
"RIVER OF POWER!"
"JUDECCA PRISON!"
MetalSeadramon fired off his attack first, but ChaosGallantmon's met it in the center, and both digimon tried to overcome the other. Lillymon and MegaKabuterimon waited. If they went in now, the resulting explosion could cause a lot of damage. Then, the blue and gold dragon the knight was riding began to move closer to MetalSeadramon, slowly at first, but gaining speed as MetalSeadramon backed up.
Without warning, the dragon plummeted as ChaosGallantmon jumped, allowing MetalSeadramon's attack to pierce right through the area he had been only a moment before. But the knight's jump carried it forward as well.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
The black beam of energy from the knight's lance pierced the thick metal plating on the serpent's head, and it burst into data. The knight landed on the dragon like they had planned it a thousand times, and the data began sucking into him. When it was finished, the dragon, assumedly at the command of the knight made its way over to us.
How will we get Tortomon back now?
ChaosGallantmon jumped from the dragon's back onto the bridge, onto a stable secton, causing a shiver, but not much more damage. I don't know why, but I yelled at him.
"HEY! How dare you! I needed that data!!"
The knight looked down at me.
"Oh?"
"MetalSeadramon stole the data of my friend's Tortomon! If it weren't for you, Tortomon would have been reborn!"
The knight snorted.
"You forget, Digidestined of Sincerity, that we are not within the digital realm. This Tortomon's data, along with MetalSeadramon's would simply have vanished without the cohesion to remain stable. There is no primary village in the human world. Uncontrolled data simply… fades…"
My face went ashen and drawn.
"But… but…"
There was a hand on my shoulder then. Izzy's. He spoke softly.
"He's right Mimi. As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. There's nothing we could have done."
No…
Poor Lou…
I bowed my head. The knight spoke again.
"This one was guiding the MetalSeadramon. You may take your complaints to him."
I looked up, and he dropped a struggling figure onto the ground out of his previously closed hand. He signaled to the dragon with a wave of his hand and it flew off, shimmering out of sight. Then he too disappeared, vanishing in an explosion of green data. The figure on the ground got up, a sadistic grin on his face as he ran for me.
"Michael?!"
Michael stopped.
"Come with me Mimi! Come with me!"
Michael did this? Michael destroyed these buildings, killed those people… deleted Tortomon?!
My rage overwhelmed me at that point. I stalked closer to him, and he opened his arms, obviously seeing only what he wanted too.
"Yes, you come to me just as he said you would! Yes, come, be wi…ugh!"
I hit him. Not a slap like last time, but a real hit. The delusional bastard finally seemed to take the hint as his eyes clouded with confusion.
"But, but, he promised… He promised we would be together…"
He looked up at me, eyes pleading. I turned my back on him and ran to Izzy, throwing my arms around him, and preceded to cry as the police arrived. Michael started raving.
"I did this for you Mimi!! I did it!! I did this! All for you, Mimi! All for you! He promised you would be mine when I did this! That you would be mine!"
The police started rounding people up for questioning. Izzy and I were among them, but I could only concentrate on two things. Tortomon was gone for good, and Michael had done all of this in my name.
I kept crying, and Izzy kept holding me.
The world was a dark, cruel place right then.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke a little groggy. I heard a strange, deep voice.
"How is she Joe?"
I heard Joe's voice then, and calmed a litte.
"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think she's going to be fine Zudomon."
"That's good."
Zudomon?
I blinked, opening my eyes. Joe was right above me, looking down. He smiled.
"Carmela! You're okay! I thought you were going to be out for awhile!"
I smiled at Joe.
"I think I'll be okay…"
"That's good…"
I turned at the deep voice. And screamed. Scrambling back.
It's one of them…
It was huge, looking something like a cross between a walrus and a turtle, carrying a mean looking hammer. Joe looked at me in concern.
"Carmela, it's okay, really. He won't hurt you!"
"Joe, come away from it. Now. Don't be stupid. They can't be trusted…"
Joe frowned.
"Zudomon wouldn't hurt anyone who didn't sincerely deserve it Carmela. Please calm down, let's talk about it."
The walrus-turtle thing behind him took a step forward. I squeeked in fright and fell back. I scrambled to my feet and turned, running for my life. I heard Joe calling, but didn't care.
"Wait! Carmela!"
I can't believe he's with them. Those things are dangerous, he just can't see it.
I ran until I reached home, where a message from Joe was waiting for me. I deleted it. I lay down on my bed and began to cry bitterly.
When will it end Mama? When will they stop haunting me?
I fell.
I'm not sure how long I fell, or how far, but I know I fell, even as my scream echoed out into the void. The creatures were fighting, just as they had all those years ago.
Like they were doing when mama died.
My mother had died defending me from some ghost-thing. And in the end, it hadn't mattered, because she was dead, and they found me anyways.
And now they were fighting again.
And it looks like I'm the first casualty. Maybe I'll see mama again…
And then I hit the water and blacked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is beyond bad… I just hope that one's on our side.
Other than ChaosGallantmon out there on the bridge, I was the only Digidestined out here. The others were coming, and I didn't know if they would make it in time. ChaosGallantmon was a mystery. He admitted that he had wanted Sora for something, but had also saved our lives.
Gomamon was digivolved to Zudomon, but I didn't think we'd last long against MetalSeadramon, much less ChaosGallantmon.
Then I heard a scream.
I looked and I saw someone falling.
"Zudomon!"
"I see her, Joe!"
Zudomon swam out and got her. I couldn't quite see who it was from my perch behind his head, but Zudomon stopped suddenly.
"Oh, Joe…"
"Zudomon?"
"You'd better take a look Joe…"
"Of course I should. A med-student is better than nothing, right?"
"That's not what I meant Joe…"
Huh?
I looked down at Zudomon's rising hand.
"Oh… no… Carmela. Zudomon, about face! Get us to shore! Now!"
"You got it, Joe!"
Oh jeeze, oh jeeze, oh jeeze…
I was climbing down off of Zudomon before we even reached shore, I landed in water up to my knees, but I ignored it, running as best I could over to where Zudomon was placing Carmela down. I rushed over to her and began checking her over for injuries.
Please be okay Carmela, please…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"RIVER OF POWER!"
I let the Gorgon take another beating. I didn't have much choice, if I didn't the bridge would collapse. Not only did that mean I would lose my support structure, but a lot of innocent people would get hurt.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
MetalSeadramon easily avoided my attack. It wasn't that hard. I couldn't move and my attacks both go in a straight line.
*GRANI!*
Damn, still no answer…
I could see Zudomon and Joe out of the corner of my eye, obsessing over the girl that had fallen.
I'm glad she's going to be okay, but I could really use some support fi… crap!
With a loud groan of tearing metal, the bridge gave out, and I began tumbling towards the water myself.
Then I slammed into something hard as I started moving upwards again.
*Grani?!*
*You called, Takato?*
*I didn't think you could hear me…*
*I could hear you, but… let's save it for later.*
*Right. Let's end this. Now.*
I leapt to my feet, Grani doing some fancy flying to make sure I didn't fall off, and we set out for the scaled serpent.
"ULTIMATE STREAM!"
We swooped out of the way of the attack and kept going. Then, without warning, we dived for the sea, leading him on, before shooting out just over the water.
"JUDECCA PRISON!"
This attack was also easy for MetalSeadramon to dodge, but the next two attacks hit dead on.
"FLOWER CANNON!"
"HORN BUSTER!"
MetalSeadramon flinched though not really injured, and turned to greet his new foes. Grani and I came up from below, my lance extended.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
My attack slammed into him at close range, and MetalSeadramon roared in pain. As we passed, I noted movement on top of it's head.
A human?! Well, that would certainly explain a lot…
These attacks had been way too calculated to be done by a digimon like MetalSeadramon. It was way too arrogant for one thing. It would have stuck around to fight, not run at the first sign of trouble.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The phone rang.
Given my mother was out, and grandfather was at the dojo, I left Upamon to answer it despite the fact that he was still very upset.
"Hida Residence."
[Cody? It's Yolie. How fast can you get down to the bridge? MetalSeadramon's out there over the water, and only Joe is out there right now.]
I looked over at Upamon, who was just sitting there, eyes wide with fright.
Sorry Joe…
"I don't think I can Yolie. Upamon's not in any condition to fight right now."
[What's wrong?]
"It's…"
Upamon was giving me a look. I closed my eyes.
Only for you Upamon.
"He really wore himself out yesterday. He's exhausted right now."
[I understand Cody. Thanks anyways. We'll manage, don't worry.]
"Yeah. Bye Yolie."
[See you!]
I looked over at Upamon. He looked back, tears in his eyes.
"They can't know Cody, they can't know…"
I sighed and squatted down next to him before sitting completely and taking him into my lap.
"What do you want me to do then? We can't ignore this forever."
"I know, but…"
He looked up at me eyes wide with fright.
"What? You can tell me anything Upamon. You know that…"
He burst into tears and started crying.
"I don't want to be him again Cody! I like how it is now. I like us! I don't even know how I was like that before, but I don't want to be that way again! I don't want to be him again… but ever since I evolved into Scorpiomon…"
I finally understood.
"You're afraid of being a MetalSeadramon again?"
He nodded.
"I don't want to be him again Cody… I don't want to be that way…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I watched from the bridge as Lilymon and MegaKabuterimon flew around MetalSeadramon.
"FLOWER CANNON!"
I grinned as the attack hit dead on.
I don't care what it takes MetalSeadramon. You'll give Lou his Tortomon back.
Next to me Izzy squeezed my hand reassuringly. I looked over and he smiled at me. I smiled back, but then returned my attention to the fight.
Come on Lillymon. Show him that we're not afraid of him.
Lou was a good friend, and so was his Tortomon. It wasn't right that he had been taken away. It just wasn't.
And we'll get Tortomon back. Somehow.
"HORN BUSTER!"
MegaKabuterimon was doing his best to support Lillymon too. Then, suddenly, MetalSeadramon's tail came out of nowhere, striking Lillymon dead on, sending her crashing down to the bay below.
"Lillymon!"
"MegaKabuterimon!"
Huh?
I glanced away from Lillymon shortly to see what was wrong, just to see MegaKabuterimon swoop by, catching Lillymon on his back. I smiled as Lillymon recovered, and started flying again, while the black knight kept MetalSeadramon busy.
Thanks Izzy…
"RIVER OF POWER!"
"JUDECCA PRISON!"
MetalSeadramon fired off his attack first, but ChaosGallantmon's met it in the center, and both digimon tried to overcome the other. Lillymon and MegaKabuterimon waited. If they went in now, the resulting explosion could cause a lot of damage. Then, the blue and gold dragon the knight was riding began to move closer to MetalSeadramon, slowly at first, but gaining speed as MetalSeadramon backed up.
Without warning, the dragon plummeted as ChaosGallantmon jumped, allowing MetalSeadramon's attack to pierce right through the area he had been only a moment before. But the knight's jump carried it forward as well.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
The black beam of energy from the knight's lance pierced the thick metal plating on the serpent's head, and it burst into data. The knight landed on the dragon like they had planned it a thousand times, and the data began sucking into him. When it was finished, the dragon, assumedly at the command of the knight made its way over to us.
How will we get Tortomon back now?
ChaosGallantmon jumped from the dragon's back onto the bridge, onto a stable secton, causing a shiver, but not much more damage. I don't know why, but I yelled at him.
"HEY! How dare you! I needed that data!!"
The knight looked down at me.
"Oh?"
"MetalSeadramon stole the data of my friend's Tortomon! If it weren't for you, Tortomon would have been reborn!"
The knight snorted.
"You forget, Digidestined of Sincerity, that we are not within the digital realm. This Tortomon's data, along with MetalSeadramon's would simply have vanished without the cohesion to remain stable. There is no primary village in the human world. Uncontrolled data simply… fades…"
My face went ashen and drawn.
"But… but…"
There was a hand on my shoulder then. Izzy's. He spoke softly.
"He's right Mimi. As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. There's nothing we could have done."
No…
Poor Lou…
I bowed my head. The knight spoke again.
"This one was guiding the MetalSeadramon. You may take your complaints to him."
I looked up, and he dropped a struggling figure onto the ground out of his previously closed hand. He signaled to the dragon with a wave of his hand and it flew off, shimmering out of sight. Then he too disappeared, vanishing in an explosion of green data. The figure on the ground got up, a sadistic grin on his face as he ran for me.
"Michael?!"
Michael stopped.
"Come with me Mimi! Come with me!"
Michael did this? Michael destroyed these buildings, killed those people… deleted Tortomon?!
My rage overwhelmed me at that point. I stalked closer to him, and he opened his arms, obviously seeing only what he wanted too.
"Yes, you come to me just as he said you would! Yes, come, be wi…ugh!"
I hit him. Not a slap like last time, but a real hit. The delusional bastard finally seemed to take the hint as his eyes clouded with confusion.
"But, but, he promised… He promised we would be together…"
He looked up at me, eyes pleading. I turned my back on him and ran to Izzy, throwing my arms around him, and preceded to cry as the police arrived. Michael started raving.
"I did this for you Mimi!! I did it!! I did this! All for you, Mimi! All for you! He promised you would be mine when I did this! That you would be mine!"
The police started rounding people up for questioning. Izzy and I were among them, but I could only concentrate on two things. Tortomon was gone for good, and Michael had done all of this in my name.
I kept crying, and Izzy kept holding me.
The world was a dark, cruel place right then.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke a little groggy. I heard a strange, deep voice.
"How is she Joe?"
I heard Joe's voice then, and calmed a litte.
"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think she's going to be fine Zudomon."
"That's good."
Zudomon?
I blinked, opening my eyes. Joe was right above me, looking down. He smiled.
"Carmela! You're okay! I thought you were going to be out for awhile!"
I smiled at Joe.
"I think I'll be okay…"
"That's good…"
I turned at the deep voice. And screamed. Scrambling back.
It's one of them…
It was huge, looking something like a cross between a walrus and a turtle, carrying a mean looking hammer. Joe looked at me in concern.
"Carmela, it's okay, really. He won't hurt you!"
"Joe, come away from it. Now. Don't be stupid. They can't be trusted…"
Joe frowned.
"Zudomon wouldn't hurt anyone who didn't sincerely deserve it Carmela. Please calm down, let's talk about it."
The walrus-turtle thing behind him took a step forward. I squeeked in fright and fell back. I scrambled to my feet and turned, running for my life. I heard Joe calling, but didn't care.
"Wait! Carmela!"
I can't believe he's with them. Those things are dangerous, he just can't see it.
I ran until I reached home, where a message from Joe was waiting for me. I deleted it. I lay down on my bed and began to cry bitterly.
When will it end Mama? When will they stop haunting me?