The Remains of Heaven
By Ryan Bodle
Chapter Five: The Straight Line That Falters- Part One
Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, if I did, I wouldn't be writing this.
"TAI!" Kari screamed until her throat went sore and her knees buckled inwards, forcing her to sink back to the sand. "Tai?"
"Why did he take Tai and Sora?" Yolei asked. Matt was stone faced watching nothing but air, as CyberDatamon had already disappeared from sight.
"I think he only meant to take Sora," Joe started. "What would a digimon we don't even know want with just Sora?"
"I don't know, but he looked strangely familiar, his name was CyberDatamon right?" Yolei nodded at Izzy as he began piling possibilities up. By then Stingmon landed with Davis and Ken, followed by ExVeemon. Pegasusmon was not far behind with Cody, T.K and Amardillomon.
"What happened? I thought there was trouble?" Davis said out loud, before noticing Kari on the floor, on the edge of shedding tears.
"CyberDatamon took Sora and Tai," Izzy answered.
"Well what the hell are you sitting around for?" Davis screamed. ExVeemon was gone in a flash as Davis pulled a Digi-egg out. Within another flash, there was Raidramon. Davis jumped on top. "Who's coming?"
Biyomon and Agumon didn't hesitate on joining Davis. "I can't leave Sora to that monster!"
"And Tai needs my help too, I'm in!" Davis looked up with a smug look.
"Which way did he go?" There was a silence soon to be breeched by Agumon as he pointed in the general direction. "Anybody else can follow my dust, let's go Raidramon!" Raidramon was off in a flash.
"Pegasusmon!" T.K shouted as he once again mounted. Soon enough they were air born. Stingmon looked down at Ken who watched on as the figures disappeared. Ken looked back up and grinned as they both nodded. A moment's delay and those two were off.
"Well, what do we do now?" Joe asked, dumbfounded by the brief encounter with Davis before he took off. "Do we follow them?"
"No," the kids all turned to a crouching Matt. His knees spread so that his arms could rest apart on them. He received some disbelieving looks. "Right now, CyberDatamon is stronger than our digimon combined so it's useless fighting without a plan."
"But if we don't follow, we'll never know where he takes them," Yolei protested.
"Well, we wouldn't if we did," Matt responded calmly getting up. "First off, CyberDatamon is already fifteen times faster than anybody we have on our side; secondly I think he's pretty smart so he'd throw us off the trail. Davis and the other two can chase all they want, they'll lose the scent."
"So what do we do?"
"I don't know!" Matt yelled. "Come up with an idea, that's it I guess." He knelt back by Gabumon and picked him up before making a few steps from the group. "I know it sounds harsh, but we have to retreat and regroup."
"Sounds like the opposite of something Tai would say," Yolei huffed.
"I'm not Tai, Yolei," he answered in a stone voice before opening a digi- port. There was a moments silence before Joe took an unconscious Gomamon through. Before disappearing he said something.
"If anything our digimon need their strength back before trying an attack again."
"I don't believe a word of it!" Yolei shouted again. "We should be doing something about something. It seems total idiocy to just abandon them."
"I think Matt's right," Cody answered. "But I think there's something else we should be doing. We can't afford to be sitting around idly. There must be something we can do."
"Right," Izzy answered brightly. "Perhaps you'd like to join me and solve the mystery of this dark ocean. I've pin pointed a new location which we've been to many times before."
"Where?" Yolei asked. She peered over his laptop. "No way!"
"Right, the centre of all the points is none other than Primary Village."
"Is that some sense of irony?" Cody asked.
"Possibly, it may be an ideal that darkness starts from the beginning, who knows, I think it is worth checking out, who wishes to accompany me?"
"I will," Cody answered looking to Yolei.
"Alright, it's better than nothing," she sighed. Izzy had to turn and look at Kari.
"Kari?" Her head rose from staring at the ground. Gatomon had looked up at her the whole time but Kari never made eye contact.
"I think I need to rest myself, I'll catch up later ok?"
"Ok Kari," Cody responded first. He interjected Yolei from opening her mouth. Izzy would have been the last to speak if at all. "We'll email when we find out anything, right guys?"
"Sure," Izzy added. The three watched as Kari slumped away from them, a slight quiver noticeable in her knees. The aura was morale dampening as she disappeared beyond the digi-port. Yolei now had room to scream.
"Ok, I can appreciate the fact that not everything is exactly perfectly fine, but what the hell just happened here?!" The response took time.
"Everybody is defeated," Izzy answered. It had hit him by now. "Admittedly, us digi-destined have been split up before, but never in such a manner. This CyberDatamon has crippled us by taking two friends from us and we now have to face the possibility, we won't see them again."
The lump suddenly got larger, he couldn't talk, hardly breathe as his throat turned barren dry. The leading role seemed empty as Matt felt forced to make decisions. It seemed so different from Tai and that's what made it worse. At any point when the group faced a choice it was Tai. He always took up centre stage so well that it was quiet with him gone. Again that gone. Izzy desperately tried to stop his circle thinking but got lost himself, that it took Cody to rescue him with a rough shake.
"Huh?"
"Do you still intend to go to Primary Village?" he asked bluntly. Izzy was still dumb-founded. "I know you're feeling down right now, but we should stay focused until we come up with a plan, so how about we discover why the mystery with the dark ocean?"
"You're right," a not so sturdy Tentomon stood behind the eldest digi- destined, catching his breath, Izzy picked him up. "Is it possible one of you guys could give us a ride?"
Yolei nodded. "Digi-Armor Energize!" Hawkmon flashed.
"Hawkmon digivolve to Halsemon!" Immediately Yolei climbed on board and leant out a hand to either of the two. Izzy was the first to climb aboard. Cody was soon helped on, Halsemon groaned a bit.
"I think I've taken on more than I can handle."
"Amardillomon, it's time we talked about dieting," Cody added. His digimon partner couldn't argue, he knew full well why. A mysteriously vanishing tray of freshly cooked brownies. Still he thought they were worth it. Halsemon took off and they headed for Primary Village.
"We lost him?" Davis slumped to the floor, his body slumping hard on the sand below him. "But how can he be that fast?"
Raidramon gave up in the same sense, he lay down and sighed heavy. The two lie there in defeat. T.K still stood by his partner in the form of Pegasusmon. There was an intense scan of the area from his eyes.
"Well lets see if anything besides our eyes can work. Any digimon here any good with their nose?" Agumon and Biyomon shook their heads.
"Forget it T.K, Raidramon was already on that idea, this CyberDatamon is so fast, the trail ran cold already," Davis replied. Just then Ken and Stingmon turned up to join the group.
"What's the matter guys?" Ken asked. "We're still on this CyberDatamon right?"
"Trail's gone cold," T.K explained.
"Since when? We've been following him since we left," Ken answered with a confused look.
"Raidramon was following his scent and now it's gone, and so has CyberDatamon."
"But Stingmon's still on it," the other two raised their heads to Stingmon. "His infrared sight has picked up CyaberDatamon's vapor trail, come on!"
"Ken does it again!" Davis shouted as he punched the air. "Wait to go buddy! You're the best!" Ken grinned as Stingmon levitated.
Davis was once again on Raidramon's back, Agumon and Biyomon hopped on and held tightly to Raidramon's back. He turned into lightning as he flew further on in pursuit. Stingmon was already far ahead. T.K was left behind stunned on Pegasusmon's back.
"Lets go Pegasusmon!" he said. Shaking the cobwebs. Once again the trio had set off at the bullet speed in pursuit of a kidnapper.
Now, more than ever shadows stirred. There was a lack of aura fulfilling dark dreams as black under black on top of grey shifted. Each awaiting a single moment where unlimited dreams of theirs would come. Still one figure stood still in resented thought.
'Not enough, we need more!' it screamed. 'I need more!' A lesser creature, no more than an insect in comparison crept up to him.
"Master, is it time?" it croaked whilst it stood bent over. With a pause the larger God sighed heavy.
"It is."
"But should we not prepare?" The hulk turned to look down on it.
"Of course we prepare! It should be done by now!" The voice exploded to make the walls around shatter, forcing the servant to cower further. "Just as promised, we will thrive once again." There was a scattering as the little one ran from the scene. The leader of shadows now once again on it's own as it dropped into deep thought.
'I must draw more energy from some being before the opening comes, else we will perish.' It pondered further. 'One must be driven by obsession. All are, but none are driven enough.'
"It's empty," Yolei remarked, walking through the few buildings in Primary Village. The only sound that replied was the echo the structures seemed to create. "What exactly are we looking for anyway?"
"Anything abnormal and we haven't noticed about this place I guess," Izzy replied. "It's difficult to tell."
"When me and T.K were at that other place, T.K was controlled by the Dark Ocean, maybe we should think about that before anybody starts an argument."
"Then by being here, we could trigger something big," Izzy replied in thought. The others seemed untroubled. "And the theory that we should gather as much information as possible would be a good idea."
"Well let's split up then," Yolei said as she walked off. Hawkmon flew above her head without protest for now.
"That doesn't sound like a good idea to me," Cody shouted after her. Izzy has his back turned in his ideas on being at their location.
"I think we need to stay in pairs at least so let's break into groups with a digimon and investigate, I suggest we meet back here in an hour."
"Izzy, their gone already." Tentomon felt inclined to inform him. Izzy dropped his shoulders.
"This is why I wasn't a leader," he added.
"Yolei, I don't think we should leave Cody and Izzy," Hawkmon floated in an annoying way.
"Puh-lease Hawkmon, they can handle themselves. If I stay with them, Izzy would just get his laptop out and tap away and Cody would happily stand there watching him all day. Even I can't stand staring at a screen that long," she continued to amble around. "Ah to hell with it," she slumped, he backside, hitting the ground with harder force than she liked. She ignored it as she bent over her lap and huffed. She heard foot scrapes from behind.
"Yolei, why do you always run off ahead like that?" Cody asked approaching.
"Well it's clear why we came here so why do we sit around when we arrive?" She retorted.
"What are you doing now?" Yolei gave a meek growl, showing her teeth with her back turned. There was a shout from behind her. It's slurring features made it almost impossible to make the words out. But they were to the effect of.
"It's all gone to hell!" Both digi-destined swung around to see some old man stagger from step to step. A bottle in his hand.
"How do drunks just accidentally step into the digital world?" Yolei asked to herself, always aloud and most audible from the man. He stopped and swayed before glaring at them. His face all screwed from age as it was. A grey moustache filling the centre of his face, only a grey lock of hair remained on his head, tied back. He raised an arm and pointed in her general direction, meaning to bear down on her.
"I'll have you know, Missy," he emphasized. "I live here. He fell from lack of sturdy footing. Once getting his balance back, he took his bottle to lips and took a hard swing, gasping after it. "And you. You! Are tresspessing."
"I suppose you're going to kick me out are you?" She got up, pouting. There was a pause as he dropped the bottle and raised his shoulders.
"Yeah, I will," he replied in an 'as a matter of fact' sort of way. He stumbled all forty paces to her and came face to face. His breath stank from something. A clumsy arm swung at her and surprisingly knocked her to the side.
"Geez, you're strong for a geezer," she screamed out as she hit the floor. Cody took a run at the man, who turned to see him in time. His other arm swung round and caught the boy as he charged, knocking him a clear few feet. He landed hard clutching his chest as he struggled to breath from being winded. The elder man turned back to Yolei. "You're breath stinks of something, and that's just about the only thing that could hold me back from kicking your ass right now," she huffed, getting up.
"Hmph," he stumbled back a step trying to catch balance again. He ended up falling to sit cross legged.
"Who are you?" Yoeli demanded standing over him. "And you better be real sorry about Cody else I'll-."
"Or else what?" he snapped and pushed his bottom lip as he groggily glared up at her. "I tell you what." He started to get up again. "You tell me why you have digimon with you and I might say sumthing."
"Well duh, we're digidestined!" The old man gave another hmph of discontent and spluttered out a cough. His raging breath steamed over her face. "Gross!" He stumbled off. "Hey! Where you going?"
"This way, duh!" he mimicked as he staggered before stopping. Yolei stormed ahead to cut him off.
"I am so gonna kick your ass!" She shouted.
"ZZZzzzzzZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz." He fell asleep standing before falling back, still out cold. A tag fell from his garments. She was astonished to read them name printed.
'Gennai.'
Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, if I did, I wouldn't be writing this.
"TAI!" Kari screamed until her throat went sore and her knees buckled inwards, forcing her to sink back to the sand. "Tai?"
"Why did he take Tai and Sora?" Yolei asked. Matt was stone faced watching nothing but air, as CyberDatamon had already disappeared from sight.
"I think he only meant to take Sora," Joe started. "What would a digimon we don't even know want with just Sora?"
"I don't know, but he looked strangely familiar, his name was CyberDatamon right?" Yolei nodded at Izzy as he began piling possibilities up. By then Stingmon landed with Davis and Ken, followed by ExVeemon. Pegasusmon was not far behind with Cody, T.K and Amardillomon.
"What happened? I thought there was trouble?" Davis said out loud, before noticing Kari on the floor, on the edge of shedding tears.
"CyberDatamon took Sora and Tai," Izzy answered.
"Well what the hell are you sitting around for?" Davis screamed. ExVeemon was gone in a flash as Davis pulled a Digi-egg out. Within another flash, there was Raidramon. Davis jumped on top. "Who's coming?"
Biyomon and Agumon didn't hesitate on joining Davis. "I can't leave Sora to that monster!"
"And Tai needs my help too, I'm in!" Davis looked up with a smug look.
"Which way did he go?" There was a silence soon to be breeched by Agumon as he pointed in the general direction. "Anybody else can follow my dust, let's go Raidramon!" Raidramon was off in a flash.
"Pegasusmon!" T.K shouted as he once again mounted. Soon enough they were air born. Stingmon looked down at Ken who watched on as the figures disappeared. Ken looked back up and grinned as they both nodded. A moment's delay and those two were off.
"Well, what do we do now?" Joe asked, dumbfounded by the brief encounter with Davis before he took off. "Do we follow them?"
"No," the kids all turned to a crouching Matt. His knees spread so that his arms could rest apart on them. He received some disbelieving looks. "Right now, CyberDatamon is stronger than our digimon combined so it's useless fighting without a plan."
"But if we don't follow, we'll never know where he takes them," Yolei protested.
"Well, we wouldn't if we did," Matt responded calmly getting up. "First off, CyberDatamon is already fifteen times faster than anybody we have on our side; secondly I think he's pretty smart so he'd throw us off the trail. Davis and the other two can chase all they want, they'll lose the scent."
"So what do we do?"
"I don't know!" Matt yelled. "Come up with an idea, that's it I guess." He knelt back by Gabumon and picked him up before making a few steps from the group. "I know it sounds harsh, but we have to retreat and regroup."
"Sounds like the opposite of something Tai would say," Yolei huffed.
"I'm not Tai, Yolei," he answered in a stone voice before opening a digi- port. There was a moments silence before Joe took an unconscious Gomamon through. Before disappearing he said something.
"If anything our digimon need their strength back before trying an attack again."
"I don't believe a word of it!" Yolei shouted again. "We should be doing something about something. It seems total idiocy to just abandon them."
"I think Matt's right," Cody answered. "But I think there's something else we should be doing. We can't afford to be sitting around idly. There must be something we can do."
"Right," Izzy answered brightly. "Perhaps you'd like to join me and solve the mystery of this dark ocean. I've pin pointed a new location which we've been to many times before."
"Where?" Yolei asked. She peered over his laptop. "No way!"
"Right, the centre of all the points is none other than Primary Village."
"Is that some sense of irony?" Cody asked.
"Possibly, it may be an ideal that darkness starts from the beginning, who knows, I think it is worth checking out, who wishes to accompany me?"
"I will," Cody answered looking to Yolei.
"Alright, it's better than nothing," she sighed. Izzy had to turn and look at Kari.
"Kari?" Her head rose from staring at the ground. Gatomon had looked up at her the whole time but Kari never made eye contact.
"I think I need to rest myself, I'll catch up later ok?"
"Ok Kari," Cody responded first. He interjected Yolei from opening her mouth. Izzy would have been the last to speak if at all. "We'll email when we find out anything, right guys?"
"Sure," Izzy added. The three watched as Kari slumped away from them, a slight quiver noticeable in her knees. The aura was morale dampening as she disappeared beyond the digi-port. Yolei now had room to scream.
"Ok, I can appreciate the fact that not everything is exactly perfectly fine, but what the hell just happened here?!" The response took time.
"Everybody is defeated," Izzy answered. It had hit him by now. "Admittedly, us digi-destined have been split up before, but never in such a manner. This CyberDatamon has crippled us by taking two friends from us and we now have to face the possibility, we won't see them again."
The lump suddenly got larger, he couldn't talk, hardly breathe as his throat turned barren dry. The leading role seemed empty as Matt felt forced to make decisions. It seemed so different from Tai and that's what made it worse. At any point when the group faced a choice it was Tai. He always took up centre stage so well that it was quiet with him gone. Again that gone. Izzy desperately tried to stop his circle thinking but got lost himself, that it took Cody to rescue him with a rough shake.
"Huh?"
"Do you still intend to go to Primary Village?" he asked bluntly. Izzy was still dumb-founded. "I know you're feeling down right now, but we should stay focused until we come up with a plan, so how about we discover why the mystery with the dark ocean?"
"You're right," a not so sturdy Tentomon stood behind the eldest digi- destined, catching his breath, Izzy picked him up. "Is it possible one of you guys could give us a ride?"
Yolei nodded. "Digi-Armor Energize!" Hawkmon flashed.
"Hawkmon digivolve to Halsemon!" Immediately Yolei climbed on board and leant out a hand to either of the two. Izzy was the first to climb aboard. Cody was soon helped on, Halsemon groaned a bit.
"I think I've taken on more than I can handle."
"Amardillomon, it's time we talked about dieting," Cody added. His digimon partner couldn't argue, he knew full well why. A mysteriously vanishing tray of freshly cooked brownies. Still he thought they were worth it. Halsemon took off and they headed for Primary Village.
"We lost him?" Davis slumped to the floor, his body slumping hard on the sand below him. "But how can he be that fast?"
Raidramon gave up in the same sense, he lay down and sighed heavy. The two lie there in defeat. T.K still stood by his partner in the form of Pegasusmon. There was an intense scan of the area from his eyes.
"Well lets see if anything besides our eyes can work. Any digimon here any good with their nose?" Agumon and Biyomon shook their heads.
"Forget it T.K, Raidramon was already on that idea, this CyberDatamon is so fast, the trail ran cold already," Davis replied. Just then Ken and Stingmon turned up to join the group.
"What's the matter guys?" Ken asked. "We're still on this CyberDatamon right?"
"Trail's gone cold," T.K explained.
"Since when? We've been following him since we left," Ken answered with a confused look.
"Raidramon was following his scent and now it's gone, and so has CyberDatamon."
"But Stingmon's still on it," the other two raised their heads to Stingmon. "His infrared sight has picked up CyaberDatamon's vapor trail, come on!"
"Ken does it again!" Davis shouted as he punched the air. "Wait to go buddy! You're the best!" Ken grinned as Stingmon levitated.
Davis was once again on Raidramon's back, Agumon and Biyomon hopped on and held tightly to Raidramon's back. He turned into lightning as he flew further on in pursuit. Stingmon was already far ahead. T.K was left behind stunned on Pegasusmon's back.
"Lets go Pegasusmon!" he said. Shaking the cobwebs. Once again the trio had set off at the bullet speed in pursuit of a kidnapper.
Now, more than ever shadows stirred. There was a lack of aura fulfilling dark dreams as black under black on top of grey shifted. Each awaiting a single moment where unlimited dreams of theirs would come. Still one figure stood still in resented thought.
'Not enough, we need more!' it screamed. 'I need more!' A lesser creature, no more than an insect in comparison crept up to him.
"Master, is it time?" it croaked whilst it stood bent over. With a pause the larger God sighed heavy.
"It is."
"But should we not prepare?" The hulk turned to look down on it.
"Of course we prepare! It should be done by now!" The voice exploded to make the walls around shatter, forcing the servant to cower further. "Just as promised, we will thrive once again." There was a scattering as the little one ran from the scene. The leader of shadows now once again on it's own as it dropped into deep thought.
'I must draw more energy from some being before the opening comes, else we will perish.' It pondered further. 'One must be driven by obsession. All are, but none are driven enough.'
"It's empty," Yolei remarked, walking through the few buildings in Primary Village. The only sound that replied was the echo the structures seemed to create. "What exactly are we looking for anyway?"
"Anything abnormal and we haven't noticed about this place I guess," Izzy replied. "It's difficult to tell."
"When me and T.K were at that other place, T.K was controlled by the Dark Ocean, maybe we should think about that before anybody starts an argument."
"Then by being here, we could trigger something big," Izzy replied in thought. The others seemed untroubled. "And the theory that we should gather as much information as possible would be a good idea."
"Well let's split up then," Yolei said as she walked off. Hawkmon flew above her head without protest for now.
"That doesn't sound like a good idea to me," Cody shouted after her. Izzy has his back turned in his ideas on being at their location.
"I think we need to stay in pairs at least so let's break into groups with a digimon and investigate, I suggest we meet back here in an hour."
"Izzy, their gone already." Tentomon felt inclined to inform him. Izzy dropped his shoulders.
"This is why I wasn't a leader," he added.
"Yolei, I don't think we should leave Cody and Izzy," Hawkmon floated in an annoying way.
"Puh-lease Hawkmon, they can handle themselves. If I stay with them, Izzy would just get his laptop out and tap away and Cody would happily stand there watching him all day. Even I can't stand staring at a screen that long," she continued to amble around. "Ah to hell with it," she slumped, he backside, hitting the ground with harder force than she liked. She ignored it as she bent over her lap and huffed. She heard foot scrapes from behind.
"Yolei, why do you always run off ahead like that?" Cody asked approaching.
"Well it's clear why we came here so why do we sit around when we arrive?" She retorted.
"What are you doing now?" Yolei gave a meek growl, showing her teeth with her back turned. There was a shout from behind her. It's slurring features made it almost impossible to make the words out. But they were to the effect of.
"It's all gone to hell!" Both digi-destined swung around to see some old man stagger from step to step. A bottle in his hand.
"How do drunks just accidentally step into the digital world?" Yolei asked to herself, always aloud and most audible from the man. He stopped and swayed before glaring at them. His face all screwed from age as it was. A grey moustache filling the centre of his face, only a grey lock of hair remained on his head, tied back. He raised an arm and pointed in her general direction, meaning to bear down on her.
"I'll have you know, Missy," he emphasized. "I live here. He fell from lack of sturdy footing. Once getting his balance back, he took his bottle to lips and took a hard swing, gasping after it. "And you. You! Are tresspessing."
"I suppose you're going to kick me out are you?" She got up, pouting. There was a pause as he dropped the bottle and raised his shoulders.
"Yeah, I will," he replied in an 'as a matter of fact' sort of way. He stumbled all forty paces to her and came face to face. His breath stank from something. A clumsy arm swung at her and surprisingly knocked her to the side.
"Geez, you're strong for a geezer," she screamed out as she hit the floor. Cody took a run at the man, who turned to see him in time. His other arm swung round and caught the boy as he charged, knocking him a clear few feet. He landed hard clutching his chest as he struggled to breath from being winded. The elder man turned back to Yolei. "You're breath stinks of something, and that's just about the only thing that could hold me back from kicking your ass right now," she huffed, getting up.
"Hmph," he stumbled back a step trying to catch balance again. He ended up falling to sit cross legged.
"Who are you?" Yoeli demanded standing over him. "And you better be real sorry about Cody else I'll-."
"Or else what?" he snapped and pushed his bottom lip as he groggily glared up at her. "I tell you what." He started to get up again. "You tell me why you have digimon with you and I might say sumthing."
"Well duh, we're digidestined!" The old man gave another hmph of discontent and spluttered out a cough. His raging breath steamed over her face. "Gross!" He stumbled off. "Hey! Where you going?"
"This way, duh!" he mimicked as he staggered before stopping. Yolei stormed ahead to cut him off.
"I am so gonna kick your ass!" She shouted.
"ZZZzzzzzZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz." He fell asleep standing before falling back, still out cold. A tag fell from his garments. She was astonished to read them name printed.
'Gennai.'