Here you go guys chapter 2. Hope you guys enjoy it. We'll be updating every Wednesday so I hope you guys tag along for the ride. Later guys.
Chapter 2: Trouble
Adrenaline pumped through his system as he sprinted down the near deserted suburban streets. As he neared the downtown area and the park, more of the city began to emerge and liven up, slowing Takuya down to wait for traffic. He growled to himself, just wanting to be there already.
Kouji could help him. Kouji was his best friend after all; he would know what to do. Takuya used these thoughts to calm and collect himself as he made his way to the park- hopefully still deserted due to the morning hour.
He was just across the street now. Without a second thought, he dashed into the street- right in front of an oncoming SUV. Takuya's eyes darted towards the approaching vehicle. It was going too fast and if he didn't react fast he would be run over.
The driver of the SUV tried hitting the breaks, only seeing the teenager at the last second. There was not enough time so the driver prepared for the inevitable collision. The tires screeched and the car came to an abrupt halt. There was no sudden force of impact, no sounds of glass crackling or metal denting, there wasn't even a thud. The driver exited the SUV and looked around for any trace of the boy.
Takuya darted into the safety of the park- praying the man hadn't seen him jump nearly ten feet straight up into the air to avoid being hit. He wouldn't have believed it himself if he hadn't been the one to do it. His breathing was uneven and shaky. He felt sick as he fell to his knees beside the designated tree.
"Takuya!"
He looked up, Kouji's eyes were wide as he raced to Takuya's side. Judging by his expression, he'd seen the near accident with the SUV.
"Start... Talking..." Kouji instructed as he tried to catch his breath.
"I… I don't know... where to start." Takuya admitted after finally regaining his breath. "I… I didn't even know I could do that. Man… what the hell is wrong with me? This is just… I don't even know anymore…"
Kouji sighed softly, letting a silence linger between them as they both took a moment to calm down. He spoke softly, "...Is there a beginning to this?"
"I um... I guess so..." Takuya stumbled, still rattled by the jump. "Well yesterday- yesterday I was leaving school and I went to the locker room to get my gym uniform. I saw another student about to beat up a classmate of mine's little brother. I got between them and he went after me instead. He grabbed my by the shirt and the next thing I know, we're both on the ground and my hand was engulfed in flames."
"Your hand just burst into flames?" Kouji folded his arms and looked to his friend. "I'd ask if you were really sure you weren't imagining things but with that jump just there, I don't think you are."
"So you believe me?" Takuya asked hopefully. "You don't think I'm crazy?"
Kouji sighed. "Not unless we're both crazy."
"That's not very comforting Kou."
"What have I told you about calling me that?!" Kouji snapped, "But in all seriousness, we both became a wide variety of Digimon- Hell we were one together. Anything is possible."
"Uh… yeah but, that was the Digital World." Takuya suggested and tried wrapping his mind around the situation. "How's this stuff happening to me here?"
Kouji rolled his eyes, "I'm not a psychic Takuya. Clearly there is an explanation- just not one that we know of yet. So until then- I suggest TRYING to keep this to yourself. Other people might freak out. I think the driver of the SUV nearly had a heart attack trying to figure out where you disappeared to."
"I guess." Takuya groaned and slouched in his spot. "Easier said than done though. I have no control over any of this stuff. What if something happens and I end up burning something down? I almost barbequed that jerk from yesterday."
"You make a good point..." Kouji thought about the boy's options, "well for one, do not get into a situation like that until we can figure this out. We will figure this out- somehow."
"Maybe the others can help us figure out what the heck is going on." Takuya stated, dropping himself on the grass. "This is just too freaky to deal with on our own. And last night's dream is so not helping in the slightest bit."
"Dream? You didn't say anything about a dream Takuya." Kouji interjected, slightly annoyed the brunette failed to mention this. "Spill. Now."
"Oh… uh… right." Takuya took a breath, preparing himself to recall the dream. "In my dream I saw Agunimon and ShadowSeraphimon fighting each other." He shuddered at the memory and continued. "It wasn't like before when I fought him… They were evenly matched and… there was just something really off about it."
"ShadowSeraphimon? Who the heck is that?"
Takuya looked at his friend for a moment before realizing that he wasn't there during the battle. "Oh right! You weren't there! Well, uh... it was during that whole Sakkakumon thing. I ended up being the last one out and had to fight Mercurymon in those last two uh… zone things."
"When I was fighting Mercurymon he used Seraphimon's data to turn into this nasty version of him, ShadowSeraphimon. He…" Takuya shuddered again. "He almost killed me… if it weren't for the power the Digi-egg gave to turn into Aldamon… I wouldn't be here…"
"How come you're just now telling me this?" Kouji teased, "That's incredible! Well not the whole almost dying thing... Anyhow- back to your dream. In it, the fight was different from when you faced ShadowSeraphimon because he and Agunimon were evenly matched this time."
"Yeah. Before, not even BurningGreymon could hurt him." Takuya replied. "He packed a really powerful punch. But in the dream, they were almost evenly matched but… in the end… Agunimon lost. I woke up before ShadowSeraphimon could deliver the finishing blow…"
"So how are you sure he lost? You never gave up even when the opponent knocked you down- What makes you think Agunimon wouldn't try to fight back?" Kouji countered.
Takuya sighed, admitting that he may have misinterpreted the dream. "I guess… it was just the sense of dread I got from it… I woke up too early to know how it ended."
"You jump to conclusions. Maybe Agunimon won- even so, I wonder what it means..." the younger twin mused. He removed his bandana and toyed with it in his hands while they sat beneath the tree, lost in thought.
Takuya sighed and leaned back, lying down on the grass, looking up at the sky. "Beats me. I have no idea what the heck this means. I'm not one of those dream interpreters guys or whatever they're called."
Kouji snorted in amusement. "Guess we just have to wait and see right?"
"I guess so." Takuya answered. "So, you know when the guys are supposed to show up? I seriously have no track of time."
"You have no track of anything Takuya. Honestly." Kouji stopped playing with his bandana and pull out his phone, "It's nearly 10, they should be here soon." He put the cell phone away, fixed his ponytail and tied the bandana on his head again.
"Hey guys!" a high pitched voice echoed across the park.
Kouji winced, "Speak of the devil."
"Finally, someone who isn't a sourpuss most of the time." Takuya grinned and got to his feet to greet his friends. He ran over to his friends before Kouji could respond, payback for what happened yesterday. "Hey guys. Glad you can make it."
"Whoa, look at that." JP grinned widely. "Takuya's actually early for a change. It's good to see you Takky."
"Good to see you too big buddy. And hey, I can be early when I want to." Takuya remarked, unable to hide the grin on his face.
Zoe stood beside JP, "How've you guys been- it's been far too long!" She glanced around, "Are Tommy and Kouichi here yet?"
"Boo."
Zoe yelped, jumping away with fright. Kouichi snuck up behind her, spooking the poor girl. "KOUICHI!"
The elder twin laughed, "Couldn't resist!" Zoe huffed and gave chase, intent on smacking him upside the head.
"Kouichi, what did mom say about scaring people?" Kouji teased, having gotten up to greet the others.
"That it's fun." Kouichi quipped back, grinning widely as he evaded Zoe's wraith.
Takuya did his best to keep down his laughter. "Always knew he was the fun one."
"Not that hard to be." JP commented silently to Takuya, glancing at Kouji for an instant as if it were all the proof he needed. "Now we just have to wait for Tommy."
"His parents still giving him grief about hanging out with us?" Takuya asked while looking around for the youngest member of the team.
JP shrugged. "Yeah but I'm sure they'll get over it eventually."
"Hey guys!" On cue, the young boy jogged towards the group. "Sorry I took so long!"
They greeted their youngest friend. "The gang's all here now!" Kouichi said lightly, still trying to avoid Zoe's murderous hands.
"Get back here!" She called after him, tiring. "How do you have so much energy?"
Kouji snagged his brother by his shirt, "Knock it off will ya? You're making a scene."
"Alright, I'll stop." Kouji let his twin go, "Tomorrow!" Kouichi added with a gleeful grin.
"Why was I cursed with two giddy idiots?" Kouji muttered to himself.
Zoe laughed, "Just lucky."
"You really need to lighten up buddy boy." JP patted the younger twin on the back. "You're way too stressed out." Kouji just rolled his eyes.
"Yeah! We're supposed to have fun!" Tommy added with a smile. "We got a break to enjoy. Right Takuya?"
Takuya blinked and nodded. "Right… uh, yeah. Of course."
Just as Takuya was about to address the strange events that had occurred he was interrupted by the eldest. "Well of course. You've only been calling each of us a hundred times each to plan something."
The gogglehead laughed nervously, recalling a lot of the annoyed ranting he received from his friends.
"Honestly Takuya- You were starting to sound a bit desperate." Zoe admitted. "You know we'd never bail on you."
"So what's on today's agenda?" Kouichi asked still grinning, "I have energy to burn!"
"So we noticed," Kouji remarked. Kouichi stuck his tongue out at his brother.
"Boys please." Zoe got between them, smacking Kouichi upside the head for earlier, "TRY to behave?"
"Uh… actually." Takuya spoke up to get their attention. "There's something I need to tell you guys."
Tommy looked to Takuya curiously. "What do you mean? What do you want to talk about?"
Takuya sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Look, something really freaky has been going on. Like, really really freaky."
JP raised an eyebrow at him. "Like?"
"Well, yesterday after school I got into a fight with some jerk at school and…" Takuya started.
"Takuya! You got into a fight at school!?" Zoe began but Takuya cut her off.
"I was trying to help this other kid- Look, during the fight two things happened, I got punched in the face and my hand spontaneously combusted with flames."
They gaped at him, surprised from the news, "But if you were punched then why isn't your face..?" JP began, trying to put things delicately so Zoe wouldn't get on his case. They all seemed to have ignore the fire part or were too confused to comment on it.
"I had a black eye yesterday, but it's completely healed itself today- and all I did was put ice on it!"
Kouichi looked perplexed, "But... that's impossible!"
"I know!" Takuya snapped, getting tense. He took a breath to calm himself down. "Look, I just... I don't know what's happening- My eye, the fire, avoiding that truck..."
"What truck?" Tommy inquired. Takuya blinked, trying to think how to explain that one.
"Takuya jumped about 10 feet straight up, over an SUV that he ran out in front of." Kouji replied calmly.
"He what?! Seriously? B-but how?" JP glanced at Takuya, completely shocked by what he had heard.
"I don't know! I mean… one moment I'm crossing the street, the next I'm ten feet in the air." Takuya answered, not really able to answer as calmly as Kouji. "And don't even get me started on the dream."
"You had a dream too?" Tommy asked.
The gogglehead sighed and nodded. "Last night… when I was asleep, I found myself in this dark void. Underneath me I saw Agunimon. And I saw ShadowSeraphimon..."
JP, Zoe, and Tommy collectively gasped, having been present for the fight. "My gods... Takuya..." Zoe placed a hand on his shoulder, "This is bad, isn't it?"
Takuya looked to her and nodded, trying to take comfort by her gesture. "We don't know… in my dream, they were fighting and by the time I woke up, Agunimon was on the floor and it looked like ShadowSeraphimon was going to… well, we're not sure what happened at the end."
"Damn…" JP muttered to himself.
"Are you okay Takuya?" Tommy asked.
The gogglehead shook his head. "I don't know. All of this stuff… its way too much for one day."
"What do you guys think?" Kouji asked, "There must be some reason this is happening to Takuya. The rest of us are unaffected..."
They all looked down, trying to come up with a logical solution, not finding one easily. "Perhaps... the Digital World is in trouble again." Kouichi suggested softly, his previously playful demeanor now very serious.
"But… why only me?" Takuya asked. "I mean, if it were the Digital World then why isn't everyone else affected by this? What makes me so special?"
"You were able to Fusion and Unity evolve." Tommy suggested. "Maybe that's it?"
Takuya shrugged. "I dunno. I mean, if that's it, Kouji should be glowing in the dark by now."
"Not funny." Kouji shot back, glowering at the brunette.
"You said it yourself." Takuya crossed his arms, getting annoyed at Kouji.
"Boys!" Zoe's warning tone snapped them both out of their little glare off. "You two argue like an old married couple!"
"We do not!" the shouted at the same time, earning a round of laughter from their friends.
Zoe shook her head, "Boys. Well, from the sound of it, this does have something to do with the Digital World- but just you Takuya."
"Wait a minute- Didn't you mention becoming another Digimon- just the one time?" Kouji asked.
"Uh…" Takuya took a moment to think it over before it finally hit him. He grimaced at the thought. "I remember that… ugh…"
"You mean that thing you tried to explain about what happened when you disappeared?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah." Takuya nodded. "DarkTrailmon took me back to Earth and… I turned into this… weird Digimon. It looked like it was Agunimon's rookie form or something… I didn't get a good look at it. I was too busy freaking out from everything happening… everything changed back to normal when I came back though."
"Well, that does make you special Takuya; that never happened to any of us." Kouichi said, remembering how Takuya had known him because of that incident following Kouji purifying his spirits of evil.
Kouji crossed his arms again, "Well, that still doesn't explain what the heck is going on."
"Maybe it's nothing to worry about." JP suggested, trying to lighten the mood, "I mean, we know that the spirits are still in the Digital World- so it's not them. Not to mention why they would want to do anything to Takky."
"You got a good point there." Takuya sighed and stretched. "Maybe it's just some freaky side effect from that whole ordeal. Maybe it'll go away soon."
"That's the spirit Takky!" JP grinned and wrapped an arm around Takuya's neck. "Come on, we got the whole day to do something. The world is our oyster!"
Takuya chuckled and grinned, feeling the mood lighten from JP's silliness. "Yeah, you're right buddy! This is the first break since school started and I sure as hell ain't gonna waste it!"
"Uh Takuya... your teeth..." Kouichi said calmly. Zoe saw whatever Kouichi saw too, digging around in her purse and producing a small compact mirror. She passed it to him as JP let go of the boy. Takuya opened up the small mirror and brought it up to his face so he could examine his teeth.
His upper canines had lengthened to resemble fangs. The rest of his teeth looked to have gotten pointed and sharp as well.
Takuya yelped, nearly dropping the mirror at the sight of his fangs. "What the hell?! What happened to my teeth?!"
He poked at his teeth to make sure they were real and recoiled from the sharpness of the points of his canines. "Ow! Oh man… what's happening to me? I look like a freaking vampire!"
"You think maybe it's got something to do with everything else?" Tommy asked, not sure on how to comfort his friend.
"I don't know… maybe." Takuya groaned. "But why? What's the point of giving me fangs?"
"Calm down Takuya- Just... We'll figure this out. We're not going to leave you alone through this- whatever 'this' is." Zoe said, tried to reassure the boy. She took the mirror and took his hands in hers. "We're going to help you."
The others nodded. "We just need to relax and try to find the cause." Kouichi stated matter-of-factly.
"Let's get out of the public eye first; Last thing we need is for Takuya to spontaneously combust in the middle of the park." Kouji said, taking charge. "We can go to my place- My dad's away on business and Mom's likely out shopping by now."
With that the group set off, hoping to find the cause for what in the world could be happening to their panicked friend.
