Hey guys. Welcome back. Hope you all had a good Halloween. We got another chapter for you guys. This is the beginning of what we'd like to call section 2 so I hope you guys are ready to get this started. And now, onto the chapter.

Chapter 8: All We Are

Takuya sighed and sat up in his bed. Morning shone brightly through the window. He yawned and looked to the clock at his bed side table. It was still relatively early in the morning but he couldn't really complain. He had gotten the nightmare again last night but he had gotten used to it. He had managed to put himself back to sleep after a while.

It was welcomed after being hounded by his parents for outright disappearing. He did his best to explain and come up with excuses and it had helped him, if only to an extent. He was just glad to be through with that.

Today was supposed to be a day of fun. He wasn't Flamon anymore. He was himself again. He grinned to himself. He was going to make up for the last three days.

The teenager made his way through his daily routine for the morning and made his way downstairs. "Takuya, where are you going?" his mother asked him from the kitchen as soon as he stepped in the kitchen.

"Uh..." Takuya stopped in his tracks, "to get breakfast?" he answered uncertainly.

She raised her eyebrows, "After that."

"Oh, I was going to go hang with my friends. If that's okay." Takuya added that last bit to try and make up for him unintentional disappearance over the last few days. It's not like he had any control over though.

His mother sighed, "Alright, but come home tonight. No more gallivanting across the city."

Takuya smiled, "Okay. Thanks mom!"

Takuya quickly ate his breakfast and thanked his mother before making a run outside. Today was going to be a day of fun even if it killed him. He ran all the way to the park, not even for a moment feeling winded. At this point he was used to it.

He was at the usual place by the tree in minutes. The gogglehead decided to enjoy the peace and quiet and laid down against the tree.

"Hey Taky!" JP called out, waving at his friend and walking side by side with Tommy.

"Hey there you guys! Glad you could make it!" Takuya sat up and smiled happily at the duo.

"How're you feeling?" Tommy asked, still concerned about Takuya's sudden transformation into a Digimon yesterday.

Takuya paused, besides the dream and the events leading up to his transformation, he actually felt really good. Better than he had in a long time. "I'm great Tommy!" he answered with a grin, "Never better."

"So that means I can have my revenge on the numerous times you woke me up over the last few days?" Kouji's voice said from behind. The younger twin was smiling in an evil manner. Kouichi stood beside him, grinning.

The gogglehead chuckled nervously, completely terrified of the evil smile Kouji was giving him. "H-hey, no need to get nasty… we're friends… good buddies."

Kouji snorted, amused with Takuya's reaction. "Takuya, you really take things too seriously."

Takuya growled at him. "Dude, that is so not funny!"

The twins began to snicker at Takuya's expense. "You really are way too easy to rattle."

"S-shut up!"

"Boys, seriously. Can we go one day without picking a fight?" Zoe asked, having arrived early enough to see the twins tease the gogglehead.

"But that's what we do Zoe! We fight!" Kouichi exclaimed brightly, punching Kouji in the shoulder lightly to prove his point. She just rolled her eyes.

"So what's the plan for today?" Zoe asked, trying to distract them.

Kouji looked at the ground, "It's a bit wet to play soccer or anything."

"And way too nice to be inside..." Tommy added, looking up at the clear blue sky.

"My school has a dirt practice field, maybe it's dry enough to play on." Takuya offered. The others shrugged and agreed, following Takuya. After a few blocks, they began to fall behind.

"Slow down Takuya!"

"Jeez this kid's way too fast…" JP muttered as he tried to keep up his pace. "Come on Taky! You're going way too fast!"

The gogglehead took a look back at them, seeing that they were far behind him and slowed down a little for them to keep up. "Hey you guys, am I seriously that fast?" he asked with humor in his voice.

"Shut up Kanbara." Kouji ordered, trying to catch his breath after finally catching up with the gogglehead.

This only made Takuya snicker. "You need to lighten up Kou." He added, deciding to press his luck since he seemed to be able to outrun them.

"Kanbara." Kouji's tone was low and menacing, so much so the others fell behind him. Kouji shot forward, aiming to tackle the brunette again. Takuya, expecting this, dodged to the side, evading Kouji with ease. The younger twin turned on a dime, grabbing at Takuya's shirt. Takuya jumped away, avoiding Kouji like a cat trying to catch an airborne bird. "Dammit, Hold still!"

Takuya stuck out his tongue, "Aww, Where's the fun in that?"

This went on for several minutes. Kouji was exhausted as Takuya remained just out of the boy's reach.
The others exchanged curious glances. "I wonder if this is all from becoming a Digimon yesterday." JP wondered out loud.

"Whatever it is, it's impressive." Kouichi commented.

"What else do you think he can do?" Tommy asked curiously watching his friend continually avoid being captured.

Zoe shrugged and watched Takuya's impressive display. "That's a good question."

Takuya smirked proudly, pleased to have avoided getting beaten to a bloody pulp by his enraged friend. "You're getting way too slow buddy boy." He said with a grin and quickly made his way towards the group. "So, what're you guys talking about?"

"We were just wondering if there were anything else you could do." JP answered plainly.

The gogglehead looked confused. "What else I can do?"

"You're still full of energy despite running around in circles with Kouji chasing you for one," Zoe stated, "And Kouji usually catches you."

Takuya paused, looking thoughtful. "Okay, I see your point- so are you referring to …Yesterday?" he asked carefully, as they resumed their trek to Takuya's school.

JP nodded, "Well, it's likely linked. Maybe you're more Digimon than you realize."

Zoe nudged their eldest harshly in the side earning a yelp from the boy.

"Ow! Zoe! What was that for?!" JP griped, holding his side. He followed her gaze to Takuya and saw the look on his face. He had looked a little upset about it. "Oh… uh…"

Takuya shook his head dismissively. "Forget it." He tried at a smile. "I can't really complain. At least I'm still me. Human me."

"It's not like you're going to turn into that Digimon again, right?" Kouichi said with a smile, trying to make Takuya feel better.

"I guess not." he replied slowly, though he felt differently. What if he did become that thing again? What if it was in public or in front of his family? Someone snapped their fingers in front of his face, jerking him out of his thoughts.

Kouji waved his hand in front of the boy's face, "Earth to Takuya. You alright?"

"Huh? Oh, uh… yeah. I'm fine." Takuya answered after collecting himself really quick. "Just uh… thinking about something."

"About what?" Tommy decided to pry.

The gogglehead was about to speak but decided against it and ruffled his friend's hair. "Ah nothing important. Come on, today's supposed to be a day for fun you know. The day is still early, the sun is shining, let's not waste it on this stuff." And with that he continued on his way to the soccer field.

"Takuya..." Zoe started, still standing where they had been. The others hung back with her. They hadn't bought a word he just said. They knew him too well and with everything happening to him lately, they weren't about to take chances.

Kouji approached the boy slowly. "Come on Takuya, something is bothering you."

"We're here for you. Always!" Kouichi added, coming up beside his brother.

Takuya sighed and laced his fingers together behind his neck. "Look, I appreciate you guys are concerned but after everything that's happened these last few days, I just want to have some fun. To just put this behind me… at least for a little while. I'd like things to go back to the way they were. You know?"

The others looked at him, seeming to understand what he meant. After spending these three days worrying and stressing out over every change that's happened, he deserved a break from it.

"I want us to enjoy ourselves before we go back to school. I don't want to waste this precious time with you guys on the crap that's going on." Takuya added with a sigh.

"Alright Takuya- But you better promise to tell us immediately if you need someone to talk to. Understand?" Zoe told him, smiling softly.

"Promise." he replied. The rest of the group smiled, feeling a bit better. They continued on their way to the school finding the field deserted, just as Takuya hoped. He jogged over to the storage shed, using his student ID to unlock the door with the card reader the school had installed to keep better track of the equipment. He found a soccer ball quickly and exited the shed with the ball in his hands.

"Let's play!"

The group had played soccer for a good while; though everyone except for Takuya were getting tired. The gogglehead didn't even seem winded, even after giving his friends the advantage of five against one as the game progressed.

Takuya grinned triumphantly dribbling the ball by his feet. "Come on guys. You can't be that tired."

"Easy for you to say… you're not the one on your butt completely out of breath." JP said breathing heavily and sweating buckets.

The gogglehead shrugged. "I'm just that good."

"Hey Takuya, about earlier…" Tommy started to ask though was hesitant about continuing. He was going to ask about Takuya's abilities but wasn't sure about how to go with it.

Zoe seemed to catch the youngest boy's thought, "Yeah- Since YOU'RE not tired, why don't you see what else you can do?"

Takuya looked at the blond quizzically, then realized what she meant. In truth, he wasn't sure he wanted to know, but at the same time, he probably should have an idea of what his body was capable of. "I dunno guys... "

"Pretty please?" Zoe added, clasping her hands together and pleading with the boy.

Though he would never admit it, the way she was pleading to him made her look really cute to him. He turned his head away from her to stop himself from staring and to hide the blush that was slowly forming on his face. "But… um…" He scratched the back of his neck nervously as she continued to plead.

"Come on Takuya…" Zoe asked, knowing that she was getting to him.

The gogglehead whined loudly. "Awww fine! Just… please, stop with the look! It's killing me!"

Tommy and Zoe cheered, giving each other a high five for finally being able to convince their friend to agreeing to trying to figure out his abilities.

JP, Kouji, and Kouichi snickered to themselves. Kouichi grinned, "Resistance to women is not on that list."

Takuya rolled his eyes and ignored them, "So, what should I try to do?"

"Try jumping again. Like when you jumped over that car," Kouji suggested, recalling Takuya's straight shot up into the air.

"Jumping in the air?" Takuya looked to his feet and then back up at the sky. "I can do that I think." The boy got in a low crouching position, preparing himself to jump as high he can. He took a deep breath and jumped up as high as he could.

The others watched in awe as the gogglehead had jumped over ten feet in the air. "Oh! Wow! He's actually doing it!" Tommy exclaimed in awe.

The gogglehead looked down at the group and gulped at how high he was in the air before he came plummeting down to the ground. "Incoming!"

He crashed to the ground, landing ungracefully. Takuya sprang to his feet, perfectly okay, despite the crash landing.

"That was incredible!" Zoe said in awe, taking his hands in hers.

He blushed, "uh, Zoe, let go?"

"Sorry." she let go of his hands.

"So what else can you do?" Tommy asked excitedly.

"Are you any stronger than usual Takuya?" JP asked, curiously. "Or maybe you can shoot fireballs?"

Takuya shrugged and looked at his hands. How to make fire appear. How did he do it in the first place? It just happened on its own to protect him. And whenever he was Agunimon or BurningGreymon or any other of his evolutions it just came naturally.

"How to make it happen…" Takuya muttered to himself. Was it just will? He wasn't sure. It'd be a good start. 'Fire. Fire. Fire… FIRE.' Soon, sparks and small flames were forming around his hands.

The others watched in awe as sparks ignited around his hands before giving birth to small flames but they didn't grow to anything larger than a match light's flame.

Their awe quickly faded. "Is that it?" Kouji asked, staring at the little flickering ember, "Because that is a sorry excuse for a flame."

Takuya glared at him. "It was bigger before!"

"Settle down you two." Zoe chided, "see if you can make it grow Takuya."

Takuya nodded but shot a quick glare at Kouji before going back to concentrating on his flames. He'd show him. Takuya wasn't going to forget that comment about his flames. 'Okay… bigger. Brighter. Grow.'

Ever so slightly, the flames in Takuya's hands grew larger, burning brightly. The gogglehead pushed himself further, having the flames burn even brighter. "Come on…"

JP watched the flames grow and swallow up his hands. "Whoa…"

"And that doesn't hurt?" Kouichi asked, astounded.

Takuya shook his head, "Not in the slightest. It's just warm- Like when I was Agunimon. I can feel the warmth but it doesn't harm me."

"Amazing..." Zoe breathed, watching the flames dance in Takuya's hands.

Kouji found a sizable clod of dirt at his feet. He picked it up, glancing at Takuya. "Think fast!" He lobbed the clod of earth into the air over Takuya's head.

The gogglehead looked up at the clod of earth and immediately realized what Kouji intended. He aimed his hands at the clod and fired a small fireball at the clod, hitting it dead on. "Oh yeah! Look at that, am I hot stuff or what?!"

"Lucky shot." Kouji dismissed and looked around the field for more clods of dirt. He motioned for the others to pick up clods to throw in the air with him. "Let's see how you handle multiple targets." Takuya yelped suddenly and started shooting down the clods as best he could. He had missed a few but managed to hit most of the clods.

Within minutes, they finished with most of the clods burnt to an ash.

"Okay, so you can jump high, run on limitless energy, and shoot fire from your hands. That's pretty cool." JP commented, admiring the ash fluttering to the ground around them.

Tommy went up to Takuya, smiling widely. "Do you think you can become that Digimon again Takuya? It was really cool looking!"

"Ah, well... I don't know Tommy..." Takuya rubbed the back of his neck after he extinguished the flames. He honestly didn't want to ever be Flamon again. Not ever, if he could help it. He looked down at Tommy's eager face, finding it hard to refuse the boy. "Alright, I'll try..." He dug his D-Tector from his pocket, the screen still dark as ever since it conveyed the garbled yet ominous message.

Takuya took a deep breath and looked down at the D-Tector's screen. Might as well try and get it over with. The gogglehead remembered the procedure for evolution and hesitantly got to work on evolving into his new form.

The D-Tector reacted and emitted a bright light from its screen before swallowing the gogglehead and blinding the group.

Takuya clenched up as the evolution continued, transforming his body. It hurt just like before but Takuya expected this and pushed the transformation, knowing that his friends would continue to persist in seeing if he could change into that form.

The light finally faded and Takuya was in his Digimon form though he looked exhausted and still recovering from the initial jolt of pain from his evolution.

"Are you okay Takuya?" Zoe asked, noticing his pained expression.

He looked himself over, not really hearing her concerned question. He noticed his senses were significantly sharper than a moment ago. So much so, it was sensory overload. Everything looked new and smelled different. It was like he had been dropped into a world of prefect clarity. How had he missed this revelation the first time?

"Takuya?"

He snapped back to reality upon hearing his friends' voices again. "S-sorry." Even his friends felt new to him. The experience felt strange yet he felt comfortable.

The others exchanged curious glances but said nothing. "How do you feel now?" Kouji asked after a moment.

"Sorry… it's just… um… well…" Takuya took a good look at his surroundings, helping himself to adjust. "…different. Everything… everything feels different…"

"Different? What do you mean?" JP asked. "What's different?"

The newly evolved Digimon sighed and ran his fingers through his wild mane. "Everything seems so… clear. Like… I don't know how to describe it… it's like I had a paper bag over my head and now it's suddenly lifted off. I see everything; smell everything; feel everything so much clearer now. It was too much at first."

"Wow…" Tommy uttered in complete and total awe. "That's amazing…"

"Kind of..." He replied, looking around. He still felt distracted by everything. He found it really hard to pay attention to anything for more that a few moments.

"Takuya?" Zoe waved her hand in front his face, trying to get him to focus.

He blinked, "Huh? Hi Zoe."

"Dude, you were spacing out again." JP said.

"I'm sorry… everything's just… really distracting… I can't help it…" Takuya replied trying to focus on his friends. "This way of seeing everything… it's a lot to try and take in at once."

"Are you going to be okay?" Kouichi asked noticing that Takuya was doing his best not to get distracted and drift off.

Takuya nodded slowly. "Yeah… I'm okay. Just, give me a moment. I just need to get used to all of this."

The others watched Takuya carefully as he tried to get adjusted to everything around him.

He shook his head wildly, forcing the external distractions away. "Okay, I'm good. I'm good."

"Welcome back fuzzball," Kouji said, smirking.

Takuya paused, looking at Kouji incredulously. "Fuzzball?"

"Payback for calling me Kou."

The Digimon scowled but shook it off. "Okay, So I'm a Digimon again, Now what?"

"Well, why don't we see what you can do in that form? See if it's any better than what you can do when you're human." JP answered. "You know, if you can jump higher, run faster, do any of those cool gymnastic moves, better control over your fire…"

Takuya rolled his eyes. "Why don't you have me play fetch and jump through hoops?"

"It was just an idea…" JP replied defensively. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Takuya sighed and patted JP on the back. "Hey, I'm sorry. I was just playing around. Look, I'll give that stuff a shot." With that Takuya got some space from the group and jumped high into the air, higher than before and tried a few flips while he was in the air for good measure.

"Show off." Kouji muttered while the Digimon came down to the ground again.

He grinned, tumbling like a gymnast. "Jealous"

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Do more, do more!" Tommy exclaimed excitably. Takuya smiled a bit, trying to think of something else to do.

He summoned a fireball to his hand, much larger than the one he produced in his human form. The flames licked around his fingers. It was a soothing feeling. He launched a fireball into the air, watching it dissipate into nothingness.

Everyone watched Takuya in awe as he continued with the pyrotechnics; fireballs swirling around in the air, creating a hoop of fire and leaping through it and creating a wave of flames in the air with a sweeping kick.

"Wow… that's really cool…" Tommy spoke softly, in awe as if watching festive fireworks.

Kouichi nodded in agreement then commented. "It's a good thing there aren't anyone around to see this."

Takuya landed on the ground with a smile, actually working up a sweat from the use of his flames. "You guys enjoying the show?"

"That was spectacular Takuya!" Zoe said grinning brightly. The boys looked equally impressed by his display.

The Digimon sat on the ground, panting slightly. His eyes shimmered with glee. He just felt so good right now. He was on top of the world and nothing could drag him down.

Tommy grinned, "Your new Digimon form is so cool Takuya!"

Takuya couldn't help but smile. He had despised this form with a burning passion. He had started to think differently now. It wasn't bad at all. He feel so free, so alive. It was a gift. Takuya took a deep breath and decided to de-evolve back to his human form. The process seemed a lot easier for him now. He was able to do it by will. With the blink of an eye Takuya was able to change himself back to his human form.

The others made their way over to their exhausted friend. "That was amazing Takuya." Zoe commented gleefully to the boy. "The way you commanded those flames was like magic."

The gogglehead grinned at them. "Well, I am the Warrior of Flame after all."

"You definitely look like you're having a better time in this form than you were before." Kouji stated, having seen the pure bliss shown on his face.

Takuya grinned, "I was. That was a lot of fun!"

"It looked like it," Kouichi commented, "You're a natural."

"And now we know how to tire you out," Kouji added with a smirk. They all laughed as Zoe pulled Takuya to his feet.

The day progressed in good favor as the hours passed by with Takuya's mood taking a turn for the best as he finally grew to accept his new abilities. He had spent the whole day showing off to his friends and relieving all the stress and anger he had built up with each flame he created.

The hour became late and eventually the group of friends each went their separate ways excited for what the next get together would bring.

There was no incident with Takuya's family this day since Takuya hadn't done anything to warrant a lecture or scolding from his parents. He was careful not to get on their bad side after what had happened at the beginning of the weekend. He made sure to be on his best behavior.

The nightmare still came however; still plaguing the boy's nights and forbidding a peaceful night's sleep but he did not let that get to him. It was just a small price to pay only once a night. He could live with it.