Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: I am going to updating MBFG next since I've finally started the next chapter. The parents are definitely getting suspicious! Please review! (I'm sorry if you think this chapter is boring, but I needed to wrap things up a bit. Mickey and Sam will be back in the next chapter)
Following the Footsteps of Destiny
Chapter 59: Two Steps Closer
Takara 'Kara' Kamiya
Text, Southern Hemisphere, Digital World
"What a coward," Tirimon grumbled, tossing his head and glaring up at the sky.
Takara laughed and gently scratched Tirimon's ears. "I'd say that's a good thing! She came pretty close to beating us. If you guys hadn't shown up when you did, we would have been in serious trouble!"
Ibismon landed gracefully on the ground and frowned at the dark forest. "Vampiramon's not the type of digimon who's going to let us get away with making her look like a fool. She's going to have some of her evil buddies with her next time, and that's going to put us at a huge disadvantage when it comes to battling. They're all megas, and we're only champions. We might be able to take on one mega and stand a lucky chance of winning, but it'll be a whole different story if we have to face four or five megas at once."
"Good point," Dai murmured, turning to smile at Dragermon, who had landed beside him. "I know it's going to be hard for us to face four or five powerful digimon at once, but we have something Vampiramon and her buddies don't have."
"Are you talking about the D-Coders?" Matty asked, looking confused.
"Teamwork," Dai said softly. "I'm talking about teamwork. That's our secret weapon. Vampiramon and her buddies might be on the same side, but that doesn't stop them from working against each other. The only thing Vampiramon cares about is getting on her master's good side, and she'll stop at nothing to make sure she remains number one on his list of most valuable servants. I still can't believe she finally decided to show herself. She must be getting desperate if she's willing to risk being turned into a pile of data."
"She's one scary digimon," Matty muttered, making a face. "Jestermon's the same way. He'll betray all of his evil buddies if it means getting on his master's good side."
"They're all like that," Ryoko sighed, his sapphire eyes narrowing into a frown. "Vampiramon, Jestermon, Spritemon, and BlackWidowmon have all tried to steal our D-Coders, and I'm starting to get really worried. How many mega digimon are we going to have to face in order to save the Digital World?"
Dai shook his head and said slowly, "I don't know, Ishida. There could be hundreds of them, but that doesn't change anything. We'll still beat them."
"All it takes is a little teamwork," Ryoko said softly, gazing into the goggle headed leader's dark eyes.
Dai nodded and placed his hand on the blond's shoulder. "It's simple. The six of us and our digimon can defeat anything if we remember to work together as one mind, one body, one heart-"
"And one soul," Ryoko whispered, his voice trembling with sudden emotion.
"That's right," Dai said quietly. The goggle headed leader slipped his arm around Ryoko's shoulders, and the blond jumped in surprise. They stared at each other for a moment, and Ryoko finally gave the goggle headed leader a tentative smile. Dai smiled back at him, and they turned to gaze up at the dark sky, each of them lost in their own thoughts.
Takara beamed at them and quickly turned her attention to Ibismon.
I guess Dai and Ryoko don't need my help after all. It looks like they're well on their way to becoming good friends, and it's all thanks to the Digital World. This place is definitely bringing them closer together, and so are Alopemon and Embermon. At this rate, they'll be great friends in no time!
"You're awesome, you know that?" she said softly, giving her partner a warm hug.
Ryoko nodded in agreement and gently stroked one of Ibismon's pink wings. "You're a great digimon, Ibismon. Vampiramon never stood a chance against you!"
"Thanks!" Ibismon replied, wrapping her arms around Ryoko's shoulders and smiling at him. "I hope I can live up to such an amazing compliment."
"You already have," Takara whispered, leaning forward and resting her cheek against Ibismon's heart.
"Can we go find Sam and Mickey now?"
Takara turned to look at Matty and gave her cousin a sympathetic smile. "You're really worried about your brother, aren't you?"
"Yes," Matty mumbled, glancing anxiously at his yellow D-Coder. "He's not really that far away from us, and Sam is definitely with him. I want to catch up to them before Vampiramon does. There's no way Gabrielmon will be able to defeat her on his own."
Takara let out a gasp of horror and clapped a hand over her mouth. "You don't think Vampiramon has gone to attack them, do you?"
"I wouldn't put it past her," Matty said seriously, his angelic features twisting into a frown.
Dai suddenly pulled away from Ryoko and started towards the edge of the clearing with a determined look on his face.
"Dai, wait!" Matty shouted, grabbing onto the goggle-headed leader's wrist and pulling him to a stop.
"Matty, we have to-"
"We're not going anywhere unless you're sure you're okay!" Matty interrupted, his amber eyes flashing with anger.
"Matty-"
Matty placed his hands on the goggle-headed leader's shoulders and shook his head. "I mean it, Dai," the younger twin said quietly. "Vampiramon could have killed you today, and don't even get me started on BlackWidowmon! I know you want to protect us, but you have to take care of yourself, too! Do you understand what I'm trying to say? You're one of my best friends, along with everyone else here, and I care about you a lot. I know how much you want to protect Mickey and Sam, but putting yourself in danger isn't going to help them. It's only going to make things worse."
"Matty's right," Ryoko whispered. "You always think with your heart and forget to use your head."
"I'm fine," Dai insisted.
Takara wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. "You still have some bruises on your back," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
I can't lose you, Dai. You mean more to me than I could have ever thought possible. I've never felt this way about another guy before, and I need to know if you return my feelings. If you die before I have a chance to figure out whether or not we can be a couple, I'll never be able to move on with my life. I'll always be thinking about what might have been between us, and that's definitely not something I want to live with for the rest of my life.
"You're a very stubborn human, Dai," Angelicmon said softly, looking amused.
Dai stared at them for a moment and let out a small sigh of defeat. "I know you guys are worried about me, but I meant what I said earlier. My ribs and back still hurt a little bit, but other than that I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Dragermon asked, lowering his head and resting his nose against Dai's shoulder. His emerald eyes were filled with uneasiness, and he wrapped one of his large, scarlet wings around the goggle headed leader's body in a protective embrace.
Dai gently ran his fingers over Dragermon's wing and nodded. "I'm sure. Now, let's go find Sam and Mickey."
Takara quickly pulled out her D-Coder and glanced at it's glowing screen. Mickey's and Sam's dots were hardly moving at all. Why aren't they looking for us?
"They've been standing in the same spot for quite a while now," Ryoko murmured, his sapphire eyes narrowing into a frown. "I wonder what they're doing."
Dai took a quick look at Ryoko's D-Coder and shrugged. "Maybe they've forgotten about the trackers on their D-Coders."
"That makes sense. Dai and Kara almost forgot about their D-Coders, as well," Matty said, smiling at Ryoko. "I bet Mickey and Sam are trying to come up with some sort of plan that will help them find us again, since their Digivices seem to have completely slipped their minds. Why else would they be standing around in the middle of a dark forest?"
Takara slowly shook her head and tugged nervously on her dark ponytail. "Something's wrong," she murmured, glancing anxiously at Ibismon. "Sam and Mickey are in trouble!"
"We don't know that for sure," Tirimon said quietly.
"I know you guys think I'm crazy, but I'm not," Takara insisted. "Sam and Mickey should have been searching for us by now!"
Matty ran a hand through his golden hair and sighed. "I feel the same way," the younger twin said quietly. "After all, Mickey's my twin. I can sense these things about him. He might not be in immediate danger, and the same goes for Sam, but that doesn't change the fact that something definitely doesn't feel right. I guess I was just trying to fool myself earlier."
"Gabrielmon needs our help," Angelicmon said seriously, fluttering into the air and taking the lead. "I won't let him face Vampiramon or one of the others on his own."
"We're right behind you," Dai replied. The goggle headed leader glanced at Matty, and his face turned pink. "Matty, I know you and the others worry about me a lot, and I can't even tell you how good that makes me feel. I know I'm lucky to have such great friends, and I guess I just want to apologize for acting like a jerk earlier. I promise I'll be more careful from now on. I don't want you guys to think I don't care about your feelings."
"Don't worry about it," Matty replied, placing a comforting hand on Dai's arm. "Let's concentrate on finding Sam and Mickey, okay?"
"Okay," Dai said softly.
Takara glanced over her shoulder and quickly hurried after the others. This is ridiculous. I haven't been scared of the dark in years! I hope Sam and Mickey are having better luck than the rest of us when it comes to avoiding evil digimon.
Vampiramon was still out there somewhere, and Takara had a feeling the evil mega would do everything in her power to make sure Sam did not live long enough to meet his partner.
T.K. Takaishi
Odaiba, Japan, Earth
"T.K.! Cody and Rosa are here!"
T.K. jumped at the sound of his wife's voice and nearly fell out of the chair he had been sitting in for almost and hour. He was supposed to be finishing another chapter in the novel he was currently writing, but the words on the computer screen kept blurring in front of his eyes, and his thoughts kept drifting back to his twin sons. Mickey and Matty were two of the best things that had ever happened to him, and he was scared he was going to end up losing them.
I wish they would tell me why they've been acting so strange lately. What's wrong with them? Are they in some kind of trouble? How am I going to get them to talk to me?
"Daddy! Mommy told me to tell you to hurry up," Rina giggled, bouncing into the room.
T.K. smiled at his daughter and nodded. "We'd better not keep Mommy waiting. Come on, sweetheart."
He took his daughter's hand, and they followed the sound of Kari's voice which eventually led them into the living room. He spotted Cody and Rosa sitting on the couch and turned to look at Kari who was sitting next to them in an armchair. All three of them were talking quietly to one another, and he could tell by the looks on their faces that they were having a very serious conversation.
Rosa looked up at the sound of his footsteps and gave him a warm smile. "Hello, T.K. How are you doing?" she asked, standing up and leaning over to kiss his cheek.
"I'm fine. How are you?"
Rosa studied his face for a moment and shrugged. "I'm alright. Kari told me about Mickey and Matty. You must be really worried about them."
I'm more worried about them now than I have ever been in my entire life. How am I going to keep my promise to Kari if I don't even know what I'm supposed to be protecting them from?
"Yes, I am," he said quietly.
"I would feel the same way about Kenzo if I was in your place," Rosa replied. Her dark hair was cut short and held up in a ponytail, and her sparkling eyes were filled with sympathy. She was dressed in a short, yellow skirt that fell to her knees, a white blouse, and a pair of yellow sandals. She looked like she wanted to offer some advice, but T.K. interrupted her before she could decide on what exactly it was she wanted to say.
"Where is Kenzo today?" he asked, glancing around the living room.
"He's at Izzy's and Mina's house," Cody replied. "Listen, T.K., I know you're worried about Mickey and Matty, and I understand why you're so upset, but you and Kari have got to give your sons a chance to explain themselves before you start jumping to conclusions. Mickey and Matty are good kids. I know they would never do anything to make you believe otherwise."
T.K. smiled at Cody and gave his former DNA partner a warm hug. "Thanks, Cody. I'll try to remember that. Has Kenzo been acting really strange lately, too?"
Cody ran a hand through his thick, dark hair and slowly shook his head. "Not really, although he did mention something about Ema being obsessed with catching Dai skipping out on soccer practice. I get the feeling he wasn't supposed to tell me that because he turned bright red and quickly dropped the subject. Do you think he's hiding something from me?"
"He'd better not be!" Rosa muttered.
T.K. glanced down at the light blue carpet under his feet and frowned. "I have no idea. Davis never said anything about Dai skipping practice."
"Do you think this whole thing with Ema has something to do with our sons?" Kari asked, fiddling nervously with the hem of her long-sleeved, pink top.
Rina let out a dramatic sigh and tugged on Kari's jeans. "Mommy, Mickey and Matty are fine. I wouldn't worry about them if I were you."
"What do you mean?" Cody asked, watching Rina closely. The younger man was dressed in black pants and a beige polo shirt. He had a very serious look on his face, and his dark eyes were narrowed in a frown.
Rina's face turned pink, and she let out a nervous giggle. "Nothing. Mommy, can I go over to Nao's house? He must be pretty lonely without me!"
T.K. stared at his daughter for a moment, and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Rina knew. He could tell just by looking at her. She knew exactly what was wrong with Mickey and Matty, and he had a funny feeling she was going to do her best to make sure he did not find out exactly what it was she was hiding from him.