Tried to be faster with the upload...probably failed. Sorry about that.
Disclaimer: I don't own digimon.
But I own Kazumi, Dylan, Phoenix and Alec.
Sorry for the possible grammatic errors.
Good or bad?
If you want to be bad, be bad with a purpose, otherwise you're not worth forgiving.
The soft sheets caress my battered body in a heavenly way. The blanket slipped down to my hip, revealing my naked back. I slowly open my eyes and stare out of the window, looking at the skyscrapers that block my direct view of the sea. The feeling of her soft fingertips tracing down my spine just to trace the same way up again relaxes me completely. It's still early in the morning... probably half past six or something, so there's absolutely no reason to get out of this warm, comfortable bed right now.
I lazily turn around, causing her hand to lose contact with my back. However the moment I lay down on my back is when I feel her hand back on my body, this time however she just places her hand on my hip as if it is the most normal thing ever.
When I actually think about it... it is.
I stare up to her beautiful face; her messy reddish-brown hair falls down on the pillow that's crushed under her left elbow. Her deep brown eyes seem to absorb every inch of my body. Though it isn't a new sight to her, she makes me feel like it's the first time for her, each time she sees me like that. Her usual lopsided grin appears on her face when she realizes that I'd been observing her staring at me. She leans down slowly and brushes her lips provocatively over mine before turning her head and placing a kiss on my collarbone, sending chills all over my body.
"I love you", she whispers quietly, laying her head on my shoulder.
"I told you not to"
"I know... but I do."
The sun starts blinding me...
Izzy's Prov
As long as I can remember I always was the type of guy who didn't believe anything before it was proven in a proper way. I believe in science, and I believe in facts. But from the moment I was sent to the digital world, I had to change my perspective in life. I was forced to believe in things that were impossible to even think about. However I got used to the fact that there were several dimensions in our world... and I also got used to the fact that one of these dimensions is the digital world, where digital monsters live. Some more aggressive than others...
But I surely never, ever was prepared for a situation like this. In all these years I spend being a digidestined... in all these years I fought against diverse evil digimon who tried to not only kill me and the rest of the digidestined, but also innocent people in the real world, I never thought about the possibility of digidestined being able to travel through time just to bring an ancient evil guy back to life. I never thought about evil digimons building up an army and declaring war to teenagers they never faced before. But these things are happening right now; in front of me... this is so fucked up.
The air is so thick that one actually could cut it with a knife. I never saw someone burn at least a hundred digimon alike creatures like these down within seconds just to stand there afterwards as if nothing has happened. The person who Kazumi said is Alec continues to stare at his own brother, but where once at least a hint of amusement was is nothing but pure anger. I don't know how I'd expected Alec to look like... but I didn't expect him to look so, familiar. Though he's obviously the brother of Phoenix I can't help but draw a parallel between Tai and him. For one thing there are the high cheekbones that both, Tai and Alec seem to have, as well as the defined chin and the contours of their faces... there again there are Alec's icy greyish eyes that show absolutely nothing good in them while Tai's deep brown eyes are always filled with emotions. However I can't continue my observation because before anyone of us can understand what's going on, Alec is already straddling his own brother, pressing said brother down on the ground, his hand around Phoenix's throat.
"Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you here and now!" I feel the icy cold shiver making its way down my spine just by hearing this foreign, cold voice of this new guy. The choking sounds of Phoenix are enough for the rest of us to finally snap out of our shocks and act.
Davis tries to grab Alec by his shoulders but he obviously underestimated Alec's strength because a swift movement of his shoulder is enough to push Davis back, causing him to stumble and fall down on the ground. Judged by the surprised look on the boy's face I can tell that Alec's push was a lot stronger than it looked like. Matt however doesn't seem impressed and steps out to interfere, but Kazumi is faster.
"Alec please! You promised you would try and listen to him!" She clings herself on his right arm and starts to pull on his sleeve. He however doesn't even seem to notice who's talking to him right now.
I have to say... I never saw someone that angry before. Phoenix' face turns into a light reddish shade that starts to worry me. Alec is going to repeat his brother's mistake if he doesn't stop this in the next few minutes.
"Alec it's enough! You'll kill him!" Dylan's voice sounds, not less angry than Alec looks.
"What do you think I intend to do Dylan?" Alec responds, tightening his grip on his brother's throat.
"Alec please!" Kazumi tries again, but he doesn't even bother to take notice of her.
Before she even realizes what's happening Alec already pulled back his fist in an attempt to punch Phoenix. In the progress in doing so however he obviously forgot the girl who was clinging on his arm. His elbow hits Kazumi right on her cheek, causing her to fall down on the ground next to him, looking up in shock.
Her yelping in pain is obviously enough for Alec to snap out of his daze and drive his full attention to the girl he just knocked on the ground. This swift moment of confusion is enough for T.K and Matt to grab Alec on his shoulders and pull him on his feet, handcuffing him. However the thing they use to cuff his hands aren't usually used handcuffs form the police or something... as much as I understood these are used to prevent Alec to use his special power. However what this special power really is, is unknown to me. Said guy however groans in frustration, taking a step in Kazumi's direction. Dylan grabs his shoulder and pulls him away from his sister.
"Don't you dare to come near her!" He shouts angrily, looking ready to punch Alec.
Sora and Kari for their parts don't even bother to follow the argument here; they're both kneeling next to Kazumi, checking on her cheek that looks quite swollen by now. I can tell by her glazy eyes that she's fighting against the tears. Though I'm not sure if because of pain or betrayal... for all I was told there's some deep bound between her and Alec.
"Who the fuck do you think you are! She's my girlfriend!" Alec responds not less angry, causing everyone present to gasp. Everyone but the twins. After taking a glance at Tai's future daughter I can tell that she has had enough for today, her tears are falling down freely on her angelic face. I can't help but follow the desire to kneel next to her and stroke over her back in a –I hope – comforting way. The slight smile she gives me however lets my heart melt. In the short period I got to know this girl I can tell that she doesn't give that much smiles to everyone.
"Don't touch her!" Alec's icy voice cuts the air like a knife; I immediately pull my hand away... T.K and Matt however don't look like they're impressed by his behavior; they just tighten their grips on his shoulder.
"Let's go back to the base before they notice that my brother just killed a part of their army", Phoenix says in an unusual low voice. Everyone nods in agreement.
"Kazumi let me –"Alec starts in a completely new tone. Way softer... and after taking a look at the way he looks at her I can't hide my immense surprise. Every trace of anger or rage is replaced by real concern. Kazumi's expression however changed again. Now she's wearing the same listless expression she wore yesterday. She shots him a glare before walking past him, hitting him far worse than anyone could probably do by doing nothing but saying;" You did enough already. Thanks."
Though I probably should feel kind of amused by the hurt look of him I can't help but feel sorry for him.
Tai's Prov
The sizzling sound of the fire burning in the chimney is calming down my tense nerves. Though I slept through the whole afternoon I still feel restless. My stomach is burning like hell, same goes for my arm. God knows why but this injury doesn't seem like healing really soon...Taking deep breaths I try to ignore the pain and lazily stare around the room, looking for something out of the ordinary, but since I didn't really spend that much time here I can't tell what's ordinary and what's not. On one side of the bed is a transfusion connected to my arm, containing some sort of clear liquid. Next to the transfusion on the bedside table is a pack of pills with a note next to it that says I should take at least three of them, daily. However Phoenix' signature at the end of the note is the only reason I really do take the pill. On the other side–Sora's side of the bed – lays her note from this morning that tells me what they went to do.
I can tell that whatever they did to get Phoenix brother's spirit out of me, it did work. I feel different... but since the pain of my injuries that were caused by said spirit claims all my senses I can't really enjoy the feeling of having my body for myself again.
Although one of the most annoying things that were going on lately in my life has been solved, there are still a lot more to come. Some more worrying than others... while there's the fact that I will have to face this ghost like guy I came to meet through a mirror there's still the situation the digital world is in right now. How the hell are we supposed to fight in a war?
Though we were told that these so-called seven demon lords came back to life –don't ask me how... I'm still trying to figure out how they managed to do that really... after all, it was a well-known fact that they were sealed away a few hundred years ago – declared war, I still didn't come to see any signs of a war here. There are no attacks on this base...neither on villages or something like that. Added to that we have absolutely no idea where to find our enemies... or more important, how to fight them.
Maybe this Alec person could help us... after all, he fought against them already.
Without me even realizing it my thoughts wander back to Phoenix' mysterious brother.
Though Phoenix –as well as Gennai and our digimons – affirm that he's the embodiment of evil I can't help but feel sympathy towards him. I know, this sounds really stupid... I mean, he almost killed me, but considering the circumstances he was in, I probably would have done the same. That's why I don't blame him for his actions he did out of pure frustration.
The sound of the door being opened pulls me out of my deep thoughts, causing me to sit up immediately, facing Mimi who just entered my room. She's dressed in simple black jeans and a loose pink shirt, her hair loosely bound in her neck.
I don't really have to pay too much attention on her expression; a quick glance at her blank look she wears is enough for me to understand that something has happened.
"You should come down. They're back."
Matt's Prov
I can literally feel our digimon's jumpiness just by being in the same room as them. They're glance is directed at the person sitting on the sofa by himself, his hands still cuffed in his lab. The trip back to the base was quick and was spend in absolute silence. Alec refused to even look, let alone talk to any of us. He kept staring at what he claims to be his girlfriend; Kazumi however ignored him for the most part, every now and then glancing at him whenever she thought he wouldn't notice. He did however.
Though I know by now that there's no good in messing with this guy I can't help but wonder just how Kazumi managed to cause him to act like a little puppy around her.
Even now he's still looking at her, begging her for forgiveness though she refuses to look at him.
Sora's holding an ice pack on the girl's cheek that started to turn from green to blue. However judged by her handling the black eye I can tell this is not the first time she got hit like that. By whomsoever. But anyway... it was wrong to even act that aggressive in front of her. He deserves her treatment.
The rest of the digidestined eyes the new guy as suspicious as the digimon do. I for my part am not sure what to think about him. Though there's a faint voice in me telling me that he's not really that bad there's still the fear for the others. He already hurt his own girlfriend –on purpose or not, this is not important – what if he loses control or something and one of my friends will get battered?
The longer I spend time sitting in the same room as this person the bigger grows my antipathy towards him.
I shift in my seat and stare at the door, waiting for someone to enter. However I'm not sure myself who I'm waiting for actually...Mimi left a few minutes ago to get Tai since he was still lying in bed. As for Phoenix...he disappeared somewhere as soon as we entered the base, followed by Gennai. God knows what they went to do... but I could tell just by taking a good look at our long-time mentor that he really didn't want to meet Alec, not yet anyway.
After all... there are still a lot of things these two refuse to tell us... and it starts to get on my nerves. How are we supposed to fight alongside them when they keep hiding important facts from us? I mean, it took Tai almost dying until they told us more about Phoenix' brother who not only was trying to come back but also is one of the most powerful beings in the digital world. At least, that's what our digimon told us when we were walking through Server's desert to Alec's crypt.
The door opens with a low crack and reveals Mimi, quickly followed by the one person I was longing to see the whole day already. Tai's dressed in black pants and a matching black hoodie, his arms crossed in front of him. His face is pale and I can tell that he's cold by the way he's keeping his arms as tight on his body as possible. Usually I wouldn't start to worry about someone who's freezing, but it's Tai we're talking about here; the guy who was wandering around in nothing but shorts and a shirt when it was snowing. Everyone immediately turns to look at our leader, much to my surprise even Alec turned to look at him.
Kazumi stands up from her place and stares at Tai with wide eyes, wearing a faint smile on her usually blank face.
"Da –", she starts but gets interrupted by her brother who also stood up.
"Tai", he greets him with a nod who our leader returns with a rather startled expression.
"And you are...?" he asks, his voice hoarser than ever.
"We –", Kazumi starts once again, but this time it's Alec who interrupts her.
"What about you two get him a glass of water?"
The twins turn in confusion to the sound of Alec's voice. He stares at them emotionless but I can't shake off the feeling that they're kind of communicating in this way because after a few seconds the twins nod in unison and excuse themselves. The other digidestined, including me, eye the scenario with similar expressions. Confusion is written all over our faces.
Why don't Alec and Dylan want Tai to know about who the twins really are?
And it almost feels like Alec just read my thoughts because he shots me a glance that tells me something like –at least I think it means that – *don't worry*.
Tai for his part stands there and stares at the door where the twins just disappeared. You don't really have to know Tai that well to get that he's more confused than ever.
Alec shifts in his place, getting my attention again. He however doesn't even bother to look at any of us, not the digidestined nor our digimon. He just slides to one end of the sofa, gesturing for Tai to sit next to him.
"Tai there's a seat next to Joey", Mimi says before sitting down next to Izzy finally. I didn't even notice that she continued to stand next to Tai the whole time until now.
Tai for his part just gives Mimi a small smile before giving Joey an apologizing look that says something like he shouldn't take it too personal, but he's not going to take the seat.
"They handcuffed you?" He asks directed at Alec, causing said guy to chuckle lightly and raise his hands to show him his glowing blue cuffs.
"They did."
Before our leader even has the chance to ask why we did that Izzy already gives him the answer.
"Phoenix's order", he says in a tone I wasn't really prepared to hear from him...he sounds rather angry. Though I don't like the thought of following Phoenix' orders myself I still think that he acts reasonable when deciding that we should cuff his brother. After all we don't know what he's capable of. And I'd rather be too careful than having to handle the consequences of being not careful enough.
"And since when do you follow Phoenix' orders?" Tai asks annoyance clear in his voice. He walks through the room and extends his hand out to us.
"Where's the key?"
All of the sudden the key I was keeping with me to seal Alec's handcuffs feels like a hundred bricks heavier. There's just no way that I'll give Tai the key to open this guy's handcuffs.
"I'm not going to give them to you", I say in the calmest voice possible, causing Tai's eyebrows to shot up in wonder. I clearly understand his reaction... it's been a while I refused to follow his lead. Although the last thing I really want to do is to argue with the most important person in my life –next to my brother of course – I feel like I should finally follow my own instincts again. And this time they tell me that un-cuffing this foreign guy will mean trouble.
"Matt. Give me the key", Tai demands –and I mean demands – looking me straight in the eyes with his deep brown eyes. Usually I'd feel calm when I would take a look in these eyes. But not this time, this time there's the old familiar glint of anger towards me visible, causing everything inside of me to crunch. I hate fighting with him; especially after everything we've been through... especially now that our bound is stronger than ever. That's why I hand him the keys. But I can tell that this fight is not over... I'm not going to let it be. I can't.
Tai takes the key without any word and approaches the sitting figure of Alec. From this angle the similarities of the two hit me like a gunshot especially since they both are dressed in black. The way their hair falls in their respective faces is almost the same, as well as the way they eye their surroundings. Within seconds the Cuffs on Alec's arms are opened and fall down on the ground.
"Thanks", he says rubbing his sore wrists. The red marks on them are prove enough that Phoenix hadn't had any intention of letting Alec go by without any pain. I don't even want to imagine these things on my own wrists.
"You're welcome."
Tai takes the seat next to his girlfriend, giving her a light kiss on her left temple before laying his arm around her shoulders.
"Do you really think that this was a good idea?" Yolei asks from her seat next to Ken –one of the seats that are the farthest away from Alec. He for his part doesn't even bother to notice that someone spoke up.
"There was no point in letting him handcuffed the whole time anyway", Cody shrugs, answering the question instead of Tai. Our leader however nods in agreement, though he doesn't seem like even listening to the small conversation between two of the younger digidestined.
His gaze is focused straight forward, aiming at me. I for my part don't back off this time and hold his gaze, wearing one of the iciest glances I've got. I can already feel the all too familiar old anger boiling inside of me.
He doesn't hold our eye contact that long however because he obviously remembered a rather important little detail about the whole situation right now.
"Does anyone feel like telling me who these two were just a minute ago?" he asks everyone in the room. The fact that Sora immediately blushes next to him doesn't get unnoticed by anyone of us. Most importantly not by Alec, because he starts to smirk evilly at her before speaking up.
"I think your girlfriend is the best person to tell you that."
How dare he to embarrass Sora in front of everyone?!
Sora shots him a glare, but he seems for the first time rather amused because he just winks at her playfully, leaning back in his seat.
The rest of us stare at Sora, waiting for her to tell her own boyfriend that these two digidestined are their future kids. As weird as it sounds I can only imagine how it must feel like for Tai hearing such a thing. The redhead however remains silent and refuses to even look Tai in the eyes what causes Davis to finally –as usual – break the silence.
"They are your kids from the future", he says, grabbing a few cookies from the table in front of him. Before he eats one of them however he adds:" And the girl is Alec's girlfriend."
Where before an amused smirk on Alec's face was is now a rather shocked expression. His eyes are wide and all color drained from his face. The gasp that came from the door's direction is prove enough for us that the twins just entered the room again. Kazumi looking as shocked as her said boyfriend. Dylan for his part doesn't show any sign of being bothered by the awkwardness of this whole situation.
The following silence gets almost to the point of unbearable. Neither Kazumi nor Alec dare to even look at Tai. Though I don't really get why they act like this... –I mean, this Kazumi here isn't really our Tai's daughter, so he shouldn't really care about her having a boyfriend should he? – I can't help but follow the example of the digidestined and stare at Tai, waiting for some sort of reaction of our leader.
"Did you just say girlfriend?" he asks in a dangerous low voice.
"Trust me. I reacted the same way when I heard it the first time", Dylan says directed at Tai. That's actually the first time the two are in the same room and I can tell already they'll get along perfectly.
"It's not like that!" Kazumi interrupts them. Unfortunately for her she pissed of Alec by reacting that way. Said guy just jumped up from his seat, eyeing her angrily.
"Really? Now we're on this point again?" he shouts, glaring daggers at her. Kazumi for her part isn't impressed by his angry look –much to the surprise of everyone in here, since our digimon as well as the digidestined themselves look rather nervous right now – she eyes him with an equal glance.
"I'm definitely not going to discuss our problems in front of everyone in here", Kazumi says before placing the glass of water she went to get in front of Tai.
"I'm sorry I gave you such a negative first impression. I assure you I'm not that bad", she says in a tone I didn't get to hear from her. She sounds absolutely devoted...like a little girl who's talking to her father who just god mad at her. Tai's expression mirrors ours, he's stunned.
She excuses herself and exits the room.
Alec for his part makes the attempt to follow her just to be blocked by Dylan.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Save my relationship." With that he exits the room, followed by Dylan after a second.
I have to take a moment to realize that we're finally alone...and when I say alone I mean like, the digidestined with their digimon in one room.
I let out a deep sigh and lean back in my seat, enjoying the silence that followed after everything that has happened today.
"I don't like this..." T.K says quietly, gaining everyone's attention.
"What do you mean?" Sora asks, leaning forward to look at him from a better angle.
"These new people we're supposed to trust. No offense Tai and Sora but these digidestined seem quite... ", he starts but ends in middle sentence because he's obviously struggling to find the right word to describe the twins.
"Inscrutable?" Ken tries to help him, getting a nod in response from T.K.
"Yeah... I for my part have no idea what to think about them. Usually you probably should be able to have the slightest hint of a feeling what a person is thinking or something like that... but when it comes down to these two I can't come up with anything."
"I know what you mean... but I don't think that we should worry about them after all they're Tai and Sora's kids from the future. They can't be bad, can they?" Davis asks the obvious.
I have to admit I also thought about the possibility of them being on the wrong side too. After all there's always a chance of a digidestined to turn evil isn't there? And what evidence do we have that they really are on our side?
"I don't get why you worry about the twins when there's obviously a much worse guy present", Yolei speaks out, directing the conversation's subject to Alec, I think.
"You mean Phoenix?" Tai asks, earning a few confused looks from us. God how can he be so blind?!
"She means his brother", I answer for her, earning an agreeing nod from Yolei. I can tell by the few looks of some older digidestined that they fear the upcoming argument already. But we have to get through this. The sooner the better.
"Why do you all think of Alec as the bad guy?" Tai asks everyone in the room, clearly avoiding some sort of disagreement with me.
"Why don't you?" Joey asks back, shifting in his seat nervously. "For all we know he could kill us here and now."
"But he didn't", our leader responds placing his elbows on his knees;" and I don't think he would."
Old familiar anger boils inside of me when I hear him saying things like this. He has no idea who this guy is and although not only Phoenix and Gennai but also our digimon don't think of him a good person he still puts everyone at risk by trusting him. So without me even realizing it I'm already standing in the middle of the room.
"How can you be so ignorant?!"
Everyone in the room stares at me in shock, absolutely stunned by my sudden outburst. I can relate to that... I honestly didn't plan to explode like this, but he makes me furious sometimes. Tai himself just stares up at me from his seat, looking really tired all of the sudden. I can't help but feel sorry immediately for shouting at him like that. However his next action causes this feeling of faint guilt to fade away completely.
"I wondered when you would start to doubt me again", he says. Though his tone is hard and cold, his eyes say otherwise...and I learned through the years how to read my best friend properly. While he can manage to sound like a complete asshole, he's never going to be one.
"Of course I doubt you! And everyone else in here is too", I respond, ignoring the nagging voice inside my head that tells me to stop here and now. If Tai doesn't want to understand I have to make him.
Kari's Prov.
I honestly can't believe my own eyes right now, or my ears for that matter. In the past years I've luckily didn't come to face my brother and Matt's arguments again. I thought they were past this point... I really thought they were done fighting over the same thing over and over again. But it looks like they aren't... and probably never will. It's always the same... the same freaking argument over and over again, it's just getting worse. They get older, the arguments get deeper and each of them ends up more hurt afterwards.
"So? No one of them has to be here. Go on, leave everyone!"
Tai's now at the point where he also stood up. I can't help but feel like I'm living some sort of déjà vu right now. My brother and T.K's brother standing just inches apart from each other, seeming ready to punch one another. After taking a glance at my friends I can tell –at least the older ones – that they're thinking the exact same thing as me. While Sora and Mimi look rather worried right now, Joey, T.K and Izzy look like they're debating whether it would be smart to interfere between these two giants or not.
I for my part don't really know what to think about what Tai just said... after all our adventures he should know that we wouldn't let the digital world down in situations like these.
"Stop fighting... he's not worth it", a voice interrupts their argument, causing not only Tai and Matt but everyone in the room to turn to the source of the voice. Kazumi is leaning against the doorframe, her hair messier than Tai's ever was –I didn't even know that this was possible – wearing white jogging pants and a black shirt that doesn't seem like it belongs to her since it's two times her seize.
She approaches the two and separates them, looking at each for a split second before cracking a small smile.
"I heard a lot about your arguments... but actually seeing one of them is new. And scary", she says, chuckling lightly.
I know it's an attempt to loosen up the tension in the room, but unfortunately she fails in doing so because Matt just keeps glaring at Tai before he leaves the room without any other word. God... this was bad.
"I'm going to check on him", T.K says quietly, following his brother out of the room. Kazumi for her part just looks at the door, seeming deep in thought all of the sudden.
It takes Tai shifting uncomfortably in his position to snap her out of her daze and eye him for a while. No one in the room dares to say something. I wish I could relate to Tai right now... god knows how he must feel to see this girl, knowing that this is his own daughter.
"Can I hug you?" she asks all of the sudden, surprising Tai once again. I can tell by his look that he's not sure if she's serious right now. I shot him a quick glance, saying that he just should do as she asked.
"S-sure", he stutters. That however is enough for the girl to throw her arms around his neck and pull him closer. Primarily being a little taken back Tai takes some time... but he eventually gets used to the new person in his arms and returns her hug. If I wouldn't know it better I'd say that I just heard her sob... but I'm sure I'm just imagining things.
Eventually Kazumi steps back and smiles at us apolitically. "I'm sorry...didn't mean to ignore any of you."
"Don't be", Izzy says quietly, giving her a small smile which she returns immediately. Though I had some negative thoughts against her at first I'm more than happy that I feel the sympathy grow for this girl in front of me... after all, she's my niece. Kind of.
"Did you talk to Alec?" Sora asks from her seat, gesturing Kazumi –as well as Tai – to take a seat again, causing them to sit down on the sofa next to each other.
"I did", she responds quickly. She doesn't really seem like she wants to talk about him right now. Judged by her appearance –the messy hair and the changed clothes – I can tell that they made up...howsoever.
Though there are so many things I'd like to say... and I'm sure that the others feel the same... we all remain silent, even DemiVeemon and Davis don't' look like they really feel like talking right now. We were tense and tired already...and seeing two of our strongest members of the group almost rip their heads off each other gave us the rest. The only thing I really feel like doing right now is going up and sleep. But seeing that we still didn't talk about these demon lords properly I don't think I will see my bed so soon. Added to that we still need to discuss what exactly we're going to do now since we actually should go to school...
Just by remembering all these things that still need to be discussed my head starts to protest by pounding painfully.
"Wow... you look quite worn out guys", Kazumi says after a while, being the first one to break the silence.
"You want me to comment your look?" Davis returns, earning an amused glance from said girl.
"If it wouldn't be so weird for me I'd slap you right now. But seeing that you're some sort of uncle for me in the future I have too much respect to do so", she says, earning several laughter from us, me included.
"Does that mean I get to marry Kari?" he asks, looking quite awake all of the sudden. Weird... I swear he was falling asleep just a second ago.
Kazumi however bursts out laughing at his comment. In all honestly... I thought for a moment that I really did marry him in the future when she said something about Davis being her uncle...
"No. I said you're some sort of uncle. My aunt married someone else", she says, still chuckling however.
"Can't you tell us?" I ask, feeling the desire to know as much as possible about our future. Kazumi however just shakes her head slowly.
"I'm sorry... it was already quite risky to tell mom and dad who Dylan and I really are."
"Why?" Tai asks, not getting her point obviously.
"Actually that's quite simple Tai", Ken starts:" imagine you and Sora weren't a couple and you'd see two digidestined from the future that claim to be your kids. You would feel pretty awkward and probably never would get together with Sora. That means they wouldn't be born."
Kazumi nods in agreement, confirming Ken's explanation. "It's quite simple really. That's why Alec started to vanish in my time. His body was still buried here...so we had to get his spirit back into his body so he can go on living."
"And you were so in love that you couldn't just watch him leave you... oh my god that's so romantic!" Mimi squeals, smiling brightly at her. Kazumi for her part just blushes intensely and averts her gaze, leaving that statement uncommented.
"Okay, I think it's time for me to go to bed already", she says, getting up and causing everyone else to remember how tired we actually are.
"That's a great idea", Yolei endorses, getting up too.
Tai's Prov
The digidestined leave one by one the room to go to sleep. I for myself am not that sleepy, though I feel kind of light headed the whole day already I refuse to go to bed again. I slept way too much. Sora's the last one to get up.
"You're not coming?"
"Go to bed... I'll come later", I tell her, sending her to bed on purpose since it really is obvious that she needs the extra sleep. She looks drained. Not really being in the mood in arguing with me about that she just nods tiredly and leaves the room, followed by her pink bird-like digimon. I turn my attention to my little dinosaur who's sitting in front of me on the low table.
"You're not tired bud?" I ask him in an amused tone. He's almost falling asleep here and now but I can tell he won't let me alone...not again.
"Do you really think I would let you alone here? After everything that has happened to you?" he asks me, confirming my thesis. Just when I'm about to go on with the conversation the door cracks open again. I lift my gaze, expecting one of the digidestined to enter the room. But much to my surprise I come face to face with icy-grey eyes.
"Mind if I join you here?" Alec asks me, looking kind of unsure all of the sudden. I just nod and gesture him to sit down on the armchair in front of me. He does as he's told and takes the seat, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes.
He also did change his clothes; instead of the long black coat he's wearing a sleeveless white shirt that reveals his scars on his arm. My curiosity is awakened immediately and I can't avert my gaze from his arm anymore. Some scars look deeper than others; some are more visible while others faded away almost completely. The only commonality all the scars share is that they all run over his whole arm.
"I don't like to be stared at", he says, snapping me out of my daze immediately. I avert my gaze and turn to look at him. Though I was expecting him to look at me –since he caught me staring at his arm – he doesn't even look like he moved an inch. He's still leaning on the back of the chair, his eyes closed.
However he obviously feels my stare because he reopens his eyes and looks straight at me.
"Where did you get those scars?" Agumon asks the one question I was actually debating whether I should ask or not. Alec eyes my partner digimon for a moment with an empty stare before he averts his gaze and looks down on the ground, not moving at all.
I'm just about to apologize to him that my partner asked him such an uncomfortable question when I hear his raspy voice sound once again. "When the war just started... my –"he starts and looks up again, allowing me for the first time to actually see the broken man behind the mask he was wearing all along.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't w –"I start but he raises his hand, signaling me to shut up.
"I'm fine", he says before taking a deep breath and starting once again:" When the war against the demon lords started, my best friend was attacked... you have to know that... the demon lords like to use fire as weapons. My best friend, Zac, went to pick up his son –in the real world if you wonder about that – however the moment he entered the building it caught fire. I managed to get him out in time but he was hysterical, screaming things like his son is still in there. Seeing that he was in no state to go in again I did it, after a while I did find the little boy. I got him out but it was too late... my best friend wasn't the same ever since. And I am doomed to remember this day forever", he says, gesturing to his scarred arm.
I didn't notice it at first but now that I know what has happened I realize that these scars were caused by flames...not by clinks. My heart is beating a whole lot faster and I feel like someone just slapped me across the face. Though I know very well that the rest of my team doesn't really trust Alec and doesn't want him to be around them too long... my sympathy towards this guy is growing constantly. Since I'm too stunned to say something Agumon is once again faster than me.
"I'm so s –"he starts but once again, Alec interrupts him in mid-sentence.
"I don't need any pity. That's over; he died a long time ago. As well as everyone else", he says in such a tone that signals both of us to change the subject from now on.
Although I feel the giant urge to ask him more about these visions he showed me... about all these people who he showed me dying, I shut my mouth. There's no way in hell he will talk about that right now, I can tell.
"Are these your pills?" he asks all of the sudden, gesturing to the pack of pills in my lab. I didn't even notice that they fell out of my jacket. I just nod as a response what causes his expression to get darker immediately. He gets up within seconds and grabs the pills from my lab, examining them carefully. While he does that his expression gets darker by the second. He looks beyond pissed by now.
"Did my brother give them to you?!"
"Yeah he said that's for –"
"Your injury?!" he shouts angrily, clutching the package in his right hand. The cracking of the pack doesn't really impress him. I just nod since I'm too surprised to say something. God I'm so confused right now... and the dizziness from earlier just got worse.
"Do you feel light-headed?" he asks in a much calmer voice after observing me for a few seconds.
I feel Agumon on my side immediately. He's beyond concerned what causes me to pull myself together and taking a deep breath before I answer him.
"I'm fine."
But I can see it in his eyes that he doesn't believe me so I just try to tell him that I don't want to worry my partner. Luckily he gets what I'm trying to say because he changes the subject once again.
"I'm sorry Tai. I've had a really long day... I should go to sleep", he says before leaving the room, taking my pills with him.
"That was weird wasn't it Tai?" Agumon asks me with wide eyes, concern still clear in his eyes.
"It was", I return smiling lightly at my longtime friend. "We should go to bed too."
Kari's Prov
I'm not sure if the fact that this base is completely shut out from any sunlight or because we're so deep under that I can't get any sleep right now. Gatomon fell asleep within seconds as soon as she laid down on the soft bed. I have to admit... the rooms are really pretty and they did a good job in making them comfortable, but still, it doesn't matter how hard I try...I just can't fall asleep.
So here I am... walking through some long corridor that's illuminated by flying spheres with a flame in it, wearing nothing but short black shorts and a matching tank top.
Without me even realizing it I find myself in the same floor as I think Phoenix' dorm is.
Okay... guess it's time to go back now.
I turn around and am just about to walk to the elevator when I bump into something –someone.
"I'm sorry I –"I start and stare up, freezing completely. Alec stares at me with a surprised look. I probably expected him to look quite angry since I bumped into him, but fortunately he looks rather amused.
"Can't sleep?" he asks, his voice unusual soft. I didn't realize it at first but hearing his voice now I hear the soft undercurrent of his deep voice.
Sensing some kind of sympathy towards me I relax immediately and response by giving him a nod.
"Yeah... I know how you feel", he responds quietly, looking down on the ground.
"Can I ask you something?" I just have to ask him why he's acting completely different now. He nods swiftly, causing me to ask the question out loud.
"Why are you suddenly so nice?"
He smiles –the first genuine smile – and reveals a perfect row of teeth. Wow... he's hot.
"I guess it's because your future you likes me a lot", he answers, winning a smile from me in return.
"Do I really like you or do I just tolerate you because my niece seems to be in love with you?"
This time he laughs –and I mean... really laughs out loud –, his raspy voice almost cracking. Either he smoked for years or he had a really bad illness that caused his voice to become like this. But I kind of like it.
"She loves me", he says, looking me straight into my eyes. Where before nothing but icy arrogance was, is now a hint of sympathy, causing me to like him a little more actually. Maybe he's not that bad after all...
I know that she loves him... I saw the way she was looking at him the whole time. Though he hurt her today and made her angry, she never stopped looking at him with love filled eyes. I can tell there's a really strong bound that's deeper than it looks like.
"Kari you should go to sleep. At least, try it. I can assure you times will get worse in the upcoming weeks", he says, his voice serious all of the sudden. I snap out of my little daze and look back at him, holding eye contact. He's sincere I can tell... and he's worried. If his concern applies to me however is unknown to me. He touches my right shoulder lightly before passing me and making his way towards one of the many steal doors.
I don't know why exactly...but I just started to trust this ancient man.
Phoenix's Prov
Fear... this is the only thing I'm capable of feeling right now. Fear of what more is now to come. For all I know Alec could walk in here and kill me here and now... immortal or not, he finds a way to kill me if he really wants to. I honestly didn't imagine this day to come. I thought I'd never see my brother again, and there he was today... burning down hundreds of enemies –saving us though – and scaring the shit out of me. The sight was just too familiar. I have to admit... I was expecting him to attack the digidestined right then and there. The fact that he didn't however gives me tiny hope that he's changed...at least a little bit. After all his behavior towards the Kamiya twins –especially Kazumi – was quite special. He almost seemed...worried. Worried that she might not stop ignoring him.
Just by thinking about these fiery goddess makes my heart beat faster in my chest. Though we stopped talking a while ago I still can't ignore the pain whenever I think back to what we had. There's no way in hell I am ever going to tell Tai, that not only my evil brother is in love with her but also me. I don't even want to imagine what he'd do to us if he'd knew everything...
God this situation is getting worse by each second...
I lean back in my armchair and close my eyes, allowing myself to relax for the first time in days. I let go of everything... the war, my brother, my ex-girlfriend... and focus on the sizzling sound of the wood burning in the chimney. I love chimneys... I loved fire...
The grueling sound of innocents dying echoes trough the dark night. He burned down an apartment building... again. I don't dare to turn to my right side and even look at him... I don't think I could bear to see the callousness in his eyes. Within the past few months his usual loving, warm eyes got as cold as their color shows... he got cold, as ice. Though I know that he has his orders to do all this I can't imagine that the person who gives him orders to kill innocent people –and in the real world especially – can be a good person, at all. But he refuses to tell me anything about them.
The screams die away lightly... leaving nothing but the daunting sound of several floors breaking down. I hear my brother chuckling lightly next to me and I turn to look at him in absolute shock. The faint reddish light casts a cloud over my brother's face, bringing out his defined contours and making him look like the devil himself. Suddenly he turns to me, spearing me with these endless, merciless eyes of his.
The loud bang of the door getting thrown open rudely awakens me, causing me to sit up straight in my armchair. I don't even remember falling asleep... –
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND?!"
My brother's voice freezes me up immediately and the all too familiar fear dares to overwhelm me. All of the sudden I feel like a little five year old boy whose brother is angry at him because he appeared in the middle of a warzone...looking for him. I stand up with shaky legs and turn around, facing these all too cold eyes of my older brother.
"A-Alec..." I manage to stutter. Hearing how pathetic I sound I try and pull myself together. Just when I'm about to say something more his voice pierces through the air again.
"Thanks for stating the obvious. There's something we have to talk about", he says, his voice colder and angrier than I can remember I ever heard.
I try my hardest not to show him my incredible fear right now and stand straight. Squaring my shoulders and taking a deep breath I respond in the most confident voice I bring up right now.
"About?"
"Tai's medical treatment." He responds, crossing his arms before his chest. My gaze immediately focuses on the burn scars on his arm. The memory is still vivid in my mind.
"Don't stare", he reminds me of the fact that if there's something my brother hates to death –beside me – then it's when someone stares at his scars. He has so many...
"I'm not sure if you remember clearly Alec... but if you hadn't stabbed the poor boy he wouldn't need any medication. He's in pain... and I give him painkillers", I respond, hoping that he'd just accept my response. He really doesn't need to know everything about the pills I'm giving Tai. There's a reason why I'm doing this.
"Painkillers?! YOU'RE DRUGGING HIM!" He shouts, causing me to jerk and all hope I had for him not finding out my real intention fading away.
"I'm not. I try to –", I start again... but my brother's already too angry to care about that.
"HELP HIM?! You're blocking his power! You're totally dulling him! You're such an egoist! What is it? Don't you want to lose your position or something?! God... he's the most powerful digidestined who was ever alive and you – ", he stops suddenly, staring at me with in shock widened eyes. "He doesn't know about his power does he?"
I don't respond. And that is answer enough.
Sora's Prov
My boyfriend's warm arm wraps itself around my waist, pulling me close to his chest. I immediately relax because of his touch and lean in, inhaling his unique scent.
"I missed you today", he murmurs into my ear. "I missed you too", I respond, taking his hand and planting a kiss into his palm. God I love this man so much.
Feeling the sudden desire to stare at his face I turn in his arms and come face to face with him. His hand slides down and comes to a stop on my lower hip, sending shivers all over my body. I silently thank myself for choosing the silk pajamas.
I stare silently into his deep chocolate brown eyes and prevent my thoughts to go back to the twins we got to meet. It really is obvious that these two kids are ours. I wanted to talk with Tai about them since I first met Dylan and Kazumi; now's the best time.
"It's kind of cute to know that this is forever isn't it?" Tai says, surprising me by beginning that conversation by himself.
"It is", I say, shifting in my position and turning so I'm lying on my back, staring up to the deep red ceiling. Tai mirrors my position though he places his right arm behind his head, supporting him. His left arm however rests between our bodies, looking for my right hand. I chuckle lightly but finally give in and take his hand.
"When do you think we'll have them?" he asks the question I was thinking about the whole day actually.
"I don't know", I let out a deep sigh. I know they're not allowed to tell us... but seeing that Tai and I are a couple already –and have sex constantly – they could make an exception.
"Actually... we could start already", he says.
Before I even realize what he just said he's already hovering above me, his right hand once again on my lower hip. He stares down on the small gap of my shirt and shorts. Fortunately my shirt slipped up, revealing a small part of my belly.
"I really do like silk on you but... I don't think you'd need this", he says chuckling lightly and placing a warm kiss on my neck.
My hands wander over his toned chest, down to his waistband. I slowly start to pull them down when a screeching sound pierces marrow and bone. Tai shots up within milliseconds, looking around the room hectically.
"What's that?" I shout, trying to overtone this sound.
An automatic voice sounds suddenly within the ear-piercing sound.
"This is a code red alarm. Please remain calm and repair to the air raid shelter. This is not a drill. Digidestined are called to get to the command center. We repeat, this is not a drill."
Tai's Prov
I run down the corridor as fast as I can, pulling my sister and Sora with me. Moments like these are the moments I want to thank my coach for forcing me to run miles until total exhaustion. The rest of the digidestined is running alongside us, holding onto their respective partners. Agumon is clutching on my neck tighter than I remember he ever did before. I quickly look around to check if everyone's present. My gaze meets the one of Matt...But he looks away as soon as our views met. Ouch... that hurt.
Seeing that the elevators don't work when the alarm is on we take the stairs down to the command center. I didn't even realize how many digimon live in here until now. Hundreds of different digimon walk down the stairs on the other side, going to the air raid shelter obviously. Sadly... they look like that's not the first time they're forced to do this kind of evacuation.
I don't know why the alarm was activated...but seeing that the ear-battering sound of the alarm is still going on and on is prove enough that whatever happened; it means danger.
"Digidestined! Follow us!" Alec's voice suddenly sounds from somewhere. He runs ahead of us quickly followed by Phoenix.
Phoenix passes us and Alec, showing us the right way. Within seconds we reach the right floor and the giant steal door appears on the end of the corridor.
Suddenly I hear a deafening loud crash that sounds like a giant explosion. My instincts take over and I push Sora and Kari in front of me. They however turn around immediately, looking at me in shock.
"Go!" I shout, but they don't move... at all. Being a leader means to make decisions that are needed to be. So I say the only thing I am sure it will work. "That's an order!"
"That applies everyone!" Alec adds, pushing everyone forward. Thank God.
"Tai I'm ready when you are", Agumon says determined. Though I know that he'd to anything to protect us... I doubt that there's enough space to digivolve.
I turn around to examine the source of that explosion. Though the corridor doesn't look like it broke down, there's a thick cloud of dust.
"TAI!" Alec's voice catches my attention. I turn around immediately and face him. "Where's the blond guy?!"
"Matt?" I whisper, my heart beats painfully against my chest. Suddenly I feel damn cold and stare at the dark corridor. The lights are all off, worsening the ability to see anything. Alec's hand feels hot on my left wrist.
"Tai the floor over us is going to collapse. We have to get out of here!" he shouts. That's when I realize that this base is actually shaking right now. My gaze shots up and I have to admit; Alec's right. There on the ceiling are deep looking cracks, getting bigger within seconds.
"TAI!" Alec shouts again. But I don't hear him. Matt is somewhere down that corridor. Since my mind is still on standby I trust my body and start to run. However as soon as I reach that dust cloud I start to cough. My sight blurs and I lose orientation immediately. Something's wrong with that dust.
All of the sudden I feel a pair of strong arms wrapping themselves around my torso, lifting me up without a sign of strain. Though I don't know him that long... it really is not that difficult to tell who this is.
"Alec let me go! He needs me!"
But he doesn't even bother to listen. "I'm sorry Tai. But I can't let you die. Not today."
Since my sight is still blurry of that dust I can't make up where he's going, but judged by the hysterical sounds of my friends voices I can tell that we're near the command center. Suddenly I feel Alec's hold on me loosening and a second later I'm sitting on the cold ground. However he stays by my side, holding onto my wrists. Dullness overwhelms me. Pain. I don't even try to listen to all the voices around me. Something deep inside of me feels relieved when my sight catches Kazumi and Dylan. I thought for a moment that they got lost too.
The heavy steel doors start to close.
The last thing I see is the floor breaking down, creating a bigger, thicker dust cloud than before. Not to mention the giant bricks that just fell down onto our floor.
"NO!"
It takes me a minute to realize that I was the one screaming in pain. Pain because my heart just got ripped out of me.
Matt...
Here ends chapter 5. It seems like my chapters are just getting longer and longer.
I hope you don't get used to that length... usually I just write everything that I feel like putting in one chapter. So... maybe the next chapter won't be that long...maybe it will be longer. Who knows.
I'll be gone for a while since I'm not going to be at home. But I'll try and update at the beginning of November. No promises here!
Anyway I hope you like it so far. Tell me what you think in a review.
See you soon.
10/03/15
