Frontier 02: Home Frontier – Chapter 13: The Voice
madjack89: Konichiwa! Madjack here to bring you the thirteenth chapter of Frontier 02! I'm seriously on a roll now. I've finally gotten to the good stuff!
Kouji: On a roll! How can you say that?
madjack89: Sorry Kouji, but it had to be done. And now I also have to write 'it'.
Kouji: I despise you…
Takuya: Aw, don't be that hard on her. She's just trying to write a good story.
Kouji: Just wait until you find out what 'it' is.
madjack89: Okay, review time!
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greywindfalcon: Yes, I wanted Wizardmon to be that kind of character, but his employer…well, you'll find out soon enough! And speaking of cake, my brother's birthday was yesterday, so I got ice cream cake! Happy birthday! Never fear, it will all turn out well. I hate sad endings. See ya!
Expired In Goreville: Thanks! I'm glad you like it! And I'm trying to get at least three chapters done this week because I'm going on vacation and won't be able to update next week. Thanks again!
GoldenDragon326: Yeah, well…I kind of liked that Wizardmon too, but I needed someone to be the bad guy, right? And I believe that topsy-turvy is definitely a real word. Oh, and Kouichi says thanks! And so do I! Thanks!
JewelledTears: Yes, I meant Shibuya. I wanted to give it a specialer name than Shibuya (though specialer isn't a word)! Oh, and, for the record, um…OH, GOD NO! NO INCEST! ! (Kouji and Kouichi: Ew…) Alright, I am calm now! But no, I don't EVER plan to write ANYTHING having to do with incest (no offense to anyone who likes that)! Kouji was just conveying a point, nothing more than BROTHERLY love. Thank you for reviewing.
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madjack89: Alrighty, time to start the chapter! Let's get to it! And 'it'!
Kouji: Damn…
—
~One week later…
"Kouichi!" Kouji yelled, looking around an alley. "Kouichi, please! Come back! Come back…"
Takuya walked up behind Kouji, putting his hand on Kouji's shoulder. "Kouji, it's getting late. We should go home…"
"No! I have to find him now!" Kouji snapped, shrugging Takuya's hand off his shoulder. Then he turned around, continuing down the street.
Takuya followed him, concerned. He's been like this ever since…An image of Kouichi's expression that day flashed through Takuya's mind. He flinched involuntarily.
"There's always something that happens to us…" muttered Takuya, matching his pace with Kouji's.
Kouji smirked, hearing what Takuya had said. "And most of it happens to Kouichi." Kouji stopped, staring at the pavement ahead of him. He could feel another headache coming on.
Takuya stopped as well. "Maybe that's the fate of the warrior of darkness. To always be surrounded by confusion…pain…and darkness itself."
Kouji flicked his gaze up to Takuya, staring him down. His fist clenched. "I won't let that be Kouichi's destiny. As the warrior of light, as his brother…I swear it!"
Takuya smiled, holding up his arm. "Now, that's what I wanted to hear! Come on; let's go screw up our destinies!"
Kouji smiled back, touching his arm to Takuya's in what had become their version of a high-five.
As they continued walking down the street, a shadowy figure watched them from the alley, eyes glowering at them. They're much too persistent, thought Wizardmon, smirking. I'll have to fix that!
Then he reached into his coat, pulling out his wand. "Kiss my ass, Harry Potter!" he proclaimed, jumping out from the alley.
Takuya and Kouji turned, taking out their D-Tectors.
"It's that Wizardmon!" growled Kouji, hand glowing with data.
"Let's finish this quickly, we have a schedule to keep!" said Takuya, preparing to Spirit Evolve.
Before either of them had the chance, though, Wizardmon's wand began to glow brightly, hitting them both with some sort of energy. They stood paralyzed for a moment, eyes wide. Then Wizardmon's wand ceased glowing, and they both slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Wizardmon cackled softly. "That was almost too easy," he said, strutting past them. "Now, to check on the patient!"
—
Zoe sat on Kira's futon, head resting on her knees. Kouichi… she thought, remembering his expression from before. Where are you? Are you okay? Is-is this my fault?
"Alright, two sodas for the two hot young babes!" exclaimed Kira, pushing open her door with two sodas in hand. She handed one to Zoe and sat down, cracking her own soda open.
Zoe sighed. "I don't think I'm that thirsty right now, Kira. Thanks anyway."
Kira took a swig of her soda and put it back down on the floor. Then she stared at Zoe pleadingly. "Zoe, staying at my apartment was supposed to cheer you up!" She paused, watching Zoe shift her feet nervously. Kira sighed. "Zoe, it's not your fault that Kouichi ran away. Things just happened, and we've been looking for him all week. We'll find him."
Zoe looked up at Kira, smiling. "Thank you, Kira. But, it's just that…Kouichi is more than just my friend. He's always been there for me, always listened to my problems without a single complaint. He's my rock, my stronghold. I…I just can't imagine never being able to see that cute little smile of his again!"
A tear rolled down Zoe's cheek, and she quickly brushed it away, embarrassed. But Kira paid no attention to that as she stared at Zoe, wide-eyed. "Zoe, I…I think…I think you're in love with Kouichi!"
—
Kouji blinked, staring at the night sky above him. What happened? I don't remember…Wizardmon! Oh no, how long have I been out?
He quickly sat up, shaking his head to clear it. "Huh?" He couldn't feel his hair against the back of his head. He reached his hand up and realized that he was wearing a hat. "What in the…?" Then he realized that he didn't even sound like himself! He quickly clamped his mouth shut with his hands, realizing he had on gloves. No, no way, no, no, no this can't be happening! But…there's only one way to know for sure.
He raised his hand shakily, reaching up to touch his forehead. And, sure enough, there was a pair of goggles resting on his head. Takuya's goggles.
"Oh my God!" he exclaimed, realizing he sounded like Takuya. "Wizardmon!"
"What's all the yelling about?" Kouji heard his voice ask groggily next to him. He turned to see himself sitting up slowly, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Takuya…?" he asked, slowly realizing what Wizardmon had done.
"Yeah?" Takuya replied, turning to see himself staring at him in panic. Kouji saw his eyes widen in panic. "Oh my God, Wizardmon cloned me!" he exclaimed. "Wait, why do I sound like Kouji? Where is Kouji…oh no, I must have eaten him in my sleep! Noooooooooooooo!"
Takuya jumped up, running around in a panic. Kouji stared at him as he ran around. Did he hit his head on the pavement and damage what was left of his brain? "Takuya! You did not freakin eat me! Wizardmon's attack must have made us switch bodies somehow."
Takuya stopped, staring at himself. Then he slowly reached up to touch his goggles and realized he had a bandana on. "Oh…my…God…"
"I know, this is terrible…"
"This is great!" Takuya exclaimed, much to Kouji's surprise. "I've always wondered what it would be like to be you!"
Kouji's eye twitched angrily. "Takuya, this isn't good! Don't you see? Wizardmon is trying to keep us preoccupied! I'll bet anything that he kidnapped Kouichi and doesn't want us to get in his way…"
"Well then, let's go kick his ass!" exclaimed Takuya, holding up Kouji's D-Tector.
Kouji sighed. "Takuya, I am the warrior of light, and you are the warrior of fire."
Takuya blinked, puzzled. "Yeah, so?"
My God, I look so clueless! "So, our D-Tectors will only work for us, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, do you know how to do any of the attacks that I do?"
Takuya paused, realizing the dilemma. "I see your point. But…we could teach each other how to do our attacks, like on Teen Titans!"
Teen…what? "Takuya, that could take awhile, and if Wizardmon has Kouichi, we need all the time we can get!"
"But what will we do once we find him, huh? Give up?"
Kouji sighed, putting Takuya's hands in his pockets. "Good point."
"Okay, let the practicing commence!"
—
Wizardmon silently opened the door to the tree house, closing it without a peep. "How foolish humans are! All I had to do was make this old tree house invisible to the human eye, and I had the perfect hideout! Right, Kouichi?"
Kouichi didn't answer, continuing to stare at the floor. His hands and ankles were bound with rope, just as a precaution. Wizardmon knew that he wasn't about to escape anytime soon. In fact, he had asked Wizardmon to kill him several times already.
I've succeeded in breaking him, thought Wizardmon, cackling softly. And that was only a test run of my master's power! Combined with my own attack, we'll mold him into our little warrior, and then…
Kouichi glanced up, watching Wizardmon set to work. I wonder what he's working on. Not that it matters…but at least he's keeping me here. Away from everyone, until I can figure out what's happening to me.
When Wizardmon had first captured him, he had wanted to be killed, thinking that he had somehow wanted to hurt Kouji of his own free will. But as the days had gone by, he'd realized that there had been something else making his body move. Some little voice in the back of his mind…
Well, at least it hasn't come back since then. If I tried attacking Wizardmon, he'd kill me on accident…or on purpose. I'm not really sure what his motives are. Wizardmon turned, glancing at Kouichi. Kouichi quickly lowered his gaze, looking as depressed as he possibly could. Wizardmon chuckled, turning back to his work.
Kouichi sighed in relief, grinning triumphantly. Well, if I can just keep up this act, then he won't try to do anything to me. Hopefully.
—
Lobomon and Agunimon stood by the docks, preparing to go and find Kouichi.
"Okay, I think I got this down!" said Lobomon, swinging his Light Kendo around. "I'm ready to use the force and beat Darth Vader!"
"Say that again and I'll kill you," snapped Agunimon, flames shooting from his gauntlets. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, stopping the flames.
"You might want to keep calm, buddy, or that's gonna happen a lot," smirked Lobomon.
"I always thought you seemed calmer as Agunimon," Agunimon remarked sarcastically. While Lobomon fumed, Agunimon/Kouji began to concentrate. Alright, where are you, Kouichi?...There!
"C'mon, Takuya!" he yelled, racing off down the street. "I know where Kouichi is!"
"I always knew you had freaky telekinetic twin powers!" remarked Lobomon, following him.
"It's nothing like that!" he retorted. "It's more like I can sense him. Like, I get this feeling of where he is."
"And you didn't use the force before because…?"
"Because every time I tried, there was something blocking me," Agunimon explained, ignoring Lobomon's Star Wars reference. "Anyway, that's gone now, which means something bad might be about to happen."
"So basically, we have to hurry," said Lobomon, smiling. "Well, nick of time saves are my forte!"
—
Wizardmon stood outside the tree house, holding his walkie-talkie device up to his mouth. "It's ready, milady. We can proceed as soon as possible," he whispered into the device.
"Very well. And what of Gatomon?"
"She is still missing. I don't know what happened after that Leomon dragged her off like that."
The voice sighed. "Alright then. Proceed with the attack in no less than ten minutes!"
"Understood," Wizardmon replied, clicking the walkie-talkie and putting it back in his coat. "You had better be grateful for this later, Gatomon," he muttered, lifting the shield off the tree house.
While Wizardmon had been talking, Kouichi was lounging against the wall of the tree house comfortably, twirling the ropes that had bound his hands and feet around his finger.
"Someone needs to go back to boy scouts," chuckled Kouichi softly. He glanced at the other side of the tree house, staring at Wizardmon's blanket-covered project. "I wonder if I have enough time?" he muttered, listening for Wizardmon's footsteps.
When he heard none, he tip-toed quickly over to the corner of the tree house, carefully removing the blanket from the over the object. He stared at it for a second, confused. "A bottle?"
"Hm, it seems you're more curious than I thought you were." Kouichi froze, hearing Wizardmon creep up behind him, prodding Kouichi's back with his wand.
Kouichi sighed, holding up his hands in defeat. "I guess the jig is up. Fine. I'll go quietly."
"Good!" Wizardmon exclaimed, shoving Kouichi out the door of the tree house. Kouichi's eyes widened as he fell…three feet.
"Damn, this tree is short!" said Kouichi, staring at the tiny tree that housed a tree house bigger than itself.
"Things aren't always as they seem," muttered Wizardmon darkly, holding up his bottle. "For instance, it looks like there is nothing in this bottle. But this bottle contains something that took me two months to finish, just for you."
"I'm flattered," said Kouichi, shaking slightly despite himself.
Wizardmon cackled. "And so begins the destruction of the legendary warriors!"
"Guess again! Super-Duper-Awesome-Special-Laser-Light-Of-Doom!" A blast of light hit the ground in front of Wizardmon, causing him to jump back.
Kouichi chuckled. "About time you guys showed up!"
Agunimon and Lobomon stood over them, Lobomon's gun still smoking. "We got a little sidetracked. And what the hell did you just call that attack, Takuya?"
Lobomon cocked his head sheepishly. "Well, I couldn't really remember what you called it, so…I kinda made something up!"
Kouichi looked at them, confused. "Um, I'm just gonna save the questions for later."
Agunimon rushed over to Kouichi. "Are you all right?" he asked, concerned.
"So, wait a minute, YOU'RE Kouji?" asked Kouichi, still confused.
Suddenly a burst of light shot from Wizardmon's wand, hitting both Lobomon and Agunimon. They stood paralyzed for a moment, and then reverted back to their human forms.
"Kouji! Takuya!" Kouichi looked at them both anxiously.
Kouji slowly brought his hand to his head, not feeling goggles anymore. "Hey, I'm back!"
"Awwww…" moaned Takuya, disappointed.
"It looks as if that couldn't keep you preoccupied long enough." Before they could turn their attention back to Wizardmon, his wand glowed, and they realized that they could no longer move.
"Damn…we're paralyzed!" growled Kouji, gritting his teeth.
"What…can you fly, too?" Takuya said in disbelief.
"Sadly, no." Wizardmon turned to Kouichi, taking out his bottle. "It's all over…for you!"
Then he threw the bottle on the ground, standing stock-still for several moments. Suddenly, his wand began to glow with an ominous purple light. Wizardmon smirked raising his wand over his head. "This is it! Vision of Terror!"
Kouichi closed his eyes, bracing himself for Wizardmon's attack.
"Arghhhhhhhhh!" Kouichi's eyes shot open, realizing that Kouji had mustered up enough strength to put himself between him and Wizardmon's attack.
"Kouji!" Kouichi and Takuya rushed to Kouji's side, watching as he clutched his head in pain.
"It…hurts…arghhhhhh!" Kouji fell to his knees, clenching his fists shakily.
"Kouji…" Kouichi stared at his brother, horror-struck. Takuya clenched his fists, turning to Wizardmon.
"You bastard!" Takuya threw a punch at Wizardmon and, strangely, it landed. "How could you?"
Wizardmon got up slowly, brushing his face with his arm. "This may still work out the way we want it to, milady." Then he vanished in a cloud of dust.
As soon as Wizardmon left, Kouji's head instantly stopped hurting. "What…?"
Kouji rose slowly to his feet, realizing that he felt completely fine. "Kouji?" Kouichi looked at him, concerned.
"I…I feel fine now. Maybe his attack only works at close range?"
"I'm still gonna pummel him for what he did," Takuya muttered angrily.
Something's wrong… thought Kouichi. "Are you sure you're fine, Kouji? He told me he prepared that attack for me for two months."
"Well, it wasn't a very good attack, apparently. Now let's get back to everyone else. We've been worried sick about you, Chief!" Takuya turned, walking away.
"Go ahead, Takuya. We'll catch up in a second," said Kouji, turning to face Kouichi. As Takuya walked out of earshot, Kouji said, "So, are you sure YOU'RE okay?"
Kouichi smiled. "Yes, Kouji. I-I'm sorry about…what happened."
"It wasn't your fault!" said Kouji forcefully, pulling Kouichi into a hug. "It wasn't your fault…"
"No, it wasn't. That's what worries me now. What….what if Wizardmon's attack—"
"Come on, lovebirds, hurry up!" Takuya called from farther ahead.
Kouji quickly stood up straight, glaring at Takuya. "That's it, you've gone too far!" he yelled, running after Takuya.
Kouichi smirked, watching the two fight. I guess he's okay, but…that voice…
—
Gatomon stepped out of the elevator, standing on the steps of the Trailmon station. She walked down the steps slowly. Then she picked a tunnel and began to run.
"If I can't stop Wizardmon…then I'll just have to call in the only person that can match his prowess!"
Her tail ring glowed as she disappeared into the tunnel, determined.
—
madjack89: Well, how was that chapter? Interesting? Not so much?
Kouji: I feel humiliated…
Kouichi: Yes everyone, that was 'it'. Told you it wasn't that bad.
Kouji: She cut down the part where me and Takuya were practicing…it was pure torture!
Takuya: I thought it was awesome! I never knew how much being you feels like being Luke Skywalker.
Kouji: Takuya…
JP: Well, I for one am unsatisfied with my lack of getting my own character development.
Zoe: Technically, we already got character development.
madjack89: Calm down, I'll give all of you character development. You can't rush these things, you know.
JP: Well, you've been spending so much time with Kouichi's character development!
madjack89: Do you want back in the story, or not?
JP: Fine.
madjack89: Okay, time to say adios! Don't forget to R&R!