Frontier 02: Home Frontier- Chapter 25: Still
madjack89: That Death Note movie was amazing!
Daiki: Yay!
madjack89: It was so intense it made me tremble with excitement!
Daiki: I was bouncing up and down by the end!
madjack89 and Daiki: Hee hee hee!
Zoe: Ah, kids and their Death Note.
Kouichi: Even though kids really shouldn't be watching Death Note.
madjack89: Excuse me, who's the sixteen year old here?
Kouichi: You.
Daiki: And she was giving me parental guidance!
madjack89: That's right!
Hotaru: It was pretty good.
JP: You saw it too?
Takuya: I think by now it goes without saying that Hotaru is like Daiki's shadow/stalker, right Kouichi? Because you would know ALL about that!
Kouichi: Someone cover Tommy's ears while I tell Takuya exactly what I think about him right now.
madjack89: In that case, I'll answer reviews while you do that.
Kayland Elric: Death Note was indeed awesome! And for more Kouichi/Duskmon interaction, check out the next few chapters (it's not over yet)! Thanks for the review!
greywindfalcon: Aw, that's cool! People out there still appreciate the awesomeness of Digimon after all (hooray)! And cookies are awesome, even if they make you hyper! Thank you very much! (Oh, and sorry bout the computer issues once again!)
GoldenDragon326: I didn't actually know that curiosity killed the cat had a 2nd line! Thanks for telling me! It's one of the newer Spongebob's that I got the other quote from. I am aware that it's not necessarily true, but it never fails to make me laugh (ha)! Thanks for reviewing!
hazeleyedharmony: Thanks for another awesome review! And just to rest your fears, this story will be continuing for a while now (I can't get enough either)! Thanks also for the energy drinks!
kyokoaurora: Don't cry, they'll be in the next chapter! Have no fear! Thanks for reviewing!
aluminion: Is everyone who reads my story a twin (heh heh)? Oh well, twins are cool. I know a few twins myself, and they are quite nice (though I don't believe they have twin powers either)! Oh well. Thanks for the review!
garnettfox: Oh my god, darkkittymon! That's awesome! (Kouichi: Of course.) The others are cool too! You have some pretty wicked ideas! Woohoo! Thanks for reviewing!
bobmanv2.0: Well, the original six still have theirs, but they haven't felt the immediate need to use them (until now)! The other four, minus Shino, don't yet have them. But that may change soon! Thanks for reviewing!
Kouichi: …and you are just retarded!
Takuya: …
JP: I think he just exhausted every cuss word known to man.
Kouji: That was just…wow.
Tommy: Even just watching him say that stuff was scary.
Kira: That was pretty wicked, I gotta say.
Zoe: …Kouichi?
madjack89: Well, now that Kouichi's put everyone in shock, let's start the chapter! Woohoo!
Everyone: …
--
Kira stared dully out her window, bored. She had already tried calling Takuya about fifty times, but he just wasn't picking up. Then she had called Zoe. Still no response. She tried calling everyone to get the same thing. She had even called Kouji, but to no avail.
"Man, where the hell is everybody tonight? It's like they all just disappeared or something." She stretched her arms, contemplating what she could do on a night like tonight.
Suddenly a shape outside her window caught her eye. She opened it wide, sticking her head out to look for the thing she had seen. When she found nothing, she shrugged, beginning to close her window.
As she was doing this, something struck her window just above her head, causing it to shatter. She cringed as the debris rained down around her, cutting into her skin painfully. After she was sure it was over, she glanced up to survey the damage.
What she saw was a crooked-looking sword protruding from the window frame, just above her head. She also noticed that the sword was connected to the arm of a sinister looking Digimon balanced on her windowsill, glaring down at her. The other large eyes protruding from several places on its body were swiveling grotesquely as if they were watching their surroundings.
Kira shuddered slightly, backing up from the window and grabbing her D-Tector from her dresser. "You know, you are one ugly little monster," Kira said, smirking. "But you have terrible aim. Try going for the head next time."
The Digimon retracted its sword, continuing to glower at her. "You're just like him, aren't you? That annoying little pest who interfered last time."
Kira smiled knowingly. "You must be talking about Taki." Her hand glowed with data. "Sorry he's not here at the moment. Guess you'll have to settle for me! Spirit Evolution!"
With that Kira became Ranamon and quickly crouched down in case this Digimon decided to swing a sword at her again.
The other Digimon gripped what remained of her window, tearing it out of her wall and dropping it to the streets below. It stepped slowly into Kira's room, seemingly ignoring her fighting pose and instead examining her room's décor.
Ranamon stared at it, wide-eyed and confused. "Hey, what the hell? You just come destroy my property and try to take my head off, and then you ignore me?"
The Digimon glanced at her. "Apparently he hasn't told you," it said to itself, chuckling quietly. "That just proves how pathetic he is." It then turned its head to face Ranamon. "My name is Duskmon. I've been ordered to show you legendary warriors how outmatched you are, and to shake your confidence. But not to kill you."
"Well you aren't doing your job very well!" Ranamon jumped into the air, meaning to catch Duskmon off guard and land on his back. However, Duskmon quickly grabbed Ranamon's leg and in the same swing hurled her out the hole left by her broken window.
Thinking fast, she grabbed a flag pole sticking out of her building before she smashed head-first into the concrete. She let go of the pole, landing clumsily on her feet. In the same instant Duskmon was behind her, pressing his sword to her neck.
"Scared yet?" he asked mockingly.
"Bastard," Ranamon muttered angrily, trying to shake off her fear. After all, it looked like she was on her own here. Everyone else would be engaged in some other activity tonight, she was sure.
But would all the Digimon abide by the rule that they would not kill any of them? Would Duskmon?
--
"Badda-boom!" A small fire formed at Impmon's fingertip, blasting in Daiki's direction. Hotaru quickly grabbed Daiki's arm, pulling him out of the way of the flame.
Hotaru glared at Impmon. Impmon merely smirked. "Am I cute now, short stuff?" he asked mockingly, turning to face Daiki.
Daiki looked at Impmon and smiled. "Actually, my name is Daiki, Dai for short. And this is Hotaru. What brings you here, anyway?"
Impmon stared at Daiki, not sure how to respond. Was this kid really that stupid?
Hotaru backed up slowly, pushing Daiki behind him. He still wasn't sure whether Impmon could Digivolve or not, and he wanted to be prepared for the worst.
Impmon glared at Daiki angrily, pulling his glove tighter over his hand (or paw or something). "You sure are an annoyin' lil' brat, ain't cha'?" He then leaped into the air, aiming his pointer finger at Daiki. "I'll just have ta fix that!"
Before Impmon could unleash his attack, Hotaru grabbed a pillow from the couch and swung it at Impmon, hitting him and causing him to fly right into a wall. Impmon fell to the ground with a thud.
Daiki looked at Impmon with pity as he slowly rose to his feet. "Are you okay, Impmon?"
Impmon glared at Daiki with pure hatred. "What's the matter wit' you? I'm tryin' ta kill ya! Don't you care at all?"
Daiki's expression grew somber. "Maybe I don't," he murmured to himself.
Impmon's glare grew quizzical. "What, are ya suicidal now?"
"Shut up and get out of our house before I make you get out," Hotaru said firmly, cutting off Daiki's response. He brought his D-Tector up slowly, ready to Spirit Evolve.
Impmon looked at the device warily. "Ya ain't seriously gonna try that in your house, are ya?"
"Try me," Hotaru growled menacingly, hand beginning to glow. "Spirit Ev-"
"Fine then, I'll leave!" Impmon said, putting his hands up in surrender and backing up toward the door. He glowered at both Daiki and Hotaru now, not sure which one he hated more.
"You won't have it so easy next time," Impmon said slightly hysterically. "Next time I'm gonna be able ta Digivolve, and then you'll be beggin' for mercy! You'll see!"
With that Impmon jumped up and out of site.
Hotaru glanced at the door, then turned his attention to his cousin. "Dai," he began, not sure how to phrase what he was about to say. "You didn't really mean…"
Daiki looked up at Hotaru and smiled. "Don't get yourself worried over nothing, Hotaru. If I wanted to die, I think I could've done it by now."
Hotaru's expression still showed traces of worry as he smiled slightly. "I guess that's true," he said. He then turned back to the door. "Let's get to Takuya's house before anything else tries to attack us."
"Okie-dokey!" Daiki said happily, trying to put morbid thoughts out of his head. "Hey, you know what I think?"
"What do you think, Dai?" Hotaru asked as he closed the door to their house.
"I think Impmon is my favorite Digimon I've seen so far!"
Hotaru smirked at Daiki's bubbliness. "Dai, you really are something."
"Thank you very much," Daiki replied, taking this as a compliment. "Now off to Taki's house!"
--
madjack89: This isn't the end of the chapter, but I just thought that this would be a good opportunity to tell you guys that all these morbid thoughts that everyone is having don't reflect my own thoughts. I'm not suicidal, and I don't plan on being suicidal anytime soon! We'll leave that to the depressed-emo Digimon kids.
Everyone: HEY!
madjack89: Alright, back to the chapter!
--
Kouichi got to his feet slowly, trying to shake off the dizziness from hitting his head. He glared at the spot where Duskmon had stood a moment before, hatred burning in his eyes.
"That bastard," he muttered angrily to himself, clutching his D-Tector tightly. "He's not better than me, right?"
Kouichi stepped out of the bush, brushing himself off. He sighed heavily, putting his hand in his pocket. "Damn it," he murmured to himself, feeling exasperated. "Why does he always have to be so…"
"Kouichi!" Kouichi turned abruptly, ready to attack whatever had called his name. He relaxed slightly when he realized that it was Zoe standing on the sidewalk, looking winded (heh).
His gaze softened when he noticed how scared she looked. "Zoe, what are you doing here?" he asked, trying not to sound angry.
She took a step forward, then hesitated. "Where's Duskmon?" she asked. "I know he was here."
Kouichi gave her a confused look. "How did you know that?"
"That doesn't matter right now, Kouichi!" she said firmly, covering the distance between them quickly. "Tell me what happened! What did he do to you?"
Kouichi glanced at the sidewalk, not answering Zoe's question.
"Kouichi," Zoe said softly, placing a hand on Kouichi's shoulder. He shrugged it off and turned away from her, staring at the moon.
Zoe tried to hide her hurt feelings as she said, "I'm not a mind-reader, Kouichi. I can't help you unless you tell me what happened."
It was quiet for a few more moments. Zoe was about to speak again when Kouichi suddenly said, "Zoe, I have a question for you." He turned around and looked her in the eye, looking serious. "I need you to answer this truthfully. Don't think about my feelings or any of that. Just answer it."
Zoe nodded slowly, curiosity apparent in her eyes.
Kouichi paused, and then asked, "Who's stronger; me or Duskmon?"
Zoe's eyes widened and she chuckled. "That's an easy question! You, of course."
"Why do you think that?" Kouichi asked, not finding her answer as funny as she had found his question.
"Kouichi, let's look at this rationally. Duskmon symbolizes all of the darkest things about darkness. That, in my opinion, makes him unstable."
"I was unstable because of Kouji. Duskmon doesn't have that to tie him down now," Kouichi stated dully.
Zoe hesitated before answering. "Well, that may be true, but you have something that Duskmon doesn't that makes you strong. It's the one thing that truly helped you beat Duskmon in the end."
Kouichi glanced at her. "And that is?"
Zoe smiled. "You have a heart, Kouichi. You have the ability to care and feel…" She paused here and twined her fingers with his. "…and love. That is what makes you more powerful than Duskmon and the darkness he symbolizes."
Kouichi chuckled mirthlessly. "If that's the case, why did this trouble with Duskmon start in the first place?"
Zoe gaze grew angry. "You need to stop blaming yourself for that. It wasn't your fault."
"It was my fault, Zoe," he said firmly, pulling his hand away from hers. "I could have refused Duskmon's spirit, but I didn't. And now I have to pay the price for it."
"Why do you think you're the only one who should have to face Duskmon? You really are acting like Kouji now," Zoe said, feeling annoyed.
"If I were like Kouji," Kouichi began, raising his D-Tector, "then none of this would have happened. Beast Spirit Evolution."
Kouichi evolved into JagerLowemon (probably with a really pimpin' evolution sequence that no one gets to see because the animators are lazy!) and leaped over Zoe, headed for Kira's house.
"Kouichi, wait!" Zoe cried, Beast Spirit Evolving herself in order to follow him. She quickly covered the scant distance he had traveled.
JagerLowemon glanced at Zephyrmon. "Go to Takuya's and stop following me!"
Zephyrmon glared back at him. "Sorry, but I'm not letting you go do something stupid and get yourself killed!"
JagerLowemon growled angrily. "Kira's in danger. I think Duskmon is going to go after her." He paused, causing Zephyrmon to come clumsily to a halt mid-flight. "I'm not about to let you get hurt. I have to do this alone."
Zephyrmon smirked. "You thought that would stop me? Kira's my friend, and you are my boyfriend. Now I'm definitely coming!"
JagerLowemon sighed angrily. "Fine," he agreed grudgingly, turning around. But if anything happens to you, he thought, I won't be able to forgive myself.
--
"Arbormon," Takuya repeated to himself.
"Your friend," Chikao muttered.
"Wait a minute," Takuya said suddenly. "Shino isn't to blame for what happened. He had nothing to do with it. Shino is now the wielder of Arbormon's spirit, and I know he wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone."
Gatomon frowned. "It makes perfect sense now."
Takuya looked at her. "What are you talking about?"
"Who is the one who beat Wizardmon in the first place?" Gatomon asked.
"Shino," Takuya answered. "So what? What are you getting at?"
Gatomon sighed. "Takuya, I now see why Kouji has so little patience with you."
Takuya glared at her. "You gonna make fun of me, or are you gonna tell me what's going on?"
"Takuya, I don't think Wizardmon wants revenge against all of you. He wants revenge against one person in particular." She turned and looked at Takuya's cousin. "Right, Chikao?"
Chikao shrugged. "She caught him."
Takuya cocked his head. "So he wants revenge against…?"
Gatomon hung her head, exasperated. "He wants revenge against Shino for beating him!"
"Oh," Takuya said. Understanding suddenly crossed his features. "Mitsuki was killed by…" He glanced at Chikao. "Wizardmon isn't the only one looking for revenge, is he?"
Chikao chuckled to himself. "You finally understand."
Takuya's eyes narrowed. "Chikao…"
"Do you hate me now?" Chikao asked quietly. "Well, go ahead. I don't care."
"I don't hate you, Chikao," Takuya said firmly. "If I did, that would make me a little hypocritical."
Chikao stared at Takuya, looking confused for the first time. "What?"
Takuya smiled. "Well, it's just that your story is so similar to Kouji's that if I hated you for making a mistake, shouldn't I theoretically hate him?"
"Your friend's story?" Chikao asked, eyes narrowing skeptically.
Takuya nodded. "She was run down by a truck right after pushing him out of the way."
"She?" Chikao asked.
"The girl he loved," Takuya stated. "Her name was Seiko."
Chikao's eyes widened. Takuya held his hand out tentatively. "You don't have to be alone, you know," he said softly.
Before Chikao could respond, the three of them heard the door to Takuya's house open. "Hello? Takuya? Are you here?"
"Shino!" Takuya cried, pushing past Chikao and running for his bedroom door.
"Takuya?" Shino called again. "Is that you?"
"Wait Shino! Don't come in here!" Takuya burst through his door, followed by Gatomon.
Shino's eyes narrowed. He glanced at Gatomon and asked, "If she's here, where's Wizardmon?"
"Shino, look out behind you!" Gatomon suddenly yelled, noticing her brother standing in the shadows behind Shino, wand raised.
"What?" Shino turned his head just in time to see a bolt of lightening headed straight for him.
"Shino!" Takuya cried as the room lit up for a brief moment. Then everything was still.
--
madjack89: Hooray, my computer troubles are finally over (knock on wood)!
Takuya: Finally!
JP: Yeah, it's about time we got this show back on the road!
madjack89: I'm in complete agreement!
Kouji: What did you do to the computer, anyway?
madjack89: The monitor broke.
Kouji: That sucks.
madjack89: But we got a new one, so it's all good!
Kouichi: That's good.
madjack89: Oh, and on an unrelated note, you know what you can find on the Digimon branch of Wikipedia?
Kira: Nothing having to do with me, Shino, Dai and Taru-kun?
madjack89: Well, that goes without saying, but you can find pages on different Digimon couplings!
Takuya and Kouji: Oh my god!
madjack89: They don't have any yaoi one's, guys.
Takuya: Thank goodness.
Kouji: I swear…
madjack89: What makes these pages funny for me is that they have a list of evidence on each of the pages to prove their point, and some of the stuff is so obscure that I really don't see how it pertains to the coupling anymore!
Kouji: Like how?
madjack89: Like how every time you guys merely glance at Zoe it is considered evidence of your love.
JP: Heh heh…fangirls.
Zoe: They never learn, do they?
Kouichi: No they don't.
madjack89: Alright, see you later, everybody!
Daiki: Goodbye, Raye Penber.
madjack89: Nice one!
Daiki: Hee hee!
Kouichi: sigh