Griff Spander and Angela Krutsky were enjoying a before-dinner nap on
the soft leather couch in the closest thing to a living room the coliseum
had to offer. Griff was awake at the moment, modestly smelling his
girlfriend's hair as she snoozed in his arms. Smells like waterfalls. he
mused.
"Hey Griff," Griff raised his head towards the sound of his name, "have you seen Tai?"
Griff shook his head and laid it back down on the arm of the couch. Angela reflexively snuggled in closer to his body. Shiva looked on a bit downhearted.
"Well, as far as I know he went into the forest, but that was two hours ago."
Griff just buried his face into the crook of Angela's neck. Shiva tip-toed up to the pair, crouched down so that she was eye level with them and whispered, "That was a subtle hint for: I need a tour guide..."
When Griff gave no indication that he was going to move Shiva straitened her posture and strode out the door; but not without shooting them a dirty look.
The sky was tinged with an ethereal rose hue that showed the first signs of the sun's descent. Shiva walked boldly up to the forest where Tai entered hours before and took a deep breath. Upon entering she released her mouthful of air in disbelief. Before her rest multiple paths in every which direction.
"I'm can't believe I'm doing this for a man. Tai- you're lucky you're my best friend."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tai stumbled along the path almost blindly; half from shock, half from the newly added appendages on his back. He was pretty sure that he had gotten himself lost, but that was the last thing on his mind at the moment. He knew he should have been thinking about how to explain this to the other members of his home, other than he didn't know what exactly happened himself. Gennai warned them about some physical changes- but wings? Tai stumbled over another rock and fell to his knees. After a few hard breaths of frustration and confusion he lifted his head to see bits of the coliseum through the thinning trees.
Relief swelled in Tai's chest and he would have leapt for joy of he weren't so wary about the wings. He quickened his pace, intent on reaching the security of the structure; where he knew answers lie to his altered physical appearance. Just as he made a beeline for the end of the forest, a body intercepted his path. The collision left the two sprawled on the ground. Shiva sat up and glared angrily at Tai. Her stomach gave a sudden jolt and any words she had planned for him disappeared from her mind as she stared at the winged man before her.
Tai groaned as he landed painfully on his left wing. He looked to Shiva's rigid posture as dread crammed inside him unsure of what she thought of him now. The silence around them grew steadily unnerving.
"Shiva, I know this is weird-"
"COOL!"
Tai was cut off, as he was glomped by the young woman. She began to feel his wings, stoking them and cooing at their softness. Tai shuddered with pleasure at her touch and came to the conclusion that he must have sensitive nerves within his feathers. He immediately grabbed her wrist to keep her from further manipulating his wings, which made Shiva quite put out.
"So you like them then?"
"Yes!" Shiva exclaimed, "I mean, who'd of thought you'd be the first to have any physical developments when you were the last to receive elemental ones."
This was true, Tai noted, and this piece of information left him feeling more confident again. He wasn't about to admit it to anybody, but he did feel slightly hurt and jealous that the rest of the guardians could control their elements before him.
"So almighty and powerful demigod," Shiva began, breaking Tai out of his momentary trance, "Can ya fly?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"AHHHHHHH"
Griff jumped from the couch as the strangled cry shocked him from his doze. Unfortunately Angela was lying on top of him and was sent tumbling to the ground.
"GRIFF!!!"
Griff winced apologetically and helped her to her feet.
"Did you hear that?" he said
"Hear what?"
"There was a yell or something from outside. I'm not sure but it sounded like-"
"NO! DON'T PUSH- ARGGH..... owwwww"
"Yes," Angela agreed, "that's definitely Tai."
The two hurried outside to see that last thing they'd ever expect. On the ground lie Tai on his back in a bed of snow-white feathers. Shiva was straddling the panting boy's bare stomach looking exasperated. Neither had noticed the new company for Shiva was busy scolding Tai.
"Stop whining! It's just a little extra weight! You call yourself a god?"
Angela made a little coughing noise to announce their presence. Shiva's head snapped up and Tai struggled to lift his own head from the ground to see who was there. Griff raised his eyebrows accusingly, "Are we interrupting something?"
"Just a flying lesson." Shiva said, oblivious to Griff's notion.
"Flying lesson?" Angela repeated.
Shiva grinned as she roughly pulled a bewildered Tai to his feet. Griff and Angela were stunned into silence. Felling uncomfortable with their surprise, Tai unconsciously folded his wings behind him in hopes of more concealment. The silence was broken by a piercing squeal.
"They're so pretty!!"
Angela rushed over and began to brush the soft white feathers with her fingers as Shiva had done before. Tai gave a small nervous laugh and bit back a moan. He quickly stepped away from Angela's reach in fear that he would start to purr.
"So can ya fly?" Griff challenged, masking his own urge to pet the supple feathers as well.
"Yea-"
"-On his own maybe, but not with other people-"
"-Come off it. I just got these things-"
"-You're a god, man! Show some godlike strength!"
"Fu-"
"STOP!!" Angela jumped between the two bickering friends and held them apart at an arms length distance. "He'll work on carrying you later Shiva, right now I wanna see him fly."
After shooting Shiva a triumphant look, Tai bent his knees and took off. The moment his feet left the ground his wings started long, powerful beats, bringing the dust on the ground to cloud around him. At first his rise was slow and rocky. As he ascended higher towards the evening sky, the wing strokes became gradually smoother and closer together. His speed increased dramatically with each commanding flap. Tai couldn't think of a time when he was happier. Not a victory against an evil digimon, not a championship soccer match, not even another crazy adventure was better than this. Every worry or responsibility that rested with Tai was instantly washed away with the refreshing waft.
Shiva, Angela and Griff watched with awe as Tai soared through the clouds above them. The white wings looked majestic as they stretched to their full ten-foot span. About fifteen minutes later Tai finally descended towards the speechless group.
"Was that sweet or what?" Tai yipped gleefully, flexing his wings experimentally. After another moment of astonished gaping Griff spoke up.
"That's it; we're taking you to Gennai."
"No need, I saw the whole thing." The four whipped around to see Gennai standing with his arms clasped behind his back and his mustache brisling with pride. "Very well done, Mr. Kamiya, very well indeed."
"Thanks mum" Tai responded.
"Does this mean the rest of us will be changing soon?" asked Angela hopefully. It was obvious she wanted a pair of wings as well.
"Yes, very soon, and I hope you are well prepared for them. I assume I am correct in saying that was not painless." Gennai directed at Tai.
Tai grimaced. He would not like to go though any more transformations in the near future if they all felt like that.
"Well, something wicked cool happened to me," Shiva started, "but it's not a physical ability and it's not an elemental power either. I think it has something to do with me being a demon."
"Half-demon" Tai coughed.
Shiva kicked him in the shin.
"What is it?" Griff asked interestedly.
"I will show you!" Shiva sprinted inside the coliseum. Griff, Tai, Angela and Gennai all looked at each other bearing slightly baffled expressions before following her. They finally caught up with her in the kitchen, Gennai taking the longest due to old age, where she was brandishing a steak knife.
"Whoa," Griff raised his eyebrows disapprovingly, "Shiva, no offense but I doubt this is anything good if it involves you and a knife."
Tai nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah, you don't exactly have a clean record when it comes to wielding pointy objects." He unconsciously rubbed his left arm where in one battle she stabbed him with a spear just because he 'accidentally' dumped the body of an Ogremon on her leg, breaking her ankle. He heard Shiva growled something that sounded like 'you deserved it' but he couldn't be sure.
"So what is it?" Angela asked impatiently.
Shiva smirked, getting back on track, and before anyone could protest her actions she plunged the knife into her hand. She let out a low hiss as she pulled it back out of her, the blade dripping with dark liquid, and scrunched up her face against the pain. Immediately everyone in the room was sent into frenzy.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Tai shouted, alarmed.
"That's disgusting. Oh my God, that's sick." Angela was murmuring into her hands thoroughly disturbed.
"Is that why you called us in here?" Griff stated, eyes wide in incredulity, "To stab yourself?"
Even Gennai was looking somewhat appalled at her sudden course of action.
"Don't worry- I know exactly what I'm doing." Shiva ground out while holding her bleeding hand. "Just takes a while when they go through, that's all. It has to start from the inside out."
"What are you-" Tai's voice drowned away into surprise as he saw exactly what Shiva was talking about. From inside the wound on her palm, he could see the damaged muscles and tendons winding themselves back together. The blood that didn't splatter across the counter and onto the floor was sucked back into her hand as though time was reversed. Lastly the skin sealed itself back together in a matter of seconds. Not even a scar was left.
"Well?" Shiva asked them, awaiting their opinion.
"That was brilliant-"
"-Wicked! -"
"-I think I'm gunna be sick!"
Tai and Griff were simply bouncing on the balls of their feet in enthusiasm. Angela gave all three of them a disgusted look before running out of the room looking positively green. Gennai smiled. Yes, he thought to himself, tomorrow would certainly prove to be just as lively.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning was exciting. Especially when Angela gracefully strode into the boy's room to wake up Griff for his morning run. She became quite accustomed to this routine of waking up her boyfriend. She didn't mind either; Griff was positively adorable when he slept. She amused herself for a few more moments watching the bulge under the covers rise and fall with rhythmic breathing before approaching the bedside. Feeling especially merciless that morning, she tore the covers from his body and let the cold chill of the morning do the rest. This successfully woke up Griff, along with a few good swears, as well as achieving Angela reeling back in shock.
Angela's mouth opened but no sound came out. She continued to gawk at Griff while he rubbed the sleep out of eyes.
"Wha? 'Ngela wacha looking at?" Griff mumbled sleepily when he acknowledged her presence. Angela said nothing. She just started to point at him foolishly with her mouth slack. Griff became increasingly concerned with her silence. Knowing Angela was never much of a practical joker, he slid out of bed and grabbed her shoulders none too gently.
"Angela, this isn't funny. What's wrong?"
"You- you have... you're..." she couldn't seem to muster the rest of her words. She seemed completely distracted by something about Griff. Frowning, Griff strode over to the mirror above the dresser. At once his expression matched Angela's. His reflection showed himself, as he would have expected, with just a few modifications. Bits of his skin appeared to have transformed into metallic looking chips. He had patches of metal over his left eyebrow that the sunlight from the open window gleamed off. His new metal skin lined the right side of his jawbone and was erratically spaced going down the back of his neck, disappearing under his t-shirt shirt.
"Son of a bitch, I am a cyborg." Griff mumbled to himself. Two slim arms weaved their way around his torso and Angela's reflection soon joined his from behind.
"I think it's sexy."
Much of the rest of the week went like this. Random guardians would discover new abilities or physical traits and then spend hours upon hours practicing or enhancing them. Angela spent a whole afternoon crying because she developed shimmering turquoise scales that covered much of her torso. She finally left her haven in the bathroom after much comforting from Griff and a threat from Tai claiming he would piss all over her bed if she didn't get out. Shiva returned from training one afternoon festooned in strange black tattoos that carried over her arms and also had three triangular black stripes that ran down her forehead and up her cheeks. In addition to Griff's cyborg appearance, he also cultivated a tremendous strength, allowing him to lift objects up to twenty times his weight.
Nothing new physical happened to Tai since the wing incident. He had yet to learn how to get a shirt on, so he was forced to remain bare- chested. But this did not bother him for his sword kept him fairly busy. Tai discovered, by executing a few certain techniques and the right motivation, the sword would transform into a great blade of flame that could release an immense bout of power. Gennai explained later on to him that the sword had originally been owned by Taro, and the fact that he could master it proved he was unquestionably his reincarnation. Tai now kept his sword strapped across his back at almost all times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So... where's Gennai?" Angela asked carelessly. The other three occupants in the meeting room shrugged indifferently. They had been waiting for Gennai to show up and give them their 'special treat' as he so disturbingly called it.
"Ang, hun, that's the fourth time you've asked that." Griff sighed.
"I know, but if the man calls a meeting he should at least show up."
"Amen." Tai corresponded, leaning the chair on its back two legs and swinging his feet on to the table. His wings were folded on the back of the chair as so he wouldn't crush them.
"It's because he's old and senile, and - OH GOD!" Shiva jumped from her chair and placed both hands on her bottom. She began to prance around in a circle, grabbing her butt, bending slightly forward, and hopping from one foot to the next. It wasn't until her back was to Tai, during her little dance, that he noticed her hands were not on her butt, but just above it, over her tail bone.
Despite this he couldn't contain his laughter at her misfortune. He wasn't the only one. Angela was stifling her polite chuckle within her hands and Griff was just outright laughing his ass off. Shiva whipped around and fixed a glare at all three of them.
"You think this is funny? That really hurt. I don't know what it was but if you- hey...hello? Can you at least have the decency to pay attention when I'm bitching at you!?"
Tai, along with the others, had long since stopped their laughing and were staring transfixed behind her. Shiva stood before them in a commanding pose, leaning on her hip, arms crossed, and a silvery demonic tail swishing behind her in annoyance.
"Tail." Tai said quickly.
"Huh?"
"Tail," he repeated, "behind you."
Shiva spun around stupidly just to see the empty doorway leading to the hall.
Angela couldn't take the idiocy anymore.
"You have a tail moron!"
Shiva looked at her backside to find a tail protruding from her lower back that just missed reaching the floor by an inch or two. The base of hit was about a fist thick, and it waned in size as it traveled down to the arrowhead tip.
"Um... well- of course I have a tail.. I'm a demon! All demons' have tails!"
Tai, Angela, and Griff all sweat-dropped and smiled nervously.
"Wow," Griff hissed softly so Shiva wouldn't hear him, "She's more upset about us laughing at her than her suddenly sprouting a tail. It's an evil looking one too!"
Tai nodded earnestly and whispered back just as softly, "At least she's taking this whole tail thing better than I took my new wings"
"Maybe she's just in shock," Angela alleged.
Shiva released an un-human growl from the other side of the room.
"I'm not in shock, and will you stop talking about me when I'm in the room... And my tail is not evil!" she picked up her new limb and stroked the pointy end of it.
"You could hear us?" Angela asked incredulously.
"I'm a demon, it's an animalistic quality we have." Shiva inflected dryly.
Tai, having a one-track mind, was still focused on Shiva's tail rather than her superior hearing.
"This is great! Every time you pull my hair, I can just yank your tail back! WCAGA BABY!"
The room went silent.
".wcaga?"
"Yeah!" Tai smiled cheekily, "what comes around goes around"
"Where do you pick up this shit?" Shiva asked exasperatedly.
Tai gave her an annoyed look.
"From you," he replied flatly.
"I've never said 'wcaga'"
"No, but you've said much stupider things, and I never used to say stupid things like that until I met you. 'Cause you got stupid influence."
"... Tai..."
"Yes, Shiva?"
"You're upsetting me"
"GREETINGS!" Gennai reeled into the room looking particularly happy. He was carrying a small black box in his weathered hands.
"Well it took you long enough. By the time you got here, Shiva's already grew a tail." Angela practically shouted at the poor man.
"I'm sorry for the delay, but I had to retrieve something that we will need in a moment." He didn't seem to care that Shiva had a tail. "Now, first off, there's been another raid that I need you to take care of," he paused for a moment as the teens started to groan, "However, with this Stone of Fiori, complements of piximon, you will be able to instantly transform into your full and natural forms." Gennai had opened the box during his brief dialogue and now held out a smooth, round stone of a swirled blue and pink color.
"And we are going to use this raid as practice in our complete forms." Angela asked hesitantly.
"Precisely"
"Great!" Tai piped up, "How do we use it?"
You will each approach the stone, put your left hand over it and recite the incantation: Nel mio honor, mostri la mia verità .
"What does that mean?" Griff asked curiously.
Gennai smiled, "It means: In my honor, show my truth. I believe piximon came in possession of this when he was traveling through the Northwidgrick Hemisphere. If i'm not mistaken, it's the equivolent of Italy in your world. So! Who will be first?"
"ME!" Tai screamed, jumping to his feet. Gennai chucked.
"Very well, very well, you know what to do."
Tai followed Gennai's instruction by placing his left hand in the cold surface of the Stone of Fiori and reciting the incantation. Nothing happened. He removed his hand and looked up at Gennai in dissapointment. Just as he felt himself relaxing, the room tempurature flared, becoming unbearably hot, and all Tai saw was red.
Angela, Griff, and Shiva reeled back in alarm as their friend was engulfed by a tornado of fire. After a good ten seconds the fire vanished into the ground. Tai stood, reconizably before them but with several changes. For one thing he was only wearing a pair of tight, Nubuck buffalo leather pants. On his feet were dark brown boots that straped themselves half-way up his calves. His wings and sword remained the same but his hair had grown so that it reached his mid back and it seemed to be billowing out around him as if there were a firece wind blowing. He had an assortment of small, gold, hoop earings running along the ridge of his left ear and just one in the lobe of his right. What was most shocking was his eyes. They were glowing an eerie blue and the pupils were slitted like a cat's. A whisle was heard from within the group, most likley from Shiva knowing how devoted Angela was to Griff. Tai smiled and stepped back to his friends, allowing the next guardian to go.
Shiva followed the ritual and was engulf by a strange silvery substance. When it died down no one would have recognized her. She looked no where near human. Her skin was a lustery silver color and her hair and claws had turned black. She still had her tail swishing merrily behind her. She was wearing all leather as well. She had on short, tight, black leather shorts along with what looked more like a sports bra than a shirt, showing off her strange, stomach tatoos. She also had leather, fingerless gloves that traveled past her elbows and boots that reached up passed her thighs. On each thigh was a belt that had unique set of daggers fastened securely to them. Facial features were also a major modification. The ears were now pointed and her eyes had no whites in them whatsoever. They were just black orbs of oblivion, making the rest of the room wonder where she was actually looking. The last variation came to attention when she smiled at them, revealing a deadly looking set of fangs.
"Bloody hell," Griff replied weakly before stepping up to the stone himself. After being swallowed up by a brief dome of stone Griff stood with his body half concealed in metal. In addition to the bits and chips running along his body, his whole left arm was completely robotic. He only had a short open vest covering his upper body and a pair of flexible, ripped, black jeans. On his feet were high-tech metal boots with certain aspects that allowed him to change his speed. He had on a military belt equipped with firearms. Griff lifted his mechanized arm and flexed his hand in wonder, watching the light bounce off his lustrous, metallic fingers. He smiled. With every movement he made came the barely audible resonance of a small power drill running.
Angela was the last to go, getting caught up in a wirlwind of water. When the last droplet evaporated into the ground a full-blown nymph stood before them. She was clad in a sarong tied loosly on the side of her waist, revealing one long, slender leg and pooling on the floor. Her feet were bare. She didn't need a shirt because the shimmering torquise scales seemed to cover her torso much like a strapless one. Her skin had turned a pale, blue color. He hair had straitened from its usual blonde curls and had altered into an ashen white instead. Last of all, and most noticable were her ears, which fanned out largely from the sides of her head and appeared webbed.
She stepped up to where the rest of the guardians were huddled infront of a mirror ACE projected and smiled at her reflection. Gennai clapped his hands for their attention.
"As excited as I'm sure you all are, it's time for you to test yourselves to your maximum abilities"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!" Griff cried as he threw a punch so fast it was invisible to the human eye right through a tyrannomon, destroying it.
"Couldn't have put it better myself!" Shiva enthusiastically agreed. She continued slashing stomaches and sliting throats, jumping and dodging along the way, with a stamina she could have never possessed as a human.
"YOU GUYS! We are not supossed to enjoy killing! This is for a good cause." But even Angela couldn't keep herself from smiling as she sent a lilac-blue mist into the eyes of an ebidramon, blinding it. A large shadow swooped across the ground infront of her and she looked up. Tai was out- flying an enraged parrotmon, taunting it along the way.
"Come'on ya pidgeon! I'm half your size! Hit me!" he laughed, gliding across the air on his back and resting his arms behind his head.
"Stop messing with him, and kill him already!" Shiva rebuked him from the ground.
"Look who's talking!" Tai called back while the hypocrite pranced around on various digimons' heads. She was just about to snap the neck of one with her feet as she stood atop its shoulders before the ground gave a tremendous shake, knocking her backwards. Thankfully cats aren't the only ones who always land on their feet.
"Sorry Sheeves!" Griff smiled apologetically.
Shiva just growled at him, then at Tai, who had finished off the parrotmon and was laughing at her from his perch on a cliff. She was about to yell at him when a scream rang thoughout the region. Griff, Shiva and Tai whipped around. Bodies of defeated digimon littered the ground surrounding Angela, whose back was arched in pain. A large, jagged icicle was obtruding through her chest.
"ANGELA!!!" Griff screamed as he used his advanced speed to rush to her side. He caught her body before it hit the ground, gingerly laying her head on his lap. Shiva jumped the distance and landed in a crouch next to Griff, and helped him inspect the wound. Tai remained standing after flying over and began to look around for the cause of this misfortune. Then he spotted it, standing on a ledge forty-odd feet above them looking quite pleased with herself. Their eyes locked and Tai immediately found himself lost in her intense dark gaze.
"Well, it missed her heart, but it did skim her left lung. She'll live if we get her medical attention ASAP." Shiva murmured quietly over the harsh, shuddering gasps from the wounded girl.
"We've got to get this icicle out of her." Griff croaked, wiping sweaty hair out of Angela's eyes. He looked up to see Tai staring off in the other direction.
"TAI! Help us!" Tai took his eyes off Angela's aggressor and lowered himself to the rest of their levels.
"Let me," He placed both his hands on the frozen icicle and closed his eyes in concentration. A red aura surrounded his hands and the icicle melted into nothing but water beneath his palms. Griff caught his eye and Tai could tell he was thankful for him making it as painless as possible for his girlfriend. He turned back to the cliff just to see a slim figure turn and walk away from the scene.
"Griff, you take Angela back to Gennai. Shiva, you finish off the rest of these goons. I've gotta take care of someone."
They both gave him a silent nod, knowing better than to question his motives when he got like this. Griff silently lifted Angela in his arms, her blood soaking his shirt. Using his computer-generated speed once more, he disappeared to the nearest gateway. Shiva looked at Tai; her pointed ears gave the impression they were drooping. She didn't seem to notice the menacing digimon that began to close in around them.
"Where are you going?"
"Don't worry; you just mind these guys, and then come find me."
Shiva just stared at him a moment longer with her vacant orbs before turning away and leaping at the nearest digimon. Tai was airborne the next minute, perusing his adversary.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tai landed lightly on the balls of his feet and looked defiantly down at his new opponent. So this was the infamous Moira. He couldn't deny her beauty; she was practically intoxicating with her tight fitting garb showing off her curves and red tresses falling gracefully down her pale, bare shoulders. He had almost expected her to attack him the moment he landed, but instead she remained still. In fact, the way she was gazing pensively up towards him made him wonder if she was planning on fighting him at all. The look on her face was plainly one of nostalgia.
Moira almost dropped her staff. She couldn't believe that she didn't recognize him before. But after two thousand years she never thought she'd see him again. Though the sun prevented her from seeing anything but his silhouette, she knew exactly what he looked like. Silvery white wings folded behind his bare back. His katana belt was strapped diagonally across his chest, and the hilt of his sword was just visible over his right shoulder. Dark brown locks which escaped their prison within the loose, low ponytail whipped around his tanned face.
"Taro" Her voice was barely above a whisper but it was clearly heard by him.
"It's Tai, and you'd better get my name right if we're going to be enemies." As he said this a cloud drifted over head blocking the sun and allowing her to get a clear vision of him. Indeed it was not the man she had previously thought it had been. Though strikingly akin, this one was a little shorter, perhaps just slightly taller than she, and he also appeared to be younger. However his eyes still held the same wisdom; the same ancient look of awareness one would acquire from experiencing too much war.
Moira quickly corrected her poise and fixed a glare on him. He smiled audaciously.
"Well now, shall we get on with it?"
These words barley escaped his mouth before a large beam of fire was hurling towards her along the ground. She swiftly held up her palm and produced a thick sheet of ice as protection. She hoped it would hold through the assault seeing how his element seemed to rule over hers. By the time the attack ended, a puddle of steaming water lay at her feet. Deciding it was time for retaliation, she straitened out her palm, shooting speeding balls of ice at the demi-god. An aura of fire surrounded him, melting all of the bullet-like ice balls before they reached him.
I can't win this with elements. She thought to herself. Time to move onto weapons. She lifted her staff above her head and charged at the unsuspecting young man.
Tai's eyes widened and he quickly whipped out his sword from its sheath on his back just in time to stop the staff from braking in his skull. Moira leapt back from him before charging again, this time aiming for his stomach. Metal clang against metal as Tai blocked another blow. This went on for a short time without much progress.
Moira sent one more blow to his skull. This time, instead of using his sword to defend him, Tai grabbed her wrists, holding them captive above their heads. A sword and a staff clattered to the rocky earth, abandoned. Moira's expression instantly changed from indignation to shock. Her breath caught in her throat and she shivered involuntarily when she felt his warm breath tickling her treacherously exposed neck. She knew she was loosing control. She had to get out of his grasp. She had to escape those unfathomable cerulean eyes. She would not look into those eyes.
Moira made a half hearted struggle against his grip but his embrace held firm. She began to panic. A couple millennia of pent up sexual frustration was about to make a grand appearance. Using her cambion heritage and seducing him was out of the question; then she'd loose control for sure. She had to do something fast or she'd be her own downfall.
Keeping her eyes downcast, she decided the best course of action at the moment to try and catch him off guard and then make an escape.
"Impressive, unpredictable and a lot of stamina. You'd make a great boyfriend." She purred.
"I'll take your word for it." was the quick response.
And then Moira made the biggest mistake of her life. She looked into his eyes. Time froze as blue and black connected. There was not a blade of grass that swayed in the wind. Everything had paused. Then, as though someone had hit the play button on a remote control, their lips collided together in a hungry, mutual kiss.
Something inside of Tai felt like it had been reawakened. He was barely aware of his arms that snaked around her exposed back, ramming her tightly against his body. There was no hesitation in the kiss. Hot, pining tongues entwined as they desperately groped at each other. One of Moira's was wrapped around his neck while the other ran down his chest, over his naked stomach, and traced the line of his pants. Then, all too soon, the moment had passed. Tai opened his eyes feeling the warmth leave him. She was gone.
Damn it. Tai growled in his meditation. I was seduced wasn't I? Of course she did! She's a cambion! I should have seen that coming.
He bent down and picked up his sword before his sharp senses told him someone was near. He turned to see Shiva standing behind him. And she did not look happy from what he could tell. He tries interpreting the demonic eyes to no avail. Normally her human, bright green eyes would give off her emotions despite her well controlled facial expression. But now they were unreadable, cold and distant.
"Shiva-" was all Tai could breath. He really didn't know what to tell her. Shiva held up a clawed hand to silence him, not needing to hear the excuse she inexplicably knew he would use.
"She was holding back, during the fight, you know," she said in a detached voice. Tai felt remorseful for some reason and he didn't know why. He knew he should have been ashamed; after all, he was kissing their enemy. But guilt was one emotion he didn't expect to receive in such strong measures. Shiva turned from him and started her way towards the portal, her tail swishing behind her like a metronome.
"...And she wasn't seducing you." She added before a white light from the television engulfed her, taking her back to the coliseum.
"Hey Griff," Griff raised his head towards the sound of his name, "have you seen Tai?"
Griff shook his head and laid it back down on the arm of the couch. Angela reflexively snuggled in closer to his body. Shiva looked on a bit downhearted.
"Well, as far as I know he went into the forest, but that was two hours ago."
Griff just buried his face into the crook of Angela's neck. Shiva tip-toed up to the pair, crouched down so that she was eye level with them and whispered, "That was a subtle hint for: I need a tour guide..."
When Griff gave no indication that he was going to move Shiva straitened her posture and strode out the door; but not without shooting them a dirty look.
The sky was tinged with an ethereal rose hue that showed the first signs of the sun's descent. Shiva walked boldly up to the forest where Tai entered hours before and took a deep breath. Upon entering she released her mouthful of air in disbelief. Before her rest multiple paths in every which direction.
"I'm can't believe I'm doing this for a man. Tai- you're lucky you're my best friend."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tai stumbled along the path almost blindly; half from shock, half from the newly added appendages on his back. He was pretty sure that he had gotten himself lost, but that was the last thing on his mind at the moment. He knew he should have been thinking about how to explain this to the other members of his home, other than he didn't know what exactly happened himself. Gennai warned them about some physical changes- but wings? Tai stumbled over another rock and fell to his knees. After a few hard breaths of frustration and confusion he lifted his head to see bits of the coliseum through the thinning trees.
Relief swelled in Tai's chest and he would have leapt for joy of he weren't so wary about the wings. He quickened his pace, intent on reaching the security of the structure; where he knew answers lie to his altered physical appearance. Just as he made a beeline for the end of the forest, a body intercepted his path. The collision left the two sprawled on the ground. Shiva sat up and glared angrily at Tai. Her stomach gave a sudden jolt and any words she had planned for him disappeared from her mind as she stared at the winged man before her.
Tai groaned as he landed painfully on his left wing. He looked to Shiva's rigid posture as dread crammed inside him unsure of what she thought of him now. The silence around them grew steadily unnerving.
"Shiva, I know this is weird-"
"COOL!"
Tai was cut off, as he was glomped by the young woman. She began to feel his wings, stoking them and cooing at their softness. Tai shuddered with pleasure at her touch and came to the conclusion that he must have sensitive nerves within his feathers. He immediately grabbed her wrist to keep her from further manipulating his wings, which made Shiva quite put out.
"So you like them then?"
"Yes!" Shiva exclaimed, "I mean, who'd of thought you'd be the first to have any physical developments when you were the last to receive elemental ones."
This was true, Tai noted, and this piece of information left him feeling more confident again. He wasn't about to admit it to anybody, but he did feel slightly hurt and jealous that the rest of the guardians could control their elements before him.
"So almighty and powerful demigod," Shiva began, breaking Tai out of his momentary trance, "Can ya fly?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"AHHHHHHH"
Griff jumped from the couch as the strangled cry shocked him from his doze. Unfortunately Angela was lying on top of him and was sent tumbling to the ground.
"GRIFF!!!"
Griff winced apologetically and helped her to her feet.
"Did you hear that?" he said
"Hear what?"
"There was a yell or something from outside. I'm not sure but it sounded like-"
"NO! DON'T PUSH- ARGGH..... owwwww"
"Yes," Angela agreed, "that's definitely Tai."
The two hurried outside to see that last thing they'd ever expect. On the ground lie Tai on his back in a bed of snow-white feathers. Shiva was straddling the panting boy's bare stomach looking exasperated. Neither had noticed the new company for Shiva was busy scolding Tai.
"Stop whining! It's just a little extra weight! You call yourself a god?"
Angela made a little coughing noise to announce their presence. Shiva's head snapped up and Tai struggled to lift his own head from the ground to see who was there. Griff raised his eyebrows accusingly, "Are we interrupting something?"
"Just a flying lesson." Shiva said, oblivious to Griff's notion.
"Flying lesson?" Angela repeated.
Shiva grinned as she roughly pulled a bewildered Tai to his feet. Griff and Angela were stunned into silence. Felling uncomfortable with their surprise, Tai unconsciously folded his wings behind him in hopes of more concealment. The silence was broken by a piercing squeal.
"They're so pretty!!"
Angela rushed over and began to brush the soft white feathers with her fingers as Shiva had done before. Tai gave a small nervous laugh and bit back a moan. He quickly stepped away from Angela's reach in fear that he would start to purr.
"So can ya fly?" Griff challenged, masking his own urge to pet the supple feathers as well.
"Yea-"
"-On his own maybe, but not with other people-"
"-Come off it. I just got these things-"
"-You're a god, man! Show some godlike strength!"
"Fu-"
"STOP!!" Angela jumped between the two bickering friends and held them apart at an arms length distance. "He'll work on carrying you later Shiva, right now I wanna see him fly."
After shooting Shiva a triumphant look, Tai bent his knees and took off. The moment his feet left the ground his wings started long, powerful beats, bringing the dust on the ground to cloud around him. At first his rise was slow and rocky. As he ascended higher towards the evening sky, the wing strokes became gradually smoother and closer together. His speed increased dramatically with each commanding flap. Tai couldn't think of a time when he was happier. Not a victory against an evil digimon, not a championship soccer match, not even another crazy adventure was better than this. Every worry or responsibility that rested with Tai was instantly washed away with the refreshing waft.
Shiva, Angela and Griff watched with awe as Tai soared through the clouds above them. The white wings looked majestic as they stretched to their full ten-foot span. About fifteen minutes later Tai finally descended towards the speechless group.
"Was that sweet or what?" Tai yipped gleefully, flexing his wings experimentally. After another moment of astonished gaping Griff spoke up.
"That's it; we're taking you to Gennai."
"No need, I saw the whole thing." The four whipped around to see Gennai standing with his arms clasped behind his back and his mustache brisling with pride. "Very well done, Mr. Kamiya, very well indeed."
"Thanks mum" Tai responded.
"Does this mean the rest of us will be changing soon?" asked Angela hopefully. It was obvious she wanted a pair of wings as well.
"Yes, very soon, and I hope you are well prepared for them. I assume I am correct in saying that was not painless." Gennai directed at Tai.
Tai grimaced. He would not like to go though any more transformations in the near future if they all felt like that.
"Well, something wicked cool happened to me," Shiva started, "but it's not a physical ability and it's not an elemental power either. I think it has something to do with me being a demon."
"Half-demon" Tai coughed.
Shiva kicked him in the shin.
"What is it?" Griff asked interestedly.
"I will show you!" Shiva sprinted inside the coliseum. Griff, Tai, Angela and Gennai all looked at each other bearing slightly baffled expressions before following her. They finally caught up with her in the kitchen, Gennai taking the longest due to old age, where she was brandishing a steak knife.
"Whoa," Griff raised his eyebrows disapprovingly, "Shiva, no offense but I doubt this is anything good if it involves you and a knife."
Tai nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah, you don't exactly have a clean record when it comes to wielding pointy objects." He unconsciously rubbed his left arm where in one battle she stabbed him with a spear just because he 'accidentally' dumped the body of an Ogremon on her leg, breaking her ankle. He heard Shiva growled something that sounded like 'you deserved it' but he couldn't be sure.
"So what is it?" Angela asked impatiently.
Shiva smirked, getting back on track, and before anyone could protest her actions she plunged the knife into her hand. She let out a low hiss as she pulled it back out of her, the blade dripping with dark liquid, and scrunched up her face against the pain. Immediately everyone in the room was sent into frenzy.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Tai shouted, alarmed.
"That's disgusting. Oh my God, that's sick." Angela was murmuring into her hands thoroughly disturbed.
"Is that why you called us in here?" Griff stated, eyes wide in incredulity, "To stab yourself?"
Even Gennai was looking somewhat appalled at her sudden course of action.
"Don't worry- I know exactly what I'm doing." Shiva ground out while holding her bleeding hand. "Just takes a while when they go through, that's all. It has to start from the inside out."
"What are you-" Tai's voice drowned away into surprise as he saw exactly what Shiva was talking about. From inside the wound on her palm, he could see the damaged muscles and tendons winding themselves back together. The blood that didn't splatter across the counter and onto the floor was sucked back into her hand as though time was reversed. Lastly the skin sealed itself back together in a matter of seconds. Not even a scar was left.
"Well?" Shiva asked them, awaiting their opinion.
"That was brilliant-"
"-Wicked! -"
"-I think I'm gunna be sick!"
Tai and Griff were simply bouncing on the balls of their feet in enthusiasm. Angela gave all three of them a disgusted look before running out of the room looking positively green. Gennai smiled. Yes, he thought to himself, tomorrow would certainly prove to be just as lively.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning was exciting. Especially when Angela gracefully strode into the boy's room to wake up Griff for his morning run. She became quite accustomed to this routine of waking up her boyfriend. She didn't mind either; Griff was positively adorable when he slept. She amused herself for a few more moments watching the bulge under the covers rise and fall with rhythmic breathing before approaching the bedside. Feeling especially merciless that morning, she tore the covers from his body and let the cold chill of the morning do the rest. This successfully woke up Griff, along with a few good swears, as well as achieving Angela reeling back in shock.
Angela's mouth opened but no sound came out. She continued to gawk at Griff while he rubbed the sleep out of eyes.
"Wha? 'Ngela wacha looking at?" Griff mumbled sleepily when he acknowledged her presence. Angela said nothing. She just started to point at him foolishly with her mouth slack. Griff became increasingly concerned with her silence. Knowing Angela was never much of a practical joker, he slid out of bed and grabbed her shoulders none too gently.
"Angela, this isn't funny. What's wrong?"
"You- you have... you're..." she couldn't seem to muster the rest of her words. She seemed completely distracted by something about Griff. Frowning, Griff strode over to the mirror above the dresser. At once his expression matched Angela's. His reflection showed himself, as he would have expected, with just a few modifications. Bits of his skin appeared to have transformed into metallic looking chips. He had patches of metal over his left eyebrow that the sunlight from the open window gleamed off. His new metal skin lined the right side of his jawbone and was erratically spaced going down the back of his neck, disappearing under his t-shirt shirt.
"Son of a bitch, I am a cyborg." Griff mumbled to himself. Two slim arms weaved their way around his torso and Angela's reflection soon joined his from behind.
"I think it's sexy."
Much of the rest of the week went like this. Random guardians would discover new abilities or physical traits and then spend hours upon hours practicing or enhancing them. Angela spent a whole afternoon crying because she developed shimmering turquoise scales that covered much of her torso. She finally left her haven in the bathroom after much comforting from Griff and a threat from Tai claiming he would piss all over her bed if she didn't get out. Shiva returned from training one afternoon festooned in strange black tattoos that carried over her arms and also had three triangular black stripes that ran down her forehead and up her cheeks. In addition to Griff's cyborg appearance, he also cultivated a tremendous strength, allowing him to lift objects up to twenty times his weight.
Nothing new physical happened to Tai since the wing incident. He had yet to learn how to get a shirt on, so he was forced to remain bare- chested. But this did not bother him for his sword kept him fairly busy. Tai discovered, by executing a few certain techniques and the right motivation, the sword would transform into a great blade of flame that could release an immense bout of power. Gennai explained later on to him that the sword had originally been owned by Taro, and the fact that he could master it proved he was unquestionably his reincarnation. Tai now kept his sword strapped across his back at almost all times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So... where's Gennai?" Angela asked carelessly. The other three occupants in the meeting room shrugged indifferently. They had been waiting for Gennai to show up and give them their 'special treat' as he so disturbingly called it.
"Ang, hun, that's the fourth time you've asked that." Griff sighed.
"I know, but if the man calls a meeting he should at least show up."
"Amen." Tai corresponded, leaning the chair on its back two legs and swinging his feet on to the table. His wings were folded on the back of the chair as so he wouldn't crush them.
"It's because he's old and senile, and - OH GOD!" Shiva jumped from her chair and placed both hands on her bottom. She began to prance around in a circle, grabbing her butt, bending slightly forward, and hopping from one foot to the next. It wasn't until her back was to Tai, during her little dance, that he noticed her hands were not on her butt, but just above it, over her tail bone.
Despite this he couldn't contain his laughter at her misfortune. He wasn't the only one. Angela was stifling her polite chuckle within her hands and Griff was just outright laughing his ass off. Shiva whipped around and fixed a glare at all three of them.
"You think this is funny? That really hurt. I don't know what it was but if you- hey...hello? Can you at least have the decency to pay attention when I'm bitching at you!?"
Tai, along with the others, had long since stopped their laughing and were staring transfixed behind her. Shiva stood before them in a commanding pose, leaning on her hip, arms crossed, and a silvery demonic tail swishing behind her in annoyance.
"Tail." Tai said quickly.
"Huh?"
"Tail," he repeated, "behind you."
Shiva spun around stupidly just to see the empty doorway leading to the hall.
Angela couldn't take the idiocy anymore.
"You have a tail moron!"
Shiva looked at her backside to find a tail protruding from her lower back that just missed reaching the floor by an inch or two. The base of hit was about a fist thick, and it waned in size as it traveled down to the arrowhead tip.
"Um... well- of course I have a tail.. I'm a demon! All demons' have tails!"
Tai, Angela, and Griff all sweat-dropped and smiled nervously.
"Wow," Griff hissed softly so Shiva wouldn't hear him, "She's more upset about us laughing at her than her suddenly sprouting a tail. It's an evil looking one too!"
Tai nodded earnestly and whispered back just as softly, "At least she's taking this whole tail thing better than I took my new wings"
"Maybe she's just in shock," Angela alleged.
Shiva released an un-human growl from the other side of the room.
"I'm not in shock, and will you stop talking about me when I'm in the room... And my tail is not evil!" she picked up her new limb and stroked the pointy end of it.
"You could hear us?" Angela asked incredulously.
"I'm a demon, it's an animalistic quality we have." Shiva inflected dryly.
Tai, having a one-track mind, was still focused on Shiva's tail rather than her superior hearing.
"This is great! Every time you pull my hair, I can just yank your tail back! WCAGA BABY!"
The room went silent.
".wcaga?"
"Yeah!" Tai smiled cheekily, "what comes around goes around"
"Where do you pick up this shit?" Shiva asked exasperatedly.
Tai gave her an annoyed look.
"From you," he replied flatly.
"I've never said 'wcaga'"
"No, but you've said much stupider things, and I never used to say stupid things like that until I met you. 'Cause you got stupid influence."
"... Tai..."
"Yes, Shiva?"
"You're upsetting me"
"GREETINGS!" Gennai reeled into the room looking particularly happy. He was carrying a small black box in his weathered hands.
"Well it took you long enough. By the time you got here, Shiva's already grew a tail." Angela practically shouted at the poor man.
"I'm sorry for the delay, but I had to retrieve something that we will need in a moment." He didn't seem to care that Shiva had a tail. "Now, first off, there's been another raid that I need you to take care of," he paused for a moment as the teens started to groan, "However, with this Stone of Fiori, complements of piximon, you will be able to instantly transform into your full and natural forms." Gennai had opened the box during his brief dialogue and now held out a smooth, round stone of a swirled blue and pink color.
"And we are going to use this raid as practice in our complete forms." Angela asked hesitantly.
"Precisely"
"Great!" Tai piped up, "How do we use it?"
You will each approach the stone, put your left hand over it and recite the incantation: Nel mio honor, mostri la mia verità .
"What does that mean?" Griff asked curiously.
Gennai smiled, "It means: In my honor, show my truth. I believe piximon came in possession of this when he was traveling through the Northwidgrick Hemisphere. If i'm not mistaken, it's the equivolent of Italy in your world. So! Who will be first?"
"ME!" Tai screamed, jumping to his feet. Gennai chucked.
"Very well, very well, you know what to do."
Tai followed Gennai's instruction by placing his left hand in the cold surface of the Stone of Fiori and reciting the incantation. Nothing happened. He removed his hand and looked up at Gennai in dissapointment. Just as he felt himself relaxing, the room tempurature flared, becoming unbearably hot, and all Tai saw was red.
Angela, Griff, and Shiva reeled back in alarm as their friend was engulfed by a tornado of fire. After a good ten seconds the fire vanished into the ground. Tai stood, reconizably before them but with several changes. For one thing he was only wearing a pair of tight, Nubuck buffalo leather pants. On his feet were dark brown boots that straped themselves half-way up his calves. His wings and sword remained the same but his hair had grown so that it reached his mid back and it seemed to be billowing out around him as if there were a firece wind blowing. He had an assortment of small, gold, hoop earings running along the ridge of his left ear and just one in the lobe of his right. What was most shocking was his eyes. They were glowing an eerie blue and the pupils were slitted like a cat's. A whisle was heard from within the group, most likley from Shiva knowing how devoted Angela was to Griff. Tai smiled and stepped back to his friends, allowing the next guardian to go.
Shiva followed the ritual and was engulf by a strange silvery substance. When it died down no one would have recognized her. She looked no where near human. Her skin was a lustery silver color and her hair and claws had turned black. She still had her tail swishing merrily behind her. She was wearing all leather as well. She had on short, tight, black leather shorts along with what looked more like a sports bra than a shirt, showing off her strange, stomach tatoos. She also had leather, fingerless gloves that traveled past her elbows and boots that reached up passed her thighs. On each thigh was a belt that had unique set of daggers fastened securely to them. Facial features were also a major modification. The ears were now pointed and her eyes had no whites in them whatsoever. They were just black orbs of oblivion, making the rest of the room wonder where she was actually looking. The last variation came to attention when she smiled at them, revealing a deadly looking set of fangs.
"Bloody hell," Griff replied weakly before stepping up to the stone himself. After being swallowed up by a brief dome of stone Griff stood with his body half concealed in metal. In addition to the bits and chips running along his body, his whole left arm was completely robotic. He only had a short open vest covering his upper body and a pair of flexible, ripped, black jeans. On his feet were high-tech metal boots with certain aspects that allowed him to change his speed. He had on a military belt equipped with firearms. Griff lifted his mechanized arm and flexed his hand in wonder, watching the light bounce off his lustrous, metallic fingers. He smiled. With every movement he made came the barely audible resonance of a small power drill running.
Angela was the last to go, getting caught up in a wirlwind of water. When the last droplet evaporated into the ground a full-blown nymph stood before them. She was clad in a sarong tied loosly on the side of her waist, revealing one long, slender leg and pooling on the floor. Her feet were bare. She didn't need a shirt because the shimmering torquise scales seemed to cover her torso much like a strapless one. Her skin had turned a pale, blue color. He hair had straitened from its usual blonde curls and had altered into an ashen white instead. Last of all, and most noticable were her ears, which fanned out largely from the sides of her head and appeared webbed.
She stepped up to where the rest of the guardians were huddled infront of a mirror ACE projected and smiled at her reflection. Gennai clapped his hands for their attention.
"As excited as I'm sure you all are, it's time for you to test yourselves to your maximum abilities"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!" Griff cried as he threw a punch so fast it was invisible to the human eye right through a tyrannomon, destroying it.
"Couldn't have put it better myself!" Shiva enthusiastically agreed. She continued slashing stomaches and sliting throats, jumping and dodging along the way, with a stamina she could have never possessed as a human.
"YOU GUYS! We are not supossed to enjoy killing! This is for a good cause." But even Angela couldn't keep herself from smiling as she sent a lilac-blue mist into the eyes of an ebidramon, blinding it. A large shadow swooped across the ground infront of her and she looked up. Tai was out- flying an enraged parrotmon, taunting it along the way.
"Come'on ya pidgeon! I'm half your size! Hit me!" he laughed, gliding across the air on his back and resting his arms behind his head.
"Stop messing with him, and kill him already!" Shiva rebuked him from the ground.
"Look who's talking!" Tai called back while the hypocrite pranced around on various digimons' heads. She was just about to snap the neck of one with her feet as she stood atop its shoulders before the ground gave a tremendous shake, knocking her backwards. Thankfully cats aren't the only ones who always land on their feet.
"Sorry Sheeves!" Griff smiled apologetically.
Shiva just growled at him, then at Tai, who had finished off the parrotmon and was laughing at her from his perch on a cliff. She was about to yell at him when a scream rang thoughout the region. Griff, Shiva and Tai whipped around. Bodies of defeated digimon littered the ground surrounding Angela, whose back was arched in pain. A large, jagged icicle was obtruding through her chest.
"ANGELA!!!" Griff screamed as he used his advanced speed to rush to her side. He caught her body before it hit the ground, gingerly laying her head on his lap. Shiva jumped the distance and landed in a crouch next to Griff, and helped him inspect the wound. Tai remained standing after flying over and began to look around for the cause of this misfortune. Then he spotted it, standing on a ledge forty-odd feet above them looking quite pleased with herself. Their eyes locked and Tai immediately found himself lost in her intense dark gaze.
"Well, it missed her heart, but it did skim her left lung. She'll live if we get her medical attention ASAP." Shiva murmured quietly over the harsh, shuddering gasps from the wounded girl.
"We've got to get this icicle out of her." Griff croaked, wiping sweaty hair out of Angela's eyes. He looked up to see Tai staring off in the other direction.
"TAI! Help us!" Tai took his eyes off Angela's aggressor and lowered himself to the rest of their levels.
"Let me," He placed both his hands on the frozen icicle and closed his eyes in concentration. A red aura surrounded his hands and the icicle melted into nothing but water beneath his palms. Griff caught his eye and Tai could tell he was thankful for him making it as painless as possible for his girlfriend. He turned back to the cliff just to see a slim figure turn and walk away from the scene.
"Griff, you take Angela back to Gennai. Shiva, you finish off the rest of these goons. I've gotta take care of someone."
They both gave him a silent nod, knowing better than to question his motives when he got like this. Griff silently lifted Angela in his arms, her blood soaking his shirt. Using his computer-generated speed once more, he disappeared to the nearest gateway. Shiva looked at Tai; her pointed ears gave the impression they were drooping. She didn't seem to notice the menacing digimon that began to close in around them.
"Where are you going?"
"Don't worry; you just mind these guys, and then come find me."
Shiva just stared at him a moment longer with her vacant orbs before turning away and leaping at the nearest digimon. Tai was airborne the next minute, perusing his adversary.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tai landed lightly on the balls of his feet and looked defiantly down at his new opponent. So this was the infamous Moira. He couldn't deny her beauty; she was practically intoxicating with her tight fitting garb showing off her curves and red tresses falling gracefully down her pale, bare shoulders. He had almost expected her to attack him the moment he landed, but instead she remained still. In fact, the way she was gazing pensively up towards him made him wonder if she was planning on fighting him at all. The look on her face was plainly one of nostalgia.
Moira almost dropped her staff. She couldn't believe that she didn't recognize him before. But after two thousand years she never thought she'd see him again. Though the sun prevented her from seeing anything but his silhouette, she knew exactly what he looked like. Silvery white wings folded behind his bare back. His katana belt was strapped diagonally across his chest, and the hilt of his sword was just visible over his right shoulder. Dark brown locks which escaped their prison within the loose, low ponytail whipped around his tanned face.
"Taro" Her voice was barely above a whisper but it was clearly heard by him.
"It's Tai, and you'd better get my name right if we're going to be enemies." As he said this a cloud drifted over head blocking the sun and allowing her to get a clear vision of him. Indeed it was not the man she had previously thought it had been. Though strikingly akin, this one was a little shorter, perhaps just slightly taller than she, and he also appeared to be younger. However his eyes still held the same wisdom; the same ancient look of awareness one would acquire from experiencing too much war.
Moira quickly corrected her poise and fixed a glare on him. He smiled audaciously.
"Well now, shall we get on with it?"
These words barley escaped his mouth before a large beam of fire was hurling towards her along the ground. She swiftly held up her palm and produced a thick sheet of ice as protection. She hoped it would hold through the assault seeing how his element seemed to rule over hers. By the time the attack ended, a puddle of steaming water lay at her feet. Deciding it was time for retaliation, she straitened out her palm, shooting speeding balls of ice at the demi-god. An aura of fire surrounded him, melting all of the bullet-like ice balls before they reached him.
I can't win this with elements. She thought to herself. Time to move onto weapons. She lifted her staff above her head and charged at the unsuspecting young man.
Tai's eyes widened and he quickly whipped out his sword from its sheath on his back just in time to stop the staff from braking in his skull. Moira leapt back from him before charging again, this time aiming for his stomach. Metal clang against metal as Tai blocked another blow. This went on for a short time without much progress.
Moira sent one more blow to his skull. This time, instead of using his sword to defend him, Tai grabbed her wrists, holding them captive above their heads. A sword and a staff clattered to the rocky earth, abandoned. Moira's expression instantly changed from indignation to shock. Her breath caught in her throat and she shivered involuntarily when she felt his warm breath tickling her treacherously exposed neck. She knew she was loosing control. She had to get out of his grasp. She had to escape those unfathomable cerulean eyes. She would not look into those eyes.
Moira made a half hearted struggle against his grip but his embrace held firm. She began to panic. A couple millennia of pent up sexual frustration was about to make a grand appearance. Using her cambion heritage and seducing him was out of the question; then she'd loose control for sure. She had to do something fast or she'd be her own downfall.
Keeping her eyes downcast, she decided the best course of action at the moment to try and catch him off guard and then make an escape.
"Impressive, unpredictable and a lot of stamina. You'd make a great boyfriend." She purred.
"I'll take your word for it." was the quick response.
And then Moira made the biggest mistake of her life. She looked into his eyes. Time froze as blue and black connected. There was not a blade of grass that swayed in the wind. Everything had paused. Then, as though someone had hit the play button on a remote control, their lips collided together in a hungry, mutual kiss.
Something inside of Tai felt like it had been reawakened. He was barely aware of his arms that snaked around her exposed back, ramming her tightly against his body. There was no hesitation in the kiss. Hot, pining tongues entwined as they desperately groped at each other. One of Moira's was wrapped around his neck while the other ran down his chest, over his naked stomach, and traced the line of his pants. Then, all too soon, the moment had passed. Tai opened his eyes feeling the warmth leave him. She was gone.
Damn it. Tai growled in his meditation. I was seduced wasn't I? Of course she did! She's a cambion! I should have seen that coming.
He bent down and picked up his sword before his sharp senses told him someone was near. He turned to see Shiva standing behind him. And she did not look happy from what he could tell. He tries interpreting the demonic eyes to no avail. Normally her human, bright green eyes would give off her emotions despite her well controlled facial expression. But now they were unreadable, cold and distant.
"Shiva-" was all Tai could breath. He really didn't know what to tell her. Shiva held up a clawed hand to silence him, not needing to hear the excuse she inexplicably knew he would use.
"She was holding back, during the fight, you know," she said in a detached voice. Tai felt remorseful for some reason and he didn't know why. He knew he should have been ashamed; after all, he was kissing their enemy. But guilt was one emotion he didn't expect to receive in such strong measures. Shiva turned from him and started her way towards the portal, her tail swishing behind her like a metronome.
"...And she wasn't seducing you." She added before a white light from the television engulfed her, taking her back to the coliseum.