Chapter Two: Crossroads
"What's going on here?"
"I can't see a thing!"
"Who turned out the lights?"
"What the hell were those things?"
"T.K, what's wrong with Kari?"
"Who said that? Where is everybody?"
"Someone's pulling on my hair!"
"YEOW!! Who stepped on my tail?"
"Sorry, Gatomon…"
"Where's Sora? Did you find her?"
"QUIET!"
"Who said that? Is that you, Davis?"
"I think I broke something….I can't move my arm…"
"Where are you, Cody? I have some bandages in my bag."
"Oh, I've had enough of this! Pepper Breath!"
There was a flash of light as a pile of garbage suddenly caught fire. Tai blinked as the sudden light illuminated the tunnel. The Digimon were all passed out, sleeping in little groups wherever there was a spare space on the ground. Everyone was soaked with sweat from the boiling mist and most of them had already stripped down to their undershirts in a feeble effort to beat the heat. Yolei was tenderly dabbing a nasty cut on Ken's forehead while Joe patched up a very shaken Cody, fixing his arm in a sling. Mimi's head rested on Izzy's shoulder as he tried to get his laptop operational. Behind him, T.K had laid his jacket behind Kari's still aching head. His usually innocent expression was wrinkled in concern as he rubbed Kari's tense, knotted shoulders.
"What's wrong with her, T.K?" Tai whispered, gently lifting a lock of hair away from his sister's cold, clammy forehead
T.K ran a hand across his forehead, wiping the sweat away from his troubled gaze. 'I-I don't know I mean one minute she was fine and then she was grabbing her head and crying and I didn't know what was wrong and I tried Tai, I really did but she just kept crying and…and…I didn't know what to do and-" Tai laid a hand on his young friend's shaking shoulder.
"Its okay, T.K." Tai said, trying to reassure him. "I'll have Joe look at her as soon as she comes around." T.K took a deep breath, swiping his eyes with the back of his hand before nodding. He turned back to Kari, laying a hand on hers and gave it a light squeeze.
Tai ran a hand through his hair, wiping his hands against his jeans to dry them. He knew that Kari would be in good hands with T.K; he had bigger things to worry about. Picking his way through the weary and wounded Digidestined and Digimon, he stumbled upon the bearer of Knowledge, trying to get his shattered laptop back online.
"How're you doing?" Tai asked, taking a seat beside Mimi leaning over the cracked screen.
"Well…" Izzy said after a moment of silence. "I'm up and running but I can't get any word through. I still need to get the perception filter back online if we have any hope of punching through to-"
Tai shook his head. "I didn't ask how the computer was doing; how are you two holding up?"
Izzy stopped for a second before Mimi grabbed his hand. "We're holding up." She said. "We were pretty close when the fog came in so we got here as soon as we could." Mimi glanced sadly at Palmon and Tentomon who were currently napping behind them on a pile of old blankets. "Palmon and Tentomon kept them away long enough for us to run over here. Where are we, anyway?" she asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"It's an old subway tunnel that's been out of commission for a while, now. Me and Sora used to come down here all the time when we were younger." Tai looked around the mangy old tunnel dripping with fluids and stinking of mold with a look of fondness. "I guess you could call this place our hideout. It used to be inhabited by bums until the city scared hem off and sealed he tunnel. The best part about this place is that most people think it's totally isolated apart from the door we came through."
Izzy paled slightly, shooting a glance at the pile of rubble that covered the entrance. "So we're trapped in here?"
Tai winked at him, flashing his famous cocky grin. "Most people think it's isolated." Tai pointed down one of the side tunnels. "Down there is a ladder that leads up to a trapdoor that leads into the basement of a mini-mart." Tai smiled to himself and for a moment his eyes glazed over as if he was suddenly remembering exactly what that trapdoor was used for.
Mimi sighed in relief. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on."
Tai snapped out of his daydream and shook his head. "We don't know what's going on out there. People are getting snatched off the streets by seemingly evil Digimon so until we know exactly what we're up against, we should stay put. Besides, we're in no condition to travel; half of us are wounded, the other half is exhausted and Kari's still sick with God knows what."
Izzy nodded. "Alright. We'll stay here for a bit and I'll try to see exactly what we're dealing with here."
T.K dabbed Kari's feverish forehead with a torn bit of his T-shirt and some cool water he had from a bottle. Wiping the sweat away, Kari seemed to relax as she rolled over on her side and now it seemed that she was only sleeping. He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead before quietly standing up and tiptoeing away.
T.K pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed Matt's number. He hadn't heard from his brother since the party and he was beginning to worry about him. Normally, if something bad was happening, Matt was always the first to get a hold of T.K to confirm that he was alright. But it had been nearly two hours since the mist descended on the city and T.K still hadn't heard from his older brother.
"Hey this is Matt Ishida. Leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you ASAP. Ciao, baby!" BEEP!
"Matt, it's T.K. I don't know what's going on out there but we need you here right now. Sora's still missing, Kari passed out a few hours ago and something in that mist is attacking whoever sets foot outside." T.K sighed as he rested his head against the cool brick wall. "If you get this message come to the 43rd Street abandoned sub station. Let me know if you're alright or even-"
BEEP!
T.K growled in frustration, jamming his phone back into his pocket and shuffling over to where the conscious Digidestined were huddled around Agumon's garbage fire.
"We were in the middle of talking to the cops to see if they had seen Sora when they came at us…" Cody said quietly, shooting a glance at Ken and Yolei. "The cops were trying to shoot them down but as soon as the mist got to them, those things grabbed them."
"We tried to do something but our Digimon didn't have time to Digivolve…" Ken muttered. "We tried to swat a few of them down but they were just too fast."
"Did anyone get a good look at them?" Yolei asked, looking at her friends for answers. "I thought I saw a tail but I wasn't sure."
"I thought I saw a red claw…" Davis said.
"Really? Their arms were striped." Ken mentioned
"They could definitely fly." Izzy said
"I saw horns, like ram horns." Mimi whispered
"When they landed, they made a clip-clop sound." Joe added. "They must've had hooves."
Between the eight of them, they managed to gather that whatever was attacking was a beast a little taller than a human with claws, hooves, horns, a tail and wings. They shared a chill when they realize what they were describing.
"Sounds like…" Mimi trailed off.
"Like what?" Izzy pressed, looking at her intently.
Mimi took a deep breath. "Well…it sounds like these creatures are like some kind of…I don't know…demon or something."
A collective shudder passed through the group as they shared a fearful glance. "Are we even sure that they're Digimon?" Ken asked quietly. "Maybe they are like the devil or something."
Tai was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "I think that they're just a group of Digimon."
"How do you know?" Joe asked, straightening his glasses, nervously. "Look it over, Tai: red claws, horns, a tail cloven hooves and wings? What does that sound like to you?"
"Remember what Gennai said?" T.K asked. When no one seemed to catch on, he pressed on. "The Digital World is just a reflection of our world. Most things in this world have a digital counterpart."
"Like Centaurimon and Leomon…" Izzy said. "The Digi-World mapped out own world bit for bit, even if the bits were mythical."
"Like Angemon and Angewomon." T.K nodded. "So if our view of angels got translated into data…"
"Our view of demons did as well." Tai surmised. "We're dealing with a group of Digimon who just look like the Devil but are just as solid and mortal as we are."
The flames flickered as there was a collective sigh of relief. "At least we're not dealing with the end of the world or something…" Davis sighed.
Ken shook his head. "It still may be unless we find a way to stop them. We still haven't come up with a plan."
"You guys are going to stay here with Cody and Kari until they get better." Everybody looked up to see Tai staring into the fire, chewing his lip thoughtfully. "I'm going to take Agumon and look for Sora and Biyomon."
Everyone stared at their leader in silence for a moment, soaking in what he had just said. Then Mimi shook her head furiously. "Absolutely not."
"No, listen-"
"No, you listen, Tai." T.K said, fixing Tai with a burning look. Tai looked up at T.K, startled by his tone "I know you're worried about Sora but you can't just run off after her. Those…things are wreaking havoc all over the city and there's not a damn thing you or Agumon can do about it."
"But I can't just-"Tai started.
"Tai, you and Agumon are going to get wiped out and then what?" Tai avoided the blonde's burning gaze. "What good are you to Sora if you're dead? How do you expect me to tell Kari that her big brother got himself killed while she was asleep?" T.K took a deep, shuddering breath. "You're staying here…" he said quietly.
Everyone was silent for a moment, just staring into the flickering light. Then, all of a sudden, T.K's cell phone went off. Everybody snapped their head up as T.K scrambled to pick it up.
"Hello?"
"T.K?" a hoarse, trembling voice came over the other line.
T.K gasped in relief. "Matt…are you okay?" Tai and the other looked up suddenly.
The voice on the other end gasped. "I'm fine what about you?"
"Just dandy. Except for the fact that we're crouching in a dripping rat hole with no idea what's going on out there?" T.K took a breath. "You?"
"I'm holed up in a coffee shop by the harbor." Matt said. "Garurumon couldn't digivolve at first-"
"I know, this mist is doing something to our Digimon as well…wait, what do you mean, at first?"
"He shook it off. That's how these things operate; they swoop in before you could do anything and…well, you know. I've been in contact with Noriko and the other Tokyo Digidestined and they're trying to figure out who's behind this."
"Behind this?"
Matt cleared his throat. "You think these Digimon are acting on their own? This…mist, if that's what it is, isn't the product of a random gaggle of run of the mill viruses. Something incredibly, powerful is manipulating this energy and these Digimon. Something incredibly evil. If we want to lift this fog, we need to cut it at the source and that means taking out whoever's calling the shots."
"Okay, okay. So what are we looking for?" T.K asked. He looked up at Tai who was mouthing something indistinguishable to him.
"I'll let you know when I find it." As he listened to his brother T.K still couldn't make out what Tai was trying to say to him. Then all it once it hit him.
"Sora!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Matt, did you find Sora?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone. "…She…she isn't with you?"
Silence. T.K looked up at Tai. One look told him that his worst fears have been confirmed.
"We thought she was with you." T.K said as Tai slid down against the wall, dropping his head into his hands.
"I didn't run into her…" T.K could tell by his brother's tone that there was something Matt wasn't telling him. Due to the fact that lies aren't exactly the building blocks of friendship, Matt would never lie to a friend but he had a funny way of conveniently leaving the truth out.
"Matt. What's wrong?"
"Listen, T.K, now's not the greatest time…."
"Matt…"
"We'll talk later, I promise."
"Okay, Matt. Take care of yourself."
"You too, little bro." Matt said. Someone in the background said something. "I got to go. They're scanning the city and we think that our cell phones may be giving us away. I think-"
BEEP
The voice in his ear died and T.K looked at the screen to find that he had lost all reception.
"My phone's dead." T.K growled, hurling the useless piece of machinery against the wall in frustration."
"Mine too." Ken said.
"Same here." Joe mentioned
"I lost my internet connection." Izzy mumbled darkly. "They must have cut the phone lines."
"That's it," Tai said, standing up. "Come on, Agumon, let's go." he said, gently rousing his sleeping partner.
"Yawn…where are we going, Tai?" Agumon asked, sleepily rubbing his eyes.
"We're going to find Matt and Sora and bring them back here." Tai said, voice trembling with sudden emotion. Angrily wiping his eyes, Tai started off, only to feel a firm grip on his wrist holding him back.
"Let go, Izzy." Tai said quietly.
"Tai, just stop for a second and think about what you're doing…" Izzy said, calmly.
"I said, let go of my arm, Izzy…" Tai growled through clenched teeth. Tentomon and Agumon were cowering behind their human's legs, wondering if they should get involved
"You're putting yourself and Agumon in danger, Tai!"
"Drop it, Izzy…"
"Tai, Matt and Sora are our friends too. I know exactly how you feel…"
"NO!" In the force of Tai's outburst Izzy nearly dropped his grip. Tai angrily faced Izzy, brown eyes burning with passion and shining with unshed tears. "You don't know how I feel, Izzy so don't pretend that you do." Tai felt everyone's gaze burning into his back but he went on. "My best friend is out there alone in a swarm of vicious, killer Digimon and every second that I waste talking to you is another second she gets closer to getting snatched off the street and carted off to God knows where." Tai swallowed painfully. "What would you do if Mimi was in Sora's shoes, huh? What if she and Palmon were wandering alone through a choking black mist?"
"Okay, that's enough…" Izzy said, biting his lip and looking down.
"What if you didn't know if she was even alive?" Tai pressed on.
"Stop it…"
"What if every time you heard a scream outside your stomach plummeted because you thought it might be her?"
"STOP IT!!" The cave echoed with Izzy's anguished cry. Tai looked back at his friend to see him breathing heavily, eyes red. The two boys stared at each other for the longest time before a look of understanding crossed the young genius's face.
"Oh my God…" he breathed, looking at Tai like he had never looked at him properly before.
"Let go, Izzy."
Izzy stared at Tai for another moment or so before dropping his arm and backing away from him slowly.
"Come on, Agumon." Tai said. Agumon shot a hesitant look at his partner before scampering off after him.
"Tai, come back-" T.K's call was cut off by Izzy's hand on his shoulder.
"Let him go T.K"
"But…" He shot a glance at a sleeping Kari.
"Trust me; being between him and Sora is not a safe place to stand." T.K just nodded and went back to sit by Kari
"Izzy?" Izzy looked up at Mimi who was staring after Tai as he disappeared down the tunnel. "Why did you let him go?"
Izzy gently took her hand, lightly running a thumb over her knuckles. "Because if it were you out there instead of Sora, Tai would be the one holding me back."
Mimi looked at him with a watery smile. Then a sudden look of realization hit her. Izzy just nodded.
Mimi smiled to herself, shaking her head. "Stupid Tai…"
The mist was so thick that Tai could barely see out of the sliding glass door. The screaming had stopped and the streets were as quiet and as empty as a looted tomb.
Tai swallowed nervously. "Ready, Agumon?" His partner nodded. "We're going to make a break for that alleyway and then figure out what we're going to do from there." Tai looked around once more. There were no gliding shapes in the mist. All was deathly still.
"On three…Three…two…one…Go!"
Tai was barely out the door before he was flat on his back, clutching his chest in pain. Beside him, Agumon was struggling to stand after it felt like a car slammed into him. Looking around, there was nothing in sight. Whatever hit him had gone as quickly as it had come. Struggling to stand up, he was struck again, body spun sideways and landed face down in a puddle of murky water.
"Tai…" Agumon called weakly. He sat up, groaning. "Agumon…digivolve…to…"
SLAM
Agumon spun around as he was struck again. Groaning in pain, Tai crawled his way over where Agumon was trying to stand. Then, he saw it. As the mist was disrupted by the wind, a long, pallid face emerged, attached to a powerful humanoid body and a strong looking set of wings. Crimson claw outstretched, it moved to end their lives.
Tai threw himself in front of Agumon. This was it. This was how it was going to end. If he had just listened to Izzy, he wouldn't even be here.
Sora…Kari…I'm sorry…
The beast was getting closer. Tai could feel it's hot breath on his face as the massive jaws opened, ready to swallow him whole. Tai shut his eyes and waited for the beast to bite…
"Diamond Storm!"
Tai opened one eye to see his assailant howling in agony as shards of tiny crystals ripped through his body. Glaring at Tai and Agumon as a cat might have glared at a mouse who had gotten away. It turned tail and flew off into the mist.
Before Tai could turn around something grabbed him and Agumon around the waist and carried them off; something strong, warm and…furry?
Before Tai could register what was happening, he was being carted through the air as a pair of footsteps followed and a girl's voice shouted something indistinguishable. His fuzzy savior sailed through the mini-mart doors as the footsteps began arguing.
"Grab something to stick in front of the door!" the Boy Footstep said.
"Block the door?" The Girl Footstep retorted. "In case you haven't noticed, these guys don't exactly use doors."
"It'll slow them down at least; grab that magazine rack and jam it under the doorknob. I'm going to look for a way out of here; keep an eye on the kid." The Boy ran off as the Girl sighed to herself and began sorting through the rubble
"Are you injured?" Tai looked up as the yellow furred superhero drew back to take a look at him. Tai found himself staring into the elegant and serious face of a fox. A fox Digimon. She was a little taller than he was (including the hair) with yellow fur and piercing blue eyes that suddenly regarded Agumon with sudden interest.
"He's got a Digimon." She called to one of the Footsteps. A girl appeared from behind a snack counter and regarded Tai with a look of polite disinterest. Looking at her, Tai guessed she was about as old as Kari, which would make her about sixteen. She brushed a strand of her longish carrot colored hair out of her violet eyes as she looked Tai over.
"Not much of a Digimon Tamer if you ask me…this kid isn't even packing cards…" the girl muttered before addressing Tai. "Are you stupid or something?" Tai opened his mouth to respond but the girl cut him off. "I mean, you just saddle up your Digimon and figure, "Hey, I got nothing to do today. I guess I'll go off and hunt Mephistomon in the middle of a Mist Burst. That'll be a gas!" she said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Tai's face flushed in anger. How dare she insinuate he was thrill-seeking?
The girl cocked her head and stared at Tai through squinted eyes. "Do they even speak Japanese in this world? Maybe he can't understand me…"
"I know what you're saying." Tai shot back. "And I'm not stupid…or something!"
The girl seemed to find this amusing as she chuckled quietly to herself. She turned back to sorting through the rubble. "I'm Rika, by the way. Rika Nonaka. The fox who saved your sorry butts is Renamon."
Renamon nodded slightly. "Pleased to meet you Mr…"
"Tai." Tai said. "I'm Tai Kamiya and this is Agumon."
Snort. Tai shot his head up as Rika tried unsuccessfully to cover a snort.
"Something funny?" Tai asked, crossing his arms.
"No, nothing. You're Tai Kamiya," Snort. "Gotcha."
"What're you laughing at?" Tai demanded.
Rika turned around, placing a hand on her hip. "Look, if you don't want to tell me your name, that's fine. A little rude, but fine…"
"I just did; My name is…"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you "Tai". She laughed again. "You know if you want use a cartoon codename, I would have gone with Scrappy Doo or something. It suits you better."
"Cartoon…Listen, you strange, strange little girl…" Tai said, flaring up.
"Oh no Renamon, he's getting angry!" She said in mock fear, holding her hands up to her face. "Watch out or SkullGreymon is gonna rip you apart!"
Tai's face paled as he glanced at Agumon. How did this girl know about SkullGreymon and why was she laughing about it?
"Isn't that what happened? I don't know; Goggles and the Fanboy Twins watched it more than I ever did." Rika lifted a magazine rack and blocked off the window. "I have the card but that's about all I…" she trailed off as she caught sight of Tai's digivice. Before he could come up with a snappy comeback, Rika had disconnected the device from his hip and was now staring at it intently.
"Hey! Give that back!" Tai lunged to grab in but was stopped by Renamon's paw in his face. Rika reached into a pouch in her belt and pulled out a card. She looked at the card with wide eyes and then back at the digivice, then back at the card, then back at the digivice, then at Tai then at Agumon then at Tai, then at the card, then at the Digivice, then Agumon then back at Tai.
Rika swallowed nervously. "You…you weren't kidding when you said you were Tai Kamiya, were you…" She asked all traces of cockiness gone from her voice and replaced by a small amount of fear.
"Why would I be kidding?" Tai asked, shaking Renamon off and crossing his arms.
Rika was about to say something when her friend burst in through the back door. "Rika! You're never going to believe this!"
"There really isn't much I'm not going to believe anymore…" She mumbled, staring at Tai like he was from Mars.
"What…anyway, there's a trapdoor that leads into a tunnel beneath the surface!" the boy looked up and seemed to notice Tai for the first time as Tai noticed him. He was about the same age as the girl, if not a little younger with dark hair, a serious expression and riding on his shoulders was…
"Terriermon!" Agumon exclaimed.
Terriermon looked down at Agumon. "Hey, you know my name?"
"Of course I do; Davis told us all about you! But…" Agumon looked up at the boy. "Who's this guy and where's Willis at?"
The boy looked back at Rika. "Rika, what's going on, here?"
Rika swallowed nervously. "Henry Wong, this is Tai Kamiya."
AN Enter the Tamers! The last, halfway descent Digimon series! Alright kiddies, if you want to see demons from hell, Takato freaking out and more TaiXMattXSora drama (Spoiler! The only love triangle to wake a demon from a thousand years of sleep!) then hit that little review button and let me know how you like it! Next Chapter: The Tamers meet the gang and Takato and Ryo enter the fray. Monsters attack and the first of the Demon Lords reveals himself. Where's Sora? Who are the Demon Lords? Why am I asking you this? YOU DON'T KNOW!! Sparks are going to fly next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!