Chapter Nine: Waking the Demon(s)
(LONGEST CHAPTER YET!!)
MAJOR TAIORA HO!!
FOR ENHANCED READING EXPIERIENCE, PLAY "WAKING THE DEMON" By Bullet for My Valentine. It's what I had on while I wrote this battle so I guess you could call it the "soundtrack" to the first part of the chapter. And now I am going to attempt to do the hardest thing for a Taiora shipper to do; not bashing Matt. Just as a good Takari fic avoids Davis bashing a good Taiora fic avoids totally ripping Matt a new one...wish me luck
"LampRANTHUS!"
The hissing, crackling smell of ozone igniting filled the air as Tai narrowly dodged a flaming chain, hurled by the agitated Demon Lord. All around, the street was in utter ruin as the cranky Demon of Sloth went on his rampage. His friends had scattered and he was currently holed up in an alley with Matt, Beelzemon and a terrified Izzy, scanning the streets for any sign of Mimi.
"WHERE...ARE...YOU...HUMAN?" Belphamon said in his slow, deep tones. "COME...FACE...YOUR...DOOM!!"
"Nice going, Tai!" Matt said, clapping his back. "You woke up the world's biggest toddler from his nap!"
"Hey, it's not my fault!" Tai said, defensively.
"I beg to differ, Mr. Why-Did-You-Break-Up-With-Her." Beelzemon said dryly, ducking out from his cover. "Corona Blaster!" Four dull thuds ripped through the air as Beelzemon emptied both shotguns into Belphamon's hide. The Demon barely growled, swinging his chain like a whip, shattering rows of windows and raining glass down on the Digidestined.
"Didn't that do anything?" Izzy asked. "He's still going!"
"It did some damage," Beelzemon said, reloading. "Problem is he's too pissed off to feel it right now. He's gone literally berserk!" Beelzemon fired off another round of ammo.
"Hand of Fate!" Tai looked up to see Angemon and Angewomon squaring off with the demon. Belphamon swatted the attack sideways, binding Angemon in chains ans slamming him into the side of a building.
"Angemon!" Angewomon cried, staring in horror as her partner fell to the earth, into TK's arms as Tokomon.
Angewomon ground her teeth in anger. "You'll pay for that, demon scum!" she knocked a light arrow. "Celestial-"
"DARK HORN!" Before she could get the shot off, dark lightning shot from Belphamon's horns and ripped through her body. Screaming in agony, she too plummeted from the sky, into Kari's arms.
"Kari..." Salamon said weakly.
"Shh..." Kari soothed. "You did your best."
"Our turn!" Stingmon surged forward followed by Shurimon, jumping from roof to roof.
"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon lunged, extending a pink spike from his forearm and diving for Belphamon's throat. The needle went in, but Belphamon only laughed.
"IS THIS A FIGHT...OR AN ACUPUNCTURE SESSION?" he laughed, smashing Stingmon between his palms, and sending Wormmon back to earth
"Wormmon!" Yolei cried. "Stick it to him, Shurimon!"
"Right! Payback, time you ugly hunk!" Shurimon spun right, launching his shuriken at Belphamon's thick hide.
"UGLY HUNK? I WOULD HAVE CHOSEN MY LAST WORDS MORE CAREFULLY IF I WERE YOU..." Belphamon chuckled as the stars bounced off. Before Shurimon could move, a rouge chain flew through the air, striking him down.
"Bring some heavy hitters out!" Tai looked up to see a large rabbit, cloaked in green armor and sporting twin canons on the end of his arms.
"Rapidmon!"
"We'll keep him busy..." a soft voice spoke beside him. An elegant fox, cloaked in sorcerer's garb hovered beside him.
"Yeah! Just leave it to Me and Taomon!"
"Grrr..." Cyberdramon growled, running down the street.
"Oops...sorry Cyberdramon." Rapidmon chuckled nervously.
"COWARDS!!" Belphamon roared. "YOU SEND YOUR DIGIMON TO FIGHT IN YOUR STEAD?! FACE ME!!"
"You'll have to deal with us first!" Rapimon crowed. "RAPID FIRE!" Two rockets soared out and struck the Demon with twin thunk, BOOM's.
"AMP IT UP!" Henry called, swiping a card. "DIGIMODIFY! DIGITAL BURST ACTIVATE!!" (AN: THNX, O'BRYNE!)
"RAPID FIRE!" Rapidmon launched the same attack, this time sending Belphamon reeling farther back.
"Keep up the pressure!" Taomon produced a brush from her sleeve.
"GOING TO DO MY MAKEUP, FOXY?"
Taomon rolled her eyes. "I think body art suits you better...TALISMAN OF LIGHT!" Taomon painted a symbol in midair, charging it with light and sending it flying at Belphamon. The Lord of Sloth howled as the white hot talisman seared his flesh, tattooing him with the talisman.
"DESOLATION CLAW!!" Cyberdramon belched a blast of power from his open claws, stinging the tender talisman area. Despite all this, Belphamon rose, swinging his chain and devolving them all back to Rookies with a single swipe.
"He's too strong, Ryo!" Monodramon moaned, softly.
"Beelzemon, do something!" Rika cried, tending to Renamon's wounds.
"Me? What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know, anything! You're a Mega, aren't you?" Tai screamed.
"Listen," Beelzemon said. "I couldn't control this guy when he was on my side. What makes you think I can do anything to stop him now? Besides, I'm only one Mega!"
Tai pulled his Digivice out. "Then it's time to even the odds." Tai shot a glance at Matt. "Get your Digivice out; if you even have it..." he mumbled darkly.
"I got it! I got it!" Matt growled. Agumon and Gabumon just rolled their eyes; must be a human thing.
"Alright you big baby!" Tai called out. "You want to sleep? We'll put you down for the longest nap there is! Come on Agumon!"
"You got it! Agumon Warp Digivolve to..."
"You too, Gabumon!" Matt said, pulling his Digivice out as well
"Right! Gabumon Warp Digivolve to..."
Agumon burst open, growing tall and powerful, covered in dangerous looking armor. "WARGREYMON!!"
Gabumon vanished, only to be replaced by a cybernetic wolf with jets on his back. "METALGARURUMON!!"
"Alright, WarGreymon, take him out!"
"Clean his clocks, MetalGarurumon!"
The two Megas flew at the rampaging demon, who barely took notice of them as he continued to scan the streets for the humans that woke him up.
"Hey, Rip Van Winkle!" WarGreymon called, charging a blast of energy in his hand. "TERRA FORCE!" he cried, letting a burst of energy fly. Belphamon howled with rage as the blast collided with his chest, sending him crashing into a building.
"My turn!" MetalGarurumon called. He opened his mouth, charging a blast of blue energy. "METAL WOLF CLAW!!"
The blue blast connected with the enraged demon as he was getting up, sending him crashing back into the building, bringing it down on top of him in a cloud of debris.
"I-I think we beat him..." Tai said, shakily. All around him, his friends were poking their heads out of alleyways, shops and (in Davis' case) a dumpster
"Y-yeah..." Matt agreed. "I don't think he could have surr-"
"GRRRAAAAAAAGH!!"
Before Tai could look up, Belphamon grabbed each Mega Digimon in a claw and brought them soaring overhead and crashing into a building down the street. Tai and Matt raced over to see WarGreymon gently pulling MetalGarurumon to his feet.
Belphamon chuckled, the low droning bass tones hurting even Matt's hardened eardrums.
"YOU...ARE FOOLS." He said, addressing the two battered Megas. "TO ALLY YOURSELVES WITH THESE...MEATBAGS, THESE...HUMANS. I...AND MY FELLOW LORDS...REACH OUR FULL POWER...WITHOUT HUMAN INTERFERENCE!!"
"You think this is our full power?" WarGreymon asked, chuckling along with MetalGarurumon as they started to glow.
"Brother...you ain't seen nothing yet." Belphamon looked back to see Tai and Matt holding their Digivices up to their partners as they dissolved into light, except for their heads. Two arms shot out from the now larger heads as the streams of light consolidated and formed a towering, white knight with a regal blue cape.
"OMNIMON!" The knight cried.
Belphamon took a step back, sizing his new opponent up. "SO...A ROYAL KNIGHT..." Belphamon cracked his neck with a deafening, crack! "PERHAPS YOU ARE A WORTHY CHALLENGER AFTER ALL..." Belphamon took a deep breath. "ETERNAL...NIGHTMARE!" Black fire spewed forth from his maw and hurled at Omnimon.
"TRANCENDENT SWORD!" Omnimon cried, dividing the flames on either side of the blade.
"HMMM..." Belphamon said, fingering his chains, thoughtfully as the two circled each other in the ruined street. Belphamon unwrapped a length of chain and with a flick of his wrist, snapped it rigid, dark fire spinning around it.
"LAMPRANTHUS!" He cried, swinging the chain like a sword, fencing with the Transcendent Sword.
"If you thing you can out-fence us, you're sorely mistaken." Omnimon said, flourishing their sword.
"GOOD TO KNOW!" Belphamon wrapped the blade in a length of chain and dragged Omnimon in, wrapping the chain around himself like a fishing reel. Belphamon sneered, yellow teeth dripping with saliva. "ANY LAST WORDS, SIR?" he spat, mockingly.
"Yeah, just two!" Onmimon said
"Point..." WarGreymon said
"...Blank" MetalGarurumon finished
"WHAT NONSENSE IS-"
"SUPREME CANNON!" Omnimon rammed his gun into Belphamon's Solar Plexus. Belphamon's red eyes widened in fear as Omnimon pulled the trigger.
"NOOOOOOOO!!" The Demon of Sloth cried as a bolt of white hot light ripped through his stomach, leaving a neat, even hole where it went through. Belphamon looked down where his stomach used to be, then back up at Omnimon as he slid down his front and hit the ground, bursting forth into a cloud of data. Ryo ran out of an alley, burning his image into a card and handing it to Beelzemon who promptly destroyed it, collecting the Crest and absorbing the Data.
"Well that was hairy..." Davis mumbled, climbing out of his dumpster hiding place, dusting himself off.
"At least he's gone..." Matt said, glancing at Tai. "Listen, Tai-"
"Not now, Matt." Tai said, picking up Koromon
"Tai, you got to hear me out...yes, I broke up with Sora but-"
"But nothing." Tai mumbled darkly, eyes suddenly clouding. "You broke her heart. Ryo said Biyomon couldn't digivolve and for the longest time I couldn't figure out why. But I get it now...you really hurt her; that's why she couldn't fight back. Her crest wasn't working..."
Matt sighed. "I never meant to, Tai." Matt said, voice quavering. "Please, you have to believe me, I never meant to hurt her...I just..."
"Just what?" Tai rounded on the blonde. "She was a sitting duck out there! She never stood a chance against Lilithmon!"
"Who...I didn't know demons were going to attack!" Matt cried hysterically
"Yeah, well you knew it was her birthday..." Tai snarled, walking away.
"Damnit, Tai, what do you want?!" Matt cried. "What do you want from me? What do you want me to do? Do you want to hit me?! Would that make you feel better?! Go ahead! Knock me out, just please, please hear me out!"
"I'm not going to hit you, Matt." Tai said, softly. "But you have nothing to say that I want to hear."
TK and Kari looked back and forth between their brothers, one staring dumbstruck at the other's back. Usually when Matt and Tai fought, it lasted no longer than half an hour and usually ended with two black eyes. But after that, they always made up and they were always friends in time for lunch. But as Tai walked away, eyes clouded with angry tears, it didn't seem like there was going to be any making up any time soon.
Tai stared darkly at the floor in front of him, wearing a patch in the debris that littered the street with the toe of his shoe. He had been sitting there, on a rusty park bench for the past five minutes or so, away from the rest of the group, just thinking...
"Penny for your thoughts?" a voice came from behind him. Tai sighed as Kari took a seat on his other side. For a minute, she was silently mimicking Tai's efforts to dig a hole in the concrete with her sneaker. Finally, Tai broke the silence between them.
"How could he do that to her?" Tai said quietly, without bitterness or anger. He genuinely wanted to know how it was possible. "Why did he do that?"
"I'm sure he has his reasons..." Kari said quietly.
"What? What could they possibly be?" Tai sniffled slightly. "I-If it was me-"
"Tai..." Kari said, gently laying her hand on his shoulder. "You promised you wouldn't do this to yourself anymore."
"But if I was..."Tai shook his head. "I would have never let her go. As long as she would have me, I would be there."
"Tai..." Kari said, eyes suddenly brimming. "I haven't heard you talk like this since you were fourteen..." Kari gasped. "You fell back in love with Sora..."
"No." Tai said quietly. "I never fell out."
"All this time..." Kari said as the truth dawned on her. "Four years...and all those times you could have told her. When she and Matt had that fight and didn't speak for three months...you could've..."
"I wouldn't have said anything." Tai said flatly.
"Why, Tai? Why didn't you say something?! You just kept it bottled up for four years?"
"Because they were happy!" Tai shouted, stunning Kari into silence. "They. Were. Happy. And as long as Sora was happy...I was fine. I could make due going on those double dates with them and one of Mimi's ditzy friends." Tai sat back down. "And she was with Matt...my other best friend... I couldn't do that to him."
"But Tai..." Kari whispered
"What do you want me to say Kari?!" Tai stood up, striding away from the bench. "Do you want me to say that I love her? Is that it? Fine. Here it goes. I. Love. Sora. I love her. That's right! Love. Amor! Amore! Not like as a friend, not like-like a stupid high school crush. Love. L.O.V.E LOVE!" Tai's voice shook slightly as a lifetime of thoughts and feelings were finally voiced out loud. "I liked her before I even liked girls...I think it must've been sometime during the Digital World that I started caring about her as more than a friend but...I-I was too st-stupid to do anything about it." Tai slammed his fists against a wall. "I was afraid of what she would say or that she wouldn't feel the same way so I said nothing..." He leaned his head against the wall as hot tears stained cool granite. "I'm a coward...I'm a miserable, stinking coward!"
(AN: If you want the soundtrack to this next scene, Put on "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" by John Mayer.)
"No, Tai, you're not."
Tai's heart stopped as a voice that definitely wasn't Kari spoke. Turning around, he saw Matt standing against a lamp post, looking at Tai as if he had never really seen him before. Kari had left, leaving the two boys alone
"You...stood by...for four years," Matt spoke slowly, trying to wrap his head around Tai's words. "While I dated the girl of your dreams...the love of your life...and you said nothing..." Matt bit his lip and looked away for a moment. "And that's cowardice? No."
"Matt..."
"Tai," Matt said, walking over to his friend and leaning against the wall beside him. "I've seen you stare down, Devimon, Etamon, Datamon, Myotismon, MetalSeadramon, Machinedramon, Puppetmon, Piedmon and Apocalymon without breaking a sweat. I've watched you pull half of us out of more life-or-death situations than I can count. You've fearlessly led when others would only follow. You're a freaking legend in the Digital World. You are." He said when Tai shook his head. "They think you're Jesus Christ, Superman and the Hercules all rolled into one." Matt sighed. "But they will never know, that the bravest thing you ever did was stand by, smiling while the girl of your dreams was with someone else." Matt shook his head. "I don't know how you did it, man...I would've cracked a long time ago."
"She was happy with you..." Tai said, softly.
Matt sighed. "Tai...you may not know this but our relationship wasn't what one would call...conventional. I mean...we had some good times but I was on the road a lot and Sora was finishing school and she had tennis while I was free and I had my band when she was free. On average...we got to see each other maybe...four days out of the month."
Tai looked up. "Really."
Matt leaned his head against the granite wall. "One day...about six months ago, I got a call from her. She couldn't make our date because she had a big paper due so we tried to reschedule. Put it to you this way; if the date was till on, we'd be going ice skating and shopping for Christmas gifts." Tai chuckled as Matt smiled somewhat sadly. "I hung up the phone and...I must've stared at it for almost half an hour, just stewing on this. I thought it was just another tic, cause God knows we've had ups and downs but...I realized, not too long ago that we, Sora and I...we were going down. It's like we were on a sinking ship...like the Titanic. Now everybody else would be booking for the lifeboats but..." Matt pinched the bridge of his nose. "We would just keep trying to plug the holes and fix the cracks instead of just realizing that the ship is going down." Matt turned to Tai. "I got off. I wrote her a letter and-"
"You broke up with her over a letter?" Tai asked, eyebrow cocked. "Wow, bad form..."
Matt sighed. "I was kinda going for that. See...I thought, if she thought I was a jerk then...maybe she wouldn't take it as bad. And I know I shouldn't have done it on her birthday but...well, I was kinda hoping she'd run into you."
Tai stood there, cotton mouthed for a moment before managing to squeak out. "Me?"
Matt smiled at Tai. "You were always there for her when I wasn't. At her tennis matches when I couldn't be, to study with her when I was on the road...I see why now," Matt laughed, then growing serious. "But you knew how to comfort her. I was always the second to know when Sora was upset, after you and right before her mother...well, actually, right before Mimi and then her mother...well, she would talk to Kari first and then talk to her mother...well, actually, Yolei kinda knew before her mom...well..."
"Right. Sora told me, then you then the rest of the world, then the whole DigiWorld and then, her mom." Tai laughed.
"But only because someone else in the chain slipped and told her!" The two shared a heartfelt laugh. "So...are we cool?" Matt said, holding out a hand.
"Matt..." Tai said. "We'll always be cool." He said, taking his hand and throwing a hug on him.
"Matt..."
"Yeah Tai?"
"...I'm sorry I said your band sounded like Primus puked on Nirvana..."
"Now that I will never forgive you for."
"Oh look who it is..." Beelzemon said dryly as Matt and Tai returned. "The boys are back from couple's therapy."
"Is he always this grouchy?" Matt asked Ryo.
"Actually, this is one of his nicer moods...usually he would call you a girl and then bring your sexual orientation into question." Ryo remarked, lightly.
"Hey!" Beelzemon called after the two of them. "If ladies are done sucking face the rest of us have some business with a couple of Demon Lords!"
"You called?"
Everyone suddenly looked up to the source of the booming voice. An old man with yellow skin and a hooked nose, stared down at them from behind a long, white beard and dark red robes. He lightly twirled a twisted staff back and forth and he took flight (Tai noted the six, leathery devil wings jutting up from his back) and landed lightly in front of them.
"If a fight with a Demon Lord is what you need." The Digimon sang softly. "Battle, Barbamon! Lord of Greed!"