Yahoo! Sorry. I don't say that often, but I'm really excited today! I am SO close to finishing this story! I finished half of chapter 16 when I started writing this, and I'm still going strong. I have to force myself to find time to type, otherwise this would never get up.

On another high note, I have my own laptop now! I mean, sure, it's a hand-me-down (already on it's third wind – first my dad, then my sister when he got a new one, and now, since it was getting stressed at college, me. Seriously, it was freaking out because she had her printer in her room but she had to go down to the lobby to get internet signal!) Anyway, that means I have internet in my room! The only problem is not staying on so long that I don't do any homework.

Disclaimer: I don't own it! HAPPY? HUH? ARE YA?

Old Demons

Chapter 13: A Thing Called Family

"Some things you do because you want to. Some things you do because of the needs of others in your family."
-Real Live Preacher

Kouichi's breath came in ragged gasps. He had been running hard for almost fifteen minutes, doing his best to ignore the pain in his side. Rational thought finally took over and he slowed to a walk. Even though his legs felt like jello, he stubbornly kept walking, kept putting distance behind him. After only a few more steps, his aching legs finally rebelled, refusing to support his weight anymore. For a few moments he laid there panting. No one had pursued him, he thought, or else they would have caught up already.

'Yes…At last!'

Kouichi shivered, trying not to remember. I have to keep going. I can't stop. I can't remember! He struggled to stand. The act of walking would keep him occupied…And he would keep walking until he passed out. He would be so tired that he couldn't possibly dream about it. After a moment, the irony registered. He could hardly remember what it was that had happened, and yet he knew that he didn't want to remember. He would do anything to avoid remembering. All he knew was that it had to do with…him.

The darkness was impenetrable; the silence absolute. Even the menacing howl of the wind would have been an improvement.

He knew he had messed up. Big time. Now his mistakes were his friends' problem too. They shouldn't have to deal with him. NO! Stop thinking about it! He turned his attention to his surroundings. He was still in the Water Sector, headed northeast. Eventually he would reach the Icefield. He wouldn't be able to stay there at night. North – that was the only way left to him. South or west could lead to Kouji, and east would take him to the Icefield, where he'd have to turn south.

'I am free…'

No! Kouichi clenched his fists, forced his mind off the subject. School! How much had he missed? He'd have to make it up when he got back. If he ever got back.

'And it's all…'

Anything but that! His friends! Even though they probably hated him or were terrified of him, but at least he had good memories. Zoe and the others forgiving him for what he had done almost before Kouji did…the picnic in the park on his last day on Earth… All of that had been tainted by Duskmon. Would he never be free?

'…because…'

"Stop thinking about it!" Kouichi's voice echoed slightly in the mostly-open area.

'…of you.'

It was no use. His body kept walking, but his fists unclenched and his eyes unfocused. He had no choice now but to remember.

-

--(Flashback)--

-

"I'm nothing like you!"

The anger. Kouichi wanted to tear Duskmon apart for what he had done. He had killed Lowemon! He wouldn't get away with it! Justified or not, the anger broke a barrier that his long-standing guilt had weakened.

'Yes. I am.'

Kouichi gagged at the onslaught of…whatever it was he had just released. The being Duskmon would later refer to as the darkling. The darkling was ferocious. He was powerful. And he was awake, wanting to be free. But to achieve that, he needed Kouichi. He attacked the boy's consciousness, causing a splitting headache. The darkness gathering around Kouichi was nothing more than a physical manifestation of the internal attack. When the darkling succeeded in breaking Kouichi's consciousness, the boy's body blacked out. Now it was the two personas, facing off in the realm of the subconscious. In fact, it was the transfer into the subconscious and back out that had disrupted Kouichi's memories.

It was like a black orb, crackling with red and violet lightning bolts. Roughly three-quarters of the way down the sphere, a level floor cut across. The darkling stood over Kouichi, who was unconscious but slowly stirring.

Kouichi's first thoughts at seeing the face peering down at him was that Kouji had found him. Disorientation set it as he realized the other boy was too identical: same outfit, same hairstyle…The only difference was in the other's crimson eyes, which were now starting at Kouichi with something between curiosity and disgust. A purple lightning bolt flashed overhead.

"You?" the darkling scoffed. "You are the one who set me free? You hardly seem capable of true anger. Guilt, yes…Fear, I'm sure. But it was anger that released me. I recognize the tang."

It was odd to hear the darkling speak. At first, he sounded exactly like Kouichi, albeit emotionless. He had no unique personality or tone; he was simply a facet of his host's mind. In a way, that was what scared Kouichi the most, so when the voice changed, he was almost relieved. The darkling's voice became low and husky, like Kouji's, but whereas Kouji's tone was one of detachment, the darkling's communicated engagement, along with cruel disregard for the feelings of any being but himself.

"What are you?"

A scarlet bolt touched down behind the darkling. "I am the darkling – the one you've been trying to ignore. I've only stayed trapped for all this time because our brother's light weakened me. But our brother isn't here now. Without him, you are nothing. You stand in the shadows cast by the Light, but when the Light is extinguished, you lose your power."

Kouichi backed away slowly, still on the ground. When he was a few feet away, he settled into a crouch. "What do you want with me?" he asked, struggling not to let his voice shake. A bolt of red lightning struck the ground behind him, making him jump.

The darkling laughed. Another red bolt flashed to the darkling's left. "Nothing, really. I just need your help."

A small smirk came to Kouichi's face. "You expect me to help you? You're wasting your time."

"I wasn't asking."

A massive red bolt struck, starting as one trunk but branching on its way down so that it struck the ground between Kouichi and the darkling in six places. When it fizzled out, the darkling was nowhere to be seen.

A hand wrapped around the back of Kouichi's neck. It wasn't strangling him, but it was painful nonetheless.

"Yes…" The darkling squeezed harder, and Kouichi's vision filled with static. A purple bolt collided with a red bolt five feet from Kouichi and four feet off the ground. A cloudy gray oval appeared and began to grow. "At last!" The darkling leaned forward to whisper in Kouichi's ear. "And so, regrettably, I must take my leave."

He shoved Kouichi to the ground and ran to the portal. As soon as he was through, it began to shrink. The lightning suddenly ceased, sending the orb into darkness. The only source of light was the dwindling portal, and it couldn't really be considered light; more of a lesser degree of darkness. Through it, Kouichi could hear wind, harsh and throbbing like a midnight storm that wakes you up. Then the darkling spoke.

"I feel I owe you a thank you. And since I don't plan on waiting for you to come to, I may as well do it now. I am free. And it's all because of you."

The portal vanished as the darkling finished speaking. The darkness once again took control. It was impenetrable, the silence absolute. Even the menacing howl of the wind would have been an improvement.

The orb began to pulse in time with Kouichi's slowly-beating heart. His thoughts blurred in the non-area between dream and wakefulness. When he awoke, the darkling was nowhere to be seen. The crater caused by Velgemon's Dark Obliteration attack cut into the ground a matter of feet from Kouichi. That he remembered clearly. Needing to get away from the battle-scarred land, he climbed a nearby hill. Movement to the west caught his eye. His face contorted into a scowl. The darkling.

'Very good.' The distant figure stopped moving. Kouichi could have sworn the darkling was looking at him. 'Although I must admit. I didn't expect you to wake up quite so soon.'

What's going on? Kouichi wondered.

'Are you really that stupid? We share a telepathic bond. After all, we are one and the same.'

Where are you going?

'Our pathetic brother and his friends are here in Dusk. It's only a matter of time before I run into them.'

OUR brother? His friends? Kouji is not your brother, and they're my friends too! The was the darkling referred to them irritated Kouichi. Implying that Kouichi didn't have any friends of his own. It was so familiar… Leave them out of this! If you hurt them –

'Why would I want to do that? Of course, what I could do to them pales in comparison to what would happen, say, if I unleashed the power of Duskmon against them.'

Duskmon! What do you mean?

'When I escaped from your subconscious, Duskmon was waiting. He was more than willing to fuse with me. I don't think he expected me to remain in control. It must have been embarrassingly easy for him to manipulate you if he was that confident he could control me… In any case, I now wield greater power than he could ever dream of. Kouji and the rest of his worthless friends don't stand a chance.'

Whatever it is you're planning, I'll stop you. You aren't going to hurt my friends.

'How quaint. Let me guess – you're "good", I'm "evil", and "good" always wins. You'll pull victory out of nowhere, right? I know that's how you expect it to go. But you're wrong this time. You have no more tricks up your sleeve; our brother and the gogglehead can't even access their unified spirit forms. I have the advantage in this world. I will win. If you value your life, you won't interfere.'

-

Kouichi trailed the darkling for close to two hours, slowly gaining on him. The hills made for an arduous journey. He passed a line of leafless willows after about an hour. It was the border of the Wind Sector. As soon as he stepped across, the wind died and the humidity soared. The air filled with mist.

But now it was long after the drastic change in scenery. Kouichi was starting to tire, and was almost ready to abandon his chase. Then he felt a shift in the darkling's demeanor. He had seen something. Kouichi looked up to see a group of figures in the sky quite a way off. As he watched, the smallest distinct figure flew lower. It seemed almost familiar, but he couldn't identify it from so far away.

'Kazemon. They're here…Now the fun begins.'

No! Kouichi broke into a sprint, trying to keep and eye on Kazemon and the others as they descended. He eventually lost sight of them in the mist, but he continued on to where they must have landed. Approaching that location, Kouichi noticed the mist drastically thinning, and he faltered as a thought entered his head. He dove behind a large tree and fought to catch his breath. Kouji couldn't be more than a few hundred feet away. But what if it wasn't real? It could just be an illusion…

"What did Duskmon do to you?" That was Kouji's voice, and he sounded concerned. But, then again, the illusion had sounded real enough before…

"It wasn't Duskmon." 'It was you. You did this to yourself, Kouichi, and you're doing this to them.'

Kouichi frowned and snuck closer. He crouched behind a bush. Kouji was on his knees in the mud with the darkling, whose head was bowed, no doubt to preven Kouji and the others from seeing his red eyes. Kouji's hands were on the darkling's shoulders, and he was trying to get the darkling to meet his eyes. JP, Tommy, Takuya, and Zoe were behind Kouji.

If it was really them.

Of course, the fact that Kouji was touching the darkling cast some degree of doubt on the theory that it was an illusion…unless the darkling had created an illusion of himself.

But if it was an illusion, what was the darkling trying to accomplish?

'Idiot. You haven't figured it out yet? You're hardly worth my time as it is. It's almost making me reconsider.' That was when Kouichi saw the knife. 'Without your strength, you will be all too easy to destroy.'

"NO!"

Kouichi lunged. Even if this was an illusion, he didn't think he could stand to watch Kouji die again. The darkling scrambled away, abandoning the knife.

"So you decided to come after all." Mild surprise showed on the darkling's face. 'I didn't realize you were so close...No matter. All this means is that I can have fun with you before I kill you. I look forward to our battle.' During this, the darkling had carried on a brief conversation with the others. Kouichi had not been able to follow it. It made him wonder how the darkling could. The darkling was now standing, and Zoe was speaking:

"So when will it be 'time'?" She sounded frustrated.

"Twenty minutes over the next hill." He grinned mockingly at Kouichi. Mist streamed towards the darkling. 'I wish I could stay to see how your "friends" will handle the fact that you just tried to kill your brother. But this is between you and Kouji. It just wouldn't be right of me to intrude.'

Takuya's blind charge dissipated the mist. Kouichi stood silently, turning his back on the illusions that would inevitably end within moments. He felt something on his wrist. His head jerked around and he saw what was holding him back. Kouji's hand. Which meant this wasn't an illusion. He met Kouji's eyes. The darkling would have killed his brother if he hadn't done anything.

"Kouichi, what's going on?" Kouji sounded…scared. He shouldn't have ever sounded like that. He was strong. Kouichi had always been able to rely on him. But if he was scared…how could Kouichi stand against the darkling?

Suddenly Zoe was there. "Please, Kouichi. We can't help you if you won't tell us what's going on."

Kouichi stared at her. What if the darkling came after her next? Kouji's kendo skills gave him a decent chance to survive the initial attack, but Zoe didn't have that advantage. If the darkling got to her before she could Spirit Evolve, she wouldn't stand a chance. He couldn't lose her. "No." The word caught in his throat. "No. I can't do that to you."

"You're not making any sense." Takuya. He'd been the one to convince Kouji to free Kouichi, even if that meant fighting him. Takuya had never blamed Kouichi for Duskmon, even when he was the evil digimon.

They were the most important people in the world to him. He couldn't let them get hurt because of him. "I'm sorry." He pulled away. "You're just going to have to trust me." He turned away. Even when Kouji called after him, he didn't turn around. If he did, he would have asked for help. They would get hurt. So he started running.

-

--(End Flashback)--

-

Kouichi stopped walking. It's no use. I can't win. Duskmon had always been powerful. He had single-handedly overpowered five Beast Spirits, and it had taken two Fusion Warriors to defeat Velgemon. Even Lowemon had failed. And now Duskmon and the darkling had fused, becoming even stronger – assuming the darkling was telling the truth. Even if Kouichi had his spirits, he wouldn't stand a chance. He needed Kouji. The others had been in their spirit forms. They could at least fight the darkling. Two Fused Spirits and three Beast Spirits…There had to be some chance they could win. They would find a way, just like every other time. The darkling didn't believe that, but that didn't mean it wouldn't happen. They'd fought impossible fights before and come out on top. Besides, those odds were better than Kouichi's bare hands.

But that wasn't right. This was Kouichi's fight. It was him, the purified darkness, against the darkling, the corrupted darkness. The darkling was part of him. He was created when Cherubimon corrupted him, yes, but they shared one spirit. Kouichi had been the one to release him. Now he had to take responsibility for it. How could he pass off his own mistakes and expect others to clean up after him? No, he had to do this himself.

He couldn't. It was too big a responsibility for any one person to take on alone. There was no shame in asking for needed help. And there was no denying that he needed help now. He was a digidestined. He was part of a team. The team was meant to fight together; none of them could reach their full potential alone. He had asked for help before. Why should he hesitate now?

How could he continue relying on others? All the others had fought their own battles. Kouji had held his own against Duskmon and later Velgemon in the fights leading up to Duskmon's defeat. Takuya had turned the tide of the battle against Mercurymon and Ranamon when Tommy, JP, and Zoe had been kidnapped. And he had heard plenty of stories of the others winning their own battles, particularly inside Sakkakumon. Kouichi had only taken part in four battles: on against an illusion, and one in which he had "died". And the other two times, he had only been trying to help the others, to prevent them from being hurt.

That, though, was exactly what would happen here. If he went to his friends, the darkling would come after them. They would get hurt, maybe killed, and he would be to blame. His very presence would put them at risk.

But does it really matter? The darkling had already gone after Kouji once, without Kouichi being there to draw his attention. The darkling apparently thought killing Kouji would take away Kouichi's power. In all likelihood, Kouji, the strongest opponent, would be the primary target. And if the darkling came after Kouichi first, Kouichi would fall, and the darkling would be free to go after the others.

Numbing realization thudded through Kouichi. He hadn't seen or heard from the darkling since he'd run away. It had been almost 45 minutes. There was no reason for the darkling to wait that long. But he hadn't come after Kouichi. That meant…

"Kouji!"

He had to help! But where were they? He couldn't waste any time. They might already be fighting the darkling. He had to get there now.

Twenty minutes over the next hill…

Hills! Could they be there? There was no time to debate. Kouichi glanced at the sun, turning to where he though the Wind Sector might be and took off running. I hope I'm right.

There ya go. I hope it wasn't too redundant for you. Or too boring. I needed to put all that stuff in there to really show what was going through Kouichi's head.

The next chapter starts the battle! Mwahaha!

ATTWT "And Then There Were Ten"

:D

It looks like I might have to completely redo Kado's picture. I only had it on my old computer, and I don't know if I'll ever use it again. That could be a problem because now I don't have a base for him…We'll see what happens.

Review!

-Child of Healing

Word Count: 3113 (Wow! Hm…I wonder if I could write a five thousand word chapter?)