Chapter Sixteen

My Sky Is Falling

Taichi closed the door behind him as quietly as he could. He met Daisuke's black-brown eyes sadly and shook his head.

"He hasn't spoken at all. Only typed away at his computer. Tentomon is hiding somewhere in this big house and won't comfort him, and Usamon is sitting in Koushirou's lap...doing nothing, nothing at all."

"Tentomon isn't the only one blaming himself. Yamato-kun's been a wreck." Daisuke wrapped an arm around Taichi and sighed. "Sora-chan being on the other side has really hit him hard."

"I don't think Koushirou-kun is telling us everything." Taichi muttered lowly.

"Nani?" Daisuke hissed. Taichi looked both ways down the hall and pulled Daisuke into the nearby bathroom.

"Sora-chan...Sora-chan wouldn't just join with Lowvell and Armage-Kurisarimon for anything. Biyomon has relayed the message she still despises the damn Digimon. But...Biyomon says Takaki is different from his incarnation, very different, and Sora-chan's in love with that difference. Plus, she keeps talking about a prophecy and Yuuta-chan dying. You heard Yuuta-chan, she threatened to kill herself if Sora-chan didn't let her go. They must not want Yuuta-chan to die. That's the vibe I'm getting."

"But...why...why would Kou-kun, or Yuu-yuu, want Yuu-yuu to die? What does the prophecy say?"

"That's the thing, Dai-chan. Biyomon says Kurisarimon doesn't have the complete prophecy, but Koushirou, Tentomon, and Nekomon do. The others were supposed to learn it, but Sora went over to the dark side, so to speak, and they all agreed it was too risky for Biyomon to know, so only those two Digimon do know." Taichi looked down at Daisuke frowning in thought.

"Taichi?"

"Hai?"

"Turn on the light."

"Oh, right. I have a plan." Taichi pulled Daisuke out of the bathroom, leaving the light on, whispering lowly.

& & & (an hour or so later)

"Okay, count of three." Taichi whispered to Daisuke. They stopped in the front of another door. The door opened in front of them before Taichi even started to count.

"What do you want?"

"THREE!" Daisuke grabbed Koushirou's legs and Taichi quickly grabbed his shoulders. They ran down the stairs.

"What are you doing? PUT ME DOWN!"

"Okay, we got him downstairs…now what?" Daisuke asked.

"You can put me down." Koushirou suggested.

"He might run. Hiroki, got any rope?" Taichi asked.

"Not for bondage reasons." Chidori answered simply. She returned to her book.

"Come on, we won't do anything to him."

"And restraining me with a rope isn't doing anything?" Koushirou raised an eyebrow.

"It's for your own good, Kou." Mimi said.

"Come on, Chidori, this is the most action we've seen since yesterday." Eri begged.

"…No."

"Thank god, a sane human being." Koushirou sighed. "Now will you put me down?"

"I have some really strong duct tape." Chidori replied.

"NANI?"

"Right on!" Taichi crowed.

"But I'll give you the rope instead." Chidori put down her book and walked away.

"Hiroki-san! Please! Onegai!" Koushirou called after her. The Chosen Children below him all shared triumphant looks. He was definitely not lifeless anymore.

"Now, please be careful. I don't want a POW to chafe in my house. My family believes in civility." Chidori said lightly, handing them a length of rope.

"THIS IS NOT CIVIL! YOU'RE TYING ME TO A CHAIR!"

"How many times do we have to tell you, bud? This is for your own good. Now stop squirming or we'll accidentally chafe you." Yamato ordered. Koushirou glared up at his one time friend.

"Okay, now talk." Taichi ordered. Everyone gathered in a circle around him.

"You're all-"

"Not insults, tell us the prophecy." Jyou interrupted quickly, knowing Koushirou quite well.

"How-How do you know about the prophecy?" He asked his eyes wide.

"We always knew about a prophecy, Kou-kun. Gennai mentioned it often." Hikari reminded him.

"There's always a prophecy when it comes to us. We're heroes, right? Prophecies come with the package." Miyako added.

"I'm not sure you're theory is sound, Inoue. This is real life. Maybe in stories there is always a prophecy-"

"Oh, shut up. We know there's a prophecy about Yuuta-chan. Gennai told us of a Key that would awaken us before we were frozen. It's obvious there was more to it." Taichi said.

"It's never that simple." Iori murmured. Koushirou bit his lip.

"I…I've been trying to keep it from you because…I thought…you would lose hope. This prophecy shows no way out, there's no win situation." Koushirou muttered, looking at the floor.

Everyone exchanged looks again.

"I'm the Crest of Hope, Koushirou-kun; it's kind of my job to keep up with the hope thing." Takeru joked lamely.

"Trust us, Kou-kun. We're a team, we have to help each other." Hikari touched his knee gently.

"'The Key will awaken the Destined. White will give powers to the weak. When Life sheds its mortality,

Death will awaken the Colors'." Koushirou stopped.

"That's not so bad, Koushirou." Mimi smiled. Koushirou shook his head mutely.

"There's more." Iori said quietly. Koushirou nodded, and took a deep breath.

"'But L-Love cannot be spared

When the heart is…p-pierced by Magic's Arrow

Death will Live again

"But only Knowledge and Life will

End…End the eternal feud

The balance will be kept by only

The continuing line of

Heroes'. That…that's the end." Koushirou mumbled.

"Oh…oh my god." Mimi sat back hard.

"When the heart…" Iori trailed off trying to remember.

"Is pierced by Magic's Arrow." Koushirou finished for him.

"That…that sounds like someone has to die." Miyako murmured.

"Remember the prophecy a long time ago? Mine and Takeru's angels had to pierce Yamato and Taichi with their arrows, but they didn't die." Hikari reminded them.

"But…Love cannot be spared. To save Life, Love has to be shot with a friggin' arrow. So either Yuuta-chan dies-" Taichi started.

"Or Sora-san dies." Koushirou whispered. "I…I tried so hard to figure out another way. Yuuta, Tentomon, Nekomon, myself, we all have been deciphering the message. We all come to the same conclusion."

"Will you humans get a grip? There's more than one way to die." Usamon interrupted angrily.

"What-What do you mean?" Miyako gasped.

"A Yuuta has to die, not Yuuta."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Daisuke cried.

"No…maybe it does." Ken interrupted. "When I was the Dark Kaizer a part of me died. The kind Ken that loved Wormmon had died. I became a ruthless monster, I wasn't Ken anymore."

"Exactly." Wormmon nodded in agreement. Everyone stared at them in horror.

"You mean Yuuta-chan, my Yuuta-chan, my shy, mute, cute, little Life-sized Barbie, is going to turn into a ruthless monster wanting to take over the Digital World?" Tsumi asked, agape.

"That's not possible! Why would Takaki want to save her if she turned into you, Ichijouji?" Koushirou snapped at him.

"Ken is not a ruthless monster, Koushirou-kun, apologize." Eri ordered, eyes glittering dangerously.

"No, I understand, he just misunderstood-"

"I don't care if he misunderstood, Ken. Just because you're having Yuuta-chan withdrawal gives you no right to take it out on those around you. Ken was trying to make a point, not say she was going to do just that. He's trying to give us more room to breathe. We all feel bad, I bet each and every one of us blames ourselves for letting what happened, happen. Tentomon is hidden away somewhere with a guilty conscience the size of the Pacific Ocean because he had her, he had his frickin' claw stuck through her hand, and she still ended up with Takaki. Don't make yourself an enemy within your team, Koushirou-kun. The prophecy said saving the world rests with you and Life, obviously she's not going to die." Eri told him sternly.

"I don't care what the damn prophecy says! Prophecy this, prophecy that, we have to help them! Sora and Yuuta-chan and Biyomon, they're there in the Digital World without us." Yamato got to his feet angrily.

"I'm pretty sure Sora-san's fine. She did help kidnap Yuuta, didn't she?" Koushirou retorted.

"Sora-chan must've known the first part of the prophecy." Jyou quickly said before Yamato could hit a tied-to-a-chair-Koushirou.

"Nani?" Everyone turned to him. He sighed.

"Biyomon knew some of the prophecy, not the whole thing. I bet you anything the only part Takaki knows is the first part. Sora-chan's on his side trying to save Yuuta-chan." Jyou concluded.

"Y-You're right." Koushirou stuttered. "When Yuuta ran away, before we came back to the real world, we ran into Takaki. He had a knife to her throat and said he was going to kill Life. I told him the first part of the prophecy only so he'd think he'd be doing us a favor by killing her." Koushirou explained quickly. He struggled uselessly against his bonds. "Untie me now!"

"No way, man. You might strike out." Daisuke said.

"DO YOU WANT TO SAVE HER OR NOT? UNTIE ME SO I CAN GET US TO THE DIGITAL WORLD!"

"Er…right. Untie him, Tai." Daisuke ran quickly from the room. Others followed him just as fast.

"No way, here ya go, Yama."

"Why won't any of you untie me?" Koushirou shouted angrily.

"Because you're scary right now. It's hard to take in a murderous Izumi." Yamato handed Jyou the knife. "Bye bye!"

"You've got to be kidding. Why me?" Jyou looked around desperately.

A tumbleweed rolled through the empty room. He turned and sweatdropped. Little sparks could be seen flying around an angry -to say it as such would be an understatement, however-Koushirou, his black eyes were narrowed to little slits and his mouth was twitching.

"Un. Tie. Me." Koushirou said slowly.

"Eeeerrr, oookay. Just, please, don't hurt me."

Silence.

"Please?"

"Untie me, Kido."

"Remember, violence isn't the answer." Jyou said shakily. He bent down behind Koushirou and started to saw at the rope.

& & &

Yuuta's eyes opened slowly. Surprisingly, a dark room didn't surround her. On the contrary, she was in the middle of an open field the strange digital sky above her, the sunlight directly in her eyes.

I would have preferred the dark room. Itai.

"You're awake, good. How's your hand?" Sora's concerned voice met Yuuta's ears. She turned in the direction of the voice, her eyes watery and blind.

"It is fine. Arigatu gozaimasu." Yuuta murmured. Her hand throbbed against the bandages.

"Bad liar." Sora chuckled. Yuuta smiled and rubbed her eyes. Their eyes met and Sora looked away first. "Gomen nasai." she whispered, so low Yuuta could barely catch it.

Sora's eyes widened as two small hands, one wrapped in gauze, picked up her own.

"Thank you, Takenouchi-chan. You are just trying to save me, ne? I am sorry for causing you pain." Yuuta smiled warmly. Tears swelled over Sora's bottom lashes.

"You are so good, Yuut-pin. That's why I don't want you to die. Koushirou-"

"Izzy-sempai knows the whole prophecy, Takenouchi-chan. You have no idea the choices that haunt those who know. I would rather be sacrificed than one of my heroes." Yuuta's own eyes began to fill. The two girls cried without noise, leaning against each other for support.

& & &

"I've found an opening in the borders between this world and the Digital World. There's a small fissure between our dimensions in the temple, Keramon kindly pointed it out to me." Koushirou smiled thinly. "Now, I have to figure out how he managed to widen the fissure." He bit his lip.

"Is it very hard?" Mimi asked twisting her hair.

"Hai. You see, if I widen it to fast, it could cause a major catastrophe."

"Are we talking 'Kaboom' catastrophe?" Eri queried wryly.

"To put it in simplistic terms, hai."

"Chidori and I should help, Kou-sempai. With three brains instead of one-"

"I have it ready for us. In fifiteen minutes the fissure will widen. But only for a short span of time." Koushirou leaned away with a sigh. Miyako's eyebrow twitched.

"Never mind."

"What kind of short span we talkin' 'bout?" Taichi asked quickly.

"Two minutes and four seconds."

"For all of us to get through?" Ken murmured amazed.

"How many can go through at once?" Jyou bit his fingernail. He stopped abruptly when Yamato smacked his hand.

"One, maybe two. The smallest human and two relatively small Digimon can go through together."

"What about our packs?" Hikari pointed to the clutter of belongings on the bed. Koushirou gazed at the bed for a few more seconds than necessary and then snapped back to Hikari.

"Don't worry, I added that factor in. Iori and Armadillomon and Usamon should go together. Chichi, Wizardmon and...Wormmon. Alright with you, Ken?"

"No problem."

"The rest will have to go one by one. The Digimon can pair up, however."

"Great. Let's hurry." Gabumon said.

"We only have fourteen minutes and nine seconds."

"Let's go!" Taichi exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Everyone grabbed their packs and hurried out the door.

Koushirou trailed behind, turning off his laptop and stuffing it inside his pack. He trailed his fingers over the worn plastic. His eyes rested once more on the bed. He quickly flung his backpack over his shoulder and exited the room, closing the door. He winced at the hollow, muted thud.

"I-Izzy?" Tentomon's quavering voice called lowly from the stairs.

"I'm coming, Tentomon. You shouldn't worry either. I don't blame you." Koushirou smiled at the hovering bug Digimon. His best friend sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry, I can't think logically. I can't stop blaming myself."

Without another word, the two hurried down the stairs and out the front door.

They got to the temple with less than a minute to spare. Koushirou quickly took out his laptop and plugged it into an outlet, obviously left by Gennai. A small slip of light appeared in the middle of the room. It widened slowly.

"Hurry, one person go through now. Don't waste even a moment." Koushirou ordered.

Taichi stepped through. Daisuke followed right after. Agumon and Veemon walked through together as the fissure widened.

"The groups can fit, go." Koushirou said.

Quickly, the group thinned until Ken and Koushirou were left.

"Izumi-san, how are you going to get through? The connection stabilizes the opening." Ken pointed out.

"It will remain intact for six seconds after I pull the cord. I can make it." Koushirou smiled. "I'll be right behind you."

"...Hurry, sempai." Ken stepped through. The fissure was already narrowing dangerously fast. With the connection to the Pineapple severed, it would close even faster. Koushirou got as close as he could to the portal and yanked the plug. He jumped thought it and fell with a thud on the strange grass on the other side. He turned his head to see the end of the long wire cleanly cut off where the portal had closed on it.

"Whoa. Be thankful it wasn't your foot or something." Daisuke whistled.

"Forget about missing limbs! How am I supposed to hook my computer into an outlet?" Koushirou cried outraged. Everyone around him sweatdropped.

"We should start looking for Yuuta-chan and Sora-chan." Taichi said after clearly his throat.

"Where do we start?" Eri asked.

"Our digivices." Hikari explained. "We can locate other digvices with them."

"But Takaki and Yuuta-chan don't have any."

"Sora does."

"Oh."

Taichi had pulled out his digivice while the two girls talked and was staring hard at the screen.

"Izumi...something's wrong."

Koushirou looked up from his beloved phone wire.

"Nani?"

"Look at your digivice." Taichi muttered.

Everyone did so, even though he only addressed Koushirou.

"This isn't good at all." Ken muttered. Eri looked over his shoulder and frowned confused.

"Hey, Iori, what's all those little red dots?" Chichi asked, copying Eri without meaning to.

"Digivices." Iori snapped. "Fake Digivices. Of course it wouldn't be easy. Keramon-excuse me- Kurisarimon must've set up fake digivices all over the Digital World."

"Or is using Sora-san's digivice to break into ours and implant fake information." Koushirou said. "Less time to do, and easier. Of course, something this quick and easy to do is easy to rectify."

"Oh, good." Mimi smiled.

"If my phone cable didn't break and I had an outlet."

"Damn." Yamato hissed.

"We have to get to Gennai'-san's. He'll have a spare cable, I'm sure." Koushirou stuffed his laptop in his pack once more and neatly looped the cable and put it in another pocket. He rose putting his digivice away. "The problem is, Gennai-san is pretty far from here."

"This just isn't our week." Jyou moaned. "Why couldn't I have stayed frozen? It was peaceful. No lectures, no relationship frustrations, no evil Digimon bent on taking over the world."

"Shut up, Jyou-kin." Yamato sighed.

"We should get going or we'll never get there!" Daisuke exclaimed. He blinked. "Hey, Kou-kun, wait up!" He ran after the swiftly walking red-head. Everyone shortly followed.

& & &

"The Chosen Children finally reached their destination, Kurisarimon." Momiji announced ducking under the low doorframe.

"Good. Only a week of pointless wandering, how sad. I wanted them a little more exhausted before realizing the futility of it all." Kurisarimon chuckled.

Yuuta and Sora's low choked sobs were heard.

"Sora...Sora? What's wrong?" Momiji hurried over to them.

"Back off!" Biyomon ordered, rising up.

""N-Nani?"

"Biyomon, iie." Sora protested.

"What happened? Why are you crying, Sora?" Momiji asked after Biyomon let him pass.

"Th-that monster! He showed them Gennai!" Biyomon gasped out for the girls.

"N-Nani? Why the hell did you do that?" Momiji demanded rounding on his partner.

"They need to see what happens to the enemies of Kurisarimon." 'He' cackled.

"Sora...Sora I'm so sorry." He whispered. He dropped to his knees and wrapped arms around her.

Yuuta was leaning against the wall, eyes blank and tears falling unheeded. Her chest heaved and rattled. Gennai's desecrated corpse burned into her mind.

"I-Izzy..."

& & &

Koushirou walked warily into the dry backyard. The lake hiding Gennai had separated when their feet touched the bank, and his guard had gone up.

"Oh...my." Gabumon whispered. His fur stood up and his eyes widened.

"What is it?" Yamato asked.

"I smell...blood, Yamato." Gabumon answered hesitantly.

Koushirou slid open the door and froze.

"Oh...oh my god!" Mimi shrieked.

Quite a few of the Chosen Children and Digimon had to leave to...make acquaintances with the bushes. Jyou walked in with Koushirou at his side. Finally used to blood, though rather pale and greenish, Jyou examined the...body... professionally.

"He was torn in pieces and was still alive afterward for a few seconds." Jyou stated emotionlessly.

"I liked sqeamish Jyou better." Yamato said hoarsely.

"So do I." Jyou muttered, rubbing his arms.

Koushirou fell to his knees. Blood soaked the legs of his pants and a squishy sound was made by a piece of flesh beneath his knee. Chidori hurried back outside, Ken at her heels.

"Izzy...Izzy! Izzy, snap out of it!" Tentomon cried.

"This isn't going to happen to Yuuta-chan, Koushirou-kun. Kurisarimon needs her alive." Taichi said, kneeling in front of him and grabbing his shoulders. He grimaced as he avoided half a hand.

"I know that. This is incredible. The smell, the sight, the feel. It's all very life-like.." Koushirou mumbled. He rubbed blood between his fingers, eyes narrowing.

"What the fu-" Taichi slapped a hand over Daisuke's mouth.

"Koushirou…what are you doing?"

"This can't be a real." Koushirou frowned. "Leave, now. You're going to regurgitate over the body pieces."

Taichi rose and walked out of the room, slipping over blood and what looked like a kneecap with the tendons hanging off. Taichi flung himself out the house and ralfed everything he'd eaten that day, and maybe what was left of yesterday's dinner. He frantically pulled off his shoes and pants in a desperate attempt to get away from the smell of blood. Luckily, the lake remained...up...?

Koushirou managed to find a spare cable and plunged into his computer, blood soaking his purple pants as fast as they cleaned themselves. He pushed the Digivice into its outlet and watched the Digivice screen pop up on the laptop's monitor. He quickly broke into the program installed into the Digivices' hardware. The red blips faded off the grid leaving only theirs and Sora's.

& & &

"Koushirou-kun deleted your little program." Sora sneered looking up from her digivice.

"I knew he would. Soon, they will be here, and you'll watch me once again rip their bodies into shreds." Kurisarimon cackled.

"How?" whispered a small voice.

They turned to see brown eyes looking at them.

"How do they have corporeal bodies?" Kurisarimon elaborated for her. You could hear the smile in his voice. "Just a little virus, my dear, just a virus." His high-pitched laughter filled the tiny hut.

Shivers ran down Sora's spine and she reached out and grasped Yuuta's hand. It lay as if dead in her palm.

"Yuut-pin?" Sora whispered. Yuuta blinked and watched her other finger traced shapeless lines in the sandy floor. The white of her bandage almost glowing.

& & &

"This looks familiar." Iori muttered, gazing at the scenery. Chichi glanced at him.

"How far are we from them?" Alan asked lowly. Mimi looked up startled.

"Not far, maybe a few miles...doushite?"

"Because we wanna kick some a-" Alan quickly covered Betamon's mouth.

"You get the picture." Alan smiled, or at least tried to.

"We all want to." Jyou said, wiping off his glasses. "It's only natural after-..."

"After we walk in a puddle up to our knees of our mentor's blood and guts." Yamato snapped.

Everyone shuddered.

"We just saw a human body." Koushirou said out loud. He must've forgot to mention it…

"Will you stop reminding us?" Miyako snapped.

"Iie, you don't get it. That was a human body. Gennai-san isn't human, nobody in this world is human. If Kurisarimon pulls on all my limbs in different directions at one time, I'm not going to splatter everywhere. I'll be deleted into gigabytes. I won't turn into a Digiegg, but I won't splatter everywhere. He didn't kill Gennai-san. He tore up a fake Gennai-san in front of Yuuta on purpose. It was for us, too, I mean, come on, he's a sadistic bastard, he couldn't pass up the opportunity. It was mainly for Yuuta. To stop her from fighting. If you saw a powerful being like Gennai-san get torn to pieces, wouldn't you stop and think, I don't want to fight that!" Koushirou explained.

"Wait, Koushirou-kun..." Hikari's voice shook. He looked at her. "That's not why. I mean, he did do it for her, but not for that reaction. She's probably imagining you. She's picturing you being torn into little pieces right in front of her." Everyone's face blanched.

"That's definitely what she's thinking." Chidori nodded. "She wouldn't care about herself, she'd care more about others, especially Izumi-san. I'd do the same, only I'd probably think about...my significant other." Even in the midst of her horror, she was too shy to admit she practically had a boyfriend standing beside her.

Koushirou's eyes narrowed. His black eyes flashed dangerously.

"That chicken-shitted asswipe is going to get his ass kicked." Koushirou hissed.

Everyone blinked.

"Where the hell did you hear that one?" Taichi blurted.

"Internet." He spun around and almost ran towards the little blip on his Digivice.

"I thought you didn't believe in violence?" Iori called out.

"I've destroyed insignificant pissants like him so many times I've given up on pacifism."

"Um, more like, you upped up mine or Yama's or somebody else powers to destroy insignificant pissants." Taichi corrected.

"Is there a difference? I helped, didn't I? Sometimes you need to fight to achieve peace. Plus, I never had a girl I'm in love with imagine my demise over and over again in the most horrific way, now have I?"

"Iie..." Koushirou's black eyes glared daggers at him. "Okay, then, let's go." Taichi grinned weakly. Koushirou snorted.

"We're coming onto them right now." Iori anounced. They crest of hill and stared down in horror.

The monster's hide-away was in Nursery Village.

"Iori...Iori-chan, that's place...it's filled with empty cradles." Chichi whispered. "What is this place?"

"Nursery Village. Baby Digimon used to hatch from their 'eggs here." Iori explained.

"Iori-chan...where are the babies?" Chichi murmured. Suddenly, she disappeared.

"Chichi!" Iori spun around, his eyes wild.

"I caught another little baby, it seems. Such a delicious looking one, too." They looked up to see Kurisarimon floating in the air, the tips of the barbs of his...'arms'... digging into Chichi skin everywhere they could. Little drops of blood formed around the sharp triangles. "I just have to eat you up."

"PUT HER DOWN!" Iori yelled.

"Don't worry, you're pretty small, too. Just small enough to join her in nothingness!"

A jagged lightning bolt hit Kurisarimon and he dropped Chichi in surprise and pain. Iori caught her and fell hard on the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. She looked up and nodded. "Thank god." Iori sighed.

"This is strange. I didn't sense you." Kurisarimon said, anger entering the voice he tried to keep nonchalant.

"I'm wiser than you, Kurisarimon. I've met a foe as filled with hatred and evil and know the secrets of a black heart." Wizardmon said, holding his staff in front of his, his feet spread wide.

"You are Wizardmon!" Salamon exclaimed.

"Hai, I'm sorry for deceiving you, old friend."

"No problem." Salamon shook her head.

"On to more pressing matters." He turned back to Kurisarimon. "Some of you go on ahead, the rest stay and fight. Get the Key!"

"Right. Let's go, Tentomon." Koushirou ran towards the hut built not to far away. Momiji and Sora stepped out of the hut, Biyomon flying out behind them.

"Don't fight, Koushirou-kun, please." Sora begged. Koushirou narrowed his eyes.

"Super Shocker!" Tentomon yelled, almost as angry as his partner.

Almost.

A fist collided with Momiji's face.

"If you want to live, step away from the entrance." he ordered, his voice harsh and low.

"Koushirou-kun, please, I don't want her to die."

"It's either her or you, Sora-san, pick, because I can't. But I do know that I'm going to keep her with me as long as I can." Koushirou snapped. Her eyes widened.

"Iz-Izzy-sempai?" Yuuta walked out. "Izzy!"

"Koku." He exhaled, the anger dissipating with his breath. "You're okay."

"Gen-Gennai-san, he is dead. Izzy, I saw it!" She collapsed into his arms, sobbing again. "I saw him get torn to pieces. I kept on picturing you, and Usamon and Tentomon and all the others. I could not sleep because my dreams were filled with all of your screams. It was horrible, Izzy."

"Shh, it wasn't really, Gennai-san, Koku. Remember? This is the Digital World?"

"He said it was a virus-"

"Nobody, not even an evil digimon, could create a virus that could turn digital data into flesh. We can only do that by going between the worlds."

"But...where is Gennai-san?"

"He's in a safe place. This is our battle to fight, not a Deity's." He gave her small smile when she looked up at him.

"Okay, Izzy. You are right, like usual." Yuuta still trembled in his arms. "But I still cannot get it out of my mind, Izzy. I cannot make the screams go away." She closed her eyes as he stroked her hair. Thankfully, the images didn't return this time.

"Damn you all! Are you really willing to sacrifice one of your own to win?"

"DAMN IT! YOU'RE A FRIGGIN' DIGIMON! DON'T YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE?" Usamon screamed.

She was thrown aside and Tentomon flew forward.

"Missing something, Koku?" Izzy handed her her Crest and Digivice. "Or should I have said two somethings?"

"Arigato gozaimasu, Izzy." She thrust her Digivice forward as it blazed lavendar.

Usamon digivolve to...Nekomon.

"Back Lash!"

"Super Shocker!"

"Magic Trick!"

"Go, Wizardmon!" Hikari cheered.

"Hey, that's my partner." Chichi pouted. Hikari laughed and blushed.

"Sorry."

"Hawk Beam! I can't let you have all the fun."

"Neither can we! Come on, Agumon!"

"Poi Breath!"

"Damn it! NO! Lowvell, I need to Digivolve!"

"I. Am. Not. Lowvell! I'm Momiji!" Momiji cried. "I'm Momiji Takaki and I'm sixteen years old! I'm not Lovwell! Stop calling me that!"

"You are my partner! You can't just let me be defeated."

"Yes, he can! Momiji, please, stop fighting my friends. I love you and my friends. I chose you, and I will again, but I miss them so much. Love me enough to let go of the revenge you were born with." Sora pleaded.

"I can't just let my Digimon die. He's a part of my soul!"

"Momiji, I'll be your soul." Sora whispered. She cupped his face in her hands. "Give me the chance to prove it. I'll give you everything."

Red-brown met purple.

"I...I can't. He won't stop calling, and he never will. I have to answer, Sora, my sky. I can't let him die when I can save him." He vainly tried to wipe away her tears. "My sky is falling." he whispered.

Then he started to scream.