Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.
Dedication-Fanfiction itself for giving me a way to counter boredom on Spring Break.
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At The Beginning
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Kouji felt himself stumble through a brightly lit field. Thousands of feelings swarmed through him, but he could feel one overpower them all.
Fear.
He shut his eyes and tried to breathe, as Mr. Tsukoshiro had so often instructed him. Concentrate on your breath, Kouji, he told himself, imagining a breeze blowing back and forth as he breathed in and out. Slowly, he felt himself calm.
When he opened his eyes again, he expected to see the ceiling of his room, or even the same bright light he had encountered before he opened his eyes. Instead there was a nightmare of darkness. He could feel himself falling, but there was no distinguishable top or bottom. As far as Kouji was concerned, he was falling headfirst, deeper into the darkness that surrounded him.
It was at that image when he awoke, panting and brushing the cold sweat off his forehead. He sat up and continuously murmured to himself, "Only a dream. Just a dream. Only a dream," but it was useless reassuring, because the feeling was stuck in his gut. Crying out in anguish, Kouji doubled over, resting his head on his knees to muffle himself.
One more day, useless, inevitable...he hated those words. He especially hated the person who could use it all in one sentence.
He had finally figured out the third point. After all, Lucemon would need a third point in order to open the gate, as it would be an area actually occupied by digimon. He had chosen Hawaii, Japan and the middle of the ocean, Kouji guessed, making the so-called 'gate' more of a deadlier Bermuda Triangle. The more he looked at the second picture, the more he realized he had been so stupid for overlooking something like that. It wasn't element based. It was pure common sense.
Something I must lack, Kouji thought bitterly, sitting up and staring at his laptop. He frowned. Open and on? I didn't forget to turn it off, did I? He pushed the covers aside and stood up, making his way to the computer and sitting down in the chair in front of the desk.
Dread.
The same fear that had entered him in his dream was with him now. One new e-mail...? Newly arrived, minutes ago? Kouji stared at the computer screen bleakly and Kanaye's words came back to him faster than air could enter his system: 'So you have it, do you? One more day, Kouji, and keep in mind that it's useless to stop the inevitable.' So Kanaye had said, but...
"'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.' Roughly Newton's words," Kouji told himself. And there's got to be some way to stop this, too. He smiled, seeing the familiar e-mail address of his anonymous tipper. Another tip? He clicked the e-mail open.
'...go outside.'
Kouji blinked at the words for several seconds before he shook his head. This is stupid. They must stink with words. It's no wonder they sent pictures and nothing else the other three times before. He stood up and parted the blinds of his window, looking outside. A moonless sky, stars dotted everywhere, and-
Wait...that's not right, Kouji realized, peering out the window again. What happened to all that sky glow? Not bothering to remember the e-mail, Kouji dashed towards the front door, ignoring the fact that he was in his pajamas, slipping on his shoes, and throwing open the door as he bolted outside.
There wasn't a single star in the sky. The street lamps weren't on either. Kouji felt his breath hitch in his throat. Dark...like my dream, he thought, clenching his fists and turning around to dash back inside. He fell back when he realized there was no door. The darkness was accumulating around him, covering the entire world with a black substance, neither goop nor smoke.
Kouji began to panic as he stood up again, slashing through the almost solid darkness, running this way and that, trying to find a way out. He tried to yell, "Help," but his voice was lost. Tumbling forward, Kouji let out a pained groan, but even that was barely audible. Weakly managing his way back onto his feet, he looked around.
Darkness.
He tried to blink back tears as he looked around desperately for a way out. And, just as in his dream, he shut his eyes and began to breath, trying to think of what other people would do. What would Takuya do in this situation? No...no, I need someone more reasonable. Kouichi? I...I don't know what to do. Someone, please, help...
He opened his eyes, hoping to find himself out of the nightmare he had gotten into. Everything was just as dark as it had been before. Swallowing, Kouji held up a hand in front of his eyes. He could see it, contrasted brightly against his dark surroundings. Wait...I can see myself? With this piece of knowledge, Kouji managed to calm down.
Again, he shut his eyes and took several deep breaths before opening his eyes again. He repeated this several times with the same results: a calm Kouji, still stuck in pitch black. And though the darkness blocked his view of the real world, he guessed it to be morning by now, and decided he could do nothing but wait.
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Tomoki felt himself nod off again. Holding back the want to curse, he headed to the bathroom and splashed his face before quickly returning to his place in front of the computer. Thanks for calling, Ichiro. You suck.
A tired smile appeared. Bokomon would have done the same...actually, I don't think he would have. Tomoki rested his head on the tabletop and shut his tired eyes. Hurry up, slow poke.
There was a ring. Tomoki jumped to his feet and sat down immediately as the second ring sounded. He made a frantic grab for the phone and turned it on. "Hello?" he said, all too eagerly.
"Lenny's Pizza, how may I help you?" came the answer.
Feeling disappointed, Tomoki muttered, "Other way around. You called me."
The person on the other side of the line cleared their throat. "I SEE. PEPPERONI?" they said loudly.
Oh wait-of course! Tomoki grinned, resisting the urge to slap his forehead. "Hi, Ichiro," he whispered.
"Hush."
"I mean, yeah, one pepperoni pizza."
"You know," he heard Ichiro say casually, "Pepperonis are funny things. You take a pizza and throw them on the cheese, and all the white cheese is blotted out by red. If you burn the pizza and the pepperoni turns black by chance, well, you assume what you will."
Black blotting out white...? Tomoki frowned, but said nothing.
Ichiro continued, "Say, I heard from one of your friends the other day. Kouji, was it? He recommended you here, didn't he?"
"Oh, did you?" Kouji? Darkness? I don't get it, Tomoki thought helplessly.
"He doesn't seem himself lately. What's your opinion on the matter?"
"What do you mean?" Tomoki suddenly cried. Both hands grasped tightly onto the phone. "Ichiro! Ichiro!" he yelled.
The line was dead.
Cursing aloud the words that had begged to be let out, Tomoki slammed the phone down on the receiver and rose to his feet. The motivation that entered him quickly left, leaving him to slump back down into his seat.
What can I do? It's the middle of the night. Tomoki let out a sigh and looked around his room. "Kumamon...?" he called out softly.
The digimon appeared beside him, staring gravely at the computer. "Tomoki, I believe you might want to check your e-mail," he said.
Startled, Tomoki complied, wondering miserably in the back of his mind why Kumamon was as he was. He could have sworn the digimon growled, but he wasn't sure. Opening his inbox, he discovered he had a new e-mail. Slowly, Tomoki read aloud the subject, "'From a friend'...? Sounds fishy." He looked at Kumamon, who was glaring intensely at the computer. What is wrong...?
"Open it," Kumamon commanded, the growl now obvious.
Tomoki clicked the e-mail open, mainly by accident. Kumamon's tone had caused him to jump, and his finger brushed down on the mouse, and the cursor had been over the 'read' button. The boy looked from the computer screen to the digimon, bewildered by the never-ending one-way glaring contest that was taking place. Finally, tensing up, he turned to the computer screen. Wide-eyed, he whispered, "This is some joke, right...?"
"'Got him,'" Kumamon sneered bitterly, reading off the e-mail. "It seems Lucemon's short on words. The others should be up soon, no doubt. Tomoki, we only have a few hours." He looked at the boy calmly, but his eyes clearly betrayed his worry.
Angrily, Tomoki brought his hand down on the mouse again. "I don't care! First explain!" he yelled furiously, rising to his feet. Burning with rage, he opened his mouth to continue.
"Tomoki, stop talking in your sleep," he heard his father groan.
Unclenching his fists, Tomoki sank back into the chair. "Please, Kumamon...?" he begged of his friend.
Head bowed, Kumamon murmured, "The explanation will come...but first, Tomoki, you have to trust me. We only have so long. Let's get the others first, and then I'll explain."
Tomoki nodded, ignoring the tears that spilled out of his eyes. "What do I have to do?"
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Kako bit her lip nervously. Three in the morning and chaos has already begun. I guess there are down sides to staying at a monstrously huge house? Holding back a wail, she flung her arms around wildly at her sides. Here, little digi-Lobo-egg! Come on, I know you're out there.
Sure, a house as large as her father's had advantages when it came to 'Hide-the-alcohol-from-the-idiot-family,' but when it came to 'Find-the-bouncing-digi-egg,' all hell broke loose.
Kako let out a groan and threw her hands up. "I give up," she said aloud, but in a whisper. "Where are you?"
As if understanding this, the egg appeared out of nowhere, bouncing up the stairs towards her. Kako rose an eyebrow, partly amused by this. You beat a dog any day, she thought, smiling inwardly as she caught the digi-egg in her arms.
On cue with this, the doorbell rang. The egg, which she thought would have fallen limp in her arms, bounded down the stairs again, towards the door. Silently scolding herself for not having a tighter grip, Kako ran downstairs as fast as she could, nearly tripping several times, and stopped, staring at the sight before her.
The door was open, the egg was gone.
No, no, no, no, NO! Kako looked around wildly, backing up against the door and slamming it shut. "No!" she hissed aloud. "Come on, stupid digi-Lobo-egg! This isn't the time to be playing!" Panicking, Kako pushed off the door and ran around the living room, looking in every nook and cranny she could find.
Her search proved fruitless and she collapsed on the nearest couch. Damn...it...all...Kouichi wouldn't have lost it. This thought emitted a short wail from her, which was shortly interrupted by the doorbell ringing.
Kako eagerly raced to the door, hoping the egg had come back (if indeed it had run outside). Her disappointment was shown with another wail when she opened the door and discovered Tomoki, out of breath.
"I...need you to call everyone," the boy breathed, his D-Tector in hand.
Suddenly, Kako stopped. "Stalker!" she shouted. "How did you know I was here?"
"Uh, Hideki left a note on the door of the normal house. What's with this place anyway? It's so huge..." he said this and trailed off, stepping inside and taking in the sights.
Kako shut the door. "So, what's this about calling everyone?" she asked. In the back of her mind, she made a mental note to tell Kouichi about the egg and prayed it had run to him to escape her imaginary cruelty.
They made their way to the living room and sat down on opposite couches. Tomoki shrugged and replied, "Ask Kumamon. I brought my cell phone, so we can call two people at a time. Three if you steal Hideki's cell phone."
"I wouldn't touch that thing for the world," Kako replied dryly, picking up the phone on the table and dialing the first number that came to mind. "I call Izumi and Kouichi!" she said quickly.
Scowling, the boy nodded and they got to work.
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Something's wrong, Kouichi realized as he fell onto the floor, cushioned by the bed sheets he was tangled in. He blinked tiredly and looked around the room. And it's definitely not about my D-Tector being on the floor or Mr. Saito's keys on my desk.
He rose to his feet with great reluctance, hoping it was at least six. Much to his dismay, it wasn't even four. Why do I have to keep waking up early? Kouichi scowled and took a final glance around his room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and so he left for the kitchen.
"I could have overslept, but no, I had to wake up early. It's always waking up early, and I never oversleep, even when I attempt to. How is it that Kouji can and I can't?" Kouichi muttered as he rubbed his eyes and walked into the living room. He stopped there and looked up, surprised. "Kouji. Why are you staring out the door?" he suddenly asked curiously.
Slowly, his brother turned around. If anything, Kouji looked tired. "I couldn't sleep," he said bluntly.
No wonder he oversleeps, Kouichi thought, holding back a laugh. He walked into the kitchen and asked aloud, "Want anything to eat?"
"No, I think I'll go for a walk."
Kouichi paused his ministrations in the kitchen and strained his ears. Since when has Kouji ever been monotone? He forced himself to shrug the matter off as he heard the door shut. Worrying never accomplished anything.
He scanned the kitchen for a while before deciding he really wasn't hungry either. That feeling he had felt when he had woken up still lingered within the house. Deciding a book would take his mind off things, Kouichi went back into his room to pick up the book he had been reading. Kind of strange I'm reading Mr. Saito's books, Kouichi thought, letting out a laugh.
A thought hit him hard in the back of the head. He dropped the book just as he walked out of his room. But wait! Hideki said...
Jumping up before he could pick up his book again, Kouichi scanned the room for the distracting sound. A quiet ring sounded again, and he made a dash for the phone. Who on earth would call this late at night? Nevertheless, he answered the phone with a tired, "Hello?"
"Kouichi?"
Immediately, Kouichi straightened his posture. "Uhh...? What's wrong?" he asked.
"Wh-what gave you the idea that something was wrong?" Kako answered with a nervous laugh.
"Oh, other than the fact that you're calling at three who-cares-what?" Kouichi retorted, putting his sarcasm into play.
"Um, Tomoki said to ask Kumamon, but I assume he's gathering the digimon."
"Where are you?"
"Dad's house. Can you make it here?"
"Sure..." I think, but he said nothing aloud.
"I'll have your head if you don't. Everyone else is on their way."
"And they're walking?"
"Actually-"
Another ring, this time from the doorbell. "Wait...I'll call you back if needed. Someone's at the door. Probably Kouji...must've forgotten the key." Despite the protests from Kako, Kouichi hung up and ran to open the door. He nearly fell backward from exasperation.
Letting out a small laugh, Takuya waved. "Um...say, I was thinking..."
Kouichi scowled, "Don't say anything. Why don't you just digivolve and poof? It's three-"
"Four, actually," Izumi interrupted. She smiled and added, "Please? Kazemon disappeared."
From behind her, Junpei nodded glumly. "Blitzmon too," he muttered.
What is this about? Grumbling, Kouji looked around. Lowemon?
"You're lucky I haven't left," Lowemon replied. He eyed the four warily. "Why don't you just walk, lazy humans?" he inquired.
"I'm tired," Takuya whined. "I had soccer practice yesterday evening."
Izumi hid her amusement. "Takuya, are you sure that wasn't a dream? You were with Shinya all of yesterday," she informed him.
"Oh yeah!"
Sulking, Junpei said, "I was following Ritsuo all over the place until eight yesterday. Have mercy, would you?"
Kouichi gazed up at Lowemon, awaiting the digimon's decision. They exchanged curt nods, and Kouichi ran to his room, picking up his D-Tector and the keys he had snatched from Mr. Saito, then ran out to the others, slipping on his jacket and shoes.
He noticed Takuya gazing at him and sent a look of askance. "Kouichi, do you always sleep in your normal clothes?" the goggle boy asked with great interest.
"Actually...no. I fell asleep studying for the math test we're supposed to have tomorrow -er...today," the boy replied. He then asked, "Everyone have their D-Tectors?"
"Yes!" came the chorus.
Joy. I feel like a pack-mule. Reluctantly shutting the door behind him as he exited the house, Kouichi digivolved into KaiserLeomon. "Hop on," he muttered.
So make them walk, he heard Lowemon reply in a faint voice.
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Kako felt herself pacing in her head. What do I tell Kouichi? Do I say, 'Oh, I lost the egg,' or panic and wail and scream and tell him when he asks me what's wrong? Maybe I just shouldn't tell him. Maybe I should-
"Why are you pacing?" Tomoki asked interestedly, watching Kako go back and forth, one hand punching the couch every so often.
She stopped and reddened. So I was pacing.
The doorbell rang, and she raced to the front door, using it as an excuse from the conversation. Anyone but Kouichi, anyone but Kouichi, she prayed, immediately cursing when the first thing she saw was a grumpy Kouichi. "It's not my fault!" she declared immediately without reason.
Kouichi held out the 'borrowed' keys. "Uh, I...found these," he lied lamely.
"AHA! So you did break into the house and steal it-him-whatever!"
"What are you talking about?" Kouichi examined the keys in his hands. "These are the keys to the bookstore."
"So you hid him in the bookstore?" she shrieked.
Tomoki rushed beside Kako. "Wait, where's Kouji?" he asked.
Again, the thought hit Kouichi in the back of the head like a mean smack. He winced and shrugged as he informed them, "Out for a walk. He didn't really seem himself." Distracted by Kako's guilty shifting, Kouichi trailed off and gazed at the girl with curiosity. "You weren't talking about Kouji, were you?" he asked, mildly amused.
"NO!" Kako shouted, furiously blushing. She dragged Kouichi into the living room and muttered under her breath so the others couldn't hear, "The egg."
Kouichi jumped to his feet. "YOU LOST IT?"
"IT WASN'T MY FAULT! THE THING BOUNCED OUT OF HERE!"
"YOU'RE RIDICULOUS! I SHOULD HAVE KEPT IT!"
"YEAH, YOU'D HAVE LOST IT, TOO, YOU KNOW! IN YOUR MESSY CLOSET!"
"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW IF MY CLOSET IS MESSY?"
Kako opened her mouth to retort but quickly closed it. Smiling smugly, she replied, "I've got my sources."
Scowling, Kouichi threw the keys in her direction and sat down on the couch, folding his arms across his chest and glaring crossly in front of him. As soon as everyone else was seated, Kumamon appeared in front of the TV. "Alright, someone go get Marise," he finally said after several seconds of staring at everyone.
Narrowing his eyes on the digimon, Kouichi inquired, "Shouldn't he have been the first to come and not us?" His annoyance was obvious by the tone of his voice.
Kumamon scowled, "Just get him!"
"I got it," Kako muttered, casting a glare in Kouichi's direction. Everyone but Kouichi watched as she stormed up the stairs and then turned to Kouichi.
"Alright, what did you do?" Izumi asked, eyes sparkling with interest. She, Takuya, Junpei and Tomoki sat on one couch while Kouichi sat on the other.
Slightly intimidated by the way they were looking at him, Kouichi sputtered, "I didn't do anything! She's the one that lost it!"
Takuya cackled. "It? Aren't you too young to get married?" he laughed.
"What?"
Seeing his joke shot down by confusion, Takuya leaned back against the couch and began to sulk. In his stead, Junpei asked, "What did she lose?"
"Nothing!" Kouichi clamped his mouth shut, deciding he had given away enough as it was.
The talking was cut short with the arrival of a bleary-eyed Hideki. "What's going on here...?" he asked curiously, staring at the guests on the couch. "Where's Ka-" He gasped. "You let them in, didn't you? Kako gave you the key, huh? Aw, so sweet," he commented, cackling as he looked at Kouichi.
"STOP SPUTTERING NONSENSE!"
"You too!" Kako snapped, racing down the stairs, followed by her father, who was moving slower and yawning as he descended. Deciding she was still angry with Kouichi, Kako ran towards her brother and gently stepping on his foot as she hid half of herself behind his form and stuck her tongue out at Kouichi.
Kouichi made a move to stick his tongue out as well, but thought better of it with all the people around, and instead rose to his feet with Marise's arrival. "Sir," he said stiffly, but with great respect.
Still yawning, Marise waved a dismissive hand towards Kouichi. "Now...now..." Another yawn. "What's this about...? Or have you interrupted my beauty sleep for nothing?" He beamed at everyone as he stood in front of the TV, blocking Kumamon.
"Um...Sir," Kumamon said, gazing up at the back of Marise's head.
Marise turned around and looked for the owner of the voice. "What?"
Kumamon stood straight, lifting up his chin as he spoke, "D-Down here..."
Embarrassed as Marise laughed, Tomoki slapped his forehead and buried his head into the arm of the couch. "I'm kidding," Marise said gently, nodding towards Kumamon.
"Now I know where Hideki gets his humor," Kako muttered. Hideki scowled and pushed his sister towards the couch Kouichi sat at. She fell unceremoniously beside the boy, resisting the urge to curse at Hideki. Stupid brother.
Marise sent a stern glance towards his daughter. "Hush. Let's get to business-"
Tomoki cleared his throat. Standing up, he said in a small voice, "First, an explanation."
Amused, Marise nodded. "Of course." He clapped his hands together and said, "But first, how about some food?"
Everyone groaned, but Junpei finally admitted, "I am hungry..." and everyone soon discovered they were too.
Minutes later, gnawing on a piece of bread, Takuya asked, "So what's this about?"
Marise sat serenely in a chair he had pulled up. "You see, as of lunch yesterday, you had one full day until the gate would open," he told them.
"Yeah, so...until tomorrow."
"No, Takuya. Twenty-four hours."
Takuya dropped the bread.
Raising an eyebrow, Marise asked, "That's the problem, then?" Numb, Takuya shook his head silently. "Well you see, lunch today will be when the gate opens. I'm not so sure what will happen-" A cough from Hideki interrupted him, but Marise continued, "I'm not so sure what will happen, but you should be ready for anything. Which means you have to pig out now, because there won't be any food waiting you at the entrance to the Area." He leaned back in his chair and regarded them with some amusement twinkling in his eyes.
"The area?" Junpei asked, letting some food fall from his mouth.
Disgusted, Izumi rolled her eyes. "Shut you mouth," she snapped.
As Junpei did so, Marise murmured, "The Area. Lucemon will open a three-point gate. That will form a triangle, you know, and so there will be a part of the Digital World that will replace that stretch. Kako, please stop stabbing the plate."
"Sorry," Kako muttered, dropping her fork onto the plate.
Kouichi snorted, "Sure, like you're sorry about losing it?"
Angrily, Kako turned to him and snapped, "It's not my fault!"
"Right."
"Well why don't you go look for it?"
"FINE!"
"FINE!"
"Stop copying me!" Kouichi scowled, rising to his feet and glaring down at Kako.
Sneering, Kako mimicked mockingly, "Stop copying me."
"Baby."
"Old man!"
"Immature!"
"Too mature!"
"Shut up, would you?"
"And I'm immature?"
"You're annoying."
"I could say the sa-"
"SHUT UP," Hideki bellowed, slamming down his fist on the couch arm. He turned his head to glare at Kako and Kouichi menacingly. "It's early in the morning and you two are complaining about who-cares-what when we want to hear what's going on," he growled.
Kouichi fell back into his seat and looked away from Kako. Beside him, Kako stared at her hands, folded neatly in her lap.
Marise cleared his throat. "As I was saying, this will happen. Lucemon will be sending out...troops...to...scare the humans. They aren't our main worry. As a defense trigger, any humans will avert to digimon form, the case being they're close to a gate. Considering Japan and Hawaii are both filled with gates that have been ripping open, they should be fine.
"Perhaps we should figure out terms, as the word 'gate' shows up much too often and is too general. The Area is much like a gate, you could say. It's a world within a world, and will now be referred to as the Area. Gates are tears in the system that allow...interdimension travel.
"Our purpose is to, quite obviously, get rid of Lucemon. We want to aim on this before destroying the heart of the Area, which will be almost like a fractal code. It will be in, as I said, the heart of the Area, obviously the middle. By destroying the Area before, we postpone the possibility of defeating Lucemon, giving him the chance to grow stronger.
"There is also another goal." Marise paused and a grave look swallowed any amusement held on his face previously. "As Kako knows, at least, at the heart of the worlds rests a certain amount of Chaos. The Chaos of the Digital World has grown beyond that of any normal world's, and so we have to put a stop to this." Another pause. "This will...as you know, destroy the Digital World."
Kouichi stood up, gazing angrily at Marise. "And they're okay with this?" he blurted, horrified at the prospect.
It sickened him to see Marise nod so calmly. The man motioned to Kouichi. "Lowemon?" he said.
Lowemon stepped forth, looking Kouichi in the eye. There was no hesitation in his voice as he said, "If it must be done, Kouichi, it must be done. Keep in mind there are other dimensions suffering from this. We know our fate, and we accept it."
The scowling fire warrior appeared beside Lowemon. "You sound stupid, Lowemon," Agunimon snapped. "Don't sound so prophetic. Hey, it's a sucky choice, but we'll live with it. There, honest and truthful to the last word." He sent a grin to Takuya. "Your goggles are crooked, you know?" he said.
Takuya rested a hand on his goggles, gazing sullenly at the food before him. Beside him, Izumi asked softly, "So we won't ever see you again?"
She saw Kazemon appear. "Sorry." A faltering smile appeared on Kazemon's face.
Blitzmon muttered, "In the next lifetime."
"If there is a next lifetime! What if my lifetimes are up? This isn't some videogame," Junpei said morosely.
"You're all too glum! Cheer up," Tomoki tried to exclaim, but it came as down-noted as everyone else's sentences.
There was a frustrated sigh. "This...this is ridiculous," Kouichi spat, clenching his fists and glaring at the ground. "Don't tell me there's no other way."
Hideki let out a yawn. "Go think up a way in five minutes," he mumbled.
Without warning, Kouichi turned to him, glaring. "Shut up!" the boy growled viciously. He turned back to Marise. "This is ridiculous! All because of some stupid...stupid system that gets your wife killed, you decide it's time to destroy the Digital World. We might as well let Lucemon live! He'll destroy it for us! The only reason I'm fighting is so that world will thrive, and I'm not about to go and destroy it!" he yelled.
Marise was quiet for the first few second. Calmly, he stood up and nodded. "Even if it meant your brother dying? What about your mother?" he asked softly. "I'm not saying the digimon don't matter, Kouichi. We aren't destroying the world. We are aiming to destroy the Chaos. But a world cannot thrive with chaos, and too much can cause it to malfunction as well. Balances cannot be upset. You must understand this." Sighing, Marise murmured, "And this is not about my life, Kouichi. This is about your future."
"As far as I'm concerned at the moment...m-my future...doesn't exist."
"You're right." Smiling a tired smile, the man sank back in his seat. "It doesn't. The egg is gone, and do you know why? It's ready to hatch. Past ready, actually, but Kouji's D-Tector hasn't arrived. Do you know what's wrong with Kouji, Kouichi?" In the same gentle voice that Kouichi couldn't help but feel pierce through his mental barriers he had put up, Marise said, "Of course not. I can't explain anymore, excuse me, but I will soon. We'll wait for the morning to arrive and get ready. I'm sure you're already acquainted with the Area Lucemon is using to replace the bit of Earth?" The amusement in his eyes was back, twinkling stronger than ever.
No one said anything, but sat quietly and gazed at the floor. Although he wasn't sitting, Kouichi was just as quiet until he murmured, "I'm going for a walk." He made his way to the door clumsily, hanging his head as he walked past Marise and his friends. A walk would clear his mind, he was sure.
As far as he was concerned, Kouichi was on square one of the game board again.
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A/N-
Action soon. It might stink...I can't write action. .:was supposed to post this two days ago:. Sorry for the delay.
Thank you for the review- GemmaniGirl
Review or PM or Flame.