Disclaimer: I do not own digimon.
Chapter 6:
His feet were sore and tired. He hadn't gotten much sleep recently and his eyelids were drooping. Tsukaimon sat on top of his bare head; he had taken his hat off because of how hot it was in the forest. He could hear buzzing noises and the sound of leaves rustling as insect digimon flew through the forest. Rubbing his forehead to wipe of the sweat, he sight heavily and looked at the crest he held in his hand.
Since he had left the amusement park a couple of nights ago, he had decided he would try to tap into his crest and digivice. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do or how to tap into his devices' powers because the only times he had done so were on impulse. He hadn't been able to make his crest glow or get any reaction from his digivice, so he felt like giving up.
Luckily he never ran into any of the other digidestineds; he wasn't sure if he wanted to face Tai after ditching him or answer their persistent questions about his wellbeing or Tsukaimon's. Being alone was enjoyable; he was able to wallow in his negative feelings and not have to fake happiness or joy to the others.
He was grateful for Tsukaimon; it was nice to have someone or, more accurately, somemon there to be there with you even when your walls are done. Tsukaimon never questioned him or gave him any grief; actually, Tsukaimon hardly spoke at all.
After he had ditched Tai, he was able to realize that Tokomon had not digivolved into Patamon. He wasn't sure how he felt about it; he missed Patamon and his cheeful demeanor. He also would hate himself if his darkness had caused Patamon not to come back. But Tsukaimon pretty much acted the same as Patamon, just except for the talking. He wasn't sure if Tsukaimon was supposed to have happened, but either way Tokomon had digivolved and there was no changing who Tokomon digivolved into.
There was a nagging question of what Tsukaimon would digivolve into, if Tsukaimon digivolved at all. Thinking about this question made him extremely nervous. Tsukaimon seemed to be the opposite of Patamon, and since Patamon digivolved into Angemon, then Tsukaimon would digivolve into the opposite of Angemon. He couldn't help but worry that his partner would digivolve into Devimon, the fallen angel that had opposed Angemon back at Infinity Mountain. Having Tsukaimon digivolve into Devimon was the most repulsive thought, and he hoped that this was not true. He couldn't be sure, though, until Tsukaimon actually digivolved.
Unfortunately he hadn't had much success on finding out who this Myotismon character was. All he knew for sure was that DemiDevimon was a henchman of Myotismon. He wondered what DemiDevimon was trying to accomplish. The digimon clearly had plans of tricking him, and the digimon had been interested in his crest. DemiDevimon had said something about how his crest was supposed to be the crest of hope, but he knew deep down that his crest was not the crest of hope. By looking at the crest, he could tell it was a representation of something darker, something much different from hope. But what was it? Was understanding the crest the key to obtaining its power?
Too many thoughts were in his head and he didn't have the answers to many of his own questions, so he decided to take a mental and physical break by sitting down with his back against a tree.
Tsukaimon flew off his head and flew into the forest, disappearing after flying past multiple trees. He was confused about why his partner had flew off like that, but he could tell that Tsukaimon would be back soon. He took this time to observe his surroundings.
After leaving the amusement park, he had wandered into a deep, thick forest. Often times he wondered if he was going in circles because of how similar everything looked, but he reasoned that there was no way he was. He hadn't seen many digimon, but he did hear the regular sounds of a forest from back home. Right now a cool breeze was blowing through the forest, and he closed his eyes to enjoy it.
He was about to fall asleep when he heard wings flapping close by. He opened them quickly to see that it was just Tsukaimon returning with a couple of branches that had berries on them. Tsukaimon had brought back an assortment of red, blue, and black berries. He picked a red one off of the branch, plopped it in his mouth, and tasted it. The berry was sweet, juicy, and delicious. He noticed Tsukaimon staring at him, almost as if his partner was looking to see if he had enjoyed the berries.
"They're delicious, Tsukaimon! Thank you!"
Tsukaimon gave a light smile. He was surprised by the smile because Tsukaimon seemed to have an unwavering frown on at all times. He almost thought he saw Tsukaimon's eyes start to lighten as well, but then the smile was gone and with it the light from his partner's eyes.
As he sat there, he noticed that for the first time in a long time he felt ok. He didn't feel like skipping through the forest laughing the whole time, but his dark feelings inside seemed to have settled down. With the breeze, the delicious berries, and the presence of his partner, he felt... satisfied.
He heard bugs swarming in the distance, but he didn't pay it any attention, deciding it was just one of those forest noises he had been hearing. But the sound got louder quickly, and he could tell that he was in danger. Across from him, he saw branches moving quickly, almost as if something was coming towards them.
Soon after that, three yellow bug digimon appeared. The digimon had green eyes, many sharp teeth, and six stingers underneath their bodies. They reminded him of dragonflies; really angry and dangerous dragonflies.
"Yanmamon," his partner said, worried.
"Thunder Ray"
The digimon thrust their tails towards him and Tsukaimon and three beams of electricity shot right at them. He was able to dive out of the way as the beams struck the spot he had just been standing. The Yanmamon then proceeded to dive right at him, fangs ready to rip his flesh to pieces.
"Friendly Fire!"
A fireball struck the three Yanmamon, distracting them enough for him to get out of the way. He then decided that his best option was running and shot off as fast as he could. He looked back to see that Tsukaimon was following, along with the three Yanmamon, which looked even angrier than they did before. He willed himself to run faster, but ended up tripping and falling to the ground. He landed with a thud and quickly flipped over to see that the Yanmamon were getting too close for comfort.
A familiar wave of anger came upon him. These stupid digimon had to attack right when he was feeling the best he had in as long as he could remember. He and his partner were finally relaxing, and the Yanmamon had ruined it.
"That's it," he said aloud, "No more running."
His digivice started vibrating and his crest started glowing.
"Slamming Attack!"
Tsukaimon had turned as well and now flew right at the three Yanmamon, preparing to tackle them. The Yanmamon dodged Tsukaimon's attack and continued flying right towards him. He wouldn't have been ashamed to feel a little afraid of the incoming digimon, but he was too mad to feel afraid. These digimon not only ruined his mood but also had attacked his partner and tried to hurt Tsukaimon. The Yanmamon needed to be destroyed.
At that moment a dark beam of energy shot out of his digivice right at the charging Yanmamon. The beam was pitch black and encompassed the entire surroundings in darkness. Eventually the darkness faded away and TK saw that the Yanmamon were gone.
Before he had time to think about what had happened, he felt all of his energy leave him, causing him to start falling. He never felt his body hit the ground as he had already passed out.
"Do you see what I mean Gennai?"
Piximon was flying right next to Gennai. Centarumon was walking on the other side of Gennai with TK lying on his back. Tsukaimon was flying close to TK.
"I agree with Piximon," Centarumon stated. "This digidestined might be able to use the powers of darkness to battle the enemies of the Digital World."
"The powers of darkness are what we are trying to rid the Digital World of," Gennai shot back.
Ever since the digidestineds had left his house after their training, he had been talking with Gennai to see what they should do about TK. Piximon had been astounded by what TK had done, protecting him from Etemon's Dark Network, and since then had been convinced that TK had a certain power inside of him unlike that of the other digidestineds. This power might be what they need to pose a real threat to the powers of darkness. But Gennai was convinced that the power inside of TK was evil and should not be meddled with.
Neither Centarumon nor Piximon responded to Gennai's statement. He had to admit that it was contradictory, wanting to fight the forces of evil with the powers of darkness, but Piximon was convinced that there was a difference. Against Tyrannomon, TK had used his power to protect. Evil does not protect. But neither does darkness, or does it?
"I know it seems crazy, Gennai," Piximon attempted to reason, "But why not try to see what TK can accomplish? You've seen what he is capable of..."
"And you have seen the effects this power has had on him, and his digimon partner!" Gennai fired back. "I had thought that Tokomon's digivolution would stop your silly ideas, Piximon, but it seems you do not care what happens to TK or his partner."
Piximon lowered his head in shame as he realized that there were obvious consequences and potential hazards for trying to use this dark power inside of TK. It wasn't his intention for TK or Tokomon to get hurt, but he couldn't deny the fact that every time TK accessed this power he got hurt, and now Tokomon had digivolved into a Tsukaimon.
Gennai continued, with a softer tone, "Besides, I worry that the darkness inside of him is already trying to assume control of his mind and body."
"But what if TK learns to control this darkness inside of him?" Centarumon asked.
Piximon nodded, "Yeah, then he wouldn't hurt himself from using this power and he would remain in control."
Gennai countered, "And what if this fails and the darkness inside of TK overwhelms him? He would not be able to return after giving in to the darkness, and all of our work in trying to stop the evil forces would be worthless. It is too risky."
"But what if I trained him?"
Gennai, Centarumon, and Tsukaimon all looked at him with curious looks on their faces.
"And what would you know about the powers of darkness, Piximon?" Centarumon asked.
"Well," he nervously started, "I don't know anything about them. But..."
"Exactly," Gennai interrupted. "You don't know anything about the powers of darkness or how to control them. How are you supposed to train someone in using darkness when you yourself don't know anything about the subject?"
He thought about what he wanted to say, and then said, "You both know how good I am at training; I helped Tai and Agumon find themselves after Greymon digivolved into SkullGreymon. I don't know how, but I'll find a way to train TK and help him control this darkness inside of him."
Gennai didn't seem convinced, but Centarumon nodded, "If anyone could do it, it would be you, Piximon."
Gennai looked like he wanted to contradict him, but he hesitated. During the silence, Tsukaimon spoke up, "Do it!"
He looked over at Tsukaimon with a bit of surprise; Tsukaimon hardly spoke at all, so it was unusual to hear the digimon speak. Gennai was surprised as well and stared at Tsukaimon. After a couple of moments, Gennai looked away from the Patamon lookalike and hummed.
"He has a duty to fulfill with the other digidestineds..."
"And he will do whatever he needs to when that time comes. But until then, let me try to train TK. If I fear he will endanger himself or the other digidestineds, then I will stop my training immediately."
Gennai added, "He must also be able to be summoned when he is needed. Myotismon will be entering the Real World soon, and TK must be with the others to go find the eighth digidestined and stop Myotismon."
"Fair enough," he said.
"And Piximon." Gennai stopped walking and turned to face him. "You must try to get TK to find his way out of this darkness. He is the digidestined of hope, and the fate of our world is dependent on him, just as much, if not more so, than the other digidestineds. You must lead him back to his natural state of hope. Do I make myself clear?"
Piximon nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to get a better deal from Gennai.
Centarumon showed his approval of the terms with a nod. "I guess it is settled then, I wish you luck Piximon."
His eyes didn't want to open as his eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. He felt a little tired, but otherwise felt fine. Trying to remember how he had gotten here, he sat up quickly. His body started aching with the sudden movement and he gasped from the pain. When the pain had faded a little, he opened his tired, heavy eyes.
He was surprised to see that he was now longer in a forest, but rather on a bed in some type of house. He noticed Tsukaimon flying right in front of his face. He was glad to see that his partner looked ok.
"Are you ok?" Tsukaimon asked quietly.
"Yeah, I'm ok," he responded, and Tsukaimon then flew into his stomach as if to give him a big hug. He was too tired, though, to remain upright, and the momentum of Tsukaimon's hug made him fall back onto his back. He didn't mind, though, because his partner was ok and he was ok. He returned his partner's tight hug and couldn't help but smile.
He was smiling. His jaw muscles felt sore from being set into a frown for the longest time. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had smiled and actually felt... happy, but just as soon as the smile came it was then gone.
"Ah, glad to see you are awake."
He looked towards where the familiar voice came from and was surprised to see Gennai standing in the doorway.
"Gennai, is that you?" he asked.
"I'm glad that you remember me," he said happily.
"What am I doing here?" He flinched at the coldness of his voice. Wasn't he just "happy" a second ago? Why was he now engulfed in the familiar feelings of negativity and sadness?
"Do you remember how you passed out?"
"Of course, there were three Yanmamon that attacked us, but a light shot out my digivice and destroyed them. I don't remember anything other than that."
Gennai nodded. "Me, Piximon, and Centarumon came to get you after you had passed out. We are now at my place where you have been resting the past day."
"Day?" he shouted out, "I've been passed out for an entire day?"
Again, Gennai nodded. Great, he had finally been able to use the power of his digivice and crest again, only to pass out from the incident. Maybe those powers were more trouble than they were worth. No, that's not true. It was because of those powers that he had been able to protect himself and Tsukaimon; he just had to learn how to control those powers.
"I can see the wheels turning in your head, but come now, I have some food in the other room."
As if responding to Gennai's offering, his stomach grumbled loudly. He nodded and hopped off the bed, following Gennai out of the room.
He entered what he assumed was the living room. A low-level table was centered in the room and had various foods scattered on the table. As hungry as he was, his eyes drifted away from the food towards the windows. Outside of the windows were... fish? Fish of many different colors were swimming outside the window.
"Wh... where am I?"
"This is my home!" Gennai announced.
"What's up with the fish?"
"I find them to be interesting scenery."
He was still confused, but he shook it off and sat down at the table. A plate was already ready for him, so he filled it up with food and started chowing down. After the majority of his hunger pangs faded away, he realized he had so many questions he wanted to ask Gennai, but he didn't know how to phrase some of the questions.
"Gennai, what's going on with me?" he finally asked.
Gennai sighed, "Alas, even I do not know what is going on with you TK, bearer of hope."
There was that "hope" again, just like DemiDevimon had mentioned. He was about to ask about it when Gennai continued, "I assume the powers of darkness that are trying to take control of the Digital World have decided to target you specifically."
"But... why me?"
"You see, TK, you and your friends are the digidestineds. You have been chosen to protect the Digital World as well as your own world alongside your digimon partners. In order to enable your digimon to digivolve and achieve the necessary level to combat these evil forces, you were each given a digivice and a crest. The crests are specifically important as they enable your digimon to reach the ultimate level, but this can only be done when the user possesses the trait the crest represents. For example, Tai's crest is the crest of courage. Greymon was able to digivolve to MetalGreymon because of Tai's courage to save Sora and defeat Etemon."
The information registered into his brain and he nodded. As soon as he did, Gennai continued, "Each of your crests has its own meaning. As I said, Tai's is the crest of courage, Matt's is the crest of friendship, Izzy's is the crest of knowledge, Sora's is the crest of love, Mimi's is the crest of sincerity, Joe's is the crest of reliability, and yours, TK, is..."
"Hope," he finished.
Gennai nodded.
"But," TK started, taking out his crest and looking at it, "This isn't the crest of hope; it can't be."
"Actually, your crest is still indeed the crest of hope."
"How can that be, Gennai?" he asked curiously, "Isn't hope supposed to be..." he scratched his head, trying to think of the right word before settling on, "lighter."
Gennai rubbed his chin in thought, "Yes, your crest was indeed supposed to be, as you say, lighter."
"Then what happened?" he asked.
"It has to do with the darkness inside of you."
"The darkness inside of me?"
Memories of when Patamon first digivolved flashed through his head. He remembered something go into him through the back of his neck and then hearing a strange voice inside his head. But that wasn't the moment his life had turned upside-down, it was when SkullGreymon digivolved. More memories came to him. He was watching Tai run out towards the two Greymon battling each other. The other digimon tried to help Tai, but Greymon was already starting to digivolve. He was just about to pass out before he felt something pop in the back of his neck. The puzzle was still hazy, but some of the pieces started connecting.
"It has to do with Devimon, whatever Devimon put inside of me."
"Well, yes and no."
"What do you mean?"
"You see," Gennai said, "What Devimon put inside of you was some type of dark device intended to engulf you in darkness. You were able to repel its power after Angemon's death, but the dark energy from SkullGreymon's digivolution was what activated the darkness. Since then, that darkness has been spreading throughout your entire body and soul, and now it is bringing out the darkness that was already inside of you before you even came into the Digital World."
Gennai paused, allowing TK to process everything that was being told to him. He was angry at Devimon for putting that stupid thing inside of him. He was angry at himself for not being strong enough to deal with whatever was going on with him. Tsukaimon must have been able to notice how agitated he was and landed on his shoulder, trying to comfort him in some way.
"So, what does this all mean, Gennai?" he asked a little sharply.
Gennai wasn't phased by the boy's harsh tone and replied, "It means that right now you are not the digidestined of hope that you are supposed to be."
"And what am I supposed to do about that?" he asked, not hiding the anger in his voice, "It's not like you're helping either."
Gennai sighed, "TK, there's nothing that I can do. This wasn't supposed to have happened, but, alas, it has. What happens from here on out is dependent on you and you alone."
"Me?"
"Yes, TK. We need your hope if we are to save both worlds from the powers of evil that threaten them. But this darkness has buried your hope deep down inside of you, almost to the point where you feel having hope is impossible for you."
"You make it sound like this is all a negative thing. This 'darkness' protected Piximon back when Etemon was still here, and it also protected me and Tsukaimon from those Yanmamon."
"And since you have used this 'power,' how has it affected you?" Gennai countered.
As much as he wanted to fire right back at Gennai, he had to admit that the old man had a point. Each time he had used this darkness it had zapped him of his energy, and it felt like it increased the strength of the negative feelings inside of him.
"But that's why you're going to have me to train you!"
He swiftly turned around to see a familiar pink fluffball digimon, Piximon.
"Piximon!"
Piximon smiled at him. "Gennai has agreed to let me train you and help you figure out this whole 'darkness' thing, yep yep."
"But," Gennai interrupted, "You must fulfill your duties as a digidestined. Whenever we need you to come back and join the others, you must do so immediately. You are the digidestined of hope, TK, not the digidestined of darkness. It is my hope that Piximon will be able to help you find your way out of this darkness."
Out of the darkness? This isn't what he had intended to do at all! He wanted to use his darkness, use this negative thing to his advantage like he had done so in the past. He was about to speak up when Piximon interrupted.
"And the training starts now, yep yep. Come on TK, Tsukaimon, we have a lot of work to do!"
Piximon proceeded to fly out of the house, leaving Gennai, TK and Tsukaimon still inside.
"But I have so many more questions for you, Gennai, and I still don't understand everything that is going on!"
"Neither do I, TK. As for your questions, I'm sure you will find the answers as time goes on. Now, go, before I change my mind and make you return to the others."
This was the last thing he wanted to do, so he took a quick swig of water, picked up Tsukaimon, placed Tsukaimon on top of his head, and walked out of the house, not sure what to expect in the near future.