Authors note: Thanks for the reviews people it really gives me the motivation to continue! A bit of swearing in this one so please excuse my potty mouth. Hope it lives up to expectations.
Chapter three: Unwanted meeting.
"It's no use; I can't contact Gennai at all. Hopefully he will anticipate us coming in order to let us in." Koushirou explained, closing his laptop in defeat. The group had decided to find Gennai's home because it seemed the most logical choice in light of their circumstances. Luckily, despite the drastic change in scenery, Koushirou and Tai had a bearing on their surroundings and knew Gennai's place shouldn't be too far from their current location. In fact Koushirou had estimated it should take them less then a day to get there.
Yamato paused to exam the path they were following; the ground itself seemed safe enough but each object they had passed, be it a tree or a rock, had turned as black as coal. They had all agreed not to touch anything just in case the odd black coating was harmful. They had almost reached their destination and had yet to come across a single digimon, friend or foe. This wasn't helping the morale of the group and the atmosphere was extremely tense, no-one asked to stop or slowed their pace. All were anxious to reach their destination, hoping against hope that whatever had happened to the rest of this world hadn't affected the heavily guarded place which could very well be serving as the last refuge for their digimon.
"There!" Tai exclaimed, gesturing towards a light shinning brightly just ahead. They broke into a run, excitement cleanly displayed on all their faces. As if to reward their enthusiasm the familiar lake came into view. As they approached they could see it remained unharmed, its clear blue surface untainted by the bleak surroundings.
"It's undamaged!" Joe, resident captain obvious, shouted.
"Koushirou, try and contact Gennai now. Maybe you can get through if we are this close." Tai asked.
"Already on it!" He replied. The group waited with bated breath as he typed away. "Yes! He said he's letting us in, he'll explain the situation inside!" As if on cue the water parted revealing the steep steps they had been hoping to see.
"Alright guys lets go!" Tai yelled as he sprinted down the steps, taking them two at a time. Yamato made to follow him, anticipation coursing through his veins. Suddenly he felt as though he had spontaneously combusted, electricity flowed through him crackling around his form. With a surprised yelp of pain he was thrown back, smashing into Takeru who tumbled backwards from the sudden weight. Takeru quickly bounced up; he helped Yamato up into a sitting position, supporting him against his upraised knee. "What the hell was that? It felt like I was on fire." Yamato thought before letting out a groan, accepting Takeru's help whilst supporting himself on his elbows. "Nii-chan! Geez are you ok? what happened?" Takeru spouted.
"Are you alright?" He turned to see Sora, worry written plainly on her features. She was kneeling beside him and placed her hand on his forehead; her features softened as he smiled weakly at her, taking her hand off and placing it against his chest. "I'm fine, no idea what that was though, but it isn't affecting me anymore." He reassured her; she blushed slightly as he squeezed her hand. "And sorry T.K but I have absolutely no idea what just happened." He answered. Joe knelt on his other side and checked his vitals, making sure there was no lasting damage. Hikari, Mimi and Koushirou breathed a sigh of relief as Tai's head reappeared at the top of the stairs. "What's the holdup?" He asked before he spotted Yamato on the floor, he rushed over all the while demanding to know what happened.
"No clue Tai, I tried to follow you down and then I was here on the floor. Something threw me back." He explained.
Tai gave him a look before grinning, extending his hand and saying "Decided to take a little nap then? No can do I need you to watch my back."
Yamato grinned back at Tai before grasping his hand and pulling himself up. "Yeah what would you do without me?" He laughed.
Meanwhile Koushirou was using his laptop to scan the steps; he looked slightly puzzled as he informed them of his findings. "The readings show there is a powerful barrier set up; it seems to encompass the whole lake. It must be what is preventing the lake to succumb to its surroundings but I see no reason why it should have rejected Yamato since it gave no resistance to Tai, just in case I think we should each extend our hand over the steps to see if anyone else has the same response." He extended his own hand to illustrate his point, bracing himself in case something similar occurred. When nothing happened the others began to try. First Takeru, then Hikari and Mimi; still no reactions took place. Sora extended her hand, only to pull it back in surprise as her fingers sizzled in response. Yamato frowned; he grabbed her hand to examine it.
"Its fine, it only hurt a little, like a static shock." She informed him. He shifted his gaze from hers as he asked, "Really? You absolutely sure? It didn't feel like…you were burning from the inside?" He said the last part in a barely audible whisper. He hadn't wanted her or the others to know exactly how bad it had felt but he had to be sure she wasn't hurt the same way. The small gasp she let out answered his question, she was telling the truth.
During this exchange Joe had taken his turn and come up clean. Tai frowned and turned to face Yamato. "We have no choice; you and Sora are going to have to stay here. We need to see Gennai and find out what's going on. Who else wants to stay behind?" He announced. Takeru stepped up "If Nii-chan is staying so am I."
"And I'm staying with T.K." Hikari added.
"We can't let Tai go alone though. Mimi, Joe and I should accompany him." Koushirou decided.
"Ok if anything should happen send Hikari or T.K down to get us right away, if you have to run try to get back to the digiport and go back home, without digimon you are kinda sitting ducks out here." Tai ordered. Yamato, Sora, Takeru and Hikari nodded in confirmation. Tai smiled before turning to descend the steps, his confirmed party hot on his heels. Yamato waved hoping that their digimon were down there and the next time he saw Tai he would have some answers.
"Wow it's just as pretty as I remember! Look at those fish, they are so pretty!" Mimi gushed as she daintily descended the steps beside Koushirou. Tai hurried on ahead, Gennai's stately home soon came into view and to his joy so did Koromon, bounding towards him as fast as he could hop.
"Tai! I missed you!" He proclaimed as he jumped into Tai's arms; soon all the digimon came into view, happily hugging their respective partners except for Yokomon, Tokomon, Salamon and Tsunomon who waited impatiently to ask about their absent partners. Tai told them they were fine and just at the top of the stairs; though for the moment he left out the reason, not wanting to worry them just yet.
"Ah children welcome! Unfortunately greetings will have to be cut short I must tell you about what's been happening. Where are the rest of your group?" Gennai greeted, looking around anxiously when he saw how few of them were present.
"They had to stay up top, the barrier around this place rejected Yamato and Sora for some reason." Koushirou answered.
"That's odd it shouldn't have done that…" Gennai mused. "I can't leave this place so I am afraid all I can offer you is what little information I possess. Please come in I'll prepare some tea."
"That's ok, please just let us know what's going on; I want to return to the others as soon as possible." Tai pestered.
Gennai nodded and began "Well it happened very gradually after you all left, small localised sections of the digital world simply stopped responding. Every place I investigated showed the same results, the ground had the entire colour drained away in very small areas. For a long time I could find no cause, until about a month ago when I came across a whole digi village which was being consumed by black flames, no matter what kind of water or move the digimon tried the flames wouldn't be extinguished, they spread so quickly I barely made it back here in one piece. I couldn't see what happened to the digimon that followed me because when I looked back all I could see was darkness. All I could do was wait inside until whatever it was had passed over, when I resurfaced I was greeted with the same sight as you all. I began conducting an investigation into the black flames, according to my findings they seem to spring up from underground with no identifiable trigger."
When he made no move to continue Tai spoke up. "That's it? That's all you know? You make it sound like a natural occurrence!"
"No, it is definitely not natural. There is someone behind it." Gennai snapped.
"How do you know?" Koushirou asked.
"Because during my investigation I encountered him…and he asked me how to find all of you." Gennai stated; his normally friendly features stiffened at the memory…
"So you are Gennai, so nice of you to come to me it has been so troubling trying to locate you." The thing standing before Gennai stated with an air of confidence. The thing was surrounded with what appeared to be solid black material; it covered its whole body obscuring its figure. "So you are behind this, what have you done? What reason do you have to destroy innocent digimon? Why are you looking for me?" Gennai asked. The creature scoffed before responding "The once all knowing 'answer man' has nothing but questions now. I suppose that can't be helped. Listen, I have only one need of you. Some children came to this world once in the past; I need you to bring them back."
Gennai remained calm and collected. Taking a step back he replied. "I have nothing to tell you, those children are safe. You will never be able to get them back here, the portals are sealed!"
The thing said nothing; suddenly it shed the solid mass that had been surrounding its body. Gennai's eyes widened in surprise as he realised the thing which stood before him was no thing at all, despite the cracked black traditional play mask it wore it was undeniably human. The man stood tall dressed in a demure black suit; the deep red dress shirt he wore was the only colour visible on his person. In the blink of an eye the man's mask covered face was inches away from his own, the contorted smiling features of the mask stirred a long forgotten emotion in him. Fear.
"The portals are sealed? Then how do you explain me. I have returned to earth many times but try as I might the children remain elusive. They are hardly children anymore though are they?" He straightened slowly and turned to walk away. "I have no need for an answer man with no answers, if you do find them before me I expect you to deliver. You are grateful right? I am being generous here…you're still in one piece." As the man spoke these final words he disappeared from Gennai's sight.
As Gennai finished explaining his encounter the group exchanged stunned looks. A person. A person was looking for them. A person had done this. How? These questions plagued them all without being spoken aloud. Koushirou looked thoughtful for a moment before asking "Wait, you didn't send me that message?"
Gennai turned swiftly toward Koushirou before answering. "Message? In my haste I forgot to ask, how did you get here?"
"I decoded a message from the digital world; I assumed it was from you." Koushirou replied; worry spread across his face as he spoke.
Gennai's features turned stern as he spoke, he did not raise his voice but his tone was urgent. "Go now! Return to your friends, take your digimon and get out of the digital world! I didn't send you anything so that only leaves one possibility! That man is strong, I do not know if your digimon can stand against him even if they evolve, go back! I do not know what he wants from you but he can't find you, the only trump we have against him is that he doesn't know who you are or where in the world you come from!"
Tai nodded, scooping up Salamon and Koromon as he did so. "We should go now, the others are in danger!" Tai yelled, sprinting toward the steps. Before He could begin his descent he almost collided with Hikari.
"Tai!" she yelled, "Help us! They need our help!" she grabbed his shoulders and shook him as she spoke. He noticed that she had blood trickling down her terrified face from a large gash in her temple, his expression changed from surprise to angry determination as he took in the rest of her. Her clothes were covered in dust; she had visible scratches and a large bruise on her left arm. Anger clouded his vision as he didn't even pause to hear her explanation, instead choosing to run up the stairs as fast as he could; Koromon was enveloped in a bright light as he somehow managed to run beside Tai as he went through his evolutionary stages. "Wait for me Sora, Yamato, Takeru! I'm on my way, don't do anything stupid and for the love of god don't die!"
"Well what should we do while we wait?" Hikari asked pleasantly. She sat on the ground beside Takeru, leaning her head on his shoulder. All four of them sat in a circle; Sora absentmindedly traced images in the dirt with her finger while Yamato rested his arm on his propped up knee. Tai and the others had been gone for awhile, and Yamato couldn't help but feel impatient. Being rejected by the barrier had rattled him, he wanted answers. "Why only Sora and I? What do we have in common?" he bit his thumb as he watched her draw images while he tried to figure it out. She caught him staring at her and stopped abruptly. A small smile lit up her features and Yamato found all his musings immediately forgotten as he tried to read her thoughts by staring into her eyes. "Why? Is it egotistical of me to think I'm the only one she smiles like that for? I've never seen her show this face to anyone else…man I'm hopeless." He let out a small mirthless laugh as he closed his eyes and shook his head in an attempt to expel the thoughts from his mind. Hikari and Takeru had been discussing options whilst he had been trying to decipher Sora's expression; he turned to them and observed their exchanges. "Heh T.K has it all figured out, apparently he's more of a man then I am. He had no trouble just telling her and here I am in a similar situation and simply can't say a word. How pathetic."
"You okay?" Sora interrupted his thoughts, he realised his normally stoic expression must have changed to mirror his current turbulent emotions.
"I'm fine, just thinking that's all. No need to wor-" He cut himself off as his back stiffened. Something isn't right here, before the wind had been blowing softly letting off a cool rushing sound through the surrounding black trees; now he could hear no sounds. He slowly got to his feet, the others seemed to realise it too as they all rose into a standing position. Hikari trembled "It's cold…it's cold." She repeated, she began to tremble with more force and hugged herself in an attempt to stop it.
"Oh dear the little miss seems to be having a very bad reaction to my presence. That's. A. Shame." The voice drifted towards them from the path they had followed to get here. The man made no attempt to hide himself; he merely walked out in front of them as if he didn't have a care in the world.
"Who the hell are you?" Yamato demanded. "What the hell is with that mask? It's creepy as fuck." He internally observed. The man cocked his head at him, the fake mirth the mask displayed made unease billow from Yamato's very core.
"Me? I'm your escort; won't you all come with me? Let's go somewhere we can chat." The man replied effortlessly.
"No don't come near us!" Hikari screamed. The tremors that had been shaking her body seemed to get more violent each step he took toward them. Takeru looked at her with concern but before he could comfort her the man had somehow simply appeared behind her. With no hesitation whatsoever the man smacked her on the side of the head, sending her skidding across the ground.
"HIKARI! YOU BASTARD!" Takeru yelled as he ran toward her, before he could reach her the man stood in his path. "With a reaction like that she certainly isn't the one I'm looking for, are you?" The man seemed slightly bored as he asked the question. Hikari shakily got to her feet; while this was happening Sora and Yamato had gotten over their initial shock and were by her side.
"Listen Hikari are you ok?" Yamato queried. She gave a shaky nod as her response. "Good, go and get Tai and the others. He doesn't seem to want you and from what I can see at this particular moment that is a very bad thing. Though I am sure in the future it will turn out to be a very good thing." Yamato instructed in a hushed voice as he and Sora helped her up.
"But what about T.K and you guys? I can't just leave you!" She moaned. Her mouth felt suddenly dry as she spoke
"Yes you can." Sora confirmed; she smiled at her before continuing "We need help and you are the only one who can get it."
Hikari cast a worried glance toward T.K who seemed to be yelling his head off at the unresponsive man before him who was currently examining his nails. She grit her teeth before sprinting down the stairs and into the lake. The man stopped examining his hand and spoke as soon as she was out of view, causing Takeru to stop his tirade.
"Hmmmm, some of you can't go in you say? Sounds like a perfect B. I. N. G. O. to me." He chortled before extending his hand palm facing forward toward Takeru, Takeru blinked in surprise at the sudden movement before he was flung back toward the stairs. He landed with an audible THUD. "T.K!" Yamato screamed. He wanted to run to his brother's side but because he had landed inside the barrier he knew it was impossible. He chose instead to stand in front of Sora, shielding her as the man turned towards them. "I didn't even see him flex his hand when he threw T.K, is he even human? What the hell can I do? Damn it I'm so fucking powerless!"
"One down two to go, who wants to be next?" The man spoke in a sing-song voice. Suddenly he wasn't in front of them and Yamato blinked before he felt Sora being lifted off her feet behind him. "Put her down!" He bellowed. The man shrugged and threw her into the barrier.
"NO!" Yamato shouted as he did so. She gasped as a small electric current coursed through her before she dropped to the ground, falling to her knees. She took a few deep breaths before rising shakily to her feet.
"Huh, that wasn't much of a reaction. But I guess she's the one; so little lady would you mind accompanying me?" The man said this as he disappeared from his position in front of Yamato and knelt before her, holding out his hand in a seemingly friendly gesture.
"HEY!" Yamato spoke harshly as the man propped a kicking and cursing Sora onto his shoulders. "Shouldn't you cover all your bases? What if she isn't the one you're looking for?" Yamato baited. He had to get him to put her down, no matter what it took. He couldn't stop him. He couldn't lift a finger against him. But he would be damned if he couldn't bloody stall him before Tai returned with what was hopefully the cavalry. The man seemed to take the bait, hesitating for a moment before walking slowly toward him.
"No! You bastard! Put. Me. The. Fuck. Down. You. Asshole!" Sora fumed. If the situation weren't so dire Yamato would have found her use of profanity quite funny since it was so out of character. But unfortunately that was not the case. The man was now standing directly in front of Yamato; he said nothing as he grabbed him by the throat. Yamato grabbed at the man's fingers helplessly, kicking the air in an attempt to get free.
"So eager for a turn are we? Well I am happy to oblige." The man stated; amusement laced each word. He held Yamato toward the stairs, stopping for a split second before plunging him forward.
Burning. From the inside out. The intense sensation forced its way through Yamato's body, causing him to convulse and jerk. Sparks flew around as the man tossed his head back and laughed. "You were right; I wouldn't have wanted to miss this! It seems I have two for the price of one!" The man yelled as he continued to laugh. Sora screamed out Yamato's name in protest, she couldn't see him from her position on the man's shoulders but she could see the sparks.
Yamato couldn't hear either of them. All he could feel was the terrible sensation. He could faintly feel blood bubbling up in the back of his throat but even that seemed to be a distant concern. He knew nothing. Could think of nothing. He did the only thing he could.
He screamed, as loudly and for as long as his lungs would let him.