DISCLAIMER: The following story contains various themes and subject matter that may not be suitable for children under the age of thirteen. Viewer discretion is advised.

Digimon

GODFALL

By. Sonfaro

Chapter 13

A/N: Sorry for the brief delay: life and all its complexities... Thank you all for the many kind reviews. This chapter was a beast; it underwent a rewrite at least five times after initial completion. Hopefully it's all good now.

She's going to kill me.

She's holding the strap of the machinegun in one hand, limply dangling it against the edges of her fingertips. She hasn't aimed it at me. Not yet. But the threat is there. I stand my ground as best I can, with one hand gripped tight to my digivice. She watches me, her eyes intent. Focused. I frown.

Those brown eyes belong to Sora Takenouchi. And this being isn't her.

"What do you mean," she glares at me beneath the darkened monitor.

"You're not real," I repeat myself. "You're not human."

"I don't understand that," her voice is dry and heated. "How would you know a thing like that?"

"I just do." I never take my eyes away from her face.

"That's crap Taichi. You can't just accuse someone of not being real on a hunch. What would make you say such a terrible thing?"

"You don't deny it for one," I reply.

"I shouldn't have to," she frowns. "You should trust me."

"I only met you today." I remind her.

"Taichi…"

I shrug, never taking my eyes off her. "It's the little things I guess. Separate and you hardly notice. Together, and it all comes out crystal clear."

"Little things like what?"

"You knew where the hiding walls were. You had instant knowledge of how to work MAGAMI computers and passwords even though you supposedly don't remember what an iPod is. You remembered being a tamer but you didn't know you were in the Digiworld – any Tamer could tell you the difference. Hell, any human could tell the difference."

"S-so what? All of that has an explanation."

She's looking at me with those browns. I can't resist.

"You called me stupid Tai." I answer her as honestly as I can.

Her pretty face scrunches in disgust. "And?"

"Nobody calls me that. Nobody. I'm an idiot, a fool, even a psychopath to a lot of people. But nobody calls me 'Stupid Tai'. Not like that. Not that way. Nobody in the whole world. Except Sora." I frown. "And you're not her."

She flinches, looking hurt. I stand my ground. It's all in the open now: what I've been worried about for the last few hours has been voiced. It is her. It has to be.

The other Sora.

When I was younger, I used to wonder what ever happened to her. Back when our war was still young and our adventures only starting to get truly dangerous, a little troll of a machine captured my best friend, Sora, and held her with the intent of using her digivice and crest to digivolve and fight his rival Etemon. He was convinced that it wasn't Sora that he really needed, merely her body, and he'd cloned her, literally photo copying my friend on a cold slab and producing a lifeless shell he intended to destroy Etemon with. But I stopped him. I saved my friend. And as far as I knew, the clone died with the little troll when the pyramid collapsed around them all.

She looks just like her. And now I'm convinced of the reason why.

She hesitates. The gun continues to dangle limply in one hand. "T-that's a stupid reason to think someone isn't real."

"Maybe," I acknowledge. "But when you add all that with what we know about the enemy we're facing and the picture comes in crystal clear kid. I'd been thinking about how familiar everything had been since I came across some ruins on our way to meet you – ruins that look suspiciously like what's left of Piximon's oasis. And it just got more and more familiar: it couldn't be coincidence. Not just the ruins of the oasis, but the wires are suspiciously like another set of wires I remember when I was a kid. Then of course there's the ruins you supposedly ran from – all that's left of the pyramid I nearly lost my best friend in…. A best friend who you look exactly alike. I think that's the biggest tip off of all."

"What?"

"Sorry kid." I give her a grin to hide my fears. "You just look too much like Sora."

She hesitates. The gun continues to dangle limply in one hand. But her grip has softened and the angry expression on her face melts away. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"What wasn't?"

She sighs. "It wasn't supposed to be you. He said I wouldn't have to see you… That there were other Digidestined now and that we could use them instead. It wasn't supposed to be you."

I frown. "Why not? Because I'd know who you were?"

She shakes her head. "Because I didn't know how I'd feel if I saw you. I didn't want to know."

"How you'd feel? What do you mean?"

She bites her lip. "I was afraid. I hadn't seen you in so long I had forgotten..."

I grimace. Something about her words is unsettling me. Still, I know what she is now. No need to hold punches anymore. "You're Sora's clone. Aren't you?"

She frowns, bewildered. And then she laughs and shakes her head. "Stupid Tai," she says. "I am Sora."

I have to stare at her for a long time.

"…No you're not."

She nods, her mirth dying away. "I am. I'm Sora... The real Sora."

"No. You're not."

"I… I know it's hard to believe." She lowers her head. "It's hard for me too. But it's the truth."

I shake my head. "No. It can't be. We saved the real Sora."

"You saved my copy," she insists. When I keep shaking my head she pouts deeper. "Why won't you believe me?"

"Because the real Sora is back in the real world with her mother, probably slicing flowers or studying for a quiz or fixing her tennis racket or something."

She looks incredulous. "I don't play tennis."

"You don't. Sora does."

She looks upset. "Tai, I am –"

"A fraud. A fake. I don't know how you came back or why… I have an idea but it doesn't matter. You aren't what you think you are. And if that's the case, then nine times out of ten that thing you want me to start up won't do what you think it will do. In fact, it'll make things worse..."

"Your name is Taichi Kamiya!"

She shouts it aloud. I blink, confused. "Eh?"

"You're Taichi Kamiya," she says again. "But you'd rather be called Tai because Taichi was your grandfathers' name and it makes you feel older. You're okay with it if it's a pretty girl calling you that, except whenever I did, because it usually meant you'd made me angry. You have a little sister named Kari who doesn't talk much but always brightens the room when she does. Your father tends to come home late after drinking and your mother can't cook so he lets you order out a lot. And you have a cat named Miko who is pure evil."

"What are you – "

"I'm trying to prove to you that I'm me. Look at me!"

I shake my head again. "It can't be…"

"You met me in a playground when we were four," she continues. "I was the only little girl with a soccer ball and you wanted to play. We kicked the ball around and made up rules because we didn't understand the game yet. We'd beg our moms to let us meet at that same playground every Saturday after that. When you were six you threw up in my favorite hat and blamed Mimi for it – knowing that I didn't like her back then. When you were eight your sister got really sick and you blamed yourself for it. It's the only time I've ever seen you cry. When we were ten some jerk tried to rough me up because I was a girl on the soccer team but was making more goals than half of them: you almost got kicked out of school for breaking his nose. Remember?"

I stare at her. It's all I can do. "…Maybe…"

"You see?"

I shake my head, my mind spinning. "How can… How is this…"

"I told you. I am Sora."

I frown. "Then why the lies? Why the amnesia? Why any of it?"

She looks down now. "He told me that you'd all have gotten used to the clone by now, and that if I just came out and told you that you wouldn't believe me. And he was right. I was right there in front of you, and you told me I wasn't me. That hurt."

"You keep saying 'he' and 'we'. Who are you talking about?"

She gives me a look. "You know."

I don't ask further. I do.

"I didn't like it at first either," she continues. "But we were wrong about him. He's not evil. He's just… driven for justice."

"Oh, is that what we're calling it?"

"All he wanted was for Etemon to be put to justice for what he did to him. Well Etemon got his. Thanks to you. But by then it was too late for him. And me. You'd made the mistake and taken off while the pyramid collapsed and we were trapped down here together."

"…How did you survive?"

She shakes her head lightly. "I don't know. There was darkness and then I woke up and I was back on the slab. There were people looking at me. Staring. Three pronged hands touching me while they spoke like I didn't exist. Trying to figure out what I was. You have no idea what I've been through."

"…Tell me."

She bites her lip, the machinegun quivering in her hands. "I was their plaything. For years I must have… I must have been their little doll. Something to poke at. They didn't care that I was human. And I couldn't do anything because I was stuck on the stupid slab. I don't know how long. It all blurs together. Three-fingered hands and people in weird robes glaring at me. It was a nightmare I couldn't wake up from. But then… then he reached me."

"You mean…?"

She nods. "He was there too... Had been for a while. They'd found him in the computer system. He was trapped inside. He had no control of this place anymore. He hadn't even been able to properly communicate until they'd repaired the system. And instead of helping him escape his prison they were trying to hack into his brain to drain him of all his knowledge. They were using him. Just like they were using me. They did something to him… to us. And now they're gone and the dark network is running amok on its own."

"So why are you helping him?"

She bites her lip. "When they'd finish experimenting on me he'd flash words on the screen to calm me down. He wanted a friend I think. It took him a long time to convince me that he was being sincere. I still remembered what he'd done to me. But… We'd both been abandoned. We were all each other had. So… so we decided to work together. He didn't have the energy to resist them or to regain control of the network, but he knew a digivice would. And once he reconnected to the dark network he'd be able to find me a way home."

"So you came up with a plan?"

"He did. He had limited access to some of the systems in the hub thanks to the repairs. He was going to release me so I could find those other digidestined. He knew he couldn't contact you himself. He knew you wouldn't trust him… not after what he'd done. But he also knew we were the only ones who could help. All we had to do was get me outside."

"How did you get free?"

She flinches, her eyes glaring beneath her brow. "They came here. Like always. Three of them. With their guns. Poking and prodding. They woke me with their noise. One of the guards made a joke. He put a hand on me. I remember screaming. And then I was free. He must have shortened the power in the hub I think, 'cause the whole room went dark."

She looks back up, glaring through bleary eyes fighting back tears. "Everything is a blur after that. I know they attacked me and tried to restrain me but… Things are hazy. I was so angry. All the pain they'd put me through… Us through… All I know is that when the lights returned and I came to, their data was disappearing and I was leaking data from my hands." She looks at me, her brown eyes somehow sending shivers down my spine. "I don't think it was mine."

The cold feeling that I usually get when something bad happens shoots up my spine and makes my hairs stand on end. "You killed them."

"I… I deleted them. They abused me and I fought back. I don't remember much of what happened, but I was still alive. I was alive and they were deleted. That means I won. It felt… good at first." She looks away again, as if she can't retell her story while being watched. "But something happened. There was a snap and then pain and then nothing. The next thing I remember is seeing words on the screen telling me to run. So I ran. The Gizmon came after me then. The scientists had built them for protection from warlords or something, he wasn't sure. All I knew was that they shoot anything that moves. So I kept running. And every corner there was a human with a scanner, or a Tamer and a rookie wandering aimlessly. And they were all shot down. I didn't stop to see if anyone else was okay. I had to get away from here Tai."

"And the rest?"

"If they didn't get out when I did they didn't get out at all. The door shut on me when I escaped. You saw it. They were locked inside with the rest of the Gizmon."

Her words hang in the air, making me sick to my stomach. I fight the urge to charge her, but it's hard. My face twists in to what I know is a terrible grimace. "You let them die."

She wavers, briefly. "I survived…"

"Is that what you call murder?" I accuse, my voice registering higher than I wanted. "Survival?"

Her head snaps back towards me, her eyes glowering with menace. "It was the only way to escape! I did what I had to do."

"That's a lie." I tell her outright. "You could have reasoned with them. Explained who you were, what was happening. Once you had the gun you could have knocked them out, or held them hostage till you knew how to reverse things, or something!"

"They don't care about the Digiworld Tai. All they cared about is lining their pockets!"

"They could have helped you. And you killed them…"

"So what? What are a few human lives for the sake of the Digiworld? Our world! Or have you forgotten that it's our duty to protect it?"

"No, I haven't forgotten." I tell her calmly.

"Then help me set things right!"

"I also remember," I continue, "That it's a digidestined's job to protect the innocent. That we were tasked to save lives. And even though we have to delete… to kill, it's never without purpose. Never without just cause." I feel my blood boil as emotions wash over me. I do my best to suppress them. Matt would be proud. "When you took their lives you crossed a line. A line no one should cross. You're no Digidestined. You're no Tamer. You're just a murderer."

"Shut up! You don't get to talk. Not like that. Not to me! Do you have any idea what it's like to wake up on a slab as part of some monsters experiment?" She spits her words through clenched teeth, her eyes are on fire. "I waited for hours for you to rescue me, because I believed in you. And then when you finally get here, when you finally find me, you picked her. Why? Do you have any idea the kind of betrayal I felt? To feel abandoned by your best friend? By the boy you l…" She trails off briefly, as if the next word she said would be more than either of us could handle. She shakes her head, sniffling a little but never losing their temper. "…You care about? To wake up each and every morning thinking that he's off with your copy? And the only one… the only being in the universe willing to comfort you is the same monster who put you there in the first place? How would you feel!"

A part of me is devastated. "I-I'm sorry." I tell her.

"I don't need your 'sorrys' Tai. I need your help. Please. I… I just wanna go home. I haven't seen my mother in seven years, I… I don't even remember what she looks like anymore. Please! If you were ever really my friend you'll help us set this right. Help us end this!"

It's clear she believes every word. "…You just need my digivice?"

"Right."

"And the metal freak will gain control of the wires and get them to stop attacking people?"

"Right."

"And he'll bring us right back to the City of Odaiba right?"

"Right!"

"…"

"What?"

"There is no City of Odaiba."

"Hnn?"

"That's the first thing you said that let me know something was up. You said Odaiba was a city."

"So?"

"It's not. We're a district of Tokyo. Part of a much larger city."

"I… I don't…"

"It's not much of a difference," I admit. "But it is one Sora… the real Sora would have known."

"I… I just said my memory was hazy…"

"Your memory is completely faulty," I tell her with another sigh. "Like bits and pieces of Sora with gaps filled in with guess work.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"All that stuff you said earlier. Your memories of us. They're close. Real close. But close isn't good enough. Yeah, we met on a playground and yeah, we played soccer. But it was my ball. Sora had never played soccer before she met me. My sister's sweet, but even Sora knows how excitable Kari can get when she isn't sick. It's downright annoying. I didn't break that kid's nose. Sora did. I took the rap because she didn't want to deal with her mom. I had to pay that kid my lunch money for a week to keep him from ratting her out. But more than all that: I didn't choose between you and Sora. Hell, I didn't even get the chance. When I came in Biyomon told me which of you was the real thing, and that freak realized he was foiled. I didn't see what he did, to you. Maybe he hit 'save' or something. I don't know. But your memory is faulty. No matter what he did to bring you back, he couldn't give you all of her memories."

"B-Biyomon," she says, and I realize it's the first time she's thought of Sora's partner since regaining her memory. She shakes her head, refusing to believe me. "Lies…"

"We saved the real Sora. I'm sorry. But you're her copy. A program. Like Digimon. Like the whole Digital world."

"…You're lying."

"You know I'm not."

"…"

"Rei?"

"That's not my name." Her voice is low and cold.

"It's the name I gave you."

"I don't want it anymore."

I take a deep breath. Her fingers are twitching on the edge of the gun. "…Are you gonna shoot me?"

"If… If I have to." She chokes out her words with a grimace. "All we need is your digivice. You don't have to be the one to plug it in."

"…We?"

She hesitates for only a moment. "…Please don't make me do this."

"I'm not holding the gun. I can't make you do anything."

She bites her lip. "I want you to do it because you want to save the world. I want you to do it because it's the right thing to do. I want you to do it for me. Please. This is the only way. You have to believe me!"

I look at her, this image of my friend. It's clear she believes it. Every word.

But belief isn't always truth.

"This place hadn't had human contact in four years, remember?" I keep my composure calm, my demeanor friendly, and a hand on my digivice. "We came in ninety-nine. MAGAMI didn't show up 'till two-thousand-three. Do you really think you'd have survived by yourself without food or water for that long?"

She flinches at that. It's clear she hadn't thought about the interim between Etemon's death and MAGAMI's grand entrance into the broken pyramid. "I… I'm r-real." She tries to convince herself.

"You're real in this world." I tell her. "But you aren't real. You aren't human."

"Then what am I?"

Her question is genuine. She really wants to know. Which makes saying this even harder. "The hell if I know."

She eyes me, not giving away her response. We are silent for a moment, together in this dusty control room that holds a dark secret I'm starting to understand. She waits for something better from me, another answer… A reason to exist. It's something I cannot give. From the silence, a low menacing voice I've never heard from the real Sora slips through dried lips and pours towards me with all the vile of a cobra. "…You have to give us your digivice Tai."

I respond, slowly and carefully. "No. I don't."

"Tai." She warns. "Give it here."

"No."

The gun swivels up to meet me; the deep black barrel aimed directly at my chest. "Do it."

"Sorry, So-rah." I force a grin. "But you're going to have to shoot me."

She looks at me. Then she raises the gun to my head…

And all I hear is the sound of clicking.

In the momentary distraction she takes to realize that her weapon is empty, I drop to the floor, sweeping my leg out from under me. I catch her just below the kneecaps, and the momentum and weight of my attack sends her sprawling to the floor. The gun scatters beside her.

I leap for it, just as she rolls over. We struggle on top of one another, both our arms reaching out for the weapon. With a grunt I press my hand onto the back of her head and hold her to the floor. As fast as Sora is, I've always been stronger. She howls underneath me as I catch the machinegun in my hands. I roll away from her, and she briefly tries to scramble to her feet. But I have the gun now.

I raise it above my head and bring it down full force onto the floor. She cries out for me to stop, but I ignore her. The data inside the weapon vibrates in my hands, the wireframe that holds it together bending under the pressure. I bring it down again and it's data corrupts, irreparable. A final swing and the gun shatters into a million digital pieces, never to be used again.

Things are quiet after that. The black and blue bits of data from the gun float in the air between us, dissipating into nothingness. I look over to where she's crouched, breathing heavily and shaking the buzzing in my arms. "It's over," I tell her. "There's nothing left for you here."

There is a moment's silence. She rises from her crouch; fists clenched, and begins to storm slowly but steadily towards me. It's clear she wants a fight, but that isn't what has me standing transfixed. It's the sound. The sounds she making - low coughs followed by a gutsy moan - would chill the bones of a Flarizamon. I listen, bewildered and frightened and curious all at once.

She's crying.

She tries to swing a fist, but she's such an emotional mess that the attack comes off weak and unmotivated. I duck underneath and catch her by the opposite shoulder, sweeping my inside leg under hers. We crash together against the floor, fighting against one another in the quiet of the hub.

She struggles. Between tears and grunts and curses she struggles against my hands. I'm as gentle as I can be. I'm not trying to hurt her, not trying to keep her. Trying simply to calm her. To hold her. I don't think she's ever really been held before. Her arms and legs thrash still, but with each second it' slows. It weakens. She weakens. Until she gives up, finally. The gravity of her identity has devastated her, and she has lost the will to keep fighting it any longer. Her arm wraps around my neck slowly, clutching me for all she's worth while she fights her sobs.

Briefly I entertain the thought that Sora would feel like this. I know she wouldn't. And I know I shouldn't think about it.

I sigh. Matt was right about me, regardless. I had started thinking of her as a replacement. Not consciously maybe. I knew she was hiding something for quite a while. But the feeling was there until it all fell to pieces and I saw her for what she was. A very real feeling I haven't felt since I was twelve years old for a girl with ginger-red hair and hazel brown eyes. A girl who I never got around to admitting that I…

Tsk. I can't say it, even now.

The elephant in the room…

I'm never going to get that from Sora. I certainly won't get if from Rei now.

"T-Tai?" She finally manages.

"What is it?" I respond.

"I hate you." She whispers.

I frown, rising to my feet. Her hands are still clutched to mine. Even saying that, she doesn't want me to leave. "You know why you're not Sora?"

She makes a sound. It's not a known language, but it's questioning. Pleading. So I tell her.

"The real Sora would never have pulled the trigger."

She turns her head to look at me, and for the first time I think she's accepted the truth. I loosen my grip and back away. She sinks to the floor, defeated. "S-stupid Tai…" She swears at me. "All you had to do was give us your digivice. That's all. Then everything w-would be set right."

"Everything like what?"

She hesitates. "…E-everything."

"…You have no idea what he'd actually do with it, do you?"

Her voice loses some of its gusto, but she manages to force herself on. "I know we need to give him the power to try. And that's enough."

"That's enough for you?"

"It's a purpose. A reason for being."

I smile, my heart reaching out for her. She glares back. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know how I'd feel."

"If what?"

I look away. "If I knew I wasn't real."

"I am real."

"You know what I mean. You aren't Sora."

She looks to the ground. "…I should be."

But her body at least has given up believing the lie. I sigh. "Hey… Let me get you to a friend. Gennai. He can -"

"I know who the hell Gennai is." She hisses.

I blink. "Well… He'll know what you are. What to do with you."

"Tai?"

Her voice is soft. Pleading. I kneel beside her. "Yeah?"

"You think… I'd give up so easily?"

I feel the pain before I even see the cold bade that slashes through my arm.

I spin with the motion, teeth clenched in pain, rolling out of the way of further attacks and cursing myself. The clone holds the hilt of the blade she'd kept strapped to that lovely thigh, a thick shard of steel that's pierced through my arm. It isn't a large blade, but it's enough. The black ooze of my data sizzles from the tip and dissipates into nothing. She grimaces through a smile, rising to her feet and pacing her way towards me.

"You don't know me at all. Do you?" She beams with glee as she tosses off my jacket. I look into her eyes. They're almost blood red.

She's lost it. Truly and completely gone nuts.

I've never had to fight Sora before. I've had fights with Sora; big, heated arguments that left one or both of us heartbroken. I've felt a Sora punch to the arm on occasions where I deserved it. But never this. She lunges at me, her knife aiming to pierce through my chest. I lean away; my only goal being to avoid her right arm. Her only goal, now, is to kill me.

I use every trick I ever learned in soccer to avoid her. I've been extremely lucky thus far. The blade has only just grazed my arm. The pain is intense, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to block out the scorching heat. It feels like it's running down my bicep, right down into the bone. He's cut me deep. I'm not sure how deep, but enough that I'm going to need attention soon. Right now I can't think of that. I need to focus.

If I don't I'm dead.

She lunges again, and I spin to my side to avoid a fatal blow. It feels like she's getting faster. She isn't. I'm getting slower. The knife crosses up, and I duck under it hoping to swing out of her way. I don't see her fist crash into my jaw until it's too late. The blow sends me spinning towards digi-terra firma. Just because she isn't the real Sora doesn't mean she doesn't still pack a mean hook.

The Sora clone shrieks like a banshee and starts slicing at me. Her blows are in vain however. I refuse to die like this. Not today. As she comes down she manages to cut into the fabric of my shirt, but no more. I spin beneath her, grabbing her by the arm. We struggle for control, our focus purely on the blade. The clones grip is tight, and her rage is fueling her. But no matter how fast Sora is compared to me… no matter how smart… she'll never be as strong. I slam her hand into the ground with force, breaking her grip on the blade. She yelps, but by then I've pushed her away. By the time she returns to her feet, the knife is in my hands. She charges anyway, crazy thing, but this time I'm ready for her. As she connects I roll with her, the two of us tumbling to the ground in a heap. I end up on top.

And then everything is very still between us. One hand holds to her wrists. The other to the knife. My knee is between her legs. The only sound I hear is the sound of her breathing. She looks just like her in this light. There are plenty of differences, yes. Her hair's too long. Her skin's too dark. Her face is a mask of anger and pain. But her eyes, they haunt me to the core.

"Tai?"

She's looking at me with those big brown eyes.

My hand lowers the knife.

She knees me hard between the legs and pins me in the momentary distraction, rolling up from under me and dropping me on my face. I wheeze, the breath knocked out of me, and instinctively cup myself, leaving my midsection exposed. She kicks me in the stomach when she gets up, hard and swift. A second strike and I roll over. I don't fight back. I can't move. My arm is numb from loss of data and I'm just so tired now. She presses her knee directly into my chest. Her hand once again holds the knife. There's nothing more I can do alone.

"You're gonna… kill me, huh." I grunt.

"All we need… Is your digivice." She wheezes.

I gasp. "It won't be… your home… you know t-that now."

She eyes the blade with fascination. "I can… make it… a home."

She's going to kill her. If she gets out of this place she's going to kill Sora. And there's nothing I can do about it.

She smiles, a deranged look I never want to see again. "This has… been… a fun little adventure… hasn't it… Ta-i-chi?"

"Go… hack yourself."

She lets herself grin. "You… First."

The blade is going to pierce straight into my heart. This is it. She raises her dark arm.

A blur of orange scales and pearl white claws ram into her headlong.

The knife falls to the floor. Within moments my partner has the clone by the arm; gripped in his sharp white teeth. She screams, punching at Agumon's snout. It's no use. Agumon has jaws of steel. He bares down, tugging the fake girl to her knees. I take the time Agumon has lent me to do two things. First, I grab hold of the blade, and hold on to it like no tomorrow. And two – I breathe.

"Thanks buddy." It's barely a whisper.

"MmuurrrMMmeMmm," Agumon attempts. He isn't expected to speak well. His mouth is full.

My head is spinning, my nuts still hurt, and I'm losing the feeling in my arm a little. She tried to kill me just now. She actually tried to kill me. I take a step towards her, my body on autopilot. The clone struggles again, and Agumon squeezes harder. She yelps in fright, and for the first time I see what can only be described as true fear in her eyes. Not the nicey-nice faces she was making earlier. She is deathly afraid.

The knife quivers in my hand.

"Tai!"

I know that voice.

I turn to see Matt Ishida taking deep breaths at the control hub's entrance, Gabumon close behind. I'm not sure how he got through the maze of the ruined pyramid, but I'm glad to see him. He looks worried though. His steel blue eyes waver from me, to the knife in my hand, then back to me. I drop my arm to the side. The knife dances to the floor, useless. It's a digidestineds' job to protect the innocent. To save lives rather than destroy them. I can't forget that. I take a deep breath. "Yo, Matt…"

My world goes spinning before I know what to do. I feel like I'm falling…

GODFALL

13

Digimon