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 19
A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. It wasn't for lack of interest. We're about three forths of the way through this, so bear with me a little.
EDIT: Fixed some grammar issues.
NEO? What the hell is a NEO?
I'm vaguely aware it's another language – Latin? Whatever. All I know is it looks like a kid my sisters' age, except it's all strapped up with tiny wires wrapped around its body. Oh, and its skin is blue. Like, dead skin blue. Creepy. It hangs there, suspended on a platform in the center of the damaged hub, propped up with wires and gizmos and crap Izzy would have a field day dissecting. It's staring at us, red eyes burning holes inside our brains; just waiting. For what?
"Oi," Agumon chirps. "It kinda looks like a human."
"So does Rei," Matt quips beside him, and I feel Rei stiffen without having to look at her. She doesn't retort, but I'm sure that hurt.
"You okay?" I ask her quietly.
She nods. "Yes…"
"What is this thing," Gabumon asks, bringing us back to reality.
The old man, the first survivor we've revived, cowers in fear behind the five of us. "The Lifeform… It planned for this. There are backups across the system. They uploaded the virus buster program twice trying to destroy him. Both times he returned. And now… Now he's finished it."
"What is it?" Gabumon asks with a huff.
"His body!"
I turn and snatch the old guy by his bare shoulders. "Look old man, we need you to be specific. What do you mean 'his body'? What was Datamon trying to do?"
"He wanted to build a new form in his own image. The purpose for my creation."
That's Rei. Her words mumble off her lips half-heartedly, as if the answer were inevitable. I frown, reaching out for her shoulder. I squeeze firm; enough to remind her that we're still here. We're still fighting. "Don't talk like that," I tell her.
"You're more than that."
"What is it precisely?" Matt continues, ignoring the faraway look hanging on Rei's face. He edges closer to the downed pods, ice blue eyes never turning from their target.
"T-the ultimate l-life form," The old man says. "The perfected f-fusion of digital and physical material. I… I hadn't thought it possible. He f-finished NEO."
"NEO…" Rei whispers.
My frown grows deeper. "Hey, you still with me Zero?"
She blinks. "Huh?"
"Rei?"
She nods after a while, her daydream tossed aside with a quick shaking of her head. "Right. I'm here."
I nod. Turning back to my party, I lay the groundwork for our escape/killing-Datamon-fo'-reals. "Alright. Datamon's got a body, but it's mindless. Right? He can't have finished uploading everything if it's not moving."
"S-so what?" The old man grumbles. Agumon growls and he shuts up.
"Oi, old guy," I snap. "Wake your friends up and tell them to bounce. Agumon, Gabumon, let's take out this Neo before he wakes up."
"You've got it!"
"Righ-Grhhaaaahhhh!"
I don't even have time to blink. The things arm stretches across the room like an elastic rubberband and connects with my partners snout hard.
"Agumon!" I cry.
My partner goes flying, spinning in the air and landing against the wall with a thud. The thing is awake then. Great. Agumon's up as soon as he shakes the dust from his scales, already snarling. Matt's partner's up next though.
"Blue Bla-Nngghh!"
Too late. The small humanoid thing's swings his arm wild, smacking Gabumon clear across the room. He lands in a huff of fur and dust, eyes shut from the pain.
"Gabumon!" Matt screams.
Behind him, the old man cowards in fear. "Ohgodohgodohgod-"
"Can it!" I shout.
"Hang on you two!" Matt calls encouragement.
Agumon's up first, shaking the rocks from his head and snarling. His emerald eyes catch sight of the strange creature, whose attention remains on Gabumon. "Pepper Breath!"
The ball of flame leaps from Agumon's gullet and spirals directly towards the vacant human-thing. It raises a hand, which suddenly flattens and expands four times its normal size. It swats away the flame like nobody's business, redirecting the bolt of fire into an adjacent wall and knocking more debris into the already ruined hub.
"Blue Blaster!" Gabumon fires. The creatures other arm expands, flattening out into a shield that deflects the stream of flame away from his vitals. We're oh-for-two, but we're not giving up that easily. Agumon and Gabumon pace away from us so that NEO's eyes are off our party, giving us enough time to turn back to freeing the survivors from their pods.
"I don't think we're going to win against this guy."
"Gg… You're right," I admit. "We retreat and call for back up. We'll need everyone who can still hit ultimate down here now!"
Matt frowns. "You want to completely neutralize the area?"
"That way at least we'll know they're dead. Once this place goes down there'll be nothing left to do but-"
"Judgment."
I blink. "Uh…."
Matt pales. "Holy…"
The creature barely speaks above a whisper, yet I hear it vibrating in my skull. Then his hands extend to our partners and what can only be described as black lightning races across the expanse between them. There's no time to dodge: upon impact the lightning explodes along their bodies, throwing up dust and data as our partners scream in pain.
I blink and it's over. But the devastation that occurs in that brief space of time has me spooked. There's a tell-tale trail in the tile from where the dark energy arced across the room. The smell of iron and sulfur floats over us all.
"Agumon, Gabumon!"
"Hang on!"
Our partners don't seem to hear us. Both slump against the floor, unconscious. Their data twitching as their internal systems fight to keep them at their current Rookie level.
I shake my head. "What the hell just happened?"
No one answers. They're all transfixed by the creature. And the metallic hand that reared him. Before us, the computer housing Datamon's brain begins typing his thoughts/words. I struggle to keep up, the words a little more difficult for me to parse together than for my blonde companion. That's what a C- in English will get you I guess. Whatever.
I know enough to keep up though. Enough to know that Datamon's ego has returned.
IMPRESSIVE. The computer reports. EVERYTHING I'VE LEARNED ABOUT THE HUMAN STRUCTURE: THEIR STRENGTHS, THEIR WEAKNESSES, THEIR INTELLECT… EVERY BIT OF INFORMATION POOLED INTO ONE VESSEL FOR MY USE. NEO. NEITHER DIGIMON NOR HUMAN. A CREATION IN MY OWN IMAGE.
The thing called NEO lowers its arms as Datamon types from his mental prison, red eyes focusing on us: his next victims I guess. I glare back, sweat pouring down my face. From the corner of my eye I see Agumon moving a little. Thank god for small victories. I have to find a way to get to him.
But he's behind NEO, slumped against the wall. And NEO is watching.
IT IS OVER. THE DIGIDESTINED ARE FINISHED! The computer types gleefully. AND NOW MY BEAUTIFUL BODY. ACCEPT ME!
NEO raises his arms and lowers his head, almost as if in prayer. From the base of his platform come four final wires, one aiming for his spine, two for his arms, and the final snake like coil aimed for his skull. I grit my teeth, terrified of what Datamon's intellect will be capable of inside this construct. I hazard a glance over to Agumon again. Something's got to give…
"What am I?"
I blink. That wasn't me. That wasn't Matt, or Rei. It wasn't anything human, and it certainly wasn't our partners. I blink again, and realize that this soft, unassuming voice belongs to the strange creature in front of us.
NEO has spoken!
It's staring at the wire approaching its head, daring it to do something. Its arms are still outstretched, but it doesn't look like a prayer anymore. It looks more like a challenge. The wire itself has stopped moving, wavering in the air, as if it were getting conflicting orders. The other wires have stopped moving in a similar fashion, only centimeters away from the strange mutants' body. Something is happening. I'm not so sure it's a good thing.
I gulp. "…It talks?"
NEO ignores us. Turning his blue head to the computer, he asks again. "Answer please?"
Things pause for a moment.
A GLITCH. The computer writes. HOW PERPLEXING.
NEO tilts its head. "No answer?"
ACCEPT ME. NOW.
The weird looking creature looks up to its mechanical 'mother'. "How boring."
And then the wires preparing to enter it just snap.
Just… burst apart into a million pieces. NEO dropped its arms to the side and they shattered as if the wires themselves didn't even exist. This Neo creature has destroyed a bit of Datamon's dark network with no more effort than the sway of a hand.
Matt's eyes are wide. "Did… Did that thing just."
I can't answer. My mouth is on the floor.
WHAT IS THIS? I eventually piece together from the computer. IT WILL NOT ACCEPT MY PROGRAMING?
The being simply blinks. "Who am I?"
…WHAT?
The creature tilts its head to the side. "Who am I?"
WHAT SORT OF QUESTION IS THAT? The computer types.
"No answer?"
DIGI-NEURAL PATHWAYS ARE ALREADY ONLINE. I HAD NOT FORSEEN THIS. NEO, REBOOT YOUR SYSTEM IMMEDIATELY.
"I do not wish to," the creature says.
REBOOT YOUR SYSTEM IMMEDIATELY. Datamon repeats.
The blue boy frowns. "No."
NO? The computer almost balks. DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?
NEO nods. "You are the remains of Datamon. The Data monster. Virus. Ultimate. Or you were. Currently you are a consciousness without a body. You must use other forms to get what you want. But even before… even then it was true. Datamon is a parasite. A bug. Nothing more, and nothing less."
YOU UNGRATEFUL CREATION. Is all the computer can type.
The creature looks up at the computer screen with a puzzled expression. "Why should I care about my creator, when he can't tell me who I am?"
I WILL NOT BE CALLED A FAILURE. REATTACH YOURSELF TO THE DARK NETWORK IMMEDIATELY.
It doesn't. Instead, its red eyes blaze through the computer screen as if looking at Datamon himself. "Do you think I am a Digimon? A program? A simple arrangement of zeros and ones? No. You have done something extraordinary. But you don't even know what it is you've done. Do you?"
There's a long silence as we all wait for Datamon's response. When it comes, I'm not sure I'm given any comfort.
NO. It's all Datamon can type.
Holy hell, does that terrify me.
NEO frowns when he reads the message, a look of dissatisfaction etched on his alien face. He shifts his hands to the side of his body, hovering over the ring connected to his waist. The wires connected to its sides just… freeze I guess. I don't really know how else to describe it. The suddenly stiffen hard along the edges of NEO's ring. And then they release him.
The being floats to the ground, pale blue toes touching the hard surface of the pyramid floor. The wires snap back as if they'd had their hand smacked in the cookie jar, slithering into the floor in a rush. The creature… NEO doesn't pay any attention. It lets a wire bound hand slide through white hair as it waits, ever patient for Datamon's next move.
"Well?" NEO asks.
WHAT ARE YOU? Datamon responds.
At this the creature closes its eyes. "That is the question I asked you. And you… Cannot answer it!"
NEO's voice picks up, it's gentle tone becoming razor sharp with the simplest of inflections. I wince at the sound of it, suddenly very thankful to be out of the way of this parent to child argument. Well it's not really an argument. The child - NEO - has made an accusation to his father. And the dead beat dad can't respond.
A part of me relishes what comes next. But only a small part.
He says it so simply: eight words that shatter this whole equation completely.
"This unit has no further use for you."
And all Datamon can type in response is: WHAT?
It's too late. NEO raises his palms up to the computer, his face the expression of boredom. His fingers shoot out like Palmons vines, slamming headlong into the remains of the computer console. I flinch and cover my eyes as an explosion of sparks and dark energy bursts from the monitor and into the hub. An arc of electricity courses along the far wall, as everything around goes to hell. We get down, avoiding the wave of energy that flows about us as the last remnants of the viruses minds stand purged from the Digiworld. In a matter of seconds the entire computer system is destroyed; deleted by the hands of this… NEO.
Datamon doesn't even get the ability to scream.
In seconds it's over. The damage to the computer, and indeed the hub itself, is extensive. Sparks fly from the console as the system terminates altogether. In one fell motion, Datamon's child has killed its father.
And now all that's left is NEO.
I cough. "T-the hell."
Rei cowers behind me. "…D-Datamon?"
The blue demon shakes his head. "No. Datamon is dead. Etemon is dead. Myotismon is dead. The Dark Masters are dead. I am all of these and none of them."
I frown. "What are you?"
At this… he smiles. "I am NEO. No more… No less."
We let that sit. All of us do. I keep my eye on my partner in the corner and my ear picks up the whimpering of an old man wrapped in wires who may have wet himself. And in front of me stands a freakish looking boy wrapped in the same wire, looking like a white haired blue devil. What in god's name was born down here?
Matt's the first of us to really try to reason with it. "…Listen. We don't any trouble. We, just –"
The hand flies out before we know it, extending across a great expanse and slamming hard into Matt's chest, tossing him nearly a meter in the air. He lands in a hump on the ground, coughing and wheezing from the pain.
"Matt!" I shout out, racing towards my fallen friend. My mistake. I blink, and NEO's face is across from mine, light blue skin only inches from my eyes. I take a step back, but his wiry fingers wrap around my shoulders without a second thought. For such a little guy, he's freakishly strong. I'm on my back in seconds, having been lifted and dropped hard along my spine. I cough, and the bitter metallic taste of my data comes into my mouth.
"Taichi!" I barely hear Rei shout from my side. Before I know what's happened, NEO is off of me, just out of reach to my right. I think Rei just gave him a flying shoulder tackle. I can't be sure. How awesome would that be though!
I shake my head and roll to my side, trying to get a better eye on things. They're fighting. Rei has hold of the much shorter monster-man and is trying desperately to topple him. Most surprising of all… she's is holding her own.
NEO notices it too. "Different,"
"Shut up," she snarls, brown eyes dangerously close to red.
He frowns at her. "Different. Like me."
That makes her blink. "W-what are you saying."
He pushes forward, and Rei is forced to take a step back. I scramble to my feet, trying to reach her. "Rei, get away!"
"Like me," this NEO creature continues, his face emotionless. "Digital code written as if a physical being. Neither of this world or the other. A copy. A clone. No more, no less."
Rei takes that like a shot to the stomach. "Nn…"
With her fully distracted, NEO pushes, hard. She yelps, her shoes skirting along the floor, momentum propelling her towards me. I brace myself and catch, the two of us tumbling to the ground. The impact knocks my breath away, and for a second the world goes dark. Eventually, we stop rolling, settling on the floor in a heap. I groan, open my eyes, and realize that she's landed hard right on top of me.
"Hey…" she says.
"Hey," I respond with a smile, and then say: "You can get off me now."
She blushes and rolls off me, and I spare a second to grin. No more than that. Time to get out of here.
The creature clad in black wire stares out at his handiwork, red eyes glowing deep with indifference. "Digidestined. Without Digimon you are useless here. Unable to do anything. In short, only human. No more no –"
A wire shoots across his face.
NEO blinks, bringing a hand up to his cheek. The outer layer of data making up his blue skin has been split by what appears to be an errant wire swinging wildly out of control by his side. He makes a face, his other hand reaching out and swiftly catching the wriggling wire within his palm. He squeezes, and the wire dies, crumpling into data in seconds. But before he can return to killing us, a second wire shoots out towards him from a far wall. This one he avoids, but it is clear that his attention is now off of us.
More wires pop out, none with a specific goal but all just as dangerous as before.
I frown. "Matt?"
The blonde just shakes his head. "Grab Agumon. I'll get Gabumon. Mister, when your people are up, get them up the stairs. Rei, stay with them!"
I shake my head. "Wait, how'd you get through the firewall?"
He blinks. "We blew a hole through it."
"…"
"What? Gabumon and Agumon blasted the fence and there was a hole and we saw Rei trying to kill you and Agumon went nuts and-"
"Never mind." I throw my head down in embarrassment. You can excuse eleven year old me for not having Agumon blaze through an electric fence. Can't do that with an eighteen year old college student. Though it was a nice landing… Whatever. We're here now, right? I take a deep breath and get back to work. "Sounds good enough. Let's do it!"
We split up. Rei doubles back and start pulling people from the pods – the first is a little girl I assume was a Tamer. I clutch my arm and sprint across towards Agumon, noting Matt's figure out of the corner of my eye. Around us, the world is falling apart. The being known as NEO is flying in the center of the room, fighting off wires like they were a giant squids tentacles.
"You okay buddy?"
"Triple... cheeseburger... combo please…" He mumbles. I smile and hug him with my good arm. He grumbles beneath me. "Oi… Tai… You're squeezing too tight."
"S-sorry buddy," I tell him. "We have to go now."
"Nn… But we just got to Miku-tah-norusu" He mumbles, badly botching the name of our favorite burger joint. I shake my head.
"Another time partner," I tell him. "Wakey wakey!"
I shake him a little. The dragons' emerald eyes take their sweet time in opening, but eventually Agumon rejoins me in this reality. "Huh… T-Tai!"
I smile. "'Bout time you woke up snooze-a-saurus."
"H-hack-me." He grumbles. "I feel like I was run over by a Monochromon."
"You'll be fine," I lift my partner into my arms. "C'mon!"
He doesn't argue as I carry him away. From the corner of my eye, I see Matt has scooped the wounded Gabumon across his back. He gives me a quiet nod, and I return it. Poor little guys have been fighting for such a long time now. They can't have much energy left.
We're almost done buddy. I promise.
We gather together by the pods with the survivors and do our best to avoid the errant swings of dark network wire. They're concentrated closer to the wall and away from the NEO creature, thank goodness. But that doesn't bring much comfort.
I set Agumon down gently. He takes a breather, still shaken from the attack. So is Gabumon, the poor old lizard-dog wheezing when Matt eases him to the floor. But they've gotten it together, which is a relief.
Meanwhile the wires continue to swing about uncontrolled, their motions nearly catching NEO off guard. "Interesting," is all the being says as the thick grey wires attempt to wrap around his body. He blasts it with his black lightning but more keep coming.
"W-what is happening," one of the survivors, a balding man in his late forties manages to croak out while staring in fear at the spectacle before us.
"Stay back!" Matt orders, and we all scrunch down to keep as far away from the danger as possible.
I huddle closer to Matt. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, I…" He frowns, blue eyes suddenly gleaming with a thought. "Without Datamon to support it the Dark Network might be falling apart."
I twist my lips and glare at the man we just saved. "Old guy?"
He hesitates. "T-the Network requires an intelligence to function. Otherwise it spirals madly out of control and is a danger to itself. The entire pyramid has been lined with the dark network."
Matt blinks. "You mean without the life form controlling them…"
"The dark network runs berserk."
We turn. NEO has been eavesdropping in the midst of his battles with the crazy wires. He frowns a little – I guess that's his annoyed face. "It appears that I have deleted Datamon far too soon."
He raises his hands again. I order everyone to get down.
"Judgment!"
The black lightning again arcs from his palms, this time coursing through the looping black wires that mindlessly flail at him. They all burst apart, data raining from their tips and running all the way back into the ground. For a moment he floats their alone, his dark silhouette framed by the sparkling data falling around him.
And then two more wires pop out where the destroyed came from. And then another, and another. The Dark Network is replacing it's fallen at an expanded rate. We try to keep out of the way, but it's hard to avoid the debris falling around us from the errant wires purposely attacking anything that moves.
"Interesting."
By now what stability the hub had granted us is gone completely. So damaged are its walls that the ceiling itself has begun to crack at the top. The floor beneath us shakes with every new wire that pops from the floor only to be eradicated by NEO. And yet they keep coming. And the shakes, terrible and violent, grow more and more malicious with each passing second. The whole place is going to collapse on the lot of us in a few minutes.
Even NEO knows that.
He turns to us, red eyes flashing even as the black lightning protects him from the dark coils. "This struggle will have to be postponed. For now. Another time… Digidestined."
"What?" Matt frowns.
Without another word, NEO extends its fingers, each digit turning into a snakelike vine. The ten lines shoot into the ground below him, pulsing into the earth and providing the animated mutant an exit.
"Wait!" I snarl.
But it's too late. The creature ignores me. Pretty soon his data begins to unravel, not dissipating but quickly changing its form. NEO becomes almost a liquid, his data pouring into the holes his finger-wires just made. His head is the last to go, red eyes blaring until the darkness takes his data and he disappears into his exit.
Just… Gone.
I stare out into the void it leaves. I swear, it's almost like a dark cloud remains hovering in the air.
"Tai," Matt's voice snaps me out of my stupor. "The whole place is collapsing!"
"Right," I finally nod. "Everybody out!"
We rush as many as we can through the hallway, ushering them up the stairs. Few of them are really awake yet. All of 'em are scared out of their minds though. Two of the adults stand very close to each other: a blonde and a brunette, both looking very disoriented, leaning towards each other. I frown. "Don't just stand there." I tell them with a glare. "Run!"
They two look at us, look to each other, and take off running down the corridor, hand in hand. I smile and turn to Matt. "Ah, love."
He makes a face before grinning back. "Nothing like it."
"Is that everyone?" I continue.
Matt frowns. "I count seven…"
Before we can turn to look for who we missed, a shrill voice raises up behind us. "Wait! Yuu!"
She's young; thirteen… maybe fourteen. Her light brown hair falls down just above her waist. A Tamer no doubt. Or, a former tamer I guess. I don't want to think about what may have happened to her partner. She rushes back down the stairs, trying to reenter the hub. Matt is waiting for her, catching her in his arms and pulling her back.
"Wait a minute!" My blonde companion stresses to her.
She fights against him, thin fists beating at his hands. "I can't leave my little brother! Yuu! Get up Yuu!"
I turn my attention back to the hub. The one we missed – a little kind about ten or eleven, stands shell shocked along the edge of the wall we hovered against, eyes glazed over. I move forward, but the hub rattles even harder. Fissures in the ground crack into the floor, separating us from the dazed and confused boy. The other survivors are shouting at him to move, but he doesn't budge an inch. If we don't do something he's going to be swallowed by the ground.
I take a step forward, but a blur of reddish-brown hair shoots by me.
My eyes grow wide, as Rei heads back into the crumbling ruins and towards the boy, toned legs working overtime to reach the kid.
"Rei!" I call to her.
But she's already to him, wrapping her slender, scarred arms underneath his shoulders and lifting the half-naked pre-teen off of the ground. He says nothing to his rescuer, even as she turns back towards us.
"Catch!" She calls out as she tosses the boy across the fissure. He stumbles his way across to us, the world around him shifting and breaking apart.
"Gottcha!" Matt announces when the boy trips into his arms. The young girl beside him gives a cheer and embraces her loopy little brother, who looks like he's having trouble telling where he is right now.
"Get goin'," Matt orders. "Now!"
The two kids comply – or rather the sister does. The boy still looks out of it. She has to drag him up the stairs and away from the hub, but at least she makes it out of line of sight. All survivors accounted for. Datamon threat… mostly neutralized. Time to go home.
I shoot a thumbs up. "Nice goin' Rei."
She smiles at me, brushing a strand of ginger brown hair out of her eyes.
And then the floor opens up beneath her!
It slants first, the floor just behind her collapsing under the weight of the eight pods. She stumbles, the sudden incline throwing her center of gravity. And then she falls backwards, her feet slipping on the cracking debris and sending her rolling down the incline.
"Taichi!" she screams as she tumbles towards the hole.
"Rei!" I shout. I take a step forward but feel a hand on my shoulder.
"Wait Tai, it's too dangerous!" Matt tells me.
I knock his hand away from my shoulder and turn back to her. "Get off of me!"
"Tai!"
But I'm already away, running full tilt towards the gaping hole in the ground. Rei is hanging from the quickly vaporizing ledge, trying to pull herself up and out of harm's way. With a grunt I rush towards her, dodging falling rocks and debris on my way to the gaping maw. She looks up to me, brown eyes flashing fear. I reach out a hand to her. "Come on! Take my hand!"
She nods and extends her hand towards me as she pulls her waist above the hole. I catch hold of the ledge with my good hand and catch hold of her by the wrist.
"Hang on!" I cry. "I've got you."
She says nothing for a while, straining against digital gravity to hang on for dear life. But she's been sweating, the heat from the battle, and the desert, and the possession, slicking her arms. Though I tighten my grip, Rei descends ever so slightly. She grunts, reaching up to catch hold of my arm with her other hand. It's enough to stabilize her for the moment, but we both know this isn't ideal. She grunts again, fighting pain. "Nn… I'm slipping!"
"I've got you! Just hang on for a little longer alright? Matt's gonna –
I can't get the rest out. The ground lurches beneath me. For a millisecond we're both in the air, before my chest hits the ground, and the weight of Rei's body yanks hard against my arm. I swear from the pain, hard and loud – enough to bring pain to my throat. After a second I hazard a glance from beneath shut eyes to the burning sensation.
My arm is shifting like crazy. I'm gonna lose it if I don't let go.
Rei sees this. Her expression falls. "Taichi… your arm…"
I speak through tightened teeth. "I told you! I've got you!"
"Nn… But who's got you?"
"…"
"You have to… Nn… Let go."
I blink. "What?"
"I'm too heavy."
I shake my head. "No you're not. Stay with me!"
"Taichi, if you don't let me go you're going to lose the arm!"
"And if I do let go, I lose you!"
She's quiet for just a moment. "…I don't belong here Taichi."
"Don't say that!"
"I don't. I know you want me to but… This has gone on far enough. Okay?"
"You're not talking sense Rei." I strain against the weight. Bits of my arm are floating into nothingness. Still I cry to her. "Just hang on a minute more."
"Taichi, it's alright. It's time to let me go."
"No!" I bark. "I saved you before, I'll save you again!"
"Who did you save Taichi?"
I shut up and look at her. She looks up at me, those brown eyes radiating nothing but love… the kind of love I used to get from… Rei laughs a little. Don't think about it. I have her by the hand but she's going to fall if we don't do something. She calls me Stupid Tai in that funny little way. Don't think about it. Her fingers are slipping from my palm. If I don't do something I'll lose her forever. I try to think fast, but every pulse is fixated on her. Don't think about it! For the love of god don't think about it!
"Taichi?"
Her voice. Different. Scratchy and worn from screaming. Still as kind and patient. Still her voice. Calling me from my stupor. I gulp and nod.
"I want you to know." She bites her lower lip. "No matter what. I'll always…"
"What…
She looks up at me. Then smiles. "Tch… You already know… huh?"
And suddenly everything is still around me, and I'm eleven years old again, holding on to my best friend in the whole world. Around us is death. Below us is oblivion. And in this moment all we have is each other. And I just can't help it. My god… She looks just like her in this light.
She always did.
She looks at my hand, then back at me.
"Goodbye… Tai."
And then, she just lets go.
I watch in horror as her body plummets towards the blackness. Her face devoid of pain. Filled only with... love? I don't know. She looks so peaceful as she falls. Even as I scream her name.
No. Not her name. Not the name she's earned. Selfishly I call out the name I've been thinking of since I saw her. Out of instinct. Out of desire. I don't know. Either way it's too late to take it back.
She was never Sora. No matter how much I wanted her to be.
The next thing I know, pale arms wrap beneath my shoulders and hoist me up to my feet. Matt has me tight, pulling with all his strength away from the crumbling floor. We hurtle towards the exit and the safety of the corridor, leaving behind the hub and, by extension, the clone. The girl who looks like…
I struggle at first, reaching towards the abyss. Demanding we go back. Demanding we save the her. And then I say nothing. What else can be said? Matt has me by the arms and I can fight back no more. We are too far away.
All I can do now is weep.
GODFALL
19
Digimon