A/N: Back and ready for action! YAY. I start driver's ed on Monday, so therefore, updates might take a little longer. We'll see when I can get around to it.

But let's not worry about that right now, you've got a new chapter to read.

Thanks for reviewing. I love you all!

Once again, this chapter's dedicated to Courage Sun.

Happy reading!

Tai Kamiya soaked in his usual steaming hot bath as he always did after playing soccer. It was a nice wind down from the high energy feeling he was experiencing on the field. He fumed at what had happened just under an hour ago at his soccer game.

For the first time since he was seven years old on the third grade soccer team, Tai had been on the bench. And for the entire first half. Every time he'd even try to make a suggestion that he get out on the field, his coach would simply start yelling out to a player on the field. Tai may be a little dimwitted, but he knew he was being ignored.

He was normally the center and here he was, watching on the sidelines. Watching the co-captain of the team, Ryo, take his place as center and doing a pretty damn good job. He was trying to steal his position. Damn him. He yearned to be out there; to feel the excitement and feed off of the spectator's energy. He wanted to run. His muscles ached because he wasn't playing. That's how much he loved soccer, or well, needed soccer. Lately it had become more of an outlet to vent his frustrations than a way to have fun.

His coach was surely punishing him for his disastrous performance at practices. Lately Tai had been quite a ball hog. He normally would devise an elaborate plan to get around the other team and score a goal, in which every player was involved. He was the captain after all, but he was so ravenous to get his craving of adrenaline; to feel alive, that he acted like a jerk doing it. During scrimmages it seemed as if he was playing the game with himself because nobody else would even get to touch the ball. They would just watch angrily as Tai took over the field.

He was not meant to be a bench warmer. Certainly not Tai Kamiya. He was meant to be in the spotlight. He sat impatiently, cursing at his coach under his breath.

At half time, Ryo stumbled off the field. "Coach," He began breathlessly. "I need a break."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah," He replied, downing the rest of the water from his water bottle. "I've played for the entire half without stopping. I'm beat."

"Fine. Take a seat." He sighed and pointed at Tai. "Kamiya, get out there. And share the ball, please." Tai could sense the doubt in his voice.

He ran eagerly out onto the field, ready for action.

As soon as his feet made contact with the ball, Tai claimed it as his. He was making his way up the field, defenders surrounding him. A few of his team mates had followed him down the field and one of them was open for a pass. Tai made eye contact. Of course he knew he was there, but he refused to give up the ball. Making himself feel better was more important. He had to score a goal.

But his thinking gave the opposite team enough time to steal the ball. They scored two goals within four minutes.

"Kamiya!" His coach barked after the second goal was scored. "Share the ball!" But Tai would not allow himself to. He knew he was angering his coach and the other players, but he just couldn't give it up.

He heard his team mate call out his name, trying to get his attention; to give up his ball. Never. Tai smirked and tried to push his way through the players around him. At this point it didn't matter how he got to the goal, just that he did. He barged through, colliding with others' bodies, simply not caring. He was in the clear, he could see the goal. His dream was crushed to an oblivion when the whistle blew. He kicked the ball with all of his strength and it went soaring over the goal and out of sight. He turned around furiously, wondering what in the hell had happened that the referee had to blow the whistle and stop the game that was in motion; to stop him from getting what he wanted.

That's when he spotted a guy from the opposite team sprawled across the field, holding his nose. Blood gushed from it and painted the grass red. He had gotten in Tai's way and gotten knocked down.

Tai received a glare from one of his team mates. "You just had to be the center of attention." He murmured.

Ryo, having run out onto the field, chimed in with, "Are you even with us, Tai? Because something tells me this game isn't about getting our team a win. It's about you going on some sort of rampage to let off whatever's going on with you right now. Personal problems stay off the field. Out here, it's all soccer. It's all about the game, Tai."

"I don't have a personal problem! How the fuck would you know anyway? You don't care about being friends with me! You just want to take my place!"

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm happy you're our captain, or at least, I was. You were always one step ahead of everybody else; always making spontaneous moves that scored us goals. You're not thinking about the team anymore, Tai. You're thinking of yourself."

"Ryo-"

But he wouldn't take it anymore. "Coach is waiting for you on the sidelines. Good luck." And he walked out to take Tai's place, once again.

Tai stomped off the field to his irate coach. "I knew I shouldn't have let you go out there. Whatever's wrong with you, straighten it out. You're putting our team in jeopardy. The soccer field is no place for your own personal problems." He didn't want to hear a repeat of what Ryo just told him. "Ryo will be taking over for you until you play like a part of a team, and to do that, I think you need a break from soccer. Go home." He couldn't believe what he was saying. He was being revoked of his spot as captain? Ryo was replacing him? He knew it. Ryo was out to get him. All of those practices that they had worked together and devised plays to confuse the other team; he was just out to be captain the entire time.

He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. Defeated, he packed up his things and left the field. The more he told himself that Ryo was out to get him and take his job, the stupider it sounded. By the way he had just acted; he had gotten his captain status taken away. Ryo had nothing to do with it. This one was all Tai.

He sighed and climbed out of the bathtub. He dried off and wrapped the towel around his waist.

When he stepped into the hallway, he found his sister chattering away on his cell phone. "Sure. My parents are gone visiting our aunt for the week anyway." She paused, as if she was listening to the person on the other side of the line. "Yeah, I'll make some phone calls. See you soon. Bye." She shut the phone and handed it to her brother who accepted it numbly.

"Since when did I hire you as my secretary, Kari?"

"I'm sorry." She apologized in response to her brother's irritable tone. "Your phone was ringing every few minutes and I thought it was urgent, so I picked it up. It was Izzy. He's calling a mandatory meeting and we're having it here. He got an email from Gennai."

"What? No! Have it somewhere else! I'm busy with stuff!"

"Why are you so grumpy? Did you lose your game?"

"No. Well, probably. We were trailing by two when I left."

"Left?"

"Yeah, I got sent home."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I injured some guy on the other team. Something like that." Tai waved it off.

"How?"

"I don't know, Kari. Maybe I was trying to get to the goal!"

"Sorry…" She replied. She was always calm and compassionate, even when Tai was being a jerk to her. It was just her nature. She ducked into her room and returned with her pink cell phone. "I've got some calls to make."

"I told you that we're not having the damn meeting here, Kari! I don't want any visitors." Especially not Sora, but he didn't tell her that.

She selected someone from her contacts and hummed to herself as it rang, ignoring Tai's outburst of a request. "Hey Davis. There's an emergency meeting at my place. Get here as soon as you can." Tai wanted to rip the phone from her ear and snap it in half. He entered his room and slammed the door, locking it behind him. He tried to drown out her voice.

He needed to get away and he knew the perfect vacation spot.

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"Sora, we have to be there. Kari said it's urgent." Davis told her, after she protested.

"But Tai's going to be there!"

"Yeah, but so is everybody else. There will be so much going on that you guys won't even notice that each other are there! Izzy's just going to drone on the entire time anyway."

"I guess you're right." She admitted, biting her lip. "Let's go." She followed Davis out of his messy room and past the kitchen.

"Daisuke, where are you going?" His mother questioned.

"Sora and I are hungry. We're gonna go grab a bite to eat." He lied oh so fluently. "We'll be back soon."

"Okay." She said, and the two of them walked to the door. Jun came in just as they were getting on their shoes. She was, of course, on her cell phone blabbing to a friend. She stopped in mid-sentence when she saw Sora and giggled to herself.

"Davis has a girl over? What, did you pay her to pose as your girlfriend to make that one girl jealous? You know, the brunette that's always hanging around that blonde kid?" Sora didn't know if Jun just couldn't remember their names, or if she was talking in code as if to not spill Davis' secret, even though there wasn't one. Everyone knew that Davis was madly in love with Kari. You had to be a fool not to.

Davis glowered at his sister. "Sora happens to be here willingly. She wanted to come here."

"Suuuure." Jun disappeared into the living room, drowning in laughter.

"I apologize for her. She thinks it's impossible for me to have a girl over without bribing them. I beg to differ. Kari wouldn't even come here if I bribed her." He laughed and then thought about it more. "I'd have to bribe her with T.K if it did happen to work." Sora admired Davis' sense of humor. He was able to laugh at himself and he was easy going. She laughed along with him. It felt nice, as it had when she had first made that phone call to him and laughed.

They headed out the door together. Sora had been hanging around Davis a lot and she liked to. He made her feel at ease. She was undoubtedly comfortable around him. They would sit in his room and listen to music. She'd watch him try and color with crayons with his feet. He was beyond entertaining and had the ability to make her smile. They could spend hours together without getting bored. The thing she liked most about him was that he didn't bother her about Tai or tell her what to do. He'd listen if she wanted to talk, but otherwise he'd steer clear of the subject.

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Mimi was the last one to arrive at The Kamiya's. She entered without knocking, like everyone else did. They were all expected, so it didn't matter. She threw off her flip flops and made her way to the living room where everyone was gathered around Izzy, who sat at his laptop. "Ah, Mimi. There you are. Now we can begin." He said. She was pleased that he noticed her appearance. Now if only somebody would comment on her outfit.

She glanced around the room at her friends; her fellow Digi-Destined. She had more in common with them then anybody else. They were, in a sense, one big family. T.K and Kari sat on the loveseat next to each other, awaiting Izzy's announcement. Davis and Sora were seated on the couch. Ken, Yolei, and Cody sat next to Izzy on the floor and Matt leaned up against the wall. Mimi stood next to him, considering he was alone.

That's when she noticed somebody was missing. There were twelve of them; twelve pieces to fit the puzzle they formed. And currently there was only eleven seated in the living room. The one who led them all; the original goggle-head, was absent.

"Where's Tai?" She asked nobody in particular. Her question hung uncomfortably in the air.

Kari answered. "He won't come out of his room. I don't know what's wrong with him, but he seemed upset about his soccer game. He's being a grouch."

"It's very important that we're all here, but he's being stubborn, which isn't anything new for him. So, I ask that you fill him in, Kari. This is all very important." Izzy told her and she nodded. "Then I will begin, because I'm sure you're all curious as to what's going on." He paused as if waiting for everyone to confirm that they were, but they just stared at him, waiting. "I received an email from Gennai about a new threat in the Digital World and he would like to speak to us all in a live transmission." He clicked a button on his keyboard and a hologram of the guy they knew so well appeared in the room.

"Hello Digi-Destined. It's nice to see you all together." He looked around at each of them and when he came up one short he was confused. "Where's Taichi?"

"Long story." Izzy said. "We'll inform him later."

"Very well." He said. "You all need to stay out of the Digital World. There will be no going there for casual picnics or to relax."

"Why?" Yolei asked.

"Yeah, it's nice to have somewhere to practice my kendo," Cody chimed in.

"I bet, but you won't find it peaceful at the moment. A new threat has emerged, and she's determined. She wants the Digital World and Earth in her possession and to do it, she'll need to get rid of its protectors."

"In other words she wants to kill us, right?" Joe questioned, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Yes, Jyou. To put it bluntly."

He sighed. "Of course. I knew it was too quiet there! It's like these Digimon wait until the Digital World is at its most peaceful and then decide that it's just too happy there, so they have to wreck it. What's the big deal with ruling two worlds anyway? What's so great about it?"

"Power, Jyou. Power. That's all they want. They're horrible tyrants. Spiritmon will stop at nothing to get it."

"Spiritmon? That's the Digimon's name?"

"Indeed."

Matt moved off of the wall. "I don't get it. Why can't we go to the Digital World? It's in danger. Don't we need to go and save it?"

"Hold on, Yamato. Don't get carried away." Matt crossed his arms, waiting for what was to be said next. "There's one thing. Spiritmon can't pass between the two worlds unless through a human's body. If no human goes to the Digital World, Spiritmon is trapped inside. Got it?"

"So, that's it?" Izzy asked. He thought it would be different, that they'd need to go fight, but Gennai was telling them to never go to the Digital World again? "We can't ever go there again just to keep an evil Digimon trapped inside? You just want us to avoid her? We'll never see our Digimon again!"

"Koushiro, I'm not sure you all are strong enough, and I can't risk Earth being put into jeopardy."

"So, what about the Digital World then? You're just going to let it fall to pieces; into darkness?" Kari asked. What was going on with Gennai? Why was he acting so strange?

"One world's better than two worlds, Hikari."

"But all of the Digimon! Gatomon..."

"You must listen to me. I know what's right. Nobody can set foot in the Digital World, or there will be huge consequences for it."

"Why don't you think we can handle it?" Davis jumped in. "We can do anything, Gennai! You don't think we're strong enough?"

"I don't want to see the heroes fall."

"But either way, something horrible is going to happen! Either we sit around and do nothing while the Digital World goes to hell, or we try to fight her and possibly die along the way. What's the point in not doing anything at all when we could try?"

"Daisuke, that's enough. There will be no further discussion. I must leave now. Remember, no one goes to the Digital World." And he was gone, leaving everybody dumfounded and speechless.

"What the hell just happened?" Matt inquired. "Because honestly I'm confused and feeling kind of angry. He thinks we're weak!"

"I don't get it either, Matt. I didn't expect that at all. His email wasn't anything at all like that. He expressed that he needed our help and was counting on us."

"Counting on us to sit around and do nothing?" T.K had been quiet, but he sure hadn't liked what Gennai had said.

"That's not what it seemed like. His email was different. He sounded like he wanted us to fight; like he had faith in us."

"I'm not going to be a coward." Davis said. "We need to try and stop her. The Digital World is just as much of a home to us as Earth is."

"I agree with Davis." Sora added.

"So what do we do?" Mimi had been the one to ask the obvious burning question.

"We go against Gennai. That's what." Matt stated defiantly and everyone looked at him, astonished. "What? We have to."

"Matt's right, you guys." Izzy shut his laptop. "We have to protect the Digital World. It's what we're supposed to do. It's our job." Gennai just didn't understand.

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Tai paced around and kicked at the dirt. He looked into the distance to see a thick fog. What the hell? There should be a weather man to predict these types of things in the Digital World, something to warn him. A weathermon. Tai chuckled darkly to himself. He felt like ripping his hair out and screaming into the sky. Here he was, making strange jokes to make himself feel better, and it wasn't even working. He just felt worse. He thought going there would relieve him and give him a sense of tranquility, but he still felt the same. He felt like he was being a swallowed up into an endless super massive black hole.

(A/N: I really love that song by Muse. You might not even know what I'm talking about right now, but that's okay. Anyway, enough rambling. That's not the end yet).

He decided he'd just go back. It was a stupid idea to come. He was digging out his digivice from his pocket when he heard a whisper. "Leaving so soon? Why don't you stay for a while?" It felt so close, like whoever was speaking was standing right behind him. He turned abruptly to see nothing and decided he was just tired. He began walking and heard it again. "Taichi." It hissed now, making Tai cringe. Who or what was that?

"Hello?" He spun around, searching for something. Anything. But there was nothing. And then he suddenly felt a strange sensation over come him and he felt weak. He continued on though, kept on meandering towards the gate. But he couldn't go on much longer. His steps became shorter. His breath became ragged. He felt as if he was being dragged down by an impenetrable force. He couldn't even begin to explain the feeling. And when a sharp pain seemed to radiate through his body, the leader fell crippled to the ground. It seemed as if he was finally being dragged down into that hole. He couldn't fight it. It took over him.

A/N: Now it's the end! I have to say, it's a little bit of a different approach than the old Head Games, but I do like it. I find my writing voice to be a lot better. My writing has a lot more feeling and intensity. Agree/disagree?

Leave me a review with some suggestions or things you liked. It keeps me going.

It's two-twenty in the morning. I'm going to get some sleep. Especially since I've only gotten seven hours in two days and I don't like coffee. There's nothing to keep me awake.