A Digimon Frontier Fanfic

By Sakura Martinez

A/N:

Well, I'm still pissed off at my groupmates so I decided not to do the thesis. That's right, I'm not laying a finger on it unless they help out (I've already told my parents about it and they told me that it was best if I don't work on it for now since I would only be acting as a slave to those no-good groupmates of mine). Anyways, as I am not allowed to play computer games or watch anime shows at the moment as part of my sacrifice this Lenten Season, I decided to use my free time in writing and uploading this. Thanks for those who reviewed by the way… You are all so gonna love this chapter! Enjoy!

The Rabbit on the Moon

Black as Sin; Red as Blood

"It's been a while hasn't it, Izumi?" Takuya said as he walked on closer.

Izumi was dumbfounded. She didn't know what to do or what to think of. She could feel her senses tingling and Kaizen telling her to move back and warning her of danger. Her head swirled as question after question stormed in.

"It can't be…" Kouji said, his eyes wide open as is his jaw. "You're supposed to be dead, Takuya!"

"Wow, that's something." Takuya said as he walked passed the flames that separated him from the group. "I was hoping for something like a 'Welcome Back' or something…"

As Takuya walked closer and closer, his eyes never left Izumi for a second. Izumi could feel his stare and although she wished to see him again, the moment she saw his eyes, she suddenly looked away.

'Shin' on the other hand was shocked. It wasn't possible. This person walking towards them could not exist! He was Takuya and yet, who is this imposter that acts friendly with his friends?

"What's going on?" 'Shin' muttered to himself. Then, without warning Flayhm spoke to him with urgency telling him to go between that person's path and Izumi's.

"This guy reeks of evil!" Flayhm said growling. "You should know that for you ARE Takuya."

'Shin's' brows furrowed. He could not help but wonder who that other him was yet, he could feel it too. It was a dark, foreboding feeling which was emanating from that other Takuya. He readied himself to attack the enemy the moment he does so much as raise a hand on his friends.

On the other side of the Main Deck, Tomoki was having the same discussion with Hiltz.

"Is that really Takuya?" Tomoki asked his Guardian Spirit.

The spirit shrugged but kept a serious look on his face, his eyes never leaving that person. "I don't know, Tomoki. His energy feels the same but, at the same time, different."

"Is he an enemy then?" Tomoki continued to ask, his hand resting on the hilt of his short sword.

"I can't tell at the moment but…"

Hiltz' explanation was cut short when Takuya spoke to Izumi yet again.

"What's wrong, Izumi?" Takuya said as he stopped midway. "Why are you moving away from me? Are you scared?"

Izumi backed away once more and replied. "I don't know what happened to you, Takuya…but you've certainly changed."

"Changed? Me?" Takuya asked in a jeering manner.

"Yes." Izumi replied, his voice trembling. "Y-you were trying to kill me!"

"Kill you?" Takuya asked, acting quite taken aback. "How could I do that, you know how I feel for you, do you not?"

'Shin' gritted his teeth. He was trying his best not to suddenly lounge forward. Here, this person was acting as though he is the real Takuya. Blood was already dripping from his fist which has been balled up in anger.

Just then, Takuya vanished and in the blink of an eye he was already standing right in front of Izumi, his hands were around her waist and his lips were locked with hers.

Surprise caught everyone and when her senses came to, Izumi quickly pushed Takuya away with wide open eyes. The moment that Izumi pushed him aside did the 'other' Takuya, the one they call 'Shin', burst into anger.

The flames that surround the group grew in size and intensity before being called to gather around 'Shin'. If everyone's attention were on Izumi and Takuya before, their eyes now turned towards 'Shin' and the flames that danced with fury around him.

The other Takuya cocked his head to the other's direction. Curiosity enveloping him as he wondered who the person who seemed to be controlling the flames was. Deep inside him he felt a familiar sense, a sense that he has found what he was looking for. His eyes glinted with malice and hunger and his lips curved into a sly smile.

"No one…" 'Shin' spoke, his voice raspy and his head bent low. "No one…has the right…to do that… to her!"

As he spoke, the flames were already creeping up to his body covering his arms, legs and torso. It would seem that he was burning yet, he wasn't.

Izumi, who seemed as if she was about to faint thanks to the events that had transpired could not help but look at the burning man. She was about to say something when the 'other' Takuya spoke before her, turning to face the man.

"Well now, what do we have here?" Takuya said. "Who are you to say that to me? Are you someone close to her? Someone much closer than I?"

At that time, Katsuharu had a bad feeling as to what was about to happen.

"This is bad." Katsuharu muttered to his two other companions. "He's over the limit of his patience as it seems…"

Teppei nodded in agreement. "But what can we do? My gut feeling is telling me that there is nothing we can do now."

"If Takuya forces himself to speak the truth of who he is…" Chiaki said. "the seal would take effect and he might die…"

"We can't let that happen." Katsuharu said as he gritted his teeth.

'Shin', whose eyes were closed and head bent low, slowly lifted his eyes. He then shot his eyes open and at that, shouted, "Yes, I am! For I am the REAL Takuya Kanbara!" And with that the flames moved to his face and he followed with a shout, "Level 3, Activate!"

No one could tell what the other is thinking. Time seemed to have slowed down or stilled. With a powerful force that greatly rocked the ship they were on, a pillar of fire erupted from where 'Shin' stood. This pillar vanished as quickly as it had appeared and in 'Shin's' place there stood the same masked warrior who had saved them before.

His eyes burned with anger and his fists were clenched. With a swift movement of his right hand he called forth a sword from out of the flames.

"This is…" The 'other' Takuya said in a surprised tone. And after a maniacal laughter that sent shivers down everyone who heard it, he too unsheathed his sword then pointed its tip on the 'real' Takuya. "Who would have thought it…my 'other' half would be here…I'll make sure then, Takuya, that before this day ends you will no longer be, as you put it, the real Takuya. I'll make sure that I get what is needed for me to truly be complete!"

And with that the 'other' Takuya lounged forward for an attack. 'Shin' or the 'real' Takuya did so in the same time. Their swords clashed and as it did, sparks flew.

As they fought, Izumi fell down in shock. Junpei could not take his eyes off the fast paced battle. Tomoki ran to Izumi to support her. Kouji looked over at Katsuharu and said: "Can you explain this? Who is that man, Shin, and the man that looks like Takuya?"

Katsuharu looked at Kouji and back to the two Takuyas fighting. His mouth closed and open like a guppy as if he was about to tell him something but decided not to. This continued on for a while but Chiaki, who noticed and heard Kouji's question, knew that there was nothing left to hide. Their seal has been broken and there were no longer other cards to play. The 'jig', as they say, was up.

"We don't know about that man that looks like Takuya," Chiaki began to explain and was cut off by Teppei.

"Chiaki!"

But Chiaki paid him no mind and went on, "What I can tell you is that that person may look like Takuya but he is not. The real Takuya is 'Shin', that masked warrior."

"What are you talking about?" Tomoki asked. "How can that be possible? Takuya died a long time ago."

"No, he didn't." Chiaki said as she shook her head. "I was the one who rescued Takuya the day before he was reported dead. With Katsuharu's help, we created the illusion that Takuya died because of the extraction that they were doing. In his place we put a faux body. It was the faux body who was found and buried while we took the real Takuya away to help him recuperate and at the same time, as ordered by the higher ups of our Organization, keep him away from his father and the King as well as…from you people."

"What? Why?" Kouji asked. "And how is it possible that no one found out about it?"

Katsuharu sighed. He saw that there was no longer any need to hide anything from these people, and so, he was the one who continued the explanation. "I have the same power as Izumi, Tomoki and Takuya…I mean, all three of us: Me, Chiaki and Teppei also are 'Chosen Ones'. My power is that of illusions – illusions that seem so real that it is impossible to tell if they are illusions or not. Anyway, as ordered by our Leader, we helped Takuya escape by placing a fake Takuya, an illusion, in the same chamber where he was being kept the moment we helped him escaped and I made it so that they would find that Takuya dead. We forced him not to come after you people nor to contact you for fear that his father might come after them and worse, put you all in much greater danger than you already are…But it seems, that the King and his father had something else in mind."

"How do you prove that you are saying the truth? How is it that even when no one is watching 'Shin' never spoke that he was Takuya?" Kouji asked, he was confused and he did not bother to hide it.

"We placed a seal on him that prevents him to even mention a single fact about his true self. But now, it seems that, Takuya had broken it…otherwise, he would be dead." Teppei replied crossing his arms in front of his chest. "As to who that other person is… we really don't have a clue."

"Izumi, snap out of it!" Kaizen screamed as she allowed herself access to the Real World.

Silence was Izumi's answer.

"This is bad, she's in shock." Hiltz communicated as he too materialized in the Real World. "Tomoki!"

Tomoki nodded. "I know, but there's nothing we can do… Tell me, Hiltz, is that masked warrior really the Takuya that I've known or is it the one who looks like him?"

Hiltz closed his eyes for a minute and began to concentrate. After a while, he opened them again and said. "I can sense Flayhm, the Guardian Spirit of Fire but, with those two as close as they are it is impossible to say which of them is the real one. But, if you are asking if Takuya is really alive then my answer is 'yes', the same is true for you Kaizen, right?"

Kaizen nodded. "The truth will come out eventually, but unless we do something this ship is going to be destroyed before their battle is concluded."

Tomoki saw that what Izumi's Spirit Guardian said was true. "I have one other question, Hiltz…it's about those three." He said this whilst pointing at Katsuharu, Chiaki and Teppei's direction.

"Their genuine Chosen Ones, alright." Hiltz replied and Kaizen nodded. "Though I can sense their Spirit Guardians faintly, maybe it is because they have yet to fully awaken them…but they are Chosen Ones like you, Izumi and Takuya."

Tomoki nodded to acknowledge his answer. "Then, what elements are they?"

"Metal, Earth, and Water." Kaizen replied with her eyes closed in concentration. "Katsuharu's Metal, Teppei's Earth, and Chiaki is Water."

"That's good, then we may have a way to make sure that the ship doesn't burn down." And with that, Tomoki left Izumi to the care of her Spirit Guardian and rushed towards Chiaki. "Lady Chiaki, can you use your power to make sure that we don't sink?"

Chiaki was surprised at the sudden request, but nodded after a couple of seconds. "Leave that to me."

With a swift movement of her arms, Chiaki summed forth rain that put the flames off and it remained raining just in case another exchange of fireballs and explosions occurred between the fighters who now only seemed to use their swords.

"Who are you?" The masked Takuya asked as their swords locked for the umpth time. "No, what are you even?"

"Heh, you should know." The other Takuya said as he broke the sword lock and jumped back. "I am you. I am Takuya Kanbara…"

Their exchange of words caught everyone's attention, even Izumi who blinked her teary eyes.

"That's impossible!" The masked Takuya said. "You have to be an illusion!" As he said those words, he rushed for another attack which the other parried and countered only to be dodged.

"How is it 'impossible'?" The other Takuya stated. "What's surprising is to find YOU alive. Father thought you to be dead but with a part of your DNA available thanks to the extraction's Phase One, he was able to have me. He thought that it would be a great way to get every other Chosen Ones in his hands and create the ultimate army to conquer the world. Seeing as how you matched the other's description, then it would mean that you have already met a few of Father's first creations."

"What?" At that, a flash of recollection occurred to him and he realized what this fake Takuya was saying. "You mean those guys who attacked Izumi and the others?"

"Bingo!" The other Takuya said. "Their power as well as mine felt familiar, didn't it?"

"You sent them to attack Izumi and the others? You almost got them killed! And you were also the one shooting those projectiles at us!" the masked Takuya said. "What is it that you want? Why do you want them dead?"

"Dead?" Takuya asked with a smirk, "I don't want them dead, of course No. I only wanted them incapacitated…Father needs them to complete his army and the King's dream. Besides, I would never allow death to befall Izumi…"

"Damn You!" Shouted the masked one and he made a mad dash towards his opponent only to lose sight of him and get stabbed at the back.

"It's amazing how a replica can be much better than the original." Came the other Takuya's voice from behind him. "Unlike you who is imperfect in fighting, I had been programmed to over come any techniques that anyone – including you, may throw at me."

The masked Takuya staggered back and slumped down at a wall.

"Takuya!" Katsuharu shouted. "This is bad… Chiaki, Teppei we're going to help him out. I don't want any trouble from the Leader."

"Right!" The two nodded as they all made a dash, weapon unsheathed in one hand and summoning magic on the other, towards the other Takuya.

As if to prove what he said earlier, even before they could come within inches of him he had already put them down.

"Darn it!" Katsuharu said as he staggered to get up. "Where does he get that power? Even with only a small fraction of Spirit Energy, he is still that strong."

"If what he say was true, then this clone has really been programmed to be better at everything." Chiaki said clutching his right shoulder blade which has been injured.

Teppei could only nod.

"We don't have a choice." Katsuharu said. "Our priority is Kouji and his company. We have to fall back."

But the other Takuya knew of what they were thinking. With a loud whistle he summoned forth the same three people who assaulted them.

"It's been a while." Krad said with a smirk. "I'll make sure to pay you all back for what that friend of yours did to us."

"Takuya, get up!" Flayhm encouraged over his head. "We can't let it end like this. You have to get up and fight. Everyone is in trouble!"

"I…"

"Takuya, you are already using the third level of your power." Flayhm went on. "You can do this! Get up!"

Takuya's eyes were closed. He could feel blood gushing out from his back where his clone had stabbed him. He could feel his energy draining but he knew not how and when to give up. And so, even as his armor was beginning to deteriorate and he was reverting back to himself, Takuya still forced himself to stand up with sword in hand to fight the enemy.

"We're not finished yet." Takuya said.

"Oh, you're still willing to fight even if you know you won't win against me?" the clone said.

"Leave these people to us, Lord." Krad said. "Go deal with that punk."

"Of course." The clone said, then to Takuya, "You know, without your armor, this fight would pretty much be child's play."

A large fireball was hurled towards the enemy and Takuya spoke, "You're only just a copy of me, of the me who has yet to awaken the true power of the Spirits. With only my DNA from that time, you won't be able to reach the level of my Spirit Energy. You may have better sword fighting skills, but you can never have the real Spirit Energy that I have!"

"We'll see about that." The clone said and he too hurled a fireball to match that of Takuya's only or his fireball to be diminished and him to be hit by the other's flame.

"You see." Takuya said. "A clone will always be a clone."

And with that his eyes changed back to an auburn color.

"If that's the case…" The clone said as he gripped on his right eye which has been hit by the attack and was bleeding. "I'll just have to take that away from you as well."

"You can try…but you won't succeed."

She was still unsure of what's going on. Here was a person who looks like Takuya saying that he is Takuya then, on the other hand, the person known as 'Shin' who revealed himself as the 'Real' Takuya. Then, the one that looks like Takuya also reveals that he is a clone of the original but is much better than the original and then 'Shin' who persists on defeating this clone to prove that he is the true Takuya. It was getting crazy and so confusing that she did not know what to think of anymore.

When she came to, she now saw two Takuya's that look alike. The same messy auburn hair dripping wet thanks to the rain. The same color of eyes. The same height. The same everything… The only thing that could differentiate one from another was their clothes and their weapons. Both of them were exchanging blows of with fire magic and their swords.

At one time one of them would win with magic while at other times the other would inflict damage with his sword.

"This shouldn't be happening…" Izumi muttered in a low whisper that was virtually impossible to hear. "This can't be happening."

Suddenly she heard Tomoki's voice talking to her.

"Lady Izumi, are you alright?" Tomoki asked.

Izumi blinked a couple of times, and instead of answering her friend's query of concern, she said: "We have to stop them…"

"What?" Tomoki asked, not sure if he heard right.

"We have to stop them." Izumi said in a much louder tone. "They shouldn't be fighting!"

As if to remind them on what was happening, a large axe cam hurling towards their direction only for the axe to be stopped by an Ice Barrier created by Tomoki.

"I wish we could, Lady Izumi," Tomoki said with a sad smile, "but we have our hands tied at the moment."

It was only at that moment did she realize that everyone was fighting and that she was with Tomoki encased inside a crystal-like barrier.

Takuya saw that the only way to defeat this clone was by using his Spirit Energy, or at least, what is left of it, to win. He saw the large gap between his clone and himself and saw it as the other's weakness.

He had only a small amount of energy left. An energy that would be sufficient to create an opening for his sword to strike down his foe.

Takuya saw his chance and put his plan into action. As he was about to strike down the almost-whimpering clone, he heard it… Her voice and it was directed at him…

"Takuya, DON'T!" Izumi shouted as loud as her voice would allow. "STOP!"

He didn't know why, but he felt that it was him whom Izumi was talking to and so he stopped, his sword also stopped midway from his enemy's head and looked over at her.

The Takuya Clone saw this as an opportunity and struck the other Takuya down.

"NO!" Izumi shouted as she pound her fists into the barrier.

The clone stood up and looked down and the injured Takuya. "You're pretty pathetic, allowing yourself to be caught off by something like that in a fight. And so now, I will take my prize…"

He bent down and touched Takuya's face. Then traced his facial features until his hand rested on top of Takuya's right eye.

"You know what they say, do you not, real Takuya?" The Clone said as his remaining eye glinted with malice and his lips curved into a sadistic smile. "An eye for an eye."

What happened next was disgusting and plainly inhumane…

The Takuya Clone plucked the real Takuya's right eye out. Takuya screamed in agony before fainting, the place where his right eye used to be now only revealed a hole with blood gushing out. The other battle halted as Izumi screamed and averted her eyes from the scene.

"They say that a person memories and power can also be engraved in that person's eye." The clone said as he looked at the prize in his bloody hands. "With this, I will obtain everything you hold dear – your memories and your power… I may only be a copy of you even as I obtain them but… this will prove that I am better than the original."

And with that, the clone ate the eye as if it were some snack. Moments later he took the hand protecting the once singed right eye off and there rested the eye he took out from the real Takuya as his own.

The clone then looked at his right hand and with a flick of the wrist called forth a large flame that only the real Takuya could have managed to do and then, he laughed.

"This is really getting out of hand." Kouji said as his back was pressed on Katsuharu's back. "If we don't do something, we will all be in a much worse position than we already are."

"I agree." Katsuharu said, then facing Chiaki and Teppei he nodded.

"I guess it is time." Chiaki said to Teppei. "Make sure you pin them down, okay?"

"Leave that to me." Teppei said. "Make it a BIG one!"

Chiaki nodded back. She then raised her hands up in the air as Teppei touched the wooden floor of the deck. Seconds later the ship was surrounded by a wall of water that towered over them and everyone besides their enemies found themselves pinned to the ground by sand and gravel.

"What's going on?" Kouji voiced the question that was in everyone's mind.

"Don't worry, we're just going to discard unwanted guests." Katsuharu said. "Hold on tight."

They didn't need to be told of that twice before the wall of water came rushing down. It was too late when their enemies noticed and even as the clone used what could have been a very powerful barrier, it still didn't work as he noticed that he was being pushed back.

When the Takuya Clone saw that it was pointless to stay around any longer, he cursed. And after vowing to return and finish the job, he vanished with a puff of dark smoke together with his comrades.

Moments later, all the water that was in the deck vanished and when everyone saw that their enemies have also disappeared they breathe a sigh of relief.

Seeing as the coast was clear, Izumi stood up and ran towards where Takuya lay motionless, except for the rise and fall of his chest, and everyone else followed without delay.

Chiaki immediately went on calling forth healing magic to treat his wounds. At that time, it was only then that they saw the full scope of his injuries and only then that the full force of the uncovered truth that Takuya was still alive hit Kouji, Tomoki, Junpei, and most specially, Izumi.

To be Continued…

A/N:

Well, another Saga has open up in our story, lol. I found inspiration in this while reviewing one of my all time favorite Mangas the other day. As for what the manga title is, you guys have to guess, lol.

Anyhow, 12 pages of writing isn't all that bad, is it? I enjoyed writing this. Oh, and by the way, just in case someone is going to go and say that I wrote the elements of the three (Chiaki, Teppei and Katsuharu) wrong, don't bother. I did this with Alternate Universe in mind. I did not wish to follow the conventional fans' thought of what should have been their elements. I made it to go with the story so don't bother telling me who's element is what, okay?

Anyway, I would love to insert random thoughts in here for a while longer but as I have somewhere important I have to go to now and with time for that meeting running out, I have to hurry up so I'll be signing out for now.

Don't remember to review, okay? I want to hear your thoughts on this chapter! 'Til next time! PEACE!