Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 4: Better Left Unsaid
madjack89: Um, hey there, guys. Me and the survivors of Dai's sugar induced onslaught are reporting to you today from inside a closet.
Kouji: The survivors and I.
Kira: Shut up, pretty boy! We're all gonna die anyway, so the least you can do is be nice in your last few moments.
madjack89: With me are Kouji, Kira, Kouichi, Tommy, and JP. I have absolutely no clue what happened to the others, but we think they were caught by Dai in his craziness.
JP: I still can't believe he lifted a wide screen TV and chucked it at you when you said there was no more chocolate.
Tommy: What do you think happened to the others?
madjack89: Well, there hasn't been any noise for a while, so Kouji should go check and see what's going on.
Kouji: No way! I'm not going out there with that little sugar crazed maniac!
madjack89: You can bring Kouichi with you.
Kouichi: Why me?!
Kira: You're his twin. If you die, you die together.
Kouichi: Have you ever even seen the last three episodes of our season?
Kira: Of course! You guys beat the D-Reaper and then your Digimon partners had to go back to…wait, that's Tamers, isn't it?
Kouichi: sigh
Kouji: I vote that JP goes. He's tough.
JP: Kira's way tougher than me! Why can't she go?
Kira: You never send the women and children out into danger, JP!
JP: So that rules out Tommy…
Tommy: You were gonna make me go out there?!
madjack89: I guess I'll have to go. I created this monster, and now I must stop him.
Kira: You're a true hero, Madjack.
madjack89: Thank you, Kira. Now Kouji, when I say go, open the door, and I'll run out, and then you shut the door again, okay?
Kouji: Okay. gets up to open door
madjack89: One…two…three…go!
Kouji: opens door
madjack89: shoves Kouji out door quickly and closes it behind him
Kouichi: Kouji!
Kira: Ha ha ha, that was awesome, Madjack!
Kouji: from outside Madjack, I am gonna kill you!
madjack89: Oh, calm down, Kouji. It's not like Dai's gonna horribly mangle you or anything bad like that.
Kouichi: Madjack…
madjack89: Okay, while these guys yell at me, I shall ignore them and answer reviews!
Kayland Elric: We almost had one, but Kouji's Beast Spirit doesn't really go with Star Wars that much (darn). I wonder if Bokomon even knows what Star Wars is (lol)! Thanks for reviewing!
GoldenDragon326: We didn't just back away from Dai, we had to SPRINT for this closet (lol)! Thanks for reviewing!
Aldamonburst: Calmaramon scares me, too! And I have to write about her! Wahh! Well, I'll live, I guess! So BurningGreymon's weapons have names, huh? Thanks for the tip! And thanks for giving me a list of attacks for Neemon! I may use a couple! Thanks for reviewing!
LadyWarGreymon: Yay for KouichixZoe! And actually I was planning on putting Fusion Evolutions in the story, so any help you can give would be greatly appreciated (I'll give GreyDramon credit too)! Thanks for being a fan and reviewing the fanfic (but I may have to lock the sweets up away from Dai)!
JewelledTears: Yeah, I said happy Friday the Thirteenth (lol)! And oh wow, now that you mention it, Ilsemon is like Jane, isn't she? Darn, I hated Jane! Oh wells, though! Thank you for reviewing and giving us sugar-free treats!
garnettfox: It's all good! And actually, I think I could possibly use some of your Digimon characters later in the story, if you want me too! Just send me their profiles sometime, and I'll see what I can do (and don't worry, I'll give you credit for them)! Thanks for the review!
hazeleyedharmony: Somehow I don't think the Pepto will help much…
intro- Yeah, that's why it's not gonna be in the story!
part 2- I tend to get distracted, too. Either that or I space out!
part 4- Yeah, poor widdle Kouji. And poor Shino, having to attack out his nose (lol)!
part 5- Pretty much.
Oh my god, I loved Doug, too! That show rocked! Woohoo! Yeah, I think I'm getting a little too hyper from all this talk of Doug! Okay, thanks for reviewing!
Dawn of Glory: If you like that dark mood, just wait till later in the story (mua ha ha)…hee! Alright, thank you very much for the review!
Kouji: still outside Madjack, let me back in! I think I hear footsteps!
JP: Just play dead and maybe he'll leave you alone!
Kouichi: Madjack, c'mon! Let him back in!
Tommy: Now I hear footsteps!
Kira: Everyone be quiet!
Takuya: from outside Oh, thank god I finally found one of you guys!
Kouji: from outside Takuya?
Kira: Chief's right, Madjack! Let them in!
Kouichi: sigh
madjack89: Okay, while we unravel the mystery of where everyone else has gone to, enjoy chapter 4 of F2R, which ironically has to do with Dai!
--
"Bokomon, was my name circle circle square, or circle triangle circle?" Takuya asked, studying Bokomon's book intently while walking down the Trailmon tracks.
"I already told you I'd read some to you tonight!" Bokomon snapped, beginning to get annoyed by Takuya's pestering. "And it's circle circle square!"
"Fine then," Takuya mumbled, handing the book to Kira so she could take another turn at deciphering it.
The first thing that everyone had noticed when they had opened Bokomon's book was that it was written in the same strange symbol language as Bokomon's other book because it was the only way Bokomon had learned to write. At first the gang was disappointed, but now they had created a new challenge to see who could translate it correctly before Bokomon read it to them that night.
"Okay, I think this says either, We fell in a giant hole or Kouji was dancing with a pole," Kira said, carefully studying the book.
"Could be either," JP said, shrugging.
"Wait, Kouji was pole dancing?" Kira smirked, turning to look at Kouji.
"No," Kouji said flatly, glaring at JP and Kira. "So Witchmon," he added, turning his attention to the Digimon beside him. "Are you sure these tracks will lead us straight to the Dark Area?"
"Yup," Witchmon replied.
"And we couldn't get a Trailmon because…?" JP asked skeptically.
"Hey, it took me long enough to convince Worm to bring you guys here," Witchmon replied, huffing. "It's hard getting Trailmon transport these days, because they're all trying to hide from Ilsemon. A few Trailmon have already been forced into her servitude, like Mole."
"Mole!" Zoe exclaimed in disbelief. "But he wouldn't even carry us around because he said he was too ticklish!"
"That's what Ilsemon will do to you," Witchmon said, eyes narrowing.
"Poor Mole," Tommy muttered, looking sad.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again; Ilsemon is a bitch," Takuya said angrily.
"Oh, come on guys!" Dai suddenly exclaimed, skipping up next to Takuya and Kira. "We can handle Ilsemon, and then everything will be all better; you'll see!"
Everyone stared at Dai as he skipped further ahead of everyone else. When it seemed like he was out of hearing range, Bokomon asked, "How is that boy always so chipper?"
"What's a chipper?" Neemon asked Bokomon curiously.
While Bokomon glared at Neemon, Takuya replied, "You know, we really don't know much about Dai. He always seems to be in such a great mood."
"There has to be something more going on with him," Kouji said, staring at Dai thoughtfully. "How can you just shrug off losing your parents?"
Hotaru suddenly stopped, eyes widening. "You guys know about my aunt and uncle?" he asked.
"Well, yeah, Dai told us," JP explained. "Is that a bad thing?"
Hotaru stared at Dai for a moment, looking thoughtful. Then he shook his head and said, "No, I was just surprised that you knew."
Before anyone could question Hotaru further, he ran ahead of the others in order to catch up with Dai. Everyone stared at the pair quizzically for a few moments. Finally Takuya said, "Guys, I think we need to get to the bottom of these two."
"Chief, what's your opinion? Does this say, Then Takuya and Zoe fell into a ditch or Crusadermon is such a bitch?" Kira asked Kouichi, pointing out a particular part of Bokomon's book.
"Once again, it could be either," Kouichi said, sighing. "But I'll put my money on Crusadermon is such a bitch."
--
As the sun began to sink, the gang started searching for a place to camp for the night. Shino was standing at the top of a hill when he noticed a forest not too far in the distance. "Hey guys, could we camp there?" he asked, pointing it out to the others.
Takuya and JP stared at it for a few moments before exclaiming in unison, "It's the TV Forest!"
"Oh yeah, I guess we do pass by there going this way," Witchmon said thoughtfully.
"Isn't that where all the weird TV screens show up on the trees and show you stuff from the human world?" Kira asked.
"Yup," Zoe replied. "Plus, there's food there!"
"And Crispin Freeman is there!" Tommy added.
"He's here too, Tommy," Kouichi said, shaking his head in exasperation. "But aside from that, it sounds like a good place to camp."
"Well then, let's get going!" Dai quickly rushed down the hill, stumbling clumsily over small ruts in the earth.
"Dai, be careful!" Hotaru rolled his eyes, following his cousin down the hill.
"Alright guys," Takuya said as he watched his two friends. "Tonight, we're gonna find out what the hell is up with those two!"
--
Impmon lay in the higher branches of one of the trees in the forest. He watched as the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon, covering the Digital World in darkness. Sweet, sweet darkness.
"In darkness lies power," Impmon muttered to himself, staring at one of his gloved hands. "So why ain't I gettin' any stronger?"
He closed his eyes, replaying Ilsemon's instructions to him in his head. I need you to keep an eye on the legendary warrior children for me, Impmon. Make sure they don't stray from the path we've laid for them.
He chuckled bitterly. "Yeah, one problem wit that. I can't even find the lil brats. How pathetic can one Digimon be?"
"Woohoo!" Impmon jumped, nearly falling from his branch. When he regained his balance, he looked down and saw just what he was looking for; the warrior brats, along with Witchmon and a couple other Digimon Impmon didn't recognize.
Impmon's eyes narrowed when he noticed who had made the noise that startled him. The little punk warrior of earth, Daiki or whatever his name was.
Impmon smiled wickedly, watching the children pass right under him, not knowing that he would be watching their every move that night.
--
Later, in the forest…
"Dang it, dang it, dang it!" Takuya exclaimed angrily, rubbing two sticks together furiously over a pile of twigs.
"C'mon, warrior of fire, show that little campfire who's boss," Kouji said sarcastically, staring at Takuya's futile attempts.
"You know, you could be helping me," Takuya grumbled, setting the sticks down for a moment. "And for that matter, why can't I just Spirit Evolve and do this again?"
"Because it'll attract too much attention," JP replied. "Now make fire!"
"Attract attention, yeah right," Takuya muttered, rolling his eyes and rubbing the sticks together again.
Takuya, Kouji, JP, and Zoe were all setting up their camping spot for the night while everyone else went to get water, food, and more sticks for the fire.
Zoe glanced right and left, then asked quietly, "So, how are we gonna go about getting the whole story from Dai and Hotaru?"
The three boys considered the question for a moment. Then Kouji said, "We'll have to do it gradually. We don't want to make them upset if it's too painful to recount."
"I'm more curious about Hotaru than Dai," JP added. "He never says anything about himself, if you can get him to say anything at all."
"He's opening up," Zoe said, defending Hotaru.
"Well, we've all learned recently that it's better to get things off your chest than keep them to yourself," Takuya said solemnly, glancing at Kouji.
Kouji nodded, adding quietly, "I know it's helped me, telling you guys about Seiko…"
The other three gave Kouji reassuring smiles, and then Takuya said, "Well, Bokomon is gonna read some of his book to us, right? We could have him read a part about one of us, then we start a conversation about our pasts, and maybe that'll soften them up!"
"It might work," Zoe said, pondering. Then she realized something and added, "But we can't get into the whole Kouichi/Duskmon thing, okay? I don't think Kouichi's ready for the others to know about that yet."
"That's fine," Takuya said, actually relieved that they wouldn't have to get into that subject tonight. "But tell everyone else to prepare their sob stories because tonight, we're going into pity mode!"
--
Later, after Takuya had successfully started a fire and everyone had eaten, the gang was sitting around their clearing, anxiously awaiting Bokomon's reading of his story.
"C'mon Bokomon, hurry up!" JP complained, itching with anticipation. His excitement was not only for the book, but for the uncovering of the mysteries surrounding Dai and Hotaru.
"Alright! Hold your horses, JP!" Bokomon replied, opening up his book. "Shall I begin at the very beginning, or is there a specific part you wish to skip to?"
Okay, here's where the plan begins, Takuya thought. We just pick a section about one of us, and then we'll have Dai and Hotaru right where we want them!
Kira raised her hand dramatically as the others stared at her intently, waiting for the plan to fall into place. "Bokomon," she began, pausing for effect. "I would like you to skip to the chapter about…the Hamburger Village!"
"What?!" Takuya exclaimed, completely shocked.
"Kira!" Zoe hissed under her breath. "We're supposed to be sticking to a plan here!"
"I know," Kira whispered back. "I just wanted to know about this place before we started that. Taki and pretty boy stopped you guys from telling us too much, and I want to know why!"
"Those were dark times for our taste buds," Bokomon muttered, shivering at the memory. "But first, I think that we should skip to a more profound section, just to get us in the mood."
Takuya and Kouji silently thanked Bokomon, both for not reading that part and for getting them on track.
Bokomon flipped a few pages in his book, opening it somewhere around the middle. "This part has to do a bit with each of your personal struggles," Bokomon explained, clearing his throat. "'Not everything was sunshine and daisies with these children, though. They faced hardships that many would not be able to believe, even in the human world.'"
"You're telling me," JP muttered, winking at Takuya to initiate their plan.
"Seriously," Takuya continued, getting the message. "It's like part of the job description for being a legendary warrior is have some sort of dark past."
Everyone but Dai and Hotaru sighed heavily, adding effect to Takuya's statement. "Aw…" Dai muttered sympathetically. Hotaru said nothing, looking at the others curiously.
"Yeah," Takuya continued, grinning on the inside, "it's just the way things work for us, I guess. I mean, none of us even had any friends before we met each other."
"Not even you, Takuya?" Dai asked, genuinely curious now.
"Nope," Takuya replied. "I may seem like a really outgoing person, but the truth is I can be just as shy as everyone else."
"Shy?" Zoe asked bitterly, trying to play up the drama. "I tried to make friends, but everyone refused to have anything to do with me, just because I'm different."
"That's better than thinking you have friends, but then realizing how superficial they all are," JP continued, picking up swiftly where Zoe had left off. "But I guess that's better than family problems."
"You got that right," Kira said. "Family problems suck. My mom's dead and my dad's a boozer; pretty boy's dad is an unreasonable ass; and don't even get me started on Chief!"
Our dad isn't that bad, Kouji and Kouichi thought at the same time (probably using freaky telekinetic twin powers! ;) ).
After Kira's last statement, everyone was silent. The others glanced eagerly at each other, noticing Dai's thoughtful look. Hotaru had closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking hard about something as well.
"So, Dai," JP began slowly. "What's your deal, anyway?"
Everyone held their breath as Dai inhaled deeply, letting his breath out again through his nose in an almost annoyed manner. He stared at every one of his friends and smirked, saying, "You know guys, that was pretty well thought out. Excellent strategy, but unfortunately, no cigar."
There was a pause, and not a noise could be heard in the clearing. Then JP said, "Um, what?"
"I get it, okay?" Dai said, still smirking. "You're curious about me. I don't give much away about myself, blah blah blah. But I have to say, you did have me going for a second there. I thought that you guys were being serious!"
"Okay," Takuya said, stunned by Dai's perceptiveness. "Well, just because there was a plan behind it doesn't mean we weren't serious about what we were saying."
"We just want to help, Dai," Zoe added gently. "If there's anything going on, we'll be there for you. You can trust us."
"And we're insanely curious," JP said. Zoe glared at him, mad that he had ruined her statement.
Dai's smirk faded slightly, turning into a purely annoyed look. "You guys don't even understand," he said quietly, sounding more serious than he had ever sounded before. "My past is…better left unsaid."
"Remember when I said I was curious? Now I'm really curious," JP said, staring pleadingly at Dai.
"I'm sorry, but I won't tell you anything more than what I've already said," Dai said stubbornly, crossing his arms. He then glanced quickly at Hotaru, who could only stare back at his cousin in anguish.
They have to know, Hotaru thought, watching as the others continued to pester Dai. We can trust them.
"Please?" Tommy asked.
You can't keep this from them. What if they find out? They'll feel betrayed because we didn't tell them.
"C'mon, Dai," Kira said.
This is too big a secret to keep from them!
"It can't be worse than anything any of us have gone through," Kouji said.
"That's it!" Hotaru cried, standing up quickly. "He's dying, okay? He has a terminal heart disease and the doctors didn't even think he would make to his seventh birthday! Seventh! He is literally dying every day, and just to add to that, he holds himself responsible for the accident that took his parents' lives!"
Hotaru snapped his head around to face his cousin. "I'm sorry, Dai," he said quietly. "But I don't regret this. They had to know."
Everyone was quiet for a few moments, no one completely sure what to say. Finally Tommy broke the silence, asking, "You're dying, Dai?"
Dai stared at the ground, saying nothing. Then he stood up slowly and lifted his eyes, glaring angrily at Hotaru. "You lied," he stated quietly.
"I told the truth, Dai," Hotaru retorted.
"Shut up!" Dai yelled furiously, letting his anger out. "I don't want to hear another word from you, you back-stabbing liar! We had a deal! You said that you wouldn't tell them! You promised!
"Well, you know what," Dai continued, turning to the others. "Hotaru's been keeping things from you, too! You want to know what he did when he was younger? He was a Yankee, off beating people up in the streets! And once he went too far and almost killed someone!"
Dai whipped his head around and glared once more at his cousin, then said, "Now we're even."
He then turned and dashed through the trees, quickly getting lost inside the tangle of branches.
--
madjack89: Well, wasn't that a fun chapter!
Kouji: Not really.
madjack89: Shut up, Kouji. Anyway, the others survived Dai's onslaught, too. It turns out he only went insane for about three more minutes before he passed out on the sofa!
Hotaru: And I've been looking for you guys for an hour.
madjack89: Yeah, Taki, Zoe, and Shino went and hid in different spots, apparently.
Takuya: We're never giving Dai sugar ever again.
Dai: But I like sugar!
madjack89: Will sugar free do?
Dai: I guess…
madjack89: Good, because I have sugar free cookies from JewelledTears! And they're shaped like little hearts!
Dai: …May I please partake in the consumption of said cookies?
madjack89: Sure!
Dai: Yay! eats cookies
Shino: Dai, you really are a piece of work.
madjack89: Oh, and Taki, Kira, Kouichi, and Zoe get special couple cookies!
Takuya: T…K.
Kira: Why is it that TK's name keeps popping up?
TK: What?
JP: Wait, what about me and Tomoyo?
madjack89: Deal with it, JP!
TK: What kind of fanfiction is this?
Kouichi: I'll show you the way out.
madjack89: Bye, everyone! And remember, sugar free is good!
(Happy Ash Wednesday to all my Catholic homies out there, too!)