Hellllo readers. Well, this chapter has been sitting around, half written, for the past month. Excited to finally put it in!
It turned out almost twice as long as I thought it would, since I decided against splitting it into two chapters. One less cliffhanger for you to worry about, I guess.
Enjoy!
23 Devil's Disguise
"Something's close," Gabumon said suddenly. "And I don't think it's up to any good."
"Point the way," Matt replied, taking hope that they had at least some sort of clue.
Gabumon obeyed and started off, traversing the uninviting landscape, following his senses. He presently turned to his partner. "It's another digimon, and a very powerful one too."
"I can sense it too!" Patamon said with foreboding in his voice. "It's an evil digimon."
Matt nodded in acknowledgement, "You better digivolve then, Gabumon."
"I'm on it!" The rookie replied, beginning to glow with digivolution for the fourth time that day. The light shortly faded to reveal the mech wolf.
"Hop on, Matt! We better hurry. Evil digimon always mean bad news."
Understanding his meaning, Matt jumped up onto his partner's back. Patamon in turn jumped on the human's shoulder, and the three took off, speeding quickly along the rocky landscape. MetalGarurumon's sense of direction was true, and soon they saw another mega digimon standing before a tall rock. Matt recognised the figure immediately. His partner slowed to a stop for stealth's sake, and the boy slid off, carrying Patamon with him.
"It's Piedmon...get him," Matt ordered. MetalGarurumon nodded and strode up behind the evil digimon and poised to strike.
"Metal Wolf Claw!"
The attack blasted Piedmon square in the back. The mega let out a shocked cry as he reeled from the force of the blast.
MetalGarurumon stood forward challengingly. "What do you think you're doing?"
Piedmon picked himself up and brushed himself off, looking at the mech with disdain. "This was only supposed to be a rehearsal, but if you insist on having the recital now, I certainly can go and get the rest of the cast ready this moment!"
With that, the clown digimon spun and raced off faster than Matt could react. He knew as a human he couldn't chase the mega, but he wondered why MetalGarurumon wasn't pursuing. His partner dedigivolved back to rookie a moment later.
"Gabumon! What's wrong?" Matt cried, running over. His partner didn't look like he was exhausted, or even in pain.
"Over here, Matt!" Gabumon said, pointing in the direction of the tall spire rock that Piedmon had been standing over. The digimon made sure Matt knew where to go, and then raced off himself, disappearing behind a corner. Matt sprinted after, soon coming to see what was behind those rocks. His heart skipped a beat.
"TK!" Matt ran to where his brother sat. It reminded him of how he found Sora in the black cave during the first fight with the Dark Masters. TK sat in the same position she had, knees hugged to himself, his face in his arms. He looked about as bad as Matt imagined he would be. His clothes were dusty and stained from the dirty terrain and little flecks of what looked like ash or sand could be seen in his hair. Aside from this, Matt immediately noticed what he had feared the most. TK was surrounded by a dark cloud.
"TK," Matt said again, trying to get his brother's attention. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"
"Daemon," TK's voice was small and quiet.
"Daemon? He's here? I thought you guys sent him off for good."
"He'll always be here."
"Where? We can take him. Our partners can digivolve past champion now."
"He'll always be here."
Again, Matt was reminded of Sora, repeating her despairing words. Despair? Whatever happened to Hope? Matt frowned and shifted his position so he was right in front of his brother. "TK, look at me!"
TK finally lifted his head, and Matt's heart fell at the sight of his empty eyes. His face was covered in smudges of dirt and cuts, and telling from the remnants of dried blood, he could have broken his nose. His hair was soaked in the sweat on his forehead. Patamon flitted over and hovered above his partner nervously. The poor digimon had been worried sick, and yet, finding TK like this brought him little comfort. Gabumon came over and put a kind paw on the boy's back in an attempt to console him, but TK began to lower his head again.
"Hey," Matt reached through the cloud of darkness surrounding his brother and firmly took his face in both hands, holding TK so that he couldn't look away. "I don't care if Daemon is really here or not. We're here and you're safe. Don't worry about Daemon. There are others of us that need help, and I need you with me."
He relaxed his grip and waited for a reply from TK. The younger boy's face dropped again. Matt stayed silent, disheartened. He closed his eyes and shook his head to help him focus. They were going to get out of this alive and together. Someone had to be the hopeful one, especially if TK was losing it. He watched his brother and saw him shudder.
"They're coming." TK said ominously.
Matt jerked his attention to the area around them. He felt the unease begin to spread through the atmosphere, but TK was starting to shiver uncontrollably. He was hugging his knees to his chest again, his face hidden. The older boy stood, trying to see where the danger was coming from. And then he noticed something in the rocks behind TK.
They seemed to be dissolving into black, as if a small dark whirlpool was forming on the stone face. Tendrils of darkness slowly materialized and twisted in the air. Matt watched them as they slithered out of the black hole and stretched, groping for something. Matt gasped and seized TK's forearms, jerking him out of the reach of the dark coils.
The younger boy had let out a yelp as he found himself on his feet, and Matt looked at him closely. It wasn't an angry or surprised cry, but rather one of pain. Agony almost. TK stood there, his eyes still lowered. His posture was bent slightly forward with his arms covering his chest, partially in pain, but also in an attempt to conceal whatever was there. Despite his brother's efforts, Matt still caught a small glimpse of red. His eyes grew wide, and the darkness behind him was forgotten for the moment.
"Teek..." he said, slowly at first. "Let me see."
The younger one glanced up, shaking his head wearily. Matt insisted however, giving him no option. TK slowly lowered his arms, and he watched Matt's complexion grow more shocked. The older brother's lips parted and his jaw dropped slightly. TK let his face fall once more, looking at the ground at Matt's feet, but not really seeing anything. Not seeing the multiplying shadows that spread from the black hole in the rocks.
Matt took a step forward cautiously, as if TK would turn tail and run if he got too close too quick. But the younger brother was motionless save for his wavering from exhaustion. Matt scratched his earlier thought. The other boy looked worse than what he had imagined he would be. TK's shirt was tattered and crimson-stained, three ragged slashes across his chest. Most of the blood had already dried, excepting the centre cut, which was still open and slowly bleeding.
"Who," Matt's voice cracked and he swallowed. He tried again, masking the horror in his voice with dark anger. "Who did this?"
TK took his time in responding. Matt began thinking the answer was more obvious than he would like. He just didn't want to believe it. He tried to answer his own question.
"Daemon?"
Matt was somewhat surprised when TK shook his head. "It was Devimon."
"What?" The older brother's jaw dropped further than before. "Where did he come from?"
At that TK clamped his eyes shut, apparently holding back tears. He sank to a sitting position. Matt stepped forward and knelt in front of him, putting his hands on his little brother's shoulders. "Patamon." TK finally said, his voice weak.
Matt glanced up at TK's partner, fluttering above the two, with a confused stare. The digimon was no less baffled, he drifted down and settled on TK's shoulders.
"Me? How would I do that?"
TK jerked his head up upon hearing his partner's voice and feeling his touch. "You...you're back!"
A small smile played on TK's worn face. Matt finally recognized a little focus in his gaze as TK glanced around him, and he was able to relax a bit. His younger brother was coming around, and the fog was loosening from around his body. TK's look became confused.
"If you're here, then where's Ken and Stingmon?"
A voice much deeper than the little digimon's replied, "The boy's not coming anytime soon, that's for sure."
The four of them spun towards the source, whose voice seemed to be coming from the black hole in the rock. TK returned to his previous cowering position, but still kept his gaze on the cloudy hole. Matt stood between his brother and the stone face, anger still in his voice.
"What do you want?"
In response, a small figure was thrown out of the black portal. It was a green digimon, and looked exhausted as it bounced painfully off the ground and landed at Matt's feet.
"Wormmon," the boy murmured, immediately bending down and picking up the nearly unconscious digimon. Matt glared back into the portal. "What did you do to Ken?"
"That's the least of your concerns now!" Matt recognized the voice as one from years past: his brother's most feared enemy. His suspicions were confirmed when an attack was suddenly called out. "Death Hand!"
Matt had never realized the danger he was in until now. Being that Devimon's shape was obscured by the portal, he couldn't see where the attack was aimed until the blast of darkness collided with Gabumon, sending the rookie crashing into nearby rocks. Matt let out a dismayed cry as he saw his partner come to rest, unconscious. He turned to his little brother.
"TK! Have Patamon digivolve."
The younger boy was hesitant.
"Come on, you can do it. Just like old times," Matt encouraged.
The dark cloud was drifting away from TK, much to Matt's relief. His digivice shone along with his digimon partner.
"Patamon digivolve to...Angemon!"
In reply to the digivolution, Devimon shot out of hiding. Angemon dodged the swiping claws and retaliated with his rod, landing a strike on the evil digimon's back. Devimon didn't seem fazed, however, and came back for another run.
"Touch of Evil!"
"Angel Rod!"
The devil dove with claws extended and the angel swung with his staff. Devimon caught the rod in his hands and the two attacks cancelled each other out in a blast of energy. When the dust had settled, the two were hovering in the air at a stalemate, wrestling over the rod, each trying to overpower the other by brute strength. Angemon seemed to be having the harder time.
"Hey, TK," Matt called from where he had knelt by the still blacked out Gabumon. "C'mon, have him go to ultimate."
The younger boy didn't move. He sat still, staring at his digivice with doubt-filled eyes. Matt set Wormmon next to his own partner, and moved over to his brother.
"What's the matter? You can fight now, so why won't you?"
"He's back. After all that we did. After Angemon...after everything, he's still back. Is the sacrifice really worth it?"
"Of course, TK. Angemon was willing to sacrifice to protect you, because you are worth it. And right now you have to fight for your life, you know why?"
TK gave no response, so Matt went ahead.
"Hope, TK. You have to fight for hope; you have to have faith that everything in the end will be worth the struggle to get there."
The younger boy finally made eye contact with his older brother. "What is there in the end?"
The question rather shocked Matt. Had despair really clouded his mind so much that he lost sight of all they had to live for? It wasn't right. Matt frowned, and then let a small, lopsided smile play on his face. "Well, for starters, tomorrow's your big 13th. I remember you being stoked about officially becoming a teenager. Don't you want to be home for that?"
TK blinked at the suggestion. He apparently hadn't been looking for such a practical example. Matt, encouraged, continued. "Then there's the first basketball game in a week, right? Don't you want to be there for it? You're team kinda counts on you, you know. Or...maybe my concert coming up. You don't think I'd want to see you there?"
The hint of a small grin, the smallest Matt had ever seen from his brother, spread on TK's face as the older boy spoke. TK replied, "I guess you would."
The cloud of darkness, which had lingered in the area, now faded even more, looking as if it would disperse any moment. Matt, meanwhile, smiled at his brother. "You can't give up, TK."
The words seemed familiar to the younger boy. He reacted as if he had heard them before, and they worked like some secret code to break through the despair. TK's face changed drastically as his mind finally cleared. As he spoke, the quiver and uneasiness had left his voice. "I won't give in."
He shot to his feet, and Matt didn't fail to notice the slight wince the movement brought to TK's face. Even so, the younger boy's focus was fully on the still deadlocked fight up above. "Angemon! Digivolve!"
TK's digivice exploded with yellow light, and shot a beam towards the angel digimon, who let out a grunt as he felt the newfound power surge through him.
"Angemon digivolve to...MagnaAngemon!"
The light of Hope didn't stop there, but washed over the two unconscious rookies nearby, reviving them in moments. Gabumon and Wormmon opened their eyes slowly, completely disoriented.
Devimon backed away at the development, apparently surprised but other than that, he still had an arrogant attitude. "Not bad, but keep in mind you are in my world! My powers far surpass those of a champion!"
MagnaAngemon replied, "That does not matter. The power of Hope is strong in any place, as long as there are those who have faith. And, since you brought it up, my powers surpass those of an ultimate!"
The angel finished by diving forward, brandishing his sword. Devimon brashly charged to meet him, claws extended. "Touch of Evil!"
The two met once more in the sky, but this time the mega-power of the ultimate shortly overwhelmed Devimon. MagnaAngemon merely gave the evil digimon a solid kick, sending him sprawling. The angel followed up with a swift, downward stroke from his blade, and Devimon fell spiralling to the ground, roaring with pain. As he fell, the devil digimon's features faded to black, and multiple threads of darkness flowed out from him and dispersed into the grey atmosphere. Devimon's form shrunk; he was dedigivolving. He hit the ground, but didn't get up.
The group ran over to where the figure had fallen, and all paused when they saw their defeated enemy. He was a rookie now, and bore no resemblance to the frightening devil they had come to know him by. He could have been a patamon, if it hadn't been for the purple fur. The rookie wearily opened his gold eyes and looked up at the group. Seeing that he was surrounded by unfriendly faces, he immediately became uneasy.
"What are you waiting for? Just kill me and get it over with. I deserve it." The rookie's voice was filled with regret, which caught the others off guard. As far as they knew, Devimon had no heart at all, and was incapable of any form of regret for his actions. Everything he did he did for his own gain and he enjoyed it. So what was this digimon trying to say? He sounded so sincere.
"What kind of digimon are you?" TK finally asked.
"Tsukaimon."
"And you're the one who's been with me the whole time?"
The digimon nodded, receiving a shudder from TK.
"Well, that explains a lot. That's why Wormmon could digivolve and you couldn't." With that last sentence, TK snapped his attention to the green digimon, suddenly remembering the next crisis at hand. "Where is Ken?"
For several moments, Wormmon could only close his eyes and whimper.
To be continued...
PS, anyone catch the small reference to Beneath the Surface?
Review please!