Hi everyone! Wow...a bundle of mixed reviews huh? Guess I can't please everyone! Sorry Miss A, I tend to take a darker route to things, I know not everyone likes that but I did like the mature feels of Tamers and Xros Wars compared to the lighter feel of Adventure 02. Not to say, I dislike light but as a sequel of one of the darker seasons, it needs to be dark. This uses the prompt 'mask'. On that note, sorry for taking a decade to update! Thanks to Black Angel of the Underworld for betareading this chapter!

Chapter 8: The Mask Falls In Place

Yuu observed his surroundings. Trees were knocked down and the digimon were lying unconscious everywhere. Yuu, Tsuwamon, and DarkKnightmon had reconstructed into Team Twilight. They had taken down the area easily. Yuu stepped back as DarkKnightmon threw a dark energy ball at the digimon. It surrounded them and caused painful whimpers to erupt from their lips as they disappeared back to DarkKnightmon's Headquarters. Yuu felt a twinge of guilt, seeing that Tsuwamon was being slower than usual but DarkKnightmon managed to manipulate him into listening.

Seeing Tsuwamon grow weaker with each battle made the blond hesitate at times though. But he needed to do this. The dark power was needed no matter what.

Coming back to this side made Yuu feel free. A small part of him knew he shouldn't feel like this. He wanted revenge. He wanted to claw Hideaki's eyes out, wrap his hands around his throat until he choked to death, make him fall to his knees, begging for mercy, begging to be spared.

"Yuu." DarkKnightmon appeared where he had finished capturing the slaves. "Nene and the others are headed this way."

Yuu blinked. "Neesan? Do we need to leave then?"

Tsuwamon reached to pick Yuu up when something kicked him and he was sent flying in the air.

"What do you think you're doing?" a strong female voice said.

Mervamon appeared then, kicking Tsuwamon down again.

"Mervamon!" Yuu said, his eyes cold. "Stay out of my business!"

Mervamon frowned. "Us big sisters need to stick together, Yuu."

Beelzebumon flew beside her. "What's going on here?"

"Beelzebumon!" another voice called. "Mervamon!"

Nene and the others rushed over.

DarkKnightmon looked at Yuu. "I'll leave this battle to you, Yuu. You know what you have to do. Tagiru is counting on you after all."

Yuu's eyes dulled and he nodded slowly as his thoughts wandered to what Tagiru must be going through right now. He could also imagine Tagiru screaming his head off at him for being so impulsive and drawing out this path. This worried him briefly before the thought vanished from his head, as if it were never there in the first place. He gave a nod. "Yes, of course."

DarkKnightmon smirked, before disappearing.

"Yuu..." Nene said. "Come back with us. We can save Tagiru-kun together!"

"No, we can't!" Yuu snapped, harsher than he intended. "If I stay with you guys, Tagiru won't be the only one hurt. Besides, Taiki-san isn't back with you guys either."

Akari flinched and trembled as Beelzebumon looked alarmed at that. She shook her head as Beelzebumon opened his mouth to ask.

"Not now," she whispered. "One thing at a time. Yuu-kun, please come back with us. It's what Taiki would want, too. Taiki's hurt; he's broken; his soul, his spirit, everything is gone. I...I can feel it. But if he were here, he'd want you to work with us. He'd want you to work with Nene."

[How does Akari know what Taiki is feeling? Was this explained before? Just to answer, yeah this was explained in one of the earlier chapters. Taiki and Akari can feel each other's pain. Part of the reason being they love each other and the second part is the Dragon Phoenix feeds on the power of love and light.] Oh, I see. Thank you for the clarification!

"Yuu," Airu said, stepping forward, "let me help you. Nene-san and I can both help you."

Yuu looked at Airu and then at Nene - his sister. His only family and the person he'd do anything for, other than Tagiru. A part of him wanted to listen, to reach out to them, but he then he remembered: DarkKnightmon's words, Tagiru's sacrifice, Hideaki's triumphant smirk. He had to face this alone.

"I'm sorry, Airu," Yuu said; the softness that had momentarily come into his eyes vanished. His eyes were hard, blank, like he was blocking everything out purposefully. "I think Ryouma's a much better match for you. For your own safety, I believe it is best that we don't stay together."

[This is very abrupt and unrealistic; again, smoother transition. Revise it and see if there could be a better way to phrase this. I don't want to touch it because it might change things and I don't want it to affect your story too greatly.] *Feel free to do this part, although I added some of Yuu's thoughts regarding Airu a bit further down*

He saw Airu's eyes fill with tears through his peripheral vision but forced himself to look away. "I have to save Tagiru, Neesan. I'm sorry."

He could almost feel it. Airu's heart was breaking. He knew. He knew she had been waiting so long for this moment, for them to become a couple. She had always had a crush on him after all. But she was the last thing on his mind now. He didn't need her. He didn't need anyone. He could do whatever he wanted on his own. They would just hold him back and right now...he really didn't want to hold back.

"Yuu!" Nene grabbed Yuu by the shoulders. "DarkKnightmon won't help you! He's just using you like he used me! You have to trust us."

Yuu smiled. "I don't mind though. Tagiru's letting himself be hurt so Hideaki won't harm ma and the rest of you. Shouldn't we do the same?" He shook off Nene's hands and turned around. "Tsuwamon, let's go."

"Yuu, snap out of it," Kiriha said. "You know, this world isn't a game."

"For Taiki's sake!" Akari added.

"Yuu!" Airu cried as Ryouma wrapped his arms around her.

Yuu stopped for a moment, turned, and laughed a little. The laugh was almost playful and it set the others on edge. "I'm not treating it like a game. You tell me we should stick together, but take a look at yourselves. Beelzebumon's too busy with Mervamon to realize what's happening to Taiki. Oh, I forgot, Taiki-san isn't your partner anymore, is he?"

Beelzebumon gritted his teeth but managed to keep calm. "Taiki's my friend, Yuu."

"Beelzebumon..." Mervamon said, knowing he didn't like being accused like that.

Yuu looked at Beelzebumon. "Then he's the one you should be saving. I'll come back, once Tagiru is safe..." He allowed Tsuwamon to pick him up.

Nene widened her eyes and dashed forward. "Yuu! Stop!"

She leaped forward to grab the two from escaping but she only grabbed thin air. Grief almost exploded in her chest as she met the ground.

"Nene-san!" Airu said, running to Nene's side. "Are you okay?"

"Yuu…" Nene mumbled as she clutched the ground in tight fists.

Everyone else encircled around her, which made Nene only bury her face into her arms to hide her tears. Her brother… How could she not stop her brother? What was wrong with her, with Yuu?

Beelzebumon turned to Akari. "What's going on? What happened to Taiki?"

A small part of him – maybe it was a larger part of him, Beelzebumon couldn't tell – pulsed with a small ache of regret. Though his love for Mervamon was stronger, there was a small pocket his heart held that carried what friendship he and Taiki had. Now it seemed almost…nonexistent.

Akari managed a weak smile. "I don't know all the details but Taiki's broken. I feel like whatever's happened to him has really broken his soul."

"You worry too much, Akari!" a cheerful voice said.

They all turned, absolutely stunned, to see Taiki. He stepped forward with Shoutmon besides him.

"Taiki!" Akari said, her eyes filling with tears as she threw her arms around her boyfriend. "I was so worried." She realized there was something different about the hug. The warmth usually radiating from Taiki wasn't there but maybe because he had escaped from a horribly close call and been imprisoned for a while. "Taiki, you must be freezing. Your skin's really cold."

She knew she sounded suspicious, but something about this didn't seem right. This wasn't her Taiki. She knew she had felt his pain but right now, Taiki stood here without any pain or injuries. He did not look like a person whose soul and spirit were broken.

"Uh, yeah," Taiki said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Kuro didn't like the heater much. Thank god for Shoutmon that we managed to escape from there somehow."

Akari pulled away and Beelzebumon flew forward.

"I was worried," Beelzebumon said. "Yuu said - And then Akari - "

"Not to mention, you do not look like a person who just came back from being kidnapped," Kiriha said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as he had left Nene to Zenjirou.

"Always suspicious, huh?" Taiki mumbled, a small smile on his lips. "That's just like you, Kiriha. What proof do you want?"

"He's just worried," Akari said. "I mean, you were missing for a while and I felt you...you were hurt. It was a really nauseous feeling. It's still there."

Taiki smiled. "It's alright. I'm still breathing so that's good enough for now, right?" He frowned. "Aren't we missing a few?" He looked around the place and saw Nene staring into space. "Nene? Are you alright?"

Akari pursed her lips when Taiki dodged the topic. Yes, he was casual but they were worried about him! What was wrong with him?

Nene snapped out of her reverie to look at Taiki. "Yuu... He joined DarkKnightmon." Her voice shook and her whole body trembled. She wrapped her arms around herself.

Akari moved to hug Nene, but the older girl didn't respond at all.

Taiki frowned. "That's reckless. We should look for him, shouldn't we? Tagiru, too."

Kiriha threw another suspicious look at him. "Shouldn't you have some idea where Tagiru is? You've been imprisoned for a while. Surely you must have some sort of clues for us."

Shoutmon tilted his head to stare at Taiki before looking at the others. "We might be able to lead you guys there."

Airu stepped forward. "Please do! Yuu might be there as well!"

Ryouma looked upset. "Airu, he hurt you! Why do you still want to go after him?"

Airu shook her head. "He and Tagiru are best friends. He's probably just worried. He didn't mean it. Please, Taiki-san, lead us there! Kiriha-san, stop! You're being suspicious for nothing!"

Kiriha frowned, before glancing at Akari. "What do you think? You know him better than all of us."

Akari furrowed her brows together slightly. Shoutmon's voice was almost robotic and there was something about Taiki that she couldn't seem to pick up on. But she knew there was something off about her friend. This wasn't the boy she had grown to love. This wasn't the person who could never turn his back on others. Also, if Taiki did know where Tagiru was, there was no way the real Taiki would leave a friend behind. Things did not add up.

Taiki wasn't cold because this Kuro didn't like the heater. She had felt him breaking, she had felt the pain, and the feeling of his soul being shattered.

"You're not Taiki," Akari said, and Taiki stared.

"You're imagining things," he said.

Nervousness. Fear. His voice was simply raucous. This definitely sent off alarm bells. Akari's eyes narrowed even further.

"Akari-kun..." Nene said.

Beelzebumon stepped besides Akari. "You heard her. Who are you? You're not acting like Taiki."

Kiriha snarled. "We want some answers."

"Kiriha-kun..." Nene murmured; however, she but didn't move to stop him and only looked at Taiki.

A cry of protest left Tagiru's lips as Gumdramon was thrown into the room that Tagiru was in.

"Gumdramon!" Tagiru said, kneeling down beside him.

Gumdramon coughed a little. "'M fine, you okay?"

Tagiru nodded while unconsciously tugging the blanket he held tighter around his shoulders. He held out his hand to Gumdramon and his partner took a hold of it. The touch made him a little uncomfortable and he quickly let go of the hand, flinching away from it as he felt another presence. Suddenly, a cold flutter of wind blew against Tagiru's body. He froze, stunned, and watched in silence as Gumdramon's eyes widened into ridiculous proportions.

"Hmm, I think you should get tanned a little bit more," a familiar voice said. "You look pale, Tagiru."

Shame instantly welled up inside Tagiru when he realized that Hideaki took away his blanket and he wrapped his arms around himself, to salvage some dignity he had left. His cheeks flushed in humiliation.

"Tagiru, sorry I didn't protect you," Gumdramon whispered, looking back at Tagiru.

Tagiru shook his head as he watched Hideaki leave the room. "It's okay. I'm fine."

He wasn't fine. Everything hurt. He couldn't bear to look at himself right now. He was disgusting. He wanted a shower, to get Hideaki's lingering, filthy touch away from his body. But Gumdramon had always seen him so strong. He was also one of the more childish digimon in the digital world. How was he supposed to explain to his partner that Hideaki had defiled him?

Gumdramon frowned. "What'd he do to you? I'll smash his head in!"

Tagiru managed a weak laugh. "That's not a good idea right now."

Gumdramon huffed. "Why aint it?"

"I dunno but I think Hideaki's working under someone," Tagiru muttered. "Normally, I'd be all for smashing them all down but I don't think we can. We're just not...we're not strong enough, Gumdramon. I...I'm not strong enough." His cheeks were suddenly moist and he realised he was crying. Damm it...so much for being strong.

He wasn't strong enough. It pained him terribly to even stand up and take more of it. His inner thighs were still bleeding profusely and everything hurt. He felt dirty, tainted, and like he wanted to throw up all over again. He saw Gumdramon begin to protest though and smiled a little.

"Gumdramon... It hurts," Tagiru whispered, causing Gumdramon to stop and look at him.

Tears continued to cascade down his cheeks. "Hideaki hurt me in a really bad way. I woke up and – and he'll just do it again, I know. I'm trying to fight him off, but he's so strong, Gumdramon. It... It's not fair." His voice choked up. "I wanna go home."

Gumdramon's eyes were wide. "Tagiru..." He wasn't the greatest at comfort but the King had said he was always good at encouragement. He grabbed Tagiru's hands in his paws. "I'll get you out of here, Tagiru. No matter what I have to do for it."

"Thank you," was all Tagiru could get out with his shaky voice. He tried to wipe the tears away but they just kept falling.