Chapter 17: Quick Thinking

"We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

-Faction 1: Northside-

Yamato blinked, flexing his fingers as he studied his hand. I just… Punched through that wall… He felt a chill of power climb his arm, urging him to continue. Not wasting anymore time, Yamato stepped through the cracked stone, the guards surrounding him raising their voices to alert the town.

"The prisoner! He has es-" His alert was cut short by a sharp icicle slicing through his neck. Water rose at the tips of Yamato's fingers, the liquid turning into ice as he flicked his fingers at the remaining guards. "Yes… Destroy them all…" Lillian's whispers tickled his ears, coaxing him to continue.

"Yamato!" He heard his name screamed behind him. Turning quickly, Yamato came face to face with his brother. "Oh, the general," Yamato said, a devious smirk painted across his lips, "I suppose you've come to try and stop me." His reply wasn't a question, it was more of a statement.

"As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I came to do." Takeura clenched his fists, wind swirling in response.

-Faction 3: The Dark Palace-

Tai swallowed nervously, fiddling his thumbs as he tried his best to keep his composure. He knows who I am. Sora was right, Marla shouldn't have been trusted. "Ah… Roul… Or should I say, Taichi Kamiya?" A dark, deep voice said. Shit. He definitely knows who I am. "How long has it been? 5 years?" Tai tried his best not to stuttered, "I don't know what you're talking about, my Lord."

"Oh don't play stupid…" Tai was shaken out of his worry as he heard swords being drawn on both of his sides. His head snapped back to Myotismon, his fingers reaching to grab the dagger Sora had left in his sleeve. "Now, Taichi. Tell me where your friends are hiding."

Tai shook his head, "No… I would never tell you!" Myotismon growled, standing to his full height of 6 foot 9 inches. Tai didn't budge. He stood triumphantly, holding the gaze of the Lord Myotismon. An unsettling smirk tugged at the edge of Myotismon's lips. Tai tapped into the ability the reckoning had left him with; the ability to see the movements an opponent would take next.

Taichi wasn't a skilled fighter. His strange and unique ability had saved him many times on the street. If Myotismon was thinking of going right, Tai would see it before it happened, allowing him to dodge a blow or land one. Tai looked up, his brown eyes darting around the room to count the Darklings. Nine. Only nine. He let out a small sigh of relief. I can take nine… He shook his head, remembering that Myotismon should also be factored in.

Movement. The Darklings would be drawing their swords, closing in on him. Myotismon wouldn't make a move.

As he predicted, the darklings drew their swords, moving quickly to close in on him. Tai moved fast. He jumped to his left, ducking just under the swing of a darkling, catching the side of a sword with his dagger. Myotismon watched, chuckling to himself. "Ah. A better fighter than I had thought…"

Tai grunted, pushing against the force of the sword he had caught. Other Darkling lunged for him, but Tai thought quickly. He released his hold on the sword, letting the momentum of the other sword land and slice through the attacking Darkling. One down…

Tai didn't hesitate, he slammed his dagger into the back of another Darkling. Two… Myotismon still smirked, nodding at the performance in front of him. Black blood began to paint the deep red floor below from Tai's slashing into the Darklings.

Three… Four… He let out a hiss as he felt a sword slide up his forearms, his red blood joining the deep black liquid on the ground. C'mon Tai… Five more. As he turned to catch a Darkling to his left, Tai jumped in surprise as a dagger flew through the air, ending the Darkling for him. Royal blue blade… Black handle… He looked towards the large doors just in time to see Sora releasing her grip on another dagger. Another Darkling down.

He knew it wasn't great for her to barge in and help, but a part of Tai smiled at the fact that she was worried enough to follow. Classic Sora. He watched her in awe. The petite redhead moved with the grace of a cat, ducking under a sword swung at her, her arms outstretched with daggers to cut the shins of the Darklings as she slid on her knees.

Sora stood, the black blood speckled across her cheeks. She flashed Tai a smirk, fire burning in her eyes. She… Enjoys this… Tai sheathed his dagger in his pocket, watching her move and take care of the final three Darklings with the ease of a trained predator. Myotismon smirked, crossing his arms as the final of his guards were taken down.

Tai released a breath he had been holding. Wow… Sora did have the ability to heighten her senses, giving her a way to hear better and move swifter, but even still her killing the Darklings was more like a choreographed dance.

Sora barely broke a sweat. She turned, facing Tai but looking past him at Myotismon. "Ah. Impressive," Myotismon said, followed by a slow clap. Tai stood still, watching Sora while she quickly moved to his side, her crimson eyes running over him and stopping a little longer on his cut.

"I thought Taichi would have to be forced to reveal the whereabouts of his friends… But you… The most dangerous of them all… were quite easy to draw out," he said the words as if he was playing a game. Tai wasn't sure what to make of the exchange. His brown eyes bounced between the two.

Sora smiled back, playing along. "Yes… Trained by the best, my Lord." She finished her sentence in a mocking manner, Tai's eyes widening. "This is true, but I'm afraid he's no longer with us…" Myotismon fake pouted, bowing his head to remember Lanus. "How's your mark?" He raised his hand, flicking his fingers.

The movement sent a shock up Sora's arm and through her back, the sensation traveling up the dark swirls that covered her skin. She let out a groan, trying her best to fight the urge to give in and lie on the ground. "Now now… You may not react as I please, but I can feel it's effect." He let go of his grip. Sora didn't show how relieved she was. Myotismon frowned, but snapped his fingers.

From the blood on the ground rose at least twenty-five Darklings. "I must get going… You two have fun now…" He let out a dark laugh, pulling his cloak around him as he disappeared in a cloud of bats.

Tai and Sora spun quickly, back to back as the Darklings began to circle them.

-Faction 3: Mel's Goods-

Mimi sighed, tossing another one of the old leather bound books into the growing pile. "Joe," she said dramatically, "there's nothing here. We should've gone out exploring like everyone else." Joe chuckled at Mimi, closing the book he was currently flipping through. "Mimi, I doubt there is anything more exciting happening to the others."

"Yeah… You're probably right," she sighed, reaching for another book, hoping for more clues. "It's just… Joe… Have you ever experienced weird abilities since the reckoning?" Joe shrugged, eyeing her. "Hm… Well I will say I have developed quite the knack for healing. Why?"

Mimi let out a long breath, "Oh. Well I've developed quite the knack to shoot fire out of my fingers." Joe nodded, "That's interes- Wait, what?" He eyed her warily, blinking slowly. "Mimi, fire? From your hands?" She smiled, giggling at his reaction. "Oh Joe you're so funny. Yes! Fire." She snapped her fingers, a spark forming into a small flame on her pointer finger. Joe jumped back in surprise, swallowing nervously. "Th-That's great, Mimi. Um… Please put it out." Mimi smiled playfully, extinguishing the fire on her finger.

"So, please elaborate on your newfound ability," Mimi said, closing yet another book. "I just… Taichi would go out… For days, sometimes weeks… And come back practically mangled," he shivered at the memories, "Anyway, I'd be able to heal him. Well, quicker than he would have healed on his own, if at all."

"Yamato could shoot ice from his fingers… I only saw him do it once, but it happened," Mimi said quietly. Joe opened his mouth to reply, but his words were stopped by the front door of the shop being swung open.

Mimi and Joe blinked in surprise, "Izzy?!" Mimi stood, running to pull her friend into a hug. "What are you doing here?" Kari shuffled in behind him, pushing the pile of books aside to make herself a place to sit. Joe felt the air change to something more serious. He set the current book down and turned to Kari, sitting across from her.

"Faction 1 is falling," she said quietly, "the crown has discovered Northside." Joe nodded, listening. "They sent their fighter to take care of the camps." Kari hesitated, checking to see if Mimi was in earshot. "Yamato… Their best fighter is Yamato." Joe sat back, sighing loudly. "And how are we going to help with this? None of us can Jump except for Tai… And Izzy I suppose."

Izzy smiled warily, "There is no helping Faction 1 right now. Takeura has to try his best to take care of it on his own." A worried look flashed across Mimi's fair features. "Is Yamato…" Her words tapered off into worried breaths. The others just looked at the floor, unsure of how to respond.

"We have to get all of us into the same faction… Faction 1 preferably," Izzy said, "that faction is the heart of the power. Myotismon may have his palace located here, but the royals of faction 1 hold more power than is let on." The other three nodded, waiting for him to go on.

"Celina, a woman from faction 1 who is part of the rebellion, slips me information every now and then. I Jumped to faction 1 to pass the journal Mimi found in faction 2 to Takeura. During that trip, Celina warned me that all of us coming together would result in… Well situations we wouldn't find desirable. She had a way of knowing what was going to happen." He sighed heavily, "we just need to be careful is all."

The room was silent as the group digested the words, a nervous energy set in. A few minutes passed, the silence interrupted once again by the front door swinging open. This time Sora rushed in, clearing the table quickly, black blood of the Darklings covering her skin. "We need to make space!" She turned to Joe, "Healer, right?" He nodded slowly, unsure why she exclaimed that.

Sam grunted as he stepped into the room, a half conscious Tai being held up by the assassin. Kari gasped, her eyes sticking to the deep red blood that was pulling from a cut in his stomach. "Tai!" She rushed towards his side, only to be told to move by Sam. "Move! We need to get him help. We can coo over his injuries later." Kari drew back, sitting back onto the ground.

Joe stood quickly, clearing his throat as he fell into his role of healer, one he was beginning to become too comfortable in. "Sam," Sora said, "I cleared the table. He can't climb the stairs, so this will have to do." Sam nodded, quickly pulling Tai to the table and helping him lie on his back.

Tai groaned, hissing as Joe moved his hand to look at his side. "What happened…" Tai chuckled, "I almost had them." Sora rolled her eyes, pressing a cold towel to his forehead. "You left your side exposed. The only thing you almost had was death." He flashed her a nervous smile, "Yeah, but you were there to help so wasn't too- Damn Joe careful!" Joe peaked up, "Sorry… It's pretty deep." Kari soon joined Sora, standing next to Tai as she observed with worried eyes.

Sam leaned against the wall, watching anxiously with Mimi and Izzy. Joe closed his eyes, focusing his energy over Tai's injury. Sora watched in awe, the wound clotting and scabbing within minutes. "Wow…" she whispered, going through the times in her mind she could have used something like that.

Joe lifted his hands, smiling triumphantly at his work. "You should be fine," he said, "just don't do anything stupid until it heals up." Tai sat up, rubbing his side, "no promises… Thank you, Joe." Joe nodded, clearing his throat as he met the shocked eyes of everyone in the room. "It's just a small thing I've picked up…" Mimi nodded slowly, "You really can heal… Quickly to say the least." Izzy agreed, scratching his chin.

"Okay," Tai slung his legs off of the table, standing. "Now that that's over, any news?" Everyone seemed to avoid his gaze. "Faction 1…" Kari said, "It's going down. Like badly, Taichi." Tai nodded, "We can't all go. That would expose us too much. We have to bring them to us."

Sora bit her bottom lip, deep in thought. "How would we do that? They wouldn't willingly come to this shit hole faction. It's Magnus and Lillian for crying out loud." Mimi chuckled in agreement. "We have to try," Tai replied, resulting in a shrug from Sora as she moved to Sam's side, avoiding contact from Tai.

Out of the whole group, Sam and Sora seemed to be the most reserved. The two of them kept to themselves, exchanging whispers that only the two of them could pick up on because of their ability to enhance their senses. They're still unsure… Thought Tai, feeling a pang of jealousy that Sora trusted the other assassin with her secrets rather than himself.

"Sora and I are going to keep watch," Sam said, pulling his cloak over his head, "now that Myotismon is alerted, we should keep security high." Sora nodded, her cloak covering her shoulders. "Let me know what you guys decide on… Please stay safe…" Her eyes lingered on Tai's, a silent warning to stay out of trouble.

Before the others could protest, the two assassins slipped out to watch the store. "Strange pair. Sora was never one to be wary," Mimi observed, watching the door as it closed. "She's been through a lot since the reckoning…" Kari replied, "I wouldn't trust much either." Mimi nodded sadly.

"Alright, plans." Joe said, clapping his hands together, snapping the others out of their thoughts. "We have to get Yamato to Jump with me to faction 3," Izzy said in deep thought. Mimi blinked, an idea flashing through her thoughts. "Me… He would come for me." Tai raised an eyebrow, obviously missing something, but Izzy smiled triumphantly. "Great idea. Great thinking. Excellent thought. Ama-" "Izzy! We get it. Mimi had a good idea." Kari said, chuckling.

"Sorry… Shall we start then?" The room nodded, watching Izzy as he pressed his hand against the wall, readying himself to Jump to faction 1.

*Author's Note

Sorry again for the late update! I'm in the middle of grad school applications and they are kicking my butt! I hope you all enjoyed this, or some of it! Let me know what you guys think. Happy readings :)