A/N: Hey guys! I know it's been a good minute since I've updated, it's been a hectic few weeks for me. So, I'm still not done with chapter 9 yet, but I was refining this chapter just now and decided to go ahead and publish it, even though I'm not completely happy with it. (I think its the difficulty of writing a lengthy dialogue scene with so many characters; it might work better in the context of a visual medium, but reading it in prose like this just feels artificial to me.) Anyway, I think this is about as good as it's gonna get, so I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and thanks to everyone who have reviewed it so far! I really appreciate the feedback.
Chapter 8. - AHOD.
Matt lay on his bed in the darkness, facing the wall. It had been an exhausting two days. He hadn't slept from the moment the ring of light appeared on his D4 until T.K. swooped down on Pegasusmon for him, and that coupled with the exertion of the fight with Eosmon and the pain of losing Gabumon created in him a profound weariness of body and soul that Matt could not fight against. He had slept well past noon, and the void into which he had cocooned himself—an absence of all thought, memory, or pain—had felt immeasurably peaceful and comforting. But as all things must, this too eventually came to an end, and consciousness unwelcomely returned. Still Matt did not stir, instead lying motionless in a refusal to acknowledge the world around him.
A world without Gabumon.
He still held the dead fossil of his digivice to his breast, and occasionally waves of sorrow racked his frame and brought fresh tears through clenched eyelids. A low moan escaped his lips as he fought to soften his cries, though he knew no one was there to hear. He had a vague memory of hearing T.K. answer the door and let someone in, echoes of a murmured conversation from the other room, and finally a soft knock on his door before his brother gingerly entered.
"Matt?", he'd said. "Listen, um...Kari and I are going to the Digital World for a little while. There's something over there that we have to check out. But if you need anything—anything at all—just call me and we'll be right there. Okay? I know you're hurting right now, but we're here for you. We're all here for you. You're not alone, Matt. We love you."
That had been several hours ago, and still Matt remained on his bed. He felt compelled to move—to yell, scream, throw things, do something, anything! But the torrent of pain, sorrow, and anger paralyzed him in place. It felt like fire consuming his bones, it felt like an arctic wind in his soul. He had never experienced such fear. How was he supposed to move forward and go on...without him? Gabumon's last question burned in his mind, but he did not know how to answer it. He knew he had to find some way out of this hole he'd been thrust into—something meaningful he could accomplish—or else he would be letting Gabumon down...but he didn't know what to do. So he did nothing, even as each passing second increased his need for action.
RIYAAH! RIYAAH! A raucous siren wailed from his D4 and a red light flooded the room. Matt launched straight up from the mattress in alarm, the covers sent flying. When he came down he stretched his arm out just in time to catch the device responsible for the noise, which was in mid-fall from where it had vibrated off his nightstand. Matt peered at his phone in confusion; it had been turned off and shouldn't have been able to make a sound. It was an "All-Hands-On-Deck!" message sent from Izzy with coordinates to a Digital Gate, along with the suite number and address for Izumi Industries. Matt swiped off the notification. What was wrong? Did something else happen? Surely this had to be about Eosmon. Maybe Izzy was trying to gather everyone to tell them about the end of their digimon's bonds. Or was it Tai? All these thoughts swirled in Matt's mind. He didn't want to go; he wasn't sure if he could face everyone right now. Not when the pain was still so raw. But it had to happen sometime, and he knew for sure that he had to do something, right now. What, if not this? He watched the replies pour in as the Digidestined sounded off. Matt stared at the screen for another five minutes, contemplating it and the choice before him.
Another notification came, this time a text to him directly. It was Tai.
Please. I need you, Matt.
Matt looked to where his keys and motorcycle jacket lay sprawled over the top of his dresser, and he made his decision.
The late afternoon sunlight pooled on the floor through Sora's bedroom window; it was the second day after Biyomon's disappearance. Sora had allowed herself one day to wallow in her misery—it wasn't exactly in line with the promise she'd made to Biyomon that she would move on, but she reasoned she was allowed one day, at least. She would understand, I'm sure, Sora had thought. I just need some time. I'll move on tomorrow. But tomorrow had now come, and Sora had done little other than sit on her bed staring at her phone with her thumb poised over the call app. She'd been trying to muster the courage to place a call, but so far had been unsuccessful.
Part of her trouble was indecision about who she should call. The obvious choice was Matt, of course. She hadn't heard from him since the dinner date they had gone on together the night before all this started. She remembered he had expressed anxiety about whether he should go on to grad school or not. That had been almost a week ago. She missed him terribly, and longed for nothing more than to be held in his strong arms. But he's got a lot on his mind right now. Maybe I shouldn't bother him, she told herself, knowing that was just a weak excuse to not have to tell him the awful truth about Biyomon. That would be upsetting enough, but to tell him also meant telling him he would have to say goodbye to Gabumon someday. It would break his heart, and Sora couldn't bear to do that.
And then there was Tai. She was torn about which of the two boys she should turn to. It had often been this way when they were younger, though in the past her dilemma had been more romantic in nature, and that had long since been settled. For the first time in years, she couldn't make up her mind who it was that she needed to tell first. It was Matt's right as her boyfriend to be told first because he was the one closest to her, the one with which she shared all things and from whom she withheld no secrets. But Tai was their leader. As head of the Digidestined, she felt he deserved to be the first to know about Biyomon and the coming end of their bonds with the rest of their digimon. Maybe it was because she felt guilty for deciding to stop fighting that she felt compelled to confess to her childhood best friend why she was the first to lose her partner. Yet she was terrified to do so, ashamed and afraid that he would be furious with her for what he would likely see as a betrayal. For perhaps the thousandth time she wished Biyomon were here to help her decide what to do.
A wave of pure frustration washed over her as she dropped her phone from her trembling hand and pulled at fistfuls of her hair. "Just do it, already!" she berated herself aloud. "Just pick up the phone and call one of them! Why is it so hard?"
She sat there for a few moments trying to control her breathing and not break down again. The only sound came from the tv droning on quietly in the corner. She had turned it on earlier merely to have some background noise to fill the unbearable silence that never let her forget how alone she was. She concentrated on it to help distract her from her crowded thoughts. It was during a commercial break after the end of whatever afternoon gameshow had been playing—Sora hadn't paid enough attention to know which—and was now running the new ad for Izumi Industries's D4 digital smartphone. It cut between several attractive-looking closeup shots of the phone while a sophisticated and husky, almost seductive female voiceover ran through the list of its impressive features. "The Izumi D4, releasing October 10th," the tv crooned. "Preorder yours today." The ad ended on a shot of the Izumi Industries logo, a stylized minimalist graphic in red of Kabuterimon's head enveloped within an octagon over a white background. "Izumi Industries. We're going digital."
A cacophonous noise abruptly exploded from the phone by Sora's knee, startling her as her room was bathed in an angry red glow. She picked it up in alarm to find an "All-Hands-On-Deck!" alert sent from Izzy. Fear coursed through her body. What had happened? She watched as replies from the others started to pour into their group chat while she wrestled with her indecision. What should she do? What could she do? If it was a digimon attack, she would be less than useless without Biyomon by her side. She would be a liability to the others if there was a battle. But on the other hand, she had to know what was happening, and at the very least it might give her the opportunity to speak to Tai and Matt face to face.
As she sat debating her options, her attention was slowly pulled toward the tv, where a breaking news broadcast had come on. Sora fumbled around for the remote to turn up the volume, not taking her eyes from the startling images being displayed on the screen: "We have confirmed the identity of this man as twenty-two year old Tai Kamiya, the so-called leader of the original group of Digidestined…" Chills ran down her spine as she watched her friend screaming hysterically at the petrified digivice in his hand. Sora's hands flew to her mouth as she gasped and shook her head in disbelief.
"No...Tai…" Sora breathed.
Izzy glanced at the clock on the wall. Twelve minutes had passed since he'd sent the alert. Depending on the routes the individual members had to take, he guessed that they would begin to arrive presently. Even from opposite sides of the planet, those with D3's could use digital gates to bypass great distances in the Real World in seconds or minutes, the only variable being the distance between the gates that they would have to cross in the Digital World (and even that could be quickly traversed with the aid of a Champion-level digimon); and except for Mimi, the rest of them still lived relatively close by.
Izzy's mental calculations were interrupted by the creak of an opening door, and he and Tai turned to receive the first Digidestined to show: it was Matt, his white motorcycle helmet tucked under one arm of his leather jacket. His eyes locked with Tai's.
"I'm with you, Tai," he said, repeating the exchange from their last battle together.
Tai nodded, and a satisfied smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "I never doubted you for a second, Matt."
An old memory, triggered by Tai's reply, leapt vividly to Matt's mind: an image of a beaten and battered boy lying in the dirt near an equally battered WarGreymon, who had stood alone against a diabolical clown-like digimon to buy time for Matt to arrive. He had given a crooked smile as Matt cradled him in his arms."I never doubted you for a second, Matt. I know it didn't always seems that way," the boy had said. Matt's eyes glistened with tears, and he stood before his best friend who had put so much faith in him then, and who did so still.
"Tai, right before he left, Gabumon asked me what I would do tomorrow," he said, clasping Tai's shoulders tightly.
Tai blinked in surprise. "You too? Agumon asked me the same thing."
Matt nodded. "I think they were concerned about us, about what we would do after they were gone. They knew how hard it would be for us afterward. They wouldn't want us to give up!"
"We won't," Tai promised.
"What do we do, Tai?" Matt pleaded.
"Don't worry. Izzy and I have a plan."
Matt turned to Izzy, who nodded. "That's right, Matt. That's why we called this meeting."
They were interrupted by a sound and a flash of light from the television, and suddenly Cody and Armadillomon materialized through it. Cody was wearing a full set of kendo armor, and he made the four-foot drop to the floor by executing a front flip with an overhead slash from his wooden shinai to whatever enemy he might have faced. He landed crouched on one knee as Armadillomon rolled into position beside him, springing from the ball he was curled into and forming a low defensive stance.
"Yaah!" Cody shouted, then looked around in confusion as he realized the room was void of foes.
"Easy, Cody," Izzy said with mild amusement. "No one's in any danger here."
"But the alert—" Cody gasped.
"It is an emergency in the sense that there is an urgent need to gather everyone for an important purpose, but there is no need to fight anyone at present."
Cody was breathing heavily as if he had just run a mile in his kendo gear. "Oh. I see." He straightened, lowered his weapon, and bowed respectfully. "Well in that case, is there somewhere I could put my armor for the moment that would be out of the way?"
Izzy nodded, and handed him a plastic card. "My office is on the next floor up, here's the key. It'll be safe there."
"Thank you. I'll be back in a minute." Cody took the card and he and Armadillomon exited the room.
"Well, that was dramatic," Tai observed dryly.
"In retrospect, maybe we should have sent something a little softer than an AHOD," Izzy mused, stroking his chin.
Almost immediately the TV flashed again, and Kari and T.K. were there with Gatomon and Patamon at their sides. The four took the drop gracefully and landed seemingly without effort. Kari rushed over to Tai and touched his forearm tenderly. "Are you okay, Tai? Did anything happen while we were gone?"
Tai shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I think me and Izzy pretty much have things worked out."
"That's good to hear," she replied.
T.K. pulled Matt in for a quick hug. "Hey, Matt, how are you holding up?"
Matt's expression was pained, but he was obviously trying to keep a brave face. "I'm...hanging in there, squirt."
Kari cocked her head back in the direction of the t.v. "Well I've got to go—"
Another flash, and Davis and Veemon burst through the screen and were sent sprawling until they came to a stop upside-down under a table on the other side of the room. They had evidently come through the gate running.
"Umffh," he grunted.
"You all right, Davis?" Tai called out.
Davis rolled over and got up slowly. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just gotta walk it off…" He shook his head to clear it and saw all who were present for the first time. "Whoa, Hey T.F.! How are ya?", he said, greeting T.K. with a hearty fist bump.
"I'm good, Davis," T.K. chuckled. "It's been a while."
"Yeah, I don't think I've seen any of you guys since the last Digidestined reunion a few weeks ago," he replied, referring to the meeting the Digidestined held every year on August 1st, the anniversary of their first trip to the Digital World. This was a tradition they held to religiously, even after all these years. It was rare that a member of the team failed to show up; this year only Sora and Joe weren't able to make it.
Davis moved on to Kari, who hugged him warmly. "Kari, it's good to see you!", he greeted.
"It's good to see you too, Davis. Oh, by the way, I know how you've been trying to find good ramen places lately, and I think you should check out Noriaki's sometime. It's just down the street. Me and T.K. go there all the time, they have really good food, and who knows? You just might run into an old friend."
"Oh yeah, for real?"
Kari nodded. "Mmhmm." Holding a hand to the side of her mouth, she added conspiratorially, "Especially between 12:00 and 2:00 on Friday afternoon, that's when their seafood is the freshest."
T.K. suppressed a grin and rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's subterfuge, knowing that was really the only time of the week she was sure Noriko would be working there.
"Awesome, thanks for the tip, Kari!"
Veemon came to Matt and pulled on his pantleg to get his attention. "When do we get to have that all-you-can-eat sushi that you promised us?"
Matt smiled at the little creature, though it did not reach his eyes. "It'll have to wait, Veemon, but I promise I'll take you all out to dinner later. Just be patient for now."
Veemon sniffed the air and looked around the room, noticing a conspicuous absence for the first time. "Wait a second, where's Gabumon? And Agumon?"
Matt and Tai winced while T.K. and Kari cringed and Izzy shook his head from behind Matt to dissuade Veemon from questioning him any further.
Just then Ken came through the TV with Wormmon on his shoulder. He was wearing a tracksuit and obviously had been jogging when he got the alert. Like Davis, he must have been moving at speed when he came through the gate as well, though not as fast as he had, for Ken came to a halt with relative ease. There was no telling how long he had been running, but his breathing was smooth and even, and not a bead of sweat was visible on his brow. Ken turned to the group and bowed slightly. "Hello, everyone."
"Greetings", Wormmon added.
"What's the situation, Izzy?" Ken asked.
"Yeah," Davis chimed in, "Does this have anything to do with the digimon that tried to kidnap all those Digidestined a couple of days ago?"
Izzy held up a hand for silence. "Yes, it is related to that, but it's also more. And I only want to have to go over this once, so please wait until everyone gets here."
The screen flashed yet again, and Ken and Wormmon hurriedly moved away from the TV to avoid being landed on.
"Wah!" cried the startled occupant as they tripped upon exiting the gate and crashed to the floor in an indistinct pile. The assembled group emitted various sounds of surprise and alarm as their eyes registered what had materialized: Yolei, sopping wet, a sheen of moisture over her pale skin, and the small beige towel wrapped tightly around her midsection the only thing keeping her (relatively speaking, anyway) decent. She'd held a bundle of clothes in her arms, but lost it when she came through, and it now lay scattered in an untidy heap about her.
"Oww," Yolei groaned to herself, crawling to her knees and rubbing the top of her head gingerly. "Why doesn't that ever get any easier?"
A large lump moved within the folds of clothing beside her, and a dazed Hawkmon emerged, one cup of a black bra dangling from the top of his head. "Oooh, my poor head..."
The other Digidestined shifted on their feet uncomfortably and stared at the floor. Having inherited the digi-egg of Sincerity from Mimi, Yolei had always been very open and honest—sometimes brutally so—and none of them would have ever accused her of being shy; but this was certainly the last thing they would have anticipated.
Feeling like he needed to break the intolerable silence somehow, Tai said, "Uhm...nice entrance, Yolei."
Kari paused from playfully shielding T.K.'s eyes long enough to smack her brother on the arm, and Matt coughed once into his hand.
At the sound of Tai's voice, Yolei recovered from her less-than-graceful landing. Instantly she was on her feet and alert, seemingly oblivious to her current state of undress. "Guys, I'm so sorry! I came here as fast as I could! What's happening? Is anyone hurt?"
Davis just stood slack-jawed and speechless. Kari had a hand over her mouth, shaking with silent laughter at the absurdity of the whole situation. T.K. pulled the visor of his baseball cap lower over his face. Tai and Matt glanced to the sides awkwardly, and Ken was busy looking anywhere other than at Yolei. But Izzy was on the verge of a conniption.
"Y-Y-Y-Yolei!" He stammered, "What is the meaning of this?! You're getting water all over the carpet! And—well look at yourself!" His face was turning as red as his hair, though whether from anger or embarrassment no one could tell for sure.
Yolei surveyed the room and came to the conclusion that no one was in imminent danger. Her hands went to her hips, and she rocked her head side-to-side for emphasis as she retorted, "Well excuuuse me for not taking the time to dry off when you sent a level 5 alert while I was in the shower!"
Hawkmon had sufficiently recovered his wits by now and, ever the gentleman, he chivalrously put himself between his partner and the others and started waving his wings wildly in an effort to preserve what little modesty she had remaining. "Avert your gaze, gentlemen, and afford the lady some privacy! There's nothing for you to see here! Shoo! Shoo!"
The boys obeyed, though Davis protested, "Hey, she's the one that came wrapped in a towel!"
"You're lucky she even came in that," Hawkmon lamented, revolving his head nearly one-hundred-and-eighty degrees to stare at Yolei crossly. "When the alert came, she leaped straight from the shower to the computer, and would have exited the gate nude as a jay-bird if I hadn't snatched a towel and a change of clothes for her on the way out."
"Hawkmon, you know how serious an AHOD is," argued Yolei in a mildly sulking tone. "What if someone was seriously hurt and needed help right away? I couldn't live with myself if something terrible happened because I didn't get there fast enough, and I'd rather go into battle naked if I had to than lose any of you."
"I concede your point," Hawkmon admitted, though he couldn't keep from adding, "but it's just so unbecoming of a lady." Yolei rolled her eyes.
"Well, I applaud your quick thinking, Hawkmon," said Izzy, "I'm sure everyone here is relieved for your having spared us from seeing that."
"Hey! What does that mean?!" Yolei yelled indignantly.
"Look," Tai interjected, hoping to save Izzy from Yolei's wrath, "before we get off-track any further, we admire your dedication Yolei, but it's not necessary this time. No one's life is in danger right now."
Yolei folded her arms across her chest, shooting him an annoyed stare. "I can see that now. Well then, may I go change into something more becoming?"
"Yes," said Izzy, still looking at the floor, "the lady's room is just a few feet down the hall."
"All right. I will be back shortly. Come on, Hawkmon." She turned swiftly on her heel, her long purple hair flinging water droplets in a wide arc behind her, and exited the room, Hawkmon waddling with the bundle of clothes close behind. The door shut, and a few seconds later Cody's muffled voice could be heard from the outside hall: "Whoa, what the—Geez, Yolei, put some clothes on! What is wrong with you?!"
"SHUT UP, CODY! I'M WORKING ON IT!"
Everyone in the room let out a collective sigh. "Definitely shouldn't have sent an AHOD," Tai muttered.
"Ohhhh yeah," Matt agreed.
"Oh, I forgot!" Kari exclaimed suddenly. "I need to get Mimi! Bye, everyone, I'll be back soon!" She and Gatomon stood before the TV and Kari held out her digiphone. "Digi-port open!" she cried, and they were sucked through the portal.
Cody returned momentarily in the dark-colored gi that he wore underneath his kendo armor, a rather haunted expression on his face.
"Did you get your gear stored in my office all right?" Izzy inquired. Cody stared blankly and didn't answer.
"Hey Cody, you okay?" T.K. asked, beginning to be concerned for the boy.
"It...it uh…" Cody swallowed. "The—The towel slipped…" Cody passed by a stunned T.K. and returned Izzy's keycard to him without looking at either of them, making it clear that he did not wish to discuss the matter further.
"Oh," T.K. said to himself. What else was there to say?
An uncomfortable silence reigned for a few moments, as no one knew quite how to proceed. Thankfully, it was abruptly broken by Joe, who burst through the door in his hospital scrubs, a messenger bag slung over one shoulder and Gomamon trailing wearily behind him. "Izzy I'm here!" he announced, hands on knees and sucking in great breaths.
"Joe, are you all right?" asked Ken, helping the older boy to one of the lounge chairs. "Rest here, and I'll get you some water."
Joe sat down and looked at Izzy from the corner of his eye. "You just had to hold this meeting on the second-highest floor, didn't you?", he huffed. "Do you know how many stairs this building has?"
"But Joe, the elevator's right there," Izzy replied, pointing in the general direction of the outer hall.
Joe slapped his forehead and groaned exasperatedly.
"I tried to tell you, Joe, but you were in too big of a hurry to listen. Hey, why is the carpet all wet over here?" Gomamon asked as he slid across the area under the TV where Yolei had landed.
Izzy ran a hand down his face. "Don't ask," he groaned.
Ken returned from the cocktail bar with a glass of ice water and offered it to Joe, who accepted it and began to gulp from it greedily. The door opened again and Yolei and Hawkmon came back. She now wore a bright red dress that came down to her mid-thigh, black leggings, and a large gold rope necklace adorning her neck. Her hair was still very damp, but was pinned back by a green headband. "This is a little fancier than what I would have picked out, but you matched everything pretty well, Hawkmon."
The little bird accepted the praise with a small bow. "I am pleased it is to your liking," he said, grinning.
Yolei walked through the growing throng until she stood before the youngest member. He had grown a lot over the past few years, and so she only had to bend forward slightly to reach his eye level. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Cody. I was just frustrated," Yolei apologized. "A-And for flashing you," she added sheepishly, "that was an accident."
Behind them, Joe spluttered violently in his chair, coughing and pounding his chest as he spewed a mouthful of water over the already drenched carpet. Izzy scowled at him.
Cody's ears turned red with embarrassment and his eyes still refused to meet hers. "Let's just agree to never speak of this again," he rasped.
The older girl gave a light chuckle. "Deal."
Once his lungs were clear, Joe's head swiveled from person to person around the room in wild confusion. "Just what did I miss earlier?"
"Trust me Joe, you didn't miss much of anything," Tai sighed, which earned him a solid punch in the arm from Yolei.
The television flashed one final time and Kari was back with Mimi, Gatomon, and Palmon in tow. Mimi wore pink sweatpants, slippers, and an oversized green long-sleeve shirt that hung askew over one shoulder. "Hi, everyone!" she called, stifling a yawn. "I hope we didn't keep you waiting!"
Tai eyed the styrofoam cup she held in her hand, not bothering to mask his irritation. "You had time to get coffee?" he asked, sending a glare Kari's way. Kari shrugged apologetically behind the older girl as if to say, "You know what she's like, Tai. I did the best I could!" Meanwhile, Mimi was defending her choices.
"Do you know what time it is in New York right now? It's four in the morning, I was dead asleep when the alert came! Kari told me there wasn't an immediate threat, so I figured I could spare enough time for a cappuccino. I still came as fast as possible otherwise though, I didn't even do my makeup."
Tai rolled his eyes. "Well anyway, it looks like everyone's here, so I guess we may as well get started."
Yolei scanned the room, perplexed. "Wait a second. Sora's still not here. Shouldn't we wait for her and Biyomon?"
The room grew silent. Tai looked uneasily at Matt, who shook his head slowly, before turning back to Yolei. "I don't think she's coming," he said softly.
The others murmured quietly among themselves. What did that mean? Sora hadn't been very active in digimon-related activities lately, but to refuse to respond to an AHOD…?
Tai sighed heavily, suddenly deflated of energy. He had been dreading this moment all day, choosing not to think about it but rather concentrate on other things. But now it was here, and he could put it off no longer. He stepped forward into the center of the group and began in a low voice, "I suppose I should begin by telling you all why you're here." He brought his head up and looked around the room, taking in the assembled faces that surrounded him, his comrades. His best friends. He took a deep breath and uttered the hardest words of his life: "We've lost Agumon. He's gone."
A murmur of shock and disbelief rippled through the group. They looked at each other in uneasy confusion, not quite understanding, not quite willing to believe his words meant what they sounded like. Yolei was the first to find her voice. "I don't understand. What do you mean, 'he's gone'? Did he get defeated? Cause then he would just be reborn in Primary Village, right?" She paled as a terrifying new possibility occurred to her: "Agumon wasn't killed fighting in the Real World, was he?"
"No." Tai shook his head sadly. He dug something out of his front pocket and held it tightly in his fist, studying it for a long moment, then placed the petrified digivice on the coffee table next to him for everyone to see. "I mean he's gone. For good."
A chorus of gasps and dismayed cries was torn from the circle. Mimi even screamed. Matt shut his eyes, then stepped forward as well, unwilling to let his best friend stand alone any longer. "And so is Gabumon," he breathed through clenched teeth, setting his digivice beside Tai's.
"No, that can't be!" Davis's disheartened exclamation rose over the others.
"It's true," Tai said. "I'm no longer a Digidestined."
"No!" Izzy's voice was adamant, almost angry in its inflection, and he smacked a fist into his palm for added emphasis. "You'll always be a Digidestined, now and forever!"
"Yeah!" agreed T.K. "And you'll always be our fearless leader!" The others voiced their assent as well.
"Thanks, guys," Tai said, looking around the room.
"Tell us what happened, Tai," Mimi pleaded, hands steepled together in a prayer-like fashion.
"Don't leave anything out. Tell us every detail," Ken added gently. "Maybe we can find a way to bring him back."
"Well, it all started a few days ago—"
Tai was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and everyone turned toward their surprise visitor.
"Sora!" The name flew from Tai's lips in surprise, for it was she who stood in the doorway. She looked miserable, her unbrushed hair falling in disarray around her downcast face, the rumpled fabric of her dull red t-shirt and olive capris looking as if she might have slept in them the night before, and her posture, which was usually so straight and graceful now slouched lazily at her shoulders and knees, arms hanging limply by her sides.
"Biyomon's gone too," she said simply.
By now everyone was already too shocked to react further; Sora's revelation was met with a fragile stillness and silence as she shambled inside. Tai stood in the center of the Digidestined, feeling hollow as his heart broke for her. "Sora...no…"
She moved through the throng until she was before her leader, only then daring to raise her tear-stained face to him. "I heard your whistle, Tai. I'm sorry I couldn't be there."
Tai was stunned. "Sora, I…"
"I'm so sorry!" she wailed, throwing her arms around him.
Tai did then what he had once so longed to do: he held her close to his chest and stroked her hair with his hand. He let her cry against his shoulder for a few moments more, but he knew that this ultimately wasn't right, that she shouldn't have come to him. He gently extricated himself until she was at arm's length, then just as carefully shifted her until she faced Matt, who stood nearby. Unspeakable pain and sympathy were in his eyes, and tears ran unchecked down his cheeks. "Sora..." he choked, unable to get the words out.
She looked at him in wonder and, suddenly noticing a conspicuous absence by his side, whirled about the room in search of the furry Rookie that she knew would not be there. Her eyes finally fell to the low table nearby and froze, captivated by the sight of not one, but two stone digivices resting on it. "Oh no, Matt, not you too!"
She collided into his embrace and sobbed harder still, just as he finally allowed his last dam of emotion fall, and together they poured out their sorrow.
Tai was pushed in among Matt and Sora as the others surrounded them in a communal display of grief and support. For several minutes they all wept as one, each sharing in the tragedy that had befallen their three comrades. When the Digidestined finally separated, Izzy pulled boxes of tissue out of a storage cabinet for everyone to use.
Mimi approached Sora and cupped her cheek in her hand. "What happened, Sora? You sounded fine just the other day when we talked on the phone."
Sora sniffled. "It started right after you hung up, when I decided to give up fighting." She looked at her friend and clung to her arms, a wild panic in her eyes. "Do you think that's why she left? Is it my fault that I lost Biyomon because I wanted to stop being a Digidestined?" Sora pleaded, speaking aloud for the first time the terrible question that plagued her.
Mimi was taken aback by her friend's earnestness. "I...I don't know…" she answered, wishing for once that she could comfort her by being less sincere.
Tai watched them a short distance away with a pained expression. "You gave up…?" he whispered quietly to himself.
Izzy stepped into the center of the group, put his fingers to his lips and whistled for attention. "All right, everyone, I know we've just been given some awful news, but there's a lot more to the story and we have some important matters to discuss. I don't mean to be insensitive, but please try to stay focused for the moment so we can continue our meeting."
Everyone quieted down and focused on Izzy.
"As Tai was saying, this all began when I was contacted by a young woman named Menoa Bellucci, a digimon researcher in New York."
"So this does have something to do with her!" Yolei blurted. "I knew there was something fishy about her! Oh no, does this mean that I'm to blame for all this since I sent her to Izzy?" Yolei started to hyperventilate at the idea.
Tai held up his hand. "Easy, Yolei. It's not anyone's fault. It was going to happen no matter what."
Izzy continued, "Menoa contacted me about a growing phenomenon of Digidestined around the world suddenly losing consciousness and revealed that she had tracked down the cause to a brand new digimon called Eosmon. She requested our help in defeating Eosmon and returning all the consciousnesses that had been stolen. Tai, Matt, T.K., and myself went into the internet with our digimon and engaged with Eosmon."
Joe stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Eosmon. Isn't that the huge digimon we fought in that weird dimension where we were turned into kids a couple of nights ago?"
Davis whirled to face Joe. "Huh?"
"Oh yeah!", Mimi exclaimed. "Wait, I thought I had just dreamed that. Was that for real?"
Izzy nodded. "I was getting to that. And no, Mimi, that was definitely real. Anyway, during the battle something went wrong with Omnimon's fusion and Eosmon got away. Back in my office, Tai and Matt discovered strange rings of light on their digiphones, and Menoa said that signified their bonds with Agumon and Gabumon were breaking."
"Breaking?" asked Ken, intrigued. "How?"
"She explained that digimon are able to digivolve through the potential of their Digidestined, potential that we were full of as children. But as we grow into adults, we steadily lose that potential until one day…"
Izzy trailed off and took a steadying breath. "...it runs out. When that happens, a Digidestined's bond with his or her partner is severed."
The others around him gasped. A silent moment passed while everyone absorbed Izzy's words.
"That's crap!" Davis shouted suddenly. "I don't believe it! That can't possibly be true!"
"No, it's true," replied Sora in a small voice, and everyone looked to her. "Gennai said the same thing to me before Biyomon disappeared."
"You mean he came to you too?" Tai asked in amazement.
Sora nodded. "He showed up in my apartment the day the light appeared on my digivice and told me what was happening."
Wormmon timidly inched forward to speak. "Pardon me, but if I am understanding you correctly, are you saying that this means one day I'll have to say goodbye to Ken?"
The other digimon added their own concerns to the question:
"And Joe?"
"And Cody?"
"And Mimi?"
"And Davis?"
"And Yolei?"
Only Patamon, Gatomon, and Tentomon did not combine their voices to the query, for they already knew. They sat in sullen silence alone in the corner with wings and ears drooping to the floor.
Izzy hung his head in defeat. "Yes. I'm afraid that appears to be the case. I'm sorry, everyone."
Davis stood to his feet, indignant. "No, I refuse to accept that! How can we be sure they didn't just get snatched back to the Digital World somehow? Maybe Agumon, Biyomon, and Gabumon were reborn at Primary Village! Come on guys, we've gotta at least go look for them!"
Kari stopped him with a light touch on his shoulder. "Wait, Davis," she said softly. "We already tried that. T.K. and I scoured all of our old places in the Digital World earlier today, including Primary Village. We didn't know to ask about Biyomon, but Elecmon assured us that neither Agumon, Gabumon, nor any of their other forms have showed up there in the last two weeks. But he promised to inform us immediately if they do."
"Oh," Davis sighed, and the air seemed to deflate from the room.
T.K. noticed the effect Kari's words had had on the group and swiveled his head around to each of the assembled Digidestined. "Come on, guys! We can't give up yet! We just have to keep looking! We can't lose—"
But Matt cut him off. "Don't you say it, T.K.!" he roared, jabbing a finger in his brother's direction. "Don't you dare say 'Hope!'"
Aghast, the others stopped and regarded him with something akin to fear. T.K. was horrified. Matt felt the stares of everyone around him and slowly realized what he'd done. He had insulted his brother's Crest. That was tantamount to attacking the deepest foundation of his personality itself, to who he was as a person. Regret washed over Matt's face like a disease. "T.K., I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean—"
T.K. stepped forward with equal parts hurt and compassion in his eyes and pressed his forehead against Matt's. "I know, Matt. It's okay."
Ken turned and addressed Izzy. "There's something I still don't understand," he mused. "How did Menoa know about this?"
"I had wondered that myself, Ken," Izzy replied. "That's why Matt enlisted you and the others to investigate her. She claimed she came across this information in the course of her digimon research, but that was only half-true. We discovered that she was a Digidestined herself, but had lost her own digimon in a similar fashion many years ago. She may even be the first Digidestined to do so; I have a theory that because of her genius intellect, she used up all of her potential and 'grew up', so to speak, abnormally quickly, which is why she lost her digimon at such a young age. Since then, she's been trying to create a digimon of her own to replace the one that she lost. It wasn't until a few days ago that she succeeded."
"Let me guess: Eosmon," Cody interjected.
"Very good, Cody."
"But why would she want to kidnap us and all those other Digidestined?" Mimi asked.
"To populate the Neverworld," replied Izzy. "Using Eosmon, she created a place where we could all live inside our happiest memories as children and be with our digimon forever. It was all to prevent us from growing up and having to go say goodbye to our digimon the way she did as a young girl.
"She thought she was saving us," Matt added disdainfully, "but it was just an illusion. She would have trapped us all in nothing more than a memory."
Mimi glanced at Matt and Tai. "And that is what you saved us from?"
Tai nodded.
Sora's gaze switched from Matt to Tai and back again, almost overcome with the awe and admiration that she felt. "You—you still fought? Even knowing the cost?"
"They didn't just fight," Izzy said, a touch of pride in his voice. "They digivolved Agumon and Gabumon into new forms. Something beyond Mega. Beyond Omnimon, even. I've never seen anything like it."
"And they stayed with them the whole time, fighting together," added. T.K.
Sora wiped her eyes on the heel of her hand. "I wish I could've been there to see it."
Cody had been thinking quietly to himself, but now he looked up and asked, "So what does this mean for us now? How long do we have before our digimon leave too?"
"That's impossible to say, really," the red-haired boy answered. "It seems like the countdown is triggered when a Digidestined reaches some predetermined mark of maturity in life, most likely around young adulthood towards the end of their college years, but this obviously will vary from person to person as we all mature in different ways at different rates and times. Menoa lost her digimon at the age of fourteen, after all. But the reality is I think it likely that all of us in this room will be parted from our digimon sometime within the next 4-6 years, and for those of us who are older, even sooner than that."
Yolei hugged Hawkmon tightly to her chest, and many of the others reached for their own partners for comfort. "But that's so unfair!" she protested.
"I absolutely agree," Izzy said, nodding, "but this appears to be the unfortunate reality we are faced with."
Gomamon looked up from the floor beside Joe's chair and smiled brightly. "Looks like we'll probably be next, Joe. After all, you're the oldest—we could end up having to say goodbye any day now!"
Joe gripped the arms of his chair until his knuckles turned white, his teeth clenched. "Don't say that. That's not funny, Gomamon."
"I'm just saying you'll have to figure out how to survive without me always being there to save your—"
"NO! I refuse to let you go!" Joe looked and sounded slightly hysterical.
Gomamon winced. Maybe that had gone too far. "I'm sorry, Joe," he replied in a subdued voice. "Try to calm down before you have a panic attack. I just...I worry about you, and I want you to be prepared if I'm...if I'm not…" Gomamon looked genuinely worried for once, displaying an honest vulnerability that he usually covered up with cheerful jokes and sarcasm. This was a side to him he rarely let the others see, reserving it for Joe alone.
The tension in Joe's face relaxed, and he reached down to pet the seal digimon's head affectionately. "Gomamon…"
"I don't want to upset you, Izzy," Yolei began, "so I'm sorry if this is too blunt, but shouldn't you be the next person to lose their digimon if geniuses run out of potential faster than the average person? I mean, you got your first degree while Tai and the others were still in high school."
Izzy's brow furrowed in concentration. "It's all right, Yolei, I've had the same thought myself. Honestly, it's hard to say. There are too many variables and unknowns to consider. Perhaps some persons with genius intellects have more potential to go through and keep their partners for longer; perhaps others burn through all of it faster because of their increased intelligence. Then again, perhaps Menoa is just that much smarter than me." What Izzy didn't say, but couldn't help thinking was, And perhaps I am next, and I'm just making up excuses to believe it will be different for me because I can't comprehend life without Tentomon.
Matt scoffed. "Don't be so modest, Izzy. You outsmarted her in the end. You discovered that she was behind all this and what she was planning, and you gave us the coordinates to the Neverworld. We never would have found her without you. She was defeated long before me and Tai got there, by you. You did it, Iz."
Tai clapped Matt on the shoulder. "He's right, Izzy. You made it possible. You're the real hero. And we couldn't have done it without you."
"You guys…" Izzy breathed, deeply moved. He had been harboring a great deal of guilt for not doing more, for not figuring out Menoa's plan earlier, and most of all, for not being able to stop their bonds from breaking. For Tai and Matt to say that he was the reason they won...it was almost overwhelming.
"That's all well and good, but what about the Digital World?" Davis growled in frustration. "How can we protect it, or the Real World, if we're all gonna lose our digimon?"
Izzy looked at Davis and grinned, a spark of fire igniting behind his eyes. "That, Davis, is why I called you all here." He surveyed the faces around the room, who watched him with baited breath for his next words. Izzy has a plan, they thought. Up till now everything had gone from bad to worse, with no hint of a solution or a silver lining. But if Izzy had a plan, that meant there was still something they could do.
Izzy clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Well, you've heard the bad news—and make no mistake, the situation is bad. We've lost one quarter of our combined force almost overnight, including our most powerful digimon. And everything indicates that it will only get worse. But we cannot sit idly by and let both worlds become defenseless. Tai came to me earlier this morning, and together we came up with a plan to prepare for that eventuality. Before we announce it to the world, we want to share it with you and get your input."
The others straightened, ready for whatever it was Izzy had come up with. "All right, let's hear it," said Davis.
"The crux of the problem is this: one day we will be without our digimon and therefore unable to protect both worlds from danger; most of the Digidestined around the world have little to no experience fighting other digimon or saving the world, and even if they did, eventually they will lose their digimon too. What we need to do is impart all of our experience and knowledge onto the younger generations of Digidestined so that they can take over our role when we can no longer fight. This goes beyond just training a new group of Digidestined, but training them to train the next group, and the next after it. We need to establish a self-perpetuating system of training and mentorship so that our worlds are never without defense."
"How are we going to do that, Izzy?" T.K. asked.
Izzy began to unpack everything that he and Tai had come up with, tweaked, and debated earlier in the day: how the IDC would be organized and structured into groups based off their own team dynamic, how each team would be named according to their local area of operation in the Real World, and the new system of hierarchy that would exist across the IDC as a whole to form a clear chain of command. When he showed them the list he'd crafted with their own proposed ranks, he was met with several amazed reactions.
"You mean I'm to be the second-in-command...over everyone? All the Digidestined around the world?" asked Matt, both humbled and daunted by the prospect.
"If this is accepted by the IDC at large, then yes," Izzy confirmed. "And I think I can speak for Tai when I say that we wouldn't have it any other way."
Tai clapped Matt on the back. "None of us would."
Davis was looking at the paper Izzy had passed around and grinning. "General, huh? Hmm, General Motomiya. I like the sound of that!"
Yolei snatched the paper from his hand, saying, "We're all Generals, you idiot! Don't get such a big head about it!"
"General-Commander," Izzy corrected. "You all will be the ones over the Generals. That is, you will once we actually have Generals. And you all will have the authority to appoint them. Please use it wisely."
"Oh!" said Kari suddenly. "I know who we should mentor first: the dark spore children that Oikawa kidnapped all those years ago! Remember, they all got digimon partners after MaloMyotismon's defeat, and they're probably the closest Digidestined around here. I actually bumped into Noriko just a couple of days ago, and I'm sure she'd love to go on digimon missions with us."
"Yeah, that sounds great, Kari," said Tai.
"And I can get more involved with the Spanish Digidestined community while I'm studying over there," Yolei added.
"And I'll start preparing the New York Digidestined to pass on what we've learned over the years to new teams in the area!" Mimi volunteered with her usual enthusiasm.
"I gotta hand it to you, Izzy," said Ken, "This is bold. Really bold. Are you sure that this will work?"
"For all the reasons I've expressed and more, I'm sure. It needs to if we are to successfully keep the Digidestined from slowly dying out as a competent force for good. Does anyone have any suggestions, concerns, or questions about any of this?"
"Yeah, I've got an idea!" Davis chimed in. "Can we all get cool uniforms with like, matching capes or something? Ooh, and we could have all the team leaders wear goggles to signify that they're in charge!"
Tai snapped his fingers. "Hey, you might be on to something, Davis!"
"What? That's a ridiculous idea!" Yolei objected. "What is it with you two and goggles, anyway?"
Tai shrugged sheepishly. "They're really useful in case you get caught in a sandstorm or something."
"See? Tai gets it," Davis muttered while Yolei shook her head.
"I don't think official uniforms will be necessary at this time," said Izzy. "It would only reinforce the impression that we're forming a straightforward military, which I'd prefer to avoid as much as possible."
For the next hour or more they discussed various aspects of Izzy and Tai's plan. Most of the concerns they had were things that Tai or Izzy had expressed and come up with a solution for earlier in the day. Occasionally one of them came up with a suggestion or insight that hadn't been considered before, and so they slowly refined the plan until everyone was satisfied with the result. At last, it was finished; a fully-fledged protocol for establishing and maintaining a single united team of Digidestined around the world. It truly would be an International Digidestined Coalition in reality, not just in name.
Finally, Izzy asked, "Does anybody have anything else to add?" He looked around the room, and several people were shaking their heads.
"It seems pretty thorough," Cody commented. "I can't think what else we would need to include, at least for now. And we can always amend it later if we need to." The others murmured their agreement. Izzy glanced at Tai, who nodded his approval.
"Well then, I hereby declare this charter for the International Digidestined Coalition to be complete!" Izzy slapped a hand on the coffee table like a gavel. The announcement was met with mild applause.
"Now there's just one thing left to do," Matt mused. "We have to tell them."
"Normally I'd just create a text announcement on INDICON, but I think something like this deserves a personal touch, like a video," Izzy said.
"Do you mind if I take this one, Izzy?" asked Tai. "I know you usually like to take care of things over there, but I think I should be the one to tell them."
Izzy gave a slight smile. "I thought you might. When do you want to record the announcement?"
"What's wrong with now?"
This flustered Izzy. "Uhm, well I haven't had a chance to compose a script yet. I was going to write a speech for you to—"
"Nevermind that, Izzy. This has to be done right now, today. I can't explain exactly why, but I just have this feeling that we need to do it as soon as we can."
Izzy glanced uncertainly at the clock on the wall, which read 8:30 pm. "It would be a good time for it," he admitted. "At this hour, most of the world is likely to be awake and thus get the word spread almost everywhere fairly quickly. Only some Pacific islands and the western half of North America are likely to be asleep right now, and sunrise will be there in a few hours anyway. But are you sure you don't want to at least rehearse a little beforehand?"
Tai shook his head. "No thanks. I've got this. I'm not very good at reciting speeches anyway, so I think it's better if I just wing it."
Izzy still looked nervous and a little skeptical, but he said, "All right. I just need to get everything set up properly." Izzy left the room, taking T.K. and Cody to assist him, and they returned bearing a digital camera mounted on a tripod, a portable photography light, a handheld microphone, and two laptops. Within ten minutes they had a makeshift broadcast studio set up with the camera behind the coffee table facing the couch at the back wall and the photo light shining from the left at a forty-five degree angle. One of the laptops lay on the table plugged into the camera; Izzy had set it up to stream the video live to INDICON and to serve as a monitor for Tai to see what was being recorded. Izzy sat with the other laptop at one of the side tables out of view where he would control the broadcast. Tai sat down on the couch, adjusted the cant of the mic resting on a small stand on the table, and spoke into it. "Testing, one two three."
Izzy checked the audio through the headphones he was wearing and flashed Tai a thumbs up. "I can hear you loud and clear, Tai. I'm ready when you are."
Tai closed his eyes and took several calming breaths as he preparing himself, feeling the momentousness of what he was about to do. Everything is about to change, he thought. When he was ready, he opened his eyes and said, "All right Izzy, let's do this!"
At his signal, Izzy's fingers flew over the keyboard, sending a few final commands before starting the livestream. "And we're live in three, two, one, zero!" he declared, jabbing the record button.
A small red light flashed on the front of the camera to indicate it was recording, and Tai's image appeared on the laptop screen in front of him. Tai inhaled deeply, preparing to speak…
A/N: Whew, this was a long one, folks! At least it's long for me, there are much bigger fics out there. I seriously considered splitting this one up too, once I realized just how long it became, but there wasn't a suitable place to divide it. We finally get to see all of the Digidestined together again, though for a pretty depressing reason. I know this chapter was a huge downer for most of it, but I tried to sprinkle in bits of humor where I could. I hope it wasn't too jarring. (Yes, the Izumi Industries slogan was a joke reference to the song from the Digimon: the Movie Soundtrack, and no, I have no shame. And the sole reason I included the release date is because the idea that Izzy would choose 10/10/10 to launch his smartphone simply because it was in binary just cracks me up.)
Another fun fact, once I made the decision to split chapter 7 in two, I briefly considered moving Sora's chapter and inserting it between 7 and 8 for pacing reasons. I didn't really like how it cut off the momentum from 5 to 7 and thought that it would make Sora's lack of response in the group chat a bit more of a cliff-hanger for the end of chapter 7. But when I tried it out, I found that it seemed to create more issues than it solved, so I left it where it was. What do y'all think? Would it have worked better if chapters 6 and 7 had been swapped?
Digimon episodes referenced: s1, ep. 51, "The Crest of Friendship".
Next time on Digimon Adventure: Continuing Evolution—Chapter 9. The Weight of Leadership.