Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Genesis ❯ Hero ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own tai or Sora or anyone else... just the story... well this is officially my first series.... I am going to try to blend romance, action, drama into this series... hopefully you'll like it... and hopefully I'll finish what I started here..... this is a little different then I usually am with angst... But trust me... this is just part one.... there will be more..... the big romance is yet to come into play... and I hope you'll like it... ^_^ (angel... angst..... my best shot at it this far...

DO NOT EXPECT THIS OFTEN FROM ME.....)

Mail me at logan91235@aol.com

Genesis

"Hero"

"Genesis, a word categorized to describe the beginning or coming of a person or thing.. The beginning....... it was a word used biblically to describe the creation of heaven and earth. Yet in the year of the great digital wars genesis was a name. He had been called a savior, a destroyer, a lover, and an instrument of Armageddon. He was a life that was not meant to be, and yet by man's hand he was... and in one man's efforts to bring about a new beginning, or a neo-genesis. He proved that some powers were meant to exist beyond the grasp of man......

for the sake of man...."

Tai had changed much in the early years of the digidestined's saga. Well his change had been the result of one girl in actuality. Taichi had loved Sora more then anything for longer then he had ever been able to put to days. Yet he remained silent. It was through this silence that he lost his chance. There was another young man who had developed feelings for the young girl. And though he didn't love her in the depth which Taichi did he was able to do what tai could not... he was able to tell her.

The digidestined had noticed that Sora and matt's relationship had changed their leader with the same suddenness of a black gear as it plunges into the flesh of an innocent soul. Where once tai had been a kind and caring young man, now he was a figure of darkness and dread amongst them. he ate alone and only spoke when giving orders. Yet he lead them in a way never before witnessed. He was to them something more then human.. A creature born of pain and rage who had grown a thick armor of steel over his once tender heart. His eyes no longer glowed with friendship or tenderness. Behind those eyes was a ferocity never held within the aspect of a child's face.

The heart is a powerful thing... the soul and mind can be changed so effortlessly should the heart decree it. All the love he had held for Sora had turned to emptiness and darkness. And as this dark metamorphosis took place all that was innocent died. Tai had always been a good leader... yet now... he was driven to save this world not for the sake of the world, but for the ability to escape this agony that he now wallowed in. He was a god on the battlefield... yet he was less then alive without the scent of death upon the air.

******************

"Dammit tai, we need a break!" matt yelled from his place at Sora's side. Tai ignored him as they continued to plod across the dead desert earth of the digital world. The wind clawed at their skin like a sea of shattered glass on the wing.

The terrain was large and vast.. Mountains of sand protruded skyward as vast dunes of burning golden sand. And as the wind would kick up the hills would take flight as a flock of razor winged locusts. Tai had given his goggles to TK so the young boy would be able to ward off the sand from his eyes. Kari had tied her scarf over her eyes so they were shielded from the swirling winds of sand. It was hot.... the sun glowed down at them as a vast demonic beast of fire. It didn't glow with warmth, yet it screamed with heat. This in combination to the thick, dry, burning air became a seemingly unbearable climate... yet tai continued on oblivious to the hostility of the environment.

Matt grew angered at his dismissal and brushed away Sora's hand so that he could meet tai at the head of the group. Sora had tried to stop him yet was too late. She looked ahead with fear at the outcome of this action. Matt hated tai because despite the fact that he had Sora.. He had never truly beaten tai. It burned within his veins.. The knowledge that HIS girlfriend was still in love with someone else. Tai hated matt because matt had what he had wanted his whole life.

The two remained locked in the endless waltz of hate and peace. Yet as it seemed the second matt had taken Sora from tai's prospects the dance had turned into a dance shared by mortal foes as they circled one another in the ballet of combat and war. Peace was a memory... for tai was at war... he was at war with matt... he was at war with the world around him... he was at war with his own heart....

"Hey tai we are tired! We need a break!" matt growled as he grabbed tai's shoulder in an attempt to intimidate the young leader with his tight grip. The others gaped at this act of suicide.. Tai had killed evil digimon in battle... he had regretted killing them... but tai hated matt.... there was no question as to the end result of this action... the only question that rang through the minds of the others was if they would be able to stop this....

He spoke in a low and growling voice.

"We are too open to attack here... take your hand off of me now." he hissed

"what if I don't?!" matt snarled back.

"This...."

Tai lunged backward and with a show of great speed and demonic strength threw matt back several feet into the burning sand. The blond rolled like a toy as he came to a lurching halt several feet further away from his adversary. He spat gritty sand from his parched lips as he began to rise up. His eyes glowed upward at tai with the same menace a razor ice-sickle shows to the world as it longs to plummet downward to the earth with a killing impact. Sora ran to him and grabbed his shoulders in an attempt to stop him from continuing this act of hostility. He pushed her aside in a huff of anger.

Sora was off balance and as matt brushed her off, she stumbled and fell. The positioning of the hill exaggerated her injury as she tumbled backward as a rag doll would look as it plummeted down the stairs. She yelped lightly as she fell on her leg, which twisted slightly.

If there existed one way to evoke the greatest wrath from Taichi Kamiya it was by doing what he had done. With a cry of rage tai leaped upon him as some great demonic remnant from the prehistoric predators of the past. Matt yelped as tai began to violently throw him around as a toy. He screamed of rage as for the first time he had been given an outlet to all the pain he had known from losing Sora without a fight. This blond moron didn't deserve her... he didn't recognize her as tai did... matt had never fought tai like this.. There was no order or restraint... he was trying to rip him apart.... matt had tried to block the onslaught, yet found that Taichi had grown stronger in his anger and from the bubbling pit of his rage he was delivering crushing punches... suddenly he felt one fist grip his troat. It clamped down over him as a bear would upon a trout. The grip was tightening as matt managed to open his eyes to one of the most terrifying images he had ever seen.... tai was looking into his fearful eyes as a predator sees its' prey. There was a primal hunger in those eyes... a lust to kill... tai wasn't completely there now... what was seemed more a demon then a man... his lips pulled upward in a soft grin as his hand drew back in the same method a bow pulls back to release an arrow with force enough to pierce the heavens...

His fist was open... it was a martial art posture that matt vaguely recognized... it was a power strike... a blow meant to kill. Tai's wrist was lined up with his forearm in a way to focus a powerful blow in one point... it was as though tai's hand were a lance, and this weapon was ready to end the life of his rival. For a moment matt had imagined that he would asphyxiate within tai's grip. Yet now it seemed he would have his skull crushed inward. He regretted provoking tai... it was the same as slapping a god in the face. Matt was a fool to anger this god... and he realized solemnly he would die as a fool.... he closed his eyes...

Silence....

"Please..... this isn't you tai..." a soft voice said in a tone matt could barely distinguish.

Matt looked up groggily to the image of Sora with her arms around tai holding him back.

"Please tai... stop it...." she spoke softly as her eyes looked into tai's dark lifeless eyes. Those eyes were full or tears as he looked at her. She was beautiful... and not his... he looked down to where matt wriggled against his grip. He opened his hand sadly allowing the boy to drop to his knees where he violently gaged and coughed. He looked back to Sora, and then away....

Tai rose up from where yamato lay in a stunned dizzy spell. He said nothing, simply walked away from the boy he hated more then anything, and the girl he loved more then anything.

A god in battle.... alone in peace.....

******************

it had become a particularly dark and hateful night. They had taken refuge from the swirling biting winds of the endless digital deserts within a rare oasis of ancient dark trees. It was ironic how the weather could change so instantaneously. The second the glowing ember within the sky faded behind the mountainous horizon it grew cold. So cold in fact that tai had feared it would snow. The trees that surrounded them were blackened and seemingly props from some horror movie set. And in this charming location the digidestined slept huddled together for warmth.

All but one however... tai looked back to them with an emotionless expression. Tai slept away from the others. He didn't feel right with them anymore, even his sister Kari. She now huddled together with Mimi and TK. Tai looked away.. He didn't want to see them... especially who Sora would most likely be cuddling next to.... it hurt so much to see them together everyday. In tai's darker moments he had considered something... they fought so many lethal enemies everyday... it would be so easy for him to just step into an attack. He would be killed effortlessly and as he died he would be free of the pain and throbbing within his chest. He had almost done it once.

A Monocromon had released his volcanic strike attack. Tai had looked at the advancing wall of fire with a calm joy. He didn't even need to move.. Just wait for the blessed tide of burning flame to embrace him... he would die... and he no longer cared. Yet as he looked back to the digidestined one final time his eyes caught hers. She was crying as it occurred to her what he was thinking. He looked into those eyes of love and as he did he realized that he couldn't leave her here... he wanted to die, but not to risk her in doing so. Matt could never lead them to victory, and though tai knew Sora could.. He could not let her suffer in the way a leader does... he could spare her of that at least.... with a heavy heart he avoided the flames and went on to kill the dragon-like digimon. He whispered a soft apology to it as he patted its' head while it breathed its' last breath.

"Thanks anyway... die in peace...." he whispered to the large digimon.

He only was alive today for her. He would find the irony of the situation humerus had he not been the butt of this cosmic joke, he didn't want to live because of her, yet he couldn't die because of her.

"Tai?...." He was broken from his thoughts by her soft voice.

He looked up to see Sora before him. She was smiling softly at him with a sad expression. He motioned her to sit next to him on a log which was serving as his pillow.

"Tai.. What are you doing here by yourself, it's freezing?" She tried to suppress her yelling voice at tai's actions. Yet as she looked up into the sad dark eyes of her one true love it was a useless action to be mad at him. She reached over to him and threw her arms around him in an effort to warm his frigid skin.

"It's ok Sor.. I like the cold."

"Tai you're skin is like ice." Sora held him to her as her hands ran across his frigid skin. She was worried about him... her body heat was beginning to warm his touch to her. He began to return the action on her own bare arms. The feelings were so good. There was always an attraction between the two... yet it went un-granted for so long that now an action of pure innocence, such as warming her friend, had turned into something more of lust. They stroked eachother's cold faces with a growing warmth between them. yet just as their lips were about to meet in their first kiss... Sora stopped...

"Oh tai, I... we can't do this... matt...." she said with a hint of sorrow as she backed off.

Tai looked at her with sad eyes. He rose up to his feet and began to walk away, deeper into the forest. He didn't look back, just called out to her "have a good night Sora... I'll see you in the morning...."

"Good night... tai....." she whispered as she went to rejoin the others.

The winds grew colder that night... and amongst the sea of shadows one ghost slept upon a bed of earth. With the canopy of dead branches overhead as a blanket... tai had never slept as soundly as he had that night.

Alone.

******************

the sun brought with it a newfound warmth to the world around them. The blackened trees hung less horrifically. The air had warmed to a more gentle temperature.. It was the mourning so the full heat of the day was not yet upon them.. For the time there was a calmness in the air.

"Greetings digidestined..." genni said with his normal upbeat attitude, despite the fact that he always used that tone when delivering warnings of impending doom.

He paused as he looked at matt who hung to the back of the group. Matt now had a deep lavender black eye and a vast array of bruises and cuts from his previous altercation with Taichi. He scowled back with arms crossed across his chest.

"My word... did you get attacked by some evil digimon?" genni questioned.

Matt mearly growled in response. For the first time all day tai cracked a dry grin as he suppressed the urge to begin whistling innocently.

"My apologies for this, but we have a problem..."

"What else is new?" joe whined.

"It appears an old enemy of you has resurfaced, and devised a machine capable of a level twelve plasma pulse..."genni was strangely sober as he uttered the technological term. The tone he used to say the gibberish techno-babble gave the message as to its' severity.

Tai looked to izzy for a translation only to find izzy pale at the comment.

"Well... what is a level twelve plasma pulse?" matt asked.

"It's similar in power to a electromagnetic pulse the size of a super nova... but this is unlike an EMP in that plasma effects organic matter instead of technological matter. If this device could generate a pulse like that here in the digital world it would eradicate all organic matter within the planet. That means all digimon who are not strictly machine and all plant and animal life... would be... erased...." he staggered

"That's genocide...." Sora gaped

"He calls it the organic purge of the digital world... should this occur the entire digital world would be dead... this world has a delicate balance between organic and inorganic life. Should the purge occur that balance would be broken to the point where it could never be regained. Also.. You digidestined would inevitably be killed as well...... this digimon must be stopped at all costs"

tai's eyes narrowed... "Genni... who is this digimon?...."

"After he was killed in the battle with you digidestined, it appears he saved a backup of himself which later replicated and re-made himself... he is.... Datamon...."

Sora grew pale as she began to shake slightly... tai's eyes began to glow with hate as the images of the day where he had almost lost Sora to Datamon came flooding back in violent imagery. The name of that technological demon had a strange power to torment Taichi... By uttering such a name he could appear within tai's mind with the same ghastly images of Sora falling into that pit of twisted wire and cables. Tai had never been as afraid as he had been when Sora was nearly killed. he hated him in a way he had never known hatred... even matt was above this monster... tai found his voice quivering in rage as he choked out three words: "Where... Is... He?..... "

******************

they stood atop a plateau of dead earth overlooking the vast valley. No plant life existed within this darkened crater of dead earth. It was as though this were a valley of death and evil. It had no green to mask its' evil, just a thick and outstretching carpet of brown grass and grey lifeless earth. The trees were blackened and leafless.. It was as though they were skeletal claws reaching into the heavens in hateful rage. They had an effect over the minds of the digidestined... TK cowered behind his brother while Kari clung to Sora like a mother is clung to by a terrified child. The ground was reeked of death, so much so that a sudden panic crossed Mimi's features at the idea of walking over this hellish earth.. Within her mind there was images of the ground bursting forth with thousands of rotting corpses and demons with blackened eye sockets and worm gnawed flesh.

The sky was not the normal blue.. It was a sick tarish black, filled with brown chocking clouds of smog. No digimon dared to travel this terrain... it was devoid of life and abundant in death.. And in the center of this artificial hell stood the spire....

The spire was constructed of cold steel plating and twisting wires and cable. It reached high into the clouded stratosphere. It appeared to have mechanical roots as though it were some grotesque tree. These large cable roots stretched outward into the earth. They twisted and pulsed as though the thing was alive.... these "veins" of pulsating steel stretched up the entire structure and moved as giant tendrils of horrific perportune.. The plates of steel pulsed outward in terrible wheezing breaths. The humans found that their stomachs churned in nausea as they debated if this structure was actually a building or some giant demonic living growth on the flesh of the Digiworld.

It came as a terrible realization that this thing was alive itself... and somewhere within was Datamon...

"My god...." joe whispered

"God has nothing to do with that...." Mimi whispered.

"Look there... near the top..." tai said softly as he stared through his mini-telescope.

On one of the upper levels of this tower of evil existed several glowing red spheres that were as great sickening eyes that looked out over the landscape. They had those same metalic veins running through them. they too pulsated outward and contorted in the illusion of life.

"Izz... you said they would need several lenses to focus the pulse's directory back to the digital world's core. Would those things work?" tai asked gravely

"Yes... I think they would... those must be the lenses... theoretically if we could destroy them the pulse wouldn't work...."

"Should I have Birdromon digivolve and take them out tai?" Sora asked quietly.

"No... something isn't right...Datamon wouldn't let it be this easy....."

Tai cautiously reached below and withdrew a stone from the ground he studied it for a moment.

"Everyone.. Get down..."

Tai reared back and with a quick jerk of his arm tossed the stone high into the sky. All eyes were on the projectile. Yet as it was only five feet into the stillness of the air the ground exploded beneath it with a mist of dry grey earth and sand... one of the demonic roots that had laid submerged within the earth suddenly sprung to life like a scorpion's tail. It jetted upward as a whip and as it collided with the stone it engulfed it within its' coils. Within a moments time the cable crushed the rock to a soft white powder. As the tendril waited in suspense all eyes were wide and fixed upon its' smooth surface. Then as a worm it vanished back within the blanket of silt-like sand.

They were pale as they looked upon the unassuming mound of sand which concealed the most lethal of weaponry.

"Tai.. Datamon must have a motion sensor net and those tendrils all around the valley underneath the sand. There's no way to get through..." izzy whispered.

"Can you disable it?" Sora asked

"It would take days.. And blasting it would only advertise we're here...."

"Izz... we need a way to short them out...."

Izzy mearly looked back to the tower with a look of debate.. His mind was reeling as he considered other aspects with which he could bring down the defenses. His gaze widened as it came across the lenses at the summit of the tower.

"That's it..." he whispered as he frantically pulled out his computer and began to feverishly punch the keys. He spoke as he continued to compute the mathematics.

"We can use an EMP pulsewave to short out the defenses.... it would also neutralize any way for Datamon to pinpoint our location... Theoretically it will work......"

Tai looked from the sands of death back to the blank expressions of the digidestined as they attempted to comprehend what the hell the computer genius was saying... Sora was the one to break the silence.

"Izzy.... one problem: to create an EMP large enough for this we would need a very powerful electronic device to detonate...." Sora whispered

"Was I the only one asleep the day they taught this in science?!?" joe growled.

"We don't have anything that could work....."

tai looked gravely down to his belt, then back to the mountain.... he spoke softly with low and dark words.

"Yes we do...." as tai spoke he reached to his belt and withdrew his digivice. Their eyes went wide as they realized what tai had in mind. He looked down at his digivice.. It shimmered in metallic luster within the midday sun. tai tenderly traced the screen which illuminated with gentle light. He looked from the glowing device to the reptilian creature at his side. There was a silent sorrow as the two friends held a silent conversation. They were friends... and to do what was necessary now would sever that bond.

"Sora... give me your digivice....." he requested sorrowfully. Without debate she handed him her own device. It to glowed as tai examined it...

Tai's expression turned to stone as he summoned the great icy power he had developed to keep his emotions buried within the last few months. He slowly raised both devices into the air and then turned them so they were facing eachother screen to screen. His eyes slipped shut as the two devices began to glow brightly...

"Digimon protocol sequence begin.

Augumon code transfer begin...." he spoke in a voice that wasn't completely his own. The words echoed from all directions.

They stared in awe at how he knew to do this... something within Taichi's mind was telling him how to command the digivice in this way.... the winds began to pick up and swirl around them as a dervish...

he paused as he mouthed out one final goodbye to augumon then drawing in a deep breath spoke the final command.

"System erase... begin after transfer.....

Authorization code: destiny....."

as he spoke the words there was a great flash of golden white light, which began to swirl around him as glowing tendrils of smoke. They danced around him violently as their movements became more erratic and they doubled in number and size.

the two devices began to burn within tai's grasp. From the screens now burned white fire which flared around tai's grasp on the two devices. The others stood in a mesmerized state as they watched tai gritting his teeth in agony as a beam of pure white light exploded from tai's device into Sora's... tai wanted to scream... by some strange power he had known how to do this... yet he hadn't known it would hurt like this... in one instant he had understood the connection the digidestined had held to the digimon. This digivice was a part of himself... and as he copied the files and information to Sora's digivice he felt as though he were erasing a part of himself.

The sky around them screamed with thunder as tai renounced his position as a digidestined by erasing his digivice. The two devices began to shake and struggle as though they wished to escape. Bolts of silver lightning erupted from his grip as he snarled in agony. The others began to cower as they got a glimpse into the true power of the digivice, and the power that existed within them. His feet lifted several feet from the ground as he continued to cling to the two digivices.

Tai's eyes shot open only to reveal that they too glowed with the same silver white light. The sky rained sparks as the wind howled around them. Tai's hair danced wildly in the swirling winds as he felt his hands submersed in white flame.

Suddenly all was still.

Tai dropped to his feet and looked down to his hands in horror to see that the fire had burned through his gloves, and now upon his palms there was a deep burned-in impression of the two digivice screens. They were etched perfectly to match the machines. The flesh was scared terribly

He felt ill as he tried to avoid breathing in the foul smell of sizzling flesh. The devices were now cool to the touch, yet as tai closed his throbbing fist small tendrils of grey smoke gently lifted away from the part between each burned digit. The heat had both cut and cauterized the wounds leaving tai with two very painful and permanent scars. He never cried out... and as the others stared in horror at what they had just witnessed he began to slowly walk tword Sora.

Matt wanted to intercept him.. He knew that Sora had feelings for his rival.. But he had watched tai's hands burn with flames and the boy had not screamed out. Tai had never seemed more godlike... and for the first time matt was truly afraid of this boy he had once called friend.

Tai looked down to where izzy stood in shocked horror. He reached down and handed him his digivice which seemed cold and dead as its screen remained a sickening black. Izzy dumbly received it.

"Program it...." he ordered softly in a low voice

the young boy hesitated for only a second before he began to rig the immensely powerful device into an explosive capable of detonating and creating a pulse of such ferocity as to kill this living tower.

Tai shuffled over to Sora slowly. He painfully handed her the digivice that now contained the information to both biyomon and augumon.

"Sora... augumon is your digimon now...." he replied sadly as the small reptile crept to her side along with biyomon.

Tai cast one final glance to his friend. The digimon looked back to tai with a deep sorrow etched upon his features... who would imagine the reptilian face could portray such pain and sorrow. Tai knelt before him as the young dragon crept closer to his partner of old. They embraced in a tight hug. Tai whispered something inaudible to anyone except the dragon.

"Protect her, old friend....."

******************

the digivice's protective shielding had been modified to reveal a vast and confusing assortment of copper wiring, and a seeming maze of circuit board that stretched the entire. It was now irregular in shape, and bore a strong resemblance to a Frankenstein monster. Several red cables stretched through the gaping opening to izzy's cellular phone which had been modified to act as a trigger for the pulse.... the screen pulsated with light as a beating heart.

Tai looked down over his digivice with a sickening expression... it looked like it had been run over by a greymon.....

"Izz... are you positive that it will be able to generate a large enough pulse?" Sora asked while she casually stroked augumon's snout. It was strange to see the digimon respond so readily to her. Her eyes traveled to tai who was perched on the edge of the cliff. He looked sad.... yet from the depths of his sorrow a strength radiated.... she had so many questions... why had he volunteered so readily to make such a sacrifice? Why had he chosen her? Why was he so calm, despite the fact that they were facing the most important battle of their lives to date.....

"The digivice is more powerful then a nuclear war head..... if he wired it right it will be strong enough to short the entire complex...." tai called back from where he remained sentinel.

"Tai... it's ready....." the young boy uttered softly as he handed tai the EMP-grenade. Tai smiled softly as he tested the weapon's weight in his hand. He looked back to the destined solemnly.

They were afraid. TK and Kari were holding each other as they looked to the towering spire. Even in the eyes of the older teens there was a fear in the air.... this was an all or nothing scenario... should they falter.... they couldn't falter....

"Listen up.... this is a moment of truth.... we were called to this world as saviors... now we find ourselves put to the test... this is when it counts... the weight of life itself is on us now.... we get the chance to save a world.... we get the chance to stop a monster from committing the most evil of acts.... genocide..... I know this is a lot... this would be more then many adults could take... sometimes I forget that we are all still children....

Children weren't meant to face this... they weren't meant to be in a situation where they may loose their lives before they had a real chance to live them.....

For that reason I am asking you all not to join me on this if you're not really sure it's worth it. This is a choice we each must make on our own.... it's time to ask yourself if you are ready....

As you ask yourself I ask you only to do one thing....

don't think of friendship....

don't think of courage......"

he paused as his soft eyes looked to Sora who stared back at him with an emotion tai had never seen in her....

"Think of love.....

if you have something you love enough to die to protect then I ask that you join me now..... I ask you to make your choice if you are truly ready.....

ready to fight...

ready to die....

ready to..... be heros........"

Tai turned back to the chasm as he awaited their responses. He found his answer in the form of a soft hand on his shoulder. He turned to face them... they each stood before him with a look of determination on their faces. He smiled softly as he looked at Sora... she stood before them all with a look of pride in her tender crimson eyes. She was the one to break the silence.

"Did you honestly think we'd leave you now tai?"

He smiled as he lifted the grenade into the air.

"Day of destiny..." he uttered softly....

******************

it flew into the sky and for an instant it hung in the air above the valley of death. It shimmered lightly in the air as it plummeted back to the earth. All eyes were on the grenade as it effortlessly glided through the air.

The ground suddenly exploded upward as several of the long whip tentacles ripped from the earth and flew tword the last hope of the digital world. They were so fast.... just as they were no closer then several inches time froze....

The light was blinding.... A sea of pure white radiance pierced the heavens and bathed the earth in a mighty wave of energy... the light danced with electricity as it hurtled across the landscape as a monstrous pillar of light. The swirling light congregated around the spire. The smoggy black clouds parted and gave way to the light as it cut its' way to the heart of heaven.

It rained shimmering snowflakes of white energy down across the earth in a amazing and breathtaking act of Devine power. The tower screamed.... it was a shrill screech of gears dying and metal scraping into metal with a symphony of sparks. The tendrils writhed in agony as they slumped to the ground as a snake would after receiving a fatal wound.

From the wall of light that pierced the skies they came.... the digidestined rode as knights into battle. the light sparked and shimmered with white un-burning fire. They appeared as shadows from the blaze of Devine fire.

Joe stood atop the armored shell of zudomon as he sprinted through the blaze. His war hammer thundered forward as he rushed upon the sea of mechanical digimon that poured from the slack gaping jaws of the dying spire. The instrument of his wrath thundered as Vulcan's hammer crashed through walls of metalic adversaries. He pushed through them his hammer clanging loudly as he fought his way through... joe stood atop him with a look of true bravery and strength....

The sky suddenly burst forward as a cloud of swirling light gave way to the flying digimon.

Izzy sat atop the armored shell of mega kabuterimon as his thrusters roared. The giant insect digimon descended on the mob of short-circuiting digimon as a giant black shadow.

At his side Mimi and lillymon flew forward into the great brawl. She was soon followed by Takeru and Hikari who clung to the backs of their digimon, who began to fly through the war with weapons blazing.

Matt stood atop the back of metal garurumon effortlessly as the mechanical wolf's thrusters roared. His two razor wings hung at his side erect, cutting the air as he flew.

"I hope you know what you're doing Kamiya.... come on garurumon!" with that the mighty wolf drove to the fray with a monestrous enthusiasm for warfare.

Only two figures remained soaring high in the stratosphere above the battle. war greymon glided at Sora's side keeping pace with the massive flaming mega digimon.... phoenixmon... the merging of Taichi's digivice to Sora's unlocked the capacity for a warp digivolve..... The massive bird glowed with violent flames as it's long magnificent wings stretched out seemingly forever. Atop the mighty phoenix's back two shadowy figures stood side by side.

Tai scowled to the battle. "we'll win.... the pulse is still shorting them out.... They can't hold out too much longer....." he said in a deep commanding voice as he looked down onto the carnage.

"Tai... what do you have planned?..." Sora questioned as she brushed the hair from her eyes. Tai smiled softly to her as he looked back to the raging inferno of battle... the screaming of gears and the explosions of sparks. He could catch glimpses of the digidestined amidst the tide of conflict and warfare. "Destiny...."

With that said he leapt from the mighty digimon's back. He plummeted downward to earth as a comment does upon entry to the earth's atmosphere. With his arm at his side he guided the fall in a way that he was able to stay in control of the decent. His hair whipped violently at his face as he smiled in exhilaration at the illusion of flight... it was a sense of freedom and stillness as he "flew".... tai felt a part of his being at peace in the conflict of war... for in the anguish and poetry of the battle he was most at home. His senses delighted upon the smooth texture of the cold biting winds of this altitude. It was as though the world had opened to him.... he could smell the smoke of the burning gears... he could hear the clang of steel colliding with steel in a mighty symphony of chaos. To describe war to one who has not seen it is a horrific task....

War has been accurately called hell... there is death, sorrow, pain... all emotions find their way onto the hollowed grounds that would be sanctified by blood. Yet aside from war being a horrific and evil thing... to the warrior it is a poetic dance. Life is never seen more clearly as it is put to contrast with death in a great magnitude. The surge of adrenalin as it breaths electric fiery life into ever cell of the body. To taste the sweat of warfare upon your brow. To smell the coppery aroma of blood in the air... to die in one mighty blaze of explosive glory.. Or to stand atop a mound of tortured earth and survey the field as a victor.... tai knew this power.... this drug was as deeply addictive as any purchasable upon a darkened street corner... tai was addicted to the fight... he was a warrior... and as any warrior would verify. You never feel as alive as when you are about to die in combat...

He glanced over only to find phoenixmon at his side at an equally steep dive. Atop the flaming bird he saw Sora with an expression that mirrored his own. Just as planned he was able to grab for one of the long twisting tendrils that now lay dead at the spire's side. He grinned contentedly as he swung gracefully from the turret closer to the ground. The cable had given him enough halt on his free-fall to allow himself to land on his own power. With a graceful action tai landed on bent knee at the foot of the spire. He stood with a contented grin as he looked skyward to see the massive flaming phoenix descending on him. Just seconds before collision the massive firebird flicked its' wings in a way that carried it off the trajectory.

The digidestined charged the tower and with the massive power of the three mega digimon were able to navigate to the engine room by blasting through wall after wall of writhing steel.. They came to rest in the mighty engine room which stretched up from the base to the top of the demonic spire.

As they came to a panting halt they gasped in horror at the insides of the spire.... it was more organic looking from the inside then it was from the outside.... within the skeletal framework of the building stood what appeared to be a grinding turning spinal chord. From this center most part of the structure protruded great, long gnarled "ribs" the whole spire was pulsating in labored breaths as the machines continued to dye in agony due to the pulse which still was cackling electronically outside the tower.

"Where is he?" tai snarled icily....

"It would take way to long to search every room in this damned tower..." matt growled as he watched a mechanical lung wheeze in agony..."

"Maybe the pulse thingy shorted out the machine that'll zap the planet?" Mimi added as she pulled her dress up to avoid it touching a throbbing wall.

"We can't take thee chance it didn't..." Sora added softly.

"Ummm... guys.... something has been bothering me...

Datamon was a cybernetic digimon... meaning he had organic parts just like mechanical parts....

If the purge were to occur it would kill him as well as all the other organic digimon...."

"That's not like Datamon.... he isn't the kind to kill himself just to get everyone else....."

"So that means he is somewhere inside the complex behind a shield. The shielding would have protected him and the primary operating system for the EMP...

I could estimate that we can find him at the summit of the tower... near the optical lenses...

Guys we have to stop this pulse... the EMP wouldn't have effected his system at all....

The purge is still on....." he said grimly....

Sora stepped forward. "I think you two know what to do now...." she motioned to her digimon who grinned as best their features were capable of portraying.

******************

the room was large... with an octagon shape, it stretched the entire peak of the spire. It's ceiling seemed to stretch upward into a gloomy shadowy endless expanse, yet little was visible due to the hanging wires and machinery which cluttered the void that the shadows created. As the rest of the tower was now doing the machines were wriggling as a dying serpent. The floor was of plated steel which trembled as the great tower continued to shudder in the throws of death. The room was divided by a steel wall blemished only by a thick layer of shimmering glass... to the left of the window there existed a thick armored door which remained tightly fixed to it's locked position... the metal throughout the room was a cobalt grey darted with coppery metalic rust. Behind the dividing wall existed a much different environment.

It was a white room. Sterile and desolate of clutter and hanging cables. Protruding from the ceramic white tiles of the walls and floor hung only one console that stuck out with a soft steel grey. It was large and rectangular with a keypad in the center most portion accompanied by a large black monitor. And in the center of the room stood Datamon....

He was cold and menacing as his one organic eye peered outward over the room from it's place behind the metalic sparkplug-like shell. The eye was a muddy brown pupil isolated within a sickening white eye. The flesh around that one eye was red and pink with seeming raw flesh. It repulsed the stomach as it stared outward as a hated testament to the digimon's organic core...

He looked on with a sneer to the large glass core of the room... a cylinder pod with a lense focused to the ceiling. Directly above it, hanging over head stood a similar lense with a protective shell covering. The shielding to this second optic lense which would lead to the focusing "eyes" outside was now open.. From its' deep red pupil it gleamed with daylight...

Suddenly the room shook violently as the floor of the non shielded room burst outward as tin-foil. It screamed as the steel wrenched outward in a horrendous cry...the digimon scurried to the window as he stared out over the shredded floor... from the hole, war greymon slowly rose upward... his claws glistened in the dim light. Next to rise from the black abyss was phoenixmon. Who screeched as an eagle as she took perch upon a twisted segment of the large room...from her back the digidestined leapt forth onto the cold steel floor. One by one they landed with a metalic thud as they surveyed the room.

Datamon paled as he recognized them... he knew the young boy who quickly scurried to the door and began the task of disabling the lock... izzy... the young man was a fellow techno genius... Datamon knew that this boy would be able to bypass that numeric lock within no more then a minutes time... yet that wasn't what frightened him.......

There was only one digidestined he had learned to fear... it was a unique experience to be murdered and recall your assassin... tai.... the leader of the digidestined..... he had murdered Datamon in cold blood... from the organic side of his mind Datamon knew that tai was able to kill him again... he recalled with perfect clarity the sensation of being ripped in two by a great heaving wrenching pull of those hands.... those murdering hands.... Datamon was a champion digimon... a powerful fighter.. Yet he remained petrified as he watched tai leap from the firebird's back. Those two dark eyes never once left his... they were as ice... cold and murderous...

Datamon trembled as he surveyed tai again... he was petrified beyond thought as he watched tai begin to walk to him.... he could attack... his weaponry was functional... yet it takes a clear mind to command the body..... he was unable to move.....

Fear.... it was absurd that a mechanical digimon could know the cold sweat that came with terror... he did fear tai... it was for this reason that he had began to work on the great organic purge in the first place... he had to purge this side of nature from existence... it was worse then anything he knew... the weakness of the flesh... Datamon was driven slowly insane by the stench of organic from his own body.... he had to save the digital world from this atrocity... he had to burn away the savage nature of the animal digimon and the tropical plant life.. He would burn it all away... leaving behind the true core of the digital world... a cold metalic core....

"Ha... fools... you are too late... this world is mine now... the countdown has begun... nothing can stop the organic purge!" he screamed into the air.

"Izzy... we need to get that door open..." matt yelled over the steadily increasing roar of mechanical devices as they showered sparks like rain.

The tower shook as izzy remained crouched to the key panel he had attached his laptop to the circuit board and was now frantically typing lines of code. The end was at hand.. The pillar of energy was still swirling as a great hurricane outside the almost dead tower.... Datamon stared apprehensively as he watched the door begin to creep open....

"There!" izzy yelled triumphantly as the large steel door shot open with a whoosh of hydraulics.

The second the door was open tai flew through its' threshold. His eyes gleamed with hatred as he recalled the events of their previous encounter... Sora.... he had tried to kill her... he had tried to steal away the most precious life that ever was... his life was a waste... he deserved to die... he was evil... a monster... tai was nearly aware of his actions as he leapt from the path of Datamon's virus missiles. They flew at an incredible arc and collided with the wall in a puff of flame and smoke.. The wall remained without a blemish... as testament to its heavy shielding.

Tai moved as an animal as he leapt upon the digimon. He was as a great demon with his fighting. He grabbed the digimon by his tentacle-like arm. He swung the frozen virus digimon as a flailing ball and chain. With a heave of his muscles tai swung the frozen adversary backwards into the cold steel floor. There was a shower of glass and sparks as his shell of steel split almost in half. The human boy swung around and prepared to crush him under his long muscular leg. Yet he paused as he, for the first time, looked upon his handiwork. Datamon hung on the ground pathetically as his serpent like cable legs were hanging lifelessly... the glass cylinder tube of his head was shattered, exposing his silicon chip brain. He was bleeding.... the organic side of him was shuddering in agony as a small tributary of sickly brown fluid drained from his bottom jaw. It was a mixture of oil and blood as best tai could tell.... yet as tai watched the digimon shudder on the ground and desperately try to mouth out "mercy" he felt no desire to kill him...

Datamon had tried to kill Sora... for that reason tai decided he should live just a little longer so he could milk the suffering and pain of his terminal wounds until death himself took mercy upon the evil digimon.... mercy didn't exist to those who would try to hurt Sora......

Sora stood at the threshold to the room looking at tai with an emotionless face... tai recoiled from her beautiful eyes... he was a monster..... a murderer... she wouldn't have done this... even to Datamon...

The others stood aghast at tai's actions as they had years ago when Datamon was killed for the first time.... he was once again fearful of their opinions of him... he had cried the night of his first kill for the fact that he would never be seen as a friend to them.... he was not however remorseful to his actions...

"Guys this is bad!" izzy's shrill voice cut the thick silence as all eyes fell upon where he was frantically working on the console....

"Datamon wasn't lying..... the countdown is only minutes away from reaching zero...."

"Shut it down izzy!" joe yelled

"Impossible... the reactor have reached the critical point.... the pulse is going to happen regardless of what I do.... but I have a plan....

This room is shielded to the blast... we can activate that shielding for the optic mirror up there. The plasma will come out in a luminous form, so theoretically by closing off this mirror we would turn the plasma back on itself... causing the pulse to fade away safely....."

"Does that come in English?" Mimi asked with a dazed expression on her face.

"Awe dammit, it sounds like he knows what he's doing....." matt growled as he lead the others out of the room. Back behind the armored window.

"What's the catch?....." tai asked as he eyed izzy skeptically.

He sighed sadly.

"The door can be sealed only from the inside..... I'll have to stay inside the room to seal the blast door... if the door isn't latched, the plasma will leak out and the purge will occur.... I'll die...." he replied soberly.

The others gasped as they stepped forward to argue izzy's sacrifice.

"There must be another way!"

"No... there isn't..."

Tai spoke softly as he walked izzy to the door. The young man was so brave... he didn't even

put thought to his own mortality... he was willing to give it up for the others.

"Tai..... you taught me a lot about courage.... thank you."

"Izz... you don't have to do this...." tai spoke sadly as he lay his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Tai... you said yourself that there are things worth dying for... for the first time in my life I have friends.. Real people... not computers... I know I seem so isolated from you all but I understood what you meant when you said we should only do this if we love something...

Well I do love something now.... you all.....

You're my family. For the first time I have people I love enough to give up everything for.

So for the first time... I have family.... thank you Taichi.... you taught me that."

Tai found words hard to summon as he looked back to the others... there were tears in their eyes as they looked to koshiro sadly.

"Izzy.... I'm so sorry" tai said softly as he took izzy's hand in a firm handshake.

"Tai... I told you... I'm ok... I'm not afraid"

"Not for that....."

"Huh?"

"For this!"

As tai spoke he drove his free hand hard into izzy's stomach. The young boy gasped as his lungs were emptied of air. He whimpered as he slumped to the ground at tai's feet. They stood shocked at tai's sudden actions as he tossed izzy at their feet where he wheezed painfully.

Tai leapt throughout the doorway, and as he cleared it his hand punched the locking mechanism. The door slammed shut tightly as its' bolt clanked loudly as it slid into place. Tai walked to the console and began his work. He was oblivious to their cries as he began to type in commands.

"Close vents.... check.....

Pressure seal locking apparatus.... check....

close and disable optic lense... check...."

With a metalic creak the red lense vanished behind a thick armor shielding. Several red lights began to flash a warning that tai simply ignored... he glanced over to Datamon who was snarling at the young man. They would die together this time.....

He walked over to the glass where he stood face to face with the digidestined one final time. They looked at him with pain and question in their tear soaked eyes.. Tai smiled warmly at them.

"I'm proud of you all......

Izzy... you're my family too...." he said as he stared at the hurt eyes of his friend.

He looked down to Kari who was screaming with sorrow as she cried pitifully against the cold glass. tai looked to his sister sadly as he touched the glass where her cheek was pressed.

He wanted to hold her so badly... to stop her from feeling this pain.

"Kari... you know I love you... and I hope you'll be able to understand why I do what I do now. Kar... you need to be strong. I know you can be a big girl for me... so please... know I love you and I'll always be with you." he tried to comfort her as best he could from behind the thick glass. Much to his surprise it was TK who took her into his arms and held her as she wept.

He looked up to Sora who stood at the glass with watery eyes as she looked at him.. He felt as though his heart were about to shatter as she sniffled lightly. She was so beautiful..... and tai ached to hold her... to comfort her... to protect her from this pain....

She found it so hard to say one small word as she looked into his deep loving eyes.

"Why?"......

He paused

"For you Sora... what boy could allow himself to loose the opportunity to give the world to the girl he loves?" tai said as he pressed his hand to where hers strained against the glass.

"Taichi... no... " she whispered as tears began to fall freely from her soft crimson eyes...

"I love you Sora.... I have always loved you...." he cried as for the first time in years he had allowed tears to come.

"Damn you tai!!! How could you!?!?" she screamed out as she pounded her fist against the glass wall.

"Sora... this is just meant to be... I'm ok..... please Sora... don't hate me..." he whispered sadly.

She paused as she tried to stroke his face... she had never wanted to touch him more then at that moment where fate had decreed that they would never touch again. She felt her heart break as she struggled to remain on her feet. Her body was begging to break down and sob... yet seconds were precious now.... she had waited a lifetime to say this... she could wait no longer...

"Taichi Kamiya... I love you with all my heart... it has always been you... I have always loved you.. I could never hate you..." tai's eyes shimmered with love as he listened to the words he had dreamed of hearing for years.

It was as though the world didn't matter now.... they were unaware of the eyes of their friends.... they were unaware of matt as he stepped back into the shadows of the dying complex... sparks rained down from overhead around Sora. It was as though the glass were gone... Sora softly leaned forward and kissed him... he did the same as their hands remained pressed to one another. The kiss was all consuming even though it was born of sorrow greater then the heavens or earth combined.... emotion poured through the glass as though it were not even there... it was their first kiss... even though it really wasn't.... their eyes closed as they imagined it was the other in their arms... the room began to fill with light...

They parted sadly as tai looked around... it was starting...

"Oh god Sora.... there isn't enough time......

I love you... I'll always be with you... no matter what happens I'll be inside here..." he pressed his free hand to her heart.

"Tai...." she whimpered as the pure white light grew brighter....

"Sora......"

the room began to fill with pure snowy white light... the plasma was beautiful... it glowed as pure white fire... fire which didn't burn.... tai's eyes remained fixed on Sora's. She longed for the time she had missed with him.... the chances to be held by her one true love were lost.... moments she could have savored...... now.... just a dream. Her hand pressed against the glass so tightly that she swore she could feel his hand close over hers.

"Oh Sora... the light.... it's so beautiful..... Oh god Sora... it's beautiful...." he whispered as the light engulfed him within itself. Sora let her eyes slip shut as she whispered a soft goodbye to him.... the last words he said hung in her mind... they were spoken so softly... no louder then a whisper.... "I'll love you forever.. My angel... my love... my Sora....."

"Good bye.... my Taichi..."

******************

izzy worked slower with the keys as he proceeded to unlock the blast door.... the window had fogged over with steam from the dying machine. The threat was over now... both of the twin worlds were spared from annihilation... there was a strange calm over the Digiworld... all digimon... virus, data, and vaccine stood together at the cliffy plateau united as family in their sorrow. Virus didn't kill... data didn't run... vaccine didn't battle... yet all of the three classes cried. The word of the great sacrifice had spread throughout the Digiworld at unheard of speed... only hours after the death of Taichi half the population of the digital world came to honor him... he had saved them all.... and as the digidestined looked out from the gaping hole in the tower of sorrow they found now solace from the tribute. More digimon appeared with each moment... and as they shuffled along to take their place amidst the congregation they walked softly... and slower... head bowed in grief....

Izzy wanted to cry as he hit the final key on his laptop... with a rush of hydraulics the door gracefully slid open. As it came unlatched soft mist of diffused plasma whooshed outward.. It danced softly in the still air as it faded away as a specter... the mist was cool, like the spray of the ocean... yet Sora loved the ocean... and hated all that this mist represented... it was once a force that could destroy worlds... it was once a force that could kill... it was once the force that took tai from her...

They entered... and as they did they expected to see their leader standing there... amidst the mist with that same lopsided grin he always used... yet as they looked around they saw no trace of him.. They saw only the same grey mist as it vanished in a swirling motion.

Joe walked over to a figure who lay dead upon the ground... he hung there lifelessly... with a light nudge of the foot joe pushed him over...

Datamon slumped over. His jaws hung open widely as he stared back at the young man. He had the look of death upon him... his arms and face were slack... he looked like a mechanical apparatus ripped from its housing... he stared up at joe with the same grotesqueness as the stare of a corpse... Datamon was purged... were once he had one large organic eye... now there was a vacant socket of wire and techno matter....

Joe looked down on him with a sudden burst of rage as he slammed the heel of his foot through Datamon's brittle shell. The digimon split open as joe continued to pummel him with his foot. He howled in rage as he smashed every last trace of resemblance from the thing's shell.. Joe wanted to be a doctor.... a healer.... a saver of life... this digimon was a killer... the exact opposite of all he stood for. The others gradually tried to calm him down. Yet a glance to Sora silenced them all... even joe...

She stood frozen, eyes fixed on the floor near the window. She was more a ghost then a girl as she stared blankly at what the fog veiled... her eyes hung low as she remained silently staring into the mist... with slow movements she knelt...

Sitting lifelessly atop the cold steel floor sat all that remained of her true love... his cloths sat there in a position that would animate the final pose of Taichi as he faded away into the light. His shirt and pants and other clots were fine... not a singe blemished their neatness. The blue shirt lay upon the ground in the same condition in which tai had worn it... Sora gasped lightly... she ran her fingers over where once tai's heart had beat. She looked down sadly as she continued to survey every article of clothing from the t-shirt to the sneakers... yet as she daintily lifted the shimmering pair of goggles she broke down.... she screamed in anguish as she threw herself atop the cloths. She held them to her chest and tried to rock them as she would a sickly infant... they smelled of tai... his scent... unique only to him... Sora breathed in from the shirt as she forced her tear soaked eyes shut.. It was almost as though he were there.... she could almost feel his breath against her as she nuzzled the fabric as if it were really him and not some cloths.

Her eyes looked down to the floor and suddenly caught a faint glimmer of light... she blinked away the tears as best she could so she could... there it sat atop the cold ground... a ring.... tai had worn this ring since he came to this world... it was hidden within his glove at all times... yet he wore it.... it was his... simple and yet elegant silver...

She looked to her finger sadly as she removed a ring of her own... matt had given her a promise ring once... and now... she could no longer honor that promise... she could never love him like she had loved Taichi.... and as matt watched with an icy gaze she replaced his ring for Taichi's... he had lost to a ghost.... a specter who was no longer even alive.... with a hateful expression upon his face yamato Ishida turned away and departed..... she had married into the grave as she put that thing on her finger... it too was now a promise ring... a promise Sora made to heaven and hell and whatever else may exist between: she would love only Taichi for the rest of her life. Him and no other......

******************

it was said that after Taichi's great sacrifice all digimon cried with sorrow. All virus, data, and vaccine mourned as one... and their tears intermingled and swelled as a sea. The tears filled the vast canyon where Datamon's spire had sat... the waters engulfed the tower within themselves, and soon were once there had been a great valley of death.... now there stood a vast lake of tears and sorrow. The waters of the lake were calm and silent as they remained a prison to Datamon's creation.. A grave of sapphire water where Taichi's memory would be forever held...

They had taken the great stone where Taichi had once stood. Where he had chosen to fight for the lives of digimon he didn't know... where he had decided to give his life for those who would call him foe... they had taken this marble stone and placed it at the water's edge upon a slight peninsula of Stoney earth.. Upon the face of this bolder they emblazoned a brilliant sun... setting behind the horizon....

This place would come to be known as Tear's point... a holy place of refuge from evil. No digimon or human would ever break the solemn vow by shedding blood here.... this was a sanctuary to life... and the shrine to the truest of heros....

******************

Sora stood at the rock of tear's pont with a sad expression... she had come here often... yet now it was time for the digidestined to continue their quest... and it was Sora's turn to lead them...

She understood Taichi now... the conflict only he knew.... for as a woman all she wanted to do was weep at this monument.... yet as a leader she could not.....

With a sorrowful heart she reached into her bag... and withdrew the object.

The sun was setting now... they would have to leave to fight the dark masters in the morning..... she breathed in the night air with a deep and painful breath. She looked down to her hand where she clutched the goggles.. With a single tear in her eye she reached down and kissed them softly. Then with one great heave she hurled them out into the air... they flew far... and with a soft decent they landed with a splash in the water... she watched as they sank away into the murky depths of the lake....

"Taichi... I love you..... and I promise that I'll be with you as soon as I can... but for now I am needed.... farewell my love..." she whispered as she turned away and vanished into the night air... leaving her one true love behind to wait for her........

A hero is alone....

In the moment of truth and destiny we each face a test...

The test will never come as we expect it.. In timing and in form it will be a mystery to us...

This one moment forever proves our character..

Will we be heros? Or will we be cowards?

Will we go in battle? Or in silence?

Will our name be spoken with regard? Or with shame?

The question we each must face is a simple one...

Will we be ready?

Not The End......