Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Beast Within ❯ The transformation ( Chapter 8 )

"Ugh, yeah," Tai muttered. He still sounded the same, so T.K. now knew for sure that they were Tai's eyes.

"What?" Tai repeated.

T.K. said nothing, and just stared into the darkness, afraid. He couldn't hold Tai's stare for much longer though and blinked, letting his eyes drift shut and away from the older boys' pulsing, red orbs if only for a moment. Suddenly, the door flung violently open and a blinding light illuminated the room.

"Tai!" Kari fearfully yelped as she entered. With the light on T.K. nervously looked at Tai once more, and noticed almost instantly that his eyes were back to their normal chestnut colour.

"Kari, why are you here?" Tai asked, lying; he remembered everything, even the scream, especially the scream.

"You screamed, T.K. you heard it didn't you?"

"Yeah, you did," T.K. agreed.

"Did I? Must have been having a bad dream."

"Okay, sorry, I just had to check to see if you were okay."

"Thanks Kari, I appreciate it."

"Right, see you guys tomorrow," she looked at the clock, it was one am, "Well, later today." She turned off the light and closed the door.

"Tai, are you okay?" T.K. and Agumon asked, almost at the same time.

"Yeah, it's gone now. But man, that was harsh, I was awake this time."

"Tai, you've gotta tell them," Agumon said.

"I know, I'll get them together after the exam."

"Do you feel any different?" T.K. asked. He just couldn't shake the image of those burning crimson eyes from his head; they freaked him.

"Nah," Tai said as he lay back. As he hit the bed he felt something. Around the area of his coccyx (A\N the bone at the end of your spine), there was a lump, a large lump. He could feel it was sensitive. Added to that his shoulder blades felt inflamed for some reason. He put his head down and ran his fingers through his hair, hitting something as he caressed his scalp. Two more lumps, bigger than the others, and harder were hidden under the heavy folds of his gravity defying hair. /Oh my god, what the hell is happening to me?\ Tai was now scared. For the first time during this incident he was actually scared about his wellbeing. He didn't know what to do, he thought about telling T.K., but he could hear he was asleep. Tai decided to try do the same.

Tai's alarm went off, it was loud and very annoying.

"PEPPER.."

"Agumon, just turn it off, I might need it again," Tai said. His eyes were still closed, he couldn't be bothered to look around, he knew it was time to get up. Agumon stood up and turned off the alarm.

"Morning, how do you feel?" T.K. asked.

"Fine, I think." Tai opened his eyes, he was greeted with the light of day.

"You'd better get up," T.K. suggested.

"Yeah, I know," Tai said reaching for the covers.

"Hang on Tai, I have to tell you something," T.K. said.

"Yeah, go ahead.," Tai replied.

"Well, last night, you, uh, your. The reason it took me so long to answer you, is because I was afraid."

"Afraid? Of what?"

"I was afraid of you. I looked over to you and saw a pair of flaming red eyes gleaming in the darkness, they were your eyes. But I looked away briefly and when I turned back they were gone. Kari turned the light on and they were normal, so I thought I was seeing things, but I know what I saw." /I have to tell him,\ Tai was sure now.

"T.K., I believe you, but that's not all that happened to me last night," Tai said slowly. This was hard for him, and T.K. could hear the hint of fear in Tai's voice.

"What are you talking about?"

"These," Tai said pulling down the covers and leaning over so T.K. could see his back. The blonde looked over and saw the swelling on Tai's shoulder blades.

"What… what does this mean?"

"I don't know, but it's weird." T.K. looked away and saw that the time was now seven thirty.

"Hey, you'd better get up," T.K. said.

"Yeah." Tai pulled the covers away and stood upright on the floor. Now becoming the norm, T.K. looked afraid.

"What else could be wrong?"

"Tai, I think you should look down," T.K. said. Tai looked downward and saw between his legs, a tail (A\N No, not that one, a new one!). It was not very long, it only came up to his knees, but it was a tail. It was a deep black colour, and at the end was pointed, almost like an arrowhead. Tai had to know if this was for real, and bent down touching it. He felt it, every sensation. The tail was rough, not like the rest of his skin, but it was definitely organic.

"I, I can't believe this, what the hell is going on. T.K., you gotta tell me, is this… thing, really mine?" Tai turned his back to T.K. He traced from the base of the tail and followed it upward, sure enough it was protruding from Tai's flesh. His boxers had been forced below the tail, but above he could see that the dark skin radiated from Tai and integrated back into his normal skin.

Tai turned back, T.K. nodded.

"Oh my god,"

"Tai stop, maybe you should sit?" He took the advice. As he hit the bed he could feel the tail hit his sheets. He took two deep breaths.

"T.K., what am I going to do?"

"Nothing Tai, we'll sort something out, but you have an exam to get to. My first question, can you move it?"

"I haven't tried." Tai stood again. He focused all his thoughts into moving the tail, but nothing. He tried again and still nothing.

"Damn, just as this could have been good, I got a useless tail." As he said this it swung from side to side.

"Uh Tai, you're doing it." T.K. said.

"Huh," Tai looked down, "Well look at that, I was trying too hard," Tai chuckled. Then he began experimenting. He lifted it up and down, side to side, round in circles, then more complex maneuvers.

"Hey, this isn't so bad at all. But wait, this means that…" Tai started, and put his hands on his head, sure enough, he had horns.

"What is it?" T.K. asked.

"Uh, I don't think I can show you," Tai started, "Give me your hand." T.K. put out his hand and Tai put in on his head. T.K. could feel the horns. They weren't very long either, but they were sharp.

"Ow, what's with that?" T.K. asked taking his hand away.

"Look, I don't know, just part of the package I guess. But I can't worry now, I have to get dressed."

"But what about the tail?"

"Hmm, I don't know." Tai thought for a moment. "I've got it, hand me those pants." T.K. picked up a pair of pants that were on the other side of the room. They were a pair of long, blue pants, and were a very loose fit. T.K. threw them over to Tai. He moved his tail up between his legs and to his crotch area. He grabbed the pants and put them on, covering his tail.

"How do they look?"

"Actually, completely natural," T.K. replied. Tai smiled, he thought that was a very good idea, and it was. He grabbed a shirt and put it on.

"Can you see the lumps on my back?" he asked.

"Nope, nothin'" T.K. replied.

"Great." Agumon had been quiet through the whole thing, but he was watching.

"So I guess we know what that thing was for?" he said.

"Yeah, I guess so. But my only question now, is it done?" Tai said. Everyone was silent.

"Oh well, can't worry about that now. It's time to test my 'disguise'," Tai said. He walked over to the door, opened it and walked out.

Kari was in the kitchen; she had just made a few cups of coffee. Tai walked in and went over to the counter.

"Hey, you're up, I was just coming to wake you," Kari said.

"Why are you always up so early?" Tai said.

"I don't know, maybe so I could make my poor brother a cup of coffee, but if he's not careful he'll end up wearing it," Kari said angrily. She, like everyone else, was edgy in the morning.

"Sorry, and thanks."

"Don't worry about it." She handed him the coffee and he downed it in one gulp. /Phase one, the entry was a success. But now phase two, actual close range viewing.\ Tai thought. He walked around the counter into the main kitchen area. Once there he got out some cereal, a bowl and the milk. All the while he was in full view of Kari, many times having his back to her, but she didn't notice anything. He poured the cereal and milk into the bowl, got a spoon and began eating.

/Good, she hasn't noticed, looks like I can do this after all.\ Although cereal was not the most filling of breakfasts, he didn't have time to make anything else. He downed the cereal and returned to his room. T.K. was still sitting on his bed, just trying to wake up. Tai walked in, "How'd it go?" T.K. asked.

"Great, she didn't notice a thing."

"It's a good thing you have all that hair, we wouldn't have been able to hide those horns."

"Yeah, I suppose this is all kinda cool, I just wish I knew why it was happening."

"Hey, don't let you're guard down now, we still don't know who or what is doing this to you, how permanent it is, and if it's even done."

"Yeah, you have a point, I'll just have to try and forget that for now." T.K. looked over at the clock.

"You'd really better go, it's already eight."

"Right, see you later."

"Good luck." Tai grabbed his jacket and left the room. T.K., Agumon, and Patamon followed behind him. "Bye Kari, I'm going," Tai said on his way through the lounge.

"Oh, good luck," she replied.

"Yeah, give it all you got," Agumon added.

"You'll ace it for sure," T.K. added further.

"And remember, one plus one is two. Sorry, that's all the math I know," Patamon said clearly sounding disappointed in himself.

"Hey, thanks guys, and I'll be sure to take that advice." Tai smiled, then left.

Tai was going to have to run to make it. Fortunately for him, he was a good runner from his soccer days. Tai missed playing soccer, mostly because he was so good at it, but mainly because it was an outlet for his stress. At anytime he could just go out, forget everything and run around like a maniac. He had only given it up a year ago, but he really missed it. He planned to rejoin a club after his finals, but now he wasn't so sure. He knew there would always be a place for him, but he was not sure what he really wanted to do with his life, and thought that maybe a break from everything would find him yearning for one thing in particular. He knew that the thing he most longed for is what made him happiest, and that is what he was going to do with his life. Of course his parents didn't know about this plan, no one did. They would probably think he was crazy, but he knew that he had to follow his heart.

Tai ran through the streets, dodging between people, lampposts, and at one point traffic, but he made it. He ran through the gates and into the crowd of people just as they started reading out names for people to enter. On the far side he spotted Izzy, Matt, Mimi and Sora. He stopped as he got to them, panting slightly from his exertion.

"Hey guys."

"You're cutting it a bit close," Matt said.

"Yeah, I had some, uh, problems this morning."

"What problems?" Sora asked, she sounded concerned.

"I'll explain it all later. But I'm calling an official meeting. I'd like us all at Izzy's place two hours after the exam."

"Tai, what's going on, you sound serious?" Mimi asked.

"Believe me, this is serious. But I want you guys to concentrate on your exam now, forget I said anything, just be there." They could all sense the urgency in Tai's voice, so they all nodded.

"Good, Izzy, can you have everything you know ready by then?"

"Sure," he replied.

"Good."

"Ishida, Yamato," a voice bellowed form somewhere in the crowd.

"That's me, good luck guys," Matt said. He hugged Mimi and kissed her on the cheek. He then walked off through the crowd and into the large hall.

"This means I'm next," Izzy said. Tai moved over to Sora and took her hand.

"Izumi, Koushiro." This was Izzy's, as with Davis, real name. Izzy was one of Tai's great brainwaves, he had come up with it soon after they first met. He liked it because it was so much shorter than Koushiro.

"Good luck guys," Izzy said as he followed Matt's trail.

"Agh, this is so nerve racking. Why do they have to do this?" Mimi said in annoyance.

"I know, do they think it helps?" Sora agreed. /They think this is nerve racking, they have nothin' compared to me\.

"Yeah, I know. Maybe they do it for their kicks," Tai joked.

"Oh well, at least it's our last one," Sora said.

"Kamiya, Taichi."

"Ah, I gotta go, good luck," Tai said. He did the same as Matt and hugged Sora, then kissed her on the cheek.

"Same to you," they said as he walked off.

"We're all alone now," Mimi said. They waited in silence for a while, but to many questions were echoing inside Mimi's head, she had to speak.

"Do you have any idea what Tai's was so urgent about?"

"No, I haven't really seen him for a while, but I'm worried about him. He hardly ever sounds like that, and when he does you know it's serious."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure he's okay."

"Thanks Mimi." They smiled.

"Tachikawa, Mimi."

"Wait for me," Sora said. Their names were right next to each other on the list, so she wouldn't be there long.

"Takenouchi, Sora." The two girls began walking at the sound of her name. They entered the large hall.

Inside the building it was very cold. The heating system was on, but it took a while for it to get going, so for they while they froze. The hall itself was just a face brick building, inside and out, that doubled up as a basketball court, so there were lines all over the floor. There was also a large electronic scoreboard at the top of the right hand wall. During exam time it was used as a counter. The school had arranged long rows of fold up desks, each with their own chair. On each was a large pile of blank lined paper, and the question sheet. Everyone had allocated seats; Sora and Mimi walked over to theirs, which were at the back of the fourth row. They were both worried; the question sheet was bulky and looked long. They waited in silence, their anxiety growing with every minute. To pass the time Sora decided to look around. First she spotted Tai; he was at the bottom of a central row. One row across was Izzy. Then one further row over in the middle was Matt. They all looked so calm. She turned around to look at Mimi, and noticing that she looked calm also. /I hope I can do this\. A buzzer sounded and everyone picked up their pens and began writing madly.

The exam was three hours long. It sounded like forever, but it actually flew by. Tai was sitting on the last question of the paper. He thought it through slowly and concisely, always double-checking the line of working he had just written and eventually came to an answer. /I hope that's right, it should be. Oh well, I think I'm done, now it's in god's hands.\ Tai looked over to the electronic scoreboard, there were fifteen minutes left. Tai had nothing to do now but wait.

He had made it a habit never to check exam papers as his instincts always served him better than his intellect. That and he had always been right the first time in the past. Tai just sat there, and doing nothing made it increasingly hard for him to ignore the burning in his neck. It was growing. He also found he had a headache. It pounded with every second. He decided to put his head down on his desk. He could feel that his shoulder blades were also burning now and his tail felt strange. /Could it have picked a worse time?\. He felt the pain growing, but he had to hold it in, one word and he was as good as failed. He looked back at the clock, ten minutes left. /Ah, why is this taking so long?\. Tai returned his head to his desk. He had to let out some of the tension, so he passed it off as a sneeze. It echoed through out the entire hall. Sora heard it from her desk and looked over to the source, she saw it was Tai, and how he was sitting. /I hope he's okay\.

The sneeze had helped, he felt a bit better, but his back felt a little different. The lumps seemed more obvious now. /No, not now, I'm holding this in\. Tai was lucky his jacket was as thick as it was, because they would be visible through just a shirt. The sneeze had also attracted the attention of one of the adjudicators, he was coming Tai's way. He leant down, "Are you alright?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, just a little head ache," Tai whispered back, he returned his head to his desk and put his arms in front of his eyes to block out the harsh lighting.

"Sit tight, only two minutes left." The adjudicator stood upright again and continued his patrols of the aisles. He had also attracted the attention of Izzy. He looked over to Tai, and in the darkness created by the shadow of Tai's arms he could have sworn he saw a red glow. He passed it off as nothing, as when he looked back Tai had his head up.

/Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one\. The buzzer sounded and Tai let out a sigh of relief.

"All students to place question papers on the left hand side of your desks, and all answer sheets on the right. Any paper not collected now will NOT be marked. No consideration will be entered into. After doing so you are free to leave." Tai did this quickly and stood. Unfortunately so did everyone else so both he and Izzy just let them go. Once they had cleared out Izzy moved over to Tai.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'll be fine."

"You look really bad."

"I have to go. Sorry, but I have to get out of here now. I'll talk to you later." Tai could feel the pain still growing and started walking, but so did Izzy, "But Tai, I might be able to help."

"Don't push it," Tai snapped, he had turned around and was facing Izzy directly. His voice was not normal. It was a deep, harsh growl. Worst of all his eyes were glowing that fierce burning red. Izzy was now really scared, and a little hurt that one of his best friends had just rejected him, especially like that.

"Sorry Izzy, I… have to go, Tai began running down the aisle. Once he was outside he began running. Sora tried to stop him, but she couldn't he'd pushed right past her. "Tai wait, Please. Tai." He didn't stop. Izzy walked over to Sora.

"Sora, try not to worry, he did it to me too. And he would never do something like that to you without a reason."

"I know Izzy, but why wouldn't he just talk to me?"

"I don't know, he doesn't seem to know either, he's not himself."

"I know." Sora could feel the tears beginning to form in her eyes, but she held them in.

"You can come right to my place if you like, I know I wouldn't want to be alone after that."

"Thanks Izzy."

"Hey guys, what's up?" Matt said as he and Mimi walked over to them. They were, of course, holding hands.

"Tai. He's acting really weird," Izzy said. Sora couldn't hold it in any more, she burst into tears, hearing what Izzy said had just set her off for some reason.

"What did he do to you?" Mimi asked, anger raging in her voice.

"Nothing, he's not himself."

"But what happened guys, you have to explain," Matt said. Mimi released his hand and went over to Sora. She put her arm around Sora and led her to a bench. The guys followed.

"I assume you saw him during the exam?" Izzy started.

"Yeah, he looked bad," Matt replied.

"Well, I tried to ask him about it but he just said he had to leave. I tried to stop him but he turned around and snapped at me. It was weird, his voice sounded different, and I could've sworn his eyes were a fiery red. It was probably just me."

"Then what?" Mimi asked.

"He apologized and ran out. Sora also tried to stop him but he just ran right by her without stopping."

"He had better have a good explanation for this," Matt said, now his voice was filled with anger.

"Both of you need to calm down, I think he does have an explanation, I don't know how good it is, but I think he had one. Why don't you all come over to my place and we can wait together?"

"Yeah, I think that's best," Matt agreed.

"Are you gonna be okay Sora?" Izzy asked.

"Yeah, I'll be alright, let's go," she replied. She had stopped crying, but she still seemed a little upset. The group began the walk to Izzy's house.

Tai ran into his building. He couldn't wait for the elevator so he took the stairs. The pain was growing, he could feel it inside of him. He had to get inside or something was going to burst. He ran flight after flight and eventually arrived at his floor. He burst through the door of his apartment and ran right through the lounge. T.K., Kari, Davis and Catherine were all there, plus the digimon were all in there but Tai had to ignore them, even Agumon. He went straight to his room.

"Hey Tai, wait, how was it," Kari said as he walked out of the room. T.K. and Davis let go of their respective girls' hands and went to his bedroom door. They tried it, but he had locked it.

Tai was in his room. He was lying on his bed, but there was no release. He could hear Davis and T.K. at the door, asking him to open it, but Tai could barely move, not that he would open it if he could. The pain grew and grew; he grabbed his head with his hands. His horns made this difficult but he opened his fingers around them. Tai kicked off his shoes and his pants, he threw off his jacket as well, this didn't help. He couldn't hold it in anymore and screamed. It echoed through his room, and the entire apartment. As he did this he could feel the pain collect in his head, tail and shoulder blades. He felt his tail and horns growing, and he heard his shirt rip.

"That's it Tai, if you don't open this I'm breaking it down," Davis shouted.

"No… don't I'm coming," Tai muttered. The pain was going into remission. He staggered over to the door and unlocked it and went right back over to his bed sitting down.

Davis flung open the door and barged in.

"Whoa my god," Davis said stepping back. T.K. came through the door and made sure to close it behind him.

"Tai, you okay?" he asked.

"I, I don't know anymore," Tai answered.

"T…Tai?" Davis stuttered.

"Yeah, it's me."

"What's happening?"

"Remember what I told you yesterday, this is part of it."

"Tai, you've changed again," T.K. said.

"I thought so, what with the pain and all. Just tell me what else has happened. I cant become much more of a freak."

"Tai, you're being to harsh, remember this isn't your fault."

"Just tell me what's happened," Tai was speaking quietly, he was really afraid of himself now.

"Okay. Your tail, it's a lot longer now. And your back, well, you've got, like, shoulder blades coming right out of your back." T.K. was not quite correct. His tail had indeed gotten longer, it was now the full length of his legs. His horns had also grown and were almost poking through his hair. But the most radical change his back, but they weren't shoulder blades. From what T.K. could see that's what they looked like, but they were actually small winglets. They were the same colour as Tai's tail, and the same thing happened where they met his back. They only extruded about twenty centimeters from his back, but they were folded in.

"What do you mean by his tail has gotten longer, when was it there in the first place?" Davis asked.

"Sorry Davis, I forgot you weren't here," T.K. apologized.

"Last night, something happened," Tai stuttered, still a bit shaken from the pain.

"I'll fill him in, you should catch your breath," T.K. said. Tai took his advice.

"We think that the thing that hit Tai in the neck is causing this. It started two nights ago. I woke up in the middle of the night… (A\N again, I'm repeating what has already been said. He tells him everything about the pain attacks, and all the new growths. Not the eyes though.)… and we decided to call a meeting."

"Yeah, it's later today at Izzy's," Tai added. He was now feeling better, barring being afraid of what was happening.

"So, this is all real?" Davis asked.

"I'm afraid so," T.K. said.

"Touch it if you want," Tai said.

"You sure Tai?" Davis said. He shrugged. Davis reached out and touched the tail. He felt it was organic. Same with the winglets, but when he touched them they flinched, Davis could see they were folded over.

"Can you move them?" Davis asked.

"Yeah, they're definitely a part of me."

"Well, try stretching your, uh, wings I guess," Davis was unsure of what to call them. Remembering the lessons he learnt from the tail, Tai didn't try too hard. They moved a little at first. Then suddenly they opened fully. The miniature wings looked a little odd because of their size, but they looked good. They were now not sticking right out; rather they curled at the base and went out parallel to his back. Only half of them ended up coming out from behind of his back. They were not feathered wings, rather leathery, (A\N think Pterodactyl type wings). Tai folded them back and they returned to their base, but kept parallel.

"Okay, this is odd," Davis said.

"Huh, you think it's odd."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, I know, I'm just a little edgy lately."

"Understandably, but tell me, is that absolutely everything that has happened?"

"No, look." Tai pulled his hair away and now his horns were visible.

"Okay… thanks. And Tai, I don't blame or hate you for lying. I think you've dealt with this really well, far better that I could have."

"Thank you Davis, and I'm sorry."

"Tai, I think it's time," T.K. said.

"I know, could you prepare them?"

"Sure." T.K. opened the door and walked out.

"Hey Tai, no matter what, you'll always be my mentor."

"Thanks, you're a good friend, and we can talk later."

"I almost forgot. Yeah, this is far more important."

T.K. had gathered their attention. Every one was a little worried. Agumon knew what was coming, so did Veemon, but Catherine and Kari were clueless.

"You have to understand, this is going to shock you, but just try not to be scared, for Tai's sake." Now they were really worried.

"What are you talking about?" Kari asked, getting a little tired of waiting

"You'll see. Tai, you can come in." Tai walked into the room. He looked quite a sight; he had no shirt, no pants, and was only his boxers. His tail hung between his legs, and was almost dragging on the floor. His wings were still folded back and his horns were not visible. Davis walked in behind him and returned to Catherine's side.

"Tai?" Kari said quietly.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Tai…" she ran over to him, but stopped when she saw his wings. She took two steps back.

"Davis, this isn't funny," she said bursting into tears. She knew it wasn't him, but she had to rationalize. He took this in his stride.

"Kari please!" Tai said.

"No! I won't believe it!" she ran backwards and did not face him. Catherine was not saying anything, she was afraid, and had questions, but would not interrupt.

"Kari It's me, Tai… the same Tai that I've always been."

"Then why do you have wings and a tail!" she shouted turning around.

"Kari, I didn't do this to myself. It happened when we were checking out the rift in the digital world."

"Oh, So you just forgot to tell me you were turning into a… whatever, over the last three days. How could you, you're my brother for god's sake."

"Kari I couldn't." Tai began to weep.

"And all the pain you were in, I heard the moaning. How could you be so damn insensitive!" Tai could not say anything, and the tears began to flow. He could feel something building inside of him, it was anger. He began to speak softly and slowly, "Do you think it was easy for me, do you think it was easy… being in a state of pain you'll never truly realize," Tai's voice was growing deep and enraged with every word.

"I haven't slept in nights, all I could do was react to the pain. Nothing could sooth the burning. Now look what's left," Tai's voice was now in the growl again. An aura began to surround him; it was the burning red colour. "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO I AM!" Tai bellowed.

The aura erupted and was now plainly visible and his eyes were glowing red again. Suddenly the pain returned. It was fierce, and all over. Tai moaned and fell to the ground; Kari rushing to his side even before he hit the floor.

"Get away from me… NOW!" he barked. Kari stepped away slowly, and stumbled into T.K.'s arms. Tai was crying (A\N Tears) from the pain, anger, but mostly from sadness. The emotions were building as he lay there, the burning ravaging. He twisted a bit, then he tried to get up, he wanted to get out of there, in case he did something he might regret. He got onto his knees, but the pain intensified in his wings and back. He hunched over and let out a fierce howl. As he did the wings began to grow. Everyone looked on in amazement as they slowly extruded further and further from his back. You could almost hear the skin ripping away making room for a larger base for each wing. The group knew that this is how it felt for Tai, he was growling in pain as they grew. He staggered to stand, but eventually managed to do so. The growing and sound had stopped, but his pain did not. He began to flex his wings, then stretched them completely out behind him and let out a ferocious howl. Then he just stood there, his now full sized wings behind him, and all his pain gone.

Hey, this isn't too much of a cliffhanger. Okay so maybe it is. I don't know why, but I really liked this part. Thanks for all the reviews, suddenly I get so many ^_^. Just a small request, could my anonymous reviewer please leave a name, even a nickname, you've been so kind and I was wondering who you were. As for the rest of you, thanks, the encouragement has been great. Please note, I am now out of my backed up work from the login problems, so the wait between updates is going t increase, sorry, but I can't help it. By the way, I have the FF.net messenger, and anyone who wants to talk is welcome to. Thanks again