Step 16: Regret
"I can't do this, I can't do this, aniki! I can't kill them, they didn't do anything to me! They were so nice, I can't kill them!" Shun screamed, covering his head with his hands, rolling himself up into a ball like a baby. His elder brother walked over to him, and put his hand on his shoulder, smiling reassuringly down at his twin.
"Come on, Shun…it'll be okay, don't worry about it." Kou said, not believing the words himself. His eyes showed it, but good thing Shun wasn't looking into his eyes. Shun was staring at the ground, full of leaves, and rocks, and natural debris, only gray. It was like the whole place was black and white. The only color that had managed to seep through were the digidestined, the Gemini, and them. But whenever he thought about them…he saw only one color. Red…the color of… he shook his head, erasing the thought from his mind. Don't think such things. You can't, while you have someone to comfort here…he turned to Shun, whose attention was directed to the ground. Shun's eyes were troubled. "What's wrong?" He pointed to the floor.
"There…are no bugs here…there's nothing here…except for me, you, and them. Nothing else…is alive. All these plants and trees are dead, they're just still there because there are no bugs to help it decay. It would be like everything stopped in mid-air, when everything started to die. This is a horrible place, why would the Amoral Gemini want to protect this? Why did they have to pick us?" Shun asked, his voice getting louder. "I don't want to do this anymore, aniki! I don't want to kill! Why must they do it? Why did they have to choose us?" he screamed. Kou grabbed hold of his shoulders and shook him. His eyes were determined.
"If they hadn't picked us, they would have picked someone else. Do you want someone else to suffer because of us? Would you like the blame to be put on you?" Kou demanded. Shun shook his head slightly. It started to rain heavily, and there was thunder and lighting. Kou looked up into the gray sky, and let the water hit his face freely. He stared back down at Shun. "Heh, even the rain is gray, did you know that? Because everything else is, the rain is gray too." He said. Shun looked up at the drops falling to the ground. Kou put his arm around Shun's shoulder. "Don't worry, otouto. Everything will come out all right in the end, and then we can go home to our parents. Until then, we'll have to stay strong if we want to come out of this. I'll be there for you, and you'll be there for me. And until these Amoral Gemini get their revenge, it doesn't matter what they do with our bodies, it isn't us. We'll still be Shun and Kou, not wanting ever to kill anyone. That's the way it'll stay." Shun stared happily up at his brother and nodded. The rain was pouring down on them.
"Yeah, Kou, we'll be a team. But let's get inside first, it's cold out here." Kou nodded and helped Shun up. Together, they made their way under a tree. It was a satisfactory shelter for the moment, but the leaves were light and fragile, and even one raindrop could push it down. So as the rain came, the leaves came raining down on the two, until there were no more leaves to cover them. The bare branches would obviously be no help. Laughing at the unlikely event, both twins got up and looked around for another suitable shelter. Most of the other trees had had the same thing happen to them. Shelter was no where to be found. At last, they found a small cave, in between some trees. They walked in, without a second thought. Kou stopped and stared at a burnt patch in the ground of the cave. Shun turned. "What's wrong?" Kou shook his head and pointed.
"Look, a fire's been there before, a long, long, time ago. Someone was here, when this place was alive, and had taken shelter, just like we had." He sat down and smiled. "Why don't we imitate a little. This arrangement seemed to have worked for them. Why don't we start a fire in the same exact place, and sit and maybe even sleep next to it? It'll be a lot warmer than the rain." Shun nodded. He liked to play, and he got some sticks he had found from deeper into the cave. Everything inside was gray too, but at least it was dry. He came back with a bundle of twigs in his arms, and lay it down by the side of the burnt patch. Kou picked two up, and took out a match from his pocket. "Just thought I might need it." Kou explained, without Shun asking the question. He struck it against the stone wall, and it lighted, an orange yellow.
"Maybe it's colored, because it comes from our world." Shun thought out loud. Kou nodded, and touched the fire with the branches. They immediately set afire, almost too fast, but Kou let go of the match quickly to let it burn. They added twigs to the fire at an abnormal fast rate, since the twigs seemed to be a lot more dryer than the twigs from Earth. As they watched the fire grow, their eyes grew heavy. Shun lay on his side, and closed his eyes. Kou smiled at his brother and watched the flame a little more.
So many things are wrong in this world, I wonder if something like this could ever happen to Earth, he thought. But then I'd try to stop it…here…I have to keep it this way. Sometimes, I wish to the extent that the Amoral Gemini really did pick someone else. Good thing they can't take control of our bodies all the time, or anytime they wished. I hope those Gemini are not seriously injured, or the digidestined leader…I hope they know I didn't want to fight. But then again, how would they know? All they're sure of is that we are their enemy, and they are ours. This is a world of death, and nothingness. Yet these Amoral Gemini want to keep it that way. He sighed. There were so many things in this world he didn't understand. But it could stay that way. Soon, it'll all be over, this mumble jumble of pain and fighting…all be over.
Kou laid his head on the gray and cold floor, hugging himself for warmth. He looked across the flame at Shun. His brother was curled up into a ball, a peaceful expression on his identical face. Kou smiled. If only he was really as relaxed as he looked in sleep, he thought. He closed his eyes and brought his legs closer to him. And they both fell asleep peacefully, momentarily forgetting the burdens and troubles that had been placed on their shoulders, dreaming of returning home, much like Matt had, a long time ago when he was eleven, with Gabumon at his side, sheltering from the cold ice and snow…a long, long, time ago.
Step 17: Conversations
When will we strike again, to kill the enemy?
When we have made it clear to these thirteen-year-olds that they cannot oppose us when we have control of their bodies. We almost lost our lives the last time, we were vulnerable when they were battling for control.
Good thing that the digidestined didn't think of that, or we would have been destroyed.
They won't. They won't kill two thirteen-year-olds, even if they are evil, they will think about it first. Thinking takes time, valuable time, that could make the difference between our lives, or their lives.
But they are getting nearer to the answer to resurrection. We must stop them quickly. When will we make our move?
That is yet to be decided, but we will know when it comes time. I know the idea will come to us some time. For now, the problem is how to teach these children that there is punishment for opposing us.
Why not the usual? Pain?
Oh yes, we will give them pain…but physical pain is too little.
But then what kind of pain?
The pain that dwells in your heart when you know you have done something wrong, the pain of guilt should be a fitting punishment.
Yes, and then they will learn what foolishness it is to mess with us. Guilt is a powerful thing, able to control them if we twist it to the good enough extent. Even to make them kill the enemy themselves, without us having to control them. That is an excellent punishment, fit for the likes of them. Then, we will control all that happens between them two and the digidestined and Gemini. We will win this battle.
Perhaps, but remember, the idea is we must win the war. Loss of one fight is acceptable.
But we must be careful not to lose our lives in that one fight, otherwise we have lost the war.
True. But the layout of events will take place soon enough, and the digiworld shall stay the way it is, beautifully quiet.
Serene, and deadly quiet.
Like the world in which we and the Gemini came from.
But we came from nothing.
Exactly.
Step 18: Punishment
"What are you doing…with my body!" Kou asked, struggling to keep the control from doing what it was supposed to do. He knew the answer to his own question wouldn't be good. Shun was doing the same thing, though out of breath since he was fighting using all his strength. The voice inside him replied.
Punishment.
"Punishment?" Kou didn't understand, but he fought anyway. Punishment, whether for them, or for someone else, was never good. He tried to get away, but it was too strong. A human body with no food and water for a day was obviously weak, and neither him or his brother could resist control. And when the Amoral had that, they smiled inwardly. Now to pick off the digidestined, one by one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"T.K.! Get back here, where did you go?" Matt called, his brother had been gone for a while, and with those two enemies lurking around the digiworld somewhere, he wouldn't be relaxed. He kept on calling for his little brother. "T.K.! Hurry up and get here! Bring Kari with you, if she's with you, Tai's looking for her!" Kari had been gone too, for a while. And the strange thing is, all the digidestined and the Gemini didn't know where they had gone off to. He saw something in the shadows flicker to his left, and he turned immediately. Nothing was there anymore. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, and he took his steps carefully, calling in a softer voice this time. "T.K.! You're in deep trouble when I find you…" he looked around, "if I find you." He added in a whisper. Something pushed him from the back. It didn't knock him over, but he turned quickly. He sighed a breath of relief…only T.K. and Kari, smiling from ear to ear. "Where have you two been?" he demanded. The smiles faded.
"Matt, we just wandered off because we thought we saw something that looked like Gatomon and Patamon. And we just wondered if maybe Gennai was wrong, we followed them. Then, we started to head back, and we found you. You don't have to get so worked up about it." Matt kneeled down.
"Yeah, well you know how worried me and Tai about you guys? Don't you know that there are enemies lurking around somewhere? You could go out wandering, and never come back! And neither me or Tai, or you guys would like that." He explained. Kari nodded, eyes closed and looking at the floor. T.K.'s eyes were wide with fright. Matt put his hand on his little brother's shoulders. "Hey, T.K., I didn't scare you that much, did I?" he joked. T.K. shook his head slightly, and pointed behind Matt. "You don't expect me to fall for that again, do you?" Matt said. T.K. insisted on him looking. An knife flashed in the air and came down in Matt's shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. It was an enemy, shrouded in the shadows of the cloak he was wearing. "T.K.! Kari! Go back to the others and get help, now!" Matt pushed them with his other arm, and faced the shorter and younger boy, clutching his injured and bleeding shoulder. He had emotionless eyes and no expression on his face. Oh great, he thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
T.K. and Kari ran as fast as they could, through the forest back to where the others were. Branches got in their way, but they ducked and jumped through them. Finally, they came out of breath into the camp. Tai immediately sat up and rushed over. "Kari! You're back! T.K., what's wrong?" he said, noticing the distressed looks on the youngest digidestined's faces. Kari barely panted out the words.
"Matt…in forest…in trouble…enemy…attacking him…hurry!" All the digidestined stood and started to run, leaving T.K. and Kari behind. Ran went with them, though Rei stayed to help her friends. She made the sit down on the floor. She let them regain their breath without any trouble, and then asked her questions.
"What exactly happened, you guys?"
"Matt was looking for us." Kari started.
Rei nodded. "So was Tai, but he found nothing."
"Yeah, but Matt found us, and then, I saw this black shadow with a knife holding it over Matt like he was gonna stab him. Matt wouldn't believe me and didn't look until it came down on his shoulder. Then, he pushed us." T.K. said.
"And he told us to go get help. We ran all the way here." Kari finished. Rei nodded.
"I hope he's alright." T.K. added. The other two nodded in agreement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Matt!" Mimi screamed. She rushed over to him, and lifted his head onto her lap. It was deadly pale. "Wake up!" she pleaded. Too late. They had been too late. And now…now…"No Matt…you can't leave us here!" she reasoned, but she knew he wouldn't answer back. The blood staining his side dripped onto the floor, coloring the leaves under it, but with the color of blood. They had found him there, clutching his stomach, and pale…not moving. They knew what had happened…and they didn't want to comprehend it. "Please Matt…please no…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shun's hand was shaking as he stared at it, wide-eyed at what the Amoral had done with his body. There was a streak of red on his palm. His blood, not the digidestined. There were cuts and bruises all over his body. The enemy had given a good fight…but he had won. For an instant, he wished he hadn't. He wished he could have died instead, because then, the Amoral inside would die too. But he couldn't leave Kou to face the troubles alone. But…he had killed… he…had…taken a life away. One person had stopped breathing, his heart had stopped beating, because of his hands. Kou stared at his brother, eyes narrowed. Those Amoral Gemini certainly knew how to punish someone. Shun stared at his palm, the deep red liquid dripping out, sickening him. He thought of the knife inside someone's side, every time he stared at it. Drip, drip, drip.
"Kou…Kou…I…killed someone…" Shun started, his words unsure. Kou shook his head and sat next to his brother.
"No, the Amoral Gemini killed someone, you didn't."
"But he used my hands. My hands are stained with blood…someone else's blood… they used me to kill!" Shun said, getting over-reactive. Kou shook his head again, trying to calm his brother down.
"It's not your fault, Shun. They did it, not you." Shun didn't answer, he was staring at his bleeding palm. "They did it, because they knew you would feel this way, it was a form of punishment, and I helped you kill him. It was to make both of us feel guilty." Shun's head turned to him.
"Don't you feel guilty?" Kou nodded, head facing the floor.
"But it's…not really our fault…"
"Yes it is! They did it because we fought back before! And now they're gonna do this until all of the digidestined and Gemini are dead!"
"But Shun! If we had not fought back before, all the digidestined and Gemini would have died anyway! At least now they have a chance."
"Kou…I don't want to kill anymore…" Shun stuttered. Kou nodded, and put his hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Neither do I."
"Then why do we have to?"
"Because we don't get everything we want."
This is getting really long, isn't it? Well, I have to end it sometime. Review! Matt fans, don't kill me! Remember that I'm one too! It's just that I like torturing those I like! Don't kill me! I'll make a promise! This isn't the last you'll see of him! Yama-kun will come back!
