Chapter 00 : Operation Comeuppance

Takeru

It was a humid day. The air was thick with moisture and heat, wet against my skin and even dampening my clothes. The breeze was mild, nipping at my jacket and moving on. Gray clouds rolled swiftly across the October sky, swelling with rain. Everyone on the streets walked quickly, wanting to get home before the first droplets fall. I looked down at my watch, I was gonna be late and Mom was gonna be mad. Well, it's not my fault. The streets are crowded, with lots of pushing and shoving and stuff, and it isn't as if anyone was going to notice that we were late for some Open House thing. It was just a 'Hey, I'm so glad to have your son this year!', 'Pleased to meet you!', and 'I look forward to teaching your son!'. Most of the teachers never interact with the parents again after Open House. So really, what's the point?

I could not wait for Friday; the week was moving way too slowly. So very slowly. I wanted it to be the weekend already, I wanted to visit Yama and the others. I hadn't seen them since school started, and Mom had already said I could go this weekend. So the sooner this week was over, the better. I rounded a corner, cutting through al alley. It would be faster this way. Damnit, why did the stupid school have to be so far away anyway? Hell, it didn't make much of a time difference if I went to that school or Kari's school. It would be a long walk either way. No bus comes to my apartment from either school, and Mom can't drive me. So really, why couldn't I go to Odaiba's middle school? Tell me again?

It was pointless to complain I suppose, I couldn't do anything to change the way things were, no matter how idiotically stupid they were. Rounding another corner, I stopped short. A seventeen-eighteenish year old guy stood directly in my path. His stringy brown hair was brushed forward so that it covered half his face; his clothes were dirty and torn, and his form was ridged and seemed almost unstable before me. I tried to go around him and continue on my way home, but whatever path I tried to take, he blocked. "What's your problem, man?" I asked, annoyed. I needed to get home, I was already late. I didn't need homeless high school dropouts in my way. Of course, part of me was afraid. The person who stood in front of me was older and probably stronger than me. I didn't know what he wanted; I didn't know what to expect.

"Don't you know, little TK?" came the reply, soaking in some crude sarcasm that had me lost completely. The voice was tinged with laughter and amusement, which only added to the oddity of everything. And how did he know my name? For a moment I thought I was wearing a name tag since Open House was tonight and one was required. But that was stupid because I hadn't put mine on yet, and in any case my name was Takeru. TK was what my brother and the others called me. And sometimes my mother and father. How could anyone else know? I could feel myself start to sweat; things were getting creepier by the moment, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to deal with it.

I didn't want to be dependent, but I couldn't lie to myself. I was used to protection and I wasn't quite sure I was ready to do things myself yet. I was weak. In the Digiworld, I was the youngest, I got protection from my brother and the others. But even after Matt stopped hovering over me, I still had protection. Patamon was there, the other digimon, I was never alone. Now? I'm alone. My brother was miles away and Patamon was in another world. Could I depend on myself? Could I handle this situation, however it may turn out? "What are you talking about?" I was surprised to find that my voice did not seem to be affected by my inner worries and inner self-doubt. But my eyes kept darting to the space in the alley behind the stranger that loomed over me, looking for means of escape. What did this guy want?

He brushed some of the hair from his face, revealing a happy psychotic expression. "TK...you're going to die today." I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Who was this guy? Did he really plan to kill me? Did I really want to know? I stood there for a moment, surprised and unbelieving, then faked a dash to the right and tried to duck under the guy's right arm to get out of there. Didn't work. He wasn't fooled. He caught my head in his arm and threw be forward. I was backed up against a wall, and suddenly every exit seemed to be blocked. I couldn't think of a path of escape. He could get there before I was free. "C'mon man, what's your problem? Let me go!" I demanded, trying to get past him again with no avail. Damn.

I was scared. The stranger clearly had no intentions of letting me go, but what did he want?! Money? I don't have any money on me! Gods, who was this guy? Just some crazy hobo? An escaped psychopath? What did he want? What could I do to get out of here? Was I strong enough to fight him? Yeah, I'd wrestled with Yamato before, but he was my brother and that was just playing. Could I really take on someone that much older and stronger than me actually win? The hell I could. I wasn't that powerful; I didn't know karate, I couldn't do anything. I was so unbelievable pathetic. I had always been hiding behind someone, Matt, Tai, Kari, Patamon, always. I couldn't fend for myself. But I was alone this time and I wasn't going to ask for any help.

"No, no, no, 'fraid I can't do that, Takeru." the stranger said, stepping back a bit, still grinning. I growled, becoming angry. I didn't have time for this, I needed to get home. I didn't need to be stopped by crazies on the street. I started forward again, trying to get past him, but stopped short. The ruffled haired guy pulled out a knife. I paled. Was he really trying to kill me? How did he know me? My name? What did I ever do to him? I didn't even know him! How did he know me? I backed up again, only to remember that there was wall behind me. What was I going to do? He pulled a knife on me, he said he was going to kill me. He looked absolutely insane, so I wasn't so sure that was just a joke anymore.

The guy brought the knife forward unexpectedly and I twisted to the side, loosing my breath. The blade clanked against the brick of the wall. He really was trying to kill me! He stabbed again, catching the sleeve of my shirt. I struggled away and the bit of cloth tore off. "Come on, Teeks, you're smarter than that, struggling will only make it worst." he giggled, kicking me in the shin. I fell to my knees, but still somehow managed to roll out of the knife. I thought of calling for someone, the police, anyone. But,...I didn't want to, that would be depending on someone again. Always depending on someone, hiding behind someone, always looking for help. Always. I had to grow up some time didn't I? I got to my feet, eyeing the stranger warily, looking for his next attack.

He lunged, I sent a kick forward, catching his knee. He stumbled a bit, but that just got the blade embedded somewhere else. My arm. It was caught in my upper left arm, caught between muscle and bone, and drawing blood most effectively. The nerves brought the pain to my head, to the arm, and back again. It was torment that I've never experienced before. As the psycho withdrew the knife, my arm began to throb with pain; blood spilling all over the flesh and dripping to the ground. "Damn, I'm sorry Takeru! I meant to get your face!" he said mockingly. I pressed my hand against the wound, hoping to stop the blood flow, but the gash was too big, and the liquid could not be suppressed. My face was twisted in an expression of pain, but my mind was preoccupied with trying to think of a way to get out of this alive.

He struck again, laughing joyously, seemingly drunken on my pain and fear. Gods...what am I going to do? Paper thin cuts appeared all over my arms, invisible at first, then gushing with red. My clothes became tattered and torn, soaked with the blood that came from the cuts and gash. "What did I ever do to you!?" I growled, futilely kicking at him. His next attack struck my left arm again, making the bleeding mess worse. The section of open flesh now extended from my shoulder to my wrist, the whole limb a red, dripping sight. I couldn't feel my fingers on that hand, it was like all of the nerve endings leading there had been killed, and now the whole arm was useless. Every time I moved the arm stung, the air cutting into the exposed muscle. Would I ever be able to use that arm again? Providing I get out of this in one piece?

"What did you ever do to me!?" the guy screamed, loosing all hints of his demented happiness. "What did you ever do to me?! You don't know, Hope?! You don't know!?" he thrusted the knife at me again, drawing a line from my collarbone to my stomach. My shirt was hopelessly torn by now and provided no resistance at all to the silvery blade. Hope? Did he just call me Hope? My crest? How could be possibly know about that? No remembered anything about the Digiworld, or Myotismon or anything else that had happened five years ago. How did he...? And what was he rambling about? I hadn't done anything to him...I couldn't have, I didn't know him...did I? No! I didn't know him, I didn't. The pain from the most recent injury shot up my chest, but it felt dull compared to the fireworks my nerves were shooting out in my arm.

I was on my back on the ground now, completely helpless as he closed in for another attack. "What did you do to me...how dare you ask you fucking little dipshit! What did--" I kicked him in the jaw and scrambled to my feet, or tried to. He stepped on my leg as he rubbed his face, eyes glinting with hatred. Who was he? Why was he trying to kill me? He grabbed my shirt collar and lifted me up against the wall. The stranger's sapphire eyes glared at me with a kind of detestment I didn't understand. Who let his psycho loose on the streets? Why did he want to kill me? What had he been rambling about? I couldn't move, and it wasn't just my left arm. I was paralyzed with an unimaginable fear. I realized I probably wasn't going to live.

"What did you ever do to me, little Digidestined?" he hissed, "You destroyed everything. You and your little friends. And you are all...going to die..." his last words brought the deranged grin back to his face, the psychotic spark back into his eyes, and the fear thundering in my head. His words made no sense to me, I still didn't understand what I had done. But how did he know about the Digidestined? How did he know about my friends and I? How did he know my crest? Why did he want us to die? Images of the others flashed through my head. I wasn't going to live...but would they? Would this guy get away with what he was trying to do? Would he get the others? My friends? Taichi, Joe, Koushirou, Sora, Mimi, Hikari...? My brother? Would he succeed?

I felt the blade penetrate my stomach. The cold steel against my bare, exposed skin. I felt the death above me. The knife was pushed deep into my gut, getting tangled amongst my organs. The blade was pushed inward and upward, going behind my ribcage to my heart. The stranger's hand was swimming around my insides, covering my sticky blood. Who was he? Why was he going this? Why was I dying right now? What had I done? Was there an afterlife? Would I...be able to watch over the others? Would this guy go after them? Did he know where they were? Would he kill them? Would I be able to see? Would I be able to unearth his reasons? Would I...? The pain was overwhelming, but it was numbing quickly. The existence of my left arm was already obliterated. I could not feel it at all. The rest of my body would go soon enough.

He released my collar and I slumped to the ground. He was laughing. He held his bloody knife in his hand and laughed. Then he was gone, dashing down the alley in a fit of giggles. He guy was escaping. Running off to kill...to kill the others....and I couldn't stop him. I tried to stand up, but I could not feel my legs. Darkness was creeping at the edge of my vision, threatening to take over. Who was going to warn them? Yamato and the others? Who was going to tell them about the crazy psychopath that was after their lives? I was an idiot...I was a weak idiot. If I hadn't been so disbelieving of the whole situation, I might have been able to escape...I might have been able to...but it didn't matter now. I couldn't see anymore. The light of the October afternoon had vanished. Who was going to warn the others? There was no more light...there was only darkness...there was only....



 

© Kiriska