DISCLAIMER: I own neither the game, original storyline or the script. I do however, own the newly edited plot and the expansions.

Digimon Continuity

Brave Tamer

Chapter 29

A Step Into The Void

:. Real World – Japan, Shinjuku

Local Time: 3.11 p.m.
Ryo's Time: 6 Days, 06:35 hrs AR

"Raidramon! Hold nothing back! Defeat that fox digimon!"

Raidramon, who was being pounded by the Renamon's exceedingly fast barrage of fists, gladly responded by opening his jaws wide and catching one of the Renamon's fists within, clamping down hard. The Renamon let out a grunt of pain, but before she could do more, Raidramon executed his own counterattack.

"Electric Bite!"

Electricity coursed through Raidramon's mouth and teeth to brutally electrocute the Renamon, causing her body to spasm horridly, her back arching and her limbs twitching madly.

"Renamon!" the red-haired girl cried.

"Had enough?" Daisuke smirked as he taunted her. That'll show her for attacking Raidramon. Now, maybe we can at last-

His thoughts were cut off when he saw an even more chilling smirk from the girl in return, one that he was sure made his look like a cheap rip-off compared to hers. A bad feeling made itself known in his gut. Then, he saw the Renamon's free arm suddenly snap into a hard fist and swing towards Raidramon's head in an uppercut.

"Raidramon!" Daisuke now cried, hoping to warn his partner. "Let go!"

Raidramon did not even hesitate. However, Daisuke's own reaction was too slow, as the fist made contact with Raidramon's jaw, releasing the Renamon's fist and sending Raidramon up into the air. She proceeded to jump back to avoid another counterattack, with a wall of shards of some kind materialising in front of her.

Then, Daisuke realised that all that Raidramon had gotten in previously was just a lucky hit.

"Koyousetsu!"

That announcement seemed to awaken some magic in the shards, for one by one, they begun moving away from the Renamon, accelerating to speeds that would likely be equal to that of bullets at Raidramon.

Thankfully, Raidramon recovered from the uppercut and then proceeded to protect himself with a Lightning Blade attack that managed to pulverise most of the shards, with the ones that were not disintegrated mostly missing him. Both digimon then landed on the asphalt, glaring at each other and waiting for either the other's next move or some sort of command from their partners.

Then, the Renamon struck, pouncing on Raidramon, while Raidramon dodged one side and counter-attacked.

"So, you think that Raidramon's your partner, huh?" the girl said with a mocking tone, taking Daisuke's attention from Raidramon. He noticed her hand was on her hip and she was leaning on one leg, basically looking like a know-it-all. In fact, she could even have been mistaken to be the true identity of the Digimon Kaiser, had the latter been female, for all the arrogant ebbs she was emitting.

"He is my partner!" Daisuke retorted, putting his foot forward for emphasis.

The girl's smirk seemed to widen almost maddeningly.

"Oh please. Let me guess, you're just a kid who was wondering around and suddenly stumbled upon this Raidramon, and decided that you wanted it as your digimon partner."

Daisuke knew that a stunned look appeared on his face at her theory, his anger at her boiling away in an instant. In fact, if it were not for the fact that he was so stunned, he was sure that he would be doubling over in laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of her theory. However, the girl apparently took his expression as a confirmation of her theory.

"Well, it is pretty obvious you're just another Gogglehead wannabe. But I think it best that you go home now, if you know what's good for you, and forget all about this."

Finally, Daisuke's laughter boiled to the surface and he let it all out, while the girl watched him in amazement and confusion, her confidence fading away. At last, he stopped and fixed her with a glare.

"If you think I'm just going to walk away while you beat Raidramon up, you're severely mistaken."

With each word, Daisuke took a step closer to her.

"I'm his partner, whether you like it or not."

Daisuke stopped right in front of her, staring down at her as she backed away a few steps.

"Me and Raidramon have faced far worse than you before and we're still here!"

As if to emphasise, an explosion occurred and the Renamon's limp body rebounded on the road. His own smirk widened as the girl backed away from him. The girl's gaze fell on the Renamon, who was getting up, and then returned to glare at him.

"Yeah right, like I'm going to believe that," the girl snapped, her confidence and arrogance returning in an instant. "It's not like you even have a digivice!"

Daisuke's smirk was now so wide he doubted it could widen anymore. "Oh really?" he taunted as he fished out his D3… only to remember that he was now using the new digivice, and that his digivice was no longer in his pocket, but clipped to his pants.

The girl blinked in surprise as she saw for herself the digivice at his waist.

"Oh," the girl said in astonishment, her arrogant look replaced by a stunned face that made her beauty more pronounced for some reason, like a child removing a scary mask to reveal an innocent face beneath. He found himself unable to look at that unbearably beautiful face, so close to him, for some reason and glanced aside, only to find that the car that they were beside was shaking for some reason. However, the girl's voice caused him to return his gaze to her face.

"Well, looks like someone finally got a digimon that has been the dreams of Gogglehead after all," she snorted, and Daisuke glared at her once again. While he did not understand what she was talking about, he could clearly understand the spite in her tone.

Before he could do anything else, however, Takato gave an anguished cry to stop and unexpectedly tackled both him and the girl to the ground.

Beside them, the car that was shaking for an unknown reason was sucked into the vortex, seeming to shrink into infinity. It was then that Daisuke remembered the situation at hand, something that had slipped his mind in the heated argument with the girl.

Daisuke then saw Takato, who was closest to the extraordinarily large vortex, begin shaking as well. Daisuke was unsure if it had any relation to the void or if it was Takato's fear at work. At that moment, Takato looked up, staring into Daisuke's eyes. A chill ran down Daisuke's spine as he saw in Takato's eyes what an emotion that a kid should never have to feel.

The fear of death knocking on one's door.

And then, Takato was gone, vanishing as though he were never there.

"T-Takato?" the girl beside him too, was shaken by Takato's last expression. Then, she turned to him. "What h-happened? T-Takato... He..."

"It got him," was all Daisuke could say.

Daisuke then felt a rumble as the ground beneath him shook, and turned to find Growlmon on his knees, staring at the black hole with absolute grief that was almost as spine chilling as Takato's last expression.

"What got him?" the girl asked as the strength in her voice returned slowly. She pushed herself unsteadily to her feet, staring at the ground where Takato was.

"That," Daisuke pointed to the black hole, his heart empty. He could not feel anything about Takato's dea-disappearance. He felt drained and tired, needing to force himself to his feet. His body complied unwillingly.

The girl stared at where he was pointing, shaking her head.

"I don't see anything."

"It's right there," Daisuke said, pointing again at the ever widening void.

Unexpectedly, even when there was nothing more that could surprise him, the girl gripped the front of his collar violently and pulled him to eye level with her. More astonishingly, there were unshed tears forming in her eyes as she glared at him.

"WHY IS TAKATO FROZEN LIKE THAT?"

Daisuke was vaguely aware that all battles around them had ceased, with everyone staring at them. Or perhaps they were staring past them at the place where Takato had vanished. Daisuke did not know anymore. Daisuke felt tired and did not want to think anymore. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to go home. He wanted to go back to his annoying sister and his messy room and his home.

He felt tears sting his eyes as he looked away, his mouth moving by itself.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"DON'T MESS WITH ME!" the half crying, half enraged girl yelled as she shook him. "WHY IS TAKATO FROZEN LIKE THAT?"

"What are you talking about? He is gone. Dea- Gone."

The girl shook him again with surprising strength and forced his eyes to meet hers. He could see confusion in those violet orbs, along with everything else. A part of him detached from everything else was pondering that unique colour, which he had never seen before.

Daisuke felt the void tugging at him then. From somewhere deep inside him, in an almost foreign place, he felt his determination rise again. Strength flowed into his limbs as he stood on his own feet, no longer held up by the girl.

She must have sensed the change in him, for she released him and stepped back. Unfortunately, she had stepped right into the range of the void and disappeared from his view, without enough time to even let out a startled cry.

"RUKI!"

That must have been her partner calling.

So, Ruki was her name, huh?

Daisuke almost fell into the darkness he had risen from again, but his unnaturally strong will forced him back to the surface.

Foolishly, the Renamon landed in front of him, within range of the void, holding her paws out as though about to caress something, before she too vanished into oblivion.

"Renamon."

This time the name was not screamed, but whispered.

Raidramon landed beside him, and gripping Daisuke's sleeve with his teeth, pulled him gently away from the range of the void. It was those few steps of being pulled along that encouraged Daisuke to push his legs and walk away on his own.

Towards the face of Growlmon.

Towards the face of Taichi.

Towards the face of Greymon.

Towards the face of the Chinese boy.

Towards the face of the Chinese boy's partner.

All of whom which he could not bear to look at.

As he walked away from the black hole, the gears of his mind creaked and begun to turn again. His thoughts dare not dwell onto Takato, Ruki and Renamon's fates. However, it at last processed Ruki's words, words that he could hear but not understand previously.

"People of this world cannot see its destruction."

Ominous words came out of Daisuke's mouth. Words that seemed to come from another's, but was yet completely true.

Daisuke turned to the Chinese boy.

"What do you see?"

The Chinese boy shook slightly in reaction to his words, as though he too were about to be sucked into the void, despite his distance, before steadying himself and replying, "Takato, Ruki and Renamon are frozen there. Just… not moving, like time has stopped around them." The boy's voice grew stronger with each word. Daisuke knew somehow that this boy's brain was rebooting as well. The boy glanced around. "I never noticed before, but, other people are frozen too. Some are stuck in their cars in the middle of the road. I thought that those were abandoned… There are others who are still in the shops too. I didn't notice them. And a few on the sidewalks. I didn't notice them either…" As the boy continued to describe what he saw, his voice began shaking again.

Finally, while describing the alleys, he stopped and focused his gaze onto Daisuke. Daisuke could see the calm in his eyes. An unnatural sort of calm, both same and yet different from the Chinese boy's, was reflected in his own.

"What is going on?"

"Your world is dying," Daisuke said in a voice that could not be his own. He did not know such things. Yet, he said them with utmost certainty, and he knew in his heart that every word was true. "You can't see the destruction of your own world before your eyes. Your perception of reality will not allow it."

It was impossible. He did not know this. How did he know this?

"All your mind allows you to see is your world being frozen in the moment it is destroyed. No. Not destroyed. The moment its existence ceases to be. This timeline is dying."

How did he know this? These were not his words.

"W-What is the cause of this?"

"Millenniummon. The Dark God of Time."

"How do we stop this?"

"Defeat him."

"Where do we find him?" the Chinese boy asked with determination in his despair filled eyes as he gazed at where Takato and Ruki were probably standing, to his eyes.

"A better question would be when. But, none of us can beat him. Only Ryo Akiyama can."

The Chinese boy turned to him once again.

"Then what can I do?"

"Believe in Ryo Akiyama and aid him."

"Will that bring back Takato and Ruki?"

"They don't have to be brought back."

The Chinese boy tensed.

"What are you saying?"

"Exactly what I meant."

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?" the Chinese boy's voice shook as he yelled.

"You can see for yourself. All you have to do is follow me and agree to aid Ryo Akiyama." Daisuke's voice took a cold edge.

"WHO ARE YOU?"

Daisuke's mouth twisted into a smirk that he did not will.

"You already know the answer to that. I am a Chosen Child."

The Chinese boy shook his head.

"No, you're not. You are something much different. Who are you?"

Daisuke's smirk widened.

"You will find out. Now, there is nothing left in this world to do. Shall we proceed?"

Taichi finally spoke after all that silence, in a voice that seemed to be slightly disturbed. "Go where? There is nowhere to go."

"On the contrary, Yagami Taichi, the way is right in front of us."

Taichi blinked his eyes.

"But my name is not-" Abruptly, he cut off, his eyes glazing over for a moment before focusing again. "Oh, right. Why don't you lead the way, Daisuke?"

"My pleasure. Care to join us, Li Jenrya? Or would you like to stay here and join the world die?"

Jenrya shivered and Gargomon stepped in front of his partner.

"What are you? You are not human."

Daisuke showed another smirk. Or what he thought was a smirk.

Gargomon took a step back, his Gattling Arms shaking slightly.

"We shall see, shall we not? Now, let us be off."

With that, Daisuke turned his back to the others, and stepped into the void, feeling himself be tugged before being sucked into its depths.

Well, this is an interesting turn which I did not expect, another change in the massive list of changes that have already occurred for my plans for Brave Tamer.

Regardless, I am happy to announce that my holidays have at last arrived, which means that I would likely be able to increase my output of chapters per month now. Well, hopefully.

Anyhow, I would like to present my thanks to Crazyeight, who has still stuck with me throughout my hiatus. Many thanks man.

I think I may have a lot of make up for. Hopefully, this chapter would be a good start. Well, this chapter is probably the first in yet another change in writing style.

Anyhow, enjoy and review!