Spirits of Ages

Chapter 22

Immediately after uttering a few words Tai collapsed again, his vision fading into darkness once more. He'd gotten used to it by now.

"Oh man." Tai groaned mere moments later. Everything was spinning. "My head."

"Are you ok?" A man asked. Joe hovered over him with a worried look on his face.

"What happened?" Tai asked, attempting to sit up. "Stay down." Joe said.

Tai did as the doctor ordered.

"First off all." Joe started. "You're way overweight. I nearly sprained my back trying to get you onto the bed."

"Seriously?" Tai asked. "Yes, I had to lift you up on there myself. Everyone else left the building because you set off the fire alarm."

Luckily most of them had come back, seeing as there was no real threat to begin with.

"Secondly, look at this." Joe held out a small mirror.

"What? Is there something wrong with my hair?" Tai joked as he took the mirror. "Something like that." Joe said, taking a step back.

Moments later the mirror crashed into the wall behind Joe, shattering into a million pieces. "You do know that's seven years of bad luck."

"What happened to my face!" Tai demanded.

For some reason his face didn't look the way it should have.

It looked more mature, ridding his façade if the few boyish looks he had left.

"Oh man, I look like dad!" Tai held his hands to his face.

"Could be worse." Joe said. "You still look like you. I think this is how you would have looked if you hadn't become a digimon back then."

Tai looked at his hands. They were still covered in steel gloves, so he was still a digimon. Digimon aren't supposed to age. And definitely not as fast as this.

"Who knows, maybe you digivolved." Joe went on.

"No, this is different. When I digivolve I become a lion or I grow to be eight meters tall." Tai shook his head. "This feels way different too."

Tai held his hand to his head again, wondering why this had happened.

"Where is she?" Tai asked.

"Who?" Joe asked.

"Mimi, who else." Tai said angrily.

"Oh Mimi, she's not here anymore." Joe said calmly.

"You mean…"

"I send her downstairs, for some tests." Joe said. Tai just sighed in relief. "Tai, do you know what you did a few hours ago?"

"Not really." He remembered barging into the hospital quite clearly but after that… not much to be honest.

"Neither do I." Joe said. "Mimi was dying when she came in here." He said bluntly. "But somehow you managed to defy the laws of science, physics and who knows what else, again and saved her."

He waved his cane at Tai's face. "At the cost of your own lifespan I think. Time is catching up to you my friend."

Tai was baffled. Had he really done such a thing? Why couldn't he have done that before? Other friends he lost or nearly lost.

"It would appear that even without an evil overlord around you can make the impossible happen Tai."

"Yeah, about that…" Tai's face turned to a sneer. "Guess which one of our favorite adversaries decided it would be a great time for his grand comeback?"

"I don't like where this is going." Joe gripped his cane tightly. "Please say someone like Ogremon. Piedmon? Please, say Etemon! Please!"

Tai shook his head. "Legionmon."

Joe swallowed hard. "We have to get you out of here." He said. "Now. Can you walk?"

"Legionmon won't try anything anytime soon." Tai assured him.

"I'm not taking any chances." Joe said. "If Legionmon were to find out you were here and weakened he'd come for you."

Joe walked outside and grabbed the nearest wheelchair. "Get in, quickly now."

"What does he look like now?" Joe asked. "If he were still a giant dragon or blob we would have seen something on the news by now."

"Human." Tai said.

"I was afraid you'd say that." Joe said as he walked next to Tai. Tai had agreed to get in the chair but refused to be pushed by Joe, so he allowed him to roll it himself.

"He's got some new tricks up his sleeve as well." Tai said. "Plus he has an entire army of controlled humans."

"Wait, so we're going up against people?" Joe asked, astonished by that fact. "Ordinary non-digital people?"

"You know how Geardevimon worked?" Joe nodded. "Like that but far worse."

"So he can be everywhere?" Tai nodded. "Anyone?" Tai nodded again. "Remember Sora's bodyguard? Tyrone or something like that. He disappeared a while ago."

"This is bad news." Joe said. "He could be anyone, anywhere and the one we least expect…"

"He also has four eyes, so he's a bit more recognizable." "Tai said. It wasn't much help but it was better than nothing.

"Why are we here again?" A man with a big pair of sunglasses on said to himself. "Because we still have the element of surprise." The other voice said. "Strike now while he's confused. His friend has already bled out by now and Tai won't see this coming."

"Why didn't we finish him off before he escaped? Oh right, because he pummeled us into the ground!" The other voice said angrily. "How will this be any different?"

"Watch and learn."

"Finally!" Mimi complained. She jumped off the doctor's table. "I was getting tired of being prodded and jabbed. They took like a gallon of blood for tests!"

"Complain later." Joe said abruptly. "We need to get out of here."

He motioned at Tai, who was still sitting in his wheelchair, much to his dismay.

"Right." She said, grabbing the long grey coat one of the nurses had given her.

"You okay?" Tai asked. The last time he had seen her properly she had a huge gaping hole through her body.

"Okay, better then that! I feel fantastic!" Mimi exclaimed. "I've never felt better."

"Good, I'm glad."

"What did you do Tai?" Mimi asked. "You look so different."

"Even after all this time I manage to surprise myself." Tai laughed to himself as they arrived at the elevator.

"I love a man that's full of surprises." Mimi said. "Saving my life also helps." She added with a laugh.

"Can we save this stuff till we get somewhere safe? Like a bomb shelter or a vault." No prizes for who guessed this one.

"It won't matter." Tai said. "If he wants to he'll find me. I won't hide." Tai stated as the elevator arrived at the ground floor.

"I'll stay out in the open, waiting for him."

"Not like this you're not." Mimi said. "I may feel better but you can still use some rest."

"Stop." Joe said, making an abrupt end to their conversation.

"It's too quiet." He said. The hallway was filled with patients and medical staff, as usual. But there was no conversation. No arguments, no idle chitchat.

"Nurse, what's going on here?"Joe approached a women standing with her back to him. The moment he placed his hand on her shoulder she turned around, as did the patients.

"Good evening doctor Kido, it's time for your annual checkup!" She laughed as she slashed at Joe with a scalpel. She was wearing an almost comically large pair of sunglasses.

Joe struck her on the head with his cane in reflex, knocking her glasses off.

"I don't know what's going on here but-

Joe stopped talking as he saw her face.

Two pairs of eyes.

"Oh damn." He said as he stepped back to the elevator.

"It's not nice to strike a lady." The 'nurse' said.

"There's not much ladylike about you!" Mimi yelled at the women possessed.

She cocked her head in confusion. "Didn't we kill you?"

"You said she'd be dead by now!" The other voice blamed the first. "He'd be easy pickings you said!"

Seems you don't have to wait all that long." Mimi said as the nurse began arguing with itself.

Tai ignored their rambling and rolled forward. "Didn't take you long to crawl out of that hole I made for you."

"Indeed… you pack quite a punch, you know that? Be more careful with it next time, or else someone might get hurt." She laughed at her own joke, as did the rest of the hall, except our three heroes.

"This is creepy as hell." Joe said to Mimi. "It'll get worse." She assured him.

"It'll get worse all right." Legionmon said. "Much worse, but don't worry. None of you will live to see it!"

"After all, you barely managed to escape unscathed with your full power." She grinned. "Now that you're confined to a wheelchair things will go much smoother."

"Not likely." Tai said defiantly, summoning his spear in one hand, his shield in the other.

In one smooth move the spear left his hand, flew through the sky and jabbed through the makeshift nurse's chest, pinning her against the wall behind her.

"Oh no, you got me!" She cried out in distress. "Nah, just kidding." Legionmon said as she pulled the spear out of her chest and threw it down.

You're going to need a whole lot more then –thunk

She dropped to the ground.

"Got her!" Tai pumped his fist in cheer. Who knew that throwing a shield would have such effects?

"That was low." Legionmon said. "And that really hurt!" She said as she threw the shield back at Tai, who just caught it.

"Enough games!" She cried out. "Now it's time to die!"

All other people, who had been quiet and motionless till now started moving. Slowly but surely they closed in on the trio.

"Any smart ideas?" Joe asked, his back against the elevator they had come in through. Going back up wasn't a good idea, not in this kind of situation.

"Not really." Mimi admitted.

"I can throw my shield at her again? Tai suggested.

"Yes try that, it worked fine last time."Joe said, rolling his eyes.

'Thunk' Ouch! Oh you son of a –

"I was being sarcastic!"

"Now you've done it!" Legionmon fumed. "Now you've gone and made us mad!"

Lightning arced over her fingertips. "Now all of you just open your mouths and say 'Aaaaaaaaahhhhh'

"Celestial arrow!"

"What was that?" Legionmon turned around in time to see glass shattering and a white hot arrow coming her way. Moments later it pinned her against the doors of the elevator.

"Not this again!" She grabbed the arrow but burnt her hand as she tried to pull it out.

"Looks like we arrived just in time." Kari said as she walked through what remained of the automatic doors.

"Kari, what are you doing here?" Tai asked.

"Saving your ass for a change." She said. "Keep them arrows coming!"

A new volley of arrows flew past Kari and imbedded themselves in Legionmon, who had barely managed to free herself from the first one.

"First of all Joe called me, telling me you had managed to get yourself into trouble again. Then Izzy called in full blown panic, muttering something about Legionmon being back and that being the least of our problems."

"What?" Joe, Mimi, Tai and Legionmon uttered the same word at the same time.

"How the hell can we be the least of your problems? We're enslaving the human race one by one!" Legionmon's complaints only earned her a few new arrows to add to her impressive collection.

"Either way, I figured Legionmon had something to do with this." Kari continued, ignoring the rambling megalomaniac. "I followed the giant cracks in the road and here we are."

"Izzy wants to talk to us as soon as possible." She added.

"Right, let's not keep him waiting." Joe said. "Be sure to lock things up after you leave!" He said to Legionmon as her minions burned their own hands as well, trying to release their master.

"I'll get you for this!" Legionmon's voice bellowed through the entire hospital, alarming all to her presence.

"There's something different about you." Angewomon said. "Did you get a haircut?"

"No." Tai said as he lifted himself out of the wheelchair, glad to be rid of the contraption. "I aged, somehow."

"Digimon aren't supposed to age, are they?" Kari asked, taking in her brother's new features.

"There are exceptions." Angewomon said, indicating herself and the others.

"I think we can all agree on the fact that I'm one hell of an exception." Tai said.

"Tai saved me , somehow." Mimi said as they walked across the parking lot. "I nearly died but he brought me back."

"That sounds like something I'd do." Tai joked. "If only I knew how I pull things like those off."

"Who knows. Maybe the digital gods smile down upon you." Angewomon sighed as she dedigivolved into Gatomon. "Either that or you take after your mother and have nine lives." She joked.

And that's where we end for now.

Gods, I've been so busy the last year. Barely any time to write anything! And when I do have the time I can't think of something good! It's frustrating!

I hope this chapter's still good.