Frontiers Unexplored

27) Falling Short of Heaven

Takuya didn't know for sure how long he had been sitting on the Trailmon, but he didn't particularly care either. His mind was filled with cotton, and the rumbling of the train felt like a distant memory despite it being a fact of his present. He couldn't stop replaying the events of the battle with Duskmon over in his head, remembering the way that each of his teammates had crumpled under the power of the Warrior of Darkness. He recalled the blood that seeped through Koji's shirt after he was struck by Duskmon's blade, and he tasted copper from anger at himself. If he had just been smarter, none of this shit would have happened, and the world would be better for it. 

The air around the front of the Trailmon began to distort, but Takuya didn't notice. He continued to stare at the ground on the other side of the train car, waiting for something to distract him from his own guilt. Then again, did he really deserve to be absolved of this pain? It was his fault, after all. 

As the distortion grew, Takuya began to change, but he didn't even notice it. His brown hair grew to be fiery orange, and his skin shifted into a tan color that didn't seem right to belong to a human body. Red armor appeared on his lower arms, and pants of the same color replaced his regular clothing. Silver metal wrapped around his waist and lower arms, and red plates formed on his shoulder. The symbol of Fire was engraved into a segment of his belt, and white symbols spiraled around his torso. Takuya's brown eyes were dyed green as small stubs, looking like horns that had been carved short, sprouted from his head. Claws appeared on his feet, and he hardly seemed to fit the description of a human anymore. 

Takuya didn't notice any of this though, and he continued to watch the ground ahead as the Trailmon chugged on. He could sense something changing though, prompting him to look up as the Trailmon slid into a station similar to the one that he had been on before hopping aboard. Takuya listened as white smoke was released from the bottom of the train before walking over to the door. The doors slid open swiftly, and Takuya stepped outside, still not realizing the change that he had undergone. 

"Good luck, kid."

The Trailmon's voice echoed in his mind as Takuya took off running. He realized that he was in the underground station where he had first boarded the original Trailmon to the Digital World. The space was empty where it had been filled with people his age before, and he hated the ominous sensation it gave him. He felt as if the walls were threatening to close in around him, so as soon as he started moving, he couldn't bring himself to stop. 

What Takuya didn't realize though was how he was running. His hands had fallen to the ground, and he was scurrying around like a caged animal. A tail of red fire stuck up from behind him, dancing with fear as he moved onward. Takuya's mind was far too numb between anger and terror to bother processing this information. To him, it felt natural, and he didn't see anything wrong with it. 

Takuya arrived in the elevator soon afterwards, and he was lifted up to ground level. The silver doors parted slowly, revealing a small group of about six confused adults and two children, both of whom were clinging feverishly to the hands of their parents. All of them watched Takuya with a blend of awe and horror, and all Takuya could do was dart his eyes between each of them in confusion. Why were they looking at him like that? He hadn't done anything wrong. 

Not that they knew about, anyways. 

A little girl began to cry, and his eyes went wide as he looked to her. A scream rose up as another passerby saw him, and Takuya started sprinting once again. His hands pressed against the ground to push him forward, and his breaths came out as weak huffs. He didn't know where he was running to, but he was positive that he had to get the hell away as soon as possible. 

The train station was little more than a blur around him, and Takuya didn't bother trying to process it. He could barely hear the sound of his own exhausted, adrenaline-filled panting, still trying to navigate himself through the area that he had returned to. There had to be somewhere for him to go, and then, everything would be fine. It just had to be fine.