It has been a very long time since I've written fanfiction I was proud of and excited to share.
This was inspired by a conversation acktacky and I had on tumblr about the Michi e no Armor Shinka CD, which is… Interesting. It has its flaws, but it explores and idea I wish we had seen in the anime; that any one of the kids could have used any one of the digimentals to evolve their partners. To paraphrase JesuOtaku's retrospective, how cool would it have been to see the kids harness different virtues in different situations? There'd be so much more character development, not to mention awesome monster designs. Of course, digimon is a low budget show, so in terms of armor evolutions each kid only got one or two or, in Ken's regrettable case, zero. Acktacky said 'that would make for some really interesting fanfiction' and well, you just shouldn't say that kind of stuff to me.
Hope you enjoy! :)
Light up the Dark
Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. –Meg Cabot
Kari stumbled along the dark hallway of the maze, one hand pressed to the wall so she wouldn't bump into it. The faint glow of the D-3 was her only light source. She stepped carefully, guided by the soft patter of her partner's feet on the stone floor ahead. The feline digimon had much keener senses than she did, so Kari had no problem letting Gatomon lead the way.
They came to a fork in the maze. Gatomon perked her ears and sniffed at the air before gesturing to their left. Kari followed, her hand shaking against the rough stone wall. Was it just her imagination, or were these hallways getting narrower?
"So, whose D-terminal did you get?"
With trembling fingers Kari pulled the device out of her pocket. When Minotarumon had attacked they had all scattered, and in the scuffle Kari's D-terminal had been knocked out of her hands. She'd scooped it up and taken off after her partner only to discover that the device she'd retrieved wasn't hers. Now she and Gatomon were separated from the others, wandering deeper and deeper into this endless maze, and to top it off Gatomon had no way of digivolving.
Kari fumbled with the D-terminal before she finally managed to get it open. Two eggs filled the screen; one patterned with bright red and orange flames, the other long, thin, and gray.
"I-it's Davis'," she said.
Gatomon stopped and turned her piercing blue eyes onto her partner. "Well, what do you think? Should we give it a try?"
Kari's hands shook as she stared at the screen. No way could she ever activate the egg of courage on her best day, let alone the way she felt right now. But maybe friendship…
Kari closed her eyes and brought the D-terminal close to her chest and thought of her friends. Of Cody, Ken, and Davis, of Yolei, and TK…
A sharp scream echoed through the maze.
Kari's eyes flew open. "TK!"
Another cry followed his, long and high.
Gatomon's ears perked. "That's Yolei!" She cast her partner a desperate look. "Kari!"
Kari stood rooted to the spot, her legs shaking fiercely, torn between screaming and running and doing neither but knowing she had to do something…
And then a bright orange light filled the hallway.
"Gatomon, armor digivolve to… Lynxmon!"
The corridor was suddenly filled with a light so blinding Kari had to shield her eyes. When she was finally able to open them, she saw a giant tiger-like digimon standing before her, its body covered from head to toe in flames.
"L-lynxmon?"
The fiery feline lowered herself onto the floor. "Climb on, Kari!"
Kari hesitated. Wouldn't the flames burn her? But they were giving light to the darkness, and chasing away her fear… And the creature had her partner's reassuring voice.
Kari pocketed the D-terminal and climbed onto Lynxmon's back. The flames licked harmlessly at her skin and clothes, giving off nothing but a pleasant warmth. Kari took a fistful of fire in each hand as her partner leapt forward, bounding through the halls toward their friends.
The screaming was getting louder, but rather than scaring Kari it spurred her on. Hang on guys, we're almost there!
Lynxmon skidded to a halt at a dead end. Kari could hear her friends just beyond the wall, and a low growl that told her Minotarumon had found them.
"Thermal Mane!"
A volley of fireballs exploded from around Lynxmon's neck and shot at the wall, blasting a hole in the stone. Beyond the debris Kari could see Minotarumon, and just past him Yolei was clinging to an unconscious Hawkmon as TK struggled to get to his feet.
Kari slid from her partner's back as Lynxmon launched at Minotarumon.
"Wild Nail Claws!"
Minotarumon had barely raised his cannon before Lynxmon slammed into him, knocking him off his feet. The two digimon crashed into the wall and Lynxmon leapt back, circling and readying another attack.
Kari picked her way over the rubble and rushed to her best friend's side. "Yolei, are you alright?"
"I-I think so," Yolei said. "But Hawkmon… he tried to protect me, but he couldn't digivolve!"
Kari took her friend's shaking hand in her own. "Yolei, he'll be okay. Don't worry – we'll get out of here and everything will be okay!"
Yolei nodded weakly. Kari looked over at her best childhood friend. "TK, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he groaned. Patamon succeeded in pushing him into a sitting position and TK pressed a hand to his head, wincing. He looked up and blinked at the battle raging in front of him. "Is that… Gatomon?"
Kari stared proudly up at her partner. "Yep, only she's Lynxmon now."
Yolei was watching the fiery cat with wide eyes. "Wow…" she breathed.
Minotarumon reared back, swinging his cannon arm around. "Bull Fighting Attack!"
Lynxmon dodged the blow and leapt forward, crashing into Minotarumon's midsection and knocking him into the maze wall.
"Thermal mane!"
Another round of fireballs crashed into Minotarumon in quick succession. The virus digimon slumped to the floor and did not get up again.
Lynxmon straightened and turned to face the children. Her gaze locked with her partner's and Kari smiled.
They were alright. Everything was going to be okay.