Genre: Romance/Humor/Friendship/Drama
Theme Songs: "Wedding Dress" by Matt Nathanson, "Where I Stood" by Missy Higgins
Author's Note: Coming on today and seeing all the positive reviews for this fic made me feel so incredibly happy. Thank you all so much! You have no idea what it means to me. This last summer, I joined the "Dead Parents Club" when my father passed away. It's been a very hard year for me and my family, and writing is one of the few ways I can both escape the pain and express it at the same time. So to see all these great reviews, and seeing people enjoying the story enough to fav it and follow it, seriously almost made me cry from the happiness! It just means a lot at this time in my life. I don't mean to be so overdramatic, but ahhh, give me a hug! Group hug! -HUG- Thank you all so, so, SO much, a random fan, Guest, Digidestined Ninja Of Sunshine, The Keeper of Worlds, endlessfun, YuYuDigiMoon Fan, and foolzgold, and all the others who are reading behind the screens!
Wedding Gowns
Chapter 3
Davis's jaw dropped. Keiko actually blushed in her floating cage.
Her flush quickly shifted into an acidic glare. "You believed he was me?!" she screeched, rattling the bars. "Davis, you idiot! How could you think a Digimon with an obvious banana hammock was me?!"
"He... He didn't have a banana hammock down there! He looked identical to you!" Davis shouted back at her.
"OH THAT JUST MAKES ME FEEL SO MUCH BETTER."
"Okay, I'm not an idiot! He tricked me! How the hell did he pull that off?!"
"That is the strength of an ultimate-level puppet digimon," Betsumon cackled. "Suckled all her memories, sewed my costume of her, painted my pretty face..."
"I..." Davis suddenly turned very, very red. Even redder than Keiko had been.
Then Kari realized something. She, too, went a deep shade of red. "Oh, Davis, you didn't..."
"Well, she did, I didn't stop her..." Davis suddenly grabbed his mouth. "I'mma be sick."
And rest assured, he twisted around and up-chucked all over the alley floor behind them.
Well I'm glad I decided not to stick around last night, Kari thought uneasily. Then, with a grin, she continued, But I am never going to let him live this down.
"I mean," Davis yaked. "The only thing worse would be kissing TK!"
"I'd like to see that," Kari said.
"You would!" he barked, going green again.
"Oh come on, just imagine he's Ken... Or Tai..."
"Stop talking to Jun!"
Before Kari could respond – the sickly green in Davis's face turning to a furious blush – Betsumon let out a long sigh. "My plan didn't work out as I'd hoped, however. You caught up with Kari at my alley before I could snag her."
"That's the thing about you evil digimon," Davis grunted, holding his stomach. He still looked a tinge green. "You should have killed me then. I didn't have a digimon with me, neither did Kari. It would have been easier than taking candy from an in-training digimon! You never actually kill anybody no matter how big you talk. I spoiled your plans, just like I'll spoil them again!"
"Davis, shut-up," Kari whispered, half-heartedly glaring at him. "Don't give the bad guys good ideas..."
"Kill you? But... I love you!" Betsumon said. "I'm in love with you... I did all of this for you, Davis!"
Davis fell silent. Kari blushed. "You..." The beet-red turned stark white.
"Davis, just how active have you been while I was away?" Kari demanded, having troubles holding back her giggles. "You whore."
Davis glared.
Betsumon then burst into laughter. "Oh... oh my God, your faces! Oh my God! I'm so out of your league!"
Davis turned his glare toward Betsumon. "Shut-up!" Then he paused. "I'm SUPER attractive! I'm like... Channing Tatum attractive!"
Keiko and Kari made eye-contact, then busted out laughing.
Davis's blush deepened. "You... shut-up... uggghhhh... You guys suck!"
"Hahahahahahahaah!"
Betsumon let out a purring grin. "Why ever would I kill you? I can still use you."
"Use me for what?"
Betsumon held his hands skyward. "I want money!"
"Hey, you and me both, buster," Kari said, putting her hands on her hips. "You don't have to pay for college."
Betsumon was shrieking with laughter. "I want lots and lots and lots of money!" His eyes glazed over, his fingers clenching in the air, reaching for something he could not touch. His crotch thrust through the air with excitement. "I want to buy more and more costumes!" he said.
Oh Jesus. Is he humping?
"That's why you're putting us through this?" Kari asked softly. "For costumes?"
"Yes! Why? No one understands my love! I need to buy more and more materials to sew my own costumes! Soon, I will have enough money to make an Omegamon costume, and then the world shall tremble at my feet, the fools! And once and for all, I will have the power to summon Destined to do my bidding!"
Davis leaned toward Lighdramon and Kari. "I like it when villains lay out their entire plan."
Kari and Lighdramon nodded.
"I can have it all. Money, glory, power, costumes..." Betsumon said, cocking his crotch in the other direction. Flames developed around his body, filaments unfurling toward the sky, as strobe lights flashed from his palms. "And then the world will be MINE!"
Silence.
This guy is kind of amusing, Kari thought.
"Please," Kari said. "Do go on."
"That's all," Betsumon said politely, the fire dying instantaneously and his hands fisting at his sides.
"You can't do this." Kari cocked an eyebrow. "You know the song... You can't— always get what you wa~ant~"
"Don't tell me what I can and can't want," the puppetmaster said. "I want a lot of things I shouldn't. Like finally being free..."
He was interrupted by a string of high-pitched laughter. At first, Kari didn't know where it came from, until she saw Keiko holding her stomach to keep from falling over. "You? Free?" She laughed and laughed and laughed. "You are going away for a long, long time. And we are going to throw away the key."
"I'll make one!"
Keiko sweat-dropped. "How are you going to make one in a jail cell?"
"That's what prison bitches are for."
"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, Betsumon," said Kari. "But I won't let you take anyone else hostage. Now, where are you keeping my partner?!"
And that was when she heard a rattle from the cage next to Keiko. Gatomon's tail rolled out between the bars, catching Kari's eye.
No.
He'd been keeping Gatomon in a cage? Even when she was under Vamdemon's thumb... even when he had found where her true allegiance lied... he still hadn't locked her up. That was a trauma she never had to suffer, at least one in a million that she could have.
Kari felt her hands clench, digging into her palms.
"You bastard," she snarled at Betsumon.
Gatomon stirred, her eyes fluttering open. As soon as she registered her surroundings, the feline popped up to her feet and looked around with astonishment. "Where am I? Kari? Kari!"
Kari tried to run to her. "Gatomon! Gatomon, I'm here! I'll save you!"
"No, Kari, wait!" Davis grabbed her around her waist and jerked her back.
"Let go of me! I need to save her!"
"You can't just run in there, Betsumon will get you!" he cried.
"Kari!" Gatomon called out, reaching between the bars, even though she knew she was too far up to touch her partner. Even though the world seemed to separate them, Kari, too, reached out for her.
Kari shouted, "Did he hurt you?!"
"He... He..." Gatomon's eyes filled with hatred. "He made me listen to Abba."
Kari instantly stopped fighting against Davis. Her own expression darkened. Then, slowly turning toward her partner-in-crime, Kari spoke to Davis in a very low, very dangerous voice. "Davis, put Betsumon through Hell."
"HAH. Impossible. I am the GREAT Betsumon!"
"The only great thing about you is your great big crotch!" Kari snarled back at him, spinning on her heel. She pointed her forefinger at him. "You are the scum of the world! You are the reason why people still hesitate on welcoming the digimon! You are the rot, the disgusting, you are everything that is wrong with the world! Digimon use humans to fight their battles, and humans use digimon to win their wars, and you ride the waves thinking it isn't your responsibility to maintain peace, to halt all of that terrible stuff from happening! It's because of digimon like you, because of people like you, that something will always be wrong with our worlds!
"I've sat back and let other people fight for me for a long time, but I won't let you do this to Gatomon and me! I will save Keiko, and I will save my partner, and I will stop you! Lighdramon!"
Both Kari and Davis hopped on Lighdramon's back, Kari riding front and Davis riding back. Lighdramon bucked up, rearing his front legs, and bolted into the sky. There, he built a beam of crackling blue energy and cried out, "BLUE THUNDER."
A triangle of energy snapped over the three horns on his back. Then, popping, the beam sheered the air and catapulted in Betsumon's direction. Betsumon shrieked and held his arms in front of his face. Kari grit her teeth, waiting for the smoking impact to billow around them.
Lighdramon's attack exploded as it collided with Betsumon. Kari and Davis waited with bated breath as the smoke cleared.
At first, they saw a dark shape in the center of the smoke cloud. Then, as the brown mist cleared, they realized he was still there, still uninjured. His costume was smoking, and parts of it – like his ears and his tail – were scorched and charred, but he still remained mostly undamaged.
"No," Davis whispered, clutching Lighdramon's back.
Kari bit her bottom lip. Glancing in Gatomon's direction, she pointed her D-3 at her partner and said, "DigiArmor energize!" Gatomon smiled, waiting to feel the energy wash over her, but when nothing happened, she frowned at her partner. The bars of the cage then glowed with a golden light, knocking her back.
"It's the cage!" Gatomon shouted.
"Where's Izzy when you need him?" Davis grumbled.
"Zzzzzzooooo..." Betsumon began, energy crackling along his gloves.
"Zoo?" Davis blinked.
"Zzzzzooooo..." He jerked out his hands, the energy building and popping and cracking. "Tsuuuu... kooooh... meee... PUNCH!"
Like a flash of lightning, Betsumon appeared behind Lighdramon and punched him upside the head. Lighdramon flung through the air, nearly toppling Davis and Kari off his back, his body flipping and flopping and tossing. Lighdramon winced, trying to get a hold of his balance, but Betsumon called out another attack and appeared behind the flipping digimon once again, punching him in the stomach so he instead flipped in the other direction.
Betsumon then said, "You think you, a silly little armor, can defeat an ultimate digimon?! I never thought I would be the straight man in a comedy, but compared to me you are nothing but a funny man!"
"Davis, can Lighdramon go to Gatomon's cage?" Kari whispered in Davis's hear.
Her breath tickled along his earlobe. He cleared his throat.
"Can I and will I are two very different concepts," Lighdramon remarked.
"The cage is blocking Gatomon from digivolving," Kari said. "But if Gatomon can't destroy the cage from the inside, it just means we will have to destroy it from the outside."
Davis nodded. He then clasped her hand tightly in his. She blinked and looked at him curiously, and he smiled softly at her. "Be careful, Kamiya."
She smiled back. "I'd say the same, but you're the one with the hard head so I'm sure you'll do fine."
Davis almost laughed. Almost. "Lighdramon!" he called, turning his attention away from Kari. "Let's fry 'em!"
"It's electrifying!"
Did Lighdramon just make a Grease reference? Kari held back a grin. When did Lighdramon see Grease? She imagined Davis and DemiVeemon, decked out in pajamas, watching Grease while popping popcorn and spooning ice-cream out of a bucket...
Lighdramon headed directly for the cages. Betsumon howled in his direction, throwing another punch. Lighdramon was expecting it this time though and dodged, then jolted back up and sent a bright blue lightning attack barreling in the cage's direction. Gatomon ducked and grabbed her head, her tail tucking in-between her legs. The lightning struck the metal bars and split them wide open— and not only Gatomon's cage, but also Keiko's.
Gatomon grinned in the three's direction. "Gee, for a moment there I thought you were gonna' kill me!"
Lighdramon blushed. "I could never..."
"Gatomon, digivolve!" Kari called out.
"Right." Gatomon nodded and began glowing a bright pink. "GATOMON DIGIVOLVE TO..."
"I won't let you!" Betsumon screamed, attempting to punch the pink-glowing feline.
But Keiko would have none of it. "You'll have to get through me first!" she cried out. She then threw herself from the cage and landed on Betsumon's shoulders, kicking and screaming and clawing at his face. He screeched, trying to elbow her off of him, but she wouldn't loose her grip.
By the time Betsumon flung Keiko off his back, it was already too late.
"...ANGEWOMON!"
Keiko descended down, down, down toward the ground, her hair flailing around her, her hand reaching toward the sky. Tears were in her eyes, but she was smiling. If there was ever one thing she did right...
"KEIKO!" Davis screamed.
Just then, she was swept up in a gale of white feathers and the embrace of an angel. Angewomon had saved her...
As Angewomon placed Keiko safely on the ground, Davis rushed to Keiko's side, embracing her in his strong arms as she gulped down her tears. Kari hesitated, the only one still sitting on Lighdramon. Without his warmth behind her, she felt so cold...
"Davis," Keiko whispered, burying her face in Davis's chest. His expression softened as he tightened his arms around her. "Okay, maybe I can forgive you for mistaking a costume-wearing, crotch-thrusting male digimon as me..."
"So who's the better kisser?" Kari asked Davis, nodding between Keiko and Betsumon.
Davis glared at both of them.
"Like I really want to know anyway," Kari purred. Davis glared more severely. "Oh come on. Nothing? Party-pooper."
Angewomon turned to Betsumon. "You will pay for what you did to Keiko, what you did to me," Angewomon said, her voice crackling against her rage. Betsumon actually shuddered. "You don't deserve to wear Gatomon's image! I look way better in it! CELESTIAL ARROW!"
The white beam of light struck true. Betsumon flipped through the air and plunged through several walls. Babamon finally surfaced from the debris and looked around expectantly, watching as Betsumon struggled to find the strength to stand again. He ripped off chunks of wreckage from his damaged body, coughing, hacking, holding his gutted chest where AngeWomon's attack plummeted through him.
He stumbled on the alley floor in the direction of Kari, Davis, and Lighdramon, who had landed safely on the ground.
He reached out for Kari, his face wrinkled in a venomous snarl. "You... weak... bastard little things... how could you beat me...?"
"We're the Destined," Kari replied, grinning.
Betsumon fell to his knees. "All I wanted... was respect..."
"Kidnapping people and holding them for ransom isn't a great way of getting that," Kari replied.
Tears filled Betsumon's eyes. "I won't die like this," he whispered, clutching at the air. "I don't want to die." He glared at Davis. "AngeWomon may have purified me, but you will regret it... knowing my true identity...!"
A bright white light covered him. Kari and Davis shielded their eyes from the expulsion of colorless beams.
"Davis!" Kari called, reaching out for him. He called her name, stretching out his hand and clasping hers. His hand was warm, but she hardly had time to think about it before he pulled her into him, hiding her in his arms from the explosions that rippled all around them. Keiko stared wide-eyed at the sight, unable to comprehend the destruction netting through the debris.
Betsumon isn't deleting, Kari thought, stunned. AngeWomon purified him!
What emerged from the white light was not Betsumon.
It was a girl.
"Wait..." Kari said, her brow furrowing. "But Betsumon... I mean, his junk... obviously... I'm... Gatomon, for the life of me I have no idea how digimon anatomy works!"
Angewomon shrugged. "Don't ask me. When was the last time you got a 100% on your anatomy test scores?"
"...Good point." Kari paused, then squinted at her. "You sound like my mother."
Angewomon squinted back. "Wise woman."
Betsumon – or at least the girl who had once been Betsumon – stepped from the light and walked in their direction, softly and slowly, hair falling around his – her? – face. Davis finally looked up from Kari and peered into the eyes of the creature before them.
Davis stood speechless, gawking. Memories splayed across his mind in rhythm with his heart, each beat playing a different image of the girl he'd known for so long, a girl he never thought he'd see again.
It was a pretty girl. She looked human. She had blushing cheeks and a sweet smile, her hands folded in front of her.
"Remember when I said I loved you?" she began. "I'm still out of your league."
Davis hesitated.
"I finally found you..." the girl whispered. "I looked and I looked, but we were never in the right place at the right time together... I couldn't properly explain it before... the virus wouldn't let me. But now Angewomon has given it back to me, my voice..."
"Nat," Davis whispered.
Kari's eyes widened. Nat, the digimon Davis had fallen for when he was staying with Mimi and Willis in New York?
Davis released Kari, stepping in the girl's direction. No. How could that be? That digimon died... Davis had given her a new home with another partner... so if she had another partner, what was she doing here, in Odaiba? Had she come all this way to see Davis again? Never being able to forget him— even when Davis was a young boy, he'd still made an impression on an equally young girl.
Kari couldn't believe it. She was so shocked she barely had time to register the fact that he was still walking after her.
"Davis?" Keiko grabbed his hand to stop him, but he said nothing, the shock still settling in.
"I can't believe it's you..." he whispered, voice crinkling as he stared into the girl's eyes. It was an intense kind of stare, the kind Kari didn't often see come from a guy like Davis. Brave, strong, a jock-ish, cocky kind of guy with massive dorky tendencies— but underlying all his brute strength, there was a passion inside of him. Kari didn't know why that surprised her so much. A guy with the DigiEgg of Courage would have to be passionate— intense... He half-smiled, but it was wan, as though he weren't sure it should be a smile or a frown. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? If I'd known..." He frowned, reaching up to touch his lips. He then shook his head. "I wanted to save you. I tried..."
"I know," she replied, her hair swaying in the wind, eyes glazed with tears. "I wish you had. But you couldn't. No one could have. It was impossible..."
"I just saw a Betsumon turn into a beautiful girl. Nothing is impossible," Davis said, voice cutting through her negativity. But she only shook her head to stop him.
"My data got corrupted again, Davis," Nat whispered. "He will never let me just be who I want to be," she said, "He will never leave me. He killed my partner. He wants to kill you. Please... please, Davis, help me. The corruption wants to take me again. No matter how many times I'm purified, he will always find me!"
"Who?" Davis asked, his expression hardening. "We'll stop him, together!"
Nat... Sweet, jealous Nat, who just wanted to find her human partner. For a long time, she thought this partner was Davis, but soon she realized he wasn't. By the time she did, it was too late. She was corrupted by unknown forces and now stood here, still searching, still being used for an unknown purpose.
Kari supposed it made sense, in a way— that the corrupted form of Nat would pretend to be Davis's latest girlfriend in order to trick him, to make him angry with her, or confused. If Nat was really that into Davis, Kari could, in a way, understand, even if she didn't agree with the execution of her jealousy.
This was the real reason why Betsumon had captured all those humans and digimon? If Betsumon was the corrupted form of Nat... Before, Davis mentioned that digimon and their partners had been going missing lately. But why in Odaiba? Why not New York, where Davis first met Nat?
She came for him, Kari realized. All of this... Why he chose me of all people to target, why he chose Davis's ex-girlfriend before me. It's our connection to Davis. That's why Betsumon didn't just kill Davis in the alleyway when I collapsed. It wasn't for material, it wasn't because he could use me. Maybe on the surface, that's what a corrupted Betsumon wanted— but inside of him, there was a young girl who just wanted Davis's attention and was using us to get it. He just wanted love. Betsumon wasn't kidding... Betsumon really was in love. Hiding it because of fear of rejection.
Kari could understanding that, hiding love for someone, fearing their reaction.
She looked at Davis, standing there in shock at the revelation. It made her wonder what he really thought, beyond the surface, of Kari. He seemed to be over her. But was he really just afraid? After Nat... he said he was always afraid.
But even then, none of this really made sense. Nat's partner was dead, or so she said.
"Whoever it is that did this to you," Kari said, "We'll stop him, Nat."
Davis looked at her when she said this. The two then smiled and nodded at each other, confident that they could save Nat, for good.
"You can't stop him," Nat replied. Her face darkened, the data swarming around her flesh blackening. "He was sleeping in the darkest recesses of the Digital World, but a taste of light has awakened him. And he will never stop until she is in his hands." Nat pointed to Kari. "The ocean water is filled with blood, Kari Kamiya. And it wants its blood fresh. Children were marked in this world, and he will have their blood to fill his dark ocean."
No. No, no, no, no.
"Nat, what are you talking about?" Davis asked, his confidence waning.
"Davis heard my voice all those years ago in New York," Nat said, as the heat overtook Kari all over again. Her knees wobbled underneath her. "I never knew why it was only him who could hear me. But now I know. It was because of you." Kari couldn't be hearing this. She didn't want to. She escaped that dark place, many, many years ago... "All Destined are inter-connected... destinies woven together... and because he was the closest of those three to you, the one who was thinking of you most, he was the one who was lured by my voice. He heard me, because my master gave me your voice. He modeled everything I am after you." Seeing the dawning expression on Kari's face, Nat went on, "I didn't come for Davis. I came for you. I was always a trap for you. You are the one I have been searching for all these years. It's you. It's always been about you. My master wants you!"
Master...
Kari clenched her temples, choking back a sob. The world began blurring together. This couldn't be true. The Dark Ocean had come for her again, and this time, they'd gone though Davis to do it.
CRRAAASH
As data flew all around them, it was disturbed by a rip in time and space. Lightning slashed the air behind Nat, torrential winds blaring in every direction.
"Run," Nat warned. "I will never be free from him, and as long as he watches, you will never survive! Run!"
"No..." Kari slowly shook her head as the realization hit her. Nat, all this time, was corrupted by the same person who tried to corrupt Kari. Nat had been tied to the same dark creature lurking in the depths of the Dark Ocean... "NO!"
A clawed hand made of shadow reached through the darkness and plunged straight in-between Nat's shoulders.
"NAT!" Davis shrieked.
Tears rolled down and down Nat's eyes.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Davis." As the darkness consumed her, Nat whispered, "I want to be reborn and reformatted... next time, I'll be stronger... and maybe you and I will finally be happy together, right? Right...?"
"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," Davis cried. "It can't end this way. You can't do this to me, not again! Please, Nat! Don't go! Don't leave me!"
"It's okay to trust, Davis..." Her data was rising and rising to the sky, fluttering like blue fireflies, ascending and flying and soaring, free... "Don't cry, I'll be happy again some day. Please, be happy, too. Don't be afraid. Don't close people out. Just be yourself... Be your wonderful, beautiful self..."
"Nat..."
Her data darkened.
Her expression began to shift, to frown.
Davis's eyes widened again. "Nat...?"
"I can't stop it from happening again, Davis," She cried out, holding what little was left of her chest as her data swarmed around her. "I will never forget your kindness! Even as Betsumon... I will never forget..." She shook her head, trying to stop it, knowing she'd fail against the darkness— "I... won't... let him... I will fight every moment I can to expose his evil! I WON'T LET HIM DO THIS TO DAVIS!"
And her skin broke open. White light poured out, spilling over her pale skin, bubbling from her eyes and her nose and her ears. Her flesh burned until it was a ghostly white, her hair forming a mane of white cloth that turned to material. Betsumon emerged from the white light, his claws clutched in Davis's hands, his eyes angry and fierce and uncontrollable.
Betsumon's rebirth in Nat's body erupted in brilliant fireballs of energy that hurled in every direction.
"Not in MY district!" Babamon called, twirling her broom in her hand and standing in front of Davis, Kari, Angewomon, Lighdramon, and Keiko. As the fire struck the broom, it reflected off of her, instead heading back in Betsumon's direction.
"You cannot stop me!" Betsumon howled with laughter, still consumed by the fire that corrupted Nat. "NAT... CANNOT STOP ME!" He thrusted his crotch toward them. "I AM BETSUMON, THE BEST DAMN COMEDIAN THERE EVER WAS!"
"You don't sound comical to me!" Kari hissed. "Boo, boo, bring Nat back! We want Nat!"
Fire spewed forth everywhere, igniting buildings, unearthing a tunnel beneath the wedding shop. They saw a chamber lined with gold-glowing cages, inhabited by humans and digimon alike. Some were unconscious, others were screaming.
This was Betsumon's crypt, filled with the missing Destined and their partners...
Well, maybe Betsumon would have more money if he wasn't spending it on gold cages, Kari thought with a raised eyebrow. A part of her thought about chipping off the bars and using it to fund her university experience... But at the same time, the gold seemed more mystical, like a sort of enchantment so that none of them could escape their entrapment.
Boys, girls, digimon, crying... There was only one thing they all had in common however, besides being Destined.
Kari recognized all of them.
They were all Dark Spore Children.
Betsumon's deep voice rumbled with a low chuckle. "Very smart, Nat. Expose my plan. But I won't let you ruin anything else. The best part of a show is the twist at the end!"
"Noriko?" Keiko's voice broke as the girl slowly opened her eyes from within her own cage.
"Keiko..." Noriko whispered back. Suddenly, it hit her that she wasn't home and she sat up, looking around. "Where the hell...? HEY, YOU!" She pointed at Betsumon. "I was in the middle of a DATE, you jerk! Bring me back! NOW!"
"Yeah!" said her partner Punimon in the cage next to hers.
"What is all of this?" Kari asked, looking at Betsumon with tears in her eyes. "Why is the Dark Ocean gathering all of the Dark Spore children?"
"Please, Nat!" Davis begged. "Stop all of this!"
"Nat's not home right now," Betsumon said. "She's with the junk in my trunk! BAHAHAHAHA!"
Angewomon was shaking in anger. She'd purified Betsumon, but it was for nothing— the Dark Ocean had too great a hold on Nat's emotions. It was drawn to her darkness, her loneliness... just as Matt and Sora's own inner darkness had also attracted its evil.
Wait...
No...
Before Angewomon could say anything, Betsumon gave a grin like that of a Cheshire Cat. "That Nat... Had to go and ruin all this kitty's fun, eh?" The concrete beneath their feet shuddered. The fire cracked it wide open, spilling light like the yoke of an egg. What it revealed below were four crosses, emanating with a blue, red, green, and pink light.
Yolei, Ken, Sora, and Matt were hanging on the crosses, their partners nowhere in sight.
"No," Kari said, astonished.
Davis slowly shook his head. "Oh, Nat... What have you done?"
"Given us an opportunity," Kari said, her expression hardening.
"Davis...?" Ken said blearily as he looked up from his cross.
A second later, Sora heard his grumble and tiredly saw Kari from the corner of her eye. "Kari..." she whispered, then her strength gave out and she bowed her head. The ropes twisting around their limbs pulsated like a vein pumping blood, but instead of blood, it was energy— it was stealing their very energy!
"Lighdramon, let's finish this," Angewomon said in a low, guttural voice. Lighdramon nodded. "HEAVEN'S CHARM!"
"BLUE THUNDER!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Betsumon screeched, clawing at the two, but he was too late— their attacks collided with their intended targets, right in the heart of Betsumon's plans.
The attacks exploded cages trapping the Dark Spore children and their partners, ending with the crosses bearing Yolei, Ken, Matt, and Sora. The cages each sparked before being blown to bits, releasing their captors.
Instantly, the two digimon flew through the air to catch Sora, Ken, Yolei, and Matt, who groggily moaned and shook their heads. Davis and Kari scrambled to help them, kneeling to check their wounds. None of them were bleeding or terribly injured, mostly just tired. Hopefully their energy would be restored to them in time.
Even if the trauma of this incident took longer than any physical wound would to heal...
"What happened?" Matt asked in a groggy voice. "I just remember walking and then... bam... nothing."
"Wellll," Kari began, taking a deep breath, "So first Davis's unrequited love shows up and they talk about his ex-girlfriend who broke his heart then his ex-girlfriend shows up and they fight then they kiss, but it turns out his ex-girlfriend is actually a costume-wearing crotch-thrusting Chip-n-Dalemon who is actually another older ex-girlfriend from his past who died while trying to kill him, and now his older ex-girlfriend is back to kill his unrequited love AND his ex-girlfriend because his killer older ex-girlfriend who is actually a costume-wearing crotch-thrusting Chip-n-Dalemon is actually a pawn of the one person in this story who isn't a love interest of Davis, the Master of the Dark Ocean..."
"O...kay..." Matt rubbed his neck. "That's rough, bro."
"Uhh..." Davis sweat-dropped, the corner of his eye twitching. "I'm right here, Kari... I can hear you..."
"WHAT?" Yolei screamed. "WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?!"
"No, no, no..." Betsumon gripped his temples, sliding down the wall of some wreckage as he rocked back-and-forth. "Master will not be happy... and I'm not a Chip-n-Dalemon... and his sacrifices have gone free... I have failed him... I..."
"Screw him," Davis said, offering Betsumon his hand. "Join us, Betsumon. We'll protect you from your master. The boy of friendship would make a better partner anyway." He glanced at Matt. "Both boys."
"Davis, did your IQ just drop while we were broken up?!" Keiko snarled. "Do you have any idea what that guy just did to my friends? To YOUR friends? ...Including your best friend." She nodded toward Ken, who tiredly rubbed at his head and asked for Wormmon.
"It isn't Nat's fault," Davis replied, frowning at Keiko. "The Dark Ocean corrupted her, Keiko. I don't want to punish her for something she couldn't even control. That'd be like blaming you and the other Dark Spore children for being infected by BelialVamdemon."
Keiko bowed her head. "You're right. I'm sorry, Davis. I know you're insecure about your intelligence. I should have never said that. But... I don't think everyone will just be okily-dokily-neighborino with the guy who just locked them up. It's going to take them time. You can't just invite the guy who did this to them right back into their lives..."
Davis frowned. He then hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. "I invited you into my life and we did just fine," Davis whispered. "It might take time, but I believe in Nat. I believe she can change Betsumon for the better. Everyone deserves a second chance. Betsumon hasn't killed anyone. Everything he's done has been out of fear..."
Keiko bowed her head, leaning into his touch.
Kari watched them with a morbid sense of curiosity. This was Davis's latest girlfriend, the one who crushed him. Something about the way Davis looked at her made Kari feel something she hadn't ever really felt before, at least when it came to Davis. Was it jealousy? No, that'd be stupid. They're stuck in this incredibly dangerous situation, with kidnapped friends and digimon, all supposed to be sacrificed to the digimon who abducted Kari all those years ago... There was no way she could be jealous at a time like this.
And besides, jealous of Davis's girlfriend? This was Davis. If she wanted to be with Davis, she could've been with him years ago. She always knew he had feelings for her. All she had to do was smile at him and he'd be putty in her hands. There was no way she could fall for him. They were too different. He was too melodramatic about his feelings. He was melodramatic about everything. And so cocky, and possessive, and...
"But when it comes to the bigger hurts, you never vent to anyone about it. You always carry it around on your own," Kari had said not long ago in that cafe.
"So what you're saying is," Davis interrupted, "I'm like you."
Maybe they weren't that different after all.
It took Kari so long to see it, but there it was. Davis and Kari were different in many ways, yeah— but they understood each other better than maybe anyone else could.
It reminded Kari of Matt and Sora in a way, how they could be so incredibly different, but the experiences they shared – their darkest, most vulnerable moments – created a bond no one else could truly understand like the other could. Kari and Davis were the same. He might have never had to endure the Dark Ocean like Kari, but how they dealt with the pains in their lives was exactly the same.
"Davis..." she whispered, then shook her head and turned to Betsumon. "Your master wants to sacrifice those who have been touched by the Dark World, doesn't he? Why?"
"So that... he can come here..." Betsumon whispered, looking up at her. "And find his partner." Before Kari could question this, Betsumon let out a warbly, high-pitched giggle. "He needs all of the Dark Children. But maybe the Child of Light will do. Then I will be free... free to sew... and pretend like I'm not Betsumon... and be someone else, someone who has a partner... I won't join the Destined," Betsumon said, rising from his spot. "I WILL FINISH THE JOB!"
He lunged at Kari, claws cocked to strike, fangs bared in a snarl.
"Angewomon!" Kari called, but it was too late.
SQUISH
The claws plunged deep inside flesh, splattering Kari's face with blood and dotting the road. Kari stood, stunned, as she realized Betsumon's claws hadn't cut into her... No, instead they sunk inside the person who stood in front of her.
Betsumon's claws pierced Davis's ribcage, who buckled against the pressure.
TO BE CONTINUED...