Chapter Four
"Arg, for crying out loud, Leormon, get off!" Takuya snapped, shoving the lion away. Indignantly he pulled himself off the ground and dusted his red shirt and torn black jeans.
Leormon righted himself as well and glared up at the teens. "You would think they'd never seen a Digimon before," he commented dryly to Takuya.
"Yea, well, not really used to seeing them here in the Real World," Takuya snarled quietly. "It's a rather unwanted surprise."
"I take it this is why you called us all together?" Koji asked coldly.
Takuya looked at him in confusion. "Hey, no need to get mad about it Koji."
"We did our service to the Digital World five years ago. And now when life is finally normal again we're being called back? No, I'm not going." Koji turned away, crossing his arms stubbornly.
Takuya's temper flared and he stepped closer to the rebel, fists clenched. "Look, I don't know what's going on. All I know is that this Digimon showed up in my room yesterday and all our phones have turned back into D-Tectors. Why don't you at least hear him out before turning into a jerk?"
Koji spun around, his anger plain on his features. "Takuya, I'm sick of fighting and if there's one thing I've learned it's that Digimon only interfere with our lives when fighting is sure to follow. Count me out."
Takuya glared at Koji's back as the other boy stalked away. "Fine, run you coward!"
"What about you Koichi, are you with Koji?" JP asked quietly.
Koichi hesitated for a moment before he shook his head. "I'm on the fence right now. I'll stay and listen."
Takuya growled as he turned back to face the Digimon. "Alright, we're all here, what do you want?"
"Tsk, tsk, such harshness. You would do well to control that temper of yours, Warrior of Flame."
"My name's Takuya. And what do you expect? You're toying with us, keeping us in the dark. Realistically I could just Spirit Evolve and destroy you right now, solve the problem."
Leormon laughed. "You amuse me, human. Without me you do not have access to your Spirits and thus cannot do anything."
"Oh yeah?" Takuya snarled, picking the Digimon up and holding him at eye level.
"Takuya, knock it off,"
"Shut it JP. Either this kitty explains himself now or he gets a first class ticket back into his DigiEgg—yeaow!" Takuya yelped, recoiling from the blow and dropping the lion. Three large scratches stood out on the side of his face. One hand pressed to the scratches, Takuya turned a fiery gaze back on Leormon. With his other hand he pulled his D-Tector from his pocket and the screen glowed in preparation.
"Takuya, no!" Tommy exclaimed as he, Koichi and JP grabbed onto him with special attention to the arm that held his D-Tector.
Takuya let out a growling sigh. "Let me go!" he demanded, struggling futilely.
"Go ahead, let him go, he cannot harm me." Leormon's taunting words made Takuya struggle all the more and he managed to pull his hand holding the D-Tector free. Realizing they could no longer stop him, the others jumped away, not wanting to be caught in the cocoon of data as Takuya evolved.
"Execute…" Takuya froze, realizing nothing was happening. His D-Tector's screen still glowed, but it was empty. Takuya's brow furrowed and he looked to Leormon for an explanation.
"I told you that you cannot access your Spirits except through me," Leormon chided. Takuya bristled, but did not move to attack. "As for my purpose in being here, I am afraid the Warrior of Light was correct. A new evil has arisen and the Digital World needs the Warriors to defend it once again."
"But, how is that possible? We cleansed all of the Digital World's data so how can there be evil?" Zoe pondered aloud.
Leormon turned his icy gaze on her and all hints of joviality disappeared from his features. "Unfortunately all the cleansing in both worlds could not rid even one of all evil. Therefore it is essential to keep the scale tipped in the favor of good."
"Which herein means dragging us back into the thick of it?" JP asked, crossing his arms. He wasn't sure he liked the notion.
"Not only you Warriors. There are six more that were touched by Fate when Lucemon breached the barrier between the worlds. They are more powerful than you, but need your guidance to control that power. Otherwise it has the potential to destroy them."
"So you're saying they're oblivious to that power? How could they be?"
"To answer your question Warrior of Wind, the power lies dormant inside them, awaiting contact with a Legendary Spirit to awake. Therefore you must track down these Keepers of the Elements, awaken their power and lead them against the evil."
"That sounds like a pretty big job," Tommy commented.
"Who cares? The Digital World needs us. We won't let them down." Takuya broke in authoritatively, pumping a fist.
"I'm with Takuya; we can't just walk away from this. After all, we're Digimon!" Zoe added, stepping closer to the gogglehead.
"Yea," Koichi and Tommy agreed.
"JP?" Tommy asked.
JP avoided their eyes. "I wish I could, but I'm off to college soon…no way I have time for this."
Takuya growled and stepped toward the other. "JP!"
"Don't try to bully me into it Takuya."
Leormon hissed and jumped in front of JP as he started to leave. "Warrior of Thunder, you must not deny this task! Without your presence the Keeper of Thunder's power will never awaken and our chances of saving the Digital World will be greatly diminished."
"And JP, if we can't beat this evil who's to say it won't come after the Real World?" Takuya offered hotly. "We need your Spirits," he added more gently after a moment.
JP's mouth settled into a contemplative line and his brow furrowed. Several minutes of expectant silence passed. "Alright, I'll help you find this Keeper, but that's as far as I'm committing."
