Chapter 4:
Dancing with Dragons
The wind blew fiercely as the waves in the sea parted. The once wide sea had been split in halve to bear it's bottom to the open air. What laid at it's bottom was Qinglongmon's sixth Holy Stone. The chosen had enlisted the help of many aquatic digimon but they were helpless against BlackWarGreymon's power. The dark dragon-man landed in the middle of his own self made walkway. He steadily made his way towards the stone, hoping to bring it's master out. As he crept closer, a voice called out and brought him to a halt.
"Please, stop!" Iori yelled as he ran from behind the stone. After hearing the story about how Takeru saw Angemon die from Yamato, he had decided this would be his last stand. He didn't want anyone to get hurt over senseless violence anymore. He knew BlackWarGreymon had a heart, so he didn't want to fight him. He had to get through to the digimon no matter what the cost. "Please, don't destroy the Holy Stone."
BlackWarGreymon was surprised, to say the least. While he had only destroyed one other Holy Stone after the fight with the blonde human, the other children had sought out more help. Yet, they themselves seemed more reserved in their attacks. They didn't give off the same feeling as the other boy, so he never expected to be stood up to like this by them. However, just like the last boy, this one would not stand in his way either. "If you don't want to die, move," he gave the child a straight forward warning.
"I wont," Iori stood his ground with Armadillomon at his side.
The other chosen were once again shocked by one of their friends. Had Takeru's recklessness rubbed off on Iori? What would possess him to stand up to BlackWarGreymon? The black dragon-man had beaten their digimon countless times, along with their friend who was still resting at home. They could only bite their nails in stress over the boy's life. Once again, the proximity to the enemy kept them from helping a friend in need. Takeru had gotten really lucky and weird powers, unless the small boy could do the same, he might not make it back to them alive.
"Even through you were born from dark towers, you still possess a heart like any other living thing. That must mean, there is some good inside of you. Find it in your heart not to destroy the Holy Stones. If you do, then the balance between the worlds wont be destroyed" Iori just had to dig deep into the dark warrior's soul and pull out the good deep inside.
"I will not stop, child. My will tells me that I must fight the one hiding behind those stones," he lifted his repaired claw at the stone before him. "If I stop now, I won't be staying true to myself. I won't be finishing what I set out to do. Wasn't your friend who fought me the same? He was truly strong, and the stone gave him that power. If it could make that fight as interesting as it was, then I can't even image the foe waiting fro me once I drag their master out."
Iori could feel something burning within him. Hearing Takeru be compared to BlackWarGreymon didn't seem to sit right with him. "Takeru might have gained an amazing power from that stone but he's not as selfish as you are. He wouldn't put other people in danger, or destroy large areas of the world just to fight someone. He's always worrying about others, even someone like you and me! If you really admire him, then become more selfless like he is. Please, think of others and don't destroy the Holy Stone!"
"Think of others…?" BlackWarGreymon had never truly done that. Not in a way where he didn't want to destroy the one he was thinking of. He thought back to the Agumon he had once meet. The blond also popped into his mind. Finally, he faced the boy who was staring him down. Thinking about it, each had brought forth different feelings within him. Sadly the only one that felt right to him was the blond's. It was something familiar to him on a personal level. He had communicated in a way he knew how to respond to.
His eyes stayed glued to the child before him. A familiar feeling washed over him. One he had felt for something that couldn't even speak back to him. For a flower he had protected from a control spire digimon. Why would that memory float back now? The boy was just standing there, in his way, just like the blonde that came before him, yet he couldn't deny the difference. What did these humans possesses to stop him cold in his tracks?
"It doesn't matter what you say or want," the dragon-man yelled. "If you don't move I will kill you," he rose both of his claws as a warning.
"I wont! I don't think you really want to hurt me and I don't want to hurt you either!" Iori stood his ground. He glared at the digimon before him hoping to change it's mind.
BlackWarGreymon couldn't believe he was hesitating once again to the glare of a child. It was just as sharp as the blond's, but completely different at the same time. He couldn't feel any threat to his life. Was this also a power of the heart, or was it his own? He hadn't asked for one. If this irritating hesitations was what it meant to have a heart, then he didn't want any part of it. To prove he didn't need one, he would strike the boy before him down.
Iori watched as the dark dragon-man let out a soul crushing roar and charge straight at him. He could only glare in defiance as he watched his coming demise. Armadillomon's words were lost to him as he couldn't focus on anything else.
He was so absorbed, he could hardly feel himself be lifted from the ground. His eyes were still glued to BlackWarGreymon, as he watched the digimon strike the dirt where he once stood. He watched as the dragon-man turned to keep up with his sudden move movement. The constant movement in the dark digimon's eyes made him final realize that he had been rescued. He looked up and found that Angemon was holding him in one of his arm and Armadillomon in the other. If Angemon was here, then that meant….
Takeru looked down from atop the cliff at the scene before him with disappointment on his face. He watched silently in his normal digital world attire and new bangle. He had thought that both Iori and BlackWarGreymon would have acted better. He watched as Angemon landed beside him holding Iori and Armadillomon. He really wanted to say something to the young boy but it would have to wait. He looked back down at BlackWarGreymon, who stared back at him, seemingly waiting for something.
"I'm not fighting you today, if that's what you're wondering," the blond yelled form high atop the cliff. He looked down at his friends at the base of the mountain to check if they were also alright. "We should get out of here, it looks like we lost today," he called out to them.
"And you," Takeru pointed to the still staring BlackWarGreymon, "there's still one more Holy Stone left. I'll be sure to show you how strong your darkness really is there," he gave a sly thumbs down. The stone responded with a flash. The still water was brought crashing down to it's natural resting place. He jumped on the back of Angemon and the four sped off to the digital gate. "You all should hurry up and leave," he yelled back to the others.
The other chosen shook off their surprise to focus on the speeding boys. As soon as they had registered what was spoken, the sea started to form a whirlpool. BlackWarGreymon shot out from the middle and took towards a different direction from the others. They realized what had been done and quickly called their partners to come and pick them up. They too, sped off as watery tornadoes formed on the once calm sea's surface.
The kids soon made it back to he computer room. They were once again in a pile on the floor, most likely as a result of their haste. Daisuke was the first to pry himself from the human stress ball.
"Jeez Takeru, if you were gonna show up, you could have at least came earlier. We might have beaten him that time," Daisuke sighed in disappointment of their failed plan. "Or maybe at least tell us you were coming."
"I don't think he's here Motomiya," Ken said as he picked himself off of the floor.
"Iori isn't here either," Miyako added straightening out her glasses.
"Do you think they might have not gone to the gate?"
"Well, him and Iori made a straight B-line for it. I don't see why he would head for it and pass it right by." The glasses girl thought back to what happened a few days ago when two people didn't gate back with the group. "What do you think Hikari?"
Hikari was sitting in a chair looking at her D-terminal. She was so absorbed that she couldn't help but flinch, when Miyako waved her hand in front of her face. "I'm sorry, what did you ask?" Hikari couldn't hide her blush.
"Where do you think Takeru took Iori?"
"I don't really know," Hikari answered while pulling out her digivice. She gave it a few clicks until colorful dots popped up on the screen. There was a large mass around the middle and two, lone yellow and green dots off to the left corner. She waved the device to her left at the window that faced the beach across the street. "They must be talking at the beach."
"I see," Miyako stated looking at the girl's digivice. "Well…. what do you think their talking about?"
"Probably about BlackWarGreymon." Hikari could only sit and think about the number of things the two would say to each other.
"I hope Iori got that silly idea of talking to BlackWarGreymon out of his head. I can't believe he did something so dangerous."
"Yeah, but you got admit, that took some guts," Daisuke cut in. "I didn't think the little guy had it in him."
"I'm more surprised that Takaishi showed up," Ken thought aloud. "Someone like him would send a message first."
"I wonder about that too," Hikari added back to typing with her D-terminal. "I couldn't make connect to his D-terminal at all yesterday or earlier today. It just started working now."
"For a guy who should have spent two whole days at home, he somehow disappeared into thin air. I had to deliver his homework to him yesterday after we left Daisuke's because someone," Miyako glared at the boy with the goggles, "forget to deliver it to him. No one seemed to be home so I left it in their mail slot."
A slight unease settled inside the room. The things to worry about seemed to be piling on. They only had one more chance to stop BlackWarGreymon from destroying another Holy Stone. The room was dead silent until a large rumble was heard. It was quickly fallowed by another and then a chorus of hungry stomachs stated to harmonize in the room. The children looked down at their digimon who started chiming about food.
"It looks like we got a bunch hungry digimon on our hands. There's still a good bit of light out. How about we all make a quick run to Ai-Mart?" Miyako brought up.
"Always trying to make a sell, huh?" Hikari lightly laughed at her DNA partner.
"I don't know, I should be getting home," Ken interjected, ready to decline.
"It'll be fine as long as we run, wont it?" Daisuke pointed out. "I'm sure Leafmon would love a snack for the trip back." He convinced his friend into coming while pushing him towards the door behind Miyako.
"We have to hurry if we are going to pick up Takeru and Iori at the beach." Hikari chased after her friends.
Down at the beach two boys looked out into the ocean. They had been talking for sometime, trying to figure each other out. There digimon played in the sand and with the waves. They had run out of words that tip-toed around the subject. Neither boy wanted to brake the silence but they knew it couldn't last.
Iori felt that it was his turn to speaks, seeing as Takeru had just given the last words. He still couldn't comprehend the things the blond had said to him, so he just regurgitated them back into a question. "If there is no good or evil in life, why did you try so hard to take BlackWarGreymon's away."
"Because he was destroying the world," Takeru stated bluntly. "I may have a bias against the darkness but that doesn't mean I kill just for the fun of it. I don't even really hate darkness itself. Light or dark, if it threatens the world, I will destroy it."
Iori knew his friend wasn't wrong but he didn't feel like he was wrong either. "Isn't that a little extreme? Can't you just stop them without killing. What if they were just like Ichijouji? You said you wouldn't had killed him."
Takeru looked back out to the ocean, "true, that's were that 'bias' pops up. I'll admit that I find it easier to kill a digimon that will just comeback to life, than a human that wont. It's not that I don't care, but it's that I seem care too much. In all honesty I do think BlackWarGreymon is just confused. I guess the thing that really motivates me is that he's willing to kill me if he has to. I seem to just naturally respond to that."
Iori turned his gaze to the ocean as well. It seemed that Takeru empathized with BlackWarGreymon in a completely different way than he did. He still didn't understand the idea of killing your opponent. It went against everything he had ever been taught. "I don't think I'll be able to do it," he thought out loud. He knew how it felt for a life to be lost, he couldn't imagine being the cause of such sadness.
"Don't worry about that," Takeru assured. "I'm sure if it ever happens, you won't be focusing on killing at the moment. Your really kind, so I'm sure you'll be more focused on helping someone instead." Takeru didn't want to lie to him about how far the boy might have to go in the future, but he also wanted to reassure him that there was going to be a meaning for it.
"That being said, sometimes you can be too kind," Takeru had finally found the perfect time to lecture the boy on his conduct at the Holy Stone. "What were you thinking when you faced BlackWarGreymon?"
Iori could only look away from the blond boy. "I…. wanted to stop him from destroying the Holy Stones without having to fighting him." He couldn't help but awkwardly clasp his hands together, "You promised that you wouldn't kill him if I got him to stop."
"I don't remember that promise including you putting yourself in danger like that. Do you even know why I'm so upset?"
"I thought that if I did the same thing as you, I could get him to listen to me. I'm sorry, for being so careless," Iori apologized.
"Wrong!" Takeru buzzed. "Iori, the thing you did was very brave, the problem was that you weren't willing to fight. Fighting your enemy doesn't mean you want to kill them. More than that, you have to at least be willing to protect yourself."
Takeru's words echoed in his mind. He glared at the ground. His grandfather had said something similar to him when he first started learning kendo, albeit to a less aggressive extent. He couldn't believe he was acting so foolishly. He had even put Armadillomon in danger with his selfishness. He was about to tear up when he felt a hand pat his head. He looked over to find Takeru smiling at him.
"You really are too kind for your own good. But that's fine, you don't have to change right away. I'm sure you've figured it out, but the two of use will become DNA partners," Takeru looked back out to the sea, still consoling his friend. "It seems like the partnership is born by the two making up for each other's shortcomings. That's why I'll become both your sword and your shield to support you."
Iori was more than a little surprised. Takeru had just told him that he would fight for and protect him so that they could help the others. He had thought that whenever Takeru would come back, he would be left behind; the blond would chose to fight with his own Ultimate digimon. Why would he hold himself back like that? Even if his own partner wasn't much when compared to the others, that would still be on extra digimon instead of just having three Ultimates. "What could I possibly do for you, Takeru?" Iori looked up to the blond.
"Me? Well, I think that my moral compass might have became slightly skewed," Takeru sheepishly grinned. "I just need you to keep being yourself and keep me in line. You don't want me killing BlackWarGreymon now, do you?"
"But you said that you'd do it anyway if I couldn't get him to stop," Iori gasped.
"I know I did, but you ended up giving such a halfhearted try. I can't just let that sit. We'll see how far your way goes by working together. If it doesn't work, I'll just have to kill him by myself, so you better not slack off this time." Takeru didn't even try to hide the huge grin on his face.
Iori was in awe of the boy in front of him. The person who seemed to want to destroy BlackWarGreymon the most would willing hold himself back for his sake. The more he thought about Takeru, the more he felt he couldn't live up to his expectation. He had only been asked to be himself but he knew how far that had got him just earlier that day.
Iori tried to shake those thoughts from his head. Not just Takeru, but the others, the entirety to two worlds were depending on him. His DNA partner trusted him so why shouldn't he. Iori looked the blond boy in the eyes and made a promise. "I won't let you down," he said with conviction.
He watched as Takeru smiled back to him. Their moment had came to it's end when they heard the others run by, yelling about going to the Ai-Mart. The two boys glanced at each other before grabbing their partners and running to catch up to the others. Iori still had some worries but he knew he could always count on his friends to pull him through.
Iori was right, together they somehow stopped BlackWarGreymon. They had all used their digivices to release Qinglongmon from the Holy Stone. The gigantic, blue dragon digimon had easily stopped his smaller adversary. The two dragons just stayed still watching each other.
"Thank you," BlackWarGreymon said to the large Chinese styled dragon. "You've told me that even my life has meaning." He look towards the chosen children, "even if that meaning is to be hated." He started making his way by the children only to stop to look down to the blond that had given him so much trouble. Even when his digimon partnered up with another, it still put him at a great disadvantage.
Takeru looked up and couldn't help but glare at the dark dragon-man in front of him. He had kept his promise to both Hikari and Iori but the whole situation didn't sit right with him. They had still lost in the end and there were still more things to be done. He wouldn't let this fight end just yet.
"No, I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you're wondering," the blond answered the digimon's unasked question. "Who could kill something so pathetic?" he let his frustrations slip out. He surprised everyone when he brushed past the large digimon and made his way to the soup spring. "I told you I'd show you how strong your darkness truly is. Stay right there and get ready to really fight Qinglongmon."
Everyone was once again caught of guard by the boy's words. What was he thinking? They had just stopped BlackWarGreymon from destroying the last Holy Stone for goodness' sake. Before, everyone could at least fallow his line of thought of going to an extreme, but this didn't make any sense. No one could read what was on the boy's mind.
The only one who remained calm was the blue dragon in question. He watched as the boy kneeled by the pond. "Xuanwumon asked you to do this, right?" he asked the boy.
Takeru lightly placed his palm to the water, "actually he just wanted me to talk to you. He's a bit too optimistic if you ask me." Takeru had seemed to calm down from his past mood. His expression had become more stoic.
"He's more easy going than optimistic, if you ask me. You seem to understand that I wouldn't agree to what you have chosen to do. If handled poorly, you run the risk of covering this world in a darkness worse than those spires or even the Dark Masters."
The pond started to glow with bright blue light. "Well, you can't blame a guy for wanting to take a more productive role than just maintaining the balance of a world." The Holy Stone's golden ring floated to the top of the pond's soup. "There's no point in maintaining something you can't actually protect yourself." The golden piece shrunk in size and found it's way to Takeru's right wrist. "You don't mind if I borrow this?" He asked knowing it didn't matter. "I'd rather not put on the silly cloak in front of them."
"What we do is very important. He agreed to a plan that is reckless and puts the entire world at risk. There was a reason that we all tried to stop you within the Holy Stone. You'll awaken a being of destruction if you keep walking down this path."
Takeru's iris gained a familiar red, "then I guess you'll just have to stop me." His sternness had finally completely set in. Just like the time at Xuanwumon's pond, the whites of his eyes changed. This time however, blue washed over them. He turned back to BlackWarGreymon, "have you prepared yourself?"
The black dragon-man was stunned. What had caused that change? They boys aggressive demeanor had been subdued greatly, but he still retained that deadly sharpness. What had just happened here? "Why do you fight the one you were trying to protect?" He could only think aloud for everyone present.
"You have to look at things with more than just your eyes," Takeru stated dryly. "Things can change at the drop of a hat. Even then, my main focus was to stop you from destroying the Holy Stones. Whatever I did to him had nothing to do to you. Well, that was before you tossed Shakkoumon into the dirt. There's no way I can fight that giant monster on my own, so I need your help now."
The black digimon could only look down to the ground. "I've already been beaten. There's no way we could win against him," he said solemnly.
"Jeez, for a guy with such pride, you sure did give up easily. Are you really alright with how that fight ended? You struggled so hard against us. You better not show me such a halfhearted fight this time."
BlackWarGreymon looked up to the blond staring at him. A look of questioning laid within his eyes. Was he really going to let things end that easily? Did the fact that he had found out that even he had a reason to exist appease him that much? If it did, then why did he still feel like he was empty? "You'll even fight with me?" He asked.
"That's what I said. I have something to gain from this too. It's a simple give and take," Takeru stared. BlackWarGreymon nodded in agreement and the blond made his way back to the others. He looked over all of them and gave an exaggerated bow. "I'm really sorry, and you guys must have a ton of questions, but this is something I need to do right now."
The others looked at each other to see if someone else could make out what was going on. Quizzical faces were shared all around. No one knew what to say, they all just stared at the boy who seemed to almost be speaking a different language to them. What slightly snapped them out of the stupor, was that their digimon who had already split apart and reverted to their lower forms. They were floating over to them.
"Allow me to return them to you so you all may move to safety," Qinglongmon spoke. All of the children grabbed their digimon as Tokomon landed on Iori's head. Takeru took off his hat and placed it on the digimon's head to make sure he didn't lose another one.
"I may not know why, but do you really have to do this?" Iori had finally found his voice.
For the first time since his change, Takeru let out an incredibly gentle smile. "I told you before that fighting someone didn't mean that you have to kill your enemy." He looked to the dragon within the clouds "the two of us know that talking wont really get us anywhere. Besides I'm sure there's something he wants to check out for himself." He gave them all a small grin that highlighted a slight sharpness gained by his teeth, "don't worry."
A light blue wall that matched the gigantic digimon's aura, separated the group from their blond friend. When they touched it, they were given a slight jolt. It stated to move towards them and it forced them to back away. "This is only to keep you safe," the blue dragon added. "I assume your friend doesn't want you all to get involved as well."
"Thank you," Takeru turned back to the dragon that coiled around the clouds in the sky.
The others muttered amongst themselves. Takeru had to have know something they didn't, but why would it involve fighting such an obviously holy creature? It had seemed like he had reverted to his past kind self just a few minutes ago. He had even managed to DNA digivolve with Iori, yet in just a few words, he had instigated a fight and had gotten BlackWarGreymon to battle along side him. Even the holy digimon had agreed to it, even though it was so dismissive to the black dragon-man's own attack. They had no idea what was going on and now they couldn't even do anything about it.
"I'm interested in what you've gained from Xuanwumon. Seeing how you're at a great disadvantage, I'll allow you to make the first move," Qinglongmon instructed the two.
BlackWarGreymon looked down to the boy who had came to his side. "I assume you have a strategy," the black digimon wondered.
Takeru threw a serious look his way, "just rush him like you did before." He was given a glare that he had expected. "It'll be fine, trust me. Just remember that feeling you had when you beat all of our digimon into the ground. This time, direct those feelings towards Qinglongmon instead of screaming at the world around you."
BlackWarGreymon thought back to that moment. He had solely focused on destroying the Holy Stone. Only focused on driving away that empty feeling inside him. While he did have an objective, those feelings were focused only on himself. The only other time he had focused his feelings purely on overcoming his opponent was when he fought this boy and his partner. Maybe that was the clue?
Listening to the boy's advice he quickly took to the air. This was his first time he was fighting with someone else and he was given such little information. He readied his Dremon Destroyers and braced for the light that he was sure to come again.
Takeru watched both figures and noticed Qinglongmon's hand movements. It was time to put to the test what Xuanwumon had told him. He reached out with his right hand a grasped at Qinglongmon's image as if to crush him. The bangle on his right glowed with a pale dark shine.
Qinglongmon was about to fend off BlackWarGreymon like before until he felt something grip his body. It was as if the chains that were circling his entire body had become extremely tighter. He could feel some sort of dark force take hold of his body. He was too preoccupied to notice how close the dark dragon-man had gotten. He took a full force attack of the Dremon Destroy to his face mask. It was something he could deal with but was much stronger than he had anticipated.
BlackWarGreymon was shocked that he had made it through. He had noticed that he now held a cretin dark aura around him. It was just a different from the one that grasped the blue dragon but it was just a soft. He didn't waste this chance to keep up the attack. He gave a quick back and forth between his right and left.
Qinglongmon didn't lose focus. He knew exactly what was going on and how to put a stop to it. He rose up past BlackWarGreymon to hide his face within the clouds. Before the black dragon-man could pursue, he sent down two bolts of lightning. One struck BlackWarGreymon and sent him plummeting towards the ground. He only reappeared when the digimon had crash landed.
BlackWarGreymon slowly got to his feet. That shock reminded him of his fight with the boy. He looked over to see how his make sift partner was doing. The blond was gripping at his right arm that looked to be in pain.
Takeru caught the digimon looking at him. "Don't worry about it. It's just a bit numb. It's no where near as bad as that Terra Destroyer I took before," he reassured. "How about we do the same as him? Burn his position in your eyes and get ready to attack." Takeru lifted up his left arm to the sky and took deep breaths. This time, he would use a different type of power. He still couldn't us attacks to their fullest potential but he could still make use of them. The bangle on his left, gave off a pale green light.
Everyone watched as a thick mist started to gather within the barrier. With in a few seconds nothing could be seen within from both inside and out. The only thing that could be felt was a chill that ran through the air. The chosen, even Arukenimon and Mummy, waited for the first attack.
They were all greeted with a familiar whirling sound. The mist started to spin along the barrier before they saw it shoot up into the sky. They were once again witnessing an inverted tornado that was much grater in size compared to the last. Comparing it to it's colossal target, there was no way it could miss hitting him.
What they saw next caused them to cover their faces. A bright light rained down and instantly dissipated the mist. Qinglongmon still rested in the clouds unmoved. They looked down to find both Takeru and BlackWarGreymon laying on the ground. They watched as the two struggled to get to their feet.
As the two tried to rise further, they were assaulted again with another bright light. It was as if gravity itself was against them. BlackWarGreymon glanced over at the boy who he assumed would be crushed buy such power. He was shocked to find that the child was doing better than he was. He looked closer and notice the boy was enveloped in a dark aura, much like his own. He also notice that the boy was muttering something to himself.
Takeru slowly got to his feet. He kept muttering the same three words, "more… anger… sadness…" The darkness started to spreed to the space around him.
Qinglongmon saw what was happening and decided to put a stop to it. He wrapped the boy in his chains that constantly sent an electric current through them. He saw the boy grit his teeth but the darkness wouldn't stop.
He decided to swing the blond against the barrier that kept their fight from getting too out of hand. When the boy touched the barrier he let out an agonizing yell. The current in the chains mixed with the one form the barrier and made a potent combination.
His friends watching could almost feel the pain in his cries. They were really worried after the first lighting bolt had hit him but he seemed to have shook it off. This however looked like it was too much to bare. Hikari could only remember what he had told her about being in the Holy Stone. Was it that bad even then?
Takeru was yanked from the blue field and hit the ground face first with a painful grunt. BlackWarGreymon rushed towards the boy. Images of the lonely flower in the desert ran through is mind. He garbed the boy who was still mutter to himself, "More anger…. More sadness…. More darkness." he watched as the blue in the boy's eyes turn jet black. "This time I'll show you, a different power born from within the darkness"
The blond jerked away from BlackWarGreymon to stand on his own. The dark aura started to distort the area around his body even more. The scenery around him tuned a dark gray and looked like the fuzz on a television. The chains started to phase out with a static like appearance. Qinglongmon retracted his chain before the distortion made it's way to him. The boy stood unbound staring up to the gigantic dragon, with an almost inhuman look his eyes.
While the children were watching their friend's back, they were perplexed at what was happening. This time however, only Hikari and Ken could feel the coming chill. Their spines shivered at the recognizable distortion in space. They couldn't take their eyes off the blond causing it. They didn't know if their anxiety came from fear for the boy or for themselves.
Takeru, once again rose his darkened right bangle to the blue digimon and ordered an attack. Qinglongmon was ready to strike down with his light once more. He unleashed it's holy rays only to find both attackers undeterred. He was once again met with the sharp end of the Dremon Destroyers. This attack seemed to hurt more that the last. Qinglongmon wondered how Takeru could manipulate the darkness this well with in such a shot time.
The boy's mind was running faster than it ever had at the moment. Takeru had to keep a strong grip on the darkness he was using to make sure he wouldn't drown in it. His own darkness may be the trigger, but it was still connected to something sinister that wasn't truly his. It would take any chance to devour his mind. He just had to keep his focus on what was at hand. He watched as BlackWarGreymon was starting to have a harder time fighting off the light.
"It doesn't matter if you're a being of darkness or light," Takeru rose his shining green bangle again. "The only thing that matters is what you're feeling right now," the black slowly started to leave his eyes. "Even in darkness, there's a power that can be found. Use your own feelings to surpass both the darkness and the light," his eyes were now piratically shining.
Qinglongmon was quite astonished, to say the least. He knew the boy was cable of holding immense power, as he had once demonstrated within the Holy Stone, but this was outrageous. He was juggling the power's he had gained both from Dagomon and Xuanwumon at the same time. Had he took the ring from this area's stone to keep them in check? Or could it be the power of the world?
The gigantic dragon was snapped out of his thoughts by another attack from BlackWarGreymon. The once wakened attacks came back stronger than ever. It felt as if each hit was getting stronger than the last. They were really starting to pile up. If he didn't do anything quickly, he might actually lose. He focused on the dark dragon-man who's own aura seemed to be changing as well. He quickly wrapped the digimon in chains and flung him at his support.
BlackWarGreymon crashed into his temporary partner and the two fell to the ground. He slowly got to his feet thinking about how he could win against such a strong opponent. This was the second time he was pushing himself past his limits for today and he could only seem to feel excitement. He had never felt this good about fighting, even thought it was the only thing that he felt suited him. Did the need of finding the answers about his life, weigh that much on his mind?
The black digimon had been doing as instructed and focusing on his inner rage and sorrow. He could only feel an emptiness that kept filling up as he kept fighting. Had he really been this simple of a monster? He had finally understood that just fighting the strong was truly enough for him. If this was the purpose of his life, then he would gladly accept it. He looked down at the one who had inadvertently helped him find his life's meaning. The boy was hunched over on his knees bracing the ground.
Arukenimon and Mummymon watched as their dark spire creation was about to stir the boy from his rest until he abruptly stopped. They watched as the dark digimon looked to the sky. They too rose their vision and were greeted by even darker clouds that were only within the barrier. With in seconds, their ears were picking up a heavy rain that only spanned the interior of the shield. Had that god of a digimon have more tricks up it's sleeves? They didn't know what they would do if they lost their strongest asset; even if they couldn't control him.
The cause of this current isolated shower finally rose to his feet. He rustled his now wet blond hair and looked up at the falling water. "I don't think I'll every get the hang of using digimon attacks," he sighed to the sky. "Oh, it looks like you've gotten more serious as well," Takeru commented on the black digimon's appearance. The once dreary dark aura that the digimon carried had started to sparkle. It's darkness shined as if it was almost light itself.
BlackWarGreymon also observed the boy who had also made yet another change. The black and blue that he had once held in his eyes had turned green. This time however, his pupils shown in the same color. The mix it made with his red iris seemed just as natural as the other colors. What shocked him more were the boy's teeth. They had been sharp before, but now they looked more jagged, like a saw or some sort of sea beast. This look didn't seem to match the almost relaxed expression that now graced the once serious boy's face.
"Don't look so uptight now," Takeru grinned. "You're enjoying yourself, aren't you? Come on, it's about time for the last assault."
Qinglongmon's curiosity had finally been answered. The boy had been connecting to so many different forces that he hadn't been able to notice. The blond had finally acclimated to Xuanwumon's powers. He still couldn't seem to use them perfectly, but he had resonated with the Holy Beast of the north.
He couldn't believe that Xuanwumon would give the boy his power that easily. He knew of what the two were planing and he didn't want to be apart of it. Hadn't they all agreed to put their trust into the chosen children that had gained the digimentals? He knew that they all had their own way of handling things but this was too much of a risk. How had that boy changed the mind of the oldest of the Harmonious Ones?
Qinglongmon's thoughts were again interrupted by the shining dark digimon coming to attack him. This time he sent down bolts of lighting to fend off his attacker. As they were still attacks, they could be dodged but his main aim was to just keep the dragon-man distracted.
Back on the ground, Takeru was fairing off much worse than the ones in the air. Lightning kept striking within feet of his location. He couldn't help but jerk away from the flashes that erupted near his face. The cracking of the air around him along with the bright light, disoriented him enough that he lost his own positioning. He kept jerking from left to right and, backwards and forwards to the lighting's will.
While the battle hadn't been as physically taxing as the fight he had with BlackWarGreymon, the mental strain was much grater. Even without touching him the lighting strikes almost fried his senses. Senses, that already had to put up with managing the different powers he was using. Dealing with the constant threat of electrocution wasn't helping.
He looked to BlackWarGreymon to see that he was still dodging lighting strikes. If they wanted to win, they'd have to hit Qinglongmon with his strongest attack. The only problem was that they didn't have the time. He had already thought of a small plan but he'd have to work in perfect sync with the dark digimon. He may have been able to support the monster but working together like he did with MagnaAngemon would be impossible.
One strike almost caught him off guard but we was able to dodge backwards. What he hadn't noticed, was the space between him and the barrier. Once again, his back brushed against the blue electric field. The dampness he had acquired made the shock just as bad as the first one. As he felt he limbs turn numb, he was struck with inspiration. If he couldn't complete his own connection with BlackWarGreymon, then he would be the conductor for another.
Takeru struggled to fish his digivice out of his right pocket. His right hand shook as he rose it up to BlackWarGreymon. He couldn't get a good lock with his hand shaking as bad as it was. "Stay still!" he grunted as he steadied is right arm with his left hand. As he focused on the black dragon-man, his right bangle shown from black to blue. "BlackWarGreymon!" he yelled, "Terra Destroyer!" A flash of blue washed over the entire area.
The onlookers slightly covered their eyes as the blue light over took them. The only one who could make out things perfectly was Arukenimon. She saw the boy raise his digivice and watched as a blue dragon made of pure electricity shoot out towards the black dragon-man who was charging his attack. She watched as it devoured it's target but it didn't destroy him. From what she could see, the dark warrior had absorbed the energy but wasn't doing anything to him at all. The pure sight however made the gigantic Mega digimon stop it's attack once again.
Qinglongmon was just as blown away as everyone else. His shock however, came from what the boy was actually doing. The child was using the barrier's electricity and acting as a conductor to send the Mega's own powers through the digivice, to the black aggressor. He watched as his barrier recede into the blond and into the dark dragon-man. Even if the dark digimon had some of his power, that wouldn't be enough to protect him for his lighting bolts. The blue dragon sent down another to stop the attack.
BlackWarGreymon's Terra Destroyer took the attack head on and collected the electric energy. He was surprised he could even fully absorb the attack, yet he felt he could take another. He remembered the last attack he had received from the angel and condensed the heated orb into a smaller compact form. That would focus the energy onto itself instead of letting it leak onto him like the first time he had ever received a lighting attack.
Takeru could only pant at thinking about how much electricity that had literally just ran through his body. He could only grin at the thought of this risky plan starting to pay off. It was now or never if he was planing to win this.
He released a calming breath as he stretched his left hand out to the soup pond. The bangle flashed green with the twist of his palm facing the sky. With the yell of, "Dragon Wave," and a lift of his forearm, a brown dragon of holy soup sprung from the pond and flew to the skies.
The soupy dragon fallowed the movement's of the boy's left arm. As he focused on the blue monster and tightened his grip, the soup dragon bit down on it's target. With a tug that pulled his arm to his side, the soup dragon pulled the blue beast downward.
It was incomplete but the boy could still use Xuanwumon's strongest attack. It was only about a fourth as powerful, but it still sent chills along Qinglongmon's scales. He struggled with the attack but still didn't lose focus on the things around him. He sent down another strike of lighting at BlackWarGreymon who was still readying his attack.
This would be the third attack that BlackWarGreymon's Terra Destroyer would be taking. He didn't think he would have lasted this long. He was prepared for his attack to break apart when he noticed that he didn't feel anything coming. In fact, he noticed that even the rain had stopped falling. He looked up to see large amounts of water swirling above him in and uncompleted sphere. As the lighting struck through the water, it dissipated until only a little spark hit his attack.
The dark warrior looked back to the blond to find him now, reaching out with his right hand at the space where the water spun. He made eye contact with the boy and saw him flick his eyes upward. He quickly caught on and flung his orb into the circling water.
The water enclosed the sparking, heated orb into it's own electrified, watery sphere. It's red core shown through the water like a sunset through a window. The constant sparks of electricity that dressed the core and ran randomly on water only accented it's power. It was as breathtaking as it was destructive.
Qinglongmon watched in silence at the scene before him. He had not expected for things to reach this far. He had not expected the boy to be a link between the black dragon-man and himself. He certainly hadn't expected for his own power to be used against him like this.
He watched BlackWarGreymon, who had drastically changed from the dark digimon that instantly rushed him when they had met just minutes ago. The digimon had not only found his own source of power but even allowed another to aid him.
That's when the blue dragon's eyes looked down to the boy that had started it all. It was unbelievable to think he could manage so many different power's at one time. He had brought out BlackWarGreymon's dark potential with his words and used his own body as an example. He had used Dagomon's darkness and Xuanwumon's power of water multiple times. The thing that amazed him the most was that he had used his own darkness as a trigger just so he could use them to the best of his ability. Finally was the use of the barrier to make a better connection to BlackWarGreymon through the holy dragon himself.
Right at that moment, the boy caught eyes with the holy dragon. The dragon could see them spark with a familiar golden light. A light that could lead to the destruction of the entire digital world if used poorly. While the boy had proven himself dozens of times over in this fight, he didn't want to let go of his own pride. He had been the one to push for the chosen children to save their world and he would stand by it. They had already proven themselves as well, and he didn't want their efforts, or his beliefs to be wasted.
Qinglongmon let out a mighty roar and shook off the brown soupy dragon that fell back into the pond. If the boy and dragon-man were going to give more than even their bests to fight him, the least he could do was hit them with his strongest attack. He circled himself within the clouds and a light shown down onto the land beneath him. It's was as if a spotlight had shined is rays down on to two main characters for their final climatic moment.
Takeru and BlackWarGreymon watched as their enemy generated energy their own attack. They would have loved to have sent theirs out already but they were having a hard enough time keeping it from falling apart. It was as fragile as it was powerful. It infinitely surpassed something that could only destroy the ground beneath it. At the signal of, "Now!" BlackWarGreymon threw the powerful orb to the clouds.
Together, both boy and digimon shouted the name of their combined attack, "Void Generator!"
It touched the shining clouds with a great force. It tried to fight through the gathered energy but the attack could never full push through. The boom of, "Aurora Force!" cause a flash to engulf the whole area. Everyone on the ground had to brace themselves with whatever was closest to them not be blown away by the clashing forces.
When the light died down everyone looked up to find the gigantic, blue dragon resting, once again covered by clouds. It looked a little worse for wear but it still carried it's dignified presence. Their eyes quickly, fell and started scanning for the boy and the dark warrior. They didn't have to look far because they stood practically where the fight had began. At least Takeru was still standing even if his head was hung, panting. BlackWarGreymon was lied out on his back, also out of breath. The two's exhaustion was the most audible thing in the forest.
Takeru looked over to his dark partner with the sclera of his eyes once again blue and his teeth less sharp. "It feels good, doesn't it?" he huffed.
BlackWarGreymon turned his head to the boy. He saw that his eyes had once again become stoic but a grin still graced his lips. They had suffered a complete loss and the kid could still make that kind of face. "It's not too bad," he exhaled. The dark dragon-man slowly got to his feet and stared down at the boy. "You once again, have my thanks," he looked up to the gigantic Mega digimon, "both of you. More so than just knowing I have one, I'm closer to knowing what my purpose for existing truly is."
"Then what are you planing on doing now?"
BlackWarGreymon looked towards the sky with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I may now know what I'm doing, but I want to really understand why. I still have many questions, but I'm now on the right path." The dark dragon-man rose into the air. "I can't say that we won't be fighting each other the next time we meet, however no matter what, I'll be looking forward to the next time that we do." With a spirit filled yell, he broke through the clouds, off to find a reason for his future battles.
"Well, won't that be nice?" Takeru said twirling the bangle on his right hand on his finger. He turned around at the commotion that started behind him. Arukenimon and Mummymon had run off after BlackWarGreymon, while his friends were running to him. He was about to say something until he dropped the holy item. He quickly brought his hand up to his mouth but it wasn't enough to keep the contents of his stomach from shooting out. He too had been brought to the ground, gripping at the grass beneath him to steady himself.
The others saw this and rushed faster to their vomiting comrade. They watched as he palmed at his face as a look of confusion and pain washed over it. Iori and Tokomon were the first to reach him and tried to reach out to the boy. The blond just held his hand up to keep them at a distance as he violently vomited again.
Hikari saw this and circled around to the boy's back. She lent down and rubbed at his back to try and sooth him. He was extremely cold and damp. He had been in that heavy rain for quite a while but he couldn't have gotten this sick that quickly. The light rubbing didn't help as he once again discharged from his mouth. The only good thing to be seen was that this seemed to be the last time. She watched as her friend panted and tried to wipe off his hand against the grass.
"It seems those powers really are too much for you," Qinglongmon spoke up. "How many different powers did you switch between during that fight? How much power do you think ran through your body when you made that last attack?"
"What do you mean?" Hikari asked holding on to the blond who was just now calming down.
"Let us use digicores as an example. Each digimon has a core that acts like a soul for you humans, their heart," the dragon Mega started to explain. "We Harmonious Ones have twelve, but it's not the number that matters but the difference between them. All of those twelve digicores are the same but that boy as of right now is running around with at least two different ones inside him."
"But isn't that the same as DNA digivolving, when two digimon combine together? Is it because he's a human?" Iori asked on the other side of the boy.
"Not entirely, when two digimon digivolve together they combine their two cores into one. Even if they just combine normally, they are still two different minds working together in one body. What this boy is doing is taking control of a core all by himself. His single mind is taking on the taxation of having two all by itself. The problem only multiplies when he constantly switches between them or when one of them is incompatible with the others."
Ken perked up at the last bit. If Takaishi was using holy items, then were did that dark power come from? "Are you talking about that dark power?" The power that gave off the same feeling as that dark ocean.
"Exactly, if he had just kept using his own darkness like his first attack, it would have been fine. The holy bindings can contain a certain amount of darkness on their own. However, the darkness he called out to on his second attempt came from Dagomon's digicore. It's natural darkness clashes with our natural light."
"I don't understand what you mean by our light?" Miyako added not wanting to be left out.
"Through the Holy Stone the boy has gained a connection to us Harmonious Ones. He's connected to both our light and our darkness, however one greatly overwhelms the other. If he wears their holy binding, he gains a stronger connection to whomever controls that current stone. That's why when he took this one, his eyes flashed blue and he was able to channel the power of my barrier through his digivice."
"Then he'll be just fine later?" Daisuke asked looking slightly worried.
"If he just leaves things be and doesn't try to hard, he should be fine. However, if he does keep using and acquiring power, his mind may shatter under the strain or be devoured by one of the cores within him. Also…." The dragon trailed off thinking to himself.
He might get the boy to stop if his friends could convince him to. It was true that his own being was in danger but the other power the boy held within himself was a danger to the entire digital world. From what the blond had displayed, that outcome was unlikely but it still bothered the dragon enough to do something about it.
"For someone so stoic, you sure do talk a lot," Takeru slowly rose to his feet. "Xuanwumon really wanted me to do was just connect to you, all of you" as he stood up he grabbed the holy binding. "You can have this back," he tossed the thing back to the Holy Stone. It carefully fit it self back onto the rock.
Takeru stared up at the dragon that had just spilled a lot of information he hadn't wanted the others to know about. He glared with his normal blue, if not slightly puff eyes. "Xuanwumon told me you could be long winded and shy to act, but this is ridiculous. Throughout that whole fight, you kept thinking about what the worst outcome of me gaining these powers could be. Yet, you never really thought about stopping me in any way, or changing my mind on the matter. Even when I was holding back."
The azure dragon looked down at the boy with an almost regretful gaze. His mind had wondered many times throughout their battle. The only time he focused on stopping the boy was in the final attack. Whether it was because pride, worry, or curiosity, he never thought about fixing the problem himself. The boy didn't even plan on taking his powers for himself. They had both been trying to understand each other but it seems the boy got a better grasp on his character than the other way around.
"It doesn't matter really. Being forced into a state of inactivity could do that to anyone," Takeru sighed. "It seems like it was too early to challenge you to a fight holding back or not. At least we both got to know each other better." He went and picked up Tokomon and put his hat back on his head. He started making his way back to the china town, "you still have some things to say to the others, right? I'll head back first and wait for you guys." He was then rushed by Digitamamon and his companion. They would escort him back to their shop as thanks.
"Child," Qinglongmon called out. He had one more question he needed to answer. "When Xuanwumon gave you the choice of working with the four of us directly, why didn't you accept his offer?"
Takeru turned back around with a smirk on his face, "because it's something the chosen can handle by ourselves without me going behind their backs." He gave his friends a light glance, "If you want to be more upfront with your help, I'm all for it."
"And the reason you declined the choice to release your powers to him? To give those powers back to the world." Just like the boy, the Harmonious Ones had a connection to the world. Just as he could gain power from them, he could give them back.
Takeru turned away from the dragon's gaze, "you remember the ending to the tale of the two dragons? To me it's ending lacked a bit of resolution from it's title characters. I guess you could say it left a bad taste in my mouth, is all."
Qinglongmon stared at the boy for what seemed like an eternity. Would he really go digging up the past for such a petty reason? Would he really put the digital world at risk for something settled so long ago. He knew he didn't have it in him to stop the boy who had be chosen to save their world along with his companions. He would just have to hope that the boy would make the right choices and not willingly tamper with things he shouldn't.
"Don't let your eyes become clouded by the darkness child," the dragon spoke finally. "You'll lose yourself to it and may not escape."
"The same to you," Takeru added prompting the egg digimon into finally moving. "Don't be blinded by the light and loose track of what your really trying to accomplish."
The others watched as their friend walked out of the bamboo forest. More questions had arisen than before but were directed to someone completely different. What had their friend gotten himself into? Hadn't they just saved the digital world again.
The group had made their way back to the Chinese restaurant and found their friend eyeing a large mountain of Chinese buns. Oddly enough, the blond seemed to have dried his cloths out. He wore a pensive look while Tokomon helped himself to some buns he had on the side. He had looked over and called out for them to join him. They were now circled around the table with their partners enjoying the snack Digitamamon had made for them.
The only one who hadn't eaten anything but was watching the buns the closest was Takeru. His thoughts came to a halt when he could smell a bun coming directly from his left. He looked over and saw Ken handing him one.
"You should eat at least one," Ken handed over the steaming bun.
"Thanks," The blond looked down at the snack. "I was just worried I might… you know."
"Well if you do, I'll take responsibility and help you to the bathroom."
Takeru gave a light chuckle, "it's not like I have hair that would need to be held back." He took a bite of the bun and savored the taste. "These are really good. No wonder Tokomon's been scarfing them down."
Hikari looked over at the two boys who seemed to be enjoying themselves. Her eyes stayed locked on the blond who was slowly picking up the pace of his eating. The words the holy dragon had just told them ran through her mind. Other than the explanation he gave on their new digivices and the state of the digital world, he had spoken again about their friend who had left.
He had talked about their crests being different from the rest. Light brought life to the world. Hope kept that light shining even within the darkness. That's how he had described her friend at the moment. A very bright light in a very dark place. Yet again, he had cause her to become frightened and she didn't like it. Before she had thought that it was for his safety like normal, but the more she thought about it, the more it became of him. Of a darkness so foreign to his person, yet it seemed to fit him so naturally that it unsettled her.
She couldn't just sit there and twiddle her thumbs like nothing was happening. If there was one thing she had learned from Miyako, it was to be more honest with herself. She thought she had done a good job back when he gotten hurt protecting the Holy Stone the first time. It didn't seem like he had lied to her at that time but he also didn't share his new information about what he had done in the past few days either. She wasn't just going to sit there and wait for something bad to happened like with the dark ocean. She wouldn't let it take Takeru just like he wouldn't let it take her.
"Takeru," Hikari scooted her chair closer and whispered to the boy, "I think we should talk about what happened back at the Holy Stone."
"I would also like to know," responded Ken with an equally low voice.
The blond in question looked at the two with careful glances. He really didn't want to go over every thing that had just transpired in the past few days. Especially seeing how these two would mostly want to hear about the dark ocean. It was expected that his friends wold want to know more about what was going on. They wanted to help but this wasn't something he felt they could do anything about. It wasn't something they should be expected to do anything about. What he hadn't expected was for Daisuke to chime in too.
"What are you guys being so quiet for?" he asked over the dwindled mountain of Chinese buns. "Your not having secret team meetings are you?"
"No Daisuke, Takeru was about to explain why he fought Qinglongmon," Iori cut in. It appeared that he had been listening in on their conversation that hadn't even got started.
"Jeez Daisuke, what will we do if he doesn't want to tell us now." Miyako had also dialed in on what was happening. "I knew Hikari would be able to get him to spill but he might not feel like telling all of us. At least not all at once."
Daisuke looked over the table at both Takeru and Hikari who had seemed to have gotten closer. "Why's it always got to be you two? First with your crests, and now then with that dark ocean, not to mention with unsealing that blue dragon." Daisuke caught his breath while the others stared at him for his outburst. "Wait, I mean, can't you tell the rest of us as well. I still don't really know what's going on after that long speech. Who are we supposed to be watching out of if not Arukenimon and Mummymon?"
Takeru leaned back in his chair with a long sigh. This was going to be a long afternoon.
He started with the dark ocean seeing how the others had already found out about what had happened in the Holy Stone. News seemed to travel fast within their group of friends when one seemed to be doing poorly. He expertly talked around the part of the sea god wanting Hikari as some sort of paint tool or maybe even something worse. He then fallowed up with a very abridged version of how he met and talked to Xuanwumon. He wanted to tell them the whole truth but it was something they didn't need to know that right now. They would find out soon enough.
The last bit of information he had left out was more personal, but he didn't tell them about the cloak he had gotten. They didn't need to know how he absorbed powers from digimon. He had left out the part of absorbing Dagomon because that didn't effect his status over the dark ocean. He had gone out of his way to even hide it when he was fighting Qinglongmon. It was slightly embarrassing to suddenly be walking around with a cloak. His cloths always changed to something normal when in the digital world. He'd rather not remind them of the Digimon Kaiser.
While he had taken the holy brace to get a better connection to the dragon Mega, it also kept him from releasing enough power to activate the embarrassing garment. It had held back his power out put slightly but he hadn't planned on defeating the beast and taking his power anyway. Especially not with his friends watching. His next planed meeting had even been to the opposite direction of the dragon of the east.
"So… Dagomon, was it?" Ken asked. "He wasn't the other dark force we needed to watch out for?"
"Seeing as I killed him, I guess not," Takeru took a sip of his water for what felt like the hundredth time.
"It's not you, is it?" Daisuke chuckled.
"Daisuke!" Hikari almost yelled. She didn't even want think about that. Takeru had managed to defeat the master of those monsters that had taken her to that dark world the first time. Even if he had gotten it's power, there was no way it could change him. She kept telling herself that, yet she couldn't seem to truly believe it.
Iori ignored the now sulking goggled boy, "what about the story of the two dragons?"
Takeru got up and motioned for them to be head for the door. The sun was starting to set. "That's going to have to be a story for another time," he said while opening the door.
"But didn't he mention stuff about darkness and destruction?" Miyako asked trying to straighten everything out.
"He talks like I'm some risk but all of us are connected to those dragons. Sure, unlike them I have a higher chance of going out of control from lack of experience but I think I'll be just fine. However, it doesn't make them feel better knowing that I'm now connected to the dark ocean."
"Well you and Iori can DNA digivolve now so I'm sure he can keep an eye on you," Daisuke mused. "You won't have use all of those weird powers anyway."
"Actually…" Takeru slowly came to a stop, letting his friends pass in front of him. "I'm thinking about staying in the digital world to see the other Harmonious Ones," he told them. He was responded by a choruses of, "whats." He started walking again, pushing the group forward. "I need to talk to all of them about what's going on. I hadn't even planed on meeting Qinglongmon today. Winter break is coming up and I'm thinking of taking off the week before school ends."
"Isn't that a bit much?" Hikari asked.
"I'm also going to need time to look over the dark ocean as well. Not to mention I have to actually find the beasts." Takeru was then greeted by a bunch of requests to join him on his little expedition.
"Okay, first off, how many of you can afford to miss a week of school?" Everyone but Daisuke held up their hand. "And who can tell their parents that's it's to go to some digital world full of monsters?" Now, everyone's hand but Hikari's went down. "Finally, who would leave their DNA partner behind to do something extremely selfish without thinking of anyone else's feelings?" As Hikari's hand was about to go down she realized Takeru's trick. If she went along with him, it wouldn't be fair to Miyako but it would be for his sake.
"You won't slip past me, Takaishi," she warned. "If your going to that dark world then at least me or Ken deserve to go."
"But I make a good point, don't I? You don't know when that real threat will attack next so we can't go splitting up as we like. I going to find the other Harmonious Ones so I don't turn into a burden for you guys."
"But we would never think of you as a burden." As she finished that sentence, Hikari caught a nasty glare from the blond. It told her that this wasn't about them or what they thought of him. She read him loud and clear, and glared back just as hard. "Fine then! Go off by yourself if you want to." She walked off towards the gate with Plotmon.
"Hikari wait up," Miyako gave chase with Pururumon. "I'm sure he has he reasons, as stupid as they might be."
The other three boys were shocked at what had just happened. The air grew stale as they slowly settled into awkwardness. "Could I ask the two of you to give us a moment?" Iori asked Daisuke and Ken. The two older boys glanced at each other and looked awkwardly at the blond. They went on their way to the gate, not wanting to be apart of the tense atmosphere any longer.
Iori took a deep breath and gathered himself. His hold on Tsubumon shifted as he looked for the right words.
Takeru however, beat him to it, "sorry…" The blond stood there starting at the younger boy. Remorse laid within his eyes. "We just figured out DNA digivolving and I'm leaving you out to dry. You even said some really nice things about me and I'm just proving them to be wrong."
Iori seriously thought over everything Takeru had told him. "It's not your fault, not really," he spoke. "I wouldn't want to be a danger to anyone else either, especially my friends. Even now, you're still thinking about everyone or at least someone other than yourself."
"It's more than that. I think that the person who had prepared to fight by himself, even without a DNA digimon, can handle himself without me," Takeru gave a sly smirk. "Especially now that he's got his act together." Iori could only be slightly embarrassed by the complement.
"By the way, you didn't really answer my question about the story of the two dragons. Why did the ending upset you so much?"
Takeru looked over with slight amusement, "I was just being cheeky. When really thinking about the whole situation, there are lots of reasons." Takeru gained a really thoughtful look in his eyes. "But the main reason would have to be the promise I made within the Holy Stone. I have to make sure I keep it."
Iori couldn't really fallow along. The whole situation in the Holy Stone sounded to surreal to him. Hearing it offhand from someone who had only heard about it, might not have helped. The two finally made their way to the gate. "Out of curiosity, which Harmonious One are you going to meet next?"
A smile crept to the blond's face. "The order might have gotten messed up but I plan on seeing the one I've wanted to meet the most. The white tiger of the west, Baihumon."
AN: This story has reached a point of no return. Human on digimon violence will now be in full effect. I know this can turn some people off but I don't really mind it myself as long as it fits well enough. I really enjoyed the more aggressive Savers series, and looking back on all of them, I don't think I'm going too far. Especially considering what happens later within the 02 series, but that's something I'll have to get to.
This was quite the chapter. I had to set it up within itself and enough for the next chapter because we'll be doing some skipping around again. I guess the middle of the story would have the most meat but the amount of exposition this time around really bothered me.
I also had to deal with a lot of character building. I wrapped up BlackWarGreymon finally but then I can't leave Qinglongmon hanging. Takeru is the main character so obviously something had to go their. Iori was the standout side character in this chapter for me personally. I'm glad could portray BlackWarGreymon's hesitation being different for him than it was for Takeru.
The fight scene was the hardest part next to all the plot I dumped on the story. I can put in all the mechanics I want. I can make the smallest of changes be expressed in details, but I still need to give them some sort of explanation later. I always feel like I messing up the pacing when I write about them.
The fight itself was fine. It may have been slow getting here, but Takeru has finally grown enough to be a threat to other digimon by himself. Yet, to get here and even within this chapter, it was shown by supporting other characters. That's something I never want to lose when writing for this series. The support between the human and their digimon should be the most important in a fight, no matter what series it is. Except for maybe Frontier but that even shoved some in too.
For something fun, I originally wanted to name that combination attack, Oceanus Force. To mattch the latin word for, Terra. (Already knows about the attack Posaidon Force) The early stages were more focused on finding synonyms for destroyer; eraser was pretty tempting. However, then I thought about how it was more than just a water attack, so I decided to relate it back to the story as a whole. After decided on the first word being, void, I still needed a synonym for destory. But you don't destroy voids, not generally, so I got an antonym.
I really didn't need any more words in this chapter but I hope you enjoyed, yet another chapter. How does, Void Generator, fit into the story? Keep reading to find out. More than the next chapter though. That just covers the world tour arc; if it even get's that far.