It was a nice, simple day in Tokyo save for one big problem. A giant cactus with boxing gloves was currently attacking an elementary school just as the day had ended and the people were about to head home. But the children and staff members felt safe as the city's local heroes, Akari, Cho and their most recent addition, Chise, were currently in the midst of battle with the plant.
All the while, a certain woman stood before a camera and said, "We are live at Takanawadai Elementary school where a humanoid cactus is threatening the children of all people. But luckily for us, our young and able heroes are here to stop this threat that the police cannot."
The cactus spun around and unleashed a barrage of needles toward the three as Akari simply leapt high enough to avoid them and Chise tucked herself into her shell and block the incoming projectiles.
However, the only one who did not seem to have a completely effective way of going about this was Cho who simply ducked down in the hopes that they would miss. This did prove effective to a certain degree until one needle ended up flying just low enough to grab her by the collar of her vest. This ended up launching her back thus forcing her up against the wall of a house located across the street.
"CHO!" Chise and Akari exclaimed in panic only for the blue-haired girl to retort, "Don't worry! I'm fine!"
To prove this, Cho simply removed her arms from under the vest and decided to leave it behind. After all, just like her boxing gloves, she knew it would come back the next time she transformed.
Seeing that its needles had failed, the cactus simply held up its arms defensively and waited for a good time to strike. Akari and Chise, not really knowing much about boxing, did not know what this meant and as such, the two were trying to find an opening to exploit.
However, before they could do so, Cho ran over to the two and patted them both on the shoulders, saying, "Guys, let me handle this. I may be more of a wrestling fan, but I know a thing or two about boxing. After all, thanks to my super form, I'm now a professional."
Akari nodded with a warm smile and replied, "Okay, take it away. You're the expert," as Chise nodded and gave her friend thumbs up.
With that, Cho smirked and rushed toward the cactus, rolling up into a ball. But rather than using her Rolling Upper, it seemed this was a trick to fake out the cactus as when it moved its gloves in front of its chest to defend itself, Cho instead sent a hard punch into the Digimon's face.
Akari and Chise along with all of the students cheered wildly. However, it seemed this cactus had better reflexes than Cho had expected as it immediately retaliated by sending a hard uppercut into Cho's gut while she was still airborne.
With the girl now distracted, the cactus proceeded to send a barrage of rapid-paced punched into her thus sending her careening into a lamp post. The people stared in horror as Cho coughed up blood, a look of shock on her face while she breathed heavily.
Seeing their friend in need of help, Chise and Akari nodded at one-another before rushing toward the cactus. And once again, the Digimon sported a defensive stance, ready to counter at any time.
With that, Chise proceeded to tuck into her shell and roll toward the cactus only for the plant to retaliate with a hard punch, sending her flying. Luckily, thanks to her shell, this ended up dealing minimal damage while the cactus was distracted long enough to Akari to deliver a hard strike, shouting, "LIGHTNING PAW!"
The cactus' eyes and mouth widened as it fell hard on its back, its eyes forming into X's while its body turned into data and vanished from the area. The people all cheered while the reporter said, "It looked like a close one, but as always, our heroes have saved us."
Akari took a deep breath and smiled happily at all the cheering elementary students. The smiling faces of children always filled her with glee no matter what the reason for it was. However, Chise was simply trying her hardest to hide how much she was blushing right now. Needless to say, this was the first time anyone had applauded her for anything so naturally, the girl was feeling rather embarrassed right now.
However, Cho did not feel she deserved any credit right now as she had a look of disappointment on her face. Chise noticed this and was about to say something when suddenly, the reporter came up to her with her microphone at the ready.
"So, you're the newest addition to the team," the woman said, "Could you tell me where you came from? You heroes always seem to appear out of the blue."
Chise's blush brightened as she murmured, "Um..." only for Akari to step in front of the camera and say, "I'm terribly sorry, but that's a secret we can't just share with anyone. I hope you understand."
The reporter nodded and replied, "Well, superheroes do operate in mysterious ways, so I will not press for more information. I am Juri and you are watching the Tokyo News."
"You're supposed to say that at the start of the announcement," the cameraman remarked as the woman rolled her eyes, leaving the area now that there was nothing else to report.
Soon enough, the trio was headed home as Chise called up Yae and assured her she was okay. As it just so happened, the woman had recently seen the news report and was worried that Chise might have been in that general area.
"It's fine, I've just been doing some extra schoolwork with my friend," Chise stated as Yae replied, "That's wonderful, honey. Maybe you should bring them over sometime so I can meet them."
Chise immediately turned to the two as Akari nodded her head, saying, "I'd like that," Cho simply giving a light nod as she was still feeling rather down after what had happened.
Once the call was over, Chise looked at the blue-haired girl with concern and asked, "Is something wrong?"
Akari blinked and looked at Cho as well before giving her friend a warm smile and saying, "Don't feel too bad. You did a great job."
"No I didn't," Cho remarked as the two stared at her with concern, the blue-haired girl adding, "You two did all the hard work. I didn't do anything."
"You did plenty," Akari remarked, "I probably wouldn't have won if you hadn't softened it up."
Cho simply rolled her eyes and retorted, "I know you're trying to cheer me up, but that won't make up for the fact that I barely did a thing. I was so sure I could win that fight on my own but I couldn't."
"Well, none of us can truly win by ourselves," Akari replied, "That's why we fight as a team."
"Yeah, but is that really something to be proud of?" Cho asked, Chise and Akari both staring in confusion as the blue-haired girl added, "Akari, you remember when we saw Fukuko fight, right? Before she came face-to-face with that snake, she was able to defeat Digimon by herself. Hell, if what she told us is true, she always fought on her own back in her hometown and she fought many Digimon there! She was able to win fights by herself and yet not even I, someone who's been fighting her own battles since she was six can stand up to a single Digimon by herself, not even in my super form when fighting another martial artist!"
"But you did beat that snake by yourself," Akari stated with a smile only for Cho to roll her eyes and sigh, "Yeah, but only after Fukuko softened it up for me."
Akari tried to respond but had to admit that Cho had a point. They had only seen Fukuko fight and win two battles while Akari had heard of another win when her father was attacked, yet for all three of those fights, Fukuko had fought by herself with no one to help her.
"Oh yeah, she's the rabbit girl from the news, right?" Chise asked as Akari nodded and smiled warmly, saying, "Don't forget, though, she had a lot of experience."
"That wasn't the only reason," Cho remarked, "She was fine when fighting that weak bat thing, but when she fought that dinosaur, remember, she couldn't even hurt it at first. Now, with that in mind, she couldn't have possibly won and yet she did, and do you remember how she did it?"
Akari stared silently, clearly not seeing where Cho was going as the blue-haired girl barked, "It was because of that other transformation!"
Chise and Akari both stared before Akari nodded and uttered, "Oh yeah, she had another form."
"Exactly," Cho replied, "And that form made her stronger. Even against that snake, she didn't stand even the smallest of chances before taking on that form. Do you see where I'm going with this?"
Akari said nothing and bit her lower lip while Cho grunted, "If I could figure out how to change into a stronger form myself, I'd be able to hold my own in battle, but Fukuko never told us how it worked!"
With that, the girl took a deep breath and said, "I'm going for a walk, alright? You two can head home yourselves," Akari and Chise watching in silence as Cho headed away from them with her hands in her pockets.
Akari and Chise looked at one-another with concern in their eyes, but just as Chise was about to go after her friend, Akari rested a hand on her shoulder. Akari had already pointed out every bright side she could. Now it was up to Cho to figure out her next course of action.
When the blue-haired girl returned home, her parents happily greeted her as her mother asked, "So, you stay a little longer for studying?" Cho nodding and replying, "Yeah."
"That's my girl," her father replied with a grin, "I tell you, Sakura, our daughter is going places."
However, both parents looked concerned when they saw Cho's face. It seemed like their daughter was struggling to look happy, as if something was wrong.
"Cho, honey, is there something troubling you?" the girl's mother, Sakura, asked, Cho laughing nervously and replying, "Oh, it's just a big test we have to take soon. I'm gonna need some extra cramming to get ready for it."
Both parents smiled in response to this as her father said, "I tell you, I get more and more proud of her everyday," his wife nodding and replying, "Still, I do feel a little guilty, Kenichi."
"What do you mean?" the man, Kenichi, asked, his eyes widening as he nodded and said, "Oh yeah, you mean how it wasn't us who helped her realize how smart she could be."
"I'm so happy that Akari came into Cho's life," Sakura said with a bright smile, "She's made our little girl so much happier and helped her so much. But at the same time, I feel like she knows our daughter better than we do."
Kenichi nodded and sighed, "I've noticed lately, Cho has not been spending much time with us."
"Well, don't forget, she has formed a study group with her friends," Sakura replied, Kenichi chuckling and replying, "Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that."
Both parents went silent and stared at each-other for a few seconds before sporting big smiles and exclaiming, "Let's help her study!"
However, Cho was not really studying. Right now, she was lying on her bed and looking at posters of all of her favourite wrestlers. Looking at each one reminded her of a different match that each fighter was in.
She remembered how one of them pulled out an intense submission hold and earned himself a come-from-behind victory. She also remembered how one of her favourite female wrestlers defeated a very tough opponent without taking in so much as a single hit. So many other memories flooded back to her mind as she took a deep breath, thinking about how much better they seemed than her.
All of them had won by themselves. They did not have help during their fights. It was strictly one-on-one, and even against some of the toughest opponents, they mostly came out on top. How we they so good at this when Cho could not handle such a thing even with super powers?
Her train of thought was soon cut off when suddenly, the door opened up and her parents entered with smiles on their faces. However, their smiles faded when they noticed their daughter lying on her bed looking depressed.
"Hey, Cho," Sakura uttered, "We came to help you study, but it seems you're done already," Cho taking a deep breath and asking, "Mom, Dad, be honest. Am I strong?"
The adults stared at her for a while until Kenichi replied, "What are you talking about? Of course you're strong. Seriously, you can beat me at arm wrestling. How many others have managed to pull that off?"
"I think better proof is the fact that you can beat me at arm wrestling," Sakura stated with a smirk as Kenichi sighed, "Oh, right, you have."
"Well, I just don't know," Cho uttered as Kenichi's eyes widened, the man retorting, "Oh, I know what this is! Look, honey, just because you're smarter doesn't mean you're weaker! I'm impressed you went this long without needing to hear that."
Sakura rolled her eyes and asked, "Why do you really think you're weak?"
Cho looked into her mother's eyes and asked, "Remember the day Akari and I met, how I saved her from a group of bullies?"
Cho remembered the day as if it had happened yesterday. Akari was eight and drawing pictures in the sandbox with a stick during recess. However, just as she had finished a rather beautiful picture of an angel, a pair of tough boys walked over to the area and stomped on it just to make her upset.
However, they were surprised that it did not work, Akari smiling bright and saying, "That looks like fun. I'll just go somewhere else to draw."
Even at the age of eight, Akari always tried her best to be friendly, even to those who did not deserve it. Unfortunately, the boys were disappointed by this reaction as one of them grabbed her by the arm, holding on rather tight.
"Um, you're hurting me," Akari uttered as the boy gritted his teeth, barking, "What's wrong with you, you stupid girl!? We just killed your picture! Why aren't you crying!?"
"Why would I cry about something like that?" Akari asked as the boy lifted his hand and retorted, "If that won't make you cry, then I'll give you something to really cry about!"
But just as the boy was about to poke Akari in the eye, Cho rushed into the scene and tackled him to the ground. After that, she proceeded to grab hold of his arms and pull them behind his neck for a full nelson.
The boy's friend fled from the area while the victim cried 'Uncle'. Cho smirked and released her hold on him as he fled for his life, letting down tears. Akari stared in silence, a big smile forming on her face.
But just as she was about to say something, Cho felt a hand on her shoulder as she turned and noticed a teacher standing there with a serious look in her eyes. The girl gulped as she knew what had happened, Akari watching with her eyes wide open as the blue-haired girl was led inside the school, soon to be sent to the office.
Needless to say her parents were called in to have a word with the principal. They promised to punish Cho for her actions, but ultimately, they had no intention of doing so. After all, Cho had only acted out to protect someone and that was the only time her parents would be okay with her using violence in school.
While the family left the office, Akari stood there with the same bright smile from before and said, "Thank you so much. You were really cool back there."
Cho smiled and replied, "Don't mention it," and thus the friendship between Cho and Akari was born. And the two had remained best friends since then.
A week later after the two had been spending recess together, Akari invited Cho over to her house so her parents could meet her. Needless to say, it was a pleasant experience with Kenta and Yumi giving their guest the best treatment any parent could give a visiting child.
It was during this time that Cho noticed a ton of assignments with one-hundred percent scores posted on the fridge. Seeing as Akari had no siblings, she very quickly realized whose assignments those were.
"Wow, you're really smart, aren't you?" Cho asked as Akari blushed and replied, "Well, my mommy's been helping me out a lot. During the Summer, she home-schools me."
Cho's eyes widened as she asked, "I have a Math test coming up soon... and a writing test and a Science test and-"
"Okay, I'll help you study," Akari replied with a big smile, Cho's eyes sparkling in response to this.
"And from that moment on, she helped shape me into the student I never thought I could be," Cho said with a smirk, "I was okay getting nothing but C's, but she brought me up to an A student in no time and in return, I would always protect her from harm."
"Yes, you've both helped each-other out in many ways," Sakura replied, "I see that as a very good friendship."
"Yeah, but I'm starting to think maybe she doesn't need me anymore," Cho replied with a sigh, Kenichi remarking, "Now, why would you think that?"
Cho realized she could not tell the full truth, so she thought up a good cover story and said, "Well, earlier this week, Akari was being picked on by a couple of bullies who tried to steal her textbook. They were very strong, so when I came in to help, they overpowered me."
"They did what!?" Kenichi asked as his wife gave him a cold look, the man clearing his throat and sighing, "Honey, it might be hard to believe, but there are times when even the strongest of people can't always win."
"Well, that's not the only thing that happened," Cho uttered, the parents giving their full attention as she added, "See, after I had been beaten, Akari proceeded to take both of them by herself and get her textbook back. She managed to beat them in a fight when I didn't even stand a chance."
"Wait, little, pacifistic Akari did that with her own strength?" Kenichi asked as Cho blinked and replied, "Actually, she used her wits to come up with a way to catch them off-guard."
"So she combined brains with brawn," Sakura replied, "It sounds to me like you've inspired her a little bit. She must have learned some fighting techniques from watching you."
Cho's eyes went wide as while this was not exactly true, she was the one who ultimately motivated Akari to activate her diamond for the first time. In a sense, she had helped greatly with that.
"Is there more to the story?" Sakura asked as Cho explained, "Well, I did manage to land one hit."
"Well, sounds more to me like a team effort," Kenichi replied before pointing to a wall poster of a wrestling tag team asking, "You see those two over there?"
Cho turned and said, "Yeah, Tsuruta and Yatsu. What about them?"
"Well, do you remember when they fought the Road Warriors?" Kenichi asked, Cho nodding and replying, "That's right. It was a tough match but they ended up winning the title."
"That's right," Kenichi replied, "And they did it with perfect teamwork. See, not every fight can be one by a single person. Sometimes it takes another to get good results."
"Well put," Sakura said with a grin as Cho's eyes widened.
However, at that very moment, her nose started to twitch as she thought, 'Another Digimon attack in one day?' before saying, "Mom, Dad, I need to take care of something right now."
Her parents nodded as Sakura replied, "I understand, honey."
But just as Cho was about to take off, she quickly gave her parents a hug and took off, quickly pulling out her cellphone. However, after doing so, she stopped in her tracks and stared at it briefly before shaking her head and sighing, "Right, we're a team. That means we all need to act as a team, including me."
With that, Cho immediately called up Chise and Akari. Needless to say, both were just as surprised as she was by the fact that there had been two Digimon attacks in one day.
In the downtown area, a big dinosaur was attacking, though unlike the first one to attack Tokyo, this one did not have a skull helmet. It was also grey and covered in red and black scars. Civilians were fleeing in panic as the Digimon unleashed flames from its mouth while a red aura surrounded its body.
But just as all seemed lost, Cho, Akari and Chise arrived, all three having transformed. However, upon seeing the creature, Chise started to whimper only for Cho to pat her on the shoulder and give her a friendly smile.
"You seem to be in better spirits," Akari stated with a big smile as Cho smirked and replied, "Yeah, I just needed some time to think," before turning to the dinosaur and holding up her fists.
"Think you can handle this one by yourself?" Chise asked as Cho shrugged and replied, "Maybe, but it might be best not to take any chances."
Akari had a warm smile before turning toward the dinosaur, which had directed its gaze toward the trio. With that, the Digimon let out a loud roar as its body glowed once more and it opened up its mouth, a flame forming within.
"I got an idea," Cho said before turning to Chise and adding, "Roll up into a ball."
Chise nodded and did so, figuring an experienced fighter would know more about this sort of thing than she did. With that, Cho proceeded to lift up Chise before reeling her leg back and shouting, "DIAMOND SOCCER SHELL!"
With that, she sent her foot forward and kicked Chise hard toward the dinosaur just as it released a torrent of flames toward her. It seemed the girl's shell was able to block the flames for a while until the material started to turn red, Chise crying out in pain as she opened up her shell.
"That didn't work," Cho uttered as Akari wasted no time sprinting toward the dinosaur with her claws at the ready, Cho following suit.
The dinosaur marched over to Chise, the girl trembling all the while as she was too frightened to get up. However, just as the dinosaur was about to close its jaws down on her, Akari sent a hard slash to the dinosaur's face while Cho delivered a barrage of punches.
However, despite their combined efforts, this seemed to do next to nothing as the dinosaur flinched but did do much else. It had changed its target, but this hardly seemed like a good thing as it swung its claws in front of its face, striking Cho and Akari hard while sending them back a ways.
Chise simply squeaked in fright before curling up into a ball again and rolling away from the dinosaur. She retracted from her shell once she was close enough to the others, the girl now trembling as she whimpered, "What are we going to do?"
Cho took a deep breath and smirked before saying, "Don't worry. We can do this. We'll just need to hit it all at once."
Akari nodded and said, "That's a good idea. If we all hit it at the same time, it might do enough damage."
With that, all three girls nodded as Chise took a deep breath. With the other two helping her out, she would be able to find the strength to do this.
With that, the trio rushed toward the dinosaur as it once again glowed red, unleashing another flame. Just as it was about to hit them, Cho smirked and exclaimed, "Now!" as all three spread out, avoiding the flame in unison.
With that, Cho and Chise both curled up into balls and rolled toward the dinosaur, Akari leaping forward just above them with her claws out. The dinosaur's eyes went wide as all three struck him in the chest at once, Chise shouting, "DIAMOND SHELL!" while Cho spat, "ROLLING UPPER!" and Akari exclaimed, "LIGHTNING PAW!"
It seemed Chise's added strength made quite a bit of difference as the dinosaur let out a roar of pain. However, while it had taken in damage, this still did not seem like nearly enough as the trio distanced themselves from it, the dinosaur acting as if it had taken in no pain just now.
'No,' Cho thought, her eyes wide open as Akari patted her on the shoulder, smiling and saying, "We did something. Now we just gotta keep it up."
However, at that moment, a light-blue dog with boxing gloves appeared before Cho in her mind as she stared and asked, "Who are you?"
"I am the spirit of your diamond," the dog replied, "My name is Gaomon."
Cho said nothing more as the dog continued, "You have made good use of my power and have even learned to accept help from others. Thus I feel you have earned the right to advance to the next level."
"Next level?" Cho asked as Gaomon nodded and replied, "From now on, if you wish for me to grant you this power, I will give it to you, but only ask when the situation calls for it as you can only keep this form for a limited time each day."
Cho nodded in understanding and sported a serious look as her body started to glow, Chise and Akari staring. With that, Cho's form stared to change. Bandages formed around her feet as her tube top and vest switched colours. Her headband relocated itself to her neck, now becoming a scarf with three claw-like formations appearing on the end of each side. Her running shoes were now blue and her boxing gloves had spikes coming out of them, her ears also becoming pointier.
Once the change was complete, Chise and Akari stared in shock as Akari uttered, "Cho, you got another form like Fukuko."
Cho's eyes widened as she looked down at the spikes on her boxing gloves. She tilted her head downward and noticed the small change in clothing and also noticed the scarf around her neck.
With that, she smirked and said, "Alright, I got this," before turning to the others and adding, "Though I might need a distraction before hitting him."
Akari and Chise nodded before heading toward the dinosaur. The Digimon unleashed flames toward them as they simply dodged, Cho taking full advantage of this while rushing toward it from the right with her arms crossed. She then proceeded to spread them out, shouting, "DASH DOUBLE CLAW!"
This formed an X in the air that headed straight for the dinosaur, covering its body in cuts as it roared in agony. With that out of the way, the dinosaur was done for it as it fell forward on its chin, its body turning into data and flying away from the area.
Cho took a deep breath as Chise and Akari ran over to her, giving the girl a big hug as Chise exclaimed, "You are so cool, Cho!" the blue-haired girl smirking and replying, "Yeah, but I don't think I could have done that without you guys."
And with that, the trio headed home, Cho feeling on top of the world. But would this new transformation truly make things easier or would the battles only get harder from here on out?