"I think I might have figured out a way in."
Taichi, along with the rest of the Digidestined, looked at Ken as he quietly made this announcement. Ken looked down shyly and continued, "My D-3 was created in the Dark Ocean, and I did manage to open a portal to the Dark World to send Daemon there before. I think it might be possible to open a door using my D-3."
"It is a viable possibility," Koushiro said. "I hesitated to bring it up before due to…" He trailed off, not finishing his sentence. Taichi understood what he was going to say. There was sort of an unspoken rule in the Digidestined not to bring up any of the bad things that Ken did as the Digimon Emperor.
But Hikari was in danger and Taichi didn't have time to be tactful. "Let's try it."
It was disappointing when the D-3 just opened a portal to the Digital World. Ken tried again, but with no luck. He shrugged helplessly and Mimi placed a hand on his shoulder. "It was a good idea and at least you tried something," she said comfortingly.
"I believe our best course of action at this point would be to return to the Digital World," Koushiro put in. "From what I've gathered, other than Takeru and Hikari, everyone else has entered the Dark World from there. I would like to perhaps brainstorm some ideas with Gennai as well."
So it was that the Digidestined entered the Digital World again in search of their lost companions.
Takeru was not having the best day in his life. First, he had awoken in a cell away from Hikari. Then shadow creatures had dragged him from the same cell to a room where he had found out that they had indeed not seen the last of Daemon. Now, some strange unknown Digimon Daemon had called Dragomon was trying to turn his new girlfriend (he hoped—they hadn't really had time to discuss the particulars yet) evil so that her Light could no longer protect him and the Digital World.
Well, he certainly wasn't going to stand here and let that happen.
Daemon had rattled on about how Dragomon had spent so much time in the Dark World that he had absorbed all this dark energy and had figured out a way to channel it into another person or being, hence the creation of the shadow creatures in this realm that were currently holding his arms. Takeru hadn't honestly been listening all that well. He had been too focused on trying to think of some way to escape. But when Dragomon had turned his attention to Hikari and grabbed her around the neck with one of those creepy tentacles, Takeru's focus instantly shifted from escaping to saving Hikari.
He remembered that just before they were taken to this sad world, he may or may not have produced some kind of golden shield to protect her before, but he had been so desperate to protect her had hadn't really bothered about thinking and it had just sort of happened. He understood that Hikari was in danger now, just like before, but he was missing that desperation. He locked his eyes on Hikari and concentrated. "Come on, Takeru," he muttered to himself. A golden light began to emit from him, just like it had in France when he had come under attack by the dark powers. The shadow creatures shrieked and backed away from him. The moment they let go of his arms, he set off at a run towards Hikari, not even bothering to wonder how or why he was glowing. If it got him to Hikari, he didn't care. The shadow creatures around Hikari shrieked and backed away when he approached, just like that others had. Takeru, hardly knowing what he was doing, grabbed the tentacle around Hikari's neck and the tentacle let go and whipped away, just like the shadow creatures. "Hikari!" he cried, minutely noticing that the glow around him was fading.
For a moment, her eyes were glazed and unseeing, but she blinked and life came back into them. "Takeru?" she asked. "What happened?" Takeru was about to explain when Hikari, pointing behind him, called out, "Look out!" and lifted her hand. Takeru turned around in time to see pink light burst from Hikari's hand and attack Dragomon's tentacle which had been coming back to attack him. When the light hit it, the tentacle dissolved into bits, something like they had seen destroyed Digimon burst into when they were defeated. Hikari pulled her hand back and looked at it like she had never seen it before. "What did I just do?" she asked.
Takeru, still running on instinct and adrenaline, waved his arms around in front of them and the golden shield appeared around them again, this time like a bubble. He vaguely heard Daemon yelling in the background, something about failure and idiocy, but he ignored it. He grabbed Hikari's hands as she looked around at the shield around them. "What is happening to us, Takeru?" she asked and Takeru could hear the chord of fear in her voice.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But I think we should worry about it later. I'm sure Koushiro has a theory, and we can ask him. I think right now that we need to worry about getting out of here because I have no idea how long this shield thing is going to last."
"Evil Inferno!" Takeru watched in a mix of horror and amazement as Daemon attack's destroyed Dragomon.
"Any ideas?" Hikari asked and he looked to see the same look on her face as she watched the destruction.
"When I came to save you, I opened a portal to this world by focusing on you and you reached back out to me," Takeru hastily explained the idea he had come up with during Daemon's monologue that he hadn't been listening to. "I think if we just focus on those we care about most in the real world and the Digital World than we might be able to open another portal."
"Let's try it," Hikari agreed. They clasped hands and Takeru began to think of the other Digidestined and concentrated on Yamato and Patamon. He could only assume that Hikari was probably doing the same with Taichi and Gatomon. A light surrounded them, a mixture of gold and pink.
"Get them!" he heard Daemon scream.
Yamato watched with the other Digidestined as a pillar of white light shot up to the sky not far from where they stood. It disappeared, but then they heard a giant explosion and smoke appear right where the light had been.
"Patamon Digivolve to…Angemon!"
"Angemon Digivolve to…MagnaAngemon!"
"Gatomon Digivolve to…Angewomon!"
Yamato blinked in confusion at the two Digimon as they Digivolved. Apparently he was not the only one to be confused as Koushiro said, "But that's impossible. They shouldn't be able to Digivolve without Takeru and Hikari being within a reasonable distance."
"The light!" Ken called out. "Do you think—"
He didn't finish his sentence, but Yamato looked at Taichi, who was looking right back. He could tell his best friend was having the same line of thought he was. At the same time, the two of them starting running toward where they saw the light and smoke come from. "Yamato! Taichi!" Sora called after them.
"Wait up, Taichi!" Agumon called to his partner.
"Yamato!" Gabumon called. The two Digimon soon caught up with their partners and ran with them. Yamato glanced up to see the two Angel Digimon flying in front of them. Soon they were out of sight. Yamato didn't want to hope, but somewhere deep inside he couldn't help himself. Then he had to admonish himself. Takeru would have been disappointed in him to have ever given up hope in the first place. He heard the rest of the Digidestined running behind them.
"Darkness Wave!"
"Deep Sorrow!"
"Dark Cloud!"
"Heaven's Charm!"
"Gate of Destiny!"
The sounds of battle could be heard ahead. More explosions were heard as the Digimon fought. As they got closer, Yamato could see two figures running toward them, being chased by three Digimon that MagnaAngemon and Angewomon were trying to fight off. "Takeru!" he called out, recognizing his brother.
"Hikari!" Taichi called out almost at the same time.
Yamato watched as LadyDevimon slipped past the two Angel Digimon and sent an attack toward Takeru and Hikari. "Look out!" he called to them, pointing behind them.
Takeru reacted to his warning almost instantly, though Yamato almost could not believe what happened. Yamato had expected for him to jump out of the way or duck, but Takeru pulled Hikari behind him as he turned around and seemed to swing his arm at the attack. A golden shield appeared and blocked the attack.
"Gabumon, Digivolve!" he told his partner quickly. Apparently he wasn't the only one with that idea as, in the glow of their Digivices, all the Digimon Digivolved. WereGarurumon and MetalGreymon were the first to join the fray, but it wasn't long before Lilymon, Zudamon, MegaKabuterimon, Garudamon, Paildramon, Aquilamon, and Ankylomon joined the fight. It wasn't long until the three Digimon they faced decided that they were definitely outnumbered.
As their Digimon fought, the Digidestined followed Yamato and Taichi to where Takeru and Hikari were standing. Yamato did a quick once over his brother and Hikari. Their clothes were a mess and there was a nasty red mark around Hikari's neck, but other than some scrapes and scratches, they looked like they were fine. His brother practically ignored him as Takeru took Hikari's face with his hands. "Are you alright?" he heard Takeru ask her softly. Hikari mumbled that she was fine, but then something odd happened.
Mimi let out a high-pitched squeal. Yamato turned his attention away from his brother for a moment. He thought that they were being attacked again. He looked to see Mimi jumping up and down, holding onto Sora's arm. She was saying, rather loudly, "I told you so. Don't they make just THE cutest couple?"
Yamato whipped his head back around to Takeru and Hikari, who looked a little bit like they just realized that there were other people there. Takeru dropped his hands from Hikari's face. Hikari was blushing so much that her face was a brighter pink than her shirt. Takeru looked a little embarrassed, but Yamato could also see something akin to a smug grin on his face. Yamato couldn't help but smile back, since he had thought this was going to happen for a while now. Takeru cleared his throat and said, rather unnecessarily, "We escaped."
Taichi wretched his sister away from Takeru and drowned her in his embrace. "I've been so worried."
"Sorry, Taichi," she said, when he let her go. "I'll be sure to mention to the next Digimon that kidnaps me to send you a note."
Yamato stepped up to his brother, who was glancing at Taichi a little nervously. Yamato placed a hand on his brother's shoulder (a little weird now since Takeru was slightly taller than him), and whispered, "I don't think he'll deck you."
"That's reassuring, coming from you," Takeru said, rolling his eyes.
"I'm glad you're alright, Takeru," Yamato said, squeezing his shoulder slightly.
"You didn't tell Mom I was gone, did you?" Takeru asked, nervously.
"We were only going to tell them if we couldn't find you in a few days," Yamato said. "She doesn't know a thing."
Takeru gave a relieved sigh. "That's good," he said. "I'd hate for her to worry."
The siblings were surrounded by the rest of the Digidestined, who also wanted to share their relief and gratitude that Takeru and Hikari were safe and back. There was a little bit of good-natured teasing on Takeru and Hikari's new relationship status from the others but all of them, even Daisuke, who Yamato (along with the rest of the group) was aware had some sort of crush on Hikari before, seemed to be happy for the two of them.
When Koushiro asked how they had escaped, Takeru and Hikari relayed the story about Daemon and Dragomon. Yamato could feel Taichi tense next to him when Takeru told them how Dragomon wrapped his tentacle around Hikari and Hikari rubbed the red mark around her neck. Both of them seemed to stumble a bit over the next part when they describe their actual escape. Koushiro had mentioned the possibility before that Hikari and Takeru could have some sort of special powers that they didn't know about, but to have it confirmed was something else entirely. Yamato recalled the golden shield that seemed to appear out of nowhere when he had called his warning to Takeru earlier.
Koushiro began to talk when Takeru and Hikari finished their tale. "I've been in contact with Gennai and I have explained my theories. Gennai said that somewhat like the clothes the younger generation got when they entered the Digital World, these powers are something like a Digital manifestation of Takeru and Hikari and their Crests. The Crests of Hope and Light are different from the rest of ours, as you've heard when you talked to Gennai and Azulongmon. Gennai told me that you are most likely only able to exhibit these powers in the Digital World and not in our world. The Dark World is something like a shadow version of the Digital World, which is why I assume you are able to use them there as well."
"But I glowed in France," Takeru pointed out. "If we can only use them in the Digital World, how was I able to use them there?"
"I asked Gennai the same question," Koushiro said. "He said that because you were being attack from the Dark World, there had to be some sort of connection there. You simply had to use that same connection to access the power, kind of like using someone else's wireless internet. We've also determined that Takeru's powers lean towards protection, with that golden shield and Hikari's are more offensive, like when she attack Dragomon."
"This is crazy," Jyou said, placing his hand on his forehead and Yamato was in line to agree with him.
"Well this is the Digital World," Gomamon pointed.
"Yeah, it's like the epitome of crazy," Sora said.
"Crazy or not, I'd rather not stand around here and talk about it," Takeru said. "In case you don't remember, we spent the last day in the woods and as prisoners. I'd really just rather get home and sleep in my bed and talk about this later."
The Digidestined all agreed and went back to the real world, leaving the Digimon (other than Patamon and Gatomon, who were too happy to have their partners back and didn't want them out of their sight just yet) in the Digital World, thinking that the threat was probably over for now.
Gatomon flicked her tail as she watched Hikari sleep. Her parents had made a fuss when Taichi brought her back. He had explained to their parents that everything was fine and it was safe for Hikari to return home. He had left and Hikari had showered, ate, and immediately fell into bed. It was strange to think of a human having powers like a Digimon, but since meeting Hikari and becoming part of the Digidestined team, Gatomon had sort of learned to accept all the weird things that happened around these kids. They had, after all, managed to pull themselves back together from data when Apocalymon had practically destroyed them. And it wasn't like this was the first time Hikari had showed that she had special powers. Gatomon hadn't been expecting the same about Takeru, but she supposed it made sense. Gatomon looked out the window, where the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon. She sighed. With any luck, it was all over.
Patamon curled up right next to Takeru's head as his partner slept. Takeru's father hadn't been home when Yamato had dropped them off at the apartment. Yamato offered to stay with Takeru, but he just shrugged him off and explained that he was just going to crash, since he was exhausted. Patamon remembered the power he had felt when Hikari had glowed with Light when they were fighting Machinedramon. To hear that Takeru now had similar powers in the Digital World made him feel like they could do anything. Patamon looked on the desk where the picture of Takeru and Hikari in New York was sitting and smiled, content to have his partner back again.
The Digidestined of Knowledge snoozed during the night, completely oblivious to the small icon of his laptop that blinked rapidly, almost as if it knew the urgency of the message it contained.