Wow! You guys must really love me! At my last count, I have 78 reviews! Thanks so much for appreciating what I've written, coz it means to world to me. Just to give you guys a heads up, this is the chapter where we find out the names of the Crests, thanks to Sora and Kari. Oh, and Sabinemon won't die for a while. I really hate her at the moment, but she'll have plenty of crimes worth dying for by the end of the chapter.
Next Generation:…And So It Begins (Again)
CHAPTER TEN: IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH
Sabinemon cast another glance at the glowing medallions around their necks and smirked. "On the contrary, daughter," she said. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Maybe I can defeat you, even though you have that pathetic costume jewellery."
"You underestimate our power," Lee said coldly. "Kim? Let's do it."
Before long, the Digimon had DNA Digivolved and circled Sabinemon. Her only exit was through the Lake of Fire.
"Don't you stupid kids understand?" she called through the throng. "You can't stop me! Least of all you, Kinaka!" she added, watching gleefully as Kinaka went purple with fury.
"Kick her rotten ass, Pandoramon!" Lauren shouted.
"Make her bite the dust!" Hikaru added.
"What are you waiting for? ATTACK!" Jenna screamed.
Sabinemon grinned and waved her arm. "Sabine Storm!" she called out. From her fingertips, a glittery green dust shot out and surrounded them in a cloud. By the time the dust had cleared (and by the time they'd stopped coughing), she was diving into the Lake of Fire.
"See if you can find me now!" she called out before the roaring flames devoured her.
Kinaka stamped her foot. "Dammit!" she shrieked. "We had her right there! Why didn't we act on it?"
"Because she escaped before we had the chance to," Lauren told her gently. "Cool your jets, Kina. We can still get her. We have the map, remember?"
The laptop suddenly beeped. "Oh, that must be our parents calling us," Lauren exclaimed. She opened it up, and there were their parents again.
"Well?" Tai asked, his arms crossed. "Did you find her?"
"She got away again!" Kiko said angrily, his small face contorted with rage. "Uncle Tai, we're not strong enough to beat her. That's probably why she got away!"
"Calm down, Kiko," Kari said in a soothing tone. Then she got a better look at what was hanging around his neck.
"A Crest," she said quietly. "Kiko, you have a Crest?"
"That's what my mother called them," Kinaka said glumly, pulling at the golden chain. "What the hell are they?"
Sora smiled. "They're really very special," she said. "The emblems on them are reflections of you. For example, the one that Holly has is the Crest of Courage."
"That was my old Crest," Tai told his daughter proudly. "Wear it with pride, honey!"
"I definitely recognise Kiko's," Kari said thoughtfully. "It's the Crest of Destiny. And Mike's is the Crest of Miracles. They're very special."
"As in, the Golden Digi-Egg of Miracles?" Davis asked, bewildered. "How come he has it?"
Kiko and Mike grinned. "We're special!" they both exclaimed.
Sora peered for a while at Lee's. "Lee, yours is the Crest of Independence. I can see why," she joked. "Chris, yours is Mind's Eye. And Kim's is Faith."
"Tina's is Harmony," Kari put in. "Hikaru, can you move closer, honey? Oh, never mind, I see it. It's the Crest of Starlight."
"Kinaka's is Magic," Sora continued. "Deanna's is Loneliness, Lauren's is Unity, and Jenna's is Dignity."
Kari looked at the last two Crests with her brow furrowed. "Cleo's is Truth," she said at last. "And Leon…oh my…"
"What is it?" Leon asked. "What is it, Aunt Kari?"
"Leon, yours is the Crest of Darkness," she said in a hushed voice.
Leon's hand instantly went to the Crest. "Darkness?" he echoed. His broad shoulders slumped. "Maybe that's why I was such a good slave for those rotten Digimon."
"No, don't think that," Kari cried. "Don't you see, Leon? I have the Crest of Light, and it's always been my understanding that light and darkness aren't very different. You see, where there's light, there's dark somewhere. It's simple math. You can't have one without the other near it. It doesn't mean that you're evil, Leon, but it does mean that you are destined to be great."
"It's like your Aunt Kari and me," TK added. "Hope and Light. We were destined for the two greatest Crests ever made. Maybe you and someone else will continue that."
"Yeah, some unlucky lady," Lee cracked. "What will hers be, the Crest of Insanity?"
"Shut up," Leon groaned. "Is there anything you think that you don't say, Lee?"
"Nope," she grinned.
Holly looked a little perplexed. "How do you know what they are, Mom?" she asked, touching her Crest.
"I really don't know," Sora confessed. "I guess I sort of developed the talent after your dad first made his Digimon digivolve using the Crest of Courage, after which he returned to Earth for about a day. That night, I ran off to try to find him. I stumbled upon two evil Digimon having a conversation about your dad's Crest, and from that moment on, I was able to identify them all."
"I identified my own," Kari reminded her. "Remember?"
Sora grinned. "I sure do."
"What are we supposed to do with them?" Kinaka asked. "They don't seem really special to me, 'cept for the fact that they scared the hell outta my mom."
"Kinaka—" Matt started, but Izzy cut him off.
"They're a powerful tool that help your Digimon to digivolve," he explained. "You don't really need them, but they are good for channelling the power required to make a Digimon digivolve to the Ultimate level."
"Why don't we need them, Daddy?" Mike asked.
He smiled at his son. "The symbols on the Crests represent your strongest attribute," he replied. "They also say something about your personality. I guess you have the Crest of Miracles because your were a miracle for your mom and me."
Mike's little face shone. "Really?" he asked.
"It's true, Mike," Mimi said, beaming at him.
"Talk about happy sappy crap," Tina whispered to Holly. "He's a little pain in the ass!"
"I know how you feel. Lee's the same way," she whispered back.
"You just have to learn to channel the power to make your Digimon digivolve to the Ultimate level," Matt added.
"Will we be able to do that before or after Sabinemon tears the Digital World apart?" Kinaka asked.
Matt sighed. "Kina…"
Lee grinned. "Thanks for the info," she said to her mom. "These things are cool! I can't wait to try them out!"
Sora smiled back. "Just don't get yourself into a big mess, okay, Lee?"
Leon groaned. "Knowing Lee, that's next to impossible."
They spent the night around the Lake of Fire, excitedly chattering about their new talismans and what they thought their Digimon would look like…and what they were going to do to Sabinemon.
"Usaiamon, whatcha think you're gonna look like?" Lauren asked her Digimon.
The little orange and yellow cat's tail twitched excitedly. "I'm going to have big, huge wings!" she exclaimed. "And I'm gonna fly circles around that Dark Princess!"
"My claws are gonna be huge," Fangmon said, looking down at his hands/paws/whatever you wanna call them. "My teeth are gonna be big, too. I'll pick her up and bite her in half!"
"And I'll zap her until I've used enough electricity to power the whole continent of Server!" Pikkimon squeaked, jumping around and throwing off a few sparks from her tail.
Jenna laughed and scooped her little Digimon up. "Try not to shock us, OK?"
It was about one in the morning when they all fell asleep, their Crests glowing with a steady, pulsating light.
In the morning, after a feast of fried fish from a nearby stream, they all debated on where to go next.
"Maybe we should stay here," Kiko said, biting his lower lip.
"Or maybe we oughta go back to Gennai's place, even if he isn't there," Jenna suggested.
"I say we find her and kick her ass!" Deanna said. "Tina, where's your map?"
Tina spread the map over the grass and traced an index finger down the browned parchment, trying to find the red dot that represented Sabinemon. "I don't see her," she said, frowning. "That's strange…I thought for sure we'd find her. That dot that represents her on the map is huge. I don't get why I can't see her."
"Oh, move over," Kim said irritably, pushing Tina aside and peering at the map. "Tina, those glasses don't help much, do they? 'Coz there's a huge red dot right there." She stabbed at the spot with her finger.
"What?" Lauren came over. "There's another one there," she said, pointing at a place about eight inches to the left.
"And three more!" Tina added, her eyes wide as three new dots appeared.
Kinaka's eyes went wide. "Let me see where those dots are," she said, going in front of them. The five dots glowed brilliantly, right in plain view.
"Pass me your pen, Cleo," Kinaka ordered.
Once she had the pen in hand, she traced a line from one dot to the next. When she finished connecting them, she drew a circle around them.
"There," she said, sounding pleased with herself. She tossed Cleo her pen and grinned widely. "Take a look at the map now."
The five dots formed a pentagram. The symbol on Kinaka's Crest.
"Isn't that a symbol of magic or something?" Lauren asked, her brown furrowed.
"It's on my Crest, isn't it?" Kinaka retorted. "Yes, it is. You know what's strange, though, is that it doesn't seem like the five elements are represented in this pentagram. See, there's a dot on the place where it says Lake of Fire, and fire's only one element."
"There are other dots where it says Fire Mountain, Wall of Fire, Flame Springs and Corona Island Fire Cloud," Holly observed. "So what? It all has to do with fire."
Kinaka gently touched her flame pendant. "Exactly," she said. "Here's my theory. She's in the middle of all of this, dead center. Which means she's…" Her finger stabbed a point in the middle, where a red dot glowed. "…on Server. At Gennai's."
Deanna jumped up. "Then let's get going!" she shouted. "We might be able to catch her!"
They travelled down an old highway through a desert, following the map. The pavement was cracked and chipped in places, and the potholes were deep, but the road seemed to lead in the direction they were going.
"How much longer 'til we get there?" Mike whined. "Lauren, how much longer? My feet hurt!"
"Then jump on, brat," Lauren said, stooping down so her little brother could climb on her back. "I'll give you a piggyback for a few miles, then Tina can carry you for a while."
Tina stuck her tongue out at her sister. "He's heavy!" she complained. "How come I have to carry him too?"
"Because you're our sister, that's why," Lauren said tersely. Mike had his skinny little arms securely around her neck.
Kiko tugged at Hikaru's hand. "Can you give me a piggyback ride too?" he asked.
"I might as well," she sighed, stooping down too.
A few hours later, as the sun began to climb higher in the sky, Lauren stopped. "I can't carry him anymore, Tina," she panted. "It's your turn. Please!"
"All right," Tina groaned.
As Lauren was stooped down to let Mike off, she began coughing hard. Her coughs sounded like they were coming from deep in her chest.
"Are you OK?" Tina asked.
"I'm fine," she said.
Behind them, Hikaru and Jenna had also started to cough.
Maybe they've all got a cold or something,
Tina mused. Or maybe it's all this dust out here. Lauren was always allergic to dust.Without warning, Lauren dropped to her knees and began to cough again, louder and harder. Hikaru fell over onto the ground, with Kiko still on her back. Jenna dropped like she'd been shot and hit the pavement hard on her hands and knees, then fell on her face. All three were coughing like someone with pneumonia might.
Kiko scrambled up off the ground and looked fearfully at his older sister as she coughed harder than ever. "Hikaru, what's the matter?" he asked in a shrill, high-pitched voice. "What's the matter?"
Cleo and Leon both ran for Jenna, but Leon got there first. He scooped her up in his arms and her head rolled back, showing that her face had gone almost dead-white. She was still coughing hard.
Kinaka and Tina tried to help Lauren up, but she couldn't stand. Her legs kept giving out when they tried to get her to stand, crumpling under her body. She, too, was coughing. She almost sounded like she was choking.
"What's the matter with them?" Cleo screamed. "Jenna? Jenna!"
"They're asleep," Cleo said in a hushed voice. She gestured toward the shade of a large palm tree, where the three girls were fast asleep.
Yolei clapped a hand over her mouth. "They look really sick," she gasped. "What happened?"
"None of us know," Tina sighed. "They just started coughing and all of a sudden, they passed out. They came to once we had them in the shade, but they just dropped off again. Something's really wrong with them, I can just tell!"
"They've all got a fever," Leon reported. "And that cough sounded brutal."
Kari bit her lower lip. "The same thing happened to me the first time I went to the Digital World," she said. "I was really sick. I had a fever of about 107
Kiko looked distressed. "Mommy, does that mean that I'm gonna get sick too?"
"Only those who are pure of heart will be affected," TK informed him. "I got sick once there, but it was a minor 'flu bug. Your mom, however…" he cast a grin at Kari, "was seriously ill. Maybe your sister took after her."
"Great," Kari groaned. "I had to go and pass my weak immune system on to my daughter."
"They're travelling the same road we did when we were all separated," Izzy remarked. "Maybe that has something to do with it?"
"It could be," Tai agreed.
"What road? This one?" Holly asked.
~Flashback~
"Do you have a hairball, Kari?" Gatomon asked.
Kari finished her sudden bout of coughing and looked at her partner, grinning. "No, silly. I'll be OK."
Tai, Sora, Izzy and TK were ahead of her. Tai was scoping out the terrain with his mini telescope.
"We're almost there," he informed everyone. "We—"
He was interrupted by a short moan and a sudden thud on the ground behind him. When he turned around to look, there was his little sister sprawled out of the pavement, clearly unconscious.
"Kari!" he cried, rushing to her.
They rested in the shade of an old bus stop. Sora pressed a cool cloth to Kari's fevered forehead, but it didn't seem to be doing much.
"Don't worry. I won't leave you," Gatomon said softly to the little girl, nuzzling her affectionately.
~End flashback~
Cleo gazed toward her sister. Pikkimon was curled in a ball at Jenna's side. She sighed and turned to face the screen again. "I'm really scared for her, Mom," she choked out.
"Don't worry," her mom soothed. "You know Jenna. She's strong."
"If anything else happens, let us know," Ken added before the batteries in the computer went completely dead.
Tina smacked her forehead. "Dammit!" she yelled. "I knew we should have recharged the batteries at Gennai's!"
"Who cares, we'll recharge them when we get back there," Kinaka said irritably. "After we kick Sabinemon's ass, that is."
Cleo looked anxious. "But what if something worse happens to them?" she asked, wringing her hands. "Then we won't be able to talk to our parents!"
There was silence, except for the sound of the wind scraping across the desert.
"Mmm…"
"What was that?" Tina shrieked.
Cleo sat up, her ears perked. "I heard it too," she whispered. "What was it?"
"Mmm…"
"I think it's Lauren!" Mike proclaimed. "Maybe they're gonna wake up!"
Jenna's eyes suddenly snapped open. She stared up at the slowly darkening sky for a few minutes, before crying out, "Pikkimon! Pikkimon, where are you?"
The little Digimon at her side stirred and looked at her partner. "Jenna!" she exclaimed, throwing her little arms around Jenna. "I thought you would never wake up!"
But Jenna stared past her into something only she could see. "Pikkimon!" she sobbed. "Please, I need you!"
Leon darted forward and dropped on his knees at her side. "Jenna, she's right next to you," he said. "Can't you see her?"
She lay there, still crying out for her Digimon.
Leon gently touched her forehead, then pulled his hand away like he'd been burned. "She feels like she's on fire!" he yelled. "Cleo, get over here!"
He didn't even have to tell her to come. She was over there before he could finish his sentence.
"Here," she said brusquely, shoving a thermometer at him. "This was in the first aid kit in Jenna's backpack. See what her temperature is, will you?"
A few minutes later, Leon was reading her temperature in horror. "She's got a fever of 104.5!" he cried.
"Oh God," Cleo moaned. "What are we gonna do?"
"Check the rest of them!" Lee instructed her brother. "See if they've got a fever too."
They checked. All three girls had high fevers, but Jenna's was the highest.
"Are humans supposed to be that color?" Usaiamon asked, pointing at Lauren's flushed face. "That's not right…"
"You're right, it isn't," Tina agreed. "What we need is some ice to cool them down, but where are we gonna get any?"
As is on cue, Auroramon stepped forward. "Shivering Ice!" she called out. About a hundred ice cubes shot out of her tail, forming a pile on the ground.
"Great job, Auroramon!" Kinaka said, giving her a hug. "But you know what this means?"
"Um…no. What does it mean, Kina?"
"You and I aren't getting any sleep tonight."
"OK," Cleo said about half an hour later, as the sun began to set. "We have to set up shifts or something."
"Why?" Leon asked.
Holly punched him in the shoulder. "To make sure they don't get sicker, dumbass," she chastised him. "Don't you ever think?"
"Holl, this is Bubby we're talking about," Lee cracked. "He never thinks!"
"Speak for yourself, little sister," Leon grumped, rubbing his sore shoulder.
Cleo gave the three of them a dirty look. "As I was saying," she continued, "we're gonna need volunteers to stay up and watch them. You know, so they don't get worse."
Chris poked the fire. "I'll take first shift," he said.
"Great. We need two more people to take that shift with you," Cleo continued.
"I'll do it," Kinaka and Leon said at the same time.
Auroramon giggled. "I guess I have to do it too, then. You guys need all the help you can get!"
Kinaka reached over and not-so-gently pinched Auroramon on the forearm.
"Ow!" she cried.
"You guys can watch them until two AM, OK?" Cleo said. "Me and Holly and Deanna will take over from there, until 4 AM. Kim and Lee and Tina can take the last shift."
"What about us?" Mike and Kiko asked in unison.
Tina ruffled her little brother's bright red hair. "Sorry, squirt, but you need your sleep," she told him.
Mike puffed out his chest. "I'm a big boy," he grumbled. "I can handle it."
"You might get sick too," Kiko told his friend. "Maybe Tina's right."
As soon as the sun went down (at about nine thirty), Leon, Kinaka and Chris got ready for the first shift. Ice cubes were made, the fire was stoked, and Lauren, Hikaru and Jenna were brought closer to the fire to keep them warm.
"Take good care of them," Kiko yawned before dozing off.
"I'll sue you guys for malpractice if anything goes wrong," Tina warned.
"Wake me up if anything happens," Cleo told them.
The last of them fell asleep around ten-thirty.
Kinaka looked helplessly at Leon. "Well?" she said. "What do we do now?"
Chris spoke up. "You know," he mused, "we can't just watch over one and not the others. We ought to split them up between us."
"What?" Leon and Kinaka asked.
He pointed at the three comatose girls. "Leon can take care of Jenna, Kinaka can take care of Lauren, and I'll stay with Hikaru," he said. "They're our DNA partners, after all."
Auroramon grinned. "Don't forget about the ice! Anytime you need any more, just ask me. OK?"
"You are the best Digimon ever, you know that?" Kinaka grinned, ruffling Auroramon's silvery fur.
Kinaka gathered up another handful of ice cubes and wrapped them in a piece of denim torn off the hem of her skirt. She put the cold compress on Lauren's blistering hot forehead and sat back, staring at the dancing flames.
When will this shift end?
she groaned inwardly, checking her D-X. It was only 12:13 AM.For the last few hours, she and Leon and Chris had been desperately trying to keep their fevers down. Hikaru and Lauren's fevers, both of 103.9, had gone down by a degree and a half since they'd begun their watch, but Jenna's still raged out of control. It certainly didn't help that her fever had risen to 107 during the last hour or so, nor did it help that she kept crying out in delirium. Leon was nearly at his wit's end trying to help her.
Lauren suddenly stirred. Her green eyes, bright with fever, opened wide and stared into nothingness. "Usaiamon," she whimpered. "Mom…Daddy…"
"It's OK, Lauren," Kinaka tried to reassure her, checking the cold compress. It was almost melted. Oh great, now she's delirious too!
"I want my mom," she whimpered, shaking her head from side to side. "I want my mom."
"Please, stop it," Kinaka groaned. "You're gonna be OK, Lauren, I promise."
Nearby, Hikaru was doing the same to Chris. Her delirium was more focused on her mother's previous illness.
"My mom is sick," she cried out. "I have to get to her! She's going to die…"
"No, she's not," Chris told her firmly, though he was getting a bit unnerved at her blank stare.
"Where's Pikkimon?" Jenna kept asking, even though the little Digimon was frantically trying to make herself seen.
"Jenna, I'm right in front of you," she sobbed, beating her tiny fists on Jenna's chest. "Look at me!"
Kinaka groaned. This night isn't ever going to end…
Their shift ended at 2 AM. Kinaka was absolutely ecstatic at the thought of sleep.
"You lucky brats," she said to Cleo, Holly and Deanna. "You weren't awake to hear them being all panicky. They were delirious."
Leon got up from beside Jenna, stretching. "Her fever's at 107.8 now," he informed Cleo quietly, handing her the thermometer.
"Oh, shit," Cleo muttered. "Listen, if anything happens and we need your help, we'll wake you up, all right?"
"No, don't," Kinaka groaned, curling up in a ball on the ground. Within minutes, she was sleeping.
Chris fell asleep, too. But Leon didn't.
Near 4 AM, Leon woke up from a fitful sleep. On the other side of the fire, Cleo, Deanna and Holly had fallen asleep. Auroramon had crawled over to Kinaka and was now fast asleep at her side.
Damn them!
he thought angrily. If any of them die, I swear to God I'll…A low groan interrupted his train of thought. He walked around the fire, and there was Jenna, her eyes wide.
Oh no, not again,
he groaned inwardly. I just can't take this. If she's delirious again…She began muttering again. "Mom…Dad…Cleo…"
"Shh, Jenna," he soothed her, checking the cold compress on her forehead. There was no more ice in it. "Damn!"
I'm gonna kick Cleo's ass. Why'd she have to fall asleep?
"Pikkimon…Leon…"
He froze, staring in shock at her. "What did you say?" he asked quietly.
"Leon."
Why is she calling for me?
he wondered. What does she want me for?Aloud, he said, "I'm right here."
She reached out her hands and grasped one of his. "Leon," she said, sounding relieved. She closed her eyes, and seemingly went back to sleep.
Try as he might, Leon couldn't get his hand free of hers. "Aw, man," he groaned. "Auroramon! Hey! Auroramon!"
The little Digimon's eyes flew open, and she gaped at Leon. "What are you doing up?" she said, yawning.
"Never mind that! I need some more ice!"
"I thought that Cleo and Deanna and Holly were watching them," she yawned.
"It doesn't matter! Just get me some ice! Please?"
"Okay." Within seconds, she had made a new pile of ice.
"Thanks." With his free hand, he wrapped a chunk of ice up and put it on Jenna's forehead. "Can you check on Lauren and Hikaru?" he asked.
Auroramon snatched the thermometer out of Cleo's hand and checked their temperatures. "Lauren's is almost back to normal," she reported. "Hikaru's is too. Here. Check Jenna's."
She tossed the thermometer to him, and he caught it.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he read the reading. "She's at 99 now," he said, feeling as though a weight had lifted off his chest. "You can put some more ice on them, and then go back to bed, OK?"
Auroramon gave him a grin and did what he asked. "You know," she said as she finished, "I oughta be a Digi-doctor!"
He laughed. "Whatever. You can go to sleep now."
She walked back toward Kinaka, but before she settled down next to her, she turned and gave Leon a wink.
"Don't worry, Leon, I won't tell," she grinned, pointing to his hand. It was still…attached to Jenna's.
He turned beet red. "Just go back to sleep!"
He was woken up at about 9:30 the next morning by a sharp kick in the ribs.
"What the hell—"
"You stupid sodding bastard!" Cleo yelled in his ear. "Auroramon told me you were awake when we fell asleep. Why didn't you wake us up?"
Leon carefully got to his feet, holding his side. "They were almost back to normal," he managed to utter weakly.
She kicked him in the shins this time.
"Ow!" he cried in protest. "Cleo—"
"Cleo! Leave him alone!"
Both Cleo and Leon's jaws hit the ground as Jenna herself sat up, looking almost perfectly healthy.
"Great, Cleo," she said angrily. "Break his ribs, why don't you?"
Cleo almost broke a few of Jenna's bones by jumping at her and hugging her tight. "Jennnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaa!" she squealed. "You're better! You're better!"
"Not quite. Get the hell off of me, Cleo!"
"Sorry." Cleo let her arms drop to her sides. "You sure scared me, little sis."
Jenna gave her a grin. "Who, me? You know me, sister dear. I'm healthy as a horse!"
"Right."
Hikaru, who had just woken up, was being mauled by Kiko. He was hugging her so tightly that she had to practically pry him loose with a crowbar. Pretty much the same thing was happening to Lauren.
Kinaka gave Lauren a quick hug and turned to start breakfast. Her eye caught a folded note stuck under the log nearest to the fire.
"Hey, guys, check it out," she called to them. She unfolded the paper, read it, and turned white.
"Holy shit!" she yelled.
Lauren got up, having finally managed to pry herself free of her siblings, and came up to Kinaka. "What is it?" she asked.
Grimly, Kinaka handed her the note. "My mother came to call, and she left this."
Digidestined:
Hope you enjoyed that little virus I sent out. I rather enjoyed watching those love-sick boys and those foolish girls trying to rescue the invalids. It was very cute. Kinaka, I see you haven't inherited much from me.
Well, now that they're all better, I have some news for you. There's more fun to come, and it's coming soon. Or rather, I'm coming soon. I know your little computer's broken. Boo hoo hoo. Your mommies and daddies can't save you now!
Until I see you.
-S.