The creatures lurking in the dark
Iori Hida
He and his group landed in a swamp like area. The air was very damp and somewhat suffocating.
"Are you OK, Iori-kun?" Jou asked him. Knowing Jou is becoming a doctor, he could probably sense some distress from him.
"Yes. I'm all right. I'll just take it easy. That's all." He assured the older cobalt with a smile.
"Jou! Get to see you!" A voice came from a distance. An seal looking Digimon was hopping his way over.
"Gomamon!" Jou cried happily. "You look well. I'm glad." Jou gave the Digimon a hug and smiled.
"Well, I am a Digimon. I guess I can't get that sick." He laughed.
Jou's glasses slightly slid down his face. "I suppose not." He chuckled.
Jou is so relaxed. How can he be the most responsible part of the team and yet act so carefree?
Iori continued to watch the two interact. Soon enough they met up with a Betamon and Penmon. Tailmon's crew, probably. Miyako and Koushirou talked about computers while Jou spoke with the Digimon.
They are all so immature compared to what they should be. These are our upper classmen, yet they act so… Childish. Father wouldn't approve of this. I know he most certainly wouldn't. He'd expect them to stick to their duty at hand.
"Iori? Are you listening?" His partner's voice cut into his thoughts. "I said we are here." Armadimon motioned at the lake. It glistened with a bright blue color. It looked so clean compared to the swamp. That's the Digital World for you. Clean and dirty co-existing in the same environment.
"Oh, sorry. I was daydreaming." Iori replied to his partner.
"Sure seemed like it. Ready to dig some holes?"
Iori nodded and said the word. Armadimon glowed and transformed into Digmon. "I wonder how we will get to the dark tower in the water…" Upon closer inspection, the tower was indeed submerged. How they were going to get to it was going to be difficult.
I guess I'll just wait for my orders.
"I think Holsemon can get to it though. If he spins really fast I'm sure he could." Miyako explained. "Or just dive in and shoot it with lasers, I guess…" She put her hand on her chin.
"I don't think I can swim Miyako…" A bead of sweat rolled down Holsemon's head. "I am a bird after all… It'd be different if I was a duck. But since I'm not…"
"I suppose not." Miyako laughed sticking her tongue out and lightly bopped her head.
"Wonder if electrocution could work…" Tentomon suggested.
"What about Digmon? He can fire his drills into the water." Jou suggested. "Gomamon can go down there to help him swim."
"That's a good idea. Let's try it." Miyako cheered.
"Better than a bird swimming." Koushirou joked.
"At least I was trying!" She put her arms up in defense.
They laughed amongst themselves.
"All right, Iori, let's give it a shot." Miyako gave him a thumbs up.
He nodded. It was normal for him not to be included in the plans. They saw him as a kid, and they would probably just ignore him anyway.
Digmon and Gomamon went into the lake, but not long after there was a huge splash as they were knocked out of the water. A red flipper raised out of the water.
"Oh, no, it's Seadramon." Jou warned. "This guy can crush you, so be careful!"
"Don't worry, we'll help with the fight!" Betamon and Penmon charged the Seadramon, but they were only hit back.
It's useless. We just need to hit the black tower and this fight wouldn't happen.
Digmon tried for an attack on the Seadramon, but only deflected the drills once more and grabbed Digmon with its fin.
"Digmon!" Iori called out. "Hang in there! A little longer and the Dark Tower will be destroyed!"
But something does seem off about this Seadramon… Usually the Digimon under control have red eyes. But this one doesn't…
"We have to save Digmon!" Gomamon commanded his army of fish at the enemy as well as the other Child level Digimon. Holsemon went in for an attack, but was quickly put out of commission with a wave of water and an ice attack.
"Hawkmon!" Miyako cried running to her fallen partner.
Why were they caring so much about Digmon? The mission at hand was to destroy the Dark Tower and get the Digimental. But they were wasting time. Couldn't they see that?
"Just go for the Dark Tower!" Iori shouted. "That's all we need to worry about right now!"
"Iori , are you crazy? He's your Digimon partner! He might die!" Miyako shouted still holding a soaked and unconscious Hawkmon.
"But… Our mission is to destroy the Dark Tower." He repeated. Why didn't they get that? His dad would never forget his mission. He never did to the day he died.
"Iori-kun… This isn't just your mission." Jou frowned down at him. "You don't need to look at everything as a mission. You aren't your dad." He continued. "You are Iori Hida. Your Digimon partner is a part of you. Right now… You are ignoring him."
"But my dad wouldn't forget what he was meant to do." Iori urged. "He put his life on the line for someone! That was his duty!"
"But your dad was a body guard. That was his duty. To protect that person." Jou explained.
"Just like it's your duty as a Chosen to work together with your Digimon partner. To become stronger." Koushirou put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
Iori looked down at the ground not sure what to say. "But, saving the world is my duty, right?"
They shook their heads. "Saving the world is our duty, Iori. We are all a team working together. Not just us humans, but they Digimon too. Our partners and Tailmon's army are both doing their best to take back peace." Jou looked at the fight of the Child Digimon, they certainly weren't giving up. "That's our job, our duty as a Chosen Child. To help the Digimon take back peace in their world. They even help us in return." He explained. "That's why… I won't give up, and neither will Gomamon!" He clutched his Digivice.
"Or Tentomon. Because we have their backs just like they have ours." Koushirou explained.
"But everyone is acting childish… If we are truly to save anyone..." Iori's eyes furrowed. "I was always trying to do what was right. Because I've always been taught that. My grandpa had to teach me so many things since my father died." Tears streamed down his face. "I just wanted to make him proud. By being grown up."
Jou nodded. "I was the same at the start of our adventure. I was the stickler in the group that always had to look after the others. I was the oldest after all. But I learned that I needed to loosen up a little. Because we were dealing with things we weren't familiar with." Jou laughed sheepishly. "Kind of hard to apply logic to something that lacks any."
Koushirou nodded in agreement. "I learned a lot too. That's the great thing about being a Chosen Child. You all grow together as a family. No matter who you are."
Iori was starting to get it. He always felt like what Jou said, that he had to be the one in charge. But truth was, they were all a team. "I'm sorry for not being completely honest with myself. I... I just want to be happy. I want everyone to be proud of me… But I don't want my dad to be disappointed in me!" Tears spilled from his eyes. "I want him to be proud of me, even if he's not here anymore!" Last gasp came as a sob.
"Believe me, Iori. Your father would be very proud of you." Koushirou smiled.
He stared at Koushirou. Perhaps he was right. He took a deep breath. "Digmon! Don't die! I don't want to lose anyone else!"
I won't let the pain of losing another happen again. For Ken's brother, Taichi's sister, and my father!
"I won't let evil win! WE won't let evil win! Digmon!" He cried. A grey glow shot up from the lake causing Seadramon to let go of Digmon who reverted back to Armadimon falling to the ground.
Everyone stared in awe as a bowling pin shaped object floated toward Iori.
"The crest of Reliability… I guess honesty counts too." Jou smirked. "It's well earned, Iori."
Iori nodded. "I think my dad would want me to be as happy as I can. He wouldn't… Want me to be someone I'm not."
"You'll find your true self eventually, Iori." Jou smiled encouragingly.
"Thanks, Jou." Iori smiled back. "Digimental Up!"
Armadimon changed into a torpedo looking Digimon with a spear for a nose. "Submarimon!" It shouted proudly. Its hatch opened up. "Iori, you want a ride?"
"Yeah." Iori's face lit up. "That sounds great."
Iori hopped into Submarimon and he dived into the lake. "There's the Dark Tower, shoot it down!" Iori commanded with a smile. He felt a lot better after getting stuff of his chest. All this time he'd been telling everyone else they shouldn't do this or that because it wasn't good for them.
I guess I should have followed my own advice.
"Right-o!" Submarimon shot torpedoes at the Dark Tower, and it crumbled. "Yes!" Iori cheered.
But the Seadramon was still fighting. Ikkakumon was fighting it alongside the others. So, why was it still attacking? They surfaced and Iori quickly ran to Jou and Koushirou.
"Why is it still battling us?" Iori looked at the two for answers.
"We don't know." Koushirou replied still gazing at the creature. Kabuterimon was battling too, but what good using electric attacks if you are going to hurt the other Digimon?
The Seadramon cackled a dark laughter. "I expected better from the Chosen Children that took down our seniors, the Dark Masters. You are weak in comparison! Years have made you soft!" The Digimon fired an attack at them knocking them back.
Their Digimon managed to take the blows, but not before reverting to Child forms again.
"What do you mean, who are you?" Koushirou asked in a panic.
Iori wasn't sure what was going on. He heard about the Dark Masters, but surely they couldn't…?
"You'll just have to wait and see. Your death will come." The Seadramon dived into the lake laughing and disappeared.
"Our death will come…?" Iori looked at the others for answers.
"We fought the Dark Masters three years ago. But they shouldn't be able to come back…" Koushirou said in disbelief.
"They should be dead…" Jou stood there in shock. "We killed all of them. We… We fought with every ounce we had to get rid of them…"
"Oh, Ken and the others are here!" Miyako ran up to the other group. But Iori could tell right away there was distress in their group as well.
"What happened, are you OK?" Ken asked concerned placing his hands on her shoulders. "You must be so cold. Here, take my jacket." Ken took of his jacket and placed it on Miyako's shoulders.
Miyako looked down and blushed.
He doesn't have a clue… Does he? Iori blinked.
Taichi stared at everyone in shock. "Just what happened here?" He said in disbelief.
"A lot… Taichi…" Koushirou's face was a shade of white, looking at his friend.
Taichi POV
Not a word was spoken as the whole group made it to the real world. The older kids usually didn't bring their Digimon back. But this time they did. Taichi said it was an emergency meet up. Something was definitely up from what they found. All the Digimon including Tailmon were present in Taichi's house. Mimi was hooked up able to speak to everyone through a stream from his computer.
All the kids and Digimon managed to fit in that small room.
"What's going on? What happened?" Mimi said in distress. She had been woken up in the middle of the night, understandable for her to be.
"We ran into a Seadramon today. It claimed to be the underclassman of the dark masters." Koushirou began to explain. "It claimed our deaths were near… I don't understand why… They should be permanently deleted!" He protested in obvious distress.
A memory of MetalSeadramon killing Whamon flashed through his mind. Then Wargreymon managed to take it out afterward.
We lost so many Digimon friends! Why are they back? Why!
Taichi's fists were clenched tight. "Not just that, either. Tailmon seems to be Jun's new partner. Jun is the fourth Chosen we were looking for."
The others gasped, Yamato screamed like a little girl.
"Oh, stop! I'm not going to stalk you, Yamato!" Jun shouted.
"Save me, Taichi!" Yamato clung to Taichi.
"Sorry, man, you are on your own." He pushed his friend away.
Yamato clutched his heart, betrayed.
"She has the Digimental of Light as well." Sora interjected. "She seems to inhereit… the crest of Light."
"But how is that possible? The crests are people's most prominent traits!" Koushirou was flabbergasted.
"But Hikari isn't dead! There's no reason for crests to be passed around like hotcakes!" Mimi cried, clutching her necklace that seemed to have the crest of Purity on it.
Daisuke laughed loudly. "I wouldn't say my sister is particularly light, either!"
Jun's faced turned red as she stomped over to Daisuke to smack him. But Miyako and Iori held her back.
"Please! Calm down! This is a serious matter!" Iori pleaded.
"Fine." Jun huffed sitting next to Taichi.
"It'd be nice to contact Gennai, but of course contacting him is like trying to call the blue moon." Taichi explained looking to Koushirou.
The redhead finished typing what he assumed was another email to Gennai. Koushirou shook his head. "He's not answering. You'd think with the urgency of all this..."
Yamato cleared his throat and stood up. "There is something else. Ken and I discovered a couple days ago after Daisuke got the Digimental of Friendship. Because I had found something odd, I asked Ken to come with me. It was the next day."
"Oh, yeah. I remember you saying that now. I totally forgot you had said anything." Daisuke put his chin in his hand. "Ken hurt his leg, so he couldn't play soccer anyway… I had wondered what we was up to…"
"Typical unrelia-" Jun started to retort another sarcastic remark, but was cut off by Yamato.
"Enough!" He barked at Jun, who quickly shut her mouth.
"I had asked Ken to come along because he had a D-3 and could evolve Wormmon normally." Takeru's face hardened, but Yamato ignored it.
"When Gabumon and I went after Daisuke those days ago, I was able to get him to evolve even though the Dark Tower was up. I wasn't quite sure why, since I knew we weren't supposed to be able to. So, I asked Ken to come without anyone else because I had a feeling why it worked."
"I wasn't sure it was going to work either. But we hadn't exactly tried, either. Just listened what Taichi stated. Before I knew it, my Digivice had glowed and Wormmon became Stingmon with no issues." Ken finished, holding his Digivice.
"It seemed like my irking was right. It's not the Dark Towers that are preventing the Digimon from evolving to Adult. But ourselves. Could it be there is self doubt among us…" He scanned the room.
Takeru glared at his older brother.
What is Takeru's problem? Tailmon is also on edge. But he couldn't help to feel ashamed. The others also had a look of guilt.
There was more to this story that they let on… I'll admit I wasn't eager to jump into the battling scene again. We had already lost so much that I didn't want to lose anyone else… So, that's why Agumon and I couldn't do anything. Because I was holding him back. He looked down at his partner. Did he hate him now?
"I refuse to join Jun as her partner." Tailmon spat. "She most certainly is not my partner. I don't care what some Gods say. I am perfectly fine on my own." Her tail flickered in the air.
"But Jun is still needed…" Miyako protested. "Don't you need to at least protect her?"
"You guys can protect her just fine. She doesn't need a partner." Tailmon grumbled hopping on to the top bunk bed. The one Hikari used to sleep in. It laid untouched all these years. Waiting for her to return.
Taichi grimaced. He wanted to protest, of course Tailmon needed to act accordingly. But how was he going to tell her that when he too didn't want Jun to be involved in their personal affairs.
"But Tailmon, you were Chosen! It might be unfair…" Mimi's voice came through the computer. "But you are her partner! Who knows… It might be temporary, right?" Tears welled up in Mimi's eyes.
"Mimi, has a point, it could be temporary, Tailmon." Sora repeated.
But Tailmon laid on the bed unmoving. Nothing was going to convince her. Nothing.
Jun stood up and headed out of the room. "There's no reason for this ridiculous drama. I don't want to be a Chosen Child anyway. You are just fine on your own…"
"Jun, wait! Please!" Sora wanted to follow her out of the room.
"Just leave her be." Daisuke said not making eye contact with anyone. "You can't force her to do something she doesn't want to do."
Mimi's eyes looked down. "I know we can't. Believe me, I know more than anyone… But she needs to understand that we need her. It may not be apparent right now. But there's always been a way."
"I'll talk to her." Jou said standing up. "I guess I'm the most fit for this conversation." He half smiled leaving the room.
"The Dark Masters too." Takeru's cut through the room. It was filled with rage. Terrifying rage. "How can they… How can they be back?! Haven't they done enough?!" Takeru stormed out.
"Takeru!" Ken stood there watching his friend storm out and heard the apartment door slam.
Yamato sighed. "Well, for now we all should go home." He stared at Tailmon before leaving. Soon everyone had left.
There were now other issues to figure out. Some freaks calling themselves the Dark Masters Underclassman, the evolution block… and… Taichi looked up at the top bunk. Tailmon…
Takeru too. I wonder what's gotten into him…