Big big misty fan: Thanks, what you said was sweet, but for your own safety, I think it's best if you keep your email address to yourself. Being put in the same circumstances, I'm not too willing to put my email address out their either, I hope you will understand. You can make an account when you're thirteen, so let's hope your birthday comes soon :)
I just reread that last line; I just want to say that I mean that in the least creepy way possible XD.
The morning began with expressive yawns and rubbing eyes. Kids and Digimon alike awoke, ready to start off a new day on their journey. That is except for two particular beings.
"Ariel, wake up," Zoe said softly. She was lying on her side, with her knees to her chest, not making a move.
"Hm, I guess she isn't a morning person," Henry remarked. That was true also for her Digimon.
"Come on Lunamon, up and at 'em!" Terriermon cheered. Guilmon leaned in, sniffing at the rabbit Digimon curiously.
"Why don't we poke her with a stick?" Kouji suggested.
"She's a person, not an animal," Rika rolled her eyes in response.
"I was just joking," he said defensively, cracking a slight smile.
"I would have never thought that you had a sense of humour," she dismissed, walking away. She wasn't exactly a morning person either, and didn't want to deal with this. The boy also walked away, having his somewhat pleasant mood brushed away.
"Ariel…" It was Kouichi's turn in waking her up. He slightly shook her, which she groaned in response to. "At least we know she's alive."
"Lunamon, wake up this instant," Renamon stated, sounding more like a mother than anything. But she just mumbled nonsense in response. Takuya broke in, looking smug.
"Let the master take over," he said confidently. He got onto his knees, kneeling between the two slumbering beings. The others watched intently, wondering what he was going to do. "ITS TIME TO WAKE UP!" he yelled unleashing an attack of tickles. The two laughed uncontrollably. The others looked on amused, until the limbs started flailing. One of Ariel's swift hands smacked the leader right in the face, causing him to fly backwards.
"I didn't have to worry about this with Shinya," he moaned. The moment the tickling ceased, Lunamon sat up.
"You didn't have to be so aggressive," she said, rubbing her eyes. The people weren't sure if she was talking to her Tamer, or to the abused. Ariel also sat up, slouching over. She was taken aback, when she saw Takuya walking over, with a big hand print on his face.
"What happened to you?"
After the profuse apologies, everyone gathered their apples, and began cooking for their breakfast. It wasn't until mid-bite, when Takato noticed something missing.
"Where are Angemon and the others?" he inquired. They all looked around, realizing that they were in fact no where to be seen. The apples were promptly put aside as the group began searching. It wasn't too far away when they found the wanted.
Bokomon was sitting next to Neemon, and using a tree stump as a table, he flipped through his book. His eyes moved over everything single page, searching intensely. On the other side of the stump sat Beelzemon and Antylamon, talking with a flurry of hand gestures. All the while, Angemon was pacing back and forth, stopping once in a while to point his ear up to the sky.
"Good morning?" Takato called. The studious Digimon stopped and looked over to see everyone watching.
"Good morning!" Neemon shouted. Angemon smiled, greeting them over as he flew to them.
"What are you guys doing?" Henry asked, walking over to examine Bokomon's book.
"Just planning," the horned one replied, yawning. "We've been up for quite some time now."
"Well why didn't you let us help?" Kouji questioned, feeling left out, as the others did as well.
"Aren't you full of questions today?" Beelzemon stated. "We just thought that you guys could use some sleep. After all, we are up against some tough ol' Digimon."
"I've been trying to listen for Angewomon," the counterpart interjected. "I haven't got a thing. But there's no point in standing around, we have to get started ASAP."
"Amen to that! C'mon let's go, I can't stand doing nothing any longer," the exuberant goggled one expressed. But the other goggled boy stopped him.
"But we can't just go. We need structure, for all we know, we could be getting farther away from our target."
"That is very true," Angemon said. "That is why, we came to the conclusion that we must go into the Dark Area."
"The Dark Area is the place in the Digital World where all evil resides," Bokomon explained gravely.
"Then why are we going there first?" JP whimpered.
"It was a tough decision to make, but if we want to get to the root of the problem, then we must."
"Before we further explain, I want to know if everyone agrees to this," Antylamon surveyed. The group thought for a moment. Diving so quickly was not what they expected. But at the same time, they were heroes; they needed to do this, if not for themselves, for everything else in existence. Slowly one by one, the protectors agreed their faces stained with a serious, determined look.
Ariel's voice trembled as she voiced her affirmation. She felt scared and unprepared but at the same time, she felt victorious, feeling somewhat belonging with the rest.
Beelzemon cracked a smile. "It's good that we're all agreed, it didn't matter though since you guys don't really have a choice."
"Okay, this is the plan," Angemon pulled out a map of the Digital World, but was interrupted by a loud screeching noise. The sky soon turned dark in colour, as swarms of Devidramon filled the air. On top were Fallen Angel Digimon, all grinning wickedly. A spastic maniac spout of laughter blasted from the air.
"That's the voice of Barbamon, quick everybody digivolve!"
DigiModify: Digivolution Activate! Guilmon digivolve to… Growlmon! Renamon digivolve to… Kyubimon! Terriermon digivolve to… Gargomon! Monodramon digivolve to… Cyberdramon! Lunamon digivolve to… Lekismon!
Execute! Spirit Evolution! Agunimon! Lobomon! Loweemon! Beetlemon! Kazemon! Kumamon!
Bokomon and Neemon ran to the bushes as their allies stood strong. Angemon, Antylamon and Beelzemon stood upfront, being the first line of defence. The Tamers stood just as strong, behind the line of Digimon. Soon the sky was hardly distinguishable and the evil overlord decided float gracefully to the ground.
"How nice of you to digivolve for me, I'm honoured," Barbamon announced. His army chortled at this, rearing to go.
"What do you want?" Angemon said scornfully.
"I want you to meet my minions." Everyone took the time to look up at the sky. There were hoards of Devimon and LadyDevimon, sitting atop Devidramon. It was a horrifying sight to see. Their red eyes shined eagerly, some of them expanded their wings, ready to dispatch their ride.
Ariel was frozen in fear, as was Lekismon. They have never faced something so fierce, not even her self defence would help.
"Can I have a heart-to-heart talk with you guys?" the Demon asked. He didn't wait for a reply and continued, "Everybody thinks Lucemon is such a bad Digimon. But they're wrong. I mean, honestly, I bet you can't even think of one being that gave you a welcoming gift and at this size too! But enough blabbering, enjoy!" Before he left he swung his staff around, changing the forest into a barren landscape, this way nobody was safe, not even Bokomon or Neemon.
That was their cue, Barbamon disappeared, and the swarm aimed downward, ready to strike. Some stayed stationed on their Devidramon, but others decided that face to face combat was best.
The heroes sprung into action, fighting against these creatures. Evil Wing! A LadyDevimon unleashed countless creatures of darkness, flying towards the band.
Pyro Punch! Howling Laser! Lightning Blitz! A mixture of fire, light and electricity retaliated, breaking up her attack. Back and forth this went, and the Digimon were soon scattered around, fighting one opponent at a time. Touch of Evil! Devimon rammed his fist into the ground, and as a result it appeared behind an unsuspecting Growlmon, squeezing him. Devimon narrowed his eyes, ready to crush his data, when Beelzemon came to the rescue. Corona Blaster! A huge blast of energy escaped his cannon, destroying the Devimon.
"We're no match!" Takato cried. He was watching the scene, his Digimon and all the rest were slowly being won over. If it wasn't for the celestials and Beelzemon, they would be dead. So the Tamers decided to level up the playing field.
DigiModify: Matrix Digivolution Activate! Guilmon digivolve to… WarGrowlmon! Terriermon digivolve to… Rapidmon! Renamon digivolve to… Taomon!
Talisman Star! The fox unleashed a group of razor sharp symbols, landing on an oncoming Devimon, tearing him apart.
"That's more like it," Rika shouted. The Warriors saw this and decided that they would upgrade as well.
Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution! BurningGreymon! KendoGarurumon! JagerLoweemon! MetalKabuterimon! Zephyrmon! Korikakumon! They now were an even match, and things were going great for the protectors of the Digital World. In the sky Cyberdramon was taking out the fallen angels one by one. Barbamon was watching from above, and was not pleased.
They should be crying for mercy! he angrily thought. He saw everything from up there. His army was slowly decreasing, being slaughtered by blasts of energy. He was about to go in there himself when he spotted the weakest link.
Ariel and Lekismon weren't strong enough, so they often had others defend them, which made them feel terrible. If they tried to fight, they would get overpowered and someone would have run in to protect. She watched with horror as her friends got hurt, and she couldn't do anything about it. Yes, they were winning, but Ariel had nothing to do with it, and so she felt even more excluded. Barbamon noticed this and conjured up a plan. He distributed his message, mentally to his remaining fighters. They all stood still in a line, leaving the Warriors and Tamers confused.
Barbamon floated down once again, to give his congratulations. "Well done, I underestimated your strength." He glanced around, observing the scene. "You've managed to destroy all but ten of my warriors."
Angemon was confused, he counted three Devimon, thee LadyDevimon and three Devidramon, but he had no idea where the tenth was.
"Indeed you are strong, as a whole, but what happens when I attack just the one?" he said slightly glancing at the teal-eyed girl.
"No!" Henry screamed as her ran to his friend, but it was too late. Red Eyes! The Devidramon used their paralyzing attack to freeze everyone but Ariel and Lekismon. Ariel quivered as the Demon Lord sauntered over to her. His long gnarled nails lightly grazed her face.
"Pretty thing like you, I'd hate to hurt you," he said with fake adoration. "But you're just so weak. Don't you despise your weakness?" He didn't give her a chance to respond, not that she would anyhow. "Truthfully, we Demon Lords can make use of you. You're not as weak as everybody here thinks." He paused. "Aren't you sick of being a burden? Aren't you sick of having everybody worry over you?"
Ariel didn't say a word, but she answered in her mind. Of course I'm sick of it!
"Don't distress, for I have the perfect solution. No tricks up my sleeve," he said raising his arms. "It's a win-win-win plan, see, if you join us, you'll finally be off their hands. They no longer have to worry. If you join us, you'll be able to get the power you want. And if you join us, we'll be happy, after all the more the merrier. See, win-win-win," he articulated.
Lekismon stood there, unsure of what to do. She would gladly jump in there and defend, but there was no reason to. They weren't attacking the brunette, just…talking to her. She waited for Ariel to show signs of life, but she stood there just as frozen as the rest. The Digimon was about to move when her Tamer spoke.
"I may be weak, but I'm not stupid," she said as brashly as she dared. "I would never abandon my friends, for the likes of you. Although I agree that I'm a burden, I'm not going to run away acting like a coward, like you." The Digimon roared in rage and went up close to her face snarling.
"Is that right? Well let's see if you think differently after THIS!" Seconds later, a large demonic Digimon flew down; standing in front of Barbamon's other minions. His face was covered by a horned metal mask; red protrusions were planted on his bare upper body; talons on the ends of his oblong arms; and wings as red as the thickest blood sprouted from his back. He was NeoDevimon. He stood bold and strong, waiting for his master's commands.
Lekismon stood in front of Ariel, ready to protect. Her hands clenched and unclenched, she bobbed slightly up and down, ready to strike. The aqua-eyed girl was also ready; she grabbed her D-Power, willing all her strength to go to her Digimon. They knew their friends were watching, they didn't have to choice, but this was the time to prove to herself and to everyone else, that she's just as powerful.
Barbamon smirked at this, knowing that she could never win. "Have fun," he maliciously said as he rose into the air, signalling his Devimon and LadyDevimon to follow.
NeoDevimon stood still, remaining stoic. Seconds went by as the two Digimon stared intently at each other. Lekismon tensed when he nodded his head. In an instant, one of the Devidramon flew overhead, accelerating quickly, aiming his sharp claws at the opposing one. Crimson Claw! It aimed to slash at the Digimon, with the power of darkness. But she swiftly removed the ice arrows from her back and aimed, Tear Shot!, shooting the dragon Digimon spot on.
She was taken aback when it did little damage; the Digimon continued to advance, striking the unprepared one. Three gashes appeared on her stomach, deep and unrelenting. The attacked Digimon screamed in pain.
"Lekismon!" her Tamer cried. Said Digimon was crouched over, concealing her wound with her gloves. The rabbit Digimon sensed Ariel coming towards her, so she whipped her hand back, signalling the girl to stop.
"Stay back!" she demanded. "Don't worry about me, right now, I need your strength." Ariel was shocked for a moment, but soon geared up and complied. She had her hand on her holster, ready to aid when needed.
Moon Night Kick! Lekismon soared as high as she dared, and kicked NeoDevimon as hard as she could. To their dismay, he hardly even flinched. Once again, he motioned his allies to attack. Only this time, Ariel was ready for action.
DigiModify: Hyper Speed Activate! With a determined look in her eye, Ariel swiped the card, giving Lekismon new speed. She jumped out of the way and used her newly acquired boost to her advantage. Tear Arrow! She aimed her arrows twice as fast, shooting two arrows per second. But NeoDevimon merely smiled and stared ahead. Neither of them was expecting the Devidramon to keep going, but they did, targeting Ariel.
Eyes widened as minds became blank. Ariel stood there, in fright, as the others, still frozen shouted in their minds. Ariel move! It was too late; a set of talons attacked the defenceless girl, drawing blood.
Still having the advantage of speed, Lekismon aimed her arrows at the foe. Tear Arrow! Ten consecutive arrows pierced the dark Digimon, finally destroying him to shreds of data. She ran over to her Tamer, looking at the wounds. Her eyes were shut in pain, and her mouth clenched shut. Lekismon furiously turned to the evil.
"Why don't you stop hiding, and actually fight!" she shouted. "I'm not afraid of you, you're just a pawn. Once you finish the dirty work for Barbamon, surely you'll be killed as well." NeoDevimon growled, not enjoying the insults being thrown n his face.
"You want me to fight?" he said darkly. Guilty Claw!
He lifted Lekismon off the ground, constricting the data out of her. She was surrounded by a glow as she reverted back to a much weaker state, falling unconscious.
"Lunamon!" the girl shouted, cringing. Slowly she crawled over to where her Digimon was.
The evil Digimon charged up ready to attack, wanting to finish off this nuisance. The world slowed down for Ariel as she watched NeoDevimon move forward with sparks emitting from his claws. As he was mere inches from the unconscious body, she jumped in front of her Digimon, protecting her, as waves of electricity left NeoDevimon's hands. Stun Claw! The blow landed directly on the girl, she shuddered in the air before falling to the ground, panting hard.
Enraged, he roared loudly and deeply, wanting to destroy this duo once and for all. "Any last words?" he uttered gutturally.
Ariel was on her hands and knees, eyes wide and staring at the ground. All around her were her DigiModify cards, splayed about. She looked at her D-Power, breathing hard. The wind blew, lightly tousling her hair. Her friends cried out in their minds. She couldn't deny it, she was going to lose. She closed her eyes and thought about everyone she was leaving behind, her mom, Lunamon, her friends. She opened her eyes to take one last look at her beloved when she saw a glint of blue. To everyone's surprise, she started grinning. She looked up at the ominous Digimon, smirking before uttering one word.
DigiModify, she said, as she swiped the card. Lunamon immediately was swept up, undergoing a change for the better. Lunamon digivolve to…Crescemon! The new Digimon landed in front of her Tamer, reenergized. She stood tall, breathing in a new body. A mask encased her now matured face, allowing her ears to be. Blue plated armour protected her torso, matching the ice arrows that still remained on her back. She had gained what she didn't before. New weapons, called Nuova Luna that can be manipulated to Crescemon's liking.
"You have hurt my Tamer," she said with a voice that matured along with her body. "I can never forgive you," her eyes sliced into the other. Lunatic Dance! She planted her feet on the ground gracefully. She stepped forwards, backwards and to the side, with an algorithm of steps. Her arms flowed in the wind, as did the ribbons on her head. She was doing a dance, a dance that mesmerized all. But it was all a trick, when she found the time right, she rapidly slashed at NeoDevimon. With the power of love and will, she was able to defeat NeoDevimon.
He cried in anguish as he diminished into nothing. Dark Archery! Morphing her Nuova Luna into a blowgun, she aimed arrows of darkness at the remaining Devidramon and watched as their data flew away amidst the wind.
The rest were finally free, and as they morphed back to simpler forms, they ran to their injured friend. Of the beings there, Henry was the most distressed. Regrets flooded his mind as he watched the unmoving body of his joy.
I should have never let Ariel come here! I should have never brought her to the Digital World in the first place! he screamed at himself. He continued to beat himself up until Ariel's eyes started to flutter.
"Did we do good?" she mumbled. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
"Yes, we did good," Crescemon said, before digivolving back in to Lunamon and dropping next to her. Angemon picked the two up, carrying them back into a more lush area.
"Don't worry too much," he said, noticing the looks on everyone's faces. "Ariel most likely just passed out, after all humans aren't too good with electricity. And Lunamon is just tired. All we can do now is wait and let them rest." The group simmered down, and wandered around their new region of forest, giving the two their space.
"I'm assuming that we won't be going to the Dark Area today," Ryo asked the celestials. They shook their heads calmly. It was evident that they were rather disappointed, but considering the circumstances, it would be impossible. But in the mentioning of this, they remembered that the explanation of their plan was interrupted. So they rounded up the gang, and hung a map of the DigiWorld on a tree.
"This is a map of the Digital World," Bokomon explained. Kouji restrained himself from making a sarcastic remark, allowing the scholar to continue. "The Digital World is separated into ten regions. Each one represents one of the ten elements, which are Flame, Light, Ice, Wind, Thunder, Earth, Wood, Water, Steel and Darkness. The Dark Area would be located, obviously in the region of Darkness. Right now, we're in the Wood region, or the Forest Terminal. On our way to the Dark region, we will pass through all the others. That is all we have confirmed so far, is everyone clear with that?" They all nodded, all wondering about the adventure they're about to embark on. They all scattered around once more, waiting for Ariel and Lunamon to come around.
Henry sat beside the unconscious girl. Her breaths were long and slow. Her hand twitched once in a while, so he decided to hold it. It was warm and alive. Spots of light appeared on her face, seeing how she was laying under a tree. The irregularities of the leaves casted beautiful shadows upon her, making her look one with nature. Henry stared at her longingly, wanting to lean over a place a soft kiss upon thy lips. He unconsciously squeezed her hand, rubbing delicate circles on the back of her hand. He didn't care who saw.
Although, he did care if someone gasped dramatically, while screaming out, you totally like her! loud enough to cause a stir.
"You just noticed?" Rika remarked.
"Well yeah…" the blond replied.
"She was probably too involved with a certain someone to notice," Ryo teased. Zoe blushed considerably, looking to see if that certain someone noticed.
"Oh why don't you take Rika behind a tree and—"
"Zoe!" the redhead yelled.
"Rika!"
"NEEMON!" he shouted. At this point, all was quiet as they stared at the yellow Digimon. But the silence was quickly broken by a confused mumble.
"Where am I?" Ariel said, her eyes squinting. They all rushed towards her at this sign of life.
"Ariel, are you okay?" they expressively asked. She didn't answer for a while, she just lay there, but then something came to her attention. She raised her hand, to see Henry's still attached to it.
"I—uh…" he said, trying to think of an excuse. But before he could, Ariel squeezed his hand, smiling.
"Thanks Henry," she said softly. His mouth moved, trying to form words, but his face just got redder and redder.
"Uh… I'll go get the others," he said hastily. He ran off, looking for Takato, Takuya, JP, Tommy, Kouji and Kouichi.
"Okay…" Rika said, suppressing a smirk. "Do you remember anything?" she said, turning her attention to the teal-eyed girl.
"Um…" she furrowed her brow, trying to recall her memories. "We were in the forest, when Barbamon came, and we started fighting with these Digimon, and then you guys were frozen," she expressed, eyes full of worry.
"Don't worry about us, we're fine," Zoe smiled. "Do you remember anything else?"
"You guys were frozen, so Lunamon and I were fighting. And then I got hit. But after that I don't remember anything." Bokomon decided to retell everything that happened. Ariel's eyes widened when he finished. She looked over to her friend, and softened her eyes.
"Thanks Lunamon," she whispered, petting her Digimon.
"Ariel! You're back," Takato called, walking ahead of everybody else. Ariel smiled as she saw everyone else walk in to greet her.
"How ya feelin?" JP asked.
"Better," she smiled. The kids spent some time, telling each other their perspective of the story, exclaiming how cool Ariel looked, or how scared they were, and how glad they are that the two are alright.
All of this noise roused Lunamon, they noticed, as she scrunched her face.
"What did I miss?" she yawned. Instantly, Ariel attacked her in a ferocious hug, barely allowing her to breathe.
"Thank you so much Lunamon!" her Tamer expressed.
"Well I couldn't have done it without you," she hugged back, just as tight. Soon the three strongest Digimon strolled in, happy to see that they were alive and well.
"Good to see you're okay," Beelzemon said. "But we should get a move on." Ariel nodded, before anyone could protest.
"I've already delayed this long enough, we should go." The others had to agree, they weren't going to save the world just lounging around. It was quite a bit after noon, so they could still get very far before sundown.
The celestials led them around the forest, eventually exiting it, to be met with a train track. While waiting, they decided to tell Ariel and Lunamon about their plan so far. Her eyes shined with excitement. She no longer doubted herself, and was ready to go in fighting once more.
Soon a Trailmon arrived, which the group gratefully boarded. The Trailmon zoomed forward, bringing the heroes to their next destination.
SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN FOR THIS TO BE PUT OUT SO LATE!
I hope you liked this chapter; I'm not really good with writing battle scenes. Sorry about the lateness, it was just very hard to write this one. When I begin writing, I already know a faint outline of what's going to happen, but I don't really know the details. So I knew that there was going to be a battle, I just didn't know how to execute it in way that was clear and interesting.
There were parts of the story which I straight up didn't like, and I was not motivated to write. So I erased a lot of this chapter, took a break, and came back to rewrite. I'm much happier with this draft. And I hope you are too!
One more thing, I hope you guys know that "did we do good" line was grammatically incorrect. I did that on purpose, because she was disoriented. But if you didn't know that that was bad grammar, then hey, you learnt something new today!