Hey guys... it's been a long time! Sorry X infinity+1! I'm not going to lie, the reason for my long absence was pure laziness. Don't kill me :P! I suggest skimping the last few chapters, because I would certainly be lost after all this time.
"Is that so?" Lucemon was sitting on this throne, listening intently to Barbamon's rant.
"I just can't believe it!" he finished. He was breathing heavily, anger displayed on his face. The leader just nodded his head, taking occasional sips from his goblet.
"Don't be mad my chum, think of that as a test. We know now that they'll actually be a challenge. And it's nice to see her powers bloom so quickly, no?"
"I wish I could have seen you," she said, petting the purple Digimon.
"It's alright, I'm sure I'll be able to Matrix Digivolve again, right?" Ariel felt Lunamon cock her head and she smiled in response. The pair was sitting in an empty caravan, away from all the noise and nonsense. They could hear Takato chase Guilmon around, while Henry chastised Terriermon. The faint sound of Zoe's giggles could be heard, undoubtedly being caused by Takuya, while Tommy and JP tried to be just as involved. Normally they would be there too, enjoying the company of their new friends. But now was a time for thinking.
They achieved their goal of proving their worth and they wanted to take a moment to bask and congratulate themselves. The brunette stared out the window enjoying the blurred scenery. She sighed, as she thought of how lucky she was.
Great friends, a dream come true, and an adventure of a life-time. When I first came to Shinjuku, I expected change, but never did I think to this extent.
The girl's thoughts dissolved as the latch on the door rattled. Kouichi was slightly surprised when he saw the duo in there.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," he said, as Kouji appeared from behind.
"No, it's alright, do about your business," she smiled. The twins found it awkward if they left, so they proceeded inside, sitting on the seat across from Ariel and Lunamon. As they sat down, the younger gave his twin a look.
You're going to tell me sooner or later, so don't think you're off the hook yet,he thought. He knew that his brother got the message, so he turned to the two in front of him. "You guys did great out there," he complimented. They raised their brows, unused to having Kouji start conversation, let alone praising someone. But pride gleamed in their eyes nonetheless.
"I actually wanted to comment on something that you said earlier," the elder injected. "When Barbamon was talkingto you, you told him that 'you knew you were a bother'. Ariel, do you really mean that?" Unexpected silence filled the air, as teal eyes turned downcast. Her Digimon looked on concerned, unsure of what to make of this. She too had felt like a burden, only because she was unable to be at par with the others, but now that problem was solved.
"Well sort of," she chuckled. "I mean have you seen yourselves, you guys are awesome, but now you might have some competition!" she joked. Lunamon smiled, but knew that there was something wrong. As did Kouji, he recognized the same emotion- changing before, and decided to add Ariel on his list of people he would talk to later.
"Am I interrupting something?" JP said, as he poked his head through the door. Ariel, looking for a way to escape this atmosphere, shook her head. "Great, we're having a competition, and I need some more people on my team. Care to join?"
"Sure!" she said, jumping out of her seat, suppressing her cringe, not wanting to bring more attention to her.
"Ariel, you should be careful," Lunamon said, looking up at her partner.
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine!" she chirped. But the scars peeking from under her ragged shirt begged to differ. "Come on guys," she said, motioning the twins to join as well. They walked out of their car, and into the next, with gleeful faces to greet.
The rest of the ride was spent playing silly games to pass the time. They played charades, organized a staring contest, and breath holding contest. The cheerful ambience was so bright; you would have never guessed that they were soldiers in an underground war. But they eventually reached their destination.
"Thank you Trailmon, you were of great assistance," Angemon said as he exited.
"My pleasure," he replied before chugging off.
"We're in the middle of nowhere because?" Takuya asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Relax will you, we're going to have to do a little bit of walking if we're going to see Shamanmon," Bokomon explained.
"We're seeing him again? He gave me the creeps," Tommy admitted.
"But he did do a good job of predicting our future," Zoe added.
"Yeah, don't remind me," the leader said exasperatedly.
"Enough chitchat, lets get moving!" Neemon exclaimed. And so the group began walking.
"Ariel, are you okay?" Lunamon asked from her Tamer's arms.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," she smiled.
"But you know," JP interjected, "you should get that fixed." He pointed to her shirt that was torn from where she was attacked. She frowned as she looked down.
"Sheesh, my shirts are always getting ripped up," she muttered. The older boy cocked an eyebrow, not knowing what to make of that, but he didn't have a chance to question, for they had arrived.
The colourful tents and lively Digimon brought a wave of nostalgia to the Warriors.
"Angemon! Antylamon! What brings you here to our humble fair?" Gekomon cried.
"Nice to see you again!" a Vademon clambered up to JP. "After all these years, I expect you to be married no?" The boy narrowed his eyes at him, hiding his blush.
"We're not married, we're still kids. But I don't need your false fortune telling, I already know she's not interested in me…" The elder looked at the ground, immersed in his own issues, so much so that he didn't notice the others walking ahead of him.
"Sheesh JP, again? Will you try following us for once!" the hot-headed leader shouted from afar. JP snapped out of his trance, and ran embarrassed trying to catch up.
Soon, the group arrived at a sacred looking temple and entered cautiously.
"Shamanmon, are you here?" the scholar Digimon shouted. Less than a second later, the said Digimon appeared, grinning madly.
"It's great to finally meet the outsiders," he said motioning to Takato and the others.
"Shamanmon is one of the few that know about our situation," Antylamon explained. "Currently, he is helping us track down Belphemon." The goblin Digimon took his cue and began jumping from foot to foot. His club shook in the air as he was reading the cosmos.
"Yes…" he whispered. "I see Darkness, shrouded in mystery… a sun that rises at dawn, deep as aubergine and blood."
"Another riddle? Can't you just tell us where he is specifically," JP whined. But nobody paid attention as they were too concentrated in solving this conundrum.
"Don't all suns rise at dawn?" Henry thought aloud.
"Deep as aubergine and blood? Isn't aubergine eggplant?" Rika inquired. Everyone had their heads bowed in thought, the endless possibilities reeling through their minds.
Sun rises at dawn… sun…dawn…Kouichi's eyes squinted towards the ground, but he gasped when he stumbled upon a revelation Sun rises at dawn, or rather a star in the morning. "Rose Morning Star!" he exclaimed. The Warriors took a moment, but it soon clicked in their head.
"You're right!" Zoe agreed.
"So that means we have to go there again?" the youngest dismayed.
"Don't worry about it! We're stronger than before, plus we have some extra muscle as well," Takuya said slapping the other leader on the back.
"It can't be that bad right?" Ariel asked.
"Well, it's not the happiest place, but I'm sure we'll be alright," the blond assured.
"It's a good thing we were headed to the Dark Continent as it is, now we don't have to worry about Belphemon waking up in the middle of our journey," Beelzemon observed in the background.
"Yes, we should be going now, your help is very much appreciated, Shamanmon," the angel said. As quickly as possible, the group left and found the nearest Trailmon tracks.
The moment they got on the Trailmon, Kouji forced Kouichi into another cable car.
"Okay Kouichi, I know you're hiding something," he interrogated.
"I'm not hiding anything," he simply said. Kouji took on a look of doubt.
"Really? Then can you please explain to me why you're always looking at me with such a sadistic expression?" The elder looked up at his brother, trying to match his stare, but inevitably looked away; it was as if Kouji had lasers for eyes.
"It's nothing; I don't want you to worry over nothing."
"You're going to have to tell me sooner or later, so you might as well tell me now." Kouji sat down next to his brother and his eyes softened. "Please, I don't like seeing you like this, and if it turns out to be nothing, then that's all that it is, nothing." Kouichi sighed, unable to argue with his brother's good intentions.
"It's-it's just a feeling. I feel like something bad is going to happen, and I don't know what it is, and it doesn't matter, I'm just scared that I might lose you along the way." Kouji leaned over to give his brother a hug, which Kouichi graciously returned, since this was a rare occurrence.
"You won't, I'll make sure of it," he said quietly.
The undeniable sound of a stomach rumble was heard, emitting from JP, which caused everyone to stare.
"What, we haven't eaten since morning, and even then we hardly ate, because we had to go looking for you guys!" he said glaring at Bokomon and Neemon.
"I'm hungry too!" Neemon interjected.
"Well that's not my problem is it?" the horned one replied.
"Can we stop by someplace and get a quick bite please!"
"I'm afraid we can't. If we stall too much, we might not make it on time," Angemon dictated. At this, Guilmon's stomach also chimed in.
"I'm a bit hungry too," Terriermon admitted.
"See it's not just me, there are mouths to be fed," the boy stated.
"And if you don't mind me saying, hungry fighters are not the best kind," the Canine Digimon pointed out. The Celestials sighed, succumbing to peer-pressure.
"Fine, we'll stop at the nearest place, and get as much food as you want, and then we have to go."
"And maybe while we're at it, we can fix Ariel's shirt," Zoe suggested.
"Oh, it's alright, I don't want to delay you guys anymore," she told them. The two continued to dispute while the rest were looking out the windows, scoping out a potential place to eat.
"Hey! I recognize that!" Takuya pointed to something in the distance, it was a gigantic heater. "That's got to be the Leaf Fair thing!" I'm bettin' all my money that there's food there!"
"Yeah! Hey Trailmon, our stop is here!" JP exclaimed.
"I don't think we should," Bokomon started, by nobody heard him over the screeching of the wheels.
"WHOA!" Trailmon halted fast, causing everyone to fall in a huge pile.
"Couldn't you have given us a warning?" Rika shouted, pushing Guilmon's tail away.
"I could say the same thing," Trailmon said, shaking the passengers out of him.
"So where is this 'fair'?" Takato asked, looking at empty space.
"As I was saying," Bokomon said with edge, "I don't think we should have stopped here, since the Trailmon could have taken us so much closer."
"Way to go JP," Tommy commented.
"Hunger does crazy things to people, okay?" he argued back.
"Okay, I don think standing here blaming others is going to help us save the world," Henry, ever to pacifist said.
"Why don't we just evolve, we could get there much quicker," Kouji said logically. And so that's what they did. A few Digivolutions later, the team was all there. The Tamers looked around, amazed at all the liveliness that occurred.
"Alright, get as much food as you want, but be back here in five minutes," Angemon instructed. Digimon and kids alike ran to different booths, pampering their taste buds.
"Ariel, I found something really cute!" Zoe shouted.
"Oh that's great, I'm sure it'll look awesome on you," the brunette smiled.
"Correction, it'll look awesome on you." Ariel took a look at what Zoe was holding and her face automatically fell.
"No way am I wearing that," she said, backing away, but the blond pulled her back and behind a tent.
"Yes you are," she grinned wildly. Aqua eyes widened, as she green eyes stared back.
"Okay Zoe, if I wear this," she replied slowly, "will you stop looking like a maniac?"
"I am not a maniac!" the other exclaimed. "And you better wear this!" Zoe sashayed away, giving Ariel her privacy. She sighed and shook her head as she walked into the forest, changing her clothes.
Five minutes were up, and they regrouped.
"Nice dress Ariel," Rika smirked. She fumed in response, and crossed her arms childishly. The girl was now wearing a simple white dress. The top was fitted while the bottom flowed free, causing it to ripple nicely in the wind. Her friends from Shinjuku were mildly amused since they have never seen Ariel in a dress in any shape or form.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go already," she said put off. Zoe squealed, complimenting on how cute she looked before Spirit Evolving. "Cute?" Ariel scoffed, before hopping onto Rapidmon, next to a rather unnerved Henry.
The plan progressed smoothly from there, once again, the Digidestined were headed to the Rose Morning Star. A bit too smoothly though, for a certain league of Demon Lords.
"Lucemon! A Trailmon is approaching the area," Barbamon reported. They had set up surveillance, to stop anyone from getting too close to their next Demon Lord. Lucemon got up and went over to the screen. He instructed his comrade to zoom in, and he as rather vexed to find out that it was those pesky humans.
"Daemon!" he called. "I have a job for you, and don't fail me this time," he warned.
Ariel's troubled mood allowed Henry to admire her without being detected. Her elbow sat upon her thigh, and her chin rested on her palm. Her eyes were cast downwards, and Henry felt a bit sympathetic for her, after all, Ariel had an almost comical hatred for skirts and dresses alike.
He smirked at how childish she was acting, and found it almost endearing. She was almost like another younger sister to him. But Henry's pounding heart would state otherwise.
She looked so pure; the way the soft light reflected off the white surface and onto her body made Henry entranced, so much so that he almost missed what Lunamon said.
"Cheer up Ariel, it's just a dress," she said, somewhat scolding her. "It doesn't really matter does it?"
"No," she said sombrely. Her fingers grazed the side of her right leg, but stopped abruptly. Her hands went behind her head as a means of a cushion and her eyes closed. "I guess not."
Henry noticed that there was something odd about her leg, since she unknowingly brought attention to it. But before he could ask, the Trailmon halted and it shook horrendously.
"Everyone out! It's Daemon!" Angemon bellowed. The passengers sprinted to the nearest exit and mentally prepared themselves. They were met with the sight of the devious Digimon at the nose of the Trailmon and in the process of flipping him over.
"ARGH!" he grunted. The other flew through the air and landed with a thunderous crash. Evil Inferno!In mere moments, Trailmon was encased by a flaring blaze that disintegrated him in seconds.
"Trailmon!" they all cried.
"Alright buddy, you'll pay for that!" Takuya declared. Execute! Spirit Evolution! Lobomon! Loweemon! Kumamon! Kazemon! Beetlemon!
"That's our cue," Takato said, nodding to his comrades.
"Not so fast," Henry said, turning towards her. "Ariel you need to sit out for this one." Her mouth gaped open in disbelief.
"I'm helping Henry, you know I'm capable of it," she stared hard into his eyes. The others had no time to waste, so they went ahead of them. DigiModify: Matrix Digivolution Activate! Guilmon digivolve to… WarGrowlmon! Renamon digivolve to… Taomon! Monodramon digivolve to… Cyberdramon!
Daemon was now approaching them, with fiery remains as his background. The saviours stood strong, but Henry and Ariel stayed still, outraged with what the other was proposing.
"Guys, this is not the time to be bickering," Rika said sternly.
Why is he always like this? I'm not a child and I've proved that I can fight amongst them! "You can't stop me Henry," she said icily.
DigiModify: Matrix Digivolution Activate! Lunamon digivolve to… Crescemon!
Henry was taken aback, but considering the consequences, he knew that Terriermon should be there turned away from his friend and swiped his card.
DigiModify: Matrix Digivolution Activate! Terriermon digivolve to… Rapidmon! He huffed and looked at the brunette. Why is she so reckless? The last fight was only hours ago, and she thinks she's able to fight? She's not making my job easy…
"We meet at last," the demon Digimon said, finally in front of the band of Digimon heroes. "Well, I've already met a few of you," he sneered, as he turned to the Tamers. "Remember me?" he said with false endearment.
Ariel put on a strong façade and spoke out to conceal her fright. "What do you want?" Her voice was dripping with venom, and the others had a hard time fathoming such a character change, but agreed nonetheless.
"Indeed, what is it that you want?" Angemon demanded.
"To destroy you of course!" he laughed darkly before flying off into the sky. Everyone was confused but held their guard. The wind whistled through and sliced their skin, causing them to shiver.
"Cold are we?" the voice asked. "Then I'll warm you up!" Evil Inferno!
The team quickly reacted, those who could fly or jump did so, carrying the handicapped ones, while Angemon used his counter attack to dismiss the wall of flame. God Typhoon!A whirlwind created by the spinning of his staff cut though to fire, expelling it. The saviours landed just as Daemon appeared, accelerating down towards Angemon.
Slash Nail!He planned to strike him with his grotesque talons but didn't get the chance, for Beelzemon came to aid. Corona Blaster! A vast amount of energy shot from his cannon, striking Daemon directly.
The opposing landed with a thud. Such power… of course he is supposed to be one of the Lords,he thought. Lucemon would have wanted him to take this time to persuade Beelzemon to their side, but, being the wrathful Digimon he was, his eyes lit up with rage. EVIL INFERNO! he roared. The power that surged though him was released in an explosive manner. The flames reached the heights of mountains, and were travelling quickly. Because he landed quite far from the others, the attack was yet to be received.
The ground shook and they saw waves of orange, red and yellow coming their way. The Tamers came to a quick conclusion that they had no chance whatsoever of surviving, so they hastily held out their D-Powers. Biomerge Activate! The kids themselves were swept up and melded with their partners. Guilmon biomerge to…Gallantmon! Terriermon biomerge to… MegaGargomon! Renamon biomerge to… Sakuyamon! Monodramon biomerge to… Justimon!
MegaGargomon resituated his stance, so that his massive leg would protect Ariel and Crescemon. But there was no time to lose, so he slammed his fist to the ground. Power Pummel! An enormous shockwave emitted from his fist, and Justimon was quick to follow. Thunderclap! Logically, the best thing to do would be to disperse the flames, and that's what they hoped for. The Warriors wanting to strengthen their forces decided it was time to evolve.
Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution! BurningGreymon! KendoGarurumon! JagerLoweemon! MetalKabuterimon! Zephyrmon! Korikakumon!Zephyrmon and Korikakumon quickly reacted. Hurricane Gale! Tornado-esque winds were released, while Korikakumon expelled a concentrated stream of cool air. Once again, Angemon used his attack, to round everything up, God Typhoon!
All powerful attacks hurdled towards the fire, and to their delight, the fire was put out. The flames disappeared to reveal an angry Daemon. He was blinded by rage, and the fighters knew that this was the time to attack.
"Everybody now!" Hand of Fate! Shield of Just! Mega Barrage! Spirit Strike! Justice Burst! Dark Archery! Pyro Barrage! Lupine Laser! Ebony Blast! Bolo Thunder! Hurricane Gale! Avalanche Axes!
Beelzemon decided to use his power to direct all of this energy. Corona Destroyer! He knew that this was best, since this attack sustained a continuous beam, for all of the power to travel upon.
The mixture of elements was blinding, and Daemon didn't have a chance. He roared as his matter exploded into a billion pieces of data, and what happened next, the saviours never expected.
They had no time to rejoice in their victory, because they were too confused by the loud bang that occurred. Riffs of wind came back at them, and Ariel stood frozen, terrified.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Those words ran through her mind and before she could voice her suspicion, she and everyone else were swept up into the sky. The massive shockwave that they created had them blowing in the wind.
The Tamers were sure to hold onto their partners, but Henry was keen on holding onto someone else as well.
"Ariel!" he cried while extending his hand to hers. Their fingertips were centimetres away when the sudden after shock exploded and ripped the team apart.
Their shouts could be heard from a distance away and Lucemon smiled wickedly. "Good luck reaching your target now."
It's time to wake up… Turquoise eyes snapped open. Where am I? What happened? Ariel was lying on the ground and she could see tall trees and blue skies above her. Ugh… she groaned silently, as she tried to sit up. She breathed deeply, trying to recollect what had happened to her.
We were fighting Daemon, and… we won? After we attacked, there was a big shockwave that separated us… and now I'm lying here… She let this soak in and suddenly shot up.
"Where is everyone?" she looked in all directions, but she saw no familiar faces. "Don't tell me I'm alone…" she said quavered, fighting the urge to cry.
Be strong Ariel, you don't cry anymore! She tried to focus her attention on something else, and glanced at her leg by mistake. The girl drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes. I need to be strong… She sat there, meditating, hoping for the best.
"Kouichi…" The younger twin groaned his name as soon as he regained consciousness.
"Yeah?" To his surprise, his brother's answer was crisp and clear, which caused Kouji to snap his head up, only to realize that he was on top of his brother.
"Kouichi?"
"Kouji. I'm glad that you're okay and awake, but you're heavy," the elder told him, to which the younger hastily got off.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly.
"It's alright, but we have bigger problems," Kouichi said, gesturing to a knocked out Lunamon. The twins walked over to her and Kouichi gently picked her up.
"Where's Ariel?" Kouji questioned.
"Certainly not here," the other replied grimly.
So how was it? I hope it met your standards after all this time. Reviews would be very much appreciated since I'm trying to get the ball rolling again.
How is your summer going? Mine is severely uneventful.
But I did, for some strange reason, contract an illness that goes by the term OURAN OBSESSION.
I've watched Ouran HSHC in the past, maybe 6 months ago? But it was subbed. And for this past month, I for some reason, out of boredom most likely, I wanted to watch it again. I watched the first three dubbed on FUNimation's Youtube, before, around the time I finished the sub, and I didn't really like it. At that time I was still in the stage of, all dubbed animes are horrible, so I watched a lot of subbed things. But during this month I was like, why not! So I watched the dub, and I love it! I don't know why I had a sudden change in direction, but I don't care, I'm out of that stage now! And that's because FUNimation is such a good company!
Man, I really love Ouran. And because of that, I started watching videos of Ouran panels, where the VA's would sit and answer questions. They are so awesome. I really love them, and because of that, I really want to watch more of each individuals work. So anime with Vic Mignogna (as if that's a hard task), or Todd Haberkorn, and J. Michael Tatum, and Travis Willingham, etc.
I'm going to stop, because I could go on for pages about Ouran and the like, and well it'd seem out of place, no? After all this is a Digimon fanfic, duh.
On a realated note, I watched the first episode of Digimon Xros Wars, and I'm not really a fan. For some reason, this series reminds me of Pokemon a lot and that is such a sad thing for Digimon fans, because we know that Digimon and Pokemon are not similar. But there's a lot of bias here, since I grew up with dubbed Digimon, and since I grew up with the first four series, I no longer have room for the other two.
ANYWAYS. See ya next time!
