Chapter 11 Instincts


Tommy was worried and wanted to hide it, but he couldn't. After Takuya had led Gigasmon away from them, the others had started panicking; the digimon were still unconscious and they didn't know what to do. He brought Betamon closer to his chest, watching as the older two teens sulked and tried to figure out what to do; tears were slowly rising up in his eyes. He just wanted to find Takuya, Kouichi and Kouji, then continue on their journey and protect the digimon. But how could they do that when they couldn't protect themselves? Tears began descending as he clutched Betamon furthermore.

"Tommy?" Zoe's voice was soft, if not a bit shaken from her previous muttering. Tommy refused to look at the girl until JP had finally calmed down and stood next to her.

"Hey bud, what's wrong?" JP asked, his voice cracking slightly. The tears in Tommy's eyes had yet to subside. Why was he crying when Takuya or one of the others were in trouble. This wasn't helping anyone.

"W-why?" He was finally able to form a word. "Why are we so… useless?"

The elder teens gave the younger a surprised glance. They weren't useless, were they? Maybe they should have been doing something rather than just standing there doing nothing. They glanced back at the unconscious forms of Lunamon and Coronamon and physically winced. It was becoming painfully obvious how their two groups had differed and why Takuya was so distressed. How had they missed it?

"Takuya doesn't even have a spirit, but she's done so much for us; and now—what if Gigasmo- no, Cherubimon get's his hands on her? The digimon and her, even Kouichi, have been doing what they could to help us out and we're not doing anything but standing here!" Tears were streaking down his face at this point, cheeks and eyes turning a light shade of red. It was odd; the groups had barely been around each other for a few days and Tommy acting as if they had been friends the last few weeks. The group had grown on him; their gentle facades hiding the impulsive acts gave him more comfort than oddball group alone. None of their personalities matched with all but Tommy used to being alone and in-charge. They brawled frequently, often times more with each other than actual enemies. Actually, now that Tommy thought about it, they had only begun to get along the day they had been separated.

Zoe embraced Tommy gently, but it didn't give off the same warmth as Takuya's; rather it was forced. They were new to acting as friends, let alone like a family. He wanted to push her away, but he refused to. They needed comfort and they needed to find the others fast. That was when Zoe spoke again, "Let's go find them."


Lobomon growled, infuriated as Gigasmon continued to dodge his attacks. Reppamon had done her best to try distracting the earth warrior using nothing but her claws; however it had little effect. With only the two of them in their present forms they were useless against the beast digimon, but they couldn't give in. If they could just free the unconscious girl then they could attack freely; Gigasmon conversely had kept true to his promise on not releasing the fiery girl. Lobomon tried to use another Lobo Kendo attack but was tossed freely into tree with Reppamon.

Gigasmon let out a laugh. "That all you warriors got?"

He was taunting him, the same way he had the others. Reppamon had wanted to charge him right there and then, but knew better than to fall for his tricks. Unfortunately, Lobomon hadn't been as tactical; he had gotten back onto his feet and charged yet again.

"Kouji, don't be a fool!" Reppamon shouted, trying to nip his outfit or something to get him to pull back. It was a useless effort, though.

"Howling Laser!" A burst of light energy had been released from his left wrist. Gigasmon lifted an arm to block the attack, giving a smirk. He didn't notice Lobomon continuing on raising his light kendo's once again. Just as Gigasmon stirred, Kouji brought down his swords on the arm gripping Takuya. The attack had both knocked Gigasmon back onto the ground and loosened his grip slightly. Lobomon took the opportunity to stomp down on Gigasmon's arm, causing him to let out a cry in pain and released his grip completely. Lobomon gave a smirk and scooped the girl up into his arms.

Reppamon gazed in awe at the boy, figuring he was just falling into another trap. She would have happily gone to pick the girl up when she saw Gigasmon arise behind the pre-occupied Warrior of Light. She jumped into action, not having to hold back any longer. "Razor Wind!"

Unprepared for the sudden change in attitude of Reppamon's attacks, Lobomon had dove to the ground just the invisible wind blades hit their mark. Gigasmon once again was beat down into another tree which shattered upon impact. Reppamon gave a knowing smirk to Lobomon and nudged him up. "Still think you can do better on your own?"

Lobomon let out a laugh. "I just owe you one then. We should get Takuya out of here before anything else goes wrong."

Reppamon nodded heading back into the forest.


Koichi was getting worried; he had yet to find anyone on his exploration and the sounds he had been hearing had begun stopping. Inattentive, he didn't see JP just as he turned another corner. Both warriors fell to the floor with an inaudible groan. Behind them they could hear gasps and sighs of relief.

"Kouichi!"

Suddenly he felt someone clasping his middle and pulling him up. He looked up find Tommy with Betamon passed out in his grip; behind him Zoe was helping JP up after placing Lunamon and Coronamon down. This had just increased the horrid feeling consuming Kouichi as he looked at the scene, trying to find any sign of his missing girl.

"What happened to you guys?" Kouichi asked, trying to keep calm. The given circumstances however were breaking through his façade. Tommy was close to being in tears as his grip tightened; Zoe and JP both looked at the ground, terrified at meeting Kouichi's eyes. "Guys?"

"Grumblemon attacked us when we were in the field," Zoe started, glancing between the digimon and JP. "We all evolved to try and stop him, while Lekismon stayed back to protect Takuya. He- he was so strong and knocked us around like we were nothing. Then he hid underground, so Lekismon jumped into the air in case he had tried something, but he somehow already knew she would do that. He slid evolved into Gigasmon and then knocked Lekismon out cold as soon as she hit the ground. Seadramon and Firamon… they were so irate, they charged him. But even their combined power wasn't enough. He knocked them out."

"We figured that maybe if all three of us attacked him we would have a better chance, but it was useless. He countered and took Zoe's spirit when she pushed Kumamon away. Takuya looked determined at that point, so she started throwing rocks or something to get his attention. She got him to start chasing her and told us to keep the others safe. We wanted to stop her, but by the time we all recovered they were gone," JP finished. Kouichi was shaking slightly. Of course Takuya hadn't spirit evolved with them, obviously still untrusting of the group. Even so, she wouldn't stand to let them get hurt when she knew what they were really after. And if what they said was true and that scream had anything to do with it… the feeling in his stomach intensified.

"We need to find Kouji and Takuya."


Bokomon and Neemon instinctively followed Gotsumon as he looked through the wreckage of Lobomon and Gigasmon's first fight. They had no clue as to why they were there in the first place, but they figured they would get answers eventually.

"Bokomon, why are we following this guy? Shouldn't we have gone with Kouji?"Neemon asked.

"They went off to stall Gigasmon, and we'd be no use in that fight. Besides Gotsumon may need our help," Bokomon yapped. Neemon turned his head to the side.

"Who's Gotsumon?"

Bokomon let out a sigh, checking down the crevice that Gotsumon was scaling down. Something had made the rock digimon stop as some of the land crumbled away, revealing a sparkling object in its wake. Gotsumon had visibly brightened as he saw the object. "I found it! The third gem!"


Reppamon let out a growl as heard footsteps from behind her and Lobomon. Lobomon noticed her behavior and readied himself for an attack. Rather than hearing one voice, they heard multiple voices. Unless the other evil warriors had joined Gigasmon, that had only left one other group.

"Reppamon! Lobomon!" Zoe cried, running towards the duo with the rest of the group following closely behind. Reppamon and Lobomon let out a gasp as she saw the condition they were all in. While they had been better off than Takuya, that didn't mean they hadn't took a beating. Lobomon knew he would look just as bad when he reverted back. Out of all them, Kouichi looked the best off.

"Oh my god, Takuya," Zoe whimpered as she closed in. There was a look of guilt on her face that worried Reppamon. Obviously Takuya must have done something reckless to protect them. Kouichi looked like he was about to lose it as he saw her condition. Reppamon walked towards the Warrior of Darkness and rubbed her head against his arm in hopes to comfort him. Lobomon followed suit, taking a look at the group. He should have been there to protect him, but instead he had gone off on his own yet again. Reppamon was right, not that he would say that to her face.

"Gigasmon will pay for this," Lobomon snarled. Unknowing to him, Kouichi was thinking the same thing. Lobomon glanced at Kouichi and handed over Takuya, knowing the teen would let anything further happen to the girl. The look in Kouichi's eyes was enough to nearly push Kouji over the edge in emotion. "I promise."

"Petty promise for petty humans," a voice said from behind them. Instinctively Lobomon and Reppamon stood in front of the group, Tommy and JP having their D-Tectors ready to Spirit Evolve at any moment. Gigasmon smirked at them. "Funny thing you be thinking you be defeating me."

"Does this guy ever give up?" Zoe roared.

"Leave this to me. Protect the others Reppamon," Kouji muttered.

"You really are insane aren't you? You can't take him on by yourself," Reppamon argued as Kouji took off.

"I won't be alone. Not if Gotsumon kept his promise," Kouji said, tackling Gigasmon further into the forest.

"Kouji!"


Gotsumon was slowly ascending towards the top of the stone statue figures while Bokomon and Neemon waited down at the bottom cheering him on. It was more annoying than anything to Gotsumon, but he let it slide. Kouji had believed in him, so he was going to do what he could to help stop Gigasmon. He was halfway up when he heard a series of explosions coming straight towards them. That was when he saw Lobomon thrown onto the floor like a rag doll. Gigasmon stood above him menacingly.

"Me thought you stronger than that Light Warrior." though Gigasmon was one to talk. At this point he looked exhausted and ready to collapse at any moment. A few more attacks would get him down for the count. Seeing Lobomon down had given Gotsumon the extra boost as he climbed up at a faster pace than before. Gigasmon was about to pummel Lobomon when a Razor Wind attack had knocked him off the wolf. Reppamon didn't come any closer, knowing her place to protect the others. Lobomon sat up with a groan, that made two times Reppamon saved his life in one day. He was exhausted, but he had to protect the others.

Gotsumon on the other hand was close to reaching the top when Lobomon and Gigasmon were at it again. They had moved closer to the edge when Gigasmon landed another hit on Lobomon causing him to revert back to a human. Gotsumon slammed the jewel into the stone head and nearly fell off as the stone statues all began to move. Beams had shot out from the gems hitting Gigasmon from behind, knocking him away. The beams had united digging something out of the ground. Kouji rubbed his head as whatever was being brought up was revealed. His eyes brightened as he saw a spirit reveal itself to him.

"It is time Kouji Minamoto," the voice from the D-Tector spoke, bringing his full attention back to the spirit. Gigasmon had seen the spirit and panicked, knowing that if Kouji got the spirit he would be done for. Snapping back to reality, Kouji pulled out his D-Tector and pointed it at the spirit. "Spirit!" The spirit had then been absorbed into the device, just as Gigasmon jumped at it. With nothing there, Gigasmon landed flat on his face.

Kouji's eyes had changed to a light blue for a split second as the spirit was fully absorbed and data surrounded him once again. This evolution gave a more drastic feel as he yelled mid-transformation. The others gave a worried glance as their friend finally broke the data cocoon. In their presence was a white metallic wolf wielding the symbol of light. A smile was brought upon their faces until they realized something was off about the wolf digimon. His eyes flashed red for a moment, before he went berserk.

"What's going on here?" Neemon asked, backing up into Bokomon.

"That's KendoGarurumon, the beast spirit of light. The spirit may be too powerful for Kouji to control though. He can't control his actions!" Bokomon shouted, loud enough for the rest of the group to hear.

Gigasmon laughed at the explanation to the new beast's behavior. He knew the warrior was too weak to handle this. His laughter had attracted KendoGarurumon's attention, just as his eyes flashed red again. Finding a new target, KendoGarurumon charged, much to Gigasmon's chagrin. They had matched blow for blow until Gigasmon had given the façade that he had been knocked out. When KendoGarurumon had come in for a closer look, Gigasmon uppercut him, knocking him backwards. That hit however, had knocked Kouji back into his senses.

KendoGarurumon looked back between himself and Gigasmon, realizing what was going on. He charged once again at Gigasmon, this time fully aware at what he was doing. Wing blades had expanded on his back as he rushed past Gigasmon, hitting him square in the stomach. KendoGarurumon gave a smirk, aiming for one last attack. Energy gathered in his mouth as he released it into a blast at Gigasmon, knocking him off the cliff and nearly destroying the edge itself.

Checking the cliff for any sign of Gigasmon, KendoGarurumon gave a sigh at finding nothing. Gigasmon would be back, but this time he knew that they could handle him. He was about to walk back when the ground beneath him had crumbled. He had barely been able to hold onto the cliff when he reverted back yet again. The fight and hits were finally catching up to him as he felt ready to pass out at any moment. Just when his grip on the edge loosened he felt someone grab his arm.

"Looks like we both learned something new here today," Gotsumon said with a laugh. Kouji gave a small smile before wincing in pain. "Yeah, do you think you could pull me up now?"

Comprehending the entirety of the situation, Gotsumon proceeded to pull the light warrior up before he himself passed out. Reppamon had run up with the rest of the chosen children, a smile spreading across her face. "Looks like you succeeded in growing after all, Kouji."


A/N I know that some people wanted Kouichi to be the hero, but I think he deserves a break. Everyone will have their moments at saving people not just them. I kind of feel like Zoe and JP are background characters, which be what it looks like for a while. I'm trying to find ways to expand on their characters. And trust me, Kouichi will have his time to be a knight in shining armor. This does mainly focus on them.