AN: Chapter 11 here. The fight you guys were waiting for is about to pop off. Not much to say. I've been super busy so I can't type as much lately. Taking a few more hours at work so I can have enough cash to move in with my girlfriend by July, you see. Regardless of how much more busy I am these days though, I won't be abandoning this or any of my other fics. Anyway, We'll get started after some replies to reviews.

darkangelwp: Child soldiers, huh? I hadn't initially thought of that, but since you sparked the idea, I'm sure you'll be happy to see it being used within this chapter.

SilverIcy: Heh, sorry the update isn't as soon as you'd probably wanted, but I've gotten busy lately. Anyway, here is the fight that you'd been anticipating. Glad to hear from you again, btw. You're one of my favorite people to get reviews from.

Sightbent got back to me a bit faster than I expected. ^^ Which is awesome. As usual, of course, A big thanks to them for betaing for me. Now that it's been fixed up a bit, I'll say it again. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Well, let the show begin.


Clash of the body, Clash of the Mind

Merukimon and Dianamon returned to Mount Olympus, battered and bruised. Small cuts littered their bodies while various areas on their arms, legs, and abdomens were sickly shades of purple and blue. Despite this, they walked forward with their heads held high, entering into the meeting room where Plutomon and the other members of the Olympus XII were waiting. Upon seeing them, their companions were startled. They had expected this little excursion to retrieve the items Plutomon wanted to be something simple – nothing but a trifle.

They had all been very wrong.

"What happened?" questioned Plutomon demandingly, his eyes narrowed. Dianamon stared him down for a second, not intending to answer him. He was not her leader. When Merukimon spoke up though, she averted her gaze and faked shame and respect for the dark mega as best she could. Though she hated to act as if she was subservient to Plutomon, she needed him to think as much if she wished to avoid him trying to brainwash her as he'd done to her companions – or worse.

"We encountered the human children," Merukimon replied.

"And they bested you?" inquired Mervamon curtly. All of them had been informed of how unskilled the humans and their digimon were by Marsmon. If Merukimon and Dianamon were defeated, Marsmon had either been tricked (which wasn't likely in their opinion) or Merukimon and Dianamon had grown weak. The latter of the two options were unacceptable.

At Mervamon's inquiry though, Dianamon snorted.

"Hardly. We were about to delete them and retrieve our objective before two digimon appeared," she replied.

"Yes. Following that, the two of them took two of the objects Plutomon wanted and used them to digivolve."


Merukimon was the first to move, vanishing in a blur of speed in an attempt to force the fight in their favor. Beowolfmon would not allow this though. Vanishing as well, he met Merukimon's knife before tilting his head in order to avoid the Olympian Mega's free fist. Bringing his knee up, Beowolfmon aimed to bury it into Merukimon's gut, but his opponent disengaged, bringing Aztec down in hopes of stabbing Beowolfmon's incoming appendage. Scowling, Beowolfmon stopped suddenly and brought his leg down, aiming for Merukimon's ankle while using his free hand to knock Merukimon's knife wielding hand upward.

All of this happened within less than a second, a testament to their speed.

Growling, Merukimon jumped back before Beowolfmon could inflict an injury and as he did this, his opponent aimed his free hand at the ground.

"Cleansing Light!" The missiles and the laser were fired, crashing into the dirt below and kicking up a cloud of dust as the impact shook the surrounding area, knocking trees to the ground and making the small clearing they were in a bit larger. The Digidestined shielded their eyes as the dust washed over them, squinting as they tried to watch the fight from the area they'd retreated to; a close group of trees near the clearing.

Not one to let good cover go to waste, Dianamon finally made her move. Leaping into the dust, she kept her senses sharp as she searched for her prey, hoping to catch Rhihimon or Beowolfmon off guard. It didn't take her long to find one of them.

Or rather, for one of them to find her.

Dianamon had been lucky. If she'd sensed him any later there'd be a spear through her head instead of just to her right. Rhihimon was upon her. Not wasting any time, she jumped to her left as his spear scythed towards her. Ducking as she moved, she waited for a follow up as the weapon vanished into the thick cloud. When there was none, she only had to wonder why for a second. She'd jumped right into the path of Beowolfmon's downward slash.

Gritting her teeth, Dianamon skid to a stop as she raised her twin-headed scythe, deflecting the blow before she spun her weapon around and positioned it behind Beowolfmon's head, determined to lop the body part right off. Dianamon pulled and Beowolfmon vanished from her view. In the next moment she was flying back, leaving the cloud of smoke as Beowolfmon lowered his fist within it.

Bouncing once before she managed to get her feet under her, Dianamon grimaced, knowing she'd feel that one in the morning. She was about to enter into the dust again but her senses went haywire, screaming at her to dodge. Sidestepping to her right, Rhihimon's spear missed her by a narrow margin. Refusing to repeat their little clash in the dust, she immediately retaliated, spinning her scythe as he thrust his spear forward. The two weapons met and sparks flew as Beowolfmon moved in on her from behind.

This time though, his sneak attack would not be. Merukimon appeared in front of him, the Mega's fist already flying forward. Caught off guard, Beowolfmon was nailed in the face, before receiving a swift follow up blow to the abdomen, then an uppercut. Cocking his fist once more, Merukimon growled out his attack.

"Thousand-"

But he would not finish. Behind him, Rhihimon had just successfully Swept Dianamon off her feet and took this moment to let loose an attack of his own.

"Darkness Bluster!" The cannons on Rhihimon's shoulders charged dark energy quickly before letting it loose. He'd hoped he would be fast enough to catch both his enemies in the blast. The energy shot forward, cutting off Merukimon's attack and forcing him to turn around and block it. Unfortunately this is all the time the warrior of light needed to get his bearing back and so, from behind Merukimon, he mounted his own attack.

"Frozen Hunter." Sword raised and light energy coursing around it, Beowolfmon slashed down, the giant wolf of light following in his wake. Tearing apart the ground as it neared Merukimon, there was a massive explosion of dirt and rock as the Olympian Mega was sandwiched between the two mighty assaults. More dust flew into the air as the earth moaned at the power of the two attacks and then all was silent – but only for a moment.

Though not as fast as those she was fighting, Dianamon was no slouch in terms of speed. Being swept off her feet was not enough for the acrobatic Olympian Mega to be caught off guard. The minute Rhihimon had let his Darkness Bluster fly, she'd used her hands to push herself above it into the air, far above it – and she'd done it so quickly he'd lost sight of her while the light from his attack gave her cover. She'd been falling when Merukimon was caught between their two attacks and had to give her opponents silent respect.

Their coordination is excellent and they are indeed skilled, thought Dianamon, Merukimon and I have the upper hand in terms of pure power, this I do not doubt, but their attacks are strong nonetheless. They are quite the worthy opponents. Nothing like the two we'd bested before them. Still…

"We shall crush them beneath us like all others before them. Artemis Arrow!"

Dianamon's attack caught the attention of the two Legendary Warriors, but they did not react as quickly as they might have hoped. The arrow tore through the air, rocketing down to the earth and crashed into Rhihimon just as his attack ended. He'd been lucky enough to avoid a vital blow, but Rhihimon was dropped to the ground regardless, the power behind Dianamon's attack being too much for him to brush off and remain standing. Beowolfmon moved in like lightning the moment Rhihimon fell, but Dianamon had been prepared.

Before she touched down, she'd used her scarf in a way Beowolfmon had not been expecting. Swiftly wrapping it around his arm she dragged him beneath her with a mighty pull just in time to land on him, forcing the air out of his lungs and indenting the ground with his form. Wheezing, Beowolfmon could not defend himself from the steel of her scythe bearing down on his head. Thankfully for him, Rhihimon intervened. Though favoring his left arm, Rhihimon threw his spear and it forced Dianamon to block, deflecting the weapon. Having been expecting something of this sort, Rhihimon was already upon her, catching the spear mid-air and swatting her off Beowolfmon. She flew back, crashing into one of the trees around the now almost cleared out field and shaking it to its roots.

As she got back to her feet, Rhihimon helped up Beowolfmon before he went on the attack. He thrust his spear forward, meeting her scythe once more. This time though, the clash of weapons was brief as Dianamon flipped above him and over a tree branch, her scarf wrapping around his neck as she did so. Landing behind her enemy, she tugged and Rhihimon was immediately hung, grasping at her scarf with his free hand in a desperate struggle for air.

Not intending to let his brother suffer, Beowolfmon dashed at her and he would have struck her had a swift knee to the stomach not stopped him. Eyes widening in pain and surprise, he registered the now visible form of a battered Merukimon, his right arm injured, though his left was cocked back.

We were naïve, thought Beowolfmon angrily, to think those two attacks were enough to finish this guy off. We didn't even check to see if his fractal code was showing. Our instincts have dulled…

"Thousand Fist." And though the attack was slower without the use of Merukimon's other arm every blow hit home. The sound of supersonic contact of flesh brought a smile to the Mega's lips. Yelling out in pain, Beowolfmon was about to fly back, but before he could get far Merukimon grabbed hold of his leg and pulled him forward before letting go and delivering a vicious downward blow to his face. Beowolfmon hit the dirt, cracks spider webbing across the ground beneath him upon impact.

Hearing his brother scream sparked more will to fight in Rhihimon than he'd had a moment ago and despite his quickly dwindling oxygen supply he used Dianamon's scar to swing towards the tree, kick off of it and turn around before firing a Darkness Bluster. The attack slammed into Dianamon's back, setting Rhihimon free.

While gasping for air the warrior of darkness took off towards Merukimon, who turned around after seeing Dianamon fly past him thanks to a beam of concentrated darkness.

"Rot Kreuz!" Rhihimon drew a red cross in the air before him with his spear.

"Spiritual Enchant." Merukimon drove Aztec into the ground at his feet.

The cross shot forward as the earth rumbled and cracked before apparitions from a parallel universe leapt out of the ground and crashed into the cross. The two attacked battled for dominance before a screaming could be heard in the air. Looking up, Rhihimon and Merukimon saw missiles falling towards their clashing attacks. Though greatly injured, the Legendary Warrior of Light still had enough in him to use his Cleansing Light attack at speeds so blinding that Merukimon could not catch sight of it while distracted with his assault on Beowolfmon. The attack fired directly into the air had eventually adhered to the laws of gravity, forcing the missiles to fall back down to the ground below – and now it had made contact with the two warring attacks.

The three attacks exploded against each other, tossing the Megas away. When the smoke cleared Dianamon was struggling to her feet as Merukimon did the same. Rhihimon was flat on his back, groaning across from them as Beowolfmon was on his knees, trying to stand. The four combatants each got to their feet eventually, regrouping with their respective partners, prepared for round two. Unfortunately, it was obvious that the two warriors of darkness and light were losing ground. Merukimon's and Dianamon's attacks packed punches on par with the royal knights. Combine that with their skill level? And the fact the both the warriors were still a bit rusty after not being in actual battle for so long? The two of them could not win – not yet.

Just as Merukimon and Dianamon were about to move in, a large shadow swooped over them and came to rest behind the Legendary Warriors. It was Ceresmon.

"This battle ends now. The two of you will either retreat, or be deleted," stated the earthen Mega. Merukimon grit his teeth as Dianamon merely looked on, inwardly relieved that Plutomon would not succeed in obtaining the prizes he sought.

"Had we not been injured Ceresmon, ye would not be leaving here alive. We shall see thee again," growled Merukimon before he vanished. Dianamon looked on for a moment longer before she left as well.


"After they left, Ceresmon returned to her human form, we woke their partner Digimon," said Koji, motioning to Davis, Matt, Tai, and Ken, "and then I opened a rift back here," he added.

Takuya frowned with the end of Koji's retelling of the battle. It was obvious that the Olympian Digimon were formidable. That was even more apparent now that they had gone so long without any actual combat.

"Do you think we can match them if we get back to where we used to be?" Takuya inquired, casting a glance to Koji and then Ceresmon. "I know that even though we've continued to train and grow in strength our instincts in battle have dulled with how peaceful life has been since we saved the Digital world." Takuya was certainly right. They sparred with one another regularly, but without the risk of death, there was just something different. There was just no way to compare a spar with a battle to the death. Too many things got in the way.

"You still would not have the power to match their attacks blow for blow," informed Ceresmon.

"She's got a point," sighed Koichi, "as far as skill is concerned, we are evenly matched. Unfortunately they possess more power than we do. If Koji's Cleansing light hadn't intervened at the end of the battle, I'm pretty sure Merukimon's attack would have overpowered my Rot Kreuz..." he trailed off here, frowning at what the outcome could have been.

"I'm not so sure," Koji replies, looking up thoughtfully, "I can't really explain it all that well, but as we were fighting I felt – something. It was like there was power bubbling within me… but something was covering it. I don't understand it though. Where would a power boost come from?" The legendary warriors were silent for a moment before J.P. spoke up.

"Our training here?" Zoe furrowed her brow and was about to speak before Izzy spoke up, tired of the Legendary Warriors ignoring him and the other Digidestined.

"How would that have any effect on your power in the Digital World?"

"What he said," Zoe agreed, not quite understanding J.P's logic either.

"Well… I just remember that as we fought in the Digital World, not only did our skill rise, so did our power. Although we had Spirit evolution to rely on, I remember that there were times when enemies that were once challenging for us in our human spirit forms weren't too much of a problem later on. And I'm basing that in a bout of power. Not skill," he replied, crossing his arms with a serious expression on his face.

"He's… got a point," said Tommy, "the best example would probably be Koji and Takuya when they fought the Royal Knights. During their first few meetings, the Royal Knights not only had more skill, but they overpowered them too. As Koji and Takuya continued to fight them, though... that changed. The skill and power gaps were eventually bridged and those two knights were defeated. I think that as we become better fighters and improve our skills, our power responds in kind. It's a decent theory for us at the very least."

"It's worth looking into," said Takuya, "We'll make some more trips to the Digital World and take on any evil Digimon we come by to try and further our growth. Hopefully they're a challenge or this would be pointless," he decides, giving the members of his team their next step towards saving the Digital World again.

"Can't you all just spar or something…?" asked Kari, timidly. Though she was still upset with Takuya, she didn't want him getting hurt. "Fighting with other Digimon who have no qualms with hurting you seems awfully dangerous."

"That's exactly why we have to fight them," Zoe replied.

"Why? What's wrong with sparring against each other? You won't get hurt that way," frowned Sora. She was hoping that their new companions wouldn't put themselves in danger. In her experience, there was always the possibility of losing when it came to fighting Digimon. Being outnumbered or the enemy suddenly digivolving was always a risk.

"Exactly," said Takuya, "That's the problem. Spars present no risk. They're challenging, yes, but we know nothing is on the line if we lose. There are critical differences between a sparring match and real battle. Friendship, affection, trust… things of that nature get in the way during a spar. When trying to attain more power it's not a very good course of action because you know you have to hold something back. Going for the kill isn't an option – and that won't do – not for this," he replies, a coldness Kari had never seen before leaking into his gaze and his voice. This wasn't the Takuya she knew; not at all.

"And that… doesn't bother you?" questioned T.K. a frown on his face as well.

"Not anymore," grunted Koji, "For us, having the resolve to end a life is what decided our own survival. Kill or be killed – that's just how things work."

"But… you – we," said Tai, "We're still so young. Teenagers… That's not a choice you should need to make…" Tai clenched his fists, grimacing at the Legendary Warriors. They'd been making decisions of this magnitude since they were what? 12? 13 maybe? That just didn't sit right with him.

It's almost like their soldiers…

Takuya's face scrunched in confusion.

What the hell is Tai talking about…?

"What do you mean?" inquired Takuya, "you all made the exact same decisions."

"No we didn't," Davis challenged, "We always tried to resolve a conflict without deleting a Digimon." Takuya merely raised a brow at this as he crossed his arms, slightly annoyed.

"As did we. Though I admit we didn't always ask questions before putting a Digimon down… That's not the point though. You deleted Digimon – because you had to. If you didn't you'd be dead as would many, many people here in the human world."

"That's…"

"Exactly the same as us," Zoe continued, "or maybe you detached yourselves from that choice? Or was it because many of the Digimon you deleted were fakes? Then again, maybe it was just easier for you to ignore or cope with since you weren't actually the one deleting a Digimon? It was always your partner Digimon who did the fighting – the killing. None of you ever had to dirty your own hands in that regard. We didn't have that luxury. We had to fight. There was no buffer between our decisions and their outcome for us. Our hands are stained with the blood of our enemies. It's something we've had to accept – not that it was an easy process, but we've gotten past it now."

Davis looked away now, no longer up to arguing about where the Legendary Warriors stood concerning the two sides that the Digidestined had conjured up to determine where others weighed in on their moral scales. It had always been fairly black or white with the Digidestined, but the Warriors? They couldn't help but see them as a bit grey. And now that they'd had their own decisions argued? They couldn't help but wonder if they were grey too…

"Okay," said Ceresmon, attempting to shift the atmosphere of the group to other things, "how about we all go home today? We can meet in the digital world tomorrow and get to know one another better, come up with some plans for the coming battles, and get some training in? There's much I need to tell the Digidestined as well, but I can see we are all exhausted – physically... and mentally. Get some rest children. We can continue this discussion tomorrow." The Legendary Warriors nodded while the Destined mumbled their agreements, each of them lost in their thoughts for varying reasons.

"Where should we meet?" Ken asked. Ceresmon tapped her delicate finger against her lip for a moment before deciding that they should just meet at the same place the beast spirits had been placed. It was the only place both the Warriors and the Destined had been to after all. Nodding at this, the warriors began to leave, each of them already thinking on what they needed to get done tomorrow, though Takuya did send a lingering glance to Kari as she and her friends slowly made their way back to the train station. He resolved to get in touch with her soon.

Tonight… he thought and then he too, shifted his thoughts to the coming training – and the more important battles that lay ahead in their future.


To Be Continued…

Translations:

Rot Kreuz – Red Cross

So, here is chapter eleven. I hope the fight was to everyone's liking. It would have been longer, but for a first battle between them, I didn't want to push it. The longer bouts will pop up as everyone progresses in strength as the story goes on. Also, thanks to darkangelwp for their contribution to the story with their review. Their mention of child soldiers sparked the conversation between the Destined and the LWs. Since this story began, I'd been thinking of what may truly differentiate the two groups besides more caution on the Warriors' side, but I just couldn't find something that fit the way I wanted it to – until that review that is. It really let me expand on the LWs and show off the darker side of how that season of Digimon chose to have their heroes fight in comparison to just about every other season. It was a kids show, but surely if what they did was brought into a real world context, the warriors would have definitely been shaken up after taking a life.

An argument could be made that it wouldn't be a big deal since the lives they took were those of digimon and the defeated digimon would just turn into eggs to be reborn, but considering that the warriors could turn into Digimon I think they would still understand the magnitude of what they'd done. Not to mention I don't think it's ever been explicitly stated that Digimon remember their past lives once they're reborn. There just seem to be cases in which some Digimon retain their memories. So in other words, though that digimon is reborn, that unique personality it had? It's memories, everything that made it unique was lost when it was deleted, so it's life still came to an end.

Anyway, this difference is what will truly separate the Warriors and the Destined. When taking into consideration what each team had to do, I just see the warriors as the more jaded of the two groups. I personally think there's a difference between giving the kill order and being the one to pull the trigger. Still, the Destined's view of their actions have been shaken and I'm thinking next chapter will largely deal with how they handle this kind of revelation. Aside from that I may or may not have Kari and Takuya make up (or at least begin to). Again, sorry this was so late. I only hope you found this chapter good enough to make up for the lateness. Especially the discussion. That was probably my favorite part about writing this chapter.