Chapter 14: Downhill Relations

Of all the things Lobomon had to go through, fighting Mercurymon had to be the most painful. This was coming from the guy who got beaten to a pulp by Gigasmon, twice. Similarly to when Blazemon was fighting with Lowemon, they were holding their own against Mercurymon. However it was evident that in this round Blazemon was more prone to collapsing at any moment. He was amazed she had held out this long. She had lucked out in dodging so many attacks.

"Blaze Feathers"

"Howling Laser"

"Dark Reflection"

Both attacks were absorbed into the mirror and forced back at them. Before Lobomon could make a move, a familiar red figure moved in front of him, taking the full blunt of the attack. A scream barely escaped Blazemon's lips as she was hammered into Lobomon, forcing them both on the floor. Data surrounded the girl as she was forced to revert back to her battered human state. Lobomon held her closely to his form as Mercurymon approached them.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Mercurymon chuckled. Lobomon let out a growl as he shifted Takuya behind himself, keeping her away from the maniac standing before them.

"Back off, creep."

"Dost thou honestly believe you have a chance, where your two comrades had failed?"

Lobomon glared at the Warrior of Steel, bringing out his blades. Mercurymon gave another scoff, but readied himself for any sign of attack. Before anymore movements were made, Lobomon glanced back at Takuya, who was glancing right back. He could see the look in her eyes saying, 'Don't do anything stupid Minamoto'. She hadn't tried moving from her spot, knowing full well that if her friends did come back, she would never hear the end of it. Lobomon shifted back to Mercurymon.

"Lobo Kendo"

Everything was shifting, turning from peaceful sceneries to hellish landscapes. He couldn't tell what was really going on when he heard the sounds of a brawl. Familiar scents filled the air, along with voices. Had he heard those voices once before? It was confusing and he didn't know what to make of it until he heard a scream. He felt uncomfortable, as if that meant something, when he caught sight of three different auras. A bright red one was slowly dimming down as the brighter white charged the final figure. They looked to mixing, doing what? The sounds of blade scrapping metal may suggest a fight. More shouts filled the air as the light and dark separated, and a crash as the light landed in front of red. Something had snapped in his mind as another scream filled the air.

The next thing he knew, he was heading in the direction, only seeing red.

"Kouji!"

Takuya shifted from her spot, holding in the pain she felt as she saw Lobomon fall to the floor unceremoniously. After she had been taken out of the battle, Mercurymon and Lobomon had resulted to hand-to-hand combat. Lobomon had been able to land many more hits than with the previous distance. It was getting easier to see that Mercurymon was not as strong when it came to close range fighting as Lobomon landed several blows with a Lobo Kendo attack. However, somehow Mercurymon had been able to get a lucky shot in, separating the two warriors long enough to fire another Mirror Offset, bringing them to their current situation.

Takuya was forced to watch helplessly as Mercurymon approached Lobomon. Just as he was about to get up and attack, Mercurymon kicked him to the side. Obviously he was toying with them.

"Leave him alone!" Takuya shouted, forcing herself off the ground.

"Why dost thou care what happens to this weakling?" Mercurymon said, standing over Lobomon's prone form. He stomped down on Lobomon's chest, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Stop it!"

"Dost thou honestly believe that group will stay with thee? When hast anyone stayed for a rat like you? Not even thy love has done so."

Takuya froze as those words escaped. It wasn't possible. Mercurymon couldn't have known anything about her past. He had to have been playing around, right?

"Don't listen to him Takuya," the words were staggered as Mercurymon added more pressure onto his chest. Lobomon let out another cry, partially snapping Takuya out of her thoughts.

"Kouji…"

"No one told thee to speak child," Mercurymon growled. He turned his attention back to Takuya who was beginning to shake involuntarily. "My dear, you will never be anything but alone. Why deny it any longer?"

"… Liar. It's not true," Takuya murmured, shaking her head with eyes slightly glazed over.

"Takuya."

"I thought I told thee to stay quiet," Mercurymon muttered, kicking Lobomon towards the fallen girl. "Perhaps I should rid myself of thee now."

Lobomon glared at the warrior, standing protectively over Takuya. They stared each other down, before the atmosphere seemed to change. A growl had entered the room diverting the warriors' attention. A black figure suddenly appeared in the room standing over the three.

"What now?" Lobomon growled as the figure jumped down, landing between him and Mercurymon. It took the shape of an armored lion.

Its full attention rested on Mercurymon as another growl escaped its mouth. Lobomon could see a flash of red in its eyes. It charged Mercurymon with a dark aura surrounding it. Mercurymon let out a gasp as he recognized the figure.

"Impossible; the beast shouldn't have been found so easily," Mercurymon let out. The beast before him ignored his words.

"Ebony Blast"

A dark burst of energy had hit Mercurymon square on, knocking him away from the injured two warriors. Lobomon fell back towards Takuya, trying to snap her out of whatever trance she was in. The beast mon had continued his onslaught, through a series of uncontrolled attacks. From the looks of it the beast couldn't control his powers, similarly to Lobomon's previous predicament. A blast hit above Lobomon that destroyed the ceiling, causing him to grab Takuya and duck out of the way.

"Just whose side are you on?"

The beast let out a growl, continuing his attacks. While not all of them were focused, majority of them hit around a startled Mercurymon. He could not reflect these attacks back as easily as he did Blazemon's and Lobomon's previously; but he continued retaliating with several Mirror Offset attacks to throw the beast off his tail. But a final blast came at Mercurymon, knocking him against a wall. The beast had approached him with another growl, ready to destroy him right then and there. Before an attack could be made however, Mercurymon's figure had vanished.

"They both will fall into the hands of Darkness, despite this little set back."

A sudden glint of realization had shown in Takuya's eyes as the voice faded away. Her shaking came to a near stop as Lobomon clutched her closer. The beast had directed his attention towards the two warriors, eyes flashing red once again. Rather than a small growl, he let out a roar and dashed at the duo. Lobomon leaped into the air with Takuya right before the lion could ram into them.

"Kou."

Takuya's voice had brought Lobomon's attention back to the girl who finally seemed to be returning to normal.

"What are you talking about Takuya?"

"He's Kouichi, I can feel it."

"Are you sure you're in the right state of mind at the moment? You just had a momentary breakdown."

"I think I know my boy- best friend better than you Wolfy."

The snappy remark was convincing, though it was missing the usual spunk in her voice. He jumped up again as Kouichi's supposed beast form fired another Ebony Blast at the two of them.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Lobomon muttered.

"Let me talk to him." Takuya remarked.

"Are you insane?" Takuya flinched at Kouji's scream. She was right there, he didn't have to yell. Takuya gave him a stubborn glare before attempting to get out of his grip. "Takuya!"

The attacks had made a momentary stop at the sound of her name. The dark lion had stared at the two just as Takuya managed to pull away. Lobomon was swift to follow the girl, making sure she wasn't going to get herself killed. Kouichi's form looked at her, teeth bared. She took it as a sign to approach slowly.

"Kou."

The lion looked up as the girl reached out. The red aura surrounding her had felt calming now that the third was gone. That didn't stop a snarl from escaping his muzzle as it approached with the light. He heard voices as they approached and stopped. What was this feeling?

"It's time you woke up as well."

A hand rested on his head taking shape. It wasn't as monstrous as the rest of his surroundings. He blinked looking at the two new figures.

"Lobomon? Takuya?"

He felt arms wrap around his neck when a wave of exhaustion finally struck him. He gave the girl a wary look before closing his eyes and reverting back. Lobomon watched as the lion reverted back, just as Takuya said. It didn't make much sense to him; how Takuya had been able to snap him out of the delusion that struck in their beast forms. He had to have gotten knocked around before coming to reality. Did they each have their own ways to overcoming the delusion? Suddenly it had become clear that Takuya and Kouichi were something else, and Cherubimon might have been able to see it as well. He turned his attention back to the warriors at hand, still in each others' grip.

"Let's get you two back to the others," Lobomon murmured as the two broke apart. The two nodded, though Kouichi was more hesitant. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no! N-nothing," Kouichi yelled with a stutter. Lobomon stared at him. He could feel something was bothering the boy, and Takuya. But whether it was just worry for Kouichi or about what Mercurymon told her he didn't know.

"Listen, you had your reasons for keeping your secrets. We won't force you guys to talk if you don't want to, but know that we are a team. We won't leave you if we can help it; I had to learn that the hard way," Lobomon stated. Takuya and Kouichi gave him a surprised look as the words escaped his lips. They nervously glanced at each other before nodding. Lobomon gave a small sigh, before lifting both teens onto his shoulders and taking off towards the others. Their eyes never met again.

"What happened in there?"

Zoe glanced at her injured teammates, worry spreading across her face. They had all finally regrouped outside of the temple after they heard the fighting stop. Lekismon and Reppamon had kept their guard up to the very end. Once they realized it was Lobomon with Kouichi and Takuya, they let out cries of joy. They were all bruised up, Kouichi looking the worst out of the three of them once Kouji changed back. Everyone was rather bruised up except for Reppamon and herself. She couldn't help but feel useless now that she had no way of protecting them. Lunamon seemed to feel her uncomforted state and sat up next to her, laying her head in her lap.

"I got my beast sprit," Kouichi murmured, not taking his eyes off the floor. Takuya was sitting a few feet away, staring up at the sky. They hadn't said much to each other since Kouichi had returned from wherever and it was driving Kouji a little insane. He had gotten used to the duo's small signs of affections; Takuya's fiery personality trying to bring Kouichi out of his shell and doing small gestures to comfort the other. There was none of that now.

"He saved our asses is what he did. Mercurymon would have destroyed us if he didn't step in when he did," Kouji said, trying to get some kind of reaction from either of them.

"But I-"

"He's right ya know Ichi," Takuya's voice filled the air, but her eyes never left the sky. That got Kouichi's attention as he finally glanced over at the girl. Kouji could see him wince at the new nickname. Obviously there were reasons Takuya rarely the name. She didn't stop there. "If you hadn't come Mercurymon might have killed just to get to me. What matters is you were able to save us, nothing else."

"Takuya, what-"

"Just save it."

The other seven humans and digimon shared a look, before glancing at Kouji who looked rather irritated. Something was seriously wrong, and they needed answers.

A/N: Okay I was going to have this done earlier in the week, but I lost the vibe for a bit. And I finally have a storyline made back up so I know the direction I'm going. And for those asking for more moments between Takuya and some of the others, you'll be very happy. Yeah, this chapter was kind of depressing save for a little fluff, but it'll get better! I promise! I must say, THANK YOU AGAIN TO MY LOVELY REVIEWERS! You guys have seriously been making my days, along with your ideas and you bring up some great points. Especially those pointing out about the characters being generally weaker. I have my reasons, and no worries. EVERYONE will be growing in this story. Everyone will also have parts of their own pasts revealed, as for the fact about Kouichi and Kouji being brothers, that'll be a surprise.

I said last chapter I might add the idea's for my crossovers? I think I might make a poll instead later on. I'm still planning both, so I'll give more details later on. So for now, my loves, this is goodbye.