I don't own Digimon.

Well guys it's Friday and I'm exhausted. Working two jobs is tiring but still worth it. I will kept this short since I'm going to bed soon. I just wanted to let you all know that the next chapter will be posted up when we reach 12 reviews or next Friday, whichever comes first.

Enjoy.

Once A Leader…

Chapter 21: Learning To Trust

Tai watched in horror as Belphemon rose to full height once more, towering over them with his massive size. Both Beelzemon and WarGreymon were already tired and Tai didn't have the strength to make them Digivolve anymore if they turned back into rookies. They were all running close to empty and unless a miracle happened, they would surely lose.

"Now what?" Veemon asked no one in particular. Belphemon seemed content to simply roar at the sky as steam came off of its body. It took them a moment to realize that it was healing all of its injuries.

"It's the stone…" Leomon said as he turned in the direction of the Destiny Stone. "Its power is healing Belphemon!"

"What?" Tai couldn't believe what he was hearing but at the same time it made sense. "How is that possible?"

"Anything is possible in DigiWorld…" WarGreymon repeated, hating that line for the first time in his life. "We have to destroy the Stone."

"Are you crazy?" Leomon asked as he turned to face the Mega. "That Stone is vital to the survival of the Digital World!"

"Well so is the world itself which won't be here if we can't stop Belphemon." Beelzemon said, interrupting their conversation. "Look, I know I'm not the best suited for this hero stuff but if we can't stop Belphemon then there won't be a DigiWorld to save."

"But the Sovereign themselves have decreed-" Leomon began but was cut off by Tai.

"It's the only way, Leomon." Tai told him. "I'm sorry…"

Leomon looked around the group but he knew that he was outnumbered. While he didn't disagree with them, he couldn't watch as they destroyed something so sacred. "Just do it quickly…"

"You heard the Mon!" Tai said as he pointed at WarGreymon and Beelzemon. "I want you two to stall Belphemon so that we can destroy the stone. Since he can heal from any injury, just use hit and run tactics. Try to draw his attention away from us."

"You got it, kid." Beelzemon said. By absorbing Barbamon's data, Beelzemon regained some his power and he was able to summon his double barrel shotguns. "Let's go, metal head!"

"Leomon, do you think that you can break that stone in half?" Tai asked as they made their way over to the stone.

"No, it would take a mega to destroy the stone or several powerful ultimates." Leomon told him.

"What if I warp Digivolve again?" Veemon asked.

"I don't have the strength to make you Digivolve you to the mega level." Tai said. He was drained enough as it was and just running was a challenge. "I'm having trouble just keeping up with you guys."

"What if you use the stone's power so that we can destroy it?" Leomon asked.

"It's a worth a shot…" Tai said after a moment. "But would that even work if Belphemon is using the stone's power?"

"We won't know until we try!" Veemon said. He clearly wanted to Digivolve again and Tai had an idea why.

"Alright, let's see if this will even work…" Tai placed his hand on the stone's surface and tried to sense the energy that he had felt before. At first he felt nothing, almost as if the stone had been drained of all its power by the Demon Lord. But then Tai felt something, like a ripple in a lake. It was faint but something was there, something…ancient.

It called out to him, at first it was barely legible. But as Tai focused on the faint energy, an image flashed through his mind and Tai was hit with an enormous amount of energy.

"Holy shit!" Tai was engulfed by a blue aura, basking them all in a brilliant light that renewed their strength. Without wasting any time, Tai aimed his Digivice at the two Digimon before him and pressed the button on his Digivice.

Veemon Warp Digivolve to…UlforceVeedramon!

Leomon Warp Digivolve to…BanchoLeomon!

Tai once again saw the blue knight that Veemon became when he reached the mega level. But he had never seen Leomon's mega form before. And by the look from BanchoLeomon's face, he hadn't seen it either. BanchoLeomon was a few feet taller than his champion form, reaching the same height as WarGreymon and Beelzemon. Gone was his golden lion's mane and in its place was a flowing head of silver hair that rivaled Tai's in length. He wore a visor on his head that had a black curved cover and red and gold front.

On his chest he had a large red scar in the form of an x. On his shoulders, the lion man Digimon wore a large black trench coat with a red interior. He wore black pants and had white bandages wrapped around his waist and torso. On his wrists, BanchoLeomon had bandages wrapped around a red plate of armor similar to that of a samurai.

"What's this…?" BanchoLeomon looked himself over, in awe at the appearance he had now. "This isn't my mega form…"

"What do you mean?" Tai asked. He felt drained, especially at helping two Digimon that weren't his partner to Warp Digivolve but thanks to the energy he got from the stone, he was still able to stand.

"The last time I reached the mega level, I became SaberLeomon." BanchoLeomon told him. "But this form…it feels more natural."

"Maybe this is your true form?" UlforceVeedramon asked.

"Maybe…" BanchoLeomon agreed with a nod.
"Ladies, when you're done looking yourself over in the mirror," They heard Beelzemon shout. "We could use some help over here!"

"He's right, UlforceVeedramon go and help them out. BanchoLeomon, you and I will destroy the Destiny Stone." Tai told them. The blue aura still danced around Tai, almost like a living flame. It fueled his actions and gave him the strength to continue on.

"Won't we turn back if the stone is destroyed?" BanchoLeomon asked as he pulled out his sword.

Tai shook his head. "No, something else game me the strength to help you two Warp Digivolve." When BanchoLeomon looked at him to further elaborate, Tai simply said. "I'll tell you later, when this is over."

BanchoLeomon nodded before raising his sword. "Lion King Slash!" The mega Digimon brought his sword down with such speed that stone remained whole for several moments before it broke in half and then broke into pieces.

BanchoLeomon grabbed Tai and moved him to safe distance but with the Stone's power already drained, the only after affects that were seen were the sky darkening and storm clouds gathering above. The real destruction was coming from the battle between WarGreymon, Beelzemon, UlforceVeedramon, and Belphemon.

"Go help them, BanchoLeomon." Tai ordered.

"But what about you?" The mega asked.

"Just leave me here, I'll be okay." Tai told him.

"Very well." BanchoLeomon set Tai down and hurried off to join the fray. WarGreymon and UlforceVeedramon were attacking from above while Beelzemon did his best to attack from the ground.

Tai watched from a distance and wondered if his next move would be a good idea or not. It wasn't his idea, but Tai couldn't deny that it would be useful if it worked. But did the risks outweigh the potential power up and friend that they would get?

/\(-\/-)/\

"Tai's what!?" Came Matt's voice from the other end of the call. Sora and Kari were standing in Izzy's home and they were trying to wake the others up so that they could help. So far only Mimi was awake and she was already heading toward the battleground where Tai was still fighting against that monster of a Digimon.

"Calm down, Matt!" Sora shot back as she listened to Matt mutter several choice curses under his breath. "We need your help since Gabumon is the only one besides Agumon that can reach the mega level easily."

"I wouldn't call it easily…" Matt's reply came, obviously dripping with sarcasm. "It's not easy, you know. I've never felt more tired in my entire life and we struggled to survive in a desert!"

"I know, Matt. Gennai explained it to us and I'll happily explain it to you as well but right now, Tai needs you." Sora said, trying her best to remain calm. But it was proving to be a challenge since with each passing second she was reminded that Tai was still battling for his life against a monster.

Apparently Matt could hear the distress in her voice because the next thing she heard was him sigh before saying. "Tell Izzy to open the portal…I'll make sure he's okay."

"Thanks Matt…" Sora said, feeling grateful toward the DigiDestined of Friendship. Things hadn't been easy between Matt and Tai but they were still friends. Sora also knew that Matt would go just to make sure that Tai made it back okay for her. They were friends too, after all. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"…I do." Matt said before hanging up.

This threw Sora for a loop but before she could think on it further, Izzy gasped before typing away furiously on his lap.

"Oh no, the destiny stone was destroyed!" Izzy told them.

"What? What about Tai?" Sora and Kari asked at the same time.

"I don't know…there's too much interference going on for me to get a read on Tai's Digivice." Izzy switched from his laptop to his desktop. "Unless we go check it out, there's way to even get a message to him."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kari said as she pulled out her Digivice, ready to open the portal.

"Hold on a minute!" Izzy said as he turned back to face them. "Who else is coming?"

"Matt said that he would go. He just needs you to open a portal." Sora told him.

"Ken is already on his way." Kari said, looking somewhat frustrated with the delay.

"Then that means that only Matt, Ken, and Mimi will be there to help us…" Izzy said. He had purposely not called Cody or Yolei because they were useless in a fight of this caliber. T.K. hadn't responded and Izzy was led to believe that the younger DigiDestined was probably asleep and wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. "What about Joe?"

"We tried calling his cell phone but there was no answer." Sora told him.

"Then let's go." Izzy said. While he didn't want to go unprepared, Izzy knew that they couldn't risk wasting any more time calling the others for help. They would just have to make do with their current man power.

/\(-\/-)/\

Tai watched as Beelzemon and BanchoLeomon climbed up Belphemon's leg and made straight for his head. Beelzemon had told them that Belphemon's weakest point was on his forehead. But the demon lord had been doing a better job protecting himself.

As it tried to swat away WarGreymon and UlforceVeedramon, Beelzemon and BanchoLeomon had reached the monster's chest and they were about to continue on when Belphemon realized that they were on his chest. He made to grab them but BanchoLeomon and Beelzemon leaped away and landed a few yards away from Tai.

"Damn, he's not letting us get close to his head!" Beelzemon cursed.

"And it seems that he's still got a lot of power from the Destiny Stone before we destroyed it." BanchoLeomon observed. Several of the attacks they had done had already healed. While not instantly like before, Belphemon's wounds healed at an accelerated rate.

Just then WarGreymon and UlforceVeedramon landed beside the trio and looked toward Tai. "This isn't working, nothing we throw at him leaves any lasting damage." WarGreymon told them. But it wasn't anything that they didn't already know.

"What do we do, Tai?" UlforceVeedramon asked. It was clear that they were all waiting for his orders, even Beelzemon looked at him expectantly.

Being the leader meant that you had to do what was right for the team and not just for yourself. You had to take responsibility for others and Tai knew that he couldn't worry about his doubts now. If they were even gonna have a shot at winning this then they would need all the help they could get.

"Alright listen up, I have a plan." Tai announced. This immediately got their attention and the four mega Digimon looked on awaiting their orders from the DigiDestined of Courage. "WarGreymon, I want you to fly high and use your Terra Force to distract him. Aim for his head and I'm sure that he'll block every time."

"Right." WarGreymon nodded before taking flight.

"UlforceVeedramon, use your speed to fly behind that thing and cut up its wings as best you can. If we can keep it grounded then there's less chance of him getting away."

"Roger!" the Blue Knight Digimon was off before he even finished his sentence.

"BanchoLeomon, I want you to attack from below. Slice its legs up as best you can. If we can cripple him all the better for us."

"My pleasure." The Lion Man Digimon said as he pulled out his sword.

"And what about me, kid?" Beelzemon asked.

Tai took a moment to look into the red eyes of the Demon Lord, well former Demon Lord, and he tried to see if there was anything that would justify not going through with the orders given to him. But he didn't and Tai couldn't risk not doing anything to help their chances.

"Give me your hand." Tai said as he held out his own.

Beelzemon eyed the kid, who was surrounded by some blue aura of sorts, and wondered if he was playing some kind of game. "Are you for reals?" He asked.

"Do you trust me?" Tai asked him, not really answering his question.

"What kind of question is that?" Beelzemon asked him. Of course he didn't trust him, Beelzemon didn't trust anyone!

"It's a simple one." Tai explained without skipping a beat. "Either you do or you don't. But if we're even gonna have a chance at winning this then I'm gonna need to trust you and you're going to have to trust me."

"You're kidding, right?" Beelzemon asked in disbelief. "You want to do this now? In the middle of a freaking battlefield?"

"There's no better time than the present." Tai responded.

Just then there was an explosion and when they turned to look, WarGreymon was falling down from the sky with trails of smoke following him. UlforceVeedramon quickly caught him but it was clear that WarGreymon had taken major damage.

"Look, can we do this another time? We're kind of getting our butts kicked if you haven't noticed." Beelzemon said, not wanting to deal with something as stupid as trust.

"There is no other time, not on this." Tai told him. "If I can't trust you to fight by my side how do you expect me to fight by yours?"

"Easy, because if I don't fight by your side then I'm a dead Mon." Beelzemon said as if it were obvious.

"Not good enough." Tai said.

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

A blast of icy cold breath struck Belphemon from behind and it froze him for a second before he shattered the ice. Turning around, the Demon Lord roared at the incoming MetalGarurumon but missed him as he flew by.

"Tai!" Looking above them, Tai and Beelzemon saw that Izzy, Sora, Kari, Mimi, and Matt were flying down toward them while riding Kabuterimon, Nefertimon, and Birdramon.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Izzy asked as he noticed that Tai was surrounded by a blue aura.

"It's a long story." Tai said, waving Izzy's curiosity off for the moment. "What are you guys doing here? You're no match for this guy."

"MetalGarurumon can beat this guy no problem." Matt said, obviously taking offense at Tai's remark.

"That's not what I meant." Tai said, trying to avoid a fight. They couldn't afford one at the moment and Tai needed to settle things with Beelzemon.

"Then what did you mean?" Mimi asked, not liking that she was being thought of as weak. "I'll have you know that Palmon can Digivolve to the Mega level too, you know!"

"She can?" Tai asked, obviously surprised. Then he turned toward Palmon. "You can?"

"Of course! I just need a little help from Izzy." Palmon explained.

"Are you ready, Izzy?" Mimi asked.

"Of course." Izzy nodded.

Together, the two DigiDestined aimed their Digivices as Palmon and pressed the button that unleashed the shining light of Digivolution.

Palmon Warp Digivolve to…Rosemon!

In Palmon's place stood a beautiful Digimon that Tai had never seen before. She was shorter than Beelzemon but Tai could tell that she wasn't any weaker. She simply radiated power as well as beauty.

"How did you guys figure that out?" Tai asked them. He noticed that both Mimi and Izzy had matching looks of fatigue. "Are you two gonna be okay?"

"Yea…" Izzy took a moment to regain his composure. "We just haven't fully recovered from the last time." Mimi leaned against the young genius which caused him to blush. "It takes a lot of energy to make Palmon Warp Digivolve into Rosemon. And since we haven't fully recovered, we don't know if Mimi will be able to do it on her own. So far we've only been able do to it together."

Nefertimon turned back into Gatomon and looked at her partner. "Kari, do you think that I can reach my Mega Level?"

"You would need at least two people to do it safely." Izzy warned them.

"Tai, could you help me?" Kari asked him.

But Tai shook his head. "No, I'm already using my energy to help four mega level Digimon. This blue aura is the only thing that keeping me alive right now."

"Are you going to be alright?" Sora asked, concern written all over her face.

"Sorry, bad choice of words. I got some extra power from the Destiny Stone before we destroyed it. It the only thing that keeping me standing otherwise I would've passed out long ago." Tai explained quickly. "I haven't fully recovered either."

"What about you, Sora? Could you help me?" Kari asked her.

"Sure…is that alright, Birdramon?" Sora asked her partner.
"Of course…" Birdramon nodded.

"We'll stay here in case you guys need a quick getaway." Kabuterimon added.

"Alright, are you ready, Kari?" Sora asked, Digivice already in hand.

"You bet." Together, the DigiDestined of Love and Light aimed their Digivices toward the eager cat Digimon and shined their light on her.

Gatomon Warp Digivolve to…Ophanimon!

A brilliant light enveloped the tall majestic Digimon that stood before them. Ophanimon stood as tall as Beelzemon, wearing teal colored armor with trimmings and a gold cross on her helmet. She had ten wings, eight of them were gold plated while the bottom two were feathered, colored gold with white tips. In her left she held a teal shield with gold trimming and a gold horned dragon on the center.

"Whoa…" the DigiDestined looked on with awe at the celestial Digimon.

"Now it's time to see if Belphemon can stand to see the light!" Ophanimon said as she took off to join the others.

The battle wasn't going very well since nothing they did could hurt the evil Digimon for long. WarGreymon had slashed Belphemon's forearm before the chains lashed out and wrapped themselves around the mega Digimon.

"Eden's Javelin!"

A beam of golden light tore through the chains and WarGreymon was able to break free.

"Thanks…" WarGreymon said as he looked at the new comer. "Um…?

"It's Ophanimon…" She told him. "Now let's get this creep."

"Everyone, attack together!" WarGreymon called out. "Terra Force!"

"Sefirot Crystals!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

"Shining V Force!"

"Flash Bancho Punch!"

"Forbidden Temptation!"

The six attacks struck Belphemon and engulfed him in an explosion of light, fire, and ice. The massive Digimon cried out in pain and Kabuterimon and Birdramon had to shield the DigiDestined from the shockwave that followed.

"It's not gonna be enough…" Beelzemon said as he lowered his arms. He and Tai were standing a few yards away from the others and they watched as the smoke began to clear.

Belphemon had been knocked down and he was lying in a smoking crater. He had several wounds all over his body as well as severe burns over most of his chest. But what surprised them all was that the wounds and burns began to heal right before their very eyes.

"How is that even possible?" Matt asked as he watched Belphemon begin to stir.

"He's absorbed too much energy from the Destiny Stone to be beaten that easily." Beelzemon told them.

"Then how are we supposed to defeat him?" Izzy asked.

"There's only two ways to beat him…you either kill him or drain him of all his energy so that he falls asleep." Beelzemon explained. "But he has a nasty habit of not dying so that's gonna be hard."

"What are we supposed to do now, Tai?" Kari asked.

All eyes turned toward him and for once Tai wasn't sure if his plan would even work. "Beelzemon, do you trust me?"

"Not this again!" Beelzemon groaned.

Just then Belphemon unleashed a powerful roar that sent a concentrated blast of dark energy toward the five mega level Digimon. WarGreymon, UlforceVeedramon, and Ophanimon all raised their shields in an attempt to block the incoming attack. The blast of energy swallowed them all whole and when the dust had settled, only WarGreymon was left standing.

Veemon, Salamon, Gabumon, Palmon, and Leomon all laid slightly behind the dragon man Digimon, his shield being the only one that was able to withstand the initial blast. But WarGreymon was at his limits and he knew it.

"Beelzemon, I have a way to make you more powerful than you've ever been before." Tai told him. "But if I'm going to put my trust in you, you have to do the same for me. You have to earn my trust and the only way to do that is to trust me."

"How does that make any sense?" the former Demon Lord asked in annoyance. "And why is it so important that I trust you? I'm already on your side!"

"It's important because my friends very lives will be in your hands." Tai said. "I'm going to be trusting you to protect them in my place. I'm going to be trusting you to give it your all and then some in order to make sure that they make it out alive." He then held out his hand. "But most of all, I'm going to be counting on you to be a good friend. To be there when we need you. Because you can bet your ass that we'll be there for you."

Beelzemon stared at Tai's outstretched hand and then up at him. Slowly he was beginning to realize what Tai was asking of him. Could he be their friend? He was a Demon Lord, one of the strongest of the Seven just behind Daemon and Lucemon. In all of his years of existence, Beelzemon had never had anyone he could call a friend, not even his old crew. But if he was going to fight on their side and defy what it meant to be a Demon Lord then why not go all out?

"Alright, if it means that much to you then I'll trust you, kid." Beelzemon said. He reached for Tai's hand and shook it. "Now what?"

"Now you'll see what having friends is really all about." Tai said before flashing Beelzemon a large grin.

Then before either could speak again, the blue aura came to life, flaring up like a living flame. It flared up for several moments before it left Tai's body and transferred itself to Beelzemon's. The Mega level Digimon retracted his hand as he felt a burning sensation surround his body. It didn't hurt but he could feel his skin tingling with life, almost as if he were being put back together. Then he felt two lumps form on his back right between his shoulder blades and he sprouted two black feathered wings each as long as he was tall. His shift and leather jacket were restored back to how he had it before it was torn to shreds.

But the biggest change in the former Demon Lord wasn't his wings but his eyes. Gone were the crimson red that reminded his foes of the color of blood. In their place were emerald green eyes that contained a calmer more serene look to them.

Beelzemon looked down at his hands and examined the change in himself. He felt at peace with himself and the once insatiable hunger that he felt was replaced with a stronger hunger, a stronger need. Looking over at Tai, the DigiDestined of Courage gave him a knowing smile before he passed out from exhaustion. He would've hit the ground but Beelzemon caught him with one arm.

"Tai!" Sora and the others rushed over toward their fallen leader and Beelzemon gently handed him over.

"He's going to be alright…he just needs some rest." Beelzemon told them.

"What happened to him?" Kari asked.

"He gave me a reason to care." Beelzemon told her. "He gave me a new purpose."

"And what's that?" Izzy asked.

"To protect my new friends." With a flap of his new but powerful wings, Beelzemon took off and made his way toward WarGreymon. The others could only watch as the Former Demon Lord flew off, each having mixed feelings about the Digimon's last words. But despite their doubts, one thing was true, Beelzemon had earned their trust and friendship.

End of chapter.

So now Beelzemon has officially turned into a good guy. And what was that thing that give Tai the power source? If you don't know by now then you need to go back and watch Digimon Adventure 02. It should be pretty obvious, lol.

Well guys I'm tired and it's time to go to bed.

Till next time.