Chapter 25

A/N: I'm so sorry! This has to be the longest break between my updates. I can use finals as an excuse for the first week but after that I was just plain laziness. Here you go and sorry again for the long wait T~T

Izzy winced as Callismon leaped into the air and punched MegaKabuterimon in the face making him tumble to the earth. As he fell, he accidently knocked into Halsemon and the two of them crashed to the ground.

"Sorry," MegaKabuterimon said as he pushed himself up. Halsemon was a bit upset but didn't hold it against the larger digimon. Callismon was proving to be a real pain; he was fast and his attacks had a lot of power behind them.

Callismon landed with a thud and raised his gun. Beetlemon and Kazemon dove toward him, gathering their elements getting ready for an attack. Both parties simultaneously attacked each other. The bullets collided with bolts of lightning and energy enforced wind causing many small scale explosions. The occasional bullet managed to get through, forcing Beetlemon and Kazemon to gain more altitude to avoid getting hit.

As Callismon had his eyes focused on the two flying digimon, Digmon managed to sneak closer to him. He let loose a 'Gold Rush' attack at the distracted opponent. All of the drills made contact causing Callismon to wince, but that was all that Digmon had succeeded in.

At the unexpected attack, Callismon was a little ticked off. He turned to growl at the culprit before lunging at him. Digmon's only escape was underground. Even thoughCallismon was much faster than him, even he couldn't reach him there.

Quickly, Digmon constructed a tunnel to use for his escape. Callismon just missed him and stopped next to the opening in the earth that Digmon's body had just disappeared into. With a feral grin, he aimed his gun into the hole left by Digmon. Callismon fired off multiple rounds, one after another. He would have kept going if MegaKabuterimon hadn't tackled him to the ground.

Cody was frozen in fear. He was so worried about his partner's safety. His unease must have been written all over his face since Yolei came and rested her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure he's alright."

Cody was unable to answer and merely nodded his head. It was obvious that he didn't believe her, so Yolei remained by his side trying her best to support him. But nothing she could do would insure Digmon's safety.

Back in the fight, the two large digimon wrestled on the ground. MegaKabuterimon had a slight advantage with his four arms against Callismon's two. But the enemy had much more brute strength powering his limbs.

Two of MegaKabuterimon's hands were gripped tightly around the barrel of the gun, trying to force it off toward the side. A shot from this close range would be lethal, so he needed to keep the gun pointed away from his body. One of his other hands was locked with Callismon's clawed hand, and the other was holding onto the enemy's wrist.

Eventually, Callismon managed to pin MegaKabuterimon to the ground. Callismon proved to be much stronger making it impossible for him to get back up. Being flipped onto the hardened elytra covering his wings made him look like an upside-down turtle, which didn't help his situation either.

Having pushed MegaKabuterimon to the ground, it created an opening in the fight that the other digimon were looking for. With Callismon's attention focused on his beaten opponent, he wasn't expecting a flurry of attacks from the other digimon floating in the sky. Callismon was momentarily stunned and stepped back from MegaKabuterimon, cringing a little in pain. Beetlemon flew in with a 'Lightning Blitz', forcing more space between the two gargantuan digimon.

With Beetlemon buying him some time, MegaKabuterimon rolled over sideways betting back to his feet, panting slightly.

"That was close," Izzy said, resting his hand over his rapidly beating heart, "This fight could be going better."

A slight shacking from the ground a few feet away from them made Izzy, Yolei, and Cody to jump. They breathed a sigh of relief when Armadillomon popped his head out of the ground. Cody quickly ran over to his partner while Armadillomon slowly pulled himself free of the earth.

He was covered in scratches and scorch marks. But at least he was alive, that was all Cody cared about when he bent down and wrapped the wounded digimon in his arms. Armadillomon lifted one of his hands and patted his human counterpart gently, "Don't worry about me Cody. I'm alright, just a bit ruffed up."

Cody didn't respond to his partner and proceeded to try to wipe the scorch marks from his shell. The outer edges came off easily, but the darker areas were persistent and would require some scrubbing to remove.

Back in the fight, Callismon managed to knock Beetlemon away, but his body gave an occasional involuntary twitch from the electricity coursing through it. Beetlemon scrambled to his feet and landed next to Yolei and Izzy while the others launched their best attacks at the momentarily stunned Callismon.

MegaKabuterimon, Halsemon, and Kazemon attacked Callismon with everything they had. Their attacks collided with the large digimon causing an explosion. A smoke cloud from the explosion filled the area hiding Callismon from their view.

"Did we get him?" Kazemon asked. She hovered between Halsemon and MegaKabuterimon as they looked down upon the battlefield.

Suddenly, Callismon burst through the smoke. He leapt backwards putting some distance between himself and the other digimon. Once he landed, he collapsed to one knee panting heavily. After shaking offthe pain, Callismon stood up proudly and roared angrily at them. He tried to control his breathing; forcing huge breaths through his nose to hide his heavy panting. He wasn't about to be defeated so easily.

Callismon was pummeled with more attacks. He raised his gun to block some of the moves, but jumped back at the last second to avoid any major damage. When he landed, Kazemon was there to deliver multiple kicks to his abdomen. Callismon grunted from the impacts before trying to take a few swipes at her. Luckily for Zoe, she was a fast flyer and was able to dodge Callismon's claws and escape unharmed.

JP turned toward Izzy, "Any ideas?" he asked. He was hoping that Izzy was collecting data about their opponent during the fight and was able to come up with some kind of strategy.

Izzy closed his eyes for a moment, going over everything he observed in the fight so far. Callismon was amazingly fast for his size and was incredibly strong. But from that last attack it appeared that he couldn't deal with hard hits that well.

"We need to find a way to slow him down first of all," Izzy began, "If given the opportunity we need to nail him with everything we got to actually hurt him. With enough hits like that we should be able to defeat him."

"But we keep getting caught, and he's getting just as many hits on us if not more," JP explained, "We are already down one. By the time we can find a way to keep him still we're going to be too weak to finish him off."

"Then we're going to need more firepower," Yolei cut in. No matter how they looked at it, that's what it come down too.

Izzy sighed and rubbed his temple, shaking his head slowly. "I assume you're thinking the same thing that I have been thinking?" JP said, watching Izzy.

"Your beast spirits are powerful, but are the worth the risk?" Izzy asked. He still hadn't opened his eyes.

"Yeah, I think they are. They worked well for us in the past and now should be no different."

"But what about the risks?" Cody asked walking up to them with Armadillomon walking slowly behind him. "It is safe to try it now?"

"It's either that or we lose to this guy," JP snapped back, "Look, I'm worried about the outcome too, but I think this is our best bet right now. I'm going to need your help if this is going to work." Beetlemon looked between Izzy and Cody.

"We'll help you in any way we can," Izzy said confidently. Cody nodded silently.

"Thanks," JP said. "Can you guys buy us some time?" he asked Yolei.

"Sure, no problem."

Yolei called to her partner to explain what was going on, and for him to pass the news onto the others. Halsemon quickly told the others the plan. Zoe looked a bit nervous but in the end, they all agreed to help stall Callismon to give Beetlemon the time he needed.

"Well it's now or never," Beetlemon said as he stepped forward putting some space between him and the humans.

"Good luck," Cody whispered.

Static electricity crackled in the air, making them take a tentative step away from the now glowing Beetlemon. The energy in the air became heavier and a Beetlemon's form was engulfed in a yellow glow.

Cody and Izzy began to feel a tingling sensation spread across their bodies. It wasn't a very pleasant sensation. The light surrounding Beetlemon increased to blinding proportions filling the area and obscuring their vision.

When the light died down Izzy and Cody found themselves in some kind of factory. It looked like it was abandoned. There were a few flickering lights that illuminated the area that showed the horrible condition the place was kept. The machinery seemed to be broken beyond repair; most of the body was rusted, some with metal plates that had completely broken off. The ceiling was filled with holes, wires and broken piping hanging down and threatening to fall on them.

"Where are we? And what happened to everyone else?" Cody asked, stepping closer to the older boy.

"I'm not sure," Izzy answered nervously, "What happened here?"

Both boys jumped when some of the machines next to them made a sputtering noise and sparks started shooting out of it. Some of the working machinery further into the factory began to function making deep groaning noises. More of the lights flickered to life showing them a passage way off the side slightly hidden by a fallen scrap of metal.

"Our partners aren't here and this place isn't exactly safe. What should we do?" Cody looked around nervously.

"I guess we can look for a way out, and be really careful." Izzy wasn't comfortable being here. It gave it him a weird feeling.

The two boys shared a tentative glance before they stepped forward through the newly found passageway. It led them to an open hall with glass windows along the side. Most of them were shattered leaving bits of broken glass to crunch beneath their feet.

"I'm surprised anything in here still works," Izzy said looking at the struggling machinery that surrounded them.

On their right, a large flat screen flickered to life. It showed kids playing in the schoolyard. All of them were having fun, except for one boy who sat beneath a tree all by himself. A younger looking JP sat in the shade of the tree drawing simple shapes in the dirt with a broken stick.

The images were blurry and the audio a bit fuzzy but the message was clear. While growing up, JP had no friends; he was all alone. The boy in the video finally threw his stick aside and walked up to the group of playing kids, only to be turned away.

The image on the screen faded, leaving a stunned Izzy and Cody staring at the blank screen. "This place is getting really creepy," Cody said nervously, "But I don't think we can leave just yet. If that video was anything to go by, this factory has something to do with JP. He might be somewhere around here."

"Right, we can't just leave him here," Izzy agreed. They continued walking down the hall passing by another screen that flickered to life. They stopped to watch as the next scene began to play.

JP was a bit older in this film and looked to be around 11 years old. Unlike the last one he was surrounded by people as he did some of his favorite magic tricks. The people around him laughed and clapped, truly enjoying the show. JP looked happy too, until he ran out of tricks and his 'friends' around him turned their backs and walked away. JP let out a deep sigh and the image went black. A crack appeared in the middle of the screen, wisps of smoke leaking out between them.

"Why are we looking at JP's memories? Who is showing them to us?" The same thoughts were running through Cody and Izzy's minds. They felt like they were intruding into JP's past but at the same time they were curious and wanted to know more.

A sudden hissing sound from farther down the hall caught their attention. Without hesitation, they sprinted toward the location of the noise. It was coming from a broken down door leading to a separate room. Bright flashes of light were coming from it.

They gasped at the sight before them. A giant blue rhinoceros beetle lay trapped beneath two fallen support pillars with wires and cables tangled around its head and legs. Behind it, another screen lit up. This time there was no video, just the sound of JP's voice.

"I do have friends that care about me. They don't hang out with me just for my things, they like me for who I am."

"I need to keep telling myself that. But what if I wasn't the warrior of thunder; would they still be my friends?"

The wires that lay on the floor suddenly came to life. Like snakes, they wrapped themselves around the neck of the beetle and began to strangle it. The bug began thrashing and hissing, trying to pry itself free of the mess. The pillars kept it weighed down, and the cables and wires seemed to be sapping its strength.

Izzy and Cody took hurried steps backwards, not wanting to get caught in the struggle. But within moments the beetle's struggling died down, until it completely stopped moving. The two boys stood tentatively in the doorway waiting for something to happen.

The speakers came to life again, filling the room with JP's saddened voice.

"If I disappeared would anyone even notice I was gone?"

This time bits of the ceiling began crumbling down on them, making the beetle screech in pain as more weight was added to the crushing force on its back. Cody ignored Izzy's cries of warning and rushed forward. He began pulling on the wires trying to loosen their hold. As Cody worked on trying the free the trapped creature, sparks of electricity showered them from the broken connections in the ceiling.

"What are you doing!?" Izzy shouted. He ran over and tried to pull the younger boy away to some place safer.

"It sounds like JP's depression is hurting this thing," Cody grunted as he pulled on the wires with all of his strength, "something wants to keep JP upset and kill whatever this is." Cody may have had a point but this was getting really dangerous.

Izzy looked over the mess the beetle had gotten itself into. "Let's try to get these things off first," Izzy instructed and pointed towards the rubble that lay on top of its shell. Cody nodded and began to try to clear some of the rocks away.

It was hard work, but they managed to clear some of it away. But the larger pieces were much too heavy for them to lift.

'Why are you helping me?'

The deep voice startled them. It sounded like JP's voice when he was Beetlemon that was dropped down a few octaves. Izzy and Cody looked down to see that the beetle was the staring at them. Was he the one speaking?

"Are you JP? Did all those videos really happen?" Cody asked.

'Why do you care?'

"Because we're your friends," Izzy said, kneeling down to be at the same eye level as the beetle.

'I don't have any friends. Anyone that gets close to me only wants something from me. I don't need friends.'

The wires around the beetle tightened making him hiss in pain. His breath was coming in short gasps as his windpipe and chest continued to be constricted.

"That's not true," Cody said sadly, "everyone needs friends." He pulled in vain on the wires trying to pry them away from the beetle. "You have all the other warriors and now us too."

Izzy stepped away and looked around the room. He and Cody just didn't have the brute strength it took to free the creature. He found a pipe and an old piece of metal with a jagged edge, these would have to do.

Izzy silently passed the piece of metal to Cody, who thanked him and began slicing away at the wires. Izzy climbed on top of some of the rubble next to the trapped beetle and shoved the pipe between one of the fallen pillars and the beetles back. With enough leverage and using the angle of the shell, he should be able to slide the pillar off of him.

"If you don't believe that they truly are your friends," Izzy said between grunts as he struggled to move the pillar, "then we can be you friends starting from now."

The beetle turned his head to look at Izzy and then back to Cody. 'You would truly consider being my friends? You know nothing about me.'

"When we get you out of here there will be plenty of time for that," Cody smiled. The wires were finally coming off. The jagged metal wasn't a very good cutting tool but it did the job. The wires also seemed to be getting looser, odd.

With a final shove, Izzy managed to remove one of the pillars from the beetle's back. With enough weight finally gone, the beetle managed to push himself to his feet, snapping the wires that held him strapped down.

Izzy and Cody scrambled away as the creature stood proudly. They tried to hide their nervousness as it started at them. 'I will hold you to your word. Now leave.'

"How?" Izzy asked.

'The exit of course,' the beetle said in a taunting voice. He turned around and tilted his head toward the back of the room. Now that the beetle's body wasn't blocking their view, they could easily see a closed door with a red luminescent exit sign above it. Unlike the rest of the factory, the door seemed to be in good shape.

'You better get going, things are about to get interesting. I will see you later, friends.' The form of the beetle faded away. Cody and Izzy stood there, until the body was completely gone and they were the only ones in the room.

"Come on," Izzy said, pulling Cody along. He reached forward and grasped the door knob. It was unlocked and opened easily. The two boys stepped forward into the dark as the door slammed shut behind them.

From the darkness the two boys were suddenly thrust into the light. The sudden change made them flinch and furiously blink their eyes. Now the strange factory was nowhere in sight and they were back in the clearing facing Callismon.

"Now we're back! Just what is going on?!" Cody practically shouted as he looked around taking in the area making sure they were in fact back where they started.

"What are you talking about?" Yolei asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "You didn't go anywhere?"

Izzy and Cody both look startled.

"When Beetlemon started glowing Cody and I were transported to this old factory and talked with this giant beetle," Izzy explained.

"But he started getting all glowy only a second ago. There was no way you two could have gone anywhere and I wouldn't have noticed," Yolei said.

Something really strange was going on, but now was not the time to figure it out. The light began glowing brighter catching the attention of the other digimon that were fighting. The cracking of static electricity filled the air as the glow slowly died down and MetalKabuterimon appeared.

Callismon carefully eyed his new challenge, checking to see if he was going to be any kind of threat. Zoe fluttered nervously in the air. She warned the others to keep a safe distance just in case JP wasn't in total control. The first time he managed to beast spirit evolve, he nearly brought the cave they were in down on top of them.

Everyone waited with baited breath for the new digimon to make a move. Impatient, Callismon raised his gun and pointed it directly at MetalKabuterimon. Better to get rid of him now rather than waiting and seeing what kind of power he had.

He fired off multiple rounds at the metal digimon only for the bullets to ricochet harmlessly off MetalKabuterimon's armor. The newly beast spirit evolved JP turned toward Callismon and raised his own weapons in retaliation.

Callismon's eyes widened as he watched the two cannons gather electrical energy. Callismon barely got out of the way in time as MetalKabuterimon's 'Bolo Thunder' sailed past him. More electrical attacks came his way, but he managed to dodge all of them.

JP shook his head trying to clear the buzzing that was obscuring his thoughts. His mind was more or less clear; knowing just who he was supposed to fight and who his friends were, but that annoying buzzing was making it difficult to hear anything and was starting to give him quite the headache.

"Hey Izzy," JP shouted looking over his shoulder at the digidestined of knowledge, "We got the fire power. Now find a way to slow him down." Izzy nodded and began to think of different strategies that they could try.

"How are you feeling?" Zoe asked as she descended to hover a bit above JP's head. If he was able to talk to them that means he should be in control, but there was no harm in double checking.

"I have a bit of a headache but it's tolerable."

"That's great!" She was stopped from saying anymore when a spray of bullets came their way. Kazemon flew back into the sky while MetalKabuterimon was protected by his armor. Callismon was playing it safe and firing from a distance and keeping away from all of their attacks.

"What do we do?" Halsemon asked when Kazemon joined them again.

"We need to slow him down so MetalKabuterimon can get a clear shot," she explained.

"None of us has any attacks that would slow him though," MegaKabuterimon said as he looked over their little group and thought of the abilities that they possessed.

"Aim for the legs then," Halsemon decided before charging in, toward Callismon. Kazemon and MegaKabuterimon flew after him.

"Do you think their idea is going to work?" Yolei asked.

"It's the only thing we got right now," Cody responded, not taking his eyes off the battle taking place.

Callismon was constantly on the move, evading all of the attacks that came at him. He gave them a sinister smile, now the fight was getting exciting. Instead of charging at them he turned around and fled into the forest.

Without hesitating, the others chased after him. Zoe and Halsemon dodged trees as they followed close behind Callismon. But because of their size, JP and MegaKabuterimon were stuck at the edge of the trees.

"Stop!" Izzy shouted after them, "He's trying to separate us! Come back!"

Kazemon and Halsemon heard his warning, but it was a bit too late. Deciding that he had led them far enough into the forest, Callismon immediately turned around and dashed toward the two digimon. Caught off guard, Kazemon and Halsemon were easy targets for Callismon's claws.

Callismon swiped at them stunning them and rebounded off a nearby tree and nailed them again. The second hit knocked the two of them to the ground, causing Halsemon to revert back to Hawkmon. Acting quickly, Zoe scooped up the injured digimon and headed back toward the others. Callismon's claw gouged the ground where Kazemon was a second ago, leaving deep trenches in the ground.

Zoe burst from the trees and flew straight toward Yolei, and deposited Hawkmon in her arms. Yolei was distressed but thanked Zoe over and over for saving him and wrapping her arms securely around Hawkmon.

Hawkmon was slightly depressed that he needed to be saved. He hugged his partner back and thanked Zoe quietly. Zoe nodded at them and flew back to where the fighting was beginning again.

"He's too fast to stop," MegaKabuterimon groaned after another of his attacks missed. Kazemon was now probably the only one that could keep up with him, but she didn't have the strength it would take so slow him down.

As it was beginning to look bleak, four attacks came out of now where and slammed straight into Callismon. The stunned digimon let out a loud roar of pain as he was thrown backwards. While Callismon was recovering everyone turned to see where the attacks had come from.

Zudomon, Lilymon, Birdramon, and Korikakkumon were rushing towards them. Behind them they could see Joe, Sora, and Mimi trying to keep up with them.

"Great timing," Yolei smiled and waved at them as they got closer. Once Yolei was close enough, Mimi threw her arms around the younger girl in a hug, trying not to crush poor Hawkmon. "So the rescue mission was a success!"

While the humans rejoiced in being reunited the digimon joined their friends in facing off Callismon.

"And here's the guy that can slow him for us," MetalKabuterimon said as he happily welcomed the others.

"What do you need?" Korikakkumon asked.

"Keep him still; one good blast should finish him off. With this many people we're only going to need one good shot," JP was confident they could win now.

Korikakkumon nodded and slipped away to the side. JP gave the signal leading the others to attack. Callismon did his best to dodge the massive amount of attacks that came his way. He was clipped by a few of them but he didn't stop moving. If he was idle for even a second it would be over.

Between their attacks, Callismon returned fire causing them to back off a little. That caused a break in their attacks that he was looking for. Taking aim, he raised his gun and pointed it at MegaKabuterimon. That one was fighting the longest and doesn't have as tough armor as the mechanical digimon on the ground.

When he stopped to aim gave Tommy enough time to grab him. From within the shadows, Korikakkumon's braids tipped with glowing arrow heads shot out and wrapped themselves around Callismon.

Suddenly rendered immobile, Callismon began to panic. Forget about attacking, his main concern was escaping. He struggled, but with both his arms pinned to his body there wasn't much he could do.

That was the moment they were waiting for. MetalKabuterimon leaned forward bringing up the scope on his back, readying the canon sitting on his head. The others began following his lead reading their strongest attacks.

At the very last second, Korikakkumon pulled back getting clear of the devastating collage of attacks. The last thing Callismon saw was a rainbow of multi-colored attacks before he was utterly destroyed.

"Nice shot everyone!" Korikakkumon congratulated them. He was slightly scorched but unharmed.

Everyone gathered around sharing the mini adventure they just shared. They listened to the play back of their escape along with the battle with the just beaten Callismon.

"How are you feeling? You all there?" Kazemon landed next to MetalKabuterimon. Izzy and Cody took a couple steps toward them.

"I feel alright," he said quietly, "My head is a little fuzzy but I don't think I'll be a danger to anyone."

"Do you know what happened back there?" Cody asked, "We were like transported to this old broken down factory or something. We saw your memories and befriended this giant bug."

JP chuckled at the bug comment before answering, "I'm not too sure exactly what happened but I do know what you're talking about. You may not have seen me but I was definitely there, I can recall the conversation you guys were having with the 'bug'." JP lowered his voice not wanting to have everyone listening in. "I think you guys calmed down my beast spirit enough so that I could control it. But if you don't mind please don't go telling everyone what you saw."

"Of course," Izzy said. JP's memories were painful; he could see why he wouldn't want everyone to know about them.

Zoe was curious to what the two boys saw that JP wanted to keep quiet. But she held herself back from asking, everyone deserved to have their own secrets even from their best friends. After JP thanked Izzy and Cody, they four of them began to listen to what the others were talking about.

"That battle ended much faster than I thought it would," Zudomon pouted.

"We'll next time be here from the beginning," Armadillomon teased. He and Hawkmon were feeling better. Maybe not in top fighting condition but a simple nap would fix that.

"Since were done here we should go find the others," Yolei said.

"Ken, TK, Kari, and the twins went to help them," Sora said, "They went this way." Climbing on Garudamon's shoulder she led the victorious group toward their next destination.

A/N: JP ins't my most favorite character and he tends to be neglected in a lot of fics, I hope I did him justice. There are a few more beast spirits to go and I hope I'm not boring you with my...bonding scenes. Each person has their own personalities and their own faults so I'm hopping that the variety will keep you reading :)