New chapter time! Kept you in suspense, right? Well, I can hope.
Disclaimer: I swear, I've said "I don't own Digimon" so many times, I'm starting to think I own that statement instead.
LAST TIME:
KIYOKO: When we were looking for some info on the necklace, Gatomon and I stumbled across the hidden Village of Beginnings. There, we learned about Digi-Eggs and the Digimon life-cycle. We also met Wizardmon, the guardian of the village. He was also able to tell us about the necklace, which was actually called a tag, and about the crest that's supposed to go in it. He led us to the Crest of Kindness, but it didn't work. Things only got worse when LadyDevimon decided to show up.
Chapter 26
Kindness
The image of LadyDevimon continued to slash against the invisible barrier. Kiyoko stared in horror; LadyDevimon had not only found her and Gatomon, but the Village of Beginnings as well. But how did she know to look here? And how to find an invisible village?
"How long will it be until she breaks the barrier?" Swanmon asked nervously.
"Unless she gives up," Wizardmon answered, "not long."
"She won't give up," Kiyoko said solemnly. "It's her motto. She'll do anything just to get to me."
Wizardmon finally stood up. "Swanmon, move the little ones far away from the village center. Magical Game!" The magic left his staff and flowed under the carriages and eggs. Everything was lifted off the ground. Swanmon flew around to corral them all and she led them to the village outskirts.
Suddenly, Wizardmon broke down again. Kiyoko and Gatomon heard something like shattering glass above them. Wizardmon whispered weakly, "She's in."
Kiyoko and Gatomon looked up and saw a dark shape descending. After a few seconds, LadyDevimon came into full view. "Hello again," she said as if it were a conversation. "I was wondering where you'd run off to, little girl. I admit, when I heard you had gone this way, I was surprised to find you not around. Of course, then I remembered what our intelligence officer said about this area. Once I'd found the barrier, it was all smooth sailing from there."
"Funny," Kiyoko said, trying to hide her nervousness. "From what Wizardmon showed us, you seemed to be having a hard time."
"Hold it," Gatomon interrupted. "How did you know we'd be here?"
"Let's just say a little mushroom told me," she said. "Perhaps you've seen him recently? He's about so high," she held her hands about a foot apart, "round shaped, almost elliptical, purple and flesh colored?" She smiled.
"You were at the Mushroomon village, weren't you?" Kiyoko said angrily.
"Guilty and proud of it," LadyDevimon replied.
"You killed him," Kiyoko continued.
"Wrong," LadyDevimon said. "I squeezed some information out of him. Then I killed him. 'If I tell you which way they went, will you not harm the others?'" She recited the Mushroomon's words almost mockingly. "Well, a Digi-Agent is only as good as her word, and I did keep my promise; I never laid a finger on the others. Just him."
"You're a monster," Kiyoko said.
"Digital monster, to be precise," LadyDevimon retorted. "But that's not important now; what is important is taking you two out of the picture. Darkness Wave!"
"Electro Squall!" Wizardmon cried out. He shot a bolt of lightning at the dark aura, dispersing it.
Kiyoko took out her D-power and a card to accompany it. "Digi-Modify! Pawnchessmon Pawn Spear, activate!" A spear appeared in Gatomon's hand and she threw it at LadyDevimon. It flew past the aura and struck her.
"You really don't know when to give in to me, do you?" she asked.
"That's a fine way of saying, 'I'm losing, so I'll just act tough to make you think I'm not,'" Gatomon said.
"Black Wing!" LadyDevimon created her hand-blade and swiped at Gatomon. The cat jumped back, forcing Kiyoko and Wizardmon behind her to move back as well. LadyDevimon kept swiping, and her targets still moved back.
Suddenly, Kiyoko realized something. "Uh oh," she whispered. Wizardmon turned to her. "If we keep going this way," Kiyoko explained, "we'll run into Swanmon and the baby Digimon."
"I'll move ahead and warn them," Wizardmon said. He disappeared and Kiyoko heard footsteps behind her.
"Gatomon," she said, "try to stand your ground!"
"Not… an easy… thing… to do!" Gatomon answered as she kept jumping to avoid LadyDevimon's blade. "Lighting Paw!" With another jump, she headed for LadyDevimon and punched her.
LadyDevimon reeled, but was not in too much pain. "You sure are persistent. And I hate persistent enemies. Evil Wing!" She released a swarm of bats on Gatomon. Gatomon jumped and her ring began to glow. She waved her tail and the bats disappeared.
"You know," LadyDevimon said. "That Holy Ring of yours is becoming a bit of a nuisance. I say we do something about that." With her left hand, she reached Gatomon just as she was falling. She grabbed the cat and brought her close. She used her other hand to slide the ring down and off the tail and threw her back down to Kiyoko.
As Gatomon struggled to get up, LadyDevimon looked at the object in her hand. "Hmm, who would have thought that such a small object could contain that much power against my own?"
"There's a reason it's called a Holy Ring," Gatomon said.
"Well, it won't do you any more good," LadyDevimon said. "Not only am I able to freely use my dark powers, but without this, your just a declawed kitten."
"Lighting Paw!" Gatomon jumped up to punch the demon lady again. This time, LadyDevimon merely swatted her with the back of her left hand, sending her far backwards.
"I trust my point is made?" she sneered. Kiyoko ran to find Gatomon. LadyDevimon pursued, but did not attack; she didn't need to yet.
Kiyoko found Gatomon on her back, upside down, on one of the building block structures. She ran over to her and set her upright. "Gatomon, say something!" she said frantically.
"Are we safe?" Gatomon asked after finally opening her eyes.
"Not for long," LadyDevimon said behind Kiyoko. She turned to find the dark blade at the ready.
"Poyo, poyo!" a little voice cried out. Everyone turned to find the newly hatched Poyomon hopping toward them, with Swanmon flying after it.
"Well," LadyDevimon laughed, "if this isn't the bravest little warrior." She landed and walked toward it. Poyomon was continuing to hop at a surprisingly fast pace.
"No!" Swanmon cried out. "Don't hurt him, he's just a baby!"
"Oh, shut up," LadyDevimon responded unsympathetically, "he'll be back later." As she prepared to stab, Swanmon flapped her wings together. "White Wings!" Several tornadoes appeared and blew into LadyDevimon, stopping her advance. "Why you little—" she was stopped short by the sudden appearance of Poyomon, who had climbed up her body and was in front of her face. "Popopopopopopo!" Poyomon blew a stream of bubbles in LadyDevimon's face and she reeled back with surprise and pain.
"What was—?" Kiyoko started.
"That was Bubble Blow," Gatomon answered, still a little weak. "All baby Digimon use it to protect themselves." Swanmon approached and was about to grab Poyomon, but LadyDevimon growled in anger. "Darkness Wave!" The aura headed straight for Poyomon. Kiyoko instinctively ran toward it as LadyDevimon called her attack. She grabbed Poyomon and turned her back to LadyDevimon, taking the full brunt of the Darkness Wave.
Everyone except LadyDevimon gasped at this. Kiyoko was still for a few seconds before she finally lifted her head. "Are you all right?" she asked Poyomon. Poyomon jumped up and down happily, crying "Poyo" a few times. Swanmon ran up to her.
"Are you hurt?" she asked.
"It's not as bad as it could have been," Kiyoko answered. She handed Poyomon to Swanmon and the Digimon flew away to regroup with the others.
Kiyoko turned to LadyDevimon. Her eyes were angry. "Destroying a Mushroomon for no real reason is one thing, you witch. Attacking a defenseless baby Digimon? Now that's something I won't even come close to forgiving."
"Do I really look like I care?" LadyDevimon asked rhetorically. "If you ask me, the only one here who makes no sense is you. You launched yourself in the way of my attack to save one insignificant Digimon. Why?"
"Maybe because I don't want him to suffer as I have," Kiyoko said. "Because unlike certain people, I care what happens to those who can't fight back. Because I have one thing you don't: kindness!"
LadyDevimon simply scoffed at her. "What good is being kind in battle? Isn't that the opposite of what to do?"
"It's not the enemy you should feel kind to," Kiyoko said, "but those innocents who would get affected by monsters like you." Suddenly, there was a pink glow coming from nearby. Kiyoko looked and found the flower-shaped Digi-Egg; she hadn't realized that the battle had taken them here. The egg lifted itself off the ground and floated to Kiyoko. It stopped in front of her and began to descend. Kiyoko instinctively held her arms under it and it landed in them. What surprised Kiyoko was how light it felt. The egg didn't stop glowing, though; a few seconds after it touched Kiyoko's hands, it began to shrink and change shape. When it stopped glowing, it became a card with the egg's image on the front.
"What is this?" Kiyoko whispered to herself.
"Whatever it is," Gatomon said, finally standing up, "use it. It may be our best chance."
Kiyoko nodded. She brought the card to the D-Power's card reader. "Digi-Modify! Digi-Egg of Kindness, activate!" The Egg appeared out of the D-Power and floated to Gatomon. The two touched and the Crest of Kindness appeared.
"Gatomon, Armor Digivolve to…" Gatomon started to rise into the air. Her body grew rounder and her gloves grew smaller. A red stocking cap appeared on her head, as well as some balloons in her right hand, decorated with mischievous faces. Her facial features no longer looked feline. "Opossumon, Fun-Loving Kindness!"
Kiyoko stared in amazement. "Gatomon? What happened?"
"Call me Opossumon now," the new creature said. "Basically, Kiyoko, I just Digivolved." She turned to LadyDevimon. "So, ready to surrender now?"
"To what?" LadyDevimon returned. "A little possum with balloons that was only able to Digivolve through something as weak as kindness? I probably should surrender," she added sarcastically.
"You'll wish you did," Opossumon said. "Balloon Blast!" She swung her balloon-holding arm in a circle and released one of the balloons; it moved surprisingly fast. LadyDevimon reached out with her left hand and crushed it in her fist.
"That's really the best you can come up with?" she asked. "Do you see what kindness has done for you, little girl?" she taunted to Kiyoko. "Nothing!" She put her left hand forward and again. "Evil Wi—!" But before she could finish the attack, she reeled back. She held her arm as if she was in pain. "What's happening to me?" She looked at Opossumon, who was smiling. "What have you done?"
"It's one of Opossumon's more powerful abilities," a familiar voice said. They all turned to find Wizardmon walking toward them. "Her balloons are filled with a powerful computer virus that attacks opponents from the inside."
"Here," Opossumon said, "let me give you a better example. Balloon Blast!" She threw a few more balloons, this time without interference from LadyDevimon; she was in too much pain to try. The balloons hit her and burst; Kiyoko could see a gaseous substance come from them, possibly the virus Wizardmon referred to.
LadyDevimon started to reel more. She angrily looked up at Kiyoko. "I may not last much longer," she said, "but I'll make sure you don't either!" She reached with her left hand to grab Kiyoko.
"You will not!" Wizardmon said. "Magical Game!" He pointed his staff at LadyDevimon and the magic energy flowed toward her. Just before she could grab Kiyoko, LadyDevimon disappeared.
"Where is she?" Kiyoko asked when she realized what was going on.
"Outside the newly constructed barrier," Wizardmon answered. "At her current strength, she won't even make a light scratch. And she won't stick around if she wants to get rid of that virus."
Kiyoko looked at Opossumon. "Hey, Wizardmon, you think you can tell me what just happened here?"
"When I saw the Digi-Egg float toward you, I pulled a book from my study," Wizardmon replied. "It dealt with ancient objects. That was the Digi-Egg of Kindness. Tell me, have you heard of Digivolution?"
"Not until a few minutes ago, if that's what happened to Gatomon."
"It's the process of one Digimon taking a new and stronger form. Gatomon went through what is known as Armor Digivolution, an ancient form of Digivolving that very few can accomplish today. They have powers that rank above most other Digimon. In fact, even though Gatomon lost her Holy Ring, this new form was able to make up for that lost power and add to even that. And don't worry about having to remember a new name; because Digimon are made of data, some can go back and forth between the various forms. This is especially true for the partner of a Digi-Destined."
As if making his point, Opossumon started to glow and fell to the ground on both feet. When she stopped, she became Gatomon and the glow became a streak of light that landed in Kiyoko's hand, becoming the card from earlier.
"You were able to use the Digi-Egg because you showed kindness to Poyomon during the thick of battle," Wizardmon continued. "It may not be your true crest, but then, who ever said that we are defined by one trait? Perhaps kindness is just a subtrait that lies within your key trait. Even so, you can now use the Digi-Egg's power whenever you need it."
"Sounds great," Kiyoko said. "We may need it soon, too. LadyDevimon's not going to take losing like that too well."
"Also," Wizardmon added, "I found a way to reveal the location of your crest." He held his staff above him. "Magical Game!" The magic flowed out and spread out in a circle facing parallel to the ground. The energy then began to cut into itself until a fraction of the original circle was left, leaving a line that weaved out of the village and back into the forest surrounding it. "Follow this trail and you'll find your crest. Good luck, Kiyoko, Gatomon. The fate of the world is in your hands. Oh, and before you go; Gatomon," he reached into his cape and pulled out the Holy Ring, "I managed to get this from LadyDevimon before I forced her out. In some perverse way, you should be thanking her for taking the ring; its power would have prevented you from Armor Digivolving at all." Gatomon accepted it and placed it back on her tail.
"Thank you, Wizardmon," Kiyoko said, bowing.
"You've helped us in more ways than we expected," Gatomon added.
"It was my pleasure and duty to help the Digi-Destined," Wizardmon concluded. The two left and nearly approached the edge of the barrier when they heard something.
"Poyo! Poyo!" They turned to find Poyomon jumping up and down in front of Swanmon and the other carriages and eggs. It wasn't hard to figure out was he was trying to say.
"Bye, Poyomon!" Kiyoko said. She waved before she and Gatomon walked out of the barrier.
Kiyoko's crest is just a few... well, long steps away. Will she find in time to stop LadyDevimon once for all? Don't miss Digimon: Digital Monsters if you want to know!
Miniature spoilers, guys (but this is important). Kiyoko's crest will finally be named in the next chapter. So if you have an idea as to what it is, better get it in quick.
This is CF signing out.