"Issues Facing Friendship"
Here is the next chapter. Please enjoy and review!
V-Mon and I were looking around in the forest trying to find where Matt and Gabumon had ran off to while everyone was busy, but so far we couldn't find him.
"Matt!" I called.
"Gabumon! Come out, come out wherever you are!" V-Mon called.
He sighed and then looked over at me.
"Maybe we should've told the others where we were going. I don't think Nekomon and Tai are gonna be happy that we ran off on them…again." He said.
"I don't care about that. Matt needs help. Something's wrong with his Crest. I felt him try to use it, but it wouldn't work. We need to find him so we can help him out." I said.
We continued on as we walked out of the forest to find a crystal clear lake and saw that the trees and grass around it had a tint of blue to it.
It was nice around here, but we had no time to admire it, not when Matt needed us and I could feel it deep in the pit of my stomach.
"I'm the same jerk I always was." I heard someone saw.
Looking over, there across the lake was Mr. Cool himself along with Gabumon.
How long were they there without me knowing?
Some child of Miracles I am to not be able to see him right there.
"It'll never happen. Not this way. I finally figured it out. If I ever want to change, I have to do it on my own. On my own. The others can't help me." Matt said sadly.
"What's he talking about?" V-Mon asked.
"Well, well, well. Look what we've got here." Someone said.
A large tree digimon came out of the forest and he gave off this evil aura along with this stupid smirk on his face as he peered down at Matt.
"Greetings nature lovers. What? You mean you've never seen a talking tree?" he asked.
"Not many." Matt said.
"Be careful. That's Cherrymon, Lord of the Forest and the best reason for the existence of termites. Stop right there or I'll turn you into toothpicks!" Gabumon said as he stood in front of Matt.
This feels like before when I just started out, getting separated from the others as I watched them do all the fighting and I didn't like it.
"You really shouldn't be that rude. Calm down. My fighting days are over. I only want to talk with you. In fact, you might even say I've turned over a new leaf." Cherrymon joked.
"No offense, but even if I felt like talking, it wouldn't be to a tree. See ya around." Matt said as he turned to leave.
That a boy, keep walking away from the psycho tree and don't you dare look back.
Sadly, Cherrymon wouldn't let him go so easy as he stretched out his arm to stop the duo of Friendship.
"Hey, what's the idea?" Matt asked.
"Young man, didn't anyone ever tell you, you should listen to your elders? Or was it redwoods you should listen to? I never can quite get those two straight. Anyway, I digress. So, you still stuck in the same place? Still the same old jerk you always were?" Cherrymon sneered making Matt gasp.
"Surprised huh? I know all about it. Must be tough being in such a rut." He said.
"You've been spying on me, huh?" Matt asked annoyed while the tree digimon chuckled.
"Listen to me, kid, I don't need to spy because there's nothing that happens in this forest that I don't know about." Cherrymon said.
"Huh. All right then, if you're so smart, what am I supposed to do? Tell me that!" Matt challenged.
How about not listen to a creepy digimon that claims to be a friend?
After all, they always end up as our foes in the end and try to kill us or turn us against each other.
"Dai, what do we do?" V-Mon asked as he tugged at my arm.
"I'm not sure. I guess we just watch and jump in when things get really bad." I said.
"Things are already bad." V-Mon interjected.
"Ah, simple as that, huh? Kids; you want all the answers just handed to ya on a mahogany platter." Cherrymon said making us go back to listening in on them.
"But you never want to do the hard work of looking within yourself where all the answers truly lie." He said.
Matt looked to be in a trance as he listened to what Cherrymon was saying, hanging onto every word while Gabumon glared at the tree with a look of distrust.
"Let's go. Don't you listen to that talking firewood Matt. Come on." Gabumon said.
"That's right, go on. But you'll never learn how to change. You'll always be what you are right now." Cherrymon said.
"I wanna change." Matt said determined.
"Yes, but are you really ready? After all, change isn't always a pleasant thing. You'll do a few things you wish you hadn't." Cherrymon said.
I could sense how smug he was right then that Matt was falling prey to him.
"I'm ready. More than ready. Enough talking big guy, if you've got some answers, let's see 'em!" Matt yelled.
To heck with hiding and watching, I'm getting in there right now.
"Matt!" I yelled making him gasp and look over to me.
"Hey, run away or fight! Cherrymon's evil! He works for the Dark Masters!" V-Mon called.
"I knew it." Gabumon growled.
"Well, the Princess and her Knight have joined the party. Really, are you going to listen to a little girl?" Cherrymon asked.
"Matt, please. Get away from him. He's no good!" I yelled.
"Stay out of this, Daisuke!" Matt yelled with an angered look that made me jump back in surprise at the ice in his eyes.
"But Matt…" I trailed off.
"I need to hear what he has to say. Not all of us have magic powers that helps guide them. You wouldn't understand what I'm going through, so stay out of it!" he yelled before he turned back to Cherrymon.
"Go on. Tell me what I need to do." He urged.
"First off, you're gonna have to defeat your rival." Cherrymon said.
"My rival?" Matt asked.
My eyes widened when I knew who his rival was.
This is not going to end well.
"There in that lake you will see the face of the one preventing you from becoming as strong as you could be." Cherrymon said as he pointed to the lake.
Matt looked over to the lake and then started walking off over to it.
"Where are you going?" Gabumon asked.
"I know it sounds pretty bogus, but I might as well look." Matt said.
"Listen Matt. You don't really believe him do you?" Gabumon asked as he followed him.
Bending down, Matt looked into the lake with narrowed eyes as he looked into the lake, Gabumon gasping when he saw the image appear.
"Tai?! Come on! What kind of trick is this?" Matt asked.
"Behold. The face of your rival." Cherrymon said.
"So you're saying…I've got fight Tai. Is that it?" Matt asked.
He then stood up and laughed mockingly.
"Nice try, foliage face. You had me going there, but you have to do better than that." Matt said as Cherrymon laughed next.
"I had nothing to do with it. The Lake of Truth reflects only what's in a person's heart, hence the name." he said.
"You've got to be kidding." Matt said.
"Sorry kid, it's never wrong." Cherrymon said.
"That right? I've got news for you, it's off this time. Way off." Matt glared.
"Well, you can argue with me all you want, but you're really only arguing with yourself. It's about time you face the truth. The one you call Tai is your leader and everything he says you do, everywhere he goes you follow and in your heart you resent it because you know you're just as qualified to be the boss than he is." Cherrymon said.
Matt was standing with his fists clenched as he seemed to be thinking over every single fight, vocal and physical, that they had and he was falling for the lies easier.
"You'll not be ashamed of your resentment. Don't hide it. Embrace it for in your anger lies your strength. Only when you recognize that will you at last be free to grow, to change. So face your rival and prove you are his equal or better by defeating him." Cherrymon said.
"Don't listen! He's just trying to cause trouble." Gabumon yelled.
"Matt, please! You know this isn't right. Don't fall for it." I begged with tears in my eyes.
"Matt, you'll only hurt yourself!" V-Mon called.
"He's playing games with your mind. It's all part of some sort of trap. Tai is your friend, Matt." Gabumon said.
"He's my friend, yeah. He may not always act like it, but…he's right. Tai is my friend. You don't fight your friends." Matt said.
"Friends? Ha! Now that's a good one. You don't even believe that such a thing really exists." Cherrymon scoffed making Matt gasp as he looked at him.
"Not in your heart of hearts anyway." He said.
"Leave him alone you over grown twig!" I yelled.
"Hit the nail on the head, didn't I?" Cherrymon asked as Matt stood completely still from his shock.
"What does he mean?" Gabumon asked.
"Friendship, loyalty, comrades. Fine sounding words, but that's all they are; words. Illusions. And you're wise enough to see that now. You know that ultimately, the only person you can depend on is yourself. Isn't that right, Matt?" Cherrymon asked.
Tears were now falling down my face as I knew that he was trapped now and wasn't even bothering to fight it.
"Matt…" I whimpered.
"He's wrong. Isn't he?" Gabumon asked.
"I don't know. I…I don't know." Matt whimpered as he felt confliction.
"You don't?" Gabumon asked in shock.
"All right then. That's enough moping around for now. Look kid; stop staring at your shoes. The choice in front of you is simple. If you truly want to change to reach your full potential, you must defeat Tai. It's either that or be content to your life with following in the shadows to him forever." Cherrymon said.
Wind then blew in around us sending his leaves floating off in the wind around Matt and Gabumon.
"What choice? What do I do?" Matt asked as he fell to his knees.
"Oh, what do I do?" he moaned.
Gabumon looked at him sadly as Matt cried and whipped away his tears that were falling.
He then held his Crest and looked at it in misery.
"Oh, that's a laugh. Wouldn't you know it that my Crest had to be the Crest of Friendship." He scowled.
"Matt, there's one thing he's right about. Whatever you're going to do, do it." Gabumon said.
I hope he won't do the wrong thing and then I'll cry even more and then TK will cry and it'll be one big mess.
"But do what?" Matt asked.
How about tell that freak with the phoney moustache to go stuff it?
"You've got to choose what your own conscience is telling you and not listen to anybody else. Not Tai or Cherrymon or Dai or me. You've got to have faith in yourself, Matt." Gabumon said.
"What if I make the wrong decision?" Matt asked.
"I know that whatever it is, it'll be the right one because I have faith in you and whichever path you take I'll be there with you." Gabumon said.
"You mean that?" Matt asked.
"You do have a friend. Never forget that. I'll always be there Matt no matter what." Gabumon said.
Tears were starting to fall from Matt's eyes from his partner's words while V-Mon and I held hands.
It was nice to see another duo having a moment other than us.
"Gabumon…" Matt cried.
His Crest then glowed brightly as the light filled the entire area, shooting up into the sky even as I shielded my eyes at the sight as the sound of a wolf howling filled the air.
"Gabumon Warp digivolve to…METALGARURUMON!"
The light then faded away to show off the Mega.
"Ready, lead the way." MetalGarurumon said.
"Right." Matt said as he mounted the metal wolf.
They then took off while Cherrymon laughed, then looked over to me.
"Try as you might, you can't always protect them, Princess of Miracles." He sneered.
"I can still try." I said.
My diigvice then beeped as light surrounded V-Mon.
"V-Mon digivolve to…XV-MON!"
He picked me up and took off after the duo of Friendship to see what they would be doing.
Prove Cherrymon wrong Matt, please.
We caught up to them to see that a pink digimon with yellow hair holding a green trash can was sucking up Kari and Gatomon up inside of it which made me gasp in horror, but then MetalGarurumon used his Ice Wolf Claw to defeat the digimon and saved the duo of Light.
OK, heart attack averted at the moment.
"It's MetalGarurumon and XV-Mon." Gatomon said as my dragon landed next to the wolf.
"Matt." Joe called.
"Matt, you're back." Sora smiled.
"Dai, you're in so much trouble for running off." Tai scolded as I hid behind my dragon's head.
"Anyway, where you been, buddy?" he asked as he ran over to Matt while MetalGreymon turned back into Agumon.
Matt's eyes were as cold as ice as he just stood there watching Tai and Agumon as they both ran over to them.
Uh oh.
"Thanks for saving our necks but did you have to cut it this close?" Agumon joked.
MetalGarurumon's eyes glowed blue as he shot out two tiny laser beams at him, cutting the dino off.
"What's he doing?" Tai demanded.
"Hey, what is this?" Agumon asked.
"What do you think? It's a challenge. You might want to digivolve and fast." MetalGarurumon growled.
"What have you been eating out there in the forest? You want to fight me?" Agumon asked.
His answer was getting two rockets fired off at him, but thankfully they didn't hit, but it was close enough.
"This is insane. Matt, what's going on? Is this some kind of joke?" Sora asked.
"Matt, I don't know what he's doing, but call him off now." Tai demanded.
I don't think that's going to work, big bro.
Aw, heck, I know it ain't gonna work.
"No Tai. I won't." Matt said in a dark voice.
"Ohhh…." I whimpered as I clung to my dragon.
"What did you say? You won't?" Tai asked in total surprise.
"I'm warning you. Hurry up and digivolve into WarGreymon because I won't miss next time." MetalGarurumon warned.
"I think he really means it." Agumon said.
Everyone else all stood frozen in shock and confusion over what was going on and how their friends had lost their minds.
"Well? Time's running out, Agumon." The wolf said.
"Tai, stop him." TK called.
"I wish I could, but there's only one person who can stop him." Tai said.
Why does this stuff always happen to us?
To be continued…