Hello everyone and welcome to the first chapter of 2018. Hopefully the new year's been fair to you all, or at least bearable.
I do not own anything.
Chapter Fifty-One-Consequences
Smell, that was the first of his senses to come back to him as Matt slowly fought his way back into the realm of consciousness. The only thing he registered was no seawater or smoke. His body took that as a soon to relax making it somewhat harder to open his eyes. Slowly the darkness fell away to reveal light, bright and luminous and directly above him. Distant footsteps and voices welled in his ears giving him a slight headache. Mouth opening in a pained groan he summoned the strength to push himself upwards, then lost it as a firm hand fell upon his shoulder. The message was clear and he was in no shape to fight it.
"Honestly, I thought Tai was supposed to be the stubborn one, but you always are able to give him a good challenge. Together you're able to give all of us a collective heart attack, especially Sora." A snappy female voice chided him.
At the sound of it Matt felt himself smile. "Sorry Mimi, I guess some things never change, do they?"
The brunette gave her old friend a sad but comforting smile while caressing his brow. "No, but things wouldn't be as much fun if they did. We're all just happy you and Gabumon were able to bring Davis and Veemon back, all four of you alive. You know, I still remember when Tai was the more hotheaded one of the team."
"Funny how things change." The blond muttered softly shutting his eyes. Being so close to so many explosions and supernatural fires had done something to his eyesight. Staring directly at light sources hurt a little more than it should have. He hoped the damage wasn't permanent. "Where's Gabumon? Is he okay?"
"He's just fine, he's helping out with the other patients. Truthfully, it seems like halfway through the battle the demons and Deep Ones just sort of forgot about us and decided to focus on each other." Mimi answered.
"I see." Trying one last time he opened his eyes, they didn't sting as he stared at the ceiling light above him. Remembering the traumatic confrontation between him and Davis he steeled himself. "Mimi, how's…what about Davis and Veemon?"
She knew that question was coming. Taking a deep breath she folded both hands over her lap knowing the answer wasn't going to be easy, she was still coming to grips with it herself. "Both of them are alright. Veemon expanded a lot of energy when he Dark Digivolved and the tech branch is doing everything they can to make sure all the corrupted data's been expunged from him. Davis is…he's in a light coma. They say he should wake up soon since his life isn't in any danger, but…" It took a single affirmative look from Matt for her to find the strength to continue. "Once he and Veemon are able to walk…they're going to be court martialed."
Despite everything Matt felt himself laughing. "Friggin' turned into the military, haven't we?" This time he had enough strength to at least sit upright. His body didn't exactly explode in pain, it was more like a general soreness throughout his body, the kind that came with overworking himself. He could deal with this kind of pain as it was the sort that would pass within a day or so. Hopefully he'd recover fast enough for him to be there at Davis' hearing. "We're in the middle of a war, getting our asses kicked and they decide to hold military trials."
Catching his drift Mimi crossed her eyes and huffed. "According to Joe it's the brass' way of trying to keep order. Everyone knows someone who's gone against orders or something for personal reasons: to save a loved one or home. It's stupid they're choosing to make an example out of Davis and Veemon, especially since almost everyone know how bad his situation is." Shooting him a sideways glare she quickly fired off, "You're not going to do anything stupid are you?"
"Me? Stupid, oh come on, that's Tai's thing, not mine." He laughed.
"Noted. Now lie down and get some rest. I'll be back later on with some soup for you." Mimi smiled getting up and walking out the door.
Now alone Matt took the time to fully examine his surroundings. It was a relatively small, private room. Briefly Matt wondered if any strings had to be pulled to get him a private bed like this. Comfy as it was he knew he couldn't stay there for long. Pulling away the covers he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. The pain that came with standing up lasted for only a minute, once that was over with he began to stretch his arms and legs; the soreness quickly returned but he worked through it. Reaching for his shirt he pulled it up revealing a collection of white bandages fully wrapping around his abdomen. Seeing that Matt chuckled a little remembering the pummeling Davis had given him before he finally ran out of steam.
"You sure can pack a punch when you're angry, kind of like me and Tai." The rocker muttered.
"Yep, history does love repeating itself, doesn't it?" Came the voice of his blue-furred partner. Slipping in through a crack in the door he joined him on the steel-frame bed. "So, can we call that a mission success?"
"Well, we made it back alive with most of our bones intact, and so did Davis and Veemon, so yeah." Matt stated flexing his fingers several times to ensure his hands weren't crippled. "You know, I used to think drowning was the worst way to go, now I think it's fire."
"I won't argue with you there." The single-horned Digimon responded feeling a dark chill run up his spine. "Tosamon definitely won't argue with you." Matt's face fell hearing his words. Apparently he hadn't heard. "When Veemon Dark Digivolved he deleted Tosamon, incinerated her DigiCore so she won't be coming back."
It was odd. Matt didn't feel anything resembling pity or sadness hearing the news, all he could think about was Jun and Davis. From what he could tell Dagomon had seemingly developed some sort of vendetta against the Motomiya family; now with this latest incident things were only going to get worse. On the other hand, at least one of the enemy's lieutenants had been eliminated. Either way Dagomon was going to retaliate, and when he did he'd rain down hell on all of them. Jun was his immediate concern as she was still in the Dark Ocean, the closest to Dagomon. There was no doubt in his mind the Deprived Monk was going to make Davis and Veemon pay in blood for what they'd did, and the quickest way to do that was hurting someone they cared about. Given how things had been going so far that wasn't going to be a pleasurable experience.
"You're still going ahead with your plan?" Gabumon asked.
"Do you really have to ask? Last chance to back out." He half-joked shrugging his shoulders.
"Sorry, but someone has to look after you." The Digimon responded holding up his hand. He grinned when Matt took it. "Up, down, and through the pits of hell, I'll follow you anywhere."
"Thanks Gabumon."
"Don't mention it, but I must say, this is probably the craziest thing I've ever heard you propose. I think Tai's starting to rub off on you." The Rookie chuckled.
"Please don't remind me. Provided we live through this I don't think he's ever going to let me hear the end of it." Whether they succeeded or failed Matt's plan was going to involve him being labeled a hypocrite in light of all the times he criticized Tai for being too hotheaded and reckless, but desperate times called for desperate measures. "Let's just hope all of us are able to make it through so Tai, Sora, and the others can chew our asses out when it's over."
It went without saying that Davis was used to being lectured. Being the kind of person he was it was only natural he tended to break the rules and piss people off when he broke certain conventions. Despite the situation, something told him this time would be no different. Perhaps that was why for the last two days or so he'd been eerily calm. More than a handful of his comrades had noticed and were rightly startled by his sudden behavior change; Davis himself found it a little strange how little he was willing to lash out. Then again, he and Veemon did a lot of lashing when they went to ShogunGekkomon's Castle. Lashing, hitting, and burning at that. The events were still fresh in his mind and he imagined they would remain that way for the rest of his life.
Even if they were monsters, true blood-thirsty monsters, he'd butchered them with his own hands. Tore them apart limb from limb, and he didn't regret any of it. The only thing he did regret was Matt, how he held him in his arms even as he did everything in his power to break his bones and roast him to a crisp. If he ever made it out of this hospital room he was going to have to apologize; sure he'd wanted to punch him at times, but what he'd done to him had crossed a line.
The turning of the door knob caused him to look up from his hands. Farah slipped through then promptly shut the door behind her. Her face was a straight frown that old Davis all he needed to know.
"So…on a scale of one to ten," He began.
"Ten, maybe ten and a half. I don't have to tell you how stupid what your stunt was, I can see you've already had some time to think about it." She stated taking the seat next to his bed.
"Well, you kind of have to when you're locked in a makeshift prison cell turned hospital room." He wasn't exactly wrong. His room was only a little bigger than a prison cell by a few feet, having just enough room for a bed, an IV monitor, and some other instruments. There wasn't much he could do but think on his actions, and worry about Veemon. "How's Veemon holding up?"
Farah's expression faltered in hearing the sadness laced within his voice. As she suspected Davis was hotheaded, but not as stupid as many made him sound, nowhere near as thoughtless either. "He's going to be okay, Davis. You'll be able to see him tomorrow when you're release. After that you'll both have a day to…prepare yourselves."
"Yeah, you wouldn't happen to know any good lawyers, would you?"
"Davis, it's not going to be that kind of trial." Farah snapped waving her hand. "It's not like we're going to throw you in some dark hole and leave you there until the war's over. This isn't a movie."
"Could have fooled me. We've hit all the basic plot points of your typical thriller, mystery, and war movie."
"Yes, but we're not going to hit every one of them. Besides, we need all the manpower we can get, so that means no one's going to be locked away unless they're certifiably crazy."
"You didn't read the reports, did you?"
"You're angry, not crazy."
"Oh, so there's a difference?"
"Davis!" Farah knew she was going to be walking a tight rope when she decided to talk to Davis, and rightfully so. He was a strong willed person, a stubborn person; that was exactly why Dagomon and Daemon had targeted him out of the hundreds of thousands of kids they had to content with as enemies. Breaking him took him off the board, temporarily at least. Getting him back into the game was going to take something pretty major; in other words Farah knew she had to get straight to the point. "Would your sister appreciate you sitting on your asses, sulking like a cry baby?" Her words were cold and sharp, like blade cutting into flesh and through bone. Immediately Davis' harden eyes zeroed in on her, silently warning her not to go any further. She was going to do the opposite. "Did your little rampage drain all the fight you had in you, or are do you still have fight left in you? You and I both know this war's far from over, so are you going to sit your ass out for the rest of it?"
"Like hell I am." Davis seethed gripping his sheets tightly.
"Then stop acting like you're going to spend the rest of your life staring at a blank wall." The African girl shot back not backing down from her fellow leader's glare. "You've still got two legs and two arms, a working brain, and air in your lungs. As long as you have those things you've got no reason to give up."
Davis stared long and hard into Farah's brown eyes, so similar to his own. In her eyes he saw hardship and struggle, things he knew all too well about. The more he looked the more lost in them he became. All the wound up anger he felt inside him steadily began to drown out of him leaving him feeling oddly calmed and relaxed. It'd been a while since he'd felt this way.
"I just…I just felt like I was trapped, like I had to do something or else I was going to go crazy." The redhead finally said.
"There's nothing wrong with that." Reaching out she placed the palm of her hand over his. He didn't pull away or snap at her. "Everyone's been where you are at some point in their lives-feeling like they're broken and low. What defines us is how we react when we reach that point. We can lie down and accept it, or we can dust ourselves off, pick ourselves up, and move forward. It's okay if we cry a little, scream, rage out, that's all natural, it's part of being human. Once it's over with though we have to move on because if we let our darkness consume us and that's the end of it." With her other hand she gently gripped the top of Davis' head to steer him upwards so they were looking each other in the eye. "Believe me, it's not easy, and it can go wrong several different ways, but it's still worth a try."
"It sounds like you're speaking from personal experience." The redhead mused.
Giving him a sad smile Farah lifted the lower portion of her shirt revealing the whole of her abdomen up to her belly button. A long jagged scar crossed from her left side and extended upwards in the opposite direction. "Trust me, there are some nights I wish I could take it all back, but then times like this, I realize I'm stronger because of what I went through." Closing her eyes she thought back to those long dark nights she'd spent in the Dark Ocean. Sometimes they woke her up in the middle of the night, when they did she laughed it off, rubbing her scars and remembering how far she'd had to push herself. "People can be weak, but we can reach down and discover a power that lets us fight through anything. That's what makes us special, that's what separates winners from losers. That's why I have faith that your sister is still alive."
"Why?" Davis asked honestly puzzled.
"Because she's got a tough-ass little brother, so it definitely runs in the family." Farah laughed back.
Davis felt tears forming on the corners of his eyes despite his attempts to hold them back. Farah noticed them and reacted accordingly. Both her arms wrapped around his head and brought him into a comforting hug. His tears finally fell undaunted, Farah happily welcomed them all, lightly rubbing Davis' back as he cried.
Once he was finished she pulled away, knowing he'd regained some form of composure and inner strength after everything he'd been through. "Have faith in your sister. Believe in her and fight so when she comes home she's got a family waiting for her."
"I haven't been doing a good job of that lately." The younger of the two stated looking away. With a soft touch Farah turned his head back so they were face to face again.
"They're still alive, and so are you. That's enough. Now then, are you going to make sure that's the case when she gets back?" Farah questioned. Davis' smile was enough of an answer for her. "Good, now then, you've got some apologize to certain people you have to do."
Davis silently counted down the seconds as Farah reached for the door then pulled it open. Once it was open Yolei, Noriko, and Cody flooded into the room; all of their eyes immediately fell on Davis. In the short window of stillness that followed Farah slipped out of the room then shut the door, leaving the four teenagers alone by themselves. A part of Davis wanted to beg her to take him with her.
Instead he did the only thing that felt right at the moment, "I'm sorry, guys."
"You're damn right you should be sorry! Do you have any idea how scared we were!?" Yolei screamed before throwing herself at him. She was crying.
"We thought…we thought the worst." Cody admitted looking away while Noriko took his hand in hers'. "We…we were ready to go after you and Veemon, Tai too."
"I…sorry I worried all of you." He solemnly stated before shutting his eyes to brace for the onslaught he was sure was to come. It never came, what did come was two more bodies pressing against his. "U-Uh?"
"We already lost Ken, T.K., and Kari, we can't lose you too." Yolei whispered clearly still unable to compose herself. "If you're gonna do something stupid fine, but tell us so we can do it with you! Dammit, Davis, we're a team, don't you remember!"
No, he didn't. He'd been so caught up in his own failures he forgot even with all these older and more experienced heads Yolei, Cody, and Noriko were still looking to him for guidance. Realizing that only made his feeling of shame worse. He'd meant to run out on them, abandon them when they needed him the most. "Chiyo…you were right about me." He'd make it up to them, had had to if he ever wanted to regain their trust again.
"How was…did you find Chiyo?" Noriko finally asked. It was the elephant in the room she knew someone was going to have to address, even if it was her, the group's newest member.
Davis' posture alone was enough of an answer for the three teenagers. Despite that, he spoke, "Yeah…I found her. She…guys, during the fight we had in Shinjuku, when we all trapped in that weird mist did any of you hear Chiyo's voice?"
Yolei, Cody, and Noriko all turned to look at each other for an answer.
"I…I don't really know. I think we were all screaming for help or instructions." Yolei admitted liking where things were heading.
"Davis, did something happen? Did you find Chiyo? Did she make it out of the battle?" Cody pressed while Noriko tensed up beside him. She alone already knew the answer Davis was about to give.
Davis' voice was quiet and desolate, like the wind passing over a graveyard. "Yeah, Cody, I…find her. But…it's a long story."
"Well tell it." Yolei affirmed crossing her arms. "We're not leaving until we know the fully story so we can stop you from running off again."
Almost ten minutes later and Yolei immediately regretted saying those words as Davis' story practically guaranteed he would go running off again. Not that any of them could blame him. All three DigiDestined sat in stunned silence at hearing Davis' tale of how he'd met Chiyo, how different she was how, and how she'd railed against Davis for supposedly abandoning her. No one was more hit by the story than Noriko, who began shivering despite the warmth of the room. Cody wrapped a protective arm around her hoping it would do her some good.
"Bu…But that doesn't make any sense! We could hear you screaming her name and Kari's! We all heard it! There's no way she couldn't have heard you at least once!" Yolei proclaimed clawing her fingers through her hair. She smelled a rat.
Davis kept his focus down on his hands. "I…I just don't know."
"Manipulation."
Her one word sentence brought everyone's attention onto Noriko. With encouragement from Cody she drew in a deep breath then carried out explaining. "It's…just like what MaloMyotismon did to me and the others. The Demons…they must have manipulated our senses somehow. Made it sound like you weren't searching for her, that no one was so she'd think no one cared about her. O-Once she saw that…once s-she feel into their trap they…they took her heart into the darkness. I-It's…"
"It's what creatures like them do." Cody snarled with an uncharacteristic edge in his voice. "They prey on the darkness and weaknesses of anyone they can."
"Either way, I should have found her. I should have looked harder for her. If I had then maybe-"
SMACK!
Noriko jumped in Cody's arms while Davis stared numbly at Yolei who kept her arm stretched out. It only took one look for him to realize any attempts at back talking were not going to end well.
"You did everything you could to find her! If we hadn't stopped you we would have lost you too, so quit beating yourself up about! You can't change the past, but you can change the future! She's out there somewhere! With the same people who manipulated her into trying to destroy two worlds! You can sit around here moping or you can get off your ass and go rescue her! We're only going to help you do one of those two things! Got it!"
Smiling in spite of the lingering pain in his cheeks Davis nodded his head in silence. "I don't suppose you'd object to me trying to go find her right now, would you?"
Cody sighed while Noriko suppressed a slight giggle. "Honestly, it's like you're trying to see how far you can push Yolei before she finishes the job."
"Didn't we always joke that Yolei would be the one to punch my clock?" Davis joked.
"Why do I feel you're more scared of her than you are of the demons and Deep Ones." Noriko smiled.
"Hey! I'm standing right here!" The heavily mentioned DigiDestined declared holding her fists up. "Maybe I will finish the job if you keep running your mouth off like that."
Though she did her best eventually Yolei found herself laughing along with the other three. Where a little over ten minutes the small room was filled with tension and heavy emotions, now it was light and sunny, like the sun coming out after a storm. They all knew the storm was far from over, but there was a break in the clouds. That was something they could be thankful for at least.
"Heh, that worked out better than expected. I guess those kids really are something special after all." Daemon chuckled looking down at the mass of red and orange energy contained in his right palm. It was just a tad bit smaller than the orb in his left hand, a globe-like mass of searing energy They resembled fireballs in their shape and texture. The air around the two spheres seemingly cooked and sizzled with each passing second owing to the intense power both orbs contained. "I'd say we got a fair exchange. I gave you two a hint of the truth and a piece of my power, and in turn you showed the world just how vital anger and wrath can be in times of crisis."
As usual he sat cross-legged in the center of a pentagram carved into the floor, eerie candles surrounding him. Even without them the blazing light produced by the two orbs would have been more than enough to light up the entire chamber. Aside from the cackling of the candles and the orbs the room was silent, just as Daemon liked it. Some would have found it funny how a Demon Lord of Wrath enjoyed peace and quiet, but that just showed how little the world knew of the being known as Daemon. While it was true anger burned hot and fast, true anger, hatred, endured, it festered and festered until finally it erupted like a volcano. Daemon had yet to erupt and that was what his enemies feared. They were right to be fearfully.
Before him hovered a holographic projection of the Digital World. The entire globe was heavily divided into colored sections representing allied and enemy territory as well as landmarked cities and strongholds that had to be taken into account. Naturally the demons were represented by red, the Deep Ones by gray, and the DigiDestined by accursed gold. At first glance looking at the globe it could have been said all three sides were evenly matched given the vast stretches of land they were able to hold onto even as the war kicked into high gear. Closer inspection would have revealed a somewhat darker and more telling story-Dagomon was on the retreating end, the Demons were advancing, and the DigiDestined were playing defense. Over the course of the last few days the patches of gray on the globe had gradually shrunken, inches on the projection represented miles in the real world. Nowhere was this more evident than on the Server Continent-it was almost entirely red whereas just days before it was half grey. Every time Daemon looked at it he felt a surge of pride at the realization his machinations had brought the continent under their rule; he greatly enjoyed bringing it up and rubbing it in Barbamon's face every time he could.
He could also take pleasure in rubbing this in Barbamon's face as well-the power he'd gathered from the Motomiya siblings. Contrary to rumor Daemon was pretty smart and cunning as well, enough so that even Lucemon and Lilithmon had given him praise in the distant past. While he cared little for their more flowery words he did enjoy having his talents outside of fighting acknowledged. The fruits of those talents would soon ripen so they may be enjoyed.
Without warms alarms flashed around the holographic globe. Warning signs and pop-ups appeared all over it causing Daemon to chuckle in amusement.
"Well, it's about damn time you lot got off your asses and decided to do something."
Right before his eyes colored sections of the map began to completely disappear leaving only black empty spaces in their place. His red eyes narrowed at those spots, every lifeform, digital demon and otherwise, had been deleted, their data collected and sent into cold storage instead of to the Village of Beginnings or the Dark Area. Their bodies had been destroyed and their DigiCores taken away. It was a villainous Barbamon would have been envious of.
"I guess our little game is reaching its climax, isn't it. It only makes sense any of you would act now that the situation had reached its most critical stage, with the very foundations of the Digital World in danger of breaking down." Deep inside of him a powerful flame began to burn sending out destructive impulses that nearly overrode Daemon's mind. Memories of millennia long since passed overflowed into his head. His shoulders tensed up as a bright orange-red aura coated his body. Within the decent-sized chamber the temperature sky rocketed going from warm to almost volcanic. Around him the candles erupted into flaming torches that clawed at the air around them with vengeful fury. "You never know, there are consequences to waiting, believe me, I know."
So far almost everything had proceeded as Daemon had planned. He'd been around long enough to know that was no reason to get overconfident, in fact, it was a reason to be more cautious than ever. While he and his compatriots had struck while the iron was hot and had been rewarded for it they were now going to hit the roughest portion of their campaign. They'd angered too many people and factions to make it this far. Confirming his musings was the boom of thunder overhead. Usually no sound could penetrate the solid stone walls of his inner sanctum, but of course there were always exceptions.
Daemon was positively giddy when he watched IraforceVeedramon destroy Tosamon. Without a doubt it was one of the most satisfying moments in the entire war, even better knowing he'd been the one to load the bullet into the gun that killed her. Though he'd arguable manipulated them into doing the deed something told him Davis and Veemon wouldn't be too angry at the murder of Dagomon's more sadistic daughter. If they ever found out about what she did to their beloved Jun they'd simply regret making her death relatively quick and light on pain.
Outside thunder continued to boom while a slight tremor began to shake the small chamber. Around him the candles flickered as if they were under siege by some unseen force; beneath him the pentagram began flashing a multitude of bright and dark colors. Sharpening his senses he saw the astral plane, once quiet and barren, now overcome by a sudden and violent rainstorm. On the wind he heard sorrow, mourning, and most of all, rage. With a deep breath he inhaled the emotional energies Dagomon released as he began to make his grief known to the outside world.
"Nothing quite like good ole' murder to get the heart going. Now then, Dagomon, go out there and rampage to your heart's content. I can assure you you'll feel much better once it's all over with. As will I." Boisterous laughter erupted from behind the demon's veil drowning out the thunder and tremors around him. Rising in volume the Wrath Lord's diabolical voice could be heard for miles outside the complex sending a slight shiver of fear down the complex's spines. They all knew if their lord and master ever laughed it usually meant someone somewhere was about to have a very, very bad day.
Right beside the laughing Demon Lord the two spheres continued to cackle with barely contained energy. Between the two the larger one seemed to almost pulsate, as if it were responding to some outside force.
"At the rate this is going I think you're starting to become psychic."
"Agreed, that, or you've just gotten really good at guessing."
"It's not that hard really. I'm sure you two sensed it as well, the shift in air pressure and temperature." Odds were they had sensed it as well, they were just surprised that she'd picked up on it as well. It actually didn't surprise her all that much, she'd changed in ways she never knew she could in order to survive. Being able to detect slight changes in the weather, potential storms, were only one of the many adaptions she'd made. "Let's get to cover."
Onimon looked to the increasingly bleak sky. As usual his partner was right, but there was something else, something that was making his sixth sense fire all alarms. "Something must have happened in either the Digital World or the Human World."
BOOOOOM!
"Oh, well, that doesn't sound pleasant." Harper mused looking straight up. Even as a disembodied spirit he was feeling the approaching darkness. The fact that he'd remained trapped in this God-forsaken realm for decades and never had he felt something like this. A flash of red lightning caught his nonexistent eyes, then it was gone just like that. "Oh hell."
It was like hundreds of fireworks, each one with the force of a missile, going off all at once. For Jun and Onimon it nearly shattered their eardrums as they climbed while Harper actually began to feel his spirit form briefly destabilize. They occurred within mere seconds of each other-explosions that shook the sky and earth. For as far as the eye could see red lightning arced between the clouds, each flash echoing a boom of thunder. It wouldn't have been out of the question to wonder if at any second the sky would give out and collapse. A millisecond later something did indeed fall from the sky.
The bolt of red lightning resembled a javelin, long and jagged, and it penetrated the forest as easily as a spear would paper. The trio literally felt the ground beneath them shake and the air heat up considerable. Ozone rushed into their nostrils as well as almost burnt their eyes from the raw intensity of it. Then came the shockwave that came with the explosive impact.
They had little time to shake off the shock as more lightning of equal magnitude soon followed. For Jun and Onimon gnashing their teeth and tightening their hold over their ears didn't do any good, for Harper fading into the shadows did little to relieve the stress as even they felt the constant impact of the rapid fire lightning bolts. If any of them could see what was unfolding they would have realized how lucky they were.
Tens of thousands of bolts of red lightning cascaded from the sky while hurricane-force winds swept through the forest, tearing and slashing apart hundreds of trees in the blink of an eye. Leaves, wood, and pieces of earth were swept up into fast-forming cyclones that began to waltz through the forest casually destroying everything in their path. High above the chaos on the ground the clouds twisted and churned as if they were being molded by some unseen deity. That was exactly what was happening.
To those creatures that listened closely they could find a rhythm in the booming thunder.
It sounded like crying.
At the upper levels the storm clouds began to take a solid shape-a gapping mouth with a beard seemingly made out of lashing tentacles. Like searchlights two red eyes poked out, each one the size of an entire city block. Angry light flashed within them as the screaming mouth releasing more tearing winds across the land. Twisting arcs of lightning coiled around the funnels clouds giving the cloud-face a truly demonic vestige.
Peering over the chaotic world Dagomon's demon head screamed one name, carrying it for miles and miles, perhaps even across the entire Dark Ocean. It was a name that had become quite well known throughout the Dark Ocean thanks to the actions of one individual.
"MOTOMIYAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Down in their little safety hole Jun cracked one eye open. "Dear God, Davis, what did you do this time?" She whispered through clenched teeth.
"It's finally time, eh?"
"Yep, so…what do we say?" Veemon questioned looking up at his partner.
Davis laughed humorlessly. "No clue, just wing it."
"So, same as usual." Veemon said grinning.
"Like we were going to do anything else." He said stretching out his hand.
Veemon grinned and fist-bumped him, the same as they usually did when making a promise. For all they knew it would be the last time they smiled for a while. At least they'd be walking in with their heads held high and ready. With that behind them the two faced towards the doors and pushed them open.
"Make it or break it, pal." Davis whispered.
"Then I guess we better make it, again." Veemon responded standing up straight, something completely out of the ordinary for him.
All eyes instantly fell on the two of them the minute they walked into the room. To their credit neither Davis nor Veemon backed down or folded under the pressure.
"This hearing is now in session."
Davis and Veemon seemed to have landed themselves in some hot water, haven't they? And so has everyone else. While he faces down a hearing Daemon and Dagomon seem to be on the move, and what exactly is Matt planning behind everyone's backs? I can tell you all one thing-the situation isn't going to be lightening up any time soon, quite the opposite in fact.
