Chapter 52! Boy, we're winding down this story.

Shoutout to MadDogLucario96 for his fervent support to this story. And to laughing at the joke I sent him that will be in Chapter 55.

Anyways, I'm pretty bummed out due to terrible playing in professional sports, so let's get on with the cheering up... with severe monster violence.


Chapter 52: The Clown from Hell! Piemon!

Digital World. R-Day+11. Late Morning.
P.O.V. – Jou Kido

I'll be the first one to admit that I didn't feel that great leaving Mimi behind on the other side of the river while me and Ikkakumon swam across. I did feel that searching for Yamato and finding my own path was something that I had to do myself, but now that I'm across… no, I made my decision. I've got to stick with it. I looked at Yamato's harmonica that I was clutching in my hand. If he was here last night, then he couldn't be too far ahead. I can only hope I find him soon and not wind up getting lost myself.

"Jou, look!" Gomamon got my attention and ran ahead of me. "It's Yamato's boat! He's gotta be around here!" He shouted.
"But we don't know when he left that boat here, and we're not even sure that it was Yamato who used it in the first place." I had to be honest about that. The odds were in our favor of at least Yamato using the boat but we can't be too sure.
"Don't worry, we'll find him! Yamato's gotta be thinking it's about time he came back to join us, anyway!" Is a week really enough time for one to clear their thoughts and find their way? Well, either way, we have to find him.
"You're right. I'm the one who decided to go look for him. I can't be thinking twice about this now!"
"That's it! You've gotten considerably manly these days, Jou."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I started to poke his cheek. "Are you saying I wasn't manly before?" We both soon began laughing.

P.O.V. – Ross McGlathery

"Dramon Killer!" After waiting for about half an hour for Piemon to get closer, Taichi gave the word to WarGreymon to attack which he tried using his claws to stab the Dark Master but he kept dodging each strike. Eventually, WarGreymon got tired of the misses and kicked Piemon square in the chest sending him back into the base of his own castle. They had pushed so far back we had to catch up with them and now we were within a kilometer of Piemon's lair.
"He got him!" Taichi gave a small cheer. Out of the dust we could hear that familiar laugh. Yeah, didn't think we kill him, Taichi once more declared victory too soon.
"Do the Chosen Children rely on childish attacks such as this to get by?"
"What?" Do you really have to act that surprised Taichi?
"I am sorely disappointed. I thought you'd have a bit more mettle."
"If we could, we'd sure show him our mettle." I muttered to others, upset that only WarGreymon was the only one who could really fight the jester.
"WarGreymon's attacks don't work at all!" Koushiro alerted.
"Onii-chan, are you okay?" Hikari asked. Taichi just knuckled down his emotions had angrily stared at Piemon.
"I'm fine."

P.O.V. – Takeru Takaishi

Angemon devolved back into Patamon so we were now hanging onto Birdramon's talon high above the Digital World in an effort to find my brother and the others and reunite with Taichi and his group who maybe are currently fighting Piemon as we speak. Yamato especially since Gabumon was the only other Digimon of ours that could reach the Ultimate-Level.
"The Digivice isn't reacting to anything." Sora held out her Digivice as she tried to track down the others.
"The power of darkness must be too strong." Patamon believed. It would make sense that such damage to the Digital World could be affecting our Digivices. It's been happening ever since we've returned to the Digimon world under the Dark Master's reign.
"How exactly are we supposed to find them when the Digimon world is so big?" Sora thought to herself.

"Sora-san." I tried to get her attention while keeping an eye on the ground for any sign of the others.
"What?"
"Do you think we'll find my brother? And the others?" I have the Crest of Hope, so I have to hope that my brother and the others will be found in time, but I wanted to know what Sora thought. However, she didn't answer my question; rather, she clutched her Digivice closer in her chest. "Sora-san?"
"We have to find them no matter what. If we don't, we'll all-" It sounds like she's focused on the down side of things and what we could lose if we don't succeed. We can't think like this.
"Sora-san!" I tried to snap her out of her tailspin. "Are you okay?"
"Sorry about that! I'm fine. We'll find them." She smiled, but I get the feeling that might be a lie. I smiled back. Yeah, we'll find them. I just hope Sora doesn't fall apart like Yamato did. And I really hope Yamato has found what he's looking for. We really need him.
"I have to bring back our friends. If I don't, we won't be able to defeat Piemon. If I don't… We won't be able to prevent this world from being destroyed." Sora thought to herself again.

P.O.V. – Hikari Yagami

"Brave Tornado!" WarGreymon spun towards Piemon but that clown just jumped over him and he smashed into the rock wall behind him. Piemon chuckled as WarGreymon walked out of the dust, his armor now scuffed.
"He's strong!" cried Koushiro.
"Onii-chan!" I shouted at him.
"Stay back, you guys!" Taichi told us.
"Why, Onii-chan?!"
"Wait until Yamato and the others have come back! You've just fought with LadyDevimon. You need to regain your strength!"
"Yeah, but I don't know if WarGreymon will last that much longer!" Ross expressed his worry.
"Just trust me! They'll return!"

P.O.V. – Third Person

Somewhere in the Digital World, Yamato and Gabumon were walking through a cave. The past week had gone downhill for Yamato. While he left the others in an effort to discover himself, all the events had finally caught up with him. He felt great shame in the fact that he got into that fight with Taichi and had Gabumon fight Agumon at the worst possible time as they need to fight the Dark Masters. He was also ashamed with the fact that he had been a terrible friend, considering he was the one who possessed the Crest of Friendship. Through this journey, he hoped he'd able to figure things out, but he just couldn't figure it out. With the failure of not discovering himself along with the shame of his actions, he had now fallen into a deep depression.

"Yamato… There's something creepy about this cave." Gabumon feared. "Let's hurry and find an exit."
"Yeah. You're right." Yamato muttered.
"I was able to protect myself all on my own this time!" Those words Takeru said were really the tipping point to it all.
"I…" Yamato came to a stop.
"What is it, Yamato?"
"I kept saying that Takeru needed me… but the truth is, I needed him."
"What do you mean?"
"I found my place by thinking that Takeru needed me. But… Takeru has everyone else supporting him. And Taichi acted more like a real big brother than I did."
"What are you talking about?" Yamato begun to walk further into the cave. "You are Takeru's big brother, Yamato!"
"I don't have any right to be a big brother. All I did was use Takeru so that I could feel secure in my place as his brother. I wanted to stay convinced that Takeru didn't have anyone else but me."

Unbeknownst to the both of them, a dark aura had been following the two of them.
"That's why I got so mad at Taichi." Yamato put his back to the cave wall and slid down until he was sitting. "I felt like he was trying to take Takeru away from me. Taichi is decisive and he's a good leader overall… Most of all, he treats Takeru like an adult."
"Now what's brought this on, Yamato?" Yamato buried his head in his lap. "You have so many good things about you that belong only to you!"
"I thought Taichi was tactless and shallow-brained… but I'm even worse."
"Yamato…" Gabumon turned to see the aura. "Yamato! This place is kind of weird!" The aura passed over Yamato and his eyes became empty.
"I'm hopeless." He said as the aura surrounded him. "I can't go back to being everyone's friend again."
"Don't be like that! If they don't have you, Yamato- If the nine of you aren't together, this world is doomed!" Gabumon tried to talk Yamato out of this spell but Yamato was just sinking deeper in his mind.
"They don't need me. It wouldn't matter if I'm there or not."
"Yamato, get a hold of yourself!"
"Forget it. Just leave me alone."
"How can you say that?!" No response. "Yamato…" Gabumon had tears in his eyes.

P.O.V. – Yamato Ishida

I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my leg that came from Gabumon biting me!
"Ouch! What are you doing?!" I swatted him away.
"There's only one of you in this world, Yamato!" cried Gabumon. "Am I right?! So then, how can you keep comparing yourself to Taichi?! Of course you two are different! You're the only one who's Takeru's real big brother! It doesn't make sense to think that Taichi is more like one that you are!"
"Gabumon…" I turned from him.
"Besides… Besides, if you were gone, Yamato, then what do I do?! I've waited in this world forever just so I could meet you, and only you!"
"Gabumon." I turned back after hearing that.
"Do you really want to be alone, Yamato? Then I'll leave this place so you'll never have to see me again! But only if that's what you really want me to do!" My mind felt so clouded, but I didn't want Gabumon to abandon me.
"No. When I said I wanted to be alone… that was a lie. I was just trying to make myself look good. It's what I always do. I put up an image to stop others from getting too close to me." I admitted.

"But the truth is…" I thought back to the divorce once more which is where all of this started. "The truth is, I felt really lonely. I kept thinking that I could never let anyone see me cry. If I was going to be alone, then I wanted to see myself as a mature person who could do everything on my own. But… all I wanted to do was cry."
"Yamato…"
"I hate being alone." I confessed.
"You have me!" Gabumon hugged me. "You can depend on me just like how I depend on you! If you do that, I'm sure I'll feel even more motivated!"
"That's right. Gabumon… I came this far because I had you. Even when I'm lost inside this dark cave, you're still right by my side." I am such a fool for thinking such stupid things like being alone. "I was never really alone at all."
"Yamato…"
"I have my friends… And I have Takeru, Dad, and Mom, too." I thought back to when we were all together before we left for the Digimon world again, we were whole once more for a while, and that was what I was truly wanting. To not be alone. I'm sure I can look happier the next time we see each other again, Dad… Mom!

"Yamato, look!" I looked to see a swirling black vortex near the roof of the cave.
"What is that?" I questioned.
"It was coiling around you all this time." It was?! "Didn't you notice?"
"Not at all."
"I think it was trying to get inside your heart, Yamato."
"It's pitch-black." I observed. The longer I looked at it and thought about it, it all made sense. "I get it. It's the same pitch-black feelings that I was experiencing just now. But you're wrong."
"About what?"
"That thing wasn't trying to get in me. It pulled out the darkness that I had inside. I think I've been carrying that darkness somewhere deep inside my heart all this time."
"I see."

"My loneliness is what pulled this darkness towards my heart… but things are different now! After all, I'm not alone anymore!" I smiled at Gabumon.
"That's right!" I got on my knee and grabbed Gabumon's hand.
"Thank you, Gabumon."
"Yamato! I've always, always wanted to thank you ever since we met!" I hugged him.
"You stuck by my side but I never realized that until now. I've always had you!" He happily chuckled in my arms. "You might have to put up with a lot from me now on, but I'm counting on you!"
"I can handle it!"
"You won't hear me whining anymore."
"That's okay! You can complain to me all you want."
"Okay, then. If I ever complain, I'll whisper it to you very softly." We both laughed after that. I was truly lucky to have such a loyal friend like Gabumon. Suddenly, the whole world around us brightened as the cave just suddenly vanished.
"The two of us were caught inside a large cave of darkness." Gabumon looked around.
"We were lost in it all this time."

"Hey!" A familiar voice yelled out. I turned to see a certain, bluenette, glasses wearing kid running right down the hill towards us. "Yamato!"
"Jou!" I shouted in surprise. He ran up to me and leaned over as he ran out of breath and had to catch it. Once he got his breath back, he smiled and started to laugh.
"See, look at that!" He turned to Gomamon. "I told you we'd find him!"
"I never said we wouldn't!"
"What's all this about?" I asked.
"The whole time I was walking here, I kept telling myself that I'll be fine as long as I kept earnestly believing in the path I chose."
"I see."
"Oh yeah, here." He dug into his pocket and pulled out my harmonica that I had left behind. "It's your harmonica, isn't it?" I took it out of his hands. I don't even know why I left it but I'm glad he found it and returned it.
"Thanks."

P.O.V. – Koushiro Izumi

I don't have any clue what Taichi's overall plan is here but WarGreymon is taking a serious beating and Piemon doesn't look any the weaker.
"Trump Sword!" Piemon jumped up and threw a wave of swords at WarGreymon, who managed to deflect two of them, but two more cut him across the unarmored parts of his body and he winced in pain. The swords then turned back around and struck him again, forcing him on one knee.
"WarGreymon is-" I tried to say something but I couldn't finish that sentence.
"No! I can't watch!" Hikari covered her eyes.
"Taichi! He's falling apart out there!" shouted Ross.
"Damn it!" Taichi cursed. More swords struck WarGreymon and now both of his knees were on the ground. WarGreymon's breath was now sounding labored as something was clearly wrong with him. He couldn't keep fighting like this!
"Koushiro-han! Let me join him!" "Me too, Ross! He needs help!" Tentomon and Guilmon begged us to let them fight.
"No!" Taichi stopped them.
"Taichi-san!" I turned to him.
"Yamato… Hurry up and get here!" Taichi thought as WarGreymon struggled to get back on his feet while Piemon slowly walked towards him.

P.O.V. – Takeru Takaishi

I kept looking across the ground for any sign of the others. When we began flying over a river, I saw a strange white thing in the water.
"What's that?" I pointed out for Sora.
"Let's go down and take a look." As we got closer, I soon recognized it. It was the same swan boat Yamato used when we were separated after the fight with Etemon!
"It's Onii-chan's boat! He must be close!" I yelled as we landed and Birdramon devolved back into Piyomon.
"They must be nearby! Let's find them!" Patamon insisted. After a couple of minutes, however, we could find no trace of Yamato anywhere.
"Onii-chan's nowhere to be found." I said.
"Why? At this rate, Taichi and the others will- I have to find them! I promised I promised I'd find everyone and bring them back!" Sora thought to herself. I turned to look at her and saw something building at her feet!
"Sora-san! There's some black stuff crawling up your legs!"
"Eh?" She said as she turned to me before a hole opened up and she fell in with Piyomon flying after her.
"Sora!"
"Sora-san!" I cried out as she vanished.

P.O.V. – Yamato Ishida

"Sora-san!" Wait, I recognize that voice! Jou and myself begun to run up the hill until we saw the one person in the Digimon world that I really wanted to see first.
"Takeru!" He turned towards my direction when he heard my voice.
"Onii-chan!"
"Takeru!" I ran up to him and hugged him.
"Where were you?" He asked as I squeezed him tightly. "I was so worried!"
"I'm sorry!" I picked him up. "I won't just up and leave you anymore. I promise."
"Huh? Onii-chan, you look sort of different now." He looked at me odd. I guess he must mean I'm not burying my emotions under a smirk, but rather being more forward with my feelings.
"Never mind that, Takeru. What are you doing here anyway?" Takeru's eyes widened as I asked that and he quickly pointed to a hole that was next to him.
"Sora-san was pulled down that hole!"
"Sora-kun is down there?" Jou ran up to it.

The closer I look at this hole… the more familiar it looks. Gabumon seemed to have recognized it as well.
"Yamato, this is…" Gabumon spoke up.
"Yeah. This is the same cave that held us captive before."
"What is it?" questioned Takeru.
"Anyway, we have to save her!" Jou informed. We all begun to start climbing down and hoped that Sora was okay, but if I know this place… then things are not going well in her heart and mind. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this place…"
"It's scary." Takeru admitted.
"It's okay. Don't be scared, Takeru. Your fear will only agitate the darkness instead." I advised both of them.
"O-Okay…" "I got it." Jou still seemed nervous but Takeru sounded like he got control of his fear. That's good. He really has grown up, and he didn't truly need me to do it.

Jou took a step towards the bottom of the cave and some rocks came apart that sent him falling on his butt.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah. It's a good thing the bottom wasn't very far. I thought I'd keep falling." I helped him up and Takeru down before looking further into the cave.
"This is the place."
"Where's Sora-kun?"
"It's so dark, I can't see." Takeru said.
"I hear voices over there." Patamon told us. We turned around to the other direction of the cave.
"Let's check it out!" Jou walked ahead.

"Sora!" We could hear Piyomon's voice up ahead. "Sora, what's wrong? Sora, listen to me!"
"That's Piyomon's voice!" Gomamon announced.
"Sora-kun must be with her!" guessed Jou. We ran ahead and turned the corner to find Sora on the ground with Piyomon next to her. Sora was completely surrounded by a dark aura which if I asked Gabumon, he'd probably say the same thing was happening to me.
"Sora? Sora!" Piyomon tried to get through to her.
"Sora-san!" Takeru shouted as we all ran up to them.
"You guys!"
"Sora, what's wrong? Get up!" I begged her. I tried to pick her up but she was like stone. "She won't budge!"
"Let me help!" Jou tried as well but we still couldn't do anything. "What is this?" Jou questioned as we practically strained ourselves trying to get her up. "Is gravity playing tricks or something?"
"Sora-san is saying something." Takeru told us.

"I have to find Mimi-chan… and Jou-senpai and Yamato-kun… I have to save Taichi… If I don't, our world is finished…"
"She hasn't been answering me." Piyomon informed. "All she does is mumble the same thing over and over!"
"Yamato and I are right here. Look up!" Jou shook her. She looked up to reveal her eyes were all faded like most of her emotion had been sucked out of her or something like that.
"Senpai… Thank goodness…" She looked over to me. "Yamato-kun is here, too…"
"Don't worry." I assured her. "Everything's all right now."
"No, it's not. This isn't good enough. I have to get a better grip on myself… I have to save Taichi… or this world will…"
"Sora-kun, you're putting too much responsibility on yourself!" Jou tried to tell her.
"Sora! All of you negative thoughts are turning into negative energy! The darkness within your heart is what's creating this cave!"
"R-Really?" Jou was surprised by this revelation. "So that's why you told Takeru-kun not to be scared."

"Listen, Sora! This dark cave is reflecting the dark feelings that are in your heart! Sora! You've got to throw those feelings away! Throw them out!" I shouted.
"Those feelings…? What are you talking about?" She questioned.
"We're not fighting because we're obligated to. We're doing it because we want to! If you don't want to do it, you don't have to. But I think it's because we've wanted to do this that we've come this far!"
"If I don't want to do it, I don't have to." I think I'm getting through to her!
"That's right! If you don't want to do it, then don't!"
"That's… I can't! We have to do this because we were chosen!"
"Sora-kun!" Jou now joined in. "It's true that we may be helpless against what's in store for us… but it must be because we can do something about it that we're here!"

"We can do something about it…" Come on, Jou, we've got to keep going!
"Doesn't thinking that way give you courage?"
"We can do something about it… That's why we're here…!" We grabbed her hands and she blinked. Her eyes returned to normal upon blinking. "We can do it! Yeah! You're right!" We helped her up.
"You have us, remember?" I reminded her.
"Sora-san!" Takeru cheered. Sora nodded at our words.
"Sora!" Piyomon ran up to her and hugged her.
"Piyomon!"
"Thank goodness! You're back to your usual self!" Just like before with me, the whole cave around us vanished and we ended up in a jungle.
"It disappeared!" shouted Jou.
"The darkness inside Sora's heart has disappeared with it." I told them.
"That was inside my heart…" Sora looked startled about that.

"Hey, Taichi-san is waiting for us!" Takeru recalled why they went looking for us.
"Yeah." Jou nodded.
"Let's go… to where Taichi is!" I declared.
"Yeah!" Sora smiled. "By the way, where's Mimi-chan?"
"We split us when I went to look for Yamato." Jou said. "I'm sure she's probably on her way to rejoin Taichi's group."
"Then let's hurry and get to them!" I shouted as we all headed towards the top of Spiral Mountain where Sora said Taichi was.

P.O.V. – Taichi Yagami

"Toy Wonderness!" I don't know what that attack was but it was aimed towards my direction. Multiple rocks flew towards me but WarGreymon got in the way and took the hit. However, the force of the impact also blew me back onto the ground.
"Onii-chan!" "Taichi!" "Taichi-san!" Hikari, Ross and Koushiro called out while Ross and Koushiro ran towards me.
"Koushiro! Ross! Stay back, you two! You need to take care of Hikari!" I struggled to get up. Another of that Toy Wonderness attack sent me flying back once more while WarGreymon just took more abuse.
"Taichi-san! I know it's important to protect Hikari-kun, but if this keeps up, you will…!" Koushiro tried to talk some sense into me.
"For God's sake, Taichi! You're gonna get yourself killed if you don't at least let us help!" Ross bluntly shouted.
"Quite a stubborn fellow, isn't he." observed Tentomon.

"It's okay! I'll be stubborn or whatever!" I got back on my feet. "Just… let me take care of this! I'll do something about it!" I tried to tell them.
"No… No, that doesn't make any sense!" Koushiro said.
"It doesn't matter!"
"Do you seriously intend to handle all of this entirely by yourself, Taichi-san?"
"Yeah! What's wrong with that?"
"What's wrong with it?! Taichi, this plan of yours isn't working! Yamato isn't here and WarGreymon's about to keel over!" Ross told me.
"He's right! So tell me why you won't let me fight, too?!" Koushiro begged for an answer.
"Ending Snipe!" Piemon sent out a wave of electrical energy that stuck WarGreymon head on to all of our horror.
"WarGreymon!" Hikari yelled out.

WarGreymon fell over on his back, his armor destroyed in multiple locations and clearly leaking some sort of fluids from his tubes; and he wasn't moving.
"War…! G-Greymon…" I tried to call out and reach him but those attacks Piemon sent out had done more damage to me than I thought and I fell forward as my body gave out and closed my eyes.
"Taichi-san!" "Taichi!" "Onii-chan!" The others screamed.
"Now, who's next?" Piemon asked. I did it all again… I was being stupid once again. I thought I was being smart and a good leader by holding Agumon back against LadyDevimon and letting him fight Piemon while I asked Sora and Takeru to find Yamato in order to finally defeat the final Dark Master. But instead, I just let WarGreymon get destroyed by attack after attack and now… now, I've cost us everything…

"Taichi!" I heard a voice yell out that wasn't the others. Wait… that voice couldn't be… I slowly opened my eyes and looked to the distance where I saw something moving towards me. Is that…
"Yamato…" I muttered. The closer the object got, the more recognizable it was. It looked to be Yamato riding Garurumon towards me with Birdramon in the air. She did it… she found him and brought him back… way to go, Sora.
"Taichi!" "Taichi!" The two of them cried out.
"They make quite a late entrance." Piemon said, proving that I wasn't just imagining what I was seeing. "But no matter. The results will be the same either way. Yamato hopped off the wolf and ran to me. He turned me over onto my back and lifted my head up.
"You're finally here. I waited all this time for you to get here." I told him.
"Taichi…"
"I knew you'd come. I believed you would." Yamato had tears in his eyes when I said that.
"Thank you for believing in me. But I'm sorry I was so late." He tried to apologize. "Taichi, you're my true friend!" He declared. "I won't let your friendship be in vain!"

P.O.V. – Ross McGlathery

As he said those words, his Crest shined brightly and I looked over to see Garurumon next to WarGreymon who nudged his head before he was engulfed in a light. The moment the light died down, WarGreymon was back on his feet looking good as new.
"What?" Piemon was surprised at the recent turn of events.
"Yamato's Crest of Friendship gave me the power to restore WarGreymon back to life." Garurumon explained.
"Thank you, Garurumon. Now I can fight again!" WarGreymon thanked as Garurumon devolved back into Gabumon.
"Hurry, everyone! Over here!" Koushiro waved the others off the field and back towards the small ledge we were standing on. Jou and Yamato were carrying Taichi back to us.
"Taichi, are you okay?" Jou asked.
"I'm fine." He said. Boy, he sure can take a beating, because he looks fine now, if scuffed up a bit.

"Jou-san! Where's Mimi-kun?" I questioned that we were still missing one more Chosen Child.
"I split up with her when I went to look for Yamato. She should be back on her way with reinforcements."
"Reinforcements?" I inquired as I pulled him up.
"Yeah, a bunch of our old friends from File Island are joining the fight, including Ogremon."
"Ogremon?" Koushiro said in surprise and was shocked to hear that as well as myself.
"It's fine, I'll explain to you later."
"You better." I told him.

We all turned out attention back towards Piemon as the clown just stood on a stone ledge just in front of his base.
"I'd planned on giving all of you an instant death… but if you enjoy suffering that much, I'll relish every minute tormenting you slowly."
"You talk too much for a clown!" Yamato spat.
"Trump Sword!" He pulled his blades out and threw them towards WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.
"Gabumon, warp-evolve! METALGARURUMON!"
"MetalGarurumon!" Hikari cheered as the two Digimon threw out their most powerful attacks together and they combined to fly right towards the Dark Master, destroying his swords in the process.
"All right! They took down Piemon's attack!" Jou shouted. The Dark Master jumped over the attack before it could kill him.
"It looks like I can finally enjoy a more stimulating battle." He said as the three Ultimates stared down each other.

We've got him now! Don't we…?


Well, that doesn't sound like things are about to switch fast, doesn't it?

Anyways, nothing more to say about this one. So if you'll excuse me, Kaiserreich just updated and I need to preserve the Union from Jack Reed and Huey Long.

"Push the button, Frank."