"Lemme go! Lemme go!" Calumon wailed as he struggled against LadyDevimon's iron grip. She merely rolled her eyes at his tiny form. "When Impmon hears how you've been treating me he'll beat you up!"
"I seriously doubt that, little one. Now pipe down! I have a human to find." She stared down at the ground below her, eyes brightening when she saw the village. "Not long now until I find her."
'Oh no, oh no. I can't let her find Jeri!'
xxXxx
"So, which one of ya wanna go first?" Beelzemon yelled, pointing his gun towards ShadowWeregarurumon. Said digimon started running towards him, his claws starting to glow. Beelzemon smirked. "Well, that answers my question." Before he was about to move forward, Jeri reached out to him.
"Why are you guys fighting?" She pleaded.
"They wanna apprehend ya, or somethin'. Now stand back, I don't want ya to get hurt." He said as he pushed her back.
"But-"
"Shadow Claw!" ShadowWeregarurumon yelled as he got close enough. Beelzemon blocked his attack with his gun just in time. He growled as he pulled his gun to the right then gave a strong punch towards the wolf digimon's face. The digimon jumped back in slight pain but bared his claws towards Beelzemon once again. This time Beelzemon flew upwards to dodge his attack. The other looked and got ready to jump. Beelzemon pointed his gun towards him when he saw something from the corner of his eye. He was able to dodge an arrow just in time.
"Forgot that I had two opponents ta deal with." He growled. Angewomon got another arrow ready in reply.
"Don't underestimate me."
"Heh."
"Why do you all have to fight? I don't understand." Jeri asked, mainly towards Mana and Katsu who were standing behind ShadowWeregarurumon.
"Hn, it's not like we want to. We were mainly asked by Seraphimon to bring you to him. Then this guy points his gun towards us, we're just defending ourselves." Katsu answered.
'Seraphimon?' She recalled seeing the digimon in the movie of the tv show. He appeared along with Magnadramon while helping to defeat Cherubimon. 'Seraphimon is a good digimon, isn't he?' She wondered. "If...if Beelzemon backed down, would your digimon do the same?"
"Yes, as my younger brother just said, our partners are just defending us." Jeri reluctantly nodded as she called up to Beelzemon.
"Beelzemon, please put away your gun! They won't attack us if you do!" The demon digimon quickly looked down.
"Wha?" His eyes widened slightly as she looked at him. It reminded him of the time when she begged Takato to spare his life, however, her gaze was directed towards him this time.
"Please." He let out one final growl as he turned his head back towards his opponent. He let out a deep sigh as he let his right arm drop. He then lowered to the ground, eyes not leaving ShadowWereGarurumon's.
"Heh, yer lucky I've grown soft."
"Lucky for you, you mean." The wolf digimon shot back. Both Jeri and Mana pried each one away.
"Shadow...enough is enough." He quickly turned his head away, refusing to look at his Tamer. Mana heaved a sigh. "Honestly, you're like a big baby."
"No I'm not!" Beelzemon chuckled at that.
"Big baby..."
"Beelzemon!"
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway." Beelzemon continued as he stood in front of Jeri. "Now what? I stopped my attacks thanks to her, but who knows what I'll do if you attack again now."
"Attack again? You're the one that pointed your gun towards us." Shadow had spoken out.
"And who was tha first one to digivolve, hm?!" The two were at eachother's throats once again. Jeri was not one to get easily irritated, but these two were not helping.
"Beelzemon..."
"Aye aye, I get ya. I'll back down."
"My, my, that could have been bad." The female Burgermon commented as she walked up to them. "No doubt you would scare some of our customers away."
"We apologise, Burgermon! We didn't mean to act this way." Jeri said. She looked towards the others. "Right guys?"
"Yeah." They all chorused.
"That's good. Why don't you all calm down and talk everything over inside?" She said as she began to push Mana and Katsu inside.
"Hey! Don't push me!" Katsu yelled. A bright light engulfed Beelzemon and in his place stood Impmon. Jeri smiled slightly down at him, but then remembered something.
"Impmon, where's Calumon? I thought he was with you."
"Tha little Creampuff went off on his own. I tried to find em' in tha air, but came across this here place. I was hopin he'd be here, scarfing down any food there was around. Well, tha could be what he's doin' right now, I guess." He shook his head. "Anyway, I'm sure the little guy is jus' fine." He said reassuringly. Jeri wasn't too sure, she knew trouble was drawn to Calumon like a magnet. Make that a giant magnet. She realised that Impmon was trying to cheer her up and so smiled brightly down at him.
"Yeah, maybe you're right. Yeah!"
"Come on you two!" Burgermon yelled. Jeri nodded as she grabbed Impmon's hand and pulled him with her, which the purple digimon responded with a slight blush.
"I-I can walk on my own, ya know!" Jeri merely giggled.
xxXxx
"Thank you for the warm tea. You have no idea how long the four of us have been travelling." Mana said as she sipped tea from a cup. The restaurant was empty, due to the Burgermon closing up for the day. So they could talk all they wanted without being interrupted.
"Yeah! My feet hurt!" Gatomon said.
"How? You and Shadow have been in our digivices for most of the trip!" Katsu complained.
"You try digivolving to ultimate twice in one day."
"Anyway, thank you for your hospitality." Shadow said before a big argument would start.
"Oh, you're very welcome. However, I do wonder why you would try to attack Jeri. I can't imagine her doing anything worth something like that." Burgermon frowned, looking worriedly in Jeri and Impmon's direction. "I may not have known her for very long, but I know she's a good girl. A hard worker too."
"Burgermon..." Jeri said, very thankful.
"Hmph, it's impossible to know someone's true self within a day." Katsu said, petting Gatomon on her head as she was on his left shoulder.
"Maybe so, but I'm sure I can tell a good person from bad."
"Whatever." Impmon looked up to Jeri, expression slightly confused.
"Inside their digivices?"
"Yeah, I wonder what they mean't when they said that." Jeri stood up, nodding to Impmon. "We'll be leaving now."
"What? Where to?" Burgermon asked. Jeri turned around towards her when she got to the front door.
"To find Calumon, he's still out there."
"Not on your own you're not." Katsu argued, standing up. Impmon glared at the boy.
"Oh yeah? Who said you could come along?"
"Haven't you been hearing anything that we said? We-"
"Yeah yeah, ya need ta take her ta Seraphimon, yadda yadda. Don't ya eva get tired o' spouten tha same crap?" Impmon retorted.
"Impmon..." Jeri sighed. She tugged at his gloved hand once again. "We need to go."
"Yeah! I hear ya!" They finally got outside. There were still plenty of digimon about. Some in-training digimon stopped their playing when they spotted the duo.
"Is that a human?" Asked a Yokomon.
"Yeah! It is!" Replied a Wanyamon. The three in-training jumped to where Jeri was standing and looked up at her in awe.
"Are you what they call a human girl?" Asked a Kyaromon. Jeri smiled down at them.
"Yes. My name is Jeri. What are your names?"
"I'm Yokomon! And he's Wanyamon and he's Kyaromon." Jeri bent down on her knees so she could get a closer look at them. "Why are you here? Oh, are you here to find a partner?!" Both Impmon and Jeri went wide-eyed. Jeri's expression softened a little.
"Not, exactly, but we are looking for someone though." Impmon noticed the slight sadness in her voice. Off course there would be. He was the cause of that sadness. He turned his eyes away when Wanyamon bounced around his feet.
"Who are you looking for, huh, huh?"
"Maybe I can answer that!" Jeri looked up in surprise before she was immediately grabbed by an unknown force.
"J-jeri!" Impmon yelled. The three in-training's hid behind Impmon, scared.
"Oh no, it's her! LadyDevimon!" Yokomon said, trembling.
"Shwee's scarwy!" Wanyamon added. LadyDevimon chuckled at the smaller Digimon then looked to the human in her grasp.
"Yes. Finally got you, darling." Jeri trembled also.
'I-I've seen digimon that were way scarier than her, but, L-leomon was w-with me...'
"Hm, you're not very fun, are you? I don't see much fear in your eyes. Although, you are trembling, which is something." She moved her face a little closer. Eyes narrowing. "This is not your first time here, is it?" Her eyes widened when she saw a fireball come her way. She was able to dodge in time but some of her hair got burnt. "Arggh! You!" Impmon had made another fireball and held it in his gloved hand, ready to throw it when she made her next move.
"There's plenty more where that came from an' more. If ya release Jeri then I won't hurt ya as much." LadyDevimon grinned.
"Oh?" Jeri saw some movement to her left.
"Calumon!" He would have greeted her if LadyDevimon wasn't covering his mouth.
"MMmph!"
"Creampuff!"
"What's going on?" Mana asked as she, Katsu and their partners ran outside. Mana got out her digivice and held it towards the demon digimon. "Oh, thought it was her. Ultimate level, her special attack is Darkness Wave. Her other attack poison is also deadly. You guys better watch out." Both Shadow and Gatomon nodded and both hopped down from their partner's shoulder.
"Got it, partner."
"Yeah, yeah." Mana and Katsu got out their cards.
"Digimodify! Digivolution activate!"
"BlackGatomon digivlve to...ShadowWereGarurumon!"
"Gatomon digivolve to...Angewomon!"
"Alright, let's do this!" Shadow shouted as he leapt through the air.
"Right behind you!" Ladydevimon cursed under her breath.
"Damn! I should have just left after I grabbed you, but..." She gave a quick look over to Impmon, who was still defending the in-trainings. He blinked in confusion but stepped forward. A bright light engulfed him and then stood Beelzemon.
"You three get ta safety!" The smaller digimon nodded as they scurried away.
"Darkness Wave!" LadyDevimon shouted. Shadow and Angewomon got hit by the attack and fell to the ground. She looked down towards Beelzemon, eyes widening a little. "Him? It couldn't be."
"Shadow! Are you alright?!" Mana cried as she went to his side.
"Angewomon!" Katsu said, doing the same thing.
"We're fine, Mana! Get to safety!"
"R-Right! Let's go Katsu!"
"Angewomon..."
"I'll be fine. Go on." He nodded. The two went where the in-training digimon were.
"Hm. I sense some familiarity in you. I wonder why that is." Ladydevimon pondered to Beelzemon. He shrugged.
"I ain't gotta clue either." He pointed his gun at her. "Now, let her go!"
"Hm, I think not. Darkness Wave!" Beelzemon covered his head with his gunned arm, fending off the bats. LadyDevimon smirked as she began to float away.
"Not so fast! Full moon kick!"
"Celestial arrow!" Ladydevimon easily deflected both attacks and used Darkness Wave on them. Shadow and Angewomon deflected the attacks. Beelzemon growled as he forced himself through the bat-like creatures. His eyes widened when Ladydevimon was getting farther and farther away.
"Jeri! Creampuff!" He finally saw a gap between the bat-like creatures and made a break for it. He smirked when he broke through. "See ya!" LadyDevimon took a quick glance back at him, eyes narrowing.
"Hmph. As if I'd make it that easy." Beelzemon rasised an eyebrow when he saw her click a finger. He was only a foot away when...
"Double Strike!" A great pain shot up through his middle.
"Beelzemon!" Jeri shouted. He growled and turned to the new enemy, but was surprised when he saw no one there.
"Huh?! I haven't got time for this!" He drew his attention back to LadyDevimon who was continuing to get away. "Oh no you don't!" Her ever annoying smirk was still there, which aggravated the Demon digimon further. He began to fly towards her, at a much quicker speed than last time. He was so close to grabbing the devil lady's wing when.
"Sticker Blade!" An excruciating pain came from his back. His mouth fell open, as if screaming an unheard scream. Jeri's eyes widened.
"Beelzemon!" She stared on in horror as his body began to plummet to the ground. "No. Not again... Beelzemon!"
xxXxx
Bancholeomon had looked everywhere for the digimon his new friend Impmon had been looking for. He sat on a rather big boulder, overlooking the small village. The wind blew his hair and coat slightly, making him a little chilly. He knew he should still continue to search, but knew that Calumon wasn't here. He begrudgingly gets up and goes to tell Impmon the bad news. He hoped that he had found the human girl at least. 'Humans...' Despite his neutral feelings towards humans, the species continue to vex him. Some act selfishly while others put themselves in harms way to protect loved ones.
"What? Just because he's a virus type, you feel the need to destroy him?!" Echoed a voice from a recent memory. The memory of another human girl protecting her partner digimon. It still haunted him. The blood of that girl was spilled because he was blinded by misjudgement.
'Never again. I will not make that mistake again.' He shook his head and started to head towards Burgermon's home, and that was when he saw it. A small figure falling from the sky. A figure he recognised as Impmon. He quickly started his way towards the imp, hoping that he will still be alive.
He pushed his way through leafs and finally saw the purple digimon. He bent down on his knees and checked carefully for a pulse. He sighed in relief after finding it. There were no signs of data leaking from his body, so whatever attacked him didn't strike too deeply. "You're a lucky one, my friend."
"Jeri..." Bancholeomon's ears perked up. Impmon's eyes were opened slightly, looking weakly up at the lion digimon.
"Come again?" He brought his ear down closer to Impmon's mouth.
"J-jeri, she's been, k-kidnapped. I need. I need to save...her. I-I owe it, to her." His eyes went closed. Passed out once again. Bancholeomon frowned.
"Who would kidnap the girl?"
"LadyDevimon. She's pretty strong for an ultimate." Katsu spoke from a nearby tree.
"Off course it's her, but, she doesn't go out of her way to kidnap someone. Her little Dracmon followers would do it. Oh. The razor blades I saw on his form. That explains how Impmon here got hurt." Katsu nodded slightly, not knowing enough of this area to add anything more. Mana walked out to stand beside her brother.
"I'm relieved that Impmon is alright."
"Hm, however, if we don't treat him soon, he may not make it." He said as he held Impmon in his hands. "I'll take him back to the Burgermon. What about you two?" Katsu smirked.
"We're following after LadyDevimon. We need the redhead Tamer alive, after all. Wouldn't do us much good if she were to die on us. Ow!" He rubbed his head while he glared up at his sister. Although, her glare was far scarier than his.
"Don't talk about Miss Katou that way. She is important to Lord Seraphimon yes, but she is still a fellow human being! You need to be more civil." He rolled his eyes, continuing to rub his head. That was when the siblings realised that Bancholeomon had already left. Mana shrugged as she pushed her glasses up.
"We need to hurry. Shadow and Angewomon may need our help with their pursuit." Katsu begrudgingly nodded. The two started running in the direction they last saw LadyDevimon go in. "Also, are you ever going to give your partner a nickname?" Katsu just sighed in irritation
xxXxx
She felt like she was cursed. Cursed to have the ones she loves die. First was her mother, dying of an illness that she still did not have the courage to ask the name of. That was the first sign of the curse, although unknown to her at the time. Next was Leomon. A valiant warrior who did nothing to deserve the fate he received. That was when it hit her. The realisation that she's destined to be alone. Even after being saved from the D-Reaper, the damage had been already done long before. Long before Leomon even showed up in her life.
Now, Beelzemon was the third victim. Well, that was the worst case scenario. She didn't see any of his data appear after he had been hit by those razors. They were still flying through the sky, her expression gone blank.
xxXxx
When she came back to the present, she heard shouting. "Hm? What?" To her left, Calumon was kicking around and trying to hit LadyDevimon's face. To which, did not please the ultimate much.
"You insolent welp! How dare you think you can escape." Her grip tightened around Calumon's small body, but that did not make him stop. He managed to let his tongue glide across Ladydevimon's palm. She shrieked and loosened her grip enough for Calumon to slip out. He grinned as he jumped to where Jeri was.
"Calumon!"
"Don't worry Jeri! I'll get you out!" He said as he tried to pull Ladydevimon's fingers from further tightening. Jeri felt bad for passing out, so she bit down on Ladydevimon's hand, hard. The ultimate shrieked even louder, and dropped both Jeri and Calumon.
"We didn't think this through!" Jeri screeched as they both started to plummet to the ground. Calumon's ears sprang out to as wide as he possibly could. It was barely enough to slow their descent. Jeri 's eyes snapped shut. Waiting for the moment that they would both hit the ground. She waited, and waited, but no such feeling of solid ground made itself known. She took the chance to open her eyes, and realised they were just below the trees, the shadows of the leaves making nice patterns over her skin and clothing. She gasped when she looked down at Calumon, his face was completely red.
'He tried so hard to slow our fall. I need to do something.' She quickly looked around and saw a thick enough branch for the two of them to land. "Calumon, land over there. We need to let you take a break." She felt him nod and he did just that. He panted greedily as he sat down on Jeri's lap. His ears had shrunk back to it's usual state by now. She smiled happily down at him. "Thank you. So much, Calumon." The small rookie smiled back.
"Anything for you Jeri!" It was silent, except for the heavy breathing of Calumon. That was when she heard wings flapping. She quickly looked behind her at a branch covered by leaves.
'Alright. Time to do my part.' She got up and made her way towards the branches. A few pointed branches dug into her skin, which she winced at, but she trudged forward. She sat on her knees when she felt she was deep enough to not be seen. A flap of wings was heard again, and she was hoping that it was Beelzemon that the sound belonged to. However, luck was not on her side.
"Where are those brats!? They couldn't have gone far." LadyDevimon grumbled. Jeri held her breath when the devil landed on the branch they were on. If the digimon just looked to her left and looked hard enough, they would no doubt, be caught again. Calumon also held his breath, his grip tightening around Jeri's neck. To their shock, two more shadows appeared on the branch.
A wolf-like digimon with sickle claws, along with a humanoid digimon with a white mask and horns, carrying two wooden sticks. 'They must be the ones, who attacked Beelzemon.' Hatred started to fill her. 'If only, I could do something. I'm so sick of relying on others to protect me.'
'Then I could lend you my power. If that's what you want.' A voice spoke to her. She looked up to her left in surprise. Her eyes widened when she realised her and Calumon were in a completely different place than before. They were in front of a Temple.
"Jeri. How did we end up here?"
xxXxx
Impmon slowly opened his eyes. The trees above him were going by quickly. He moved his gaze towards Bancholeomon, who was completely focused on the trail ahead. His eyes widened when he remembered what had happened. He jumped out of the lion digimon's feather-like hold, and landed with a soft thud on the ground. Bancholeomon stopped in his tracks and turned back to face his companion. "You shouldn't be well enough to move about. We're close to Lush Village, so we need to get your injuries checked over."
"No can do, furball. I can't, afford to waste, time." Impmon said inbetween breaths. Bancholeomon let out a sigh.
"I've seen many digimon with your reckless personality. Many have died and turned back to digieggs when doing what you're about to attempt to do. So do yourself, and your friends a favour and get healed." Impmon was starting to grow impatient. He had no time or patience for this! He started to glow and transformed into Beelzemon. Bancholeomon could see how tired and injured the other was. He let out a deep, irritated sigh when he saw the fire of determination in the devil digimon's eyes.
"You really care for that girl and digimon companion of yours. That much is obvious. The bonds of humans and digimon can be astounding."
"Yeah? An' yer point is?" Bancholeomon shook his head.
"Forget I said anything. I'll let you go after you answer this question." Beelzemon's eyes widened slightly. He expected the other to hold him back, but he's letting him go if he answers one question. He nodded, wanting to finish this as soon as possible. "Why do you want to save her so badly? She's a good kid, very friendly and polite, but you are a virus digimon, meant to be the evil of this world."
"Huh? Who decided that?! But, that makes sense..." He trailed off. He shook his head vigorously. "I owe her. I owe her big time. So much that I doubt I could ever pay her back."
"Oh? How so?"
"Shut up! I've already answered your question. I've gotta go!" He quickly flew away before Bancholeomon could question him further.
"It would appear that humans are even more confusing than I thought."
xxXxx
It was an old, ancient Temple. Vines and other such plants were growing out of the bricks and the steps look as if they go on forever. "I just hope we don't need to climb all the way up."
"Why would we need to go up there, Jeri? How did we get here?!" Calumon was freaking out, but she didn't blame him. One second they were hiding from LadyDevimon, the next they were outside this Ancient Temple.
"I-I don't know. All I know is that a voice forced us here. And it wasn't the same voice I heard from my digivice. I just have no idea what's going on!" It was starting to get too much. She dropped to her knees. "Why would they drag me back here? My life was starting to get back to normal. And now this..." Calumon looked at her worriedly. His ears drew back as he walked out in front of her.
"Jeri?" The teen moved her eyes to look at him. His caring, worried gaze reminded her that this was not the time, nor the place to pity herself. It wasn't just her that would be in trouble if Ladydevimon finds them. Calumon relies on her for protection, not being able to digivolve himself. She shook her head to get rid of her negative thoughts.
'Come on Jeri! Pity yourself later when you're back home! I was brought here for a reason, and only I can do it!' She looked down at Calumon once again, a bright smile instead of a frown. Calumon saw this and perked his ears out once again.
"Yay! Yay! Jeri's back! Jeri's back!" She giggled at his cute antics. She gently picked the rookie up along with herself, getting back to her feet.
"Now what?"
'Would you like the power to defeat Ladydevimon?' The voice spoke again.
"Power?" She spoke aloud, gaining Calumon's attention.
"Jeri? Is it the voice again? I don't hear anything." Jeri looked down at him, confused.
"You don't?" At Calumon's nod, Jeri turned her gaze up at the Temple. "I can really get the power to, defeat a digimon? But I'm only a human. What can I do?"
"I will lend you my strength. Come to the top."
"Ah! I heard it that time! Did- did he say, the top?!" Calumon said, not liking the idea. Jeri let out a deep sigh.
"What are you complaining about? I'm the one that will be walking."
"Oh yeah. Hehe." Jeri shook her head. She really didn't want to, but...
"This is nothing. Stairs are noth-"
"There you are!" Jeri turned behind her in surprise. Ladydevimon found them, and she did not look happy. "You little brats! How did you get this far?!" The other two digimon were behind her, just standing. They were in a relaxed position.
'I may not have to worry about them.' She forced her leg to take the first step up the temple. Ladydevimon noticed.
"You have the audacity to take a step in my presence? You really are foolish." Jeri was furiously shaking in fear, but she managed to start running further up.
'Maybe I really do have a death wish?'
"You will regret that. Darkness Wave!" A whole horde of bats made their ways towards Jeri. She jumped out of the way just in time. The bats began turning back towards her. She knew she couldn't keep dodging them. Lest she get too tired to go up the steps. She shut her eyes, waiting for the impact.
"Heaven's charm!" A bright, pink flash made itself known and hit the centre of the horde, vaporising them all. Jeri slowly opened her eyes, relief filled her as she saw who she suspected.
"Angewomon!" The angel held out her hand. Jeri took it, and hefted herself up. "Thank you so much!" The masked woman smiled in reply.
"There's no need to thank me. You need to go up this temple, don't you?" Jeri nodded. "Then continue on your way. Shadow and I can take care of these three."
"Is, Beelzemon okay?" Angewomon nodded.
"Yes. Katsu contacted me. Bancholeomon is taking him to Lush Village to get treated. You needn't fear for him child." Jeri sighed in relief.
"I'm, so glad." A few tears escaped her eyes. "If he were to die, because of me, I'd..." Angewomon frowned. She was about to put her hand on the girl's shoulder, when...
"Darkness wave!" Ladydevimon sprung out another attack. Angewomon growled and pushed Jeri behind her.
"You must go up now!" Jeri nodded. She continued up the seemingly never ending steps, worried about Angewomon. "Heaven's Charm!" She furiously shook her head. Now wasn't the time. She had to make it to the top, no matter what would be waiting for her. She took a chance to glance behind her. Shadow had joined the fight, attacking the wolf and humanoid digimon.
"I don't recognise those two digimon from the tv show." She said in between breaths. "Calumon, do you know them?" The tiny rookie shook his head.
"Nope. Can't your digi-thingy not tell us?" It took Jeri a few moments to get what he meant, then it dawned on her.
"Oh, you mean my digivice?" Calumon nodded. "No, it can't. It hasn't worked since 4 years ago." She replied, eyes still looking towards the top of the Temple. She still had a long way to go. Worst thing was, she couldn't tell how much more she had to climb.
"Oh, sorry Jeri." The girl took a quick glance down at him, confused as to why he apologised.
"For what?"
"Ah! Nevermind! Let's get up there!" The girl nodded, she knew deep down why he had apologised. But she was over it, wasn't she? 4 years was long enough to get over him. She wanted to ponder on that thought more when she saw a shadow went over her. She turned her head and saw Ladydevimon had caught up to them.
"Hehe. Not so fast, human! Darknes-"
"I don't think so! Heaven's charm!" Angewomon shouted. Ladydevimon growled. She barely dodged, only a few hairs singed from the encounter. Angewomon turned towards her. "Get going!"
"Right!" She continued onward. She was thankful for the brief rest, her breath wasn't as laboured, but her legs still felt like jelly. 'How much more?!' Then, she saw it. Beyond the fog she saw sunlight and with it, the edge of the staircase. "Calumon! We've almost made it!" Calumon's ears sprouted out.
"Yay! Finally! Then you can rest, Jeri!" The girl nodded slightly. That may be true, but she knew it wasn't a good idea to wait around longer than necessary. Who knows how close Ladydevimon and her allies were. She broke through the fog and made it to the top. She had never felt so happy to see a straight path. She stopped running and put her hands to her knees and took deep breaths. Calumon stood by her feet, keeping an eye out behind them.
"I wonder if Impmon feels better?" He pondered. Jeri thought the same.
'Beelzemon...' She shook her head and reached an arm for the small rookie. "I'm sure he's fine. We'll see him again soon. We just need to take care of Ladydevimon first." Calumon accepted her offer and got comfortable in her hold once again.
"How are we gonna do that? She's super scary and strong!"
"That, I don't know." She looked around and saw a large, closed entrance. She hesitantly walked towards it. It had ancient looking hieroglyphs on the walls and doors. She reached her hand up and wiped away some dust from a symbol that caught her eye. Now that she had a good look at it, it was more of a drawing than a symbol. It was a humanoid digimon with cat features with wings. He was holding a long spear and was holding it so elegantly. 'Is this the digimon that called me here?' The text underneath was in a language she didn't recognise.
"Calumon, can you read this?" The digimon happily nodded.
"Yep! Let's see. Um, it says, say thy name, and, you'll be judged. I think. Oh, it looks so smudged and messed up, I can't read much more." Jeri smiled.
"It's ok Calumon, but, can you at least find where it's name is? I don't recognise this digimon." Calumon nodded and skimmed over the text.
"Ah ha! Found it! But, I don't think I should say it."
"Right. Now, just say it's name without the last three letters."
"Okay. I hope nothing scary happens..." Calumon shook his head. 'I've gotta be brave! For Jeri!' He looked up to her. "It starts with Leopard. I thinks that's how you say it, anyway..." Jeri nodded.
"Yep, it's a kind of wild cat. Anyway, I have definitely never seen this digimon before."
"Off course not. I am a Royal Knight. I have yet to be born into the digital world. Me and the other Royal Knights have never been born. We waited anxiously for someone to wake us, and I sense you are the one." Leopardmon spoke all around them. Jeri and Calumon looked around them, but as expected, they could not see him. "However, I must see for thyself if you are suitable for this task, as it will be a huge burden on the one thy seek."
"W-what's the task? Is the digital world, in danger?" She was answered with a long pause. She felt more uneasy by each passing moment, until finally...
"Despite the D-Reaper being stopped by the Tamers 4 years prior, we Royal Knights and Sovereigns fear it is coming back to the state it was faster than any of us could predict." All the colour drained from her face and Calumon shrunk back into her hold, shaking with fear.
"B-but how? I thought Takato and the others stopped it."
"Yes, we all thought so too. However, you merely reversed it to it's original state, I had no doubt that there would be a chance for it to rise again. Even 3% can be a high chance." Jeri meekly nodded, beginning to shake with fear, herself.
"W-what, can I do?"
"Defeat Ladydevimon with my power, then I'll let you know the rest. If you want to. I have seen everything you had went through those years ago, and I believe you deserve some closure. However, I cannot bring your partner back." Her eyes widened. "I know that's what you were thinking, I am sorry."
"No, it's ok. It was just a fleeting thought." She clenched her fist. If she could not do this, then would anyone else be here to take her place? She still had little confidence in herself, and the thought of fighting terrified her, but, Leomon would be disappointed in her if she outright declined, wouldn't he? She was not a fighter, even when she was a Tamer, but, would this make up for her failure 4 years back? Could she face that pink nightmare again? How long did she have to complete this unknown task? So many thoughts and questions swarmed her mind, but she knew she had to make decision sooner than later. She glanced down at Calumon who gave her a sympathetic smile in return. What would happen to the digital and real word if she declined? She knew, deep down she knew. But was all this responsibility right for a 16 year-old to bear? It wasn't right for anyone to bear, but options were limited.
"I can understand if you don't want to accept this task. There are others I can summon he-"
"I'll do it." She said sheepishly. She took a deep breath. "I, don't want to accept, but you chose me for a reason, and I am honoured I was. So, I'll give it a try, and if I somehow defeat Ladydevimon, I'll accept your task."
"Very good, Jeri Katou." She didn't know how, but she could sense that he was pleased with her decision. "Now! Say thy name! And I shall grant you thy power to defeat Ladydevimon!" She nodded and set Calumon down on the ground.
"Right! Leopardmon grant me your power!" A bright light engulfed her and she felt light-headed, but she felt something attaching to her body. It didn't hurt, but it felt solid and metallic. 'Am I biomerging? No, I don't have a partner, unless. Am I turning into Leopardmon? No that's not it either!' The light was so blinding that she had to shut her eyes. When she felt the warmth leave her eyelids, she opened them. She didn't feel heavy like she thought she would, no, she actually felt lighter. She also noticed she was wearing a helmet and holding a spear. She looked down at herself and almost couldn't believe it.
"Armour?! I'm wearing armour?!"
To be continued
AN - Yep. It's been how long? Almost 4 years?! I can't believe it's been that long... Sorry about that. University happened and now this pandemic. It's been a wild 4 years. I'm not sure how often I can update, and I'm not the most reliable author, but hey, I'll try my best with this. No promises.
Reviews
Guest - I know! We need more Jeri fanfics that aren't Jurato (the pairings cute but I'm not that into it. I prefer Rukato but not by too much). Actually, I'm not really a huge fan of any of the main characters, but their digimon partners I adore. I find Kazu, Kenta and Jeri more interesting tbh. Okay, rambling over xD
Saalejandra - Yep, Impmon is kind of a stand-in partner, as well as Calumon. No, Bancholeomon is not Jeri's Leomon but there is a connection. That's all I'm saying ^^ They aren't bad, but I guess fighting on sight is not a good first impression xD Thank you for reading!
Wildcat227 - I'm glad you do! Sorry for the super long wait! Hope this chapter was one you loved too!
ChaosSmash64 - Thank you and that's the plan! I really hope to complete this because Jeri needs more fanfiction where she's not a damsel in distress.