The light of digivolution ended revealing Candlemon's new form. As the light fully parted away, the small form of the candle Digimon had melted away, revealing in its place a child-sized Digimon, yet still far more mature looking than his previous form. The new Digimon looked just as his name implied, a wizard, complete with the pointed hat and cape, both deep blue colored with a skull symbol emblazoned upon the hat and a smaller one holding the long collar of the cape. Its clothing was an assortment of zippers among a golden jumpsuit with a red vest of sorts held together by chains. A pair of brown boots, each with the symbol of a crescent moon lay atop. Lastly, in its hand lay a staff, crafted at the end in a shape reminiscent of an old Tamagotchi toy and molded into a sun-like pattern.
Keiko's digivice flashed open as the analyzer screen appeared, "Wizardmon, Data Type, Demon Man, attacks are Thunder Cloud and Magical Game," Keiko repeated.
The young girl blinked, surprised at what her digimon had transformed into. Kazuya and Gazimon likewise watched with awe at the new Digimon before them. Candlemon, or rather Wizardmon stood amazed at what he had transformed into. He didn't know what to expect with digivolution, let alone what he would become. He originally supposed that would have depended upon how Keiko raised him. After all, she chose the right stats in training that turned him from a Mokumon to a Candlemon.
"He became a wizard?" Keiko asked in confusion, "I thought he was going to turn into the fire one?"
Wizardmon blinked, "What?" He asked.
Of course, those thoughts were put on hold the minute he saw Wendigomon's fist heading towards him. The child-sized Champion swiftly rolled out of the way as the cable arm missed him. Pulling its arm back, Wendigomon advanced upon Wizardmon.
Clutching his staff, Wizardmon could only stare blankly as the large monster drew closer.
"Kazuya? What do I do?" Keiko asked, her voice full of uncertainty.
"He's got attacks, tell him to use them!" Kazuya called.
Keiko suddenly recalled the list of attacks her digivice listed, "Um right...uh use Thunder Cloud!" She ordered.
Uncertain, but loyal to his tamer, Wizardmon outstretched his staff and called out, "Thunder Cloud!" A bolt of lighting shot out from the staff striking against the monster's chest.
Wendigomon grunted in pain, but hardly seemed phased.
"Just keep attacking!" Keiko ordered.
Wizardmon did as he ordered, but soon merely resorted to jumping around and shooting off his attacks.
All the while, Wendigomon just attacked away, before finally landing a hit upon the wizard Digimon with its "club arm". Wizardmon let out a cry as he tumbled back, sliding across the ground.
"Wizardmon!" Keiko called out.
Kazuya gritted his teeth, "Damn, he's going to get killed!" He looked to his digivice. So far Gazimon wasn't digivolving. He didn't understand why and began to press several buttons upon his digivice. He still didn't quite figure out how it worked, but then something appeared on the screen, "Hunger level?" Sure enough, there was a meter with the very words atop it. And said meter looked low.
"Gazimon are you still hungry?" Kazuya asked.
A small grumble was his answer, "I guess so," The rabbit replied.
That explained it. In the previous animes, especially the first one, Digimon required a lot of energy, namely from a full stomach to digivolve, and it seemed as if the sparse meal Gazimon just had wasn't enough to fill him up. That left them at a disadvantage. Wizardmon wasn't doing too well, and Genkimon's added speed and strength could have made all the difference.
Wizardmon was struck again by another "Club Arm", yet he managed to retain his current form. Wendigmon let out a growl leaving both Keiko and Kazuya worried for the poor wizard. Just as Wendigomon was about to attack again, suddenly it came to a stop.
Enough, come back.
Just as it had arrived, the mist vanished, and Wendigomon with it.
The quartet stood there astonished over what had happened, while Wizardmon merely held his staff in confusion.
"What just happened?" He asked himself.
Keiko likewise held the same confusion, "He's gone."
Bewildered as much as his sibling, Kazuya walked over to her, "You two alright?" He asked.
Keiko let out a sigh, looking to her digivice and then back to her brother, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Gazimon kicked the ground, slumping his shoulders in a pout, "I didn't get to do anything," He pouted.
Kazuya ignored it and checked on his sister, "Well you look no worse for wear."
Keiko looked away and crossed her arms, "I'm fine Kazuya,"
Looking over to Wizardmon, Kazuya asked, "What about you? You okay?"
"I suppose so," Wizardmon sighed, "Still, is it wrong I feel disappointed the fight didn't go how I wanted?"
Kazuya knew Wizardmon was referring to how his first digivolution did not end in some glorious victory. The whole situation was akin to Fairymon's debut in Digimon Frontier. The rest of the Legendary Chosen had a glorious battle once they claimed their respective spirit, while Zoe, the one chosen to wield the Spirits of the Wind, had lost her battle, and had to be saved by Koji, the Warrior of Light. The same could almost be said for Chakmon's debut. Though despite the fact Agnimon had been the one to finish the fight, the ice warrior had contributed enough for the fire warrior to deliver the finishing blow.
"Nah, I get how you mean man, but it was kind of a foregone fight, no offense," Kazuya mentioned.
"Just what do you mean by that?" Keiko asked offended, "My Digimon is amazing!"
Hearing his tamer boast did bring a smile underneath Wizardmon's collar.
"What I mean is he's a data type, Wendigomon is a virus type," Kazuya explained.
"So?" Keiko asked again, arms still crossed defiantly.
"Virus types have the advantage over data types," Said Kazuya,
Keiko looked up at her brother in confusion, "Um...okay?"
Seeing his sister's confusion, Kazuya explained, "Most Digimon are divided into three types: Vaccine, Data, and Virus. And each type has an advantage over the others. Vaccine beats Virus, Virus beats Data, and Data beats Vaccine," Kazuya could see that Keiko was starting to get it by the lightened expression upon her face, "Though that isn't always the case, it depends on a lot of factors like the Digimon's elemental attribute, and the Digimon's strengths and abilities. Wendigomon relies mostly on physical strength, while Wizardmon excels in magic."
The same certainly fit, considering the abilities displayed earlier by the demon-man type, that and Kazuya had mentioned something about attributes during the battle with Fangmon.
Keiko gave a sad little pout, "Why does your Digimon have to be the strong one?"
"Hey! Watch it!" Kazuya exclaimed.
Keiko looked towards her brother and then noticed him gesturing to Wizardmon. Though the Champion's expression was hidden behind his collar, Keiko suddenly realized how offensive her words could be taken.
"Look there's nothing wrong with your Digimon, he just needs training that's all," Said Kazuya.
"Training?" Keiko and Wizardmon said in unison.
Crossing his arms, Kazuya flashed a grin, "Guess you're lucky your big brother is the best tamer around!"
"The best?" Keiko questioned skeptically.
"All we need is to get some food in Gazimon and we can get started," Kazuya said noting towards his Digimon.
Gazimon merely looked over to his tamer and muttered while pointing to himself, "Me?"
The rabbit got his answer in short order as Kazuya gathered more food for his Digimon. Though he was smart enough not to stuff his Digimon as Tai had done in SkullGreymon's debut episode.
Nonetheless, the rabbit felt he had eaten too fast, letting out a burp as he beat on his chest, "Ugh, I think it went down the wrong pipe," He exclaimed with a small cough.
"Hey, at least you have energy now right?" Kazuya said.
Keiko and Wizardmon stood on the opposite end, curious what Kazuya was going to do.
Holding up his digivice, Kazuya asked, "Ready Gazimon?"
Getting where his tamer was going, and feeling giddy at the prospect, Gazimon nodded, "You got it!"
The digivice glowed and soon the light of digivolution overtook Gazimon.
"Gazimon! Digivolve to! Genkimon!"
Soon the familiar shape of Genkimon stood there on all fours.
Wizardmon held his staff nervously, "Um, Kazuya? What is this about?"
"Don't worry Wizardmon, I just want to give you some training that's all," Kazuzya explained.
"Training?" Wizardmon repeated.
"Wait? Since he's my Digimon, shouldn't I be the one to train him?" Keiko asked.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Kazuya boasted.
Keiko pursed her lips and muttered, "Somehow I doubt that."
"Okay Keiko, Wizardmon has two main attacks, "Thunder Cloud and Magical Game," Kazuya explained, "Thunder Cloud you saw, but Magical Game has several advantages."
Keiko looked down at her digivice, and recalled that "Magical Game" was indeed one of Wizardmon's attacks.
"But what does it do?" She asked.
"That's the thing," Kazuya explained, "Magical Game has several effects, I'm not sure myself but I think it's how Wizardmon used it," Kazuya clenched his fist and directed his speech partially to Genkimon, "I'm going to have Genkimon rush you, and Wizardmon is going to use his Magical Game come in, Keiko, you're going to have to direct him. As his tamer, you'll be the one to give him commands."
"You sure about this Kazuya?" Genkimon asked, "I don't want to kill him."
"Just don't go full force. It's not like how it was with Fangmon," Kazuya reassured.
Keiko stood on the opposite end. Looking over to Wizardmon, she could tell her Digimon was feeling antsy, "Don't worry Wizardmon, I'll tell you what to do and we can work it out alright?"
Looking to his tamer, Wizardmon nodded his acknowledgment.
"Go!"
And Genkimon was off, charging towards Wizardmon.
"Wizardmon! Use Thunder Cloud!" Keiko shouted.
Wizardmon held out his staff and shot forth a stream of lightning, but before it could hit, Genkimon dodged to the side.
"Good work Genkimon!" Kazuya praised.
Genkimon grinned as much as his mouth could allow and leaped in front of Wizardmon. Keiko watched with wide eyes, uncertain of how her Digimon could get out of this. Then, she immediately thought of something.
"Wizardmon! Use Magical Game!"
Wizardmon wasn't sure about this, but he gripped his staff and shouted out, "Magical Game!". Just then, Wizardmon split up into several copies of himself! They circled Genkimon who looked about in confusion. Keiko herself was surprised, but she took the moment.
"Do it Wizardmon!"
All taking their staves, the Wizardmon copies all shouted in unison, "Thunder Cloud!"
the beams of electricity struck Genkimon who let out a growl. The attacks annoyed Genkimon so much, he reacted, "Genki Rush!"
The burst of blue energy blazed and on instinct, Genkimon attacked, striking at anything he could see. The Wizardmon copies vanished and then luckily he hit the real Wizardmon. The demon-man type flew until he hit a tree, before shrinking down back into Candlemon.
"Candlemon!" Keiko shouted rushing over to her Digimon.
Genkimon gaped in surprise, then faltered and tripped as he shrank back into Gazimon.
"Oh my gosh! Candlemon I'm so sorry!" Gazimon immediately said as he ran up to his fellow Digimon.
Kazuya likewise showed shock, and as soon as they reached the living candle, he glared at Gazimon, "Hey you didn't have to hit him that hard!"
Gazimon looked up with an offended look, "I just reacted! Hasn't that ever happened to you?"
"You two idiots nearly got my Digimon killed!" Keiko exclaimed.
"Keiko wait!" Candlemon suddenly spoke up. Looking towards his tamer, Candlemon continued, "Maybe that didn't go as well as planned, but your brother was just trying to help."
Keiko wasn't happy, but looking towards Kazuya's apologetic face, she couldn't help but say, "I guess so."
Glad he was at least partially off the hook, Kazuya helped Candlemon up, "Sorry about that man. You sure you're okay?"
"I'm a Digimon. From what I can tell we are very resilient," Candlemon noted.
"Man, nothing gets you down huh? You're like super understanding," Gazimon noticed.
Thinking to himself, Candlemon found an inkling of truth towards his fellow's comment, "Perhaps you're right? Maybe that's my trait?"
Candlemon's overall role and purpose may have seemed tacked on to a degree, but the Data Type candle was finding some peace in working out his character.
"Nonetheless, I think I need more training," Candlemon said good humorously.
"Well from now on, I'm handling your training!" Keiko declared.
Kazuya didn't argue, partially because he didn't want to be held responsible for possibly deleting Candlemon, but it was a tamer's duty to bring out the best in their Digimon.
Candlemon grinned, but then he recalled something, something he heard from earlier, "Keiko, about what Wendigomon said?"
"Hmm?"
"What did he mean by you being lonely?" He asked.
Keiko stood stiff, and merely looked ahead, "Let's just get going! We have to see what those other lights are right?"
Candlemon didn't argue with her, but he couldn't help but notice the reluctance upon his tamer's face. He resigned and figured now wasn't the time. He supposed he would just have to continue and see if she opens up.
XXX
He watched with bated eyes as the tamers and their Digimon progressed deeper into the forest. Floating in front of him was a small glowing ball.
"That was a good fight Wendigomon, but you forget who your master is," The ball vanished into himself, "Can't have a thrall breaking free now can we?"
It would be so easy to attack them now, but he was the type to wait and observe, take what he finds, and see if he can develop it to his advantage.
After all, his master's will had to be done, and it was all for his glory. The glory of the fallen angel.
A/N: Okay, took a little break from the big fights to set things up for later. Honestly, I am hoping I can develop Keiko and Candlemon further considering they are new additions. A little bit of trivia, but I initially toyed with the idea of giving Keiko Renamon as her Digimon, but I wanted to use a Digimon that isn't used as much. Also, the guy at the end is our first arc villain, but he is a servant of the true main villain of the story.