The Dark Ocean was just as awful as Hikari remembered it.
The process of traveling there felt quite a bit like going to the Digital World, all things considered. The general sensation of being scrambled only to be put back together was something that she had grown used to over the years, but she was used to being welcomed by the warm sunshine and the bright skies of the Digital World. Instead, the Dark Ocean gave her the exact opposite. The heavens were overcast with tempestuous clouds even though no rain had ever fallen from them as far as she was aware. The ocean could be heard hitting the shore somewhere in the distance, though the group was surrounded by trees to the point that they couldn't see what was going on by the coast. The wind was cold and ominous, and everything about the world seemed to be more than capable of sucking the life out of anyone who dared to drop their guard for longer than just a mere handful of seconds.
Tailmon was standing by her foot, and Hikari gladly accepted the warm brush of her partner's body against her ankle. She let out a small sigh and tried to concentrate on the situation at hand, though that was much easier said than done. They had to find Daemon, and he was undoubtedly around there somewhere. Locating him was going to be the hard part though, and Hikari hoped that they would be able to find some clues as to where he could be found somewhere in the area.
"The Dark Ocean feels different than before," Takeru remarked with a light frown. Hikari realized that he was standing next to her, his face cast in shadow thanks to the hat on his head. When she glanced up at him, she realized that he was right; the Dark Ocean didn't feel the same way that it had in the past. Something about it was undoubtedly off, though she struggled to find a way to word how it was that something was wrong.
"It seems... Weaker," Ken murmured. Wormmon nodded his agreement as Ken picked him up, and Hikari recognized that Ken was right. That was why everything felt somewhat strange; the Dark Ocean wasn't as powerful as it once had been. Hikari found herself wanting to know why, but at the same time, she almost feared the answer that she might find. She swallowed dryly and shook her head.
"If the Dark Ocean truly is weaker than it once was, then that must mean that something happened to cause it to lose its strength," Hawkmon declared from his place beside Miyako. "I most certainly agree that something has changed, but the question that we should be asking is... Why?"
"Something must have done this deliberately," Hikari announced with more confidence than she expected from herself. Somehow, she doubted that this was simply the byproduct of the barriers between worlds growing weaker. After all, the Dark Ocean had appeared in the past when the barriers were struggling, but it had never been quite this lackluster. Something had changed it on purpose, and somehow, that only made the situation worse. That meant that there was something out there strong enough to bring such a powerful and terrifying world into a state of ruin beyond what she had already seen, and she absolutely detested the fact that she already held this knowledge.
"Something about this place feels... Familiar," Sora remarked under her breath. She looked down to Piyomon and earned a nod of agreement in return. "I know that I haven't ever been to the Dark Ocean, but... It seems as if I've been to a place similar to this at one point in the past."
"I know what you mean," Yamato agreed with a nod. He glanced around at the rest of the group to see if any of them understood what he and Sora were referring to, but when he was met with nothing but blank looks, he shifted his attention down to Gabumon.
Before Gabumon could respond, Sora let out a gasp. "I think I know what it is..." she whispered carefully. "Do you remember during our initial adventure in the Digital World? There was a dark cave that surrounded us, and as soon as we were able to break free of its influence, then we returned to the Digital World itself."
"That sounds like the time that we wound up in the Dark Ocean a few years ago," Miyako mused aloud. "We were in the Digital World, and everything seemed to be normal. All of a sudden, the Dark Ocean started bleeding into the Digital World, but once we could get out from under its spell, we escaped. I guess that... In both of those cases, the Dark Ocean was bleeding over into the Digital World."
"The caves that we wound up in were because of the worlds blending together then. The barriers among realms were getting weak because of Apocalymon and the Dark Masters, so the Dark Ocean started to bleed over into the Digital World... That makes a lot of sense, actually," Yamato commented. "We never fully got an explanation on what happened back then beyond something vague, and if it was the Dark Ocean manifesting our darkest thoughts, then... That most certainly tells us everything that we need to know about what happened back then as well as the Dark Ocean here and now."
"The Dark Ocean isn't as strong as it once was though," Tailmon declared. "Something has happened to damage it, and that much I'm certain of. If that's the case though, then it leads you to wonder... Who did this? Was Daemon the one responsible for doing this much damage? He could have done this while he was trying to escape, but we don't have a way of knowing for sure."
"We can focus on that later," Taichi said firmly. "For the time being, we have to go and figure out where Daemon is. We've got supplies here to last us a week, but the longer that we're here, the worse everything seems to get. This still isn't a place that we want to be for a long time, and we should focus on finishing things off here so that we can leave."
"It would be great if we could take care of both Daemon and the ruler of the Dark Ocean at the same time, but we don't know much of anything about what we'd be going up against in the case of the one who looks after this place," Mimi remarked with a shrug. "For now, where should we go? There has to be something around here that will point us in the direction of Daemon, right?"
"I... I suppose you can call it a gut feeling, but... I think that he's somewhere to the north of here," Ken announced, pointing in the direction of the sea. Even if nobody could see the waves, they could most certainly hear the crashing of the water against the shore, and it seemed that this was the destination they were searching for.
"Is it the Dark Seed?" Daisuke questioned of Ken softly, trying to keep his voice down as much as possible but only partially succeeding. About half of the group had heard him, and those that didn't overhear his words still knew the general point that he was trying to get at, and they all glanced over in Ken's general direction with hopes of finding an answer.
Ken hesitated for a long moment before he nodded in response. "It might be," he murmured. "The Dark Seed has been dormant and inactive for a long time, but... Daemon always wanted it. I don't know why, but it seems like it's pointing me in the right direction. Maybe it's responding to the Dark Ocean itself since that was where it activated for the first time years ago. Let's follow it for now and see where it leads us. How does that sound?"
Nobody could bring themselves to object to his suggestion, so they started to walk. Taichi wound up taking a position at the front of the group leading them in the direction of their destination with everyone else falling in behind him. They wove quietly through the trees of the area, the dark grass crunching underfoot. Hikari felt sick to her stomach, and she found herself curling one arm around her torso. She could tell just how dead the Dark Ocean was. It made sense that this place had been made from a containment space for darkened data of the Digital World, she had to admit. Everything about the place felt nauseating and dreadful.
Hikari looked up in Daisuke's direction, and she immediately felt even worse than she had before. Daisuke had one hand wrapped around his stomach the same way that Hikari did, but in his case, it took on a much different meaning. Hikari tried to pretend that she didn't know why it was that he was so defensive of that area in particular. When she blinked, the back of her mind presented her with an image of Daisuke collapsing to the ground with blood everywhere. In her head, the image of scarlet blood was the brightest thing about the Dark Ocean. She forced herself to take deep breaths to make sure that she didn't have a panic attack. She could feel every part of her body growing tense, but she wasn't about to give in and allow her fears to rule her. She had to stay strong. Everyone was counting on her whether it be in or out of the team of Chosen Children.
Tailmon seemed to notice that Hikari was tense and nudged her head against her partner's leg. Hikari let out a small sigh, almost surprised at the strangely warm air that entered her lungs when she did so. She leaned over and pulled Tailmon up into her arms, allowing her partner to nest tight against her chest. The Dark Ocean's air was both all too warm and weirdly cold at the same time, but Hikari tried her best to not focus on the fact that this was true. She concentrated instead on the feeling of Tailmon's warm body in her arms. She was tired of all that she had seen over the course of the past two weeks, and even if it was just for a few moments, she needed the chance to decompress. She was running into a battlefield where Daemon was waiting for her, but she had to try her best to keep herself calm. She wouldn't be able to pull through if she didn't take care of herself, after all. Heaven knew that she had been neglecting that aspect of her life quite a bit ever since Daisuke was attacked, after all.
Hikari wound up falling closer to the back of the group as they wove between the tightly-packed trees of the Dark Ocean, but there remained one person behind her no matter what. She frowned and turned her head over her shoulder to look at Meiko. Meicoomon was walking with her partner to make sure that Meiko didn't find herself in any trouble, but Meiko herself was barely focusing on the situation at hand. Instead, Meiko had taken out her Digivice and was staring down at the screen with distant, detached eyes. She wasn't concentrating at all on what was happening around her, almost as if she didn't care in the slightest.
Hikari allowed herself to fall into pace with Meiko, moving slowly and carefully to make sure that she didn't accidentally startle the girl along the way. "Meiko?" she asked softly. When the dark-haired girl startled out of her trance to look over at Hikari, her cheeks flushed. Hikari continued once she noticed that she had successfully gotten Meiko's attention. "Are you feeling alright?"
Meiko was quiet for just a few beats, but that was all it took for Hikari to realize that there was something Meiko wasn't telling her. "I-I'm fine," Meiko eventually responded, pressing on a smile so fake that it almost hurt to look at. Hikari didn't believe it in the slightest, but she wasn't sure about how she was supposed to go about discussing the matter with Meiko without upsetting her companion.
"Are you sure?" Hikari pushed carefully. She was glad for the distraction, if she was being honest; after all, if she was thinking about what Meiko was going through, then she wasn't concentrating on everything that was going on in her own head, and she needed that reprieve as soon as possible. "I don't know... Something about you has just been... Subdued lately. I want to make sure that there isn't anything bothering you. We're all here to help you if you need us, Meiko."
The black-haired girl shook her head immediately. "It's nothing to be worried about. You really don't need to concern yourself with me... It's just... The energy of this place is upsetting to me. I don't know how to describe it, but... So much is happening here, and I don't really like the fact that we have to be here in the first place," she replied.
Hikari nodded gently. "I know what you're talking about," she assured Meiko. "I don't like having to be here either. Everything about it just... It's not a place that we would be in under any other circumstances, and... It's not fun to be here. We have a job to do, but that doesn't exactly make it any easier."
"I'm glad that you understand," Meiko admitted with a sigh of relief and a laugh so fake that it sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Hikari. "It's... I don't know. My Digivice has been giving me strange sensations ever since we first got here, and... It's bothering me. I suppose that it's just because our Digivices weren't originally intended to open gates here of all places. My Digivice seems like it's... I don't know what to say about it, but something is wrong. It's like the Digivice is reacting to this place somehow, and it makes me feel sick to my stomach."
"It's going to be alright," Hikari said to Meiko carefully, though she tucked away the information about her friend's Digivice into the back of her mind. She hadn't been getting that feeling at all since they arrived in the Dark Ocean, but if Meiko was feeling the pull of something odd, then she would have to keep it in mind. For all she knew, it could wind up being an important piece of information, but she wouldn't know until the time was right.
"Thank you for everything, Hikari," Meiko smiled gently. "I'm glad to be surrounded by people who at least somewhat know what they're doing. It's... It's not the easiest to be in this situation all of a sudden, and... I'm glad that I can at least count on you and the rest of the group if I feel like there's something that I need in the future whether it be here or anywhere else."
Hikari nodded to herself. It was something nice to keep in mind. That much she could certainly agree with. Even so, there was something in the back of her head that remained nervous and agitated. Perhaps she hadn't been counting on the others quite as much as she should have been. Meiko had said that it was a good thing, and Hikari knew that she had a point, but at the same time, it was harder that she wanted to admit to talk to the rest of the team. Hikari still hadn't been able to shake the sensation of being a burden since the Dark Ocean first reappeared. She knew that the ruler of the world was going to try and find her sooner or later, and she hated the idea of dragging anyone else into that. They shouldn't have to get hurt on her behalf. At this thought, the image of Daisuke collapsing once again played into her mind.
Hikari was almost relieved when the ground suddenly shook with excessive force. She was glad to be freed of her past thoughts on the matter of the invasion from the Dark Ocean to Earth, but at the same time, she knew that this was going to be the start of something dreadful, and certainly enough, a large shadow appeared overhead just as this thought crossed through her mind. Hikari swallowed nervously and tried to process in full what was happening.
"It looks like another one of Daemon's underlings has managed to find us!" Mimi shouted, her eyes going wide with anxiety. "We have to find a way to fight back! That Digimon is absolutely huge!"
"It's not a Digimon," Koushiro reminded her. "It's undoubtedly a Deep One distorting its appearance to look like a Digimon, but it's still not the sort of creature that we know. We haven't seen those things traveling by themselves yet, so we had better be on the lookout for any others that might have come with it."
Hikari reached for her Digivice instinctively. She already hated the idea that they were being dragged into yet another unnecessary fight. She wanted to get into Daemon's lair, take care of him, and get back to Earth as quickly as possible. She knew that it wasn't quite that simple, but the desire remained firmly planted in her mind regardless.
"That looks like Chaosdromon," Patamon declared. "He's a machine Digimon. Since the Deep Ones aren't bound to the normal laws of evolution in the Digital World, I bet that there are a lot of them that are going to be imitating stronger Digimon as we get closer."
"At the very least, we don't have to deal with those dark data patches augmenting their power anymore," Yamato pointed out. "And the data patches don't have the ability to make Deep Ones evolve more than should be possible because of that, but on the other hand..."
"They might not have the power boosts of the data patches, but they're going to be powerful if we aren't careful," Taichi finished for him. "After all, the Deep Ones seem to move in packs, and we have to be ready in case there are any others that are lurking in this area."
"We should all get ready to fight then," Piyomon suggested. "If there are any other Deep Ones around here, then we'll need to be ready to get rid of them. There were so many of them last time that we were attacked, so we should all evolve."
There were no objections to Piyomon's suggestion. Digivices were raised, and Hikari allowed Tailmon to jump free of her arms. She swallowed dryly, trying her best to shove aside the awful feeling that was quickly rising in her stomach and spreading to her throat. She was glad that she didn't have to speak at that point; she didn't think that she would have been able to talk even if she wanted to.
The process of evolution came and went in a blur for Hikari, but she did know that when she snapped back to reality, all of the Digimon had either gone up to the Ultimate or Perfect levels, whichever one just so happened to be higher. Taichi gestured for the rest of the group to follow him, and sure enough, they trailed in his footsteps toward the beach once more. The sound of the waves rolling against the shore grew louder until it was almost stifling to listen to. Hikari resisted the urge to clamp her hands over her ears to block out the noise until it was gone, but she knew that was hardly going to be productive.
When Hikari and the rest of the Chosen Children came out of the trees, the first thing that they noticed was the fact that they were on a cliff above the beach. They were positioned on the edge of the steep region looking out at the sands below and the ocean that met the ground from there. Chaosdromon was a large, imposing figure even from far away, and true to everyone's suspicions, there were many Deep Ones gathered together around his feet. They started to change shape to mimic the appearances of other powerful Digimon, but there were too many of them for Hikari to fully make out what was happening. Nearly everything that was happening on the beach was a blur to her because of how far away she was, and all she could do was stare down at the sands below.
The Digimon were quick to launch themselves off to the fight. Paildramon clicked his guns before sending a series of bullets flying in the direction of the transforming Deep Ones. A few of them were interrupted in their shifting, and their bright eyes glared at Paildramon. Hikari had to admit that it was ominous to see the creatures, so dark aside from their eyes, staring directly at one location. She was far from being able to see the Deep Ones properly, but she was fine with that. She wanted to keep it that way, as a matter of fact.
"The Deep Ones seem to be stronger here than they were back on Earth," Iori remarked with a frown. Hikari wondered what it was had prompted him to say such a thing, but it didn't take her long to figure it out. SlashAngemon was rushing in the direction of one of the Deep Ones, but he wasn't able to do anywhere near as much damage as he once had in the past. He had easily chopped through countless Deep Ones during the battle on the beach of Odaiba, but this time around, it took much more effort to damage the Deep Ones, much less defeat them.
"It seems as if being here in the Dark Ocean has made them stronger," Ken murmured, his eyes wide in surprise. "This is the place where they live, so it makes sense that their strength is augmented here, but... It certainly puts us at a disadvantage."
"It's like we're fighting against the dark patch Digimon all over again," Sora commented. "Their power is augmented because they're in the Dark Ocean, and they can freely reach higher stages of evolution thanks to outside power. The only difference is that here, we can't just get rid of the data patch to dispel the possession. There's no infection to be cured here, so we just have to fight them off the old fashioned way."
"It's unfortunate, but we don't have much of a choice," Taichi said firmly. He glanced up to the sky and watched as WarGreymon brought down a large attack from above. The Gaia Force blast slammed into the ground, and many of the Deep Ones that had yet to change into Digimon form were obliterated on impact. Their data spiraled into the sky, a sign to Hikari that Hiraku had been right in saying that they once had been Digimon. The Deep Ones no longer fell into such a category, but there were still lingering traces from that time so many years ago.
Silphymon released a blast of energy in Chaosdromon's direction. The attack hit its target, but it didn't accomplish much more than that. He let out a gasp of surprise and frowned deeply. "That didn't even leave a scratch behind!" he cried out.
"It seems like the Deep Ones are better at this whole transformation thing than we initially thought," Jou murmured. "We're going to have to send the Ultimate Digimon after Chaosdromon. The Perfect Digimon can pick off the Deep Ones that are still in the process of changing shape so that we can get rid of them all before things get worse."
"The forms of the Deep Ones appear to be easily manipulated," Koushiro murmured under his breath. "Look down at the beach. It seems as if the Deep Ones are able to merge with one another when they change shape. If I had to guess, I would say that Chaosdromon is so powerful because he consists of multiple Deep Ones that combined their power together. When you add that in with the strength that the Dark Ocean grants them, then..."
He didn't even need to finish that sentence. Miyako let out a cry of frustration before he had the chance to speak, shaking her head in a grand display of upset. "Well, if they're not going to go down quite so easily, then fine! We're just going to have to find a way to knock them down whether they like it or not!" she exclaimed. Hikari was fully aware of how determined Miyako could e when she set her mind to something, and this time was no exception. If she said that she was going to take down the enemy Digimon, then she was going to find a way to do it. If Hikari had to guess, she would say that it was just a matter of time.
Unfortunately, Chaosdromon was intent on not being defeated so easily, and he looked over in the direction of the Chosen Children with eyes that could only be described as lifeless. His metallic body seemed to spark to life, and before anyone could register what was happening, a blast of energy was flying off in the direction of the cliff that the Chosen Children were standing on. Hikari's eyes went wide, and she could have sworn that her heart skipped a beat or threatened to stop on her completely.
Luckily, Chaosdromon's aim was not as great as it could have been, and the attack didn't hit the Chosen Children. Instead, the attack slammed into the ground on the cliff where the grass shifted into rock that sloped downward in the direction of the beach. "Get back!" Taichi exclaimed. The group followed his instructions, and the sound of footfall echoed in Hikari's ears as all of them retreated as much as they could without running into the trees behind them.
Hikari looked over to the place where the attack had made contact with the ground, and she realized that Ken had been standing inches away from where the attack made contact before the blast rang out. Ken looked thoroughly flustered and terrified as he fully registered what was happening, and Hikari knew that she was not the only one who had been made aware of such a truth.
Miyako was one of the others who had caught on and recognized what Chaosdromon was trying to do. She let out yet another snarl of anger before she punched one fist into a darkened tree trunk nearby. "You're not going to get away with this!" she proclaimed. Ken stared at her with wide, ghastly eyes. "You might think that you're not going to suffer consequences just because you're all big and tough now, but it isn't going to be quite so easy!"
Chaosdromon didn't respond verbally at all, not that Hikari expected him to. Instead, more energy began to spark across the surface of his body as he prepared to release yet another grand attack. He was cut off when Silphymon launched his body toward Chaosdromon, punching at the side of the machine Digimon's face quickly. Even though no significant damage was done, that was the distraction that the group needed.
Chaosdromon raised his claw and swatted at Silphymon, sending the white Digimon flying back to the ground. Miyako let out a gasp of surprise, her eyes going wide as her face went pale. "Silphymon!" she cried out. Her partner slammed into the sand below, kicking up a large tempest of debris that flew in every direction. Hikari was glad that most of their Digimon partners could fly to ensure that they weren't impacted by the sudden loss of vision. Vikemon was tall enough to keep from suffering because of the sand, and MetalGarurumon and Meicrackmon jumped out of the way before releasing other attacks in the direction of the Deep Ones.
MetalGarurumon began to rain bullets down on the Deep Ones as he jumped into the air and released as large of an attack as he possibly could. Countless Deep Ones were hit in the moments that followed, and Hikari heard the collective groans of pain even from her place so far from the actual scene of the battle. The Deep Ones were creatures of few words, but once again, Hikari wasn't objecting in the slightest; she didn't want to hear them speak again even if she was given the chance.
Chaosdromon had taken to charging up another attack with Silphymon temporarily out of the equation. Hououmon was able to hit him before he could do much more to gather his strength, but unfortunately, the attack made contact with Chaosdromon's body just a little bit too late. Chaosdromon was able to unleash his blast of energy, though its path was changed thanks to Hououmon. Instead of hitting the cliff where the group was, it slammed into the bottom edge of the steep incline. Half of the blast consisted of sand flying in every direction of the immediate area while the other half of the attack involved the ground on the clifftop starting to shake. Ken and Daisuke were leaning against one another to make sure that they were able to keep their balance since they were closest to the point of impact.
Miyako continued to glare at Chaosdromon with all of the ferocity in the world before turning her attention down to the place where Silphymon had hit the ground. Her partner was starting to rise to his feet once again, though he was notably out of sorts because of the damage that he had already sustained. A few Deep Ones attempted to surge toward him, but he released a static attack of pink energy before anyone could come close to making contact with him. Silphymon used this as his chance to jump as far away as possible before he could be completely consumed by the nearby assailants.
"We can't just let them keep running around like they can do what they want!" Miyako shouted, her voice so suddenly loud that it made Hikari jump immediately. "If it's a fight they want, then it's a fight that they're going to get!"
Silphymon seemed to agree, and he gave a nod in Miyako's direction before jumping off toward the source of the battle. He released another energy attack, and while it didn't do anything significant to Chaosdromon, Hikari didn't expect it to in the first place. Chaosdromon was much more powerful than any of the other Digimon found in the immediate area, and it was going to take more than a single Perfect Digimon to knock him to his knees.
This did little to influence Miyako though, and she glared intensely at her foe with all of the anger and vitriol in the world. She was still gripping tightly at her Digivice when she next spoke. Hikari was only able to hear the words that she shared because of how close she was, though the rest of the team was not given the opportunity thanks to how quiet Miyako had chosen to be. "I won't let you hurt my friends ever again, Daemon," she whispered, her voice overwhelmed with quiet rage. It hardly matched Miyako's normal demeanor, but at the same time, Hikari knew that this was exactly what Miyako needed in that moment.
Light burst free of the Digivice in Miyako's hand, and Hikari took a few steps away out of pure surprise. The rest of the Chosen Children looked over in her direction out of curiosity, though they all seemed to know what this meant. Miyako looked down at the device as white light spread outward once more, her eyes wide in shock.
Silphymon had jumped into the air as a way of preparing for his next attack when the light suddenly arose, and Hikari grinned brightly as his shape began to shift. This had to mean that another evolution was taking place, and this time Hawkmon would be the one ascending to the next level.
"Silphymon, evolve to... Valkyrimon!"
When the light began to fade, the new Digimon, Valkyrimon, landed down on the sands below. He was still humanoid, and much of his body was white. A pair of wings stuck out from his shoulder blades, and gold armor plated one arm. A blue sash hung from his waist, and a visor coated his eyes.
Chaosdromon either didn't notice the evolution or was choosing to not acknowledge it as he shoved one hand in the direction of his foe. Valkyrimon didn't give him the chance to complete the attack though, instead pulling a sword from its sheath at his waist. He slashed it a single time at Chaosdromon's metallic body. As soon as the blade hit Chaosdromon's hand, the larger Digimon came to a complete halt, though there were a few groans of panic that escaped into the air. Hikari was left confused briefly, but she figured out what was happening a moment later; Valkyrimon's sword had the ability to freeze the Digimon's opponents, and that left Chaosdromon with no choice but to remain statuesque.
MetalGarurumon landed after a fierce jump, stopping his barrage on the nearby foes temporarily. He opened his mouth before sending an attack of icy energy spiraling through the air toward Chaosdromon. This time, Chaosdromon most certainly did feel the sting of the attack. Valkyrimon's sword strike had seemingly nullified the advantages that he had been given as a result of being a combination of multiple Deep Ones.
WarGreymon followed MetalGarurumon's example and summoned the full strength of his Gaia Force attack before sending it hurtling down toward his target. Chaosdromon, still immobilized, had no choice but to take the attack at its full force. He remained still as could be even as small cracks began to appear across the metallic surface of his body. There was nothing that he could do to change the fact that he was going to lose this battle. Valkyrimon had already made sure of that much and then some.
Angewomon was down on the beach meanwhile, preparing an attack for the Deep Ones that were still changing shape. HolyAngemon was nearby, opening his heavenly gate to transport the Deep Ones away from the battlefield for their subsequent destruction. The other Perfect Digimon, who at this point consisted only of Paildramon, JewelBeemon, and Meicrackmon, gathered alongside Angewomon, and the four of them sent out their strongest blasts at the same time.
This sent all of the nearby Deep Ones spiraling into the gate that HolyAngemon had summoned. From there, the gate closed and began to shift before starting to disappear. That took care of nearly the entire rest of the fighting force, and Chaosdromon was the primary threat left, though given the fact that he was frozen and would not recover his ability to move before the battle was over, it signaled the final stage of victory for the Chosen Children.
Valkyrimon raised one hand into the sky, creating an arrow of light gold energy before hurling it straight at Chaosdromon's chest. As soon as the attack made contact, an explosion of light spread outward, and the last thing that Hikari heard was Chaosdromon's scream before his body began to melt away in a cloud of black data. There was so much data that Hikari was once again confident in the group's theory that he had been a combination of multiple Deep Ones. After all, none of their foes had ever given off quite so much data once they were defeated.
After Chaosdromon went down, it didn't take long for the rest of the team to sweep through the remainder of the Deep Ones in Digimon form. In fact, it was impressive how quickly the fight wrapped up, and Hikari was barely able to process what was happening until after their foes had been defeated in full. Even after the Deep Ones were gone, it took her a moment to allow the tension to remove itself from her body. She was still in the mindset that there was something wrong and that she was in danger, and she couldn't seem to shake it no matter how hard she tried.
It wasn't until after Taichi let out a sigh of relief that Hikari accepted that she was no longer in trouble. "It seems like that's all there is to it then," Taichi said simply. He glanced out toward the Digimon, and Hikari followed suit a moment later. Their partners were coming back to them. The flying Digimon swept down from the skies while the Digimon on foot jumped to their partners' sides. The one exception was Vikemon, who was still too large to make his way up the cliffside due to how steep it was.
Luckily for Vikemon, he didn't have to try to climb up the side of the cliff. The Digimon all began to glow and shift back into their Baby forms after they were with their partners. Vikemon became Pukamon and then proceeded to fly over in Jou's direction. All of the other Digimon reunited with their partners soon afterward.
Nyaromon nuzzled her cheek against Hikari's ankle, and she smiled before leaning over and scooping her partner into her arms. It was unusual for Nyaromon to be the one to appear after Tailmon had become Angewomon, but she supposed that this battle had been particularly grueling and exhausting. After all, the Dark Ocean was a difficult place to be in, and fighting within its confines was even more difficult.
"Wow, Poromon! I didn't know you could do that!" Miyako exclaimed with a weary smile as she examined her partner's body in full. "Then again, I guess you couldn't do it until just a few minutes ago, so I shouldn't be too surprised. I suppose that the Crest of Passion activated to spark your evolution."
"It seems to me that if there are no outside influences to cause an evolution to Ultimate, then it follows similar rules to what happens at the Perfect level," Sora mused. "It involves activating one's Crest to bring their partner to the next level. Though in a way, I suppose that was the case for Taichi and Yamato as well when WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon first appeared all those years ago, albeit in a different manner."
"It takes a long time for Digimon to evolve to the Ultimate level even after they reach their Perfect forms, but our partners have been around for a long time," Takeru pointed out. "Of course, I'm not complaining in the slightest. Valkyrimon made it much easier for us to defeat Chaosdromon. I don't know what we would have done without them."
"That was a difficult first fight though," Yamato frowned. "We should probably give our Digimon a bit of food so that we can be ready for another fight should something happen. You never know what could happen as long as we're in an awful place like this."
Hikari nodded her agreement. She wanted to get in and out of the Dark Ocean as quickly as possible, but at the same time, she knew that she couldn't push her partner too far. They all needed a break after what they had just been through, and she was fully aware of that much. They were going to have to stop for better or worse to make sure that they were ready in case they were attacked again. There were undoubtedly more Deep Ones nearby, and there were going to be others guarding the gate to Daemon's domain as well.
"Stop it..."
Hikari was pulled from her thoughts by the familiar voice of Ken, and she glanced over in his direction with a frown on her face. He was staring at the ground even though there was nothing of note to look at in the first place. Minomon was in his grasp, but not even the Digimon was aware of what was going on. That much was clear based on the look in his eyes. Daisuke was standing nearby, ready to wrap one arm around Ken's shoulder.
Upon closer examination, Hikari couldn't help but notice how ghastly and pale Ken was. He seemed to be less of a living, breathing human being and more of a ghost that hadn't seen the sun in decades. She reached out one hand in his direction, wanting to do something to help but not wanting to overwhelm him if it could be avoided.
"Ken? Are you alright?" Iori asked carefully, keeping his voice as level as he could manage despite how terrified his eyes were. He took a step closer, grasping Upamon against his chest even tighter than before.
"I... I'm fine," Ken finally forced himself to respond after a long silence that seemed to stretch on for a thousand years. He shook his head, though he refused to meet anyone's eyes no matter what anyone did to try and grab his attention. He swallowed dryly and closed his eyes.
"You look a bit nauseous," Mimi observed. She took a step in Ken's direction as well, almost as if she was afraid that he would keel over and fall to the ground at a moment's notice if she wasn't careful. Meiko looked just as worried from her place at Mimi's side.
Ken shook his head once again, plastering on a smile so fake that it made Hikari feel like she was going to be sick. Every part of her body rejected the notion that Ken was at all anything resembling fine, but she knew that was exactly what he was going to say. "Sorry. I just had a moment there, but I'm okay now," Ken told Mimi. He had to be aware of the fearful looks that the other members of the group were giving him, but he refused to acknowledge them in the slightest. After all, that would involve dropping the mask, and that was the last thing he wanted to even dream of doing.
"Let's stop for a while," Miyako suggested, though it was clear that she wouldn't be taking any objections on the subject. After all, Ken was clearly much less alright than he was trying to act, and if nobody interfered, he was going to keep up with his charade for better or worse. It was one thing that Hikari had always been able to sympathize with Ken on. He seemed to repress his feelings just as much as she did. It was a matter of not wanting to inconvenience others, though in this instant, Hikari wished that he would at least say something. The concern of her teammates was going to eat them alive if he didn't try to help himself.
"We can find a place away from here. We don't want to be out in the open, and Daemon could send some of his troops in this area if we stick around," Koushiro pointed out. He started to walk away from the cliffside, and Hikari found herself overwhelmingly grateful for the fact that they were getting away from the space. She didn't need the reminders of combat to linger any longer than they already had.
Hikari didn't focus much as the group moved away from the scene of the fight, though she knew that not many members of the team were in tune with reality in the first place. The Dark Ocean itself was already proving itself to be a formidable foe, and there was much that had yet to be done before they would be able to return home in good conscience. Their first battle had been long and hard, and there was still much left for them to accomplish. Hikari hoped that their journey came and went as painlessly as possible, though she somehow doubted that would be the case. After all, when was anything of this nature ever easy?
For the time being though, Hikari chose to focus on the positives of the situation. They were all still alive, and they had managed to gain one extra Ultimate Digimon to use in the coming battles. Valkyrimon was undoubtedly going to be a huge help to their future escapades, and his power was not something that could be understated. Two thirds of the experienced Chosen Children had helped their partners to push to the Ultimate level, and as much as Hikari hated to admit it, she knew that they were going to need that extra bit of power from then on out. The war in the Dark Ocean had just begun, after all.
Hikari wasn't entirely sure of how long they had been walking when she stared to hear something from behind her. She turned her head over her shoulder to see Ken walking with Daisuke, though everything about Ken's expression had changed. His eyes were still wide, and he looked worn down to an unhealthy degree. Once again, the ghostly qualities had appeared, and Hikari found herself unable to speak from pure horror and shock.
"Ken...?" Minomon asked with wide eyes. He was only barely managing to keep himself from complete panic, and Hikari stopped walking to turn and face Ken. He appeared to be tipping on the edge of a panic attack, and it wouldn't surprise her if he was unable to fight it off given how awful he looked. His struggle was so clear that it sent a shudder through Hikari's body, violent and sudden just as everything in the Dark Ocean seemed to be in some way or another.
Nobody even had a chance to respond as Ken's legs gave out from beneath him. The shift of his center of balance happened in the blink of an eye, and before Hikari knew what was happening, he was falling to the ground. Daisuke did his best to keep Ken from getting hurt along the way, but there was only so much that he could do given the notable height difference between them and the fact that Daisuke was still recovering from an injury himself. Daisuke refused to do anything that would betray the fact that he was suffering to any members of the team as he eased Ken onto the grass below.
"Ken, are you alright?" Sora questioned. She had come closer at some point and was seemingly resisting the urge to dash toward him and see if he was alright. She knew that he needed space if he was going to at all recover, but she still wanted to be near him just to make sure that he was alright. All of them needed any piece of stability that they could cling to after what had happened with Daisuke, and Sora was hardly an exception on this matter.
Jou was the only other member of the group who was allowed to come in close to where Ken was laying on the grass, but Daisuke refused to step away no matter what. He was too busy looking down at his Jogress partner in nothing short of complete concern. Jou began to look over Ken with a frown on his face. "Can you hear us?" Jou questioned. Hikari could tell based on the look in Jou's eyes that he hadn't been able to find anything of note while he was searching for answers.
Ken nodded to Jou carefully, and one of his hands came up to cradle at the side of his head. "I... I can hear it..." he whispered. He immediately seemed to regret speaking, and his eyes went wide as he tried to erase the words from everyone's memories.
"You can hear what?" Taichi questioned, his voice intense but not lacking in sincerity as he took a step closer. It was only when Jou held up one hand to keep Taichi from getting any closer to Ken that Hikari's older brother stopped in his tracks. Taichi knew that this subject was Jou's specialty, and he wasn't about to interfere at such an important moment.
"I-I... F-Forget about it... It doesn't matter," Ken said though, all of them were fully aware that he was putting up a front to keep them from probing the subject further. Of course, the Chosen Children were some of the most stubborn people that Hikari had ever met, and she meant that in the most positive way possible. They were going to get to the bottom of this one way or another no matter how much Ken tried to protest.
"Tell us, please," Miyako told him, practically begging with her eyes to receive an answer. Hikari frowned and nodded carefully to show that she felt the same way. She was beyond concerned, and something flashed in the back of her mind in the silence. She needed to know that everyone was going to be alright one way or another. She couldn't go through another close grace with death after what had happened with Daisuke.
Ken looked around at the other members of the team, seemingly searching for a way to get out of this situation. It was only after a long silence that he was able to bring himself to speak once again. "Daemon..." Ken murmured, seemingly recognizing that he wouldn't be able to escape this no matter what he tried. "I... I can hear his voice..."
"What?!" Yamato whispered in shock that could not be contained. "What are you talking about?" He was once again resisting the same urge that Sora and Taichi were struggling with, and it was only thanks to his act of understanding that he was able to keep himself from rushing over to Ken's side.
Ken blinked a few times, seemingly trying to orient himself to the world around him once again. "I... It started a few weeks ago... When the barrier between worlds started to get weaker," he began to explain. "I began to hear this odd voice in my dreams, but I didn't recognize it. After a while, it spread to the waking world too, and... When we were attacked by Daemon, I realized that he was the one who I had been hearing."
"And you're able to hear him now too?" Meiko questioned, her voice so filled with fear that it was overwhelming for Hikari to listen to. She held Cooamon tightly against her chest, though the close content still did little to calm the sheer terror in her eyes.
Ken nodded. "I can... I've been having trouble sleeping ever since I started being able to hear him, and... I-I guess that it was too much," he murmured, looking at the grass around him as proof of his moment of weakness. "I'm sorry about this."
"Why didn't you say that anything was going on before?" Iori asked. His voice was soft, but Hikari could still tell that he was concerned. Iori was certainly defensive when it came to people that he cared for after all, and this situation was hardly an exception to the rule.
"I didn't want to scare any of you," Ken said, though as soon as he spoke the words, he seemed to realize just how feeble of an excuse that really was. He hesitated before sighing. "I'm sorry again about all of this. I should have just said something sooner, but... I-I couldn't bring myself to do it."
"We can stop here for now and wait until Ken is feeling well enough to keep walking," Taichi declared. Everyone else nodded their agreement. "This will be the perfect chance for us to get the Digimon back to full strength again too. They could use the break to eat."
"I'm sorry," Ken repeated, almost as if he was convinced that he would never be able to say the words enough. "I didn't mean for everything to spiral out of control this way, but I... I guess that it wound up falling apart in the end regardless..."
"It's not as if this is your fault," Daisuke pointed out. His gaze grew pointed as he looked down at his companion once again. "But you should have just said something as soon as you started hearing things from Daemon. It's not as if you have to deal with all of that by yourself. We're all here for you no matter what you need. That's the point of being part of this team, you know?"
Ken nodded. He shifted his body so that he was sitting upright, using the trunk of a nearby tree to keep himself balanced. He closed his eyes and tilted his head backward as Mimi unzipped her bag and started to pull snacks free of the backpack. They were distributed quickly from there, but Hikari's mind was never on the food. Her gaze didn't shift away from Ken for a long time, and she prayed with everything she had that she never had to deal with the familiar sensation of mortal terror again.
Miyako was confident that she was going to be sick to her stomach.
Every single moment in the Dark Ocean seemed so much more frustrating to her this time around compared to how it had been three years ago. In the past, the Dark Ocean had been blending with the Digital World due to instability within the barriers between realms. This time though, there was no easy way to get in or out. That was what had caused such a grand problem in the first place, as a matter of fact. During their past excursions to the Dark Ocean, the primary objective had been just to escape in one piece. This time around though, the goal was much different. They had to defeat Daemon before they were able to return home, and that was much easier said than done.
Miyako couldn't stop glancing over at Ken. If she wasn't watching Poromon devour the snacks that had been placed before him, she was staring in Ken's direction. Miyako had gotten over her crush on him years ago, but that did not mean that she was free of the burden of worry where he was concerned. In fact, it seemed as if her fears had only grown worse in the time that she had gotten to know him as a friend rather than just a distant silhouette that she was projecting her feelings onto. There was something deeply wrong with the Dark Ocean, and Ken was paying the price for it.
As much as Miyako loved her friends though, she couldn't help but feel frustrated deep down. She wished that Ken had said something about what he was struggling with sooner. That way, the rest of the group would have been able to help him before it came to this. Miyako was no stranger to dealing with people who hid their emotions given that she spent so much time with Hikari, Ken, and Takeru, but this time, she was left even more confused than ever before. She had never understood what the point of hiding one's feelings was, and she understood it even less after witnessing Ken's sudden collapse.
Miyako wanted to help Hikari too. She could tell that Hikari was continuing to hide her feelings out of fear, and Miyako wanted to do what she could to break through that habit before it could grow any worse. Hikari wasn't just afraid of Daemon though; she feared what rested beyond their upcoming final battle with their current foe, and Miyako didn't know what to do about either situation. There wasn't an easy solution that could help Hikari. Her first trip to the Dark Ocean had been a traumatizing event for her, and it seemed as if that fear had not been shaken even so many years later. Miyako didn't know what she expected, but she had been hoping that Hikari had learned from the past that she didn't have to handle things on her own. Miyako had pulled Hikari out of her downward spiral before, and she was willing to do it again as long as Hikari would just let her in. Unfortunately, that was the hard part in and of itself, leaving Miyako at a loss for words and scrambling to find something that would help.
But the most frustrating part of this had to be Daisuke. Miyako had always thought Daisuke to be like her in terms of self-expression. They wore their hearts on their sleeves and took life by the horns to confront their problems directly. Daisuke had changed ever since he was hurt by Daemon though, and Miyako hated that she barely recognized his wide smile anymore. He was starting to hide his emotions too, likely a result of the dreadful series of events that he had fallen victim to, and Miyako could tell that he was shifting. She didn't want that for him in the slightest. Hiding emotions had hurt the other members of their team so badly, and Daisuke had to know better than to slip into something of this nature. If that was the case though, then why wasn't he fighting back against his issues?
The simple way to put it was that all of them were changing one way or another, and Miyako absolutely hated it. They were the Chosen Children, and they were there for one another. She knew that fact just as well as she knew her own name, but why didn't anybody else seem to understand it? Why did it seem like there was something that was keeping them from comprehending the fact of the matter? They had supported one another through so much, and yet, they were refusing to reach out when they needed one another most.
Miyako only came crashing back down to reality when she heard a familiar voice in front of her. Poromon had seemingly restored his energy enough to become Hawkmon once again, and he was at the Child level all of a sudden. Miyako smiled down at him, glad that she could at least count on him no matter what. Even if the rest of her team was confusing and understanding eluded her, Hawkmon would support her. That was one of the best parts of having a Digimon partner. It was an unconditional support system no matter what happened. Miyako just wished that the rest of the group understood that.
She and Hawkmon had pulled off a miracle just a short while ago. They had managed to reach the Ultimate level despite having never done such a thing in the past. They had been together for long enough to bypass the barrier of time that often blocked off the Ultimate stage from most other Digimon. Miyako's Crest of Passion had sparked to life once again because she was so determined to defend her friends. She wanted to do what she could to ensure that they all came out of the battle in one piece, and that was how it had happened.
Miyako should have been proud. She was fully aware that she had every right to etch this across her heart with permanent ink, but she couldn't bring herself to lift the pen. It didn't feel right for some reason, and while Miyako was pretending to not understand it, she knew exactly why. It felt wrong because she was doing so much for her friends, but it still seemed to come up short. she was doing what she could, but it wasn't what they needed. She didn't know what they needed, and she doubted that they did either.
Miyako couldn't bring herself to say any of this though, knowing that it would hardly help to call everyone out in a way that would undoubtedly earn her only negative responses. Instead, she just reached out and touched Hawkmon's wing with one hand. He glanced back at her in confusion, and she just shrugged before continuing to stare down at the grass. She wanted an answer for why all of this was happening. Why did it seem like the world was falling apart? Even worse, why did it seem like she wasn't able to do a damn thing to keep it together?
And so we have another evolution to Ultimate!
This chapter is an important one in terms of character growth. I really do love Miyako's actions in this chapter that lead to Valkyrimon appearing. Miyako really is an interesting character, and I love her lots. Her care for her friends is different from most of the other characters in the series, but I don't think that's a bad thing at all. She's incredibly empathetic whether she looks it or not, and that's the primary reason that Valkyrimon was able to show up in this chapter at all.
Writing from Hikari's perspective is lots of fun too. You can tell how much she's starting to struggle because of all this due to how vacant and hollow she is in terms of narration. It's a subtle detail, but I love filling my stories with things like that for the sake of spice. This chapter has the quiet undertone of consequences from when Daisuke was hurt even as we get a bit farther away from what happened to him. Trust me when I say that this is hardly going to be the last time that we feel the pull of that subject, especially since the character growth is coming in significantly now.
There's not all that much to say in terms of this chapter that wasn't already self-explanatory. For now, I'm going to leave things off here. Next week, we've got another chapter in the Dark Ocean as the group gets closer to their confrontation with Daemon. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital