I don't own digimon.

Session 71

Little Steps Forward

If you had asked Polly what she saw herself doing almost two years ago, she probably would've answered mixed martial artist or perhaps something sports related.

Ask her a year after that, she would've said an adventurer, maybe a novelist.

But now, as she stared her partner no, future husband in the eye, she wasn't quite sure now. Maybe she would stay an adventurer, traveling about this world, Or perhaps she would go down her original path and continue her martial arts training. If she really wanted to be ambitious, maybe go back to Mahora with Fatemon, spruce up the place and become a teacher.

But for now, she would need to focus on the situation at hand.

"Are you ready?" Fatemon called out and two focused on each other. Polly gave him a nod and charged forth, deciding to go with left hook. Fatemon countered with a block, following it up with an uppercut. While it missed, it caught Polly off guard.

Watery Grave Punch!

Arcane Wrath!

Fatemon shot out a sphere of magical energy, only to watch Polly spike it back.

"I guessed I trained you too well." Fatemon whispered as he sidestepped his opponent's flurry of punches. "Oh well."

The harem mage responded with a kick to the chest and a swipe towards the stomach, only to get a kick to the balls as a result.

"You're not too bad yourself." Polly answered and swung her left fist, possibly going for a cross or maybe an uppercut. But no, she went for a grab, suplexing Fatemon.

Pylónes tou Ádi (Pillars of Hades)!

The harem mage broke free of the grab, summoning forth a pillar and gave it a slight punch. Of course, he stepped away as it began to fall, forcing Polly to deal with it.

Seaside Throw!

The monk magi decided flinging the structure back, bit by bit, was the best option. Which, meant doing a variety of punching and throwing at the thing while it was still falling. Yet, she managed to pull it off. Though, Fatemon had created quite a gap for them.

Polly took a deep breath and sighed. Sooner or later, she would reach him and the fight would continue on. They were both evenly matched, combat-wise, making it more of a battle of stamina and endurance than anything else.

"Is that everything you got?" Fatemon called out, with Polly refocusing her gaze on him. She took a deep breath and concentrated, making out a small puddle not that far from her opponent. "Oh crap."

Polly then disappeared, only to appear seconds later to uppercut the harem mage.

"You're holding back." she muttered and unleashed a flurry of punches in Fatemon's direction, watching him attempt to keep up. He somehow managed to do just that, as the level of excitement between the two seemed to drop. "This is pointless. Couldn't you have thought this through a tiny bit more?"

Fatemon took a deep breath, only to sigh. In retrospect, he knew he should've given her at least some time to prepare before starting the battle off.

Watery Grave Punch!

But before he could even voice any of those concerns, Polly landed a right hook to his face.

"You cheated." Fatemon whispered as he charged up for Terra Archens. "For a second there, I actually did think you were telling the truth."

The two laughed, only for a shot to ring out.

"I guess they're here." Polly remarked as she watched her teammates and their digimon arrive. Strangely, Officer EMT was leading up the rear for once and Chacha wasn't with them.

"There you are." Elena shouted and pulled her kris out, taking a series of short deep breaths in the process. "Care to explain what is even going on?"

Both Polly and Fatemon sighed and did a quick round or two of rock paper scissors. Eventually, it was the monk magi that came out on top, leaving the honor to Fatemon.

"Basically, Polly and I were fighting till I'm 'defeated'." Fatemon whispered. "For now, you people can just go to the armored vehicle."

Toxic Claws!

Somehow, Adarnamon did not get that message and manage to deliver a dose of some form of toxic liquid to the harem mage.

"Sorry." Adarnamon whispered and flew over to her master, who only took a deep breath. "We'll leave you people be."

With that, they made their way towards the armored vehicle as Polly and Fatemon watched on.

"They're an interesting bunch." Fatemon whispered as Polly swung her fists towards him. "Shame that they all had to be dragged into the conflict one way or another."

The monk magi looked at him with a mix of confusion and curiosity. Yet, she decided to continue with watery grave punch.

"In any other story," Fatemon continued. "We wouldn't have to do this. We could just talk it out like normal civilized people and come to a possible solution that would work out for both parties. But this place is not that kind of world. We both know that best."

Polly gave a nod, only for Fatemon to kick at her legs. She responded with a headbutt and seemed to knock her partner back a few feet.

"Soon, they will have to do the same. And unlike us, they won't go easy on them."

That was what it all came down to. Whether or not Delta could defeat those that chose to screw them over one way or another. It was just another test, a way to gauge how far they had come along this road in order to reach this supposed heaven. Or perhaps, it was just a way for the timekeeper to clean shop for some reason.

Whatever the reason may have possibly been didn't matter to either of them, continuing to brawl. Though, I doubt it would have really changed anything if they did. The poison had finally taken effect, seeming to bring forth a slight pain to the harem mage. Yet, it did little to slow him down, possibly giving him even more of a reason to keep this going. Polly on the other hand, just wanted to be done. Her body felt like it was going to blow, not that it would really do much other than cause her body to be split apart all over the place.

Watery Grave Punch!

Polly slammed her fist into Fatemon's chest, only to watch her body congeal into a pile of light blue goop.

"I'm sorry, Fatemon." she whispered and attempted to pull herself back together. Only for a slow clap to break her concentration.

"That was totally worth not counting you and Chacha as defeated." a voice announced as a ten year old british kid floated down and flung

"You have to the count of three, timekeeper." Fatemon snarled as their opponent just laughed. "If you aren't out of my sight by then, your 'toy' will be mincemeat."

"Is that so?" the timekeeper taunted.

"One…" Fatemon announced.

"I would like to see you try."

Polly managed to pull herself back together and made her way over to Chacha.

"Two..." Fatemon whispered and stepped towards his partners, grabbing hold of them as he did.

"Go ahead and try, I dare you!"

"Three."

Unity: Watery Grave Explosion!

For some reason, the final boss of this mess decided standin still was the best strategy as the trio performed their special technique. There wasn't any variation to the last use, other than a slightly smaller explosion and it managing to strip a 'little bit' off the timekeeper.

"I'll let you people live, for now." he announced and teleported away, just as Fatemon and Chacha collapsed to the ground. "I guess that means you bozos have defeated four members of the order. Good job… not."

Polly took a deep breath and grabbed hold of both her digimon, pulling them towards EMT's armored vehicle. A grayish blue sky hung overhead, lit up by the light of the digital world's sole moon. As she pulled, her mind wandered back to the question at the start of this chapter. She both understood yet at the same time unclear at where she wanted to take things. At any time, she and Fatemon could have their wedding, though the question of getting a marriage license meant having to face her parents one more time. And while she had a better understanding of what they had done, it didn't make it any easier.

Yet, she was fine with that. Little steps were always better than taking no steps forward on this road of life...

Notes:

Yeah, this chapter is a little bit of a mess.

Chacha's fight will be covered in a future chapter of AWC.

I'm going to temporarily switch gears and work on some side projects, if you guys don't mind.

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Next Time: Delta makes a plan. It's a lot better than it sounds.