ZAFT: We are updating on time today it seems. :3
DarkFoxKit: Yup. We have a lot of chapters in reserve and we're also able to write again, so that means we have even more chapters.
Andy: Hey, glad to see you two are alright. Takuya here almost caused an explosion.
Takuya: I did not! *pouts*
Andy: Then why is your room completely scorched?
Takuya: I… was… Uh… Oops?
DarkFoxKit: Oh great, now we gotta clean up. Well, let's get the reviewers into the story.
ZAFT: I really need to leash Takuya...
(Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)
Digital Phantom!
(Shows three forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, and Tucker Foley)
Three worlds, connected side by side
(A swirling green portal is shown, followed by the sky cities of the living world before a computer monitor is zoomed in on, revealing another world of lush greenery through that)
Connections, with many secrets to hide
(Andy Fenton is shown with a small purple fox-like creature, Dorimon, in his arms as Takuya Kanbara appears behind him, a form in shadow behind Takuya himself)
Is one always chosen by fate?
(Danny is shown transforming into his ghost form, Danny Phantom, flying towards a vampiric looking ghost, Vlad Plasmius)
Or can one make their own destiny?
(Andy is shown looking on as his cell-phone transforms into a Digivice, the D-Arc)
Digital Phantom!
(Andy holds up his D-Arc as a heart symbol appears on the screen)
The power is deep inside!
(Takuya holds up his D-Tector before fractal code surrounds him, dissipating as fire erupts from it, revealing him as Agunimon, lunging out from the fire just as Dorimon glows and becomes Dorumon, firing off a metal ball into the distance)
Digital Phantom!
(The metal ball blasts past Vlad Plasmius as he fires off a ghost ray at Andy, who blocks it with his Fenton Rod)
Destiny is unbound!
(The Fenton Rod is smacked away by Vlad, going spinning before Sam, with a small puppy-like creature next to her, reaches up and catches it, a shadowed form with wings appearing behind her, transparent in appearance)
Digital Phantom!
(Sam throws the Fenton Rod to Tucker, who spins it before throwing it at Plasmius, a big bunny-like being with gun-hands appearing behind Tucker, transparent in appearance)
Fight on, without regret
(Shows Takuya looking up from his D-Tector as he makes eye contact with his Human Spirit of Agunimon, who give a smile back and reaches out a hand as Takuya takes it)
Two sides never rest
(Danny is shown reaching for a glowing Digi-Egg, with a shadowed form above it just as an evil version of the shadowed form appears beside Vlad, both transparent in appearance)
Digital Phantom!
(Jazz is shown with the form of Lopmon beside her, a larger, shadowed form behind them both)
Never regret or look back
(Takuya is shown looking up as a ball of fractal code covers his hand, surrounding him before it dissipates to reveal his Fusion form of Aldamon)
Fight on, with victory
(Aldamon fires off a slew of fiery bullets from his cannons, each of those bullets hitting Plasmius before the ghost teleports away, revealing a shadowed form behind him)
Nothing will stand in our way!
(Andy, Dorimon, Danny, Tucker, Terriermon, Sam, Salamon, Jazz, Lopmon, and Takuya all appear with Vlad above them, sneering evilly as all ten look on defiantly)
Digital Phantom!
Chapter 41: A Digital Nightmare World
Takuya was on his back, lying on the grass. They had been here since early this morning. It was afternoon now. After the Trailmon stopped, Takuya and Koji were surprised to see that they were on the floating island where the ToyAgumon and Monzaemon lived. The island wasn't actually floating when the Trailmon arrived. They had a distress call from Sorcermon, which was why they were on the ground. Now that the Trailmon dropped everyone off, the ToyAgumon were driving the aircraft that was holding up the big piece of land into the sky, using a cloud machine to keep them hidden.
Takuya didn't like being on the island, however, because it reminded him too much of Tommy. It was here Tommy befriended the Monzaemon, and who was trying to get Koji to lighten up a bit since he was such a stick in the mud at the time. There were a lot of memories about this place where Takuya was trying to comfort Tommy from Koji's attitude, as well as trying to save Tommy from WaruMonzaemon.
Takuya gritted his teeth as he rolled over and punched the ground in anger. Why didn't I go back for Tommy?! How could I have just left him behind like that?!
Takuya then looked up, seeing Calumon. Calumon was sitting by a tree. He had fallen asleep at some point though, unable to stay awake after studying the notes on the Nightmare Syndrome all night. Koji had taken Koichi in one of the buildings that the remaining doctor Digimon was using for the other Digimon they managed to take with them, as well as some of the injured Digimon. Not only was Takuya getting eaten away by guilt, he was also bored out of his mind.
Sighing, Takuya sat up, wondering what he could do in the meantime. He couldn't just ask any of the Digimon to play a game with him, and on top of it, Koji was still likely to be with his brother. A groan escaped him. "I'm so booorrreeeed!"
"Would you keep it down? Some of us are trying to sleep…" A voice grumbled.
Takuya turned to see who spoke to him. He was surprised to see it was a Gabumon.
"Oh… Uh… Sorry for waking you…" Takuya said sheepishly as he stepped back and away from the Gabumon.
"Oh, hey, aren't you Takuya Kanbara?" Gabumon asked, likely just recognizing him. "One of the Legendary Warriors?"
Takuya blinked. "Uh… Yeah… I am. Why do you want to know?" He was confused now.
"Ah, well, you could say I'm a bit of a fan. I've heard so much about you from Uncle Bokomon and Neemon," Gabumon blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his head a little. "Agumon and I always loved hearing the story about how you human children inherited the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors and defeated Cherubimon and Lucemon."
Takuya blinked. "You… You must be the Gabumon who was found with Agumon when you were just a Tsunomon then!"
"Yup, that's me! I was running an errand for Uncle Bokomon when I came here. But then the whole nightmare thing was going on, so I wasn't allowed to leave," Gabumon sighed. "I hope Agumon, and my uncles are okay. But hey! Maybe that's why you're here. Of course, the Legendary Warriors could handle this threat."
Takuya gave a grin, but only to try and reassure Gabumon. "Yeah, of course we can!"
Gabumon then frowned a little. "But wait… why are you up here then and not down there?"
Takuya sighed. "We… we needed a new base of operations. The enemy found our last one and we had to go somewhere that was mobile and not easy to find."
"I guess this is something even the Legendary Warriors would have a hard time handling…" Gabumon frowned, before he looked at Calumon for a moment, then looked back at Takuya. "So… how many of you are left besides just the two of you?"
Takuya sighed again. "Me and Koji… We're the only ones left… so you were spot on when you said 'two of you'..." He admitted, despite not wanting to upset Gabumon.
Gabumon gave a confused frowned. "Wait, if Koji is still awake, then wouldn't that make three of you then? But that does sound pretty bad..."
Takuya blinked. "Wait… You said three of us. I only counted me and Koji as remaining awake. Who else could be? Tommy isn't with us. He was back at Seraphimon's castle when it fell to this new enemy."
"What?" Gabumon gave Takuya a confused look, before realization came to him. "You… you mean… you don't know…"
"Don't know what?" Takuya asked.
"Ah, nevermind," Gabumon quickly said. "Still, at least having just two Legendary Warriors is better than none. You only lose if you give up after all. Why don't you try to play with some of the toys? It might help relieve your stress."
Takuya smiled a bit at that. "Yeah, I think I will. I could use some stress relief after all that we have been through." Then an idea came to him. "Hey, do you want to play with me? I mean, it isn't fun to play alone, so why not?"
"Me? Play with one of the Legendary Warriors!?" Gabumon's face turned red. "I couldn't possibly!"
"C'mon! I need someone to help me keep my mind off of this issue for a while, and you're the one I picked~" Takuya joked. "So you gotta catch me first~"
"W-what!?" Gabumon blushed.
Takuya tagged Gabumon and he started to run around, laughing. "Come on, Gabumon! You've gotta catch me, you're 'it' after all!"
Gabumon yelped before he started running after Takuya, still surprised that someone like him was playing tag with a Legendary Warrior.
All the laughing Takuya was making started to make Calumon stir from his nap. Calumon opened his eyes before he rubbed them, then stretched up his arms before yawning. Oh… looks like I fell asleep by accident again.
Calumon then noticed Takuya was running around with Gabumon chasing after him. "Hey… that looks like fun…"
Takuya noticed that Calumon was awake and was looking at them.
A grin crossed his face. "Hey! You wanna come and join us, Calumon?" Takuya asked as he waved a hand. "You need a break?"
Calumon started to walk toward them, though a little hesitant. "Are you sure we should be playing right now?"
"Hey, we can't stay focused on the enemy all the time, can we?" Takuya replied with a shrug. "We need to let loose and have some fun so we don't get overstressed." He then reached out with a grin and tapped Calumon on the head. "Tag, you're it~"
"Hey, I thought I was it!" Gabumon spoke up.
"Well, now he's it!" Takuya grinned.
Calumon blinked as Takuya ran away for a moment. Takuya stopped when he noticed Calumon wasn't chasing after him. Calumon was looking at Takuya, seeming unsure.
"Calumon?" Takuya asked, concerned now. "Hey, don't sweat it so much. You know… Koji was always being so stuffy when we first came here. He was always getting on Tommy's case for acting like the little kid that he was around here. But Tommy taught us something that day; sometimes playing is a good solution to solve things peacefully. Besides, there's no use in stressing ourselves out, it'll only make things harder for us."
Calumon gave a surprised look at Takuya. It felt like it had been a lifetime since I first came here with Takuya and Koji. I remembered Koji being annoyed with me a lot… I had forgotten that me playing with Monzaemon made him good again when he was corrupted. … And I hadn't seen Takuya smile since we came here.
Calumon then gave Takuya a smile before he expanded his ears then he flew at Takuya. Takuya was taken by surprise by Calumon's sudden movement, and his forehead was tapped by Calumon's claw. "Tag, now you're it~"
Takuya blinked before he realized he was indeed 'it'. "Hey! No fair! I'll get you for that!" Takuya exclaimed as he began to chase Calumon. "I'm gonna get ya!" Of course, he had a big grin on his face as he said that, which betrayed his intentions and his feelings.
Gabumon was smiling as he watched the two of them. "It's good to see them in better spirits. Although… I wonder about Koji..."
While Takuya was chasing Calumon, Gabumon went to the little hospital house where Koji was. Gabumon could see Koji was looking at his sleeping twin brother, who appeared to be in torment.
"Hey…" Gabumon spoke up, looking at Koji. "Have you eaten anything? You look pretty pale."
Koji looked up. "Huh? Oh. Yeah, I've eaten recently." He replied as he looked back at his brother again. "I'm just stressed out over this, especially with my brother being affected by this Nightmare Syndrome as well."
Gabumon looked at Koichi for a moment. "You know… I may not know Koichi on a personal level like you do, but from what I've heard about him… I don't think he would want you to stress yourself out over him like this. I'm sure he appreciates that you care, but he would worry if he found out you've been stressing yourself out over him."
Koji sighed. "Yeah, I know. It's just hard to not stress out. Especially since this enemy, this Dreammon, is so powerful."
Gabumon frowned. "You know… I don't think this Dreammon is powerful."
"How can you say that? Look at what he's done far. Look at the state my brother is in because of him!" Koji frowned.
"Please, hear me out," Gabumon said. "Have you actually fought with Dreammon? Like an actual battle, or were you only running away from him?"
Koji blinked. "Actually… No. We haven't fought him before. We only ran because of the Nightmare Syndrome plague that has been hitting everyone."
"Exactly. Everyone I've heard from always tells me that it's too dangerous, because the enemy is strong. But nobody reported on how Dreammon fought, or how powerful he really was. All they said was that they ran because of the Nightmare Syndrome he made," Gabumon stated. "I think the fear is what makes him so powerful. The mind believes him to be powerful, and therefore, he is powerful. The fear can create something mundane or weak, and turn it into the most powerful or scariest thing you've ever faced. The Nightmare Syndrome picks at your fear and amplifies it. That's what this Digimon is, it's fear, psychology. It's not actually strong, it just makes everyone else think it is."
Koji looked down. "Actually… if taken like that, then we may have a chance after all." He looked back up at Gabumon with a bit of a grin. "You know, that was quite the pep talk from you."
Gabumon blushed. "You could say I've had a similar talk with someone before."
Koji blinked, but he didn't say anything more, figuring it was not his place to ask about it. He then looked back outside. "So if we see Dreammon again, we will have to try and engage him in real battle then. To gauge how strong he really is."
"Well, maybe. Of course, the Nightmare Syndrome is still a big threat," Gabumon admitted. "If there was a way to shield yourselves from it though… you might be able to have a chance. Or maybe…"
Gabumon hesitated a little. "It's possible that the best way to fight with Dreammon is in your own dreams. The reason why he remains untouchable here is because he can easily trap you in his Nightmare Syndrome. But if you were to fight him inside the Nightmare Syndrome, you would have a better chance at actually fighting him. But that can also be the most difficult challenge yet. Dreammon, from what I know, controls the dreams through the Nightmare Syndrome, so he could be as powerful as he wants to be."
Koji sighed. "And when it seems like we have some hope, it gets dashed again…" However, what Gabumon said had some merit too, at least, fighting in the dreams themselves.
"There will always be a risk in whatever you plan to do. Even if you had a cure, what good would it do if everyone falls asleep, right? But sometimes risks need to be taken in order to get anything done. Warriors, knights, soldiers, whatever one wants to call themselves, always have to make these types of decisions. You have a choice, even if they are all dangerous, but not doing anything would be just as bad," Gabumon stated. "Do you think you might be able to face Dreammon head on?"
Koji looked down again. "To be honest, no. But we can still try, because, as you said, doing nothing would be just as bad as failing, but at least we would have tried if we failed."
"I will say this… you Legendary Warriors are at your strongest when you're together," Gabumon said.
"Well, we're not…" Koji frowned.
"I'm sure that when you really need them, you'll find a way back together again," Gabumon remarked before smiling. "After all, you've all managed to pull out impossible miracles before when everything looked bleak. I don't see why things should be different now."
Koji smiled a bit at that. "Heh, yeah. I guess we have pulled off some miracles before." He recalled the evolution to Susanoomon with ease. That had been a miracle in of itself.
"Calumon would be a bigger help than you would think as well. He has the unique ability to digivolve others, and that likely includes you Legendary Warriors. He can seem like a little kid at times, but he knows his stuff," Gabumon smiled. "Just remember… even if you don't realize it… you and Takuya aren't the only Legendary Warriors left."
Koji blinked. "Huh? What does that mean?"
"It means exactly that; you and Takuya aren't the only Legendary Warriors left awake," Gabumon chuckled. "Whether you figure it out or not is up to you. Now how about you step outside for a moment? You can't spend the rest of your days stuck in the doom and gloom."
Koji rolled his eyes. "Whatever." But he did stand up and step out of the room, just as Gabumon had suggested he do. Maybe some air will do me some good anyway.
Takuya and Calumon finally stopped playing tag in favor of playing with some of the toys they found lying around. Takuya couldn't help but smile as he was playing with the robot toy that had helped him find Tommy before when he was kidnapped by WaruMonzaemon. Calumon was laughing as he was playing with a toy car that moved by itself on a toy track.
Looking back at Calumon, Takuya poked him with a grin. "Seems like you're having fun~" He teased.
Calumon blushed before he picked up a toy pig. "Yeah, well, so are you."
Takuya looked at the toy pig Calumon picked up. It was the same toy pig Tommy had picked up before 4 years ago. Takuya was surprised that he even remembered that.
Takuya couldn't help but let out a small sigh.
"Hmm? Did I say something wrong?" Calumon asked in concern at Takuya's sudden somberness.
"No… no, it's just…" Takuya sighed, trying to think of how to explain it to Calumon. "This place brought back a lot of memories… and you just… remind me of Tommy, you know?"
"I-I do?" Calumon asked, stiffening.
Takuya gave a sad smile. "Yeah… Somehow, you remind me of him, even though he's not here."
"I see…" Calumon sweatdropped. "I'm sorry then… I didn't want to remind you of what happened to… your friend."
"Not, it's alright." Takuya sighed. "I didn't mean to bring it up. Hey, how about I bring us some cotton candy?"
Takuya gave a bit of a fake smile to Calumon before he started walking to the sweets house. Calumon frowned as he watched Takuya walk away.
Calumon's upside down triangle glowed white and blue before the Spirit of Kumamon appeared beside him.
"Why don't you tell him?" Kumamon asked.
"I can't tell him…" Calumon frowned.
Kumamon frowned. "But he's obviously missing you, because he didn't see you escape with the rest of them."
"Yeah, I know…" Calumon sighed. "It's just… I don't think he's ready to know…"
"Tell me something… why are you afraid?" Kumamon questioned.
"What?" Calumon looked at Kumamon.
"It's obvious you're afraid to tell him. You don't have much of a reason to keep it a secret other than you're afraid of how they'll react, that they would reject you," Kumamon pointed out. "But you should know them better than that. You should know they wouldn't reject you like that."
"Maybe not… but if they knew the truth of why I'm like this… they may never forgive me for it." Calumon frowned. "I don't like seeing Takuya like this, but it's only until we defeat Dreammon or make a cure. I'd rather do that then have him never want to talk to me again."
Kumamon frowned, but agreed. "If you tell them when this is over, I can accept that."
Calumon sighed. "Maybe…"
"Come on now, I didn't fuse with you because you were scared. You woke me up because of your courage and bravery. Now show some of that again with your situation," Kumamon stated.
With that said, Kumamon disappeared, and Calumon's triangle stopped glowing. What are we going to do about Dreammon though? Even after studying those notes all night, I still can't figure out how to make a cure… I feel like I'm still missing something...
However, Takuya's voice cut through his thoughts. "You hungry, Calumon? I have some treats for us."
Calumon was surprised when he saw Takuya's arms were full of candy. "Are you planning to eat all of that?"
"Nah, I plan to share half of it with you, and eat the other half." Takuya grinned.
Calumon then couldn't help but laugh. Takuya could act more like a child than he could sometimes.
Takuya smiled as he sat down and plopped the candy down where it wouldn't get dirty. "Let's chow down then!"
As the two of them munched on their candies, Calumon began to think about what Dreammon was doing. He remembered hearing Dreammon telling them that he was going to trap all of the Digital World into a nightmare void, but other than Autumn Leaf Fair, and Seraphimon's castle, Calumon never saw Dreammon cover an entire area with the Nightmare Syndrome. It had only been in places the Legendary Warriors had been in.
"Hey, Takuya… do you think that other places have been getting injected by Dreammon's Nightmare Syndrome on a large scale like Seraphimon's castle and the Autumn Leaf Fair did?" Calumon asked.
Takuya looked back. "I… I don't know to be honest, but it wouldn't be wrong to assume so since that also happened to the Autumn Leaf Fair and Seraphimon's castle."
"Maybe, but…" Calumon started thinking.
"What is it?" Takuya asked.
"It's just… if Dreammon was really trying to bury the Digital World in his nightmares, and he has all the Tapirmon under his control, wouldn't we have seen more places covered in those dark voids?" Calumon asked. "How long has he been at this?"
Takuya looked down at that. "You do have a point. We would have seen more places in that dark void…"
"Hmm… it might be good to send out some scouts across the Digital World, find out what's really going on," Calumon suggested. "We don't have a lot of information, and the lack of information makes it more difficult to fight against a strong enemy."
Takuya nodded, taking in the information. "That is true. It would be a good idea to send out some scouts, but we would need to be sure that those scouts could get back safely."
"They'll also need to be able to fly to get around quickly," Calumon added. "Maybe small as well, to be less noticeable. Someone like me."
Takuya looked back at Calumon. "Are you saying you want to be one of the scouts?"
Calumon nodded. "There isn't much I can do here. I might as well be able to do something. I can probably find more scouts at the Flame Terminal, I remember there being a lot of Poyomon and Biyomon there who are great at flying."
Takuya remembered that as well. "Yeah, I remember that from the last time I was there." He then looked back at Calumon. "But if you're going to be one of the scouts, I don't want you to take unnecessary risks."
"Don't worry, I promise I'll be careful, and I'll come straight back if it looks dangerous," Calumon promised. "But you and Koji need to stay here where it's safe, okay?"
Takuya nodded. "Don't worry. We will." He assured Calumon.
Calumon gave Takuya a smile before he began to float up. "I'll see you soon Takuya, and then we can play all we want!"
Takuya gave a smile as well. "I'll hold you to that then!"
Calumon had been keeping a careful look out for any Tapirmon or Dreammon, or any signs of a dark cloud that could resemble a Nightmare Syndrome. As Calumon was flying, he thought he was fine, until he almost ran into a cloud that turned out to be a small group of Taprimon. Calumon yelped as he flew back.
The Tapirmon looked at Calumon.
"Should we trap this little pipsqueak in a nightmare?" One of the Tapiirmon asked the others.
Another Tapirmon shook its head. "No, this one holds no value. This squirt doesn't look that strong at all."
"He might be good bait for the remaining Legendary Warriors, don't you think?" Another Tapirmon asked.
"No, we already trapped enough cute weak little Digimon to motivate them to 'save' them," One of the other Tapirmon stated. "Besides, the Master said he's getting tired after trapping two places in a void of nightmares, he needs to save his strength for the Legendary Warriors."
Calumon blinked at that as the Tapirmon kept flying until they were gone. With how strong Dreammon kept saying he was, only being able to cover two places before getting tired sounds pretty weak to me. How is he going to cover the whole Digital World in nightmares then? … Could he… is he only able to hold the Nightmare Syndrome for so long?
Calumon kept flying to the Flame Terminal. He did try to see if there were anymore places covered in a Nightmare Syndrome, but there hadn't been any. If Calumon didn't know any better, he would say things were as peaceful as they had been since they took down Lucemon.
Just then, a small group of what looked like small ghostly Digimon floated by, but they were far from ghostly. In fact, with their small eyes and mouths, they looked like flying marshmallows.
Calumon smiled as he flew close to one of them. "Hey, Poyomon! Could you help me out with something very important?"
The lead Poyomon looked over and saw Calumon. A smile was on Poyomon's face. "Sure! What do you need help with?"
"I need you guys to be scouts. Fly around, listen to what Tapirmon have to say, and this big creepy cloud-like sheep Digimon called Dreammon. And if you see any big dark, scary clouds covering an area," Calumon described. "It'll be a fun game. But don't get caught by the scary dark cloud or you lose."
Poyomon smiled again. "You want us to look for the black cloud? We can do that no problem!"
"Great, once you find something out, go to the floating island of toys. Tell the humans what you found out," Calumon instructed.
Poyomon nodded. "You can count on us!"
The Poyomon began to fly out through the skies of the Digital World, and Calumon smiled before he flew down to the Flame Terminal, and into the village where he and the others first came to in the Digital World for what felt like a lifetime ago now. As soon as Calumon landed, he was immediately surrounded by Pagumon.
"Hey! It's you! What are you doing here?" A Pagumon asked.
"I'm looking for small flyers who are willing to take on an important… and admittedly, dangerous task," Calumon stated. "I take it you all know about Dreammon, right?"
One Pagumon shuddered. "Who wouldn't? The guy is crazy and scary!"
"I wouldn't be surprised if the whole Digital World but us are covered in nightmares!" Another Pagumon shivered.
I did too, but… from what I've seen, that isn't the case. It's possible Dreammon was making himself seem like a much bigger threat than he actually is. Calumon thought to himself. "I'm starting to wonder about that. I'm going to try to find out what's really going on, and I could use some help if anyone is willing."
Another Pagumon looked at Calumon. "You want help?"
"I did just say that, yes," Calumon answered.
"Hmm… got any chocolate?" The Pagumon asked.
Calumon stared at the Pagumon before he flew up suddenly and began to look for Digimon that wouldn't demand something stupid like chocolate to help. Besides that, Calumon still remembered how the Pagumon tried to eat him and JP because they were addicted to chocolate.
The Pagumon watched him go in disappointment, but none made to pursue thankfully.
"Maybe we should help. I mean what if that Dreammon tries to come here next?" A feminine sounding Pagumon asked.
"Fine, but only because I don't want to be stuck in a nightmare for the rest of my days," Another Pagumon grumbled.
The Pagumon scattered.
Calumon smiled when he found the Biyomon nests, they were usually pretty good Digimon, so he was confident a few of them would help out.
A Biyomon looked out from her nest and smiled. "Hello~ What brings you here?"
"How would you feel about helping me with something?" Calumon suggested.
Takuya decided to check in on Koji and Koichi, but he was surprised to see Koji was standing outside. Koji had been glued to Koichi since he fell under the Nightmare Syndrome's spell. He also noticed the Gabumon standing beside Koji.
"Hey, Koji! I see you're up and about now!" Takuya joked when he saw Koji.
Koji looked at Takuya and grumbled. "Yeah, well… I decided being stuck inside too long was bad for one's health."
Gabumon chuckled a little. "The sunshine also does you some good."
Takuya grinned. "So who got you out of your hiding spot?"
Koji just grumbled something while Gabumon was giving a small blush.
"You could say that this Gabumon talked me into it," Koji huffed finally.
Takuya looked at the Gabumon. "Gabumon, huh?" He walked over to Gabumon. Takuya remembered Bokomon mentioning how a Gabumon and an Agumon had been found together before as Tsunomon and Koromon. "It's not easy to get Koji to do something, so I'm impressed you got him to come out of hiding."
"Ah, well, sometimes you just have to know what to say to someone," Gabumon blushed.
"Where's Calumon? Wasn't he with you?" Koji asked the boy with goggles.
Takuya looked back at Koji. "He went to find some help to act as scouts. He thinks it would be helpful in finding out what Dreammon is capable of, as well as how far his influence extends."
Koji frowned a little. "That's awfully brave of the little guy, but he shouldn't have gone out himself. Don't you realize how dangerous it would be if Dreammon got Calumon?"
"Uh… no? What do you mean?" Takuya asked.
"Don't you remember what Calumon is capable of, Takuya?" Koji groaned.
Takuya thought for a moment before he was then hit with the memories of fighting against Techatamon and what happened near the end of the fight. His eyes widened in shock and horror. "Oh… Crap…"
"Exactly! With Calumon, he could soop up his nightmare army with ease! Then we would be in real trouble!" Koji snapped.
Takuya groaned. "Then we should go look for him. Ugh… I can't believe I forgot about that!"
Koji sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. We need to go find him and bring him back before Dreammon does."
Takuya nodded before he started running to the edge of the island.
"Wait!" Gabumon tried to call.
Koji was about to run after Takuya too when Gabumon grabbed his arm. "Stop! If you go out there, you're going to get caught in Dreammon's Nightmare Syndrome!"
Koji looked back. "We know, but we need to get Calumon back here before Dreammon gets to him first! If Dreammon gets his hands on Calumon, then he could use Calumon's Shining Digivolution on the other Digimon here in the Digital World! Trust me, you do not want to know how bad that could get."
"I understand your concern, but what if Dreammon doesn't know about Calumon's ability?" Gabumon asked.
"What?" Koji frowned.
"Dreammon sounds like he's not originally from here. Meaning he likely doesn't know what Calumon can do since only a few Digimon know about Calumon's ability, to anyone else, he just appears to be like another In-Training Digimon. If you and Takuya fall to the Nightmare Syndrome, then who will we have left to stop Dreammon?" Gabumon explained.
Koji looked down. As much as he hated to admit it, Gabumon had a point. He looked up, but Takuya was already gone. "Huh?! Oh that blockhead!" Koji groaned.
"Koji…?" A familiar voice suddenly spoke up from behind Koji.
Koji immediately recognized that voice and quickly turned around, his eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Koichi was standing behind him.
"K-Koichi…?" Koji stammered out. As far as he knew, his twin was still under the influence of the Nightmare Syndrome… His eyes widened in horror. "Oh no…"
But to Koji's surprise, Koichi gave him a friendly smile. "Hey, what's been going on, Koji? It looks like we're in a completely different place than Seraphimon's castle. What happened to the others?"
Koji gripped his black and blue D-Tector in his pocket. "The others… we had to leave behind because the castle fell. We didn't want to, but it was getting too close for comfort… Why do you ask?"
"Oh… It's just the last thing I remember, I was riding on Petaldramon's back, and I suddenly woke up here," Koichi answered. "Koji… are you the last one left? I don't see Takuya or Tommy with you either."
Koji sighed. "Takuya went to find Calumon, and we… lost Tommy. He was still at the castle when it fell."
"Oh… that's pretty bad. So there aren't many of us left." Koichi frowned.
Koji was watching his twin brother. He seemed sincere enough, but he couldn't tell if Koichi was still under the influence of the Nightmare Syndrome or not. But Koichi hadn't attacked him yet, so it seemed promising.
"Koichi… how did you wake up?" Koji asked.
"What do you mean?" Koichi blinked.
"You were under the influence of the Nightmare Syndrome." Koji explained. "And we were not able to wake the others up, which included you."
"I'm not sure… maybe it's because of my connection to darkness that allowed me to wake up," Koichi guessed.
Gabumon was frowning as he looked at Koichi. He started to back away a little.
Koji looked at Gabumon. "Gabumon? Is something wrong?"
Koichi suddenly fell on his knees and clutched his head. "Argh! It hurts! It hurts, Koji!"
Koji ran to his twin, wondering what was going on. "Koichi?!"
Koichi clutched onto his brother before he opened his eyes again, they were glazed over. Koji's own eyes widened as Koichi's grip tightened on him. "I'll make sure you never lead me again, Koji."
A Tapirmon floated over Koichi, smirking at Koji. Gabumon tried to protect Koji. "Blue Blaster!"
Gabumon shot out blue flames at the Tapirmon, which caused it to fall back, but more Tapirmon showed up. Gabumon looked around in fear, but the Tapirmon seemed to be ignoring Gabumon and were all aiming at Koji.
Koji looked around, gripping his D-Tector. "Shit!" He had fallen right into a trap!
Koji tried to Spirit Evolve, but the Tapirmon quickly shot out their Nightmare Syndrome at the same time at him.
"I'm sorry!" Gabumon apologized before he ran away, knowing there wasn't anything he could do except warn the other Digimon of the island that the enemy was here.
Takuya, meanwhile, was currently flying through the sky as BurningGreymon. He knew he had to get to Calumon before Dreammon did, though he was completely unaware as to what happened to Koji.
Looking around, BurningGreymon didn't see any sign of Calumon, but he had a basic idea of where he could possibly be, which was why he was flying directly to the Flame Terminal.
As BurningGreymon was getting closer to the Flame Terminal, he was surprised to see a Biyomon flying by. Biyomon stopped when she saw BurningGreymon. "Oh hey, you're one of the Legendary Warriors, aren't you?"
BurningGreymon nodded. "I am. What are you doing out here? It's dangerous with Dreammon running around."
"Well that's the thing, I'm one of the scouts Calumon recruited looking into this Dreammon," Biyomon informed. "And have I got news for you. There isn't a single area around here that's under Dreammon's influence. We all thought everyone outside of our village had fallen for Dreammon's nightmare, so we had been afraid to check it out, but it looks like everyone else is fine here. They had just been afraid we were the ones who had fallen under Dreammon's Nightmare Syndrome."
Hearing this, BurningGreymon frowned. "So Dreammon isn't spreading his Nightmare Syndrome plague all over the Digital World? I thought for sure he would."
A few Poyomon were flying towards BurningGreymon, they all smiled when they saw him.
"Found you!" The lead Poyomon smiled. "We actually bumped into some Tapirmon while flying, but they completely ignored us."
A few Pagumon came flying by as well. "While they ignored you, they insulted us, calling us weaklings and not worth the energy!"
"I oughta bite their heads off, then they'll see we're a real threat!" Another Pagumon huffed.
Looking around, BurningGreymon was relieved to see everyone so far seemed alright. "It's good to see you all too. But what did you mean by the Tapirmon were ignoring you?"
"They showed absolutely no interest in us," The Poyomon answered.
"Or they just thought we were deadweight!" A Pagumon growled.
BurningGreymon looked down in thought. Then, he remembered something Calumon had told him, something about attacking wherever the Legendary Warriors were… His eyes widened in horror. "Oh no…"
"What is it? What's wrong?" Biyomon asked, seeing the horror in BurningGreymon's eyes.
"Dreammon… He has been attacking wherever the Legendary Warriors are. And Koji… He is on the ToyAgumon Island…" BurningGreymon murmured.
"Yeah, that's what Calumon told us to go if we found anything out to tell you," Poyomon remarked. "But you're here, so that made it easier."
"I've gotta go, you guys keep up the good work!" BurningGreymon said quickly before he started flying back to the ToyAgumon Island.
"What's with him?" One of the Pagumon questioned.
"He's probably worried for his friend," Biyomon answered. "I'm going to go tell Calumon about this."
BurningGreymon was flying faster than he felt he had flown before. He had a really bad feeling all of a sudden, especially since he had left Koji alone on the island. However, when he reached the island, he could see giant toy airplanes evacuating the island.
At once, BurningGreymon got a bad feeling in his gut. He flew up to one of the airplanes, looking for any sign of a familiar Digimon who could tell him what was going on. He saw one of the airplanes had Sorcermon riding on it.
"Sorcermon! What happened?" BurningGreymon questioned in worry.
"The Tapirmon invaded the island," Sorcermon answered grimly. "Gabumon warned everyone to get off the island quickly. I tried to go back for Koji, but… Gabumon informed me that Koji was already lost."
Fear filled BurningGreymon's body. He looked down, closing his blue eyes in dismay. I'm the only one left now...
Suddenly, there was a burst of energy from the island. Looking up, BurningGreymon was surprised to see JagerLoweemon hopping from plane to plane with Koji on his back. BurningGreymon backed away when JagerLoweemon landed on top of the plane BurningGreymon was just talking on.
"Koji… Please… Snap out of it!" BurningGreymon pleaded, despite knowing it was useless to try to snap Koji out of the Nightmare Syndrome.
"Be quiet! You know absolutely nothing, Takuya!" Koji snapped. "But don't worry… you won't have to be alone for long."
Koji held up his D-Tector. Both Spirits of Light appeared on the D-Tector's screen as a ball of fractal code formed on his left hand. Koji then slid the D-Tector across the code. "Execute now! Fusion Evolution!" As soon as he said those words, the coding surrounded his body and he cried out as his body grew in height and his strength increased. A white bodysuit formed on his body as his hair grew short and became platinum blonde in color. His eyes turned red as he gained the chest armor and lower leg armor of KendoGarurumon, along with the left paw. His right hand gained armor on it, and the helmet of Lobomon appeared on his upper face. Landing, he grabbed a twin-bladed sword and swung it around before firing off a slew of missiles and a laser from his paw-like gauntlet. "Beowolfmon!"
BurningGreymon saw Beowolfmon and growled. "So, he went for his Fusion form, huh?"
Beowolfmon sneered as he looked up with glazed over red eyes. "This will ensure you become one of us!" He then aimed his gauntlet paw at BurningGreymon. "Cleansing Light!" The missiles were launched as was the laser, and they flew right at the Beast Warrior of Flame.
The attack hit, causing BurningGreymon to cry out in pain before he was surrounded by fractal code and reverted to his human form. Now without flight, Takuya wound up falling as he screamed.
He's too strong. I don't know if I'll be able to stop him. Dreammon got his claws on everyone but me. But what can I do? I'm only one Legendary Warrior… Takuya thought to himself as he was falling.
"You can't give up already, Takuya. You promised you and Dash would come home," Takuya heard Andy's voice say.
"Yeah, cuz, you don't want to keep us waiting, do you? You'll make everyone worried," Takuya heard Danny's voice adding.
Takuya then started hearing the voices of his friends.
"Come on, Takuya, we're with you, you know that, right?" Tommy's voice said.
"You're just going to give up, like that? That's not the Takuya I know!" Zoe's voice stated.
"Come on, Taky, you've gotta get in a good punch for me!" JP's voice remarked.
"You, a quitter? I thought you never gave up." Koji's voice stated.
"You have to fight back, even if it seems hopeless." Koichi's voice added.
"You think you should give up? What happened to that boy who helped me when I was being bullied myself?" Dash's voice added.
Takuya opened his eyes, seeing JagerLoweemon and Beowolfmon jumping after him. He narrowed his eyes as fire came back to his eyes. He squeezed his D-Tector. Takuya held up his D-Tector, forming the familiar ball of fractal code around his left hand. He scanned it through the D-Tector's light, swiping his hand up as he did so. "EXECUTE NOW! FUSION EVOLUTION!" he cried. The fractal code surrounded him, transforming into a blue-white cocoon of light. Within it, he felt the familiar transformation sweep over him. His body grew in height and became more muscular as a tugging sensation near the bottom of his spine transformed into a tail. A slight pain accompanied the growth of his wings and a sharp pain filled his mouth as his teeth elongated. Armor formed on his body and his hair turned yellow, becoming long and wild as his eyes turned a sharp, icy blue color. The light finally shattered and he flared his wings, landing and shouting out his name as he did so. "ALDAMON!"
Now in his strongest form, Aldamon flared his wings, stopping his fall before he flew back up to where Beowolfmon and JagerLoweemon were coming at him. His eyes now held a determination to fight back. "You won't take me so easily!" He shouted.
Aldamon's cannons powered up as he readied his attack. "Atomic Inferno!" He fired off multiple high-temperature shots at Beowolfmon and JagerLoweemon.
Both twins were hit, and Beowolfmon gritted his teeth as he took out his large sword. "Beo Saber!"
Beowolfmon swung his saber at Aldamon. Aldamon quickly caught the blade with his hands, trying to push it back. JagerLoweemon flipped in the air to aim at Aldamon while he was busy with Beowolfmon. "Ebony Blast!"
JagerLoweemon shot out a black spiritual energy sphere at Aldamon.
Aldamon glanced back with one of his eyes before he swung around, throwing Beowolfmon right into the attack's path. "Sorry, Koji, but you won't beat me so easily!"
Beowolfmon hissed but kept his glare on Aldamon. JagerLoweemon began to shift his body towards Aldamon before coating it in a black aura. "Air Black King!"
Aldamon's eyes widened as JagerLoweemon smashed his body into his chest, causing them both to fall faster.
Aldamon flared his wings and tried to stop the fall, which he did to some extent, but they both hit the ground, making a crater from the impact. The Warrior of Flame groaned as he felt JagerLoweemon get off of his body.
Beowolfmon was coming in from the air, with his giant sword in hand. "Frozen Hunter!" The sword was coated with deadly ice and light.
Seeing this, Aldamon felt his eyes widen before he struggled to move. He was able to get to his feet and climb out of the crater before lunging to the side and onto the ground, just as the attack hit where he had been mere seconds ago.
Aldamon panted, he was lucky that he managed to get out of there just before Beowolfmon stabbed the ground with the sword. But fighting against Beowolfmon and JagerLoweemon was putting a strain on his body.
Calumon, along with a Biyomon carrying an Agumon with her, who was holding onto her talons, were flying towards them.
"Oh-no, I might already be too late…" Calumon frowned, seeing the battle that was going on.
"Maybe not, we can still save Aldamon at least, right?" Agumon said. "Hey Biyomon, fly faster, please!"
"You're as heavy as bricks, Agumon! I'm surprised I even carried you this far!" Biyomon groaned. "Maybe lay off on the snacks!"
"Hey!" Agumon pouted. "I'm not that heavy! Uh… Am I?"
"Don't make me answer that," Biyomon groaned.
Meanwhile, Aldamon knew he had to end this battle soon before more Tapirmon would arrive to take him. This battle was very likely to draw many of them in.
Aldamon struggled to his feet, panting somewhat heavily. "You want to fight still? I won't make this easy!" He got into a fighting stance, but his strength was waning somewhat, which worried him when it came to his ability to fight. Still, he would fight if he could.
"Stop making this hard on yourself, Takuya," Beowolfmon stated. "I'm tired of you acting like you know so much better than the rest of us!"
"What do you mean the 'rest of us'!? You're all trapped in a nightmare, controlled by Dreammon!" Aldamon snapped.
"You are always acting better than others." Beowolfmon said as he approached the other Fusion-Evolved Legendary Warrior. "And I won't stand for it any longer."
Aldamon gritted his teeth. "No! That's not true and you know it! You're just under the control of some false Digimon! He is only using you!"
"I've heard enough out of you!" Beowolfmon snapped. "Cleansing Light!"
Beowolfmon shot out missiles from his arms at Aldamon.
"Ebony Blast!" JagerLoweemon shot out a black spirit ball at Aldamon.
Aldamon saw the attacks incoming and readied his own counter attack. "Solar Wind Destroyer!" He cupped his hands together and formed a fireball. It reached maximum size before he threw it at the two incoming attacks.
It hit and cancelled them both out. Aldamon knew he was running out of energy fast, but Beowolfmon looked to be panting as well. JagerLoweemon looked tired too. Aldamon knew maybe if he could pull off another strong attack, he might be able to knock them out. Aldamon was getting ready to do just that when suddenly…
"Hurricane Wind!" Pink twisters surrounded Aldamon all of a sudden.
"Thunder Fist!" Lightning shot from above the twister Aldamon found himself in.
"Thorn Jab!" Vines came out from under Aldamon as well, he had no escape.
When the twister faded, Aldamon was on the ground, and in pain. He groaned as he pushed himself up on his hands and knees, looking up to see Kazemon, Beetlemon, and Petaldramon gathering around as well.
Aldamon then realized what this meant. He looked down, his blue eyes closing as he did so. He knew when it was over. However, he looked back up, opening his eyes again. "You may not know it, but others will come and save this world." He then gained a mysterious smirk. "And they will be the next heroes of this world. But even if I fall, I won't go down so easily!" He held his hands together as he formed another fireball, but this time, it seemed to be more contained, not growing any larger than a basketball. Aldamon gave a grin. "Consider this my final gift to you, Dreammon!"
With a shout, Aldamon closed his eyes tightly as he concentrated the energy so tightly, it couldn't take it anymore. There was a small flash of light and then nothing before light and heat suddenly erupted from the area and consumed all in its path. Thankfully, it wasn't too large an area, but it was large enough to leave an impressively destructive aftermath anyway.
"No! Takuya!" Calumon shouted as he, Biyomon, and Agumon were blown back by the massive attack.
Aldamon fell to the ground, reverting back to his human form, tired, weakened, and unconscious. The other warriors had reverted back to their human selves as well, though they were pretty miffed at how much Takuya's final attack had weakened them.
"That was more trouble than it was worth," Zoe huffed.
"Yes, but we finally got him." Koji said as he walked over, but he was holding one of his arms due to how strong the attack was.
"Are you going to be okay, Koji?" Koichi asked his twin in concern. Despite being under Dreammon's control, they still cared for each other. Though Koichi was limping from the attack.
Koji grunted. "I'll be fine."
"Let's just get the Tapirmon to enlighten him and report to Master," JP stated.
"Yeah, Master has been waiting for this moment." Dash grinned.
Several Tapirmon began to float around the unconscious Takuya. Calumon ran out of the bushes, a little burnt from Takuya's final attack, Biyomon and Agumon, being fire element Digimon themselves were fine for the most part though. Calumon's eyes widened in horror when he saw the Tapirmon had Takuya surrounded, and Takuya wasn't moving.
"No! Don't do it!" Calumon cried out in desperation.
"Calumon, stop!" Agumon ran after the little Digimon and grabbed him before he could get too close.
The others looked at the Agumon and Calumon for a moment.
"Should we bring them along?" Zoe asked.
"No. They won't be of any use to Master." Koji replied. "Calumon's ability to digivolve others may be useful, but the Master isn't looking to make a strong army. It would only strain Master's control more."
"And Master is already straining himself as it is," Koichi added.
The group decided to ignore the two Digimon then, turning their attention back to Takuya. One of the Tapirmon decided to do the honors. "Nightmare Syndrome!"
The snake-like black cloud moved to Takuya.
"No! No! Takuya, get out of there! Please!" Calumon begged as Agumon was struggling to keep holding him back.
But there was no movement from Takuya, as he was completely drained of energy. The black cloud circled down and around Takuya before he was enveloped by it. The cloud entered Takuya's ear, which then caused him to cry out before it stopped after a while. Takuya then groaned as he stood up, opening his eyes to reveal them glazed over just like the others.
"Good to have you back on our side, Takuya." Koji smirked.
Takuya gave a sinister grin. "It's good to be back, Koji. Now all the Legendary Warriors are back together, and we will help Master achieve his plan."
"It sure took a while to get you back, but it was worth it." Koichi grinned.
"Yeah, it didn't feel the same without you, Takuya~" Zoe smirked.
"Yeah, but still, I'm just as good!" JP pouted a little.
Koji grunted. "Whatever. Master is waiting. We have to report back to him."
"Ready when you all are." Dash grinned.
"Takuya…" Calumon said sadly.
Takuya looked at Calumon and Agumon for a moment. Calumon shivered, seeing the glazed eyes of his big brotherly figure.
Takuya just then turned away from Calumon and Agumon, deeming them to be weaklings to be ignored. Calumon felt hurt by that, even though Takuya didn't say anything, it tore into Calumon's heart to see him ignoring him like he was just a piece of trash.
"Let's go," Takuya said to the others.
Takuya, JP, and Zoe Spirit Evolved since they could fly. Though Zoe decided to use her Beast Spirit, Zephyrmon, instead of Kazemon. JP was Beetlemon, and Takuya was BurningGreymon.
BurningGreymon picked up Koji, Koichi, and Dash before he, Zephyrmon, and Beetlemon took flight. They flew off, leaving behind Calumon and Agumon to stare after.
"Oh no…" Agumon murmured. "This is not good…"
"We were too late…" Calumon fell on his hands after Agumon let him go. "I couldn't save him… TAKUYAAAAA! COME BACK TAKUYA!"
Agumon frowned in sadness as Calumon slammed his claws into the ground while tears fell from his eyes. Agumon walked over to Calumon and gave him a hug, knowing Bokomon would always do that whenever he or Gabumon felt upset about something. Calumon cried into Agumon's chest while Agumon just gently rubbed the little Digimon's back with his claws, careful not to hurt him. Biyomon frowned as she walked over to them as well.
None of them said anything. Agumon and Biyomon looked up at the evening sky where the Legendary Warriors were flying off into the horizon, and the sun was going down, covering the sky with darkness. They both had the same worried question in their minds; What's going to happen to us now?
Titanic X: ZAFT: This will be a more intense chapter. :3
CT7567Rules: DarkFoxKit: To be fair, 'ghost experts' are just people who might know more about ghosts than the average person, despite ghosts being something that were considered myths. Beings that may or may not exist. There's not much information to go by. Though Jack and Maddie might be a bit too into their 'research' to realize they could be wrong about ghosts.
ZAFT: As for Danny and Veemon, we are not saying if Danny will get Veemon, or a Digimon partner at all. You will have to see~! ;3
Luna Lillyth: ZAFT: Glad you liked the change to the ending. :3