I do not own InuYasha or Digimon Adventure in any way!
Speech Key:
"The" – Oral/Normal Speech
'The' – Thoughts
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE BEGINNING!
AN: This is once again going to sound WICKED choppy, so just bear with me for the time being, I'm just going through a weird phase right now where I want to write and yet at the same time I don't, so I've been playing at it by ear, writing a little whenever something hits me and so as a result, my writing's all over the place.
Review, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all!
-The Ninth Child-
xX-Strange Occurrences-Xx
-Digital World-
"Are you sure we shouldn't stay with them?" Sorcermon asked partner as he flew over a small patch of trees.
"I gave them all the advice they would need," Kagome shook her head, "All that's left is for them to listen and see the results. For the time being, we need to destroy as many of those Control Spires as we can before they've been turned."
It had been nearly two weeks since Kagome and Ken's encounter in Primary village. The navy-haired preteen would message Kagome now and then, giving her updates on what he was doing, but asking her to keep his activities quiet from the other DigiDestined. That's not to say that Ken told her everything that was happening, but rather the bare minimum that he felt summed up his doings.
"What do you mean by 'turned', Kagome?" Kabuterimon asked from beside them.
"I don't know exactly what's going on," the raven-haired girl explained, "but in my vision I saw two people, a man and a woman. I don't know who either of them are, but I know that the woman is turning the Control Spires into something. But what it is, I wouldn't be able to tell you since I couldn't See that. And ken's no help at all since he hasn't been very verbose in his messages…"
"Then I guess we'll need to round up the troops!" The insectoid Digimon exclaimed. "You guys go on ahead, I'll see if I can't get a couple of allies to help us with this 'little' job." And with the large Digimon flew off, the buzzing sound of his wings left in his wake.
"Well, we'd better get started; there so many Control Spires out there, it could take forever to destroy them all!" Kagome groaned. "And I guess, that's our first target," she pointed to a Control Spire just a few feet ahead of them.
Sorcermon let his partner down on a sturdy tree branch as he set out to do what his partner had ordered. "As you wish, Milady," he took out his staff and started twirling it, "Crystal Barrage!"
The~Ninth~Child
"Well, I suppose we did enough for today," Kagome wiped a little sweat off her brow as she snapped off one last Dark Ring off of a Geckomon. "I wonder how Kabuterimon and the others did?"
"I'm sure they did well considering the astonishing amount of Control Spires still standing," Sorcermon looked up into the sky, "However, I believe we should be getting back now, Milady, before anyone begins to worry."
"You're right," Kagome nodded, looking into the red-orange and pink-tinted palate overhead, "but I won't be going home tonight; I want to stay here and see just what is going on here…" She took out her D-Terminal and quickly typed away. "There, that should do it."
"What did you do?" Kudamon asked, having DeDigivolved as she was typing.
"I just sent Kari and Sora a message asking them to cover for me," the raven-haired girl explained, "I can't have Mama and Papa worrying about me, now can I? I'm just lucky that I don't have any school tomorrow."
"Very true," Kudamon nodded, "But what are we going to do now?"
"I want to keep on going," Kagome answered after a pause, "We won't destroy any Control Spires, but at the same time, I want to see just how many are left."
"Then maybe I can help," a gruff voice suggested from behind them.
"Garurumon!" Kagome grinned, running up to hug the large wolf-like Digimon around his muzzle. "What are you doing here? I thought you were out with Kabuterimon?"
"I was," Garurumon nodded, "But I saw that it was getting dark and figured that you needed me here more than they did."
"Are the other Digimon still out destroying the Control Spires?" the raven-haired girl asked.
Garurumon shook his head. "I told them to get some rest while they could and we'd start up again tomorrow. I think Kabuterimon said something about getting Biyomon to help with a quick aerial sweep; other than that, no, all the other Digimon are getting ready to buckle down for a good night's rest."
"Then I guess we'd better get started so we can get some sleep, too," Kagome climbed up onto Garurumon's back, Kudamon huddled around her shoulders.
-Hamasaki Academy; Computer Lab-
"That's odd," Kari frowned, reading over the message she'd received from her sister, "Kagome's not coming home tonight."
"What?!" T.K yelped. "Don't tell me she's gonna camp out in the Digital World?!"
"That probably what she's planning on doing," Gatomon pointed out, "The question is: Why?"
"We can't leave her there!" Yolei protested. "That's it, we're going back to the Digital World and drag her back if we need to!" she whipped out her D3 and stalked back over to the computer terminal, intent on activating the DigiPort.
"Wait, Yolei," Cody stopped the older girl, "Maybe we should leave Kagome alone."
"WHAT?!" the lavender-haired girl burst out. "Are you crazy! She could get hurt or eaten or something!"
Davis sweat-dropped. 'Now that's what I call paranoid… But I wonder how Tai'll take this…'
"Just hear me out," the younger boy said soothingly. "Kagome's the oldest in our group, so we know she can take care of herself, and besides, she has Kudamon with her so we don't have to worry so much. But think about it, Kagome would pull something like this unless she had a reason to."
Kari nodded with a sigh. "Cody's right," she said quietly, "Kagome wouldn't do something like this unless she had a real reason to. I don't know what kind of reason that might be, but for now, all we can do is trust her and hope that she'll be all right."
"But I wonder about something," T.K mused, "If Kagome's staying, do you think she had another vision? And if she did, why wouldn't she tell us?"
"Maybe she Saw something that she just didn't wanna share," Patamon suggested innocently.
'Maybe,' the blonde thought, 'Or was it something more? Was it something too dangerous to let us know?'
-Digital World-
"Something doesn't seem right," Kagome's eyes narrowed on a Control Spire just on the edge of a forest-area, "Kudamon, didn't we just destroy that Control Spire earlier today?" she pointed to the structure in question.
"What do you—What the—" golden eyes blinked in confusion. "But I could've sworn we brought that Control Spire down! Who could be replacing them? It's not Ken, is it? Not after everything that's happened?"
Kagome shook her head. "It's not Ken," she spoke quietly, "There's someone else that's doing all this, it's probably the woman I saw in my vision, maybe even the man. But whichever it is, it looks like they're trying to finish what the Digimon Emperor started, except they're making things worse by actually turning Control Spires into Digimon."
She thought back to the update she'd received from Kari about what had happened in Primary Village. In her visions, she'd Seen the woman turning a Control Spire into something she wasn't able to See, but after what Kari had told her, Kagome had put the pieces together and realized that the Digimon Ken had been destroying must have been spawned from Control Spires.
"Is that even possible?" Garurumon asked curiously.
"I don't think it should be," Kagome shook her head, "Especially when you consider the fact that Digimon are born from eggs. Those Digimon that are being created from Control Spires probably aren't even real Digimon…"
"Did you tell the others, then?" Kudamon asked.
"I told them not to judge too harshly without knowing all the facts," the raven-haired girl answered, "and I told them that second chances would go a long way if they considered it. But as far as I can tell, they didn't really understand what I meant and according to Davis, everyone is still wary of Ken because of everything he did as the Digimon Emperor."
The trio was silent as Garurumon padded across the ground silently before suddenly stopping before a large cave. "We'll stop here tonight," the wolf-like Digimon told them, "there's some food inside and a stream if you want water."
"You stay here, then when you're not patrolling?" Kagome asked.
Garurumon nodded. "It's not too often, but it's better to have some place to stay instead of nowhere at all."
"That's true," Kudamon admitted as his partner walked into the cave, the wolf-like Digimon following behind them.
The~Ninth~Child
"Something's changed," Garurumon said softly so as not to rouse the raven-haired girl curled up in his fur, "Except it's not visible to anyone that's not looking."
"Realizing you're in love apparently does that," Kudamon answered quietly.
"So she finally knows," Garurumon sighed in relief, "Has she told him?"
The fox-like Digimon shook his head. "She hasn't said a word as far as I know, and I don't think she will anytime soon."
"Nervous?" the wolf-like Digimon suggested.
"Probably a bit scared, too," Kudamon nodded.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case," Garurumon shook his head. "Does it look like Matt's realized anything yet?"
"With Davis' sister hanging off of him more often than not," Kudamon choked out through a chuckle, "I don't think he has the time!"
-Earth; Kamiya Residence-
"Kagome did WHAT?!" Tai all but shouted when the youngest Kamiya told him about his other sister's plans.
"She stayed behind," Gatomon repeated, "But she didn't tell us why."
"We thought it might be something about a vision she had," Kari added, "But she didn't say anything about that either."
The brown-haired teen sighed. "She's been a bit off, these last few days, too…I wonder if she knows something we don't? That would explain her behavior."
"But why wouldn't she tell us anything?" Kari asked. "Usually when Kagome has a vision, she gives us enough advice to keep us going."
"I don't know, Kari," Tai said quietly, his mind rifling through scenario after scenario of how his sister was doing and what she could've possibly seen. "I just don't know." 'I really hope you know what you're doing, Kagome…'
-The Digital World; The Next Day-
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Kagome screeched.
Garurumon and Kudamon both winced at the highly irritated, for lack of a better word, look on the raven-haired girl's face. Then again, they couldn't really blame her for her outburst, either.
It seemed that overnight, every single one of the Control Spires Kagome and Sorcermon along with all the other Digimon Kabuterimon had scouted out had destroyed, seemed to pop back up into existence overnight. And yet, there was no trace of who was erecting the new structures.
"Oh, this means we have to go back and destroy those things all over again!" Kagome moaned out in exasperation.
"Then I guess we'd better get started," Garurumon leaned down once again and offered the teen his back, "But I think we should get some help first…"
Kagome nodded in agreement. Even she knew that there was no way they'd be able to knock out as many Control Spires as they had the day before without help. "Let's see if we can't round up a few friends…" She climbed up onto Garurumon's back, Kudamon slung around her shoulders.
With a howl, the wolf-like Digimon took off, bounding through the trees to a destination not yet known to them.
The~Ninth~Child
"Crystal Barrage!"
"Howling Blaster!"
The two attacks converged upon the Control Spire's base, bringing it down with a loud crash, putting the structure out of commission.
"That's our fourth one down," Kagome announced, "Only about a couple hundred or so left to go…wonderful…" Suddenly, the raven-haired girl stiffened, images flashing through her mind.
The first was of the Digimon Emperor's base in the desert where it'd crashed but quickly fading to an image of what seemed to be the inside of the structure that glowed an eerie green hue before fading to an image of a large stone-like structure where darkness seemed to be encasing the entire thing. The second image was of the mysterious woman plucking a hair from her head, only for it to strike a nearby Control Spire, turning it into an Okuwamon. The third and final image seemed to be of Davis' and Ken's D3s suddenly matching in color scheme, this faded into the image of Stingmon and ExVeemon circling each other to reveal a Digimon that seemed to be a combination of both Digimon.
Her D-Terminal beeped about as soon as she came out of her trance. The raven-haired girl took a look at the message she'd received, only for her eyes to grow even more anxious than they already were.
"Kagome?" Kudamon asked worriedly. "Is everything all right?"
"We need to go and help the others," Kagome looked at her Digimon, "Can you Digivolve?"
"Since we took that Control Spire out, I should be able to," the fox-like Digimon nodded. "Kudamon Digivolve to: Reppamon!"
"Garurumon," Kagome looked at the wolf-like Digimon with soft eyes, "I won't force you or anyone else to continue destroying the Control Spires if they don't want to anymore. But for now, I want you to go and give the other parties my message before resting, okay?"
"I understand," Garurumon gave a nod. "Be careful, you two."
Kagome nodded. "Let's go, Reppamon!"
"Right!" the masked Digimon said before leaping off in the direction Kagome had gestured to. "Kagome, what's going on?"
"Something's attempting to leak out from the Digimon Emperor's old base," the raven-haired teen explained, "Izzy says that it's causing some kind of disturbance! And if that's not bad enough, that woman I keep seeing is about to turn a Control Spire into an Ultimate-Level Digimon!" 'The worst part is the fact that our Digimon can't even reach their Ultimate forms anymore! Not since what happened 2½ years ago…Oh please be all right!'
The~Ninth~Child
-Digital World; The Desert-
Kagome and Reppamon arrived on the scene just as Angemon and Nefertimon's attack were batted away and the owners shoved off as though they were no more than measly flies.
"Go Reppamon!" Kagome called out to her Digimon as she leapt off of his back to land softly on the sand below.
"Sky Fissure!" The masked Digimon struck the Okuwamon with his blade-like tail, but to no avail as he was thrown aside by the insectoid Digimon's Double Scissor Claw, causing Reppamon to DeDigivolve like the other before him.
"Sorry for being late," Kagome apologized to the preteens when she walked over to them after having gathered Kudamon into her arms, "I didn't get a vision up until a few moments ago about all this. If I did, I'd have said something to you all…"
"It's okay," Kari smiled gently at her sister, "You're here now and that's all that matters."
Kagome nodded in reply before turning back to the fight, a frown on her face. "This isn't going to work," she muttered, "Okuwamon is an Ultimate-Level Digimon and all of our Digimon out there are Champion-Level!" 'And there's that woman…' Her head snapped up when she sensed a familiar aura coming their way.
The raven-haired teen smirked as she saw a familiar head of navy-blue hair run up over a sand dune. 'So he's here… I guess now is the chance to see how that dual-Digivolution worked…at least, if I'm correct that it's even an Ultimate-Level Digimon…'
By now, Cody and Yolei had joined Kagome, T.K, and Kari, their Digimon right beside them as they watched Wormmon Digivolve into Stingmon before jumping in to help ExVeemon.
"What's he doing here?" Cody hissed.
"Davis called him, remember?" T.K reminded them. "He said that he wanted Ken to join us and I think he must've extended the same invitation to him."
"I'm just surprised he even showed," Yolei blinked as Stingmon and ExVeemon stayed up in the air speaking as Davis and Ken did the same on the ground below them. "What with him wanting to do everything on his own…"
"He didn't want to join us because he believes he doesn't have the right," Kagome said quietly, though loud enough for them all to hear, "He thinks that the only way to make up for everything he's done as the Digimon Emperor is to erase any trace of the Digimon Emperor from the face of the Digital World."
"I still don't trust him," Cody grumbled stubbornly.
"It doesn't matter if you do or not," the raven-haired teen replied, "all that matters is that he is on our side now."
"How do you know that, though?" Kari looked up at her sister just after witnessing Davis deliver a sound slap to Ken's face.
"When Ken was the Digimon Emperor, his aura was literally drenched in darkness to the point where you couldn't make out his own," Kagome explained, "All the evil Digimon we've faced in the past, their auras were actually made of darkness. But that's not to say that their auras were all the same, rather the darkness that created their auras changed so that they were still dark, and yet they were distinct enough to the point where they belonged to that Digimon only. Ken's aura wasn't made of darkness, it looked like it was being…poisoned, I guess you could say."
"What does his aura look like now, then?" Cody asked skeptically. He may have listened to Kagome's advice and even witnessed her gifts in action, but he was still doubtful of the older girl's ability as he'd never heard of anyone being able to do what she could. And the fact that she was standing up for Ken made him all the more dubious. 'How can she even stand up for that creep! He tortured and hurt hundreds of Digimon! How can she forgive him so easily?!'
"Gentle and kind," the raven-haired teen answered lightly, hearing the tone Cody had used, "I think, that when he stopped being the Digimon Emperor and rediscovered himself, whatever was poisoning his aura must have lost its power or even influence over Ken."
"Hey look at that!" T.K exclaimed, pointing to where Davis and Ken stood.
Their D3s bother glowed in tandem as a light shot up to engulf their respective Digimon, slowly bringing them closer and closer together.
"ExVeemon!" they heard said Digimon say.
"Stingmon!" the insectoid Digimon spoke.
"DNA-Digivolve to: Paildramon!" the voices said in unison before melding into one voice that still sounded layered.
The~Ninth~Child
The new Digimon seemed to be a combination of both ExVeemon and Stingmon. It had ExVeemon's body, but with two pairs of wings on its back, one white and the other his natural blue hue. Over his chest, shoulders and lower abdomen areas, olive-green armour the same hue as Stingmon was secured with large black spiked spaulders; black armour with a hint of olive-green encased his thighs to his knees. From the elbows down, Stingmon's arms were visible while a black and red helmet encased his head, leaving only red eyes to be seen. A pair of long black rectangular cannons were tilted up behind his back.
The~Ninth~Child
"What the heck just happened?" Kari gasped.
"ExVeemon and Stingmon DNA-Digivolved into Paildramon," T.K exclaimed, "His Desperado Blaster attack'll defeat Okuwamon for sure!"
"Take your best shot!" the DNA Digimon shouted.
"Paildramon?!" the other DigiDestined hear Ken and Davis shout in disbelief.
"That's us!" Paildramon nodded.
"I can't believe it," Yolei breathed out in amazement, "They became one! Is that even possible?! How are they supposed to win now?"
"Just you watch, Yolei," Paildramon answered, "We'll barbecue this bug into next week!" He settled into a fighting stance were he hovered in the air.
Okuwamon gave a loud screech-like roar as he charged at the newly Digivolved Digimon. But it seemed that Paildramon was ready as he swung out his leg in what seemed to be a soft kick.
"How is a kick supposed to anything?!" Yolei burst out.
Before anyone could say a word in Paildramon's defense, the group watched in shock as that one little kick sent the giant grey insect Digimon flying into the sandy ground with a screech.
"How did he—?" Cody's eyes widened in surprise.
"Ready for round two?" the DNA Digimon asked rhetorically.
The Okuwamon only screeched again as it hurtled itself at Paildramon, trying to catch the significantly smaller Digimon between its pincers. The DNA Digimon only flicked of the large Digimon before stretching his arms out before him. "Cable Catcher!" His claws seemed to shoot out of his hands with cables attached to the ends as they wrapped around Okuwamon's legs before flinging him to the ground.
Kagome tuned out everyone else's conversations as she looked on at the fight, concentrating especially on Paildramon. 'So I was correct, Paildramon must be an Ultimate Digimon; there's no other way he could've kept up with Okuwamon if he wasn't. But it's strange, this exact thing's only happened once before and only in a dire situation. Does that mean that this DNA Digivolution is only going to happen when there's a need for it?'
"Hurry, use the Crest of Kindness!" Paildramon shouted at the DigiDestined, knocking Okuwamon into the sand once more.
"Hey don't forget about us!" T.K exclaimed running off with the others after ken and Davis, who were heading for the downed base.
"There!" Yolei pointed to a semi-large crack in the side of the base's wall. "They must've gone in through there!"
"No way," Kari shook her head, "There's definitely no way they'd be able to get through this! Look at all the rubble.
The light-brown-haired girl was right. Right in through the entrance, a large path of collapsed rubble, cables and metal shard of varying sizes littered the path, not counting the place where the floor had been uprooted or bent in a strange fashion.
Kagome stifled a giggle as the preteens and Cody looked on, baffled as Ken and Davis made it over and through the rubble efficiently and also in sync. 'I wonder if they've noticed that…' "I guess they didn't hear you, Kari!"
"Let's just get going!" Cody told them, crawling over the rubble as best as he could, stopping to help Armadillomon along the way.
"Go straight ahead and swing a left when you see a green light!" Kagome ordered, sliding down a particularly steep slope created by a piece of bent flooring. "That's where Ken and Davis will be!" 'But that won't be the end of our problems, I don't think…' she thought back to the image of the large structure covered in darkness.
"Hey, I think they did it!" T.K shouted, pointing to the fading green light just up ahead.
The group ran towards the fading light to see Ken and Davis watching happily as the power in the base slowly shut down little by little.
"You guys did it!" Yolei exclaimed as Davis shot her a thumbs-up and Ken just smiled tentatively.
"Hey, it's a message from Izzy!" Cody informed them all.
"What'd he say?" Kari asked worriedly.
"The warp's back to normal," Cody grinned, "They did it!"
"I don't think it's over just yet," Kagome said quietly, but loud enough to pierce through the cheers that rang out through the room. "Don't you feel it?"
"Feel what?" Yolei blinked.
"A chill," the raven-haired teen answered, "A chill that goes straight through you…"
What do you mean?" Davis scratched his head in confusion. "We put the Crest in and pretty much saved the World! Everything's okay now, right?"
Suddenly as if on cue, the reactor before them began sparking and giving off tiny burst-like explosions. "Hey! What's going on!?" Davis exclaimed.
"For some reason, shutting down the reactor isn't going to stop the explosion!" Cody told them. "Even Izzy's noticed it! He says the warp's back, but it's growing faster by the minute! The Crest didn't work like we thought it would!"
"Follow me!" Kagome told them, running off in the direction where she'd felt a dark aura.
"Does she even know what she's doing?!" the lavender-haired preteen exclaimed.
"She's following the pipes," Ken explained, "they send up power to the reactor from another source down below. If we follow them to their source, all we need to do is plug it up somehow to stop the explosion from ever happening." 'At least that's
"Are you keeping something from us?" Cody asked. "Because if you are, you'd better tell us right now! Or you'd be putting everyone's lives on the line!"
"Run little kiddies, run!" they heard the mysterious woman's cackle echo throughout the base. "You're fighting, but you don't even know who you should be fighting. And you're friends…are they really even you friends? We'll see soon enough, won't we? But I'm afraid you don't have much time…sayonara, little munchkins!"
It wasn't long before the DigiDestined all made it through a tunnel into a large room with the same structure Kagome had seen in her vision and felt the dark aura emanating from. "This is it," Kagome told them, "We need to block that port over there if we want to stop this place from going up in flames and taking us along with it!" She pointed up to a glowing hole in what seemed to be a large egg-like structure.
"But what is this?" Yolei asked. "It feels so cold…"
"I've felt this before," T.K muttered, "I just can't remember where…"
"I do," Patamon chirped, "It was near that whirlpool, remember? It felt all cold and dark and creepy!"
The blonde's eyes widened in realization. "You're right," he nodded, "It's exactly like the whirlpool…"
"And I've felt it before, too," Kari added, "When I was in that weird world that looked like a negative photo. Everything that was dark was light and everything that was light was dark."
Kudamon looked up at his partner in askance. "Did you feel it, too?" his golden orbs seemed to ask.
Kagome only nodded.
"The Door to Darkness," Ken said quietly, "This thing is a direct door to the Dark Realm."
"But how do you know that?" the maroon-haired preteen asked.
"Because," the navy-haired boy replied, "I've been surrounded by this very same energy ever since I came to the Digital World."
Small explosions started puffing out here and there, causing certain parts of the room to begin crumbling. "Come on!" Ken shouted and they all slid down the sloped to the bottom of the power source.
"How do we plug this thing up, Ken!" Davis asked.
"Whatever we do, we've gotta do it fast!" Cody said urgently. "Izzy said that the pulses are getting faster and this place could blow at any time!"
Suddenly a violent tremor rocked the base, knocking the DigiDestined and their Digimon off their feet. "Stay calm!" Ken shouted. "And stay still!"
"Oh man, this definitely isn't good!" Davis blanched at the sight of white pulses of power going up the structure faster and faster. "What do we do now?!"
"The power input's increasing!" Cody clarified. "If we don't block that thing now then the output's gonna be our end!"
"Someone call for help?" Paildramon said after bursting in through the upper wall.
"Paildramon!" Davis and Ken grinned.
"Desparado Blaster!" the two cannons hidden behind the Digimon's back stretched out to either side before tilting up front below his arms perpendicular to his body. The cannons charged quickly before releasing a steady stream of bluish-white, destroying the egg-like structure. "Do I know how to make an entrance or what?"
"You did it!" Yolei cheered as she took Hawkmon in her arms and spun them both around.
"Not quite," Paildramon stated, "We've won this battle, but the war's still yet to come."
The~Ninth~Child
"You all can take care of the base," Kagome told them from atop Reppamon, "But I need to have a word with Izzy about something…"
"Then I guess I'll see you at home?" Kari asked.
"Definitely," the raven-haired teen nodded. "Bring her home safely, T.K," she told the blonde before the masked Digimon took off with his rider.
Kagome smirked when she heard Davis' shout. "Hey! What was that about, T.M?!"
-Earth; Izumi Residence; That Evening-
"At least you all got out of there safely," Izzy sighed, "I swear, with everything you guys do, I'm gonna have grey hair before I turn twenty!"
Kagome and Kudamon laughed at the aurburn-haired genius. "Cheer up, Izzy, at least you're there to help us!"
"Yeah, except if anything happens to you, I'll have two older brothers and a blonde guitarist on my tail," Izzy muttered.
"Did you say something?" Kagome blinked, having not heard what her friend had said.
Kudamon hid a smirk, his enhanced hearing had picked up what Izzy had said and he could be more amused by the statement, no matter how true it would be.
"Er, um, nothing! So, uh, Paildramon, huh?" Izzy rested his chin on his folded hands once he recovered.
Kagome nodded. "ExVeemon and Stingmon somehow combined to form Paildramon, except I don't know how or even why it was then of all times for it to happen."
"And you say that he was tossing Okuwamon around like Tai does a soccer ball?" Izzy calrified.
The raven-haired girl nodded yet again. "Our Digimon at Champion-Level couldn't even leave a scratch on Okuwamon, despite the fact that he was just a Control-Spire-Digimon. I was thinking, could this DNA Digivolution be a substitute for an Ultimate-Level Digimon, especially since, well, you know…"
Izzy's brow furrowed in thought. "That's a very good and very plausible theory you have there, Kagome…Unfortunately, I can neither confirm nor deny your speculation because I've never heard of this ever happening between two Champion-Level Digimon before."
"Omnimon," Kagome said quietly.
"Yes," the auburn-haired teen nodded, "As far as I can tell, Omnimon was the first to have attempted and succeeded in this 'DNA Digivolution'. But their situation is completely different from the one we have here. Omnimon is a Mega-Level Digimon composed of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, who are also Mega-Level Digimon. Paildramon, on the other hand is possibly an Ultimate-Level Digimon composed of two Champion-Level Digimon."
"But if you think about it, it's almost like a math problem," Kagome said slowly, "Two halves making up a whole. We know Digimon can't go beyond Mega-Level, right? So it would make sense for two Mega Digimon to make one stronger Mega Digimon."
"And two Champions create and Ultimate," Izzy's eyes widened as he caught onto her train of thought. "You're right, it really does make sense when you think about it in simpler terms…but that still doesn't explain why now, why those two?"
"Well, Omnimon came to be when Diaboromon did a real number on MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon, but they had help and support from all the people who sent in those e-mails," the raven-haired girl mused. "Davis was the first to reach out to Ken, always believing that he was on their side ever since the Digimon Emperor was no more. They were also in sync with each other, though I don't think they noticed that…Could it be the bond between two people?"
"Bond?" Kudamon cocked his head in confusion. "What kind of bond?"
"A close one," Kagome explained, "It doesn't have to be romantic as most would probably assume. Tai and Matt, although they won't admit it, are the closest to each other out of everyone, like Mimi is with Joe and how every one of us is extraordinarily close to our Digimon. Tai and Matt both had such a strong connection to WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon that actually ended up becoming digital! Their bonds with their Digimon combined with the hopes and wishes of every child and person on the planet created Omnimon."
"But there's still something I don't understand," the fox-like Digimon shook his head, "I realize the bond between Tai, Matt, WarGreymon, and MetalGarurumon, but how could wishes and hopes from people who don't know each other help to create Omnimon?"
"I think I know where Kagome's getting at," the auburn-haired teen nodded, "The bond that Tai and Matt had with their Digimon and each other started the Digivolution process, but it was the emails that finished it off. Despite the fact that no one knew each other, they were still connected because they wanted to offer support to the ones trying to save them. Sometimes, even the smallest thing, you'll find, can be the biggest contributor of all. At first the emails seemed like they were just something miniscule, a hindrance even, but in the end they became our biggest weapon."
"Davis and Ken…" Kagome sighed, "I don't know what kind of bond they could have with each other for their Digimon to completely combine. Maybe it's the fact that Davis wants to be friends with Ken, but Ken keeps turning away from him even though he really wants to accept. Maybe it's that fact that Ken sees someone he can trust in Davis, I don't really know how the DNA Digivolution could've happened, but as the saying goes, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth."
"Then I guess it goes without saying that we all need to have a talk tomorrow," Izzy nodded.
"I'll send out the messages tonight," Kagome told him. "But there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."
"What is it?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.
"Well, actually, it's about the Control Spires," Kagome admitted. "Kabuterimon helped, Kudamon, Garurumon, and I gather up a few helpers so we could start destroying and taking down all those Control Spires that are still standing."
"Except that there's more than a few hundred of them," the fox-like Digimon grumbled.
"Hush," Kagome chuckled, "But anyway, what really has me worried is that every single one of the Control Spires that were taken down two days ago just popped back up overnight! And there's no trace of who did it either!"
"That definitely sounds bad," Izzy muttered. 'But who's doing all this? What are they playing at?'
-Earth; Izumi Residence; The Next Afternoon-
"DNA Digivolution: What is it? And how does it work?" Izzy began. "I'm now creating a computer program to explain it all to you, but as it's not complete, just look at this for the time being." He turned to his computer terminal and pressed a few keys. In a matter of seconds, a replay of Stingmon and ExVeemon's DNA Digivolution sequence started up on the screen.
The raven-haired teen sat on a footstool Izzy had offered while the rest of the DigiDestined and their Digimon opted to sit on the floor.
"When two Digimon DNA Dgiviolve," the auburn-haired teen explained, "The most powerful part of one Digimon merges with the most powerful part of the second to produce a Digimon much more powerful than either of them alone."
"Is that all you have to say about all this?" Cody asked. 'That can't be all there is to DNA Digivolving, can it?'
"Well, no," Izzy admitted, "I called you all here because I had something important to tell you all, but I'd hoped to have my computer program ready to do the storytelling for me…"
T.K and Kari exchanged an uncertain glance with each other, hoping that Izzy wasn't about to speak of the one thing all the DigiDestined had promised never to talk about. They glanced over at Kagome pleadingly, only for the girl to shake her head lightly.
"Well, we're here now so just say it," Davis nodded, "What's the secret?"
"DNA Digivolving has happened before, though you may not have known it," Kagome spoke up. "Omnimon."
Yolei gasped. "Omnimon? You mean that Digimon that was fighting against Diaboromon a few years back?"
Izzy nodded. "Let me explain something to you all. About a little more than half a year after Apocalymon's defeat, Gennai called us back to the Digital World. We were absolutely ecstatic about seeing out friends again since we were told that we might not be able to return after we left the last time. Plus, we found that our Crests returned to tangible form after having been destroyed by Apocalymon those few months before."
"We just assumed that when we defeated Apocalymon," Kagome continued, "That the warp was repaired and that was the end of it. But Gennai told us that we had to 'release the powers of the Digital World' in order to protect it from the Forces of Darkness." She gave a small chuckle. "Gennai started explaining, but he ended up telling stories that I don't think even he understood. But we all listened intently nevertheless, and by the end, we knew what we had to do."
"The powers that protect the Digital World?" Cody cocked his head to the side curiously. "What do you mean by that?"
"Izzy told me a while back that he thinks those forces are the very same ones that chose us to be the DigiDestined in the first place," Kari explained.
"But to defeat the Forces of Darkness," the auburn-haired teen picked up, "we had to release the powers of our Crests. Even though it pained us to do so, the nine of us knew that this was the only way to save the Digital World from the evil forces threatening it. The combined power of our nine Crests created a sort of barrier around the Digital World. Kind of like saran wrap or even the lamination around a baseball card. It brought not only peace, but beauty to the Digital World."
"The barrier worked well, keeping the evil forces at bay and preventing them from spreading," the raven-haired teen spoke wearily, "But as great as it was, there was a side effect that none of us had been prepared for. Because we had to give up the powers of our Crests, our Digimon lost their ability to Digivolve to their Ultimate form. It was a sacrifice that had to be made, but for our Digimon, it was like saying goodbye to a significant part of themselves; while for us, it was like saying goodbye to a good friend. We all took it pretty hard…"
"But we're not sad anymore!" Patamon chirped. "We know we'll be able to Digivolve further again one day! You'll see, MagnaAngemon'll be back in no time!"
"Until then, we'll use balls and yarn to fight if we have to," Gatomon added.
"But we haven't lost hope," Kudamon put in, "And that's what matters."
"Why didn't you tell us all this before?" Cody asked irritably.
Izzy, Kagome, Kari, and T.K all sighed. "It's not like we wanted to keep this a secret or anything."
"But it's not easy to talk about it either," T.K spoke, "It's like—well, it's never easy for anyone to admit that they've got a weakness."
"Besides," Kagome added, "if you think about it, a DNA Digivolved Digimon works just about the same as an Ultimate-Level Digimon."
"I've never thought about that…" Yolei blinked as Cody and Davis nodded.
"Kagome's right," Izzy nodded, "It's just like when WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon Digivolved to become Omnimon. Now Kagome and I were discussing just how DNA Digivolution would have worked and we to the conclusion that it must've had something to do with bonds and the situation they were in."
"Bonds? Situations?" Cody shook his head. "What do you mean?"
"We believe that because Tai and Matt had such a strong connection to their Digimon as well as each other, that that must have catalyzed the Digivolution," Kagome explained, "the e-mails from all over the world only added to that because they formed a bond through each other, finishing off the process, and as a result, Omnimon was produced."
"But what kind of bond could Ken and I have?" Davis asked. "He doesn't even want to be friends!"
"That's not entirely true," the raven-haired girl spoke, "For all you know, he's just too scared to accept your friendship. I don't know what kind of bond between you and Ken could have caused Paildramon to have come to be, but don't dwell too much on it. Things will get clearer with time."
"Did you have another vision?" T.K asked, looking at the girl he considered an older sister.
"Call it a feeling," Kagome shook her head.
"So what do we do now?" Davis asked. "We can't just be sitting around doing nothing!"
"We'd have to go back to the Digital World to fight that white-haired lady," Kari stated, "But I don't think that'd be a good idea…I mean she turned a Control Spire into an Ultimate Digimon!"
"That doesn't mean that we should just give up," Yolei tried reasoning with them, "If Gatomon and the others are gonna fight with yarn balls, then we can at least help! This isn't the time to be moping around, it's time to fight!" She stalked over to Izzy and rolled his chair away from the computer terminal, all but kagome following after her with their D3s out. "Sorry, Izzy, but it's time to go! DigiPort: O—"
"NO!" Izzy shouted. "My Mom'll be back any minute now!"
As if on cue, the doorknob began to turn, causing Izzy to stiffen in place. "Uhhh…"
"I brought snacks!" Kae Izumi smiled at the group of children in her son's room. In her arms was a tray laden with sweet snacks and glasses of juice.
"Donuts!" Yolei grinned. "Don't mind if I do!"
"Thank you, Mrs. Izumi," the group chorused as they each took either a sweet or a drink.
"My pleasure," Kae smiled at the group. "Goodness, you all certainly do have large appetites! One would assume you'd never seen food before in your life!"
Izzy slumped down in his chair chuckling to himself out of relief. "Oh, Izzy?" The auburn-haired boy stiffened a bit as he looked at his mother. "Y-Yeah, Mom?"
"Whatever happened to your little friend, Tento?" Kae tilted her head curiously.
Kari and T.K sweat-dropped while Davis, Yolei, and Cody's jaws dropped at the question. "Um, it's Tentomon," T.K corrected with a chuckle.
"Tentomon, then," Kae looked at her son for an answer.
Kagome just snickered to herself. 'Let's see him get out of this one…'
Ciao,
TsukiyoTenshi