Justice
Chapter 3: Consilium
by Silver
*Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon; never have, never will. All rights belong to Toei Animation and Fox and a whole slew of other guys who I'm not going to bother to look up.*
Author's Note: I've gotten a lot of reviews that guess Archnemon is causing the whole "moving spire" plot. While I like to keep my readers guessing, I won't string you along a wrong path. Archnemon isn't going to make an appearance in this saga. I've only just recently begun to see shots of her and her partner, Mummymon. I don't know enough about her, and I didn't have the chance to factor her into the plot when I first created this story. I could wait until she appears on the show, but that would waste a lot of time. If I waited for every detail and fact in the show, I'd never get any writing done before the series ended!
However, all those reviews made me realize that it's about time an overriding evil was introduced for the remainder of the story arch. That evil debuts in this chapter. It's an original character, so please don't use him without permission. As always, I welcome any and all comments from my readers. You guys give me different perspectives and insights into the show. I always love seeing things from other people's perspectives.
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Cody walked down the hall towards his grandfather's training room. It was time for their weekly kendo lesson. He yawned. He hadn't slept well during the night. He'd been wondering about how Okuwamon registered as a control spire, why he could control Digimon, and if it was it actually possible that his grandfather could be wrong.
Cody's grandfather had always been his source of guidance and advice for his whole life. He had used his guidance to help Cody after his father's death. As Cody's grandfather had put it, life was often filled with what seemed like unfair events. The thing to remember was that that nothing happens in life without good reason. Unfortunately, people could not understand whether or not these events were a part of a larger design. The only thing a person could do was continue to live as best a life as he or she could, and trust that there was a purpose to the event. That philosophy reminded Cody of Joe's advice.
That view had given Cody a feeling of comfort after his father's death. As long as he felt that there might be a purpose to his father's death, no matter how slight, Cody felt that his father's death wasn't in vain. It was because of this that Cody couldn't believe that his grandfather was wrong. He was so wise and thoughtful. Cody just couldn't imagine his father being wrong.
The sounds of kendo sticks smashing together caught Cody's ear. Funny, his grandfather didn't have any lessons planned for today, not to Cody's knowledge, at least. He quickened his pace and entered the training room. His grandfather was practicing with someone about 13 years old, judging by his height. Whoever this new trainee was, he was good.
Cody watched as his grandfather lunged with his stick at the other person's chest. The younger fighter parried the blow and struck with his own stick. Cody's grandfather deflected the attack and struck again. The other person had to quickly step back in order to avoid the attack. Both combatants drew their sticks back and lunged at each other. Their sticks connected tip to tip, and both split in two. The match ended in a draw.
Cody's grandfather chuckled, "Ha ha! A wonderful match. You have amazing talent at this."
The other person bowed. "Thank you, sir." He took off his mask. Ken Ichijouji offered his hand to Cody's grandfather. Cody's body went numb.
His grandfather shook Ken's hand. "It was a wonderful match. I'm amazed at how quickly you've improved in just a week of practice." He noticed Cody. "Cody! Good to see you're on time. I'd like you to meet-"
Cody had an edge in his voice. "I've already met Ken Ichijouji, Grandpa."
"Oh? How convenient. He came here about a week ago and asked for lessons. I couldn't turn down such an opportunity to teach on of Odaiba's brightest stars."
Ken smiled, "You're much too kind, sir. I still have a long way to go."
Cody said, "Grandpa, may I speak to Ken alone for a moment?"
His grandfather nodded, "Of course. Just step outside and I'll set up for our lesson. Ken, I'll see you tomorrow."
Ken nodded, "I'll pay for the sticks, of course."
Cody's grandfather shook his head, "Not at all. I can cover this. You run along now."
Ken followed Cody into the hall. As soon as they were out of earshot, Cody demanded, "What are you doing here?"
Ken blinked, "I'm getting kendo lessons. I heard that Mr. Hida is a fantastic teacher. I had no idea he was your grandfather. I decided I'd like to try my hand at kendo, so, here I am. Why? You think I'm plotting something?"
Cody growled, "I'm still not ready to forgive you yet."
Ken sighed, "I'm not asking for absolution! I just want a second chance to make up for what I've done."
Cody said, "Then you should turn yourself in to the Digimon for a trial. They have a right to demand justice for what you've done."
Ken replied, "And how would I get a fair trial? All the Digimon hate me so much that I could never defend myself. They'd probably want to blow me up. You call that justice?" Cody couldn't answer. Ken let out a breath to calm himself down. "Motomiya and the others have forgiven me, why can't you?"
Cody said, "Davis is way too trusting. And the others are following his lead. I'm not going to do that until I'm sure you've made up for what you've done."
"Fair enough." Ken shrugged and walked past Cody. He kept talking. "Still, it's a sad thing. A kid your age shouldn't have such a serious expression on his face." He left Cody in stunned silence.
* * * * * * * *
"Mmm!" TK stuffed another slice of pizza into his mouth. "This is delicious!" All of the Digidestined were in their favorite pizza shop, eating up as Davis followed through on the bet from the last battle. They had all left their Digimon at home to rest. It was the early afternoon, just after Cody's kendo lesson.
Davis glared at the others, all of whom had ordered their own private pizzas. TK! Yolei! I won't forgive you!!! He sighed and bit down on another slice. If he was going to be broke, he'd at least enjoy the experience while he could. This stinks. It is good pizza, though.
Cody was sitting silently. Out of everyone, he had ordered the smallest possible pizza.
Yolei said, "Cody, you could always get a larger pie. Davis doesn't mind."
Davis choked on the slice he was eating. "HEY!"
Cody shook his head, "No. I really shouldn't. It'd be a waste of Davis' money."
Davis smiled and regained his composure. "Thanks, Cody. But, really, you should have more pizza. I really don't mind… I guess… maybe?" He shrugged helplessly. Everyone else except Cody laughed.
Cody said, "No. I shouldn't. It'd be rude of me."
Davis sighed, "Come on, man, live a little! You're taking things way too seriously."
It's a sad thing. A kid your age shouldn't have such a serious expression on his face. Ken's words echoed in Cody's mind. Cody said, "I just don't believe in being wasteful. This is enough to keep me going until dinner."
Davis said, "But part of enjoying pizza is eating as much as you can. Here, try a slice of mine." He slid Cody a slice of pizza loaded with more meat on it than Cody would believed possible.
Cody politely pushed it back, "Thank you, Davis, but I really don't need it."
Davis rolled his eyes. "Man, what party-pooper."
Kari said, "Davis, be nice. If Cody doesn't want any, then you shouldn't force him to eat."
Davis said, "I'm not forcing anything! I would just like to see Cody loosen up a little. He's so serious all the time, I wouldn't be surprised if he had gray hair by the time he's my age!"
Kari said, "You may be older, but you act more like a kid than Cody does."
Davis winced, but he pressed on. "Well, we are supposed to act young, aren't we?" He looked at Cody, "Cody, listen, there's going to be a soccer game in my neighborhood for kids your age in about two hours. Why don't you play? It'd be fun."
Yolei considered, "Actually, it might be nice if you played, Cody."
TK nodded, "Yeah, soccer's a lot of fun."
Cody shook his head. "I don't think I'll play."
Davis sighed, "Man you're no fun. But, then again, I'm not giving you a choice."
Cody frowned, "And just how are you going to make me go play soccer."
"Simple." He held up an orange digivice. "You won't get your D3 back until after you've played."
"DAVIS!" Cody grabbed for his digivice, but Davis held it high and far away from Cody. Cody wanted to stand on his seat and reach for it, but he couldn't. If he did something like that, he'd look like… a kid.
Yolei frowned, "When did you swipe that?"
Davis smiled, "It was sticking out of Cody's pocket. I snatched it when I realized he wasn't going to play soccer."
Kari sighed, "Now you're immature and a blackmailer."
Davis shrugged, "It's for a good cause." Why wouldn't Kari give him a break?
Cody sighed, "Alright… I play in the game. But don't expect me to enjoy it."
Davis sighed, "I'll bet another pizza that you do have a good time. Just give it all you got, okay?"
Cody nodded. His grandfather had once told him to give everything his best effort, even if he didn't enjoy it. Devotion built character.
Davis smiled, "Alrighty then! Let's have one more pizza." He looked at his wallet. "Er… on second thought, let's get there early."
* * * * * * * *
Cody looked at the people assembled at the field. There were a ton of kids that were Cody's age. He only recognized a few kids that were in his class. Cody wasn't the most social of type. He didn't have many friends his own age. When a kid that Cody knew saw him, the kid would pretend not to notice. Cody knew that his serious attitude drove other kids away, but he couldn't help it! He'd always been serious. Between his dad's death, his strict mother, and his stern grandfather, Cody simply couldn't afford a carefree lifestyle like most kids. So why is Davis forcing me to do this? He glared at the older kids back while Davis talked to the team coach.
Davis finished and turned around, "Cody, you're gonna be on the red team. You'll be left wing."
Cody gulped, "Offense? You're putting me on offense?"
Davis nodded, "Hey, you'll do great. Just give it your best shot, and don't worry about winning or losing. Just try to have a little fun."
Yolei said, "This from a sore loser."
Davis growled, "I am not a sore loser!"
"Oh? What about that pizza bet? You didn't accept that too gracefully."
Davis said, "Well I followed through, didn't I? Besides, Yolei, you were a pretty sore winner. You must have eaten three whole pizzas. I'm surprised you aren't all swelled up like a beach ball now!"
"WHAT?" Yolei lunged at Davis. Davis jumped back and took off at a fast run. Yolei pursued shouting, "Come back here! I'll kill you!"
Kari moaned, "Oh brother."
* * * * * * * *
Cody waited on the front line, where he had been assigned. He wasn't sure how this would go. He'd seen Davis and Tai play a lot, but he'd never actually participated in a game. He looked at the others. They were all smiling at him, even Davis, whose face was bright red from all the times Yolei had smacked him.
The referee blew on his whistle, and the game began. Cody instantly took off at a run along with his team. The other side had won the coin toss, and the center player had passed the ball to Cody's counterpart. Cody ran towards the kid and kicked the ball out from under the kid's legs. Davis and the others cheered as Cody ran down the field with the ball. He was about a quarter farther down the field when a kid who was about a year older slid and knocked the ball away from Cody. Cody tripped and fell onto the ground. I hope these grass stains come out of my shirt. Cody stood up. He had to give this his full effort. And… he had to admit, there was a little fun in the rush that he was feeling.
Cody ran down and rejoined the others. Sadly, the defense wasn't very good, and the other team scored before Cody could get the ball back. Cody retook his position at the line.
TK called from the sidelines, "Cody, use teamwork. Pass to some of the other kids." Cody nodded.
The other team took off with the ball again. This time, the center passed to the kid on the opposite side of the field from Cody. Cody paced backwards as far as he could and watched as one of his teammates stole the ball and passed it up to a halfback. The halfback in turn passed the ball up to the center, and they front line ran down the field again. The center passed to Cody, but a kid from the other team intercepted the ball. Cody pursued and caught up to his opponent. He had to admit, this actually was fun.
Davis shouted, "Slide, Cody, slide!" Cody acted without thinking, or worrying about grass stains. He slid forward and knocked the ball away from the other kid. Cody quickly got back up and followed his teammates down the field. One of the others scored a goal.
Yolei called, "Great job, Cody!"
Kari shouted, "Way to play!"
One of Cody's teammates ran near him. The kid was wearing a baseball cap and said as they ran back to the line, "Thanks for the nice pass."
Cody nodded and actually smiled. The game resumed. Cody ran down the field alongside the kid that had congratulated him. The kid passed the ball to Cody and he ran strait in at the goal. Cody kicked the ball with all his might, and scored a goal. Everyone cheered. The half-time whistle sounded.
Cody ran up to Davis and the others. "You guys! Did you see that! I scored, I actually scored!" He couldn't keep the excitement and pride from his voice.
Davis said, "We saw it. Great job!"
The game resumed. Cody continued to play strong throughout the whole second half. He was one of the fastest kids on the field. All his running and fighting in the Digital World was paying off in a way he had never dreamed. His team won 5 to 3, and Cody had a tremendous time.
The other offered him a round of backslaps and handshakes after the game. TK said, "You were great Cody."
Kari said, "Fantastic."
Yolei said, "Better than Davis."
Davis encouraged, "Yeah! Hey… wait a minute!"
Cody rubbed the back of his nervously, "Aww… shucks."
"Hey," the kid with the baseball cap came up. "You're in my class, aren't you?"
Cody nodded, "Yeah. I'm Cody."
The kid removed the baseball cap. Long brown hair tumbled down around the kid's, or rather, the girl's shoulders. "I'm Ayumi Morita. You're really great at soccer. I'm impressed." She smiled and walked off to meet her parents. Cody turned a bright shade of red.
Davis noticed the change in the color of Cody's face. "Way to go, stud." He gave Cody a big backslap.
Cody said, "Stop it!" This was so embarrassing.
Davis smiled, "Okay." He handed Cody his D3. "Here's your digivice back. Great job."
Cody tucked the D3 back into his pocket. "Thanks. And, Davis?"
"Yes?"
"I really did have fun. Thanks for getting me to do this."
Davis' smile widened. "I'm glad. I'm not asking for you to become the life of the party, Cody. I just want you to have a little fun when you can. It's not a crime to have enjoy yourself every now and then."
Cody nodded, "You're right."
Kari said, "This was a really good idea, Davis."
Davis gave her a sly look, "Even for someone as immature as me?"
Kari looked slightly abashed. "Well, yeah. I mean, NO! I mean…" She sighed, "Sorry, I was being a pain."
Davis shrugged, "Don't worry about it." He looked at Cody. "Now, you do realize that you owe me a pizza. You had fun, so you lost the bet."
Cody asked, "Are you really that desperate for pizza?"
Davis sighed, "I'm broke. I'll need all the free food I can get! Besides, I promised Demiveemon that I'd bring him a few slices home."
"Excuse me?" Ken came up to the group. "May I speak to Motomiya, alone?" Everyone frowned and looked at Davis.
Davis was surprised for a moment, then he nodded, "Yeah, sure. I'll catch up to you guys." He and Ken walked off. The others packed up to head for home. Cody, however, slipped off and followed Davis and Ken.
Yolei, TK, and Kari took off, but quickly noticed that Cody had gone missing. "Probably went to catch that girl."
Kari smiled, "They grow up so fast, don't they?"
* * * * * * * *
Cody listened as Ken and Davis talked.
Ken asked, "Were you in a battle recently?"
Davis nodded, "Yeah. We fought against an evil Digimon named Okuwamon."
"That's Kuwagamon's Ultimate form, correct?"
Davis nodded, "But he was giving off control spire energy."
Ken's face fell, "What? That's impossible!"
Davis shrugged, "He managed to control Digimon with dark rings and dark spirals. And he appears on the Digiworld map as a control spire. Is it possible he absorbed the power like SkullMammothmon did?"
Ken shook his head. "No. That's not possible. SkullMammothmon only absorbed part of the control spire's energy. If he had tried to absorb all that power, he would have been destroyed."
Davis asked, "So, how come Okuwamon has all that power. He said he's going to try and become a Mega."
Ken said, "I don't have any idea. Listen, I'd like to go with you into the Digital World next time and see this Okuwamon first hand. Is that all right?"
Davis nodded, "Sure it's fine."
Ken said, "Then I'll see you next time." He looked over his shoulder. "Did you get all that?" Cody stepped sheepishly into view. Davis gaped at the sight of the younger Digidestined. Ken smiled and walked off.
Cody and Davis began to walk home. Cody asked, "Davis, why do you trust him so much?"
Davis said, "Well, you know how I'm always shooting my mouth off or getting into trouble."
"Yeah?"
"Well, I know what it's like to want a second chance at things and to make up for things that I did wrong. I kinda know how Ken feels. I want to give him a chance to feel like he's a part of the team."
Cody asked, "But is he ready to be a Digidestined? He still hasn't made up for all he's done!"
Davis sighed, "Cody, if you guys held me responsible for every mistake I've made and never forgave me until I made up for it, do you think that I'd ever be able to make a difference? I'd be too busy trying to earn forgiveness instead of trying to simply help. Sometimes people have to forgive without looking for payback. That's something even I understand."
Cody nodded silently. "Hey, Davis?"
"Yeah?"
Cody said, "You're really not all that bad. You just step over the edge sometimes. But I'm glad you're on the team."
Davis smiled and patted Cody's back. "Same to you. Nice to have someone around who 'acts my age.'" Cody laughed.
* * * * * * * *
Okuwamon moaned as he rolled over deep underground. He was currently healing from the wounds inflicted upon him by the Digidestined. He looked down at the cuts in his body. Underneath his skin was pure black metal, the metal used to make control spires. That was part of the bargain that he had made. Lose a part of himself in order to save his life.
"You failed." Okuwamon's head snapped up at a newcomer. An old man with pure white hair stepped into view. He was tall and lean, and he carried himself with a great deal of confidence. There was an eerie sense of peace and tranquility emanating form him. It was the kind of feeling that Okuwamon got whenever Piedmon started to act a little crazy. He was wearing black robes and a golden headband with three blood-red jewels in it. Those jewels seemed to glow with power.
Okuwamon snarled, "How was I supposed to know that the Digidestined would appear?"
The man said, "You should have continued on to the control spire and left the town alone. Never forget that your goal is to become a Mega in order to better serve our master!"
"I never agreed to serve any master! I'm an independent now!"
The old man smiled, "Do not forget that it was I who merged your body with a control spire. What I can give, I can take back. If I do so, you will revert back to your half-dead body with no power to sustain you. Do you want that?"
Okuwamon's head slumped down, "No."
The old man said, "Then you will serve our lord faithfully and without question, clear?"
Okuwamon stood up, "Yeah. Next time I see the Digidestined I'll slice them in two!"
The old man said, "You may kill the three new ones and the Digimon Emperor, but the child of Hope and the child of Light are mine! They must be delivered to me unharmed."
Okuwamon asked, "What's so special about those two?"
The old man smiled, "That's not for you to know." He vanished into the shadows. Okuwamon sat back down and continued to focus on healing. This deal had given him new power and greater intelligence, but he hated being a slave. Still, this deal would give him the power of a Mega. And he'd do anything for power.
"Soon." His mouth watered at the thought of all the damage he could do as a Mega. "Very soon."
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A new evil emerges, but what does he want with TK and Kari? Okuwamon will achieve his Mega level in the next chapter. Chapter 4 is coming soon.
Consilium is Latin for "Deliberation."
Author's question: In the episode "An Old Enemy Returns," did anyone besides me notice that Davis' grandparents dress exactly like TK and Kari do? The grandfather has a dark green hat like TK's, and the grandmother has a green scarf and something hanging around her neck just like Kari. That's pretty eerie if you ask me.