Chapter Five
"NO! JANEENE!" Jon screamed as he watched the blonde be thrown forward from the power of the blast. She disappeared behind a sand bank, leaving a cloud of churned up sand in her wake.
"What the…" Matt and Tai trailed off.
T.K. opened his eyes and saw that he was still alive.
"Janeene?" he muttered, looking all over for the girl but only seeing the plum of sand.
"Oh well, not the one I wanted but it's good enough." MetalSeadramon cackled, then turned his attention back to T.K., "As for you-"
"BREATH OF FIRE!!!" a sudden female cry came from the sand bank where Janeene had fallen. Everyone gasped in surprise as a streak of flames came flying at MetalSeadramon, knocking him back in to the water with a cry.
"Whoa…what do you suppose that was?" Matt muttered.
"It's Janeene!" T.K. exclaimed happily, pointing to the sandbank where Janeene now stood. She did not look too happy. Her fist was burning with flames, her face was set in determination, and her entire body was engulfed in a bright blue glow. Jon instantly noticed, though, that bright red blood was soaking through the back of her shirt and on to her side, and that her broken wrist had come free of the splint.
"You've gone and messed with the wrong Pyro." She seethed angrily, taking a few steps forward, "And now you're gonna pay."
"You're on your own, buddy!" SkullMeramon said suddenly, "I've heard of this girl! She's bad news!" he added before taking off in to the foliage.
"HA! Coward! I don't need you anyway! I'm not afraid of some little blonde girl! Come on, girly, show me what you've got!" Janeene stepped in front of T.K. and looked up at the sea monster.
"T.K., go to your brother." Janeene said evenly.
"But-"
"I said go." T.K. started to protest again, but saw the glowing energy around the girl and decided to high tail out of there. He ran to his brother's arms, accepting the embrace with tears.
"She's gonna get herself killed!" T.K. sobbed. The other kids quickly joined the others in their hiding places.
"Is she doing what I think she's doing?!" Izzy exclaimed fearfully.
"Duh!" Tai shot back.
"She's gonna die!" T.K. sobbed again.
"T.K…I'm sure she knows what she's doing…" Matt trailed off, suddenly unsure of his own words.
"I should stop her!" Jon announced bravely.
"No. Let her do it." Kari said evenly. Everyone looked at the small girl for an explanation, "Gennai said she was special. Just look at her now. Her soul is a part of the Digital World. She has powers we only dream about."
T.K. sniffled and glanced at his friend.
"Are you sure."
"I'm positive."
Janeene and MetalSeadramon stood in face off positions, ready to battle.
"What can a child do to the great Master of the Sea?" He boasted. Janeene snorted and donned a smug smile.
"Obviously, seaweed-for-brains, you underestimate your opponent. Something you should never, ever do. " she shot back snidely.
"Okay then blondie, let's see what you've got!"
"You asked for it." Janeene pulled herself tall and brought her hands together in a prayer like fashion close to her face, closing her eyes in concentration. Her blue energy faded and was replaced by flames all around her.
"Oh how very appropriate. You should be praying! Your end is near child! GIGA ICE BLAST!"
"PHOENIX ASHES!" Janeene countered, throwing her arms open wide and letting the fire that surrounded her fly. It formed in to a huge firebird, blasted through MetalSeadramon's attack, then separated in to five large fireballs. Each fireball smashed in to the large sea monster, throwing him back in to the water with a cry of defeat. Smoldering from the flames, MetalSeadramon rose back up, and Janeene prepared for another attack.
"This is far from over, Firechild! You'll see me again, mark my words!" he taunted, then took back off in to the sea, leaving the rest of the children to stand there, stunned at what they had just seen.
Janeene felt that awesome rush of power leave her in a flood, and fatigue washed over her aching body. She dropped to her knees in the sand, her body convulsing in to violent shakes.
"Oh no! Janeene!" she heard Jon cry out, her vision blurring and turning black around the edges. She felt some one's arms wrap around her and tilted her head up to see Jon's worried hazel-green eyes baring in to her. The others were there in an instant to see what the problem was.
"Janeene, say something." Jon urged, "Come on I know you're still there!"
"Her body can't take using that much energy." Izzy said logically, "She may be a part of the Digital World, but her body is just as human as the rest of us."
"In other words that should have killed her?" Jou questioned.
"Should of, but it didn't, and it won't." Izzy replied.
"I had to help him." Janeene suddenly said, her voice choked with pain, "He would have died." Tai bent down near the two and put a finger to her lips.
"Shh…don't speak. Just rest." He said with a smile. Janeene forced a smile through the hurt.
"Thank you…I'm so…tired…" she trailed off. Her head suddenly fell to the side and her eyes rolled back in to her head. Jon gulped, feeling something wet and sticky touch his arm. He pulled his arm out from under Janeene's back and was horrified to find it covered in blood. He locked eyes with Tai and they both looked fearfully at one another.
"Guys?" Mimi's voice called the kids' attention. She pointed fearfully to the far away skyline. All the Digidestined kids looked to the horizon only to see the sun sinking down below the water line at an alarming rate.
"Oh great…now what do we do?" Matt muttered.
"We're going to have to find shelter…we can't get back to Gennai's and out of harm's way before the sun sets." Izzy informed the group. Jon, for the first time since he'd been there, kept his opinions to himself and remained silent. Instead he looked at the girl lying in his arms and sighed.
How did I ever get myself messed up with this mess?
