Hi guys! Sorry to keep you waiting for so long, but I got a job and you know how those are. Plus, I accidentally ran my finger thru a meat slicer. Gee, I didn't know I had that much blood in me! Thanks everyone who reviewed before. I would have given up if you didn't review. Okay, now the story gets odd. Yes, It's gonna be a long one. No, I have no Idea how to spell Armadillomon's champion form... Read & review please!
Chapter 5
"TK!" one of them cried, then stopped, confused. This, wasn't TK, yet it was. She, for it was a she, knelt down beside the trembling figure. "Oh my." She touched where the wings connected to the rest of the body, a bloody sight. "It was a glitch: you must have digivolved wrong."
"Everything happens for a reason," the figured gasped out, "I'm fine. Just need to catch my breath." And she could see that the great gouges in his back were already healing. He stood up shakily and looked around dumbly at the others. The looked dumbly back.
"I..." the shortest figure trailed off, running his hands over the golden exoskeleton incasing his front. "I was Cody. And I was Ankellamon. But now we are I." He looked assuredly at the rest, but was puzzled by his own words.
"You're right."
They all nodded in agreement.
"Is everyone okay?" A hulking form stepped into the middle of the ring. Like the others he was distracted by his own transformation. His long, powerful legs were covered in blue fur and ended in clawed feet. The fur stopped at his waist, where a scar in the shape of an X marred the almost perfect brown skin on his chest. His almost human face was made foreign by the high-placed doe ears, small ivory horns, and the shaggy mane of mahogany hair. But unlike the others, there was no confusion in his wide eyes, only determination.
The others mumbled affirmatively.
"Good. Now we have a job to do. We have to find out who we're going against, and what we have to do to beat him."
"Dai." This voice was hesitant, still dazed, with traces of an English accent. The girl fingered the brilliant red feathers covering her torso and the mane of lavender ones coming from her scalp. She touched the ram's horns that jutted from her forehead. "I think we need to deal with what just happened here."
"What's to deal with?" He shrugged impassively. "We look a little different, but we've still got to take care of this."
They stared at him. "It's more than that, Davis," the girl said softly, staring at the enormous talons that had replaced her delicate feet. "We are all new people. I have memories from both. I'm not Yolie. I'm not Aquillamon. I've... I've just been born. I need to understand-"
"I understand that we've got a duty to the digital world that won't wait. If we screw this up we die in vain." He snapped back.
"Dai..." the other girl said softly. This one was mostly human, except for her enormous cat-like ears, hands and feet. She also had a black feline nose and pure white fur covering her torso. "Give us a few minutes. If this is truly destined to happen nothing we do matters. So why worry?"
"Don't you get it?" he almost exploded. "That passage wasn't written just to tell us we are going to die. We were allowed to read it so we would have time to prepare. So we wouldn't die for nothing!"
Now the rest looked stunned. Finally the tallest member of the group stepped up, a dream in plated green armour and claws. He looked up shyly, antenna dancing in front of his beautiful, expressive eyes. "You're right. But we need to know our own capabilities before we can assess our chances."
"Know thy enemy, know thyself!" Davis retorted.
"That's different." The jade(d) ronin said patiently. "That means if you know your enemy's duties and goals you know your own." His voice dropped. "Davis, please. Let's go see Gennai."
Davis nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. Let's go. TK, you know where he lives, right? Lead the way."
***
As they approached Gennai's abode Davis fell back besides Yolie, who was trailing the group.
"Yolie." He started hesitantly. No response. "I'm sorry if I was a little unfeeling. It's just, it's my job to make sure this works out the way it's supposed to."
He trailed off, watching the pale girl. She was unusually quiet.
"Dai?" She finally said in a small voice.
"What?"
"Am I..., Do I look like a monster?"
Davis had not been expecting that. "What? No! Uh..., why?"
"I... I've got horns and talons!" She wailed.
"So, what? I have horns, too." He grinned, pointing to his forehead at the ivory stumps. "Hikari has a tail. I have blue fur. Takeru has wings!" His grin grew wider. It was a bit reassuring to see this girl back in her natural, self-centred state. "You are still the beautiful Ms. Inoue, if a bit feathery. No, seriously, Yolie, it's..... exotic."
"I'm exotic?" Yolie got a dreamy look in her eyes as she considered the possibilities.
"We're here," TK announced.
A lone figure approached over the horizon, long robes flapping in the breeze. He watched them silently as they approached.
"Hi, kids."
"Hi, Gennai."
He smiled sadly. "I had a feeling I'd be getting a visit from you guys. Come to kill the messenger?"
"Don't tempt me." Davis's voice held an edge.
"Dai." Kari berated gently. "He has no control over what happens."
"Bullshit."
"He only tries to help."
"If you aren't part of the solution..." the leader said roughly.
Gennai studied him seriously for a moment. "Who says I'm not?" He jibed mildly.
But now even TK had lost his patience. "Gennai, we're on a clock. Can you help us or not?"
He smiled magnanimously. "Follow me."
***
They sat down on the floor, staring wide-eyed at the fish outside. Gennai walked back into the room with steaming cups of green tea. Gratefully they took the tea and sipped absently, waiting for the tall man to speak.
"I think you all know what happened." he said seriously.
"Yeah, well, humour us." Davis snapped.
"Digidestined digivolved with digimon. A sort of Jogress." he mused almost to himself. "Only more wonderfully complex. And unique. As you can tell, the human side is dominant, but digimon traits are obvious physically and instinctually, as well as memory and personality residue."
"So we're not who we were." Yolie said flatly.
"Oh, you are. You are Yolie. And you are Aquillamon." Gennai insisted.
"That does not help." She said irritably.
Gennai sighed. "Well, think about how the Aquillamon part of you viewed his jogress evolution."
They all sat meditatively, for the first time delving into their rather recessive side.
"I think I understand." Cody muttered. "It's inexplicable, but I feel it. It's not like there is a Cody and an Ankellamon in my head. And I'm not a new person made up of them, either. But I am Cody, and I am Ankellamon."
The rest nodded. Davis stood up abruptly.
"Okay, we know what, but what about why? Why this... evolution?"
"Why, to defeat the darkness of course." Gennai said bemusedly.
"No," Davis started impatiently, "I mean why not plow in, human and digimon, and cream him like we usually do?"
"Because, this is not your typical dragon slaying. There are subtleties and situations that need both a digimon and Digidestined's perspective, combined, to decipher and handle. This is... not like any other situation you've ever handled."
"Uh huh. Can you be more specific?"
"Not really. See, this "darkness" and the circumstances surrounding it are neither and both human nor digimon. And so are you, putting you at least on as level a playing field as we can get at this point."
"What else can you tell us about this... "darkness?" Davis asked curiously.
Gennai's face was carefully blank. "Nothing."
"What?!" Davis almost exploded. "What do you mean 'nothing'? We can't just waltz in there totally blind!"
"Isn't that what we usually do?" Cody muttered under his breath.
Gennai shrugged. "We wouldn't even know that there's a problem except the prophecy told us. The digital world has been just fine."
"Well, what do we do?" Kari asked.
Davis grinned. "We go looking for trouble. It's here, I know it. We just have to find it!"
Yolie rolled her eyes. "Why not just let him show up?"
"Because," Davis said thoughtfully, "this isn't the kind of guy that needs to. I think,..." he paused, "that this is the kind of evil that builds up in hiding and then executes the plan with one swing of the sledge hammer. I mean, we know it's here. Unlike our other foes it's not showing itself. I think that it's not showing itself because it doesn't need to."
Kari smiled impulsively at her feral leader's enthusiasm and prodded gently, "So, where do you think we should look, Dai?"
"Um...."
"I think," Ken broke in hesitantly, "I think I know where it might go."
"Well?" Ken shivered, and his eyes dilated in fear at an unseen enemy.
"Infinity Mountain." Kari whispered.
Ken nodded numbly. "And the Kaiser's Flying Fortress. They have a connection somehow."
"Why do you think that, Ken?" Yolie prodded gently.
"I don't know, I just do!" he snapped tersely. He whirled around, and there was a bit of Kaiser in his wild eyes. "I know this to be true, Daisuke, but you're wrong. We can't go to him."
His skeletal grip on Daisuke's shoulders was unnaturally strong, and his claws started to slide into Daisuke's unprotected flesh. But Daisuke ignored the pain. "Why, Ken-chan?" he asked gently, sliding his own paws under Ken's jade-plated fingers.
"He calls me to him." The boy hissed. "He calls and I-" And froze, seeing the blood smearing Daisuke's broad arms. "Oh my... Dai, I'm sorry." As suddenly as the frazzled Kaiser came, he left.
"And you what, Ken?" Dai asked, ignoring his concern.
"Nothing, it's nothing." He said distractedly pressing his hands over the wounds.
"It's obviously something. Who is calling you, Ken?"
"I- Well, it's him. I thought I saw him for a second there." the thin boy shrugged.
"And what did you see?"
"I saw..." he stopped and pointed to TK. "He knows who I saw."
TK had been rather quiet, but when he looked up his eyes burned. "Not who. It's what, Ken."
"We can't go to Infinity Mountain." Ken said stubbornly.
"It's not just Infinity Mountain." TK murmured. "It's every single spot where someone has died."
Both boys were quiet. Daisuke watched them carefully, deciding whether to press the issue. "So, you think this is who we're being pitted against?" They nodded. "What does he want?"
Both were mute. Daisuke tried again. "Why can't we go to Infinity Mountain? Or for that matter, the Kaiser's castle?"
"Because they died there." Yolie said quietly.
"What?"
"Angemon died at the base of Infinity Mountain and Wormon in the dunes near the castle. And TK said something about not being able to go anywhere where someone died. I think our enemy is somehow drawn to these spots." she said thoughtfully.
"But why? What is it about death that attracts it?" Cody mused.
"May I suggest something?" The Digidestined jumped in surprise. They had forgotten about Gennai.
"Talk to Electmon. He knows more about the different aspects of a digimon's death than anyone else."
At the thought of Primary Village everyone relaxed and smiled. Nothing bad could happen there.
"Yeah." Davis grinned. "Let's go to Primary Village!"
Chapter 5
"TK!" one of them cried, then stopped, confused. This, wasn't TK, yet it was. She, for it was a she, knelt down beside the trembling figure. "Oh my." She touched where the wings connected to the rest of the body, a bloody sight. "It was a glitch: you must have digivolved wrong."
"Everything happens for a reason," the figured gasped out, "I'm fine. Just need to catch my breath." And she could see that the great gouges in his back were already healing. He stood up shakily and looked around dumbly at the others. The looked dumbly back.
"I..." the shortest figure trailed off, running his hands over the golden exoskeleton incasing his front. "I was Cody. And I was Ankellamon. But now we are I." He looked assuredly at the rest, but was puzzled by his own words.
"You're right."
They all nodded in agreement.
"Is everyone okay?" A hulking form stepped into the middle of the ring. Like the others he was distracted by his own transformation. His long, powerful legs were covered in blue fur and ended in clawed feet. The fur stopped at his waist, where a scar in the shape of an X marred the almost perfect brown skin on his chest. His almost human face was made foreign by the high-placed doe ears, small ivory horns, and the shaggy mane of mahogany hair. But unlike the others, there was no confusion in his wide eyes, only determination.
The others mumbled affirmatively.
"Good. Now we have a job to do. We have to find out who we're going against, and what we have to do to beat him."
"Dai." This voice was hesitant, still dazed, with traces of an English accent. The girl fingered the brilliant red feathers covering her torso and the mane of lavender ones coming from her scalp. She touched the ram's horns that jutted from her forehead. "I think we need to deal with what just happened here."
"What's to deal with?" He shrugged impassively. "We look a little different, but we've still got to take care of this."
They stared at him. "It's more than that, Davis," the girl said softly, staring at the enormous talons that had replaced her delicate feet. "We are all new people. I have memories from both. I'm not Yolie. I'm not Aquillamon. I've... I've just been born. I need to understand-"
"I understand that we've got a duty to the digital world that won't wait. If we screw this up we die in vain." He snapped back.
"Dai..." the other girl said softly. This one was mostly human, except for her enormous cat-like ears, hands and feet. She also had a black feline nose and pure white fur covering her torso. "Give us a few minutes. If this is truly destined to happen nothing we do matters. So why worry?"
"Don't you get it?" he almost exploded. "That passage wasn't written just to tell us we are going to die. We were allowed to read it so we would have time to prepare. So we wouldn't die for nothing!"
Now the rest looked stunned. Finally the tallest member of the group stepped up, a dream in plated green armour and claws. He looked up shyly, antenna dancing in front of his beautiful, expressive eyes. "You're right. But we need to know our own capabilities before we can assess our chances."
"Know thy enemy, know thyself!" Davis retorted.
"That's different." The jade(d) ronin said patiently. "That means if you know your enemy's duties and goals you know your own." His voice dropped. "Davis, please. Let's go see Gennai."
Davis nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. Let's go. TK, you know where he lives, right? Lead the way."
***
As they approached Gennai's abode Davis fell back besides Yolie, who was trailing the group.
"Yolie." He started hesitantly. No response. "I'm sorry if I was a little unfeeling. It's just, it's my job to make sure this works out the way it's supposed to."
He trailed off, watching the pale girl. She was unusually quiet.
"Dai?" She finally said in a small voice.
"What?"
"Am I..., Do I look like a monster?"
Davis had not been expecting that. "What? No! Uh..., why?"
"I... I've got horns and talons!" She wailed.
"So, what? I have horns, too." He grinned, pointing to his forehead at the ivory stumps. "Hikari has a tail. I have blue fur. Takeru has wings!" His grin grew wider. It was a bit reassuring to see this girl back in her natural, self-centred state. "You are still the beautiful Ms. Inoue, if a bit feathery. No, seriously, Yolie, it's..... exotic."
"I'm exotic?" Yolie got a dreamy look in her eyes as she considered the possibilities.
"We're here," TK announced.
A lone figure approached over the horizon, long robes flapping in the breeze. He watched them silently as they approached.
"Hi, kids."
"Hi, Gennai."
He smiled sadly. "I had a feeling I'd be getting a visit from you guys. Come to kill the messenger?"
"Don't tempt me." Davis's voice held an edge.
"Dai." Kari berated gently. "He has no control over what happens."
"Bullshit."
"He only tries to help."
"If you aren't part of the solution..." the leader said roughly.
Gennai studied him seriously for a moment. "Who says I'm not?" He jibed mildly.
But now even TK had lost his patience. "Gennai, we're on a clock. Can you help us or not?"
He smiled magnanimously. "Follow me."
***
They sat down on the floor, staring wide-eyed at the fish outside. Gennai walked back into the room with steaming cups of green tea. Gratefully they took the tea and sipped absently, waiting for the tall man to speak.
"I think you all know what happened." he said seriously.
"Yeah, well, humour us." Davis snapped.
"Digidestined digivolved with digimon. A sort of Jogress." he mused almost to himself. "Only more wonderfully complex. And unique. As you can tell, the human side is dominant, but digimon traits are obvious physically and instinctually, as well as memory and personality residue."
"So we're not who we were." Yolie said flatly.
"Oh, you are. You are Yolie. And you are Aquillamon." Gennai insisted.
"That does not help." She said irritably.
Gennai sighed. "Well, think about how the Aquillamon part of you viewed his jogress evolution."
They all sat meditatively, for the first time delving into their rather recessive side.
"I think I understand." Cody muttered. "It's inexplicable, but I feel it. It's not like there is a Cody and an Ankellamon in my head. And I'm not a new person made up of them, either. But I am Cody, and I am Ankellamon."
The rest nodded. Davis stood up abruptly.
"Okay, we know what, but what about why? Why this... evolution?"
"Why, to defeat the darkness of course." Gennai said bemusedly.
"No," Davis started impatiently, "I mean why not plow in, human and digimon, and cream him like we usually do?"
"Because, this is not your typical dragon slaying. There are subtleties and situations that need both a digimon and Digidestined's perspective, combined, to decipher and handle. This is... not like any other situation you've ever handled."
"Uh huh. Can you be more specific?"
"Not really. See, this "darkness" and the circumstances surrounding it are neither and both human nor digimon. And so are you, putting you at least on as level a playing field as we can get at this point."
"What else can you tell us about this... "darkness?" Davis asked curiously.
Gennai's face was carefully blank. "Nothing."
"What?!" Davis almost exploded. "What do you mean 'nothing'? We can't just waltz in there totally blind!"
"Isn't that what we usually do?" Cody muttered under his breath.
Gennai shrugged. "We wouldn't even know that there's a problem except the prophecy told us. The digital world has been just fine."
"Well, what do we do?" Kari asked.
Davis grinned. "We go looking for trouble. It's here, I know it. We just have to find it!"
Yolie rolled her eyes. "Why not just let him show up?"
"Because," Davis said thoughtfully, "this isn't the kind of guy that needs to. I think,..." he paused, "that this is the kind of evil that builds up in hiding and then executes the plan with one swing of the sledge hammer. I mean, we know it's here. Unlike our other foes it's not showing itself. I think that it's not showing itself because it doesn't need to."
Kari smiled impulsively at her feral leader's enthusiasm and prodded gently, "So, where do you think we should look, Dai?"
"Um...."
"I think," Ken broke in hesitantly, "I think I know where it might go."
"Well?" Ken shivered, and his eyes dilated in fear at an unseen enemy.
"Infinity Mountain." Kari whispered.
Ken nodded numbly. "And the Kaiser's Flying Fortress. They have a connection somehow."
"Why do you think that, Ken?" Yolie prodded gently.
"I don't know, I just do!" he snapped tersely. He whirled around, and there was a bit of Kaiser in his wild eyes. "I know this to be true, Daisuke, but you're wrong. We can't go to him."
His skeletal grip on Daisuke's shoulders was unnaturally strong, and his claws started to slide into Daisuke's unprotected flesh. But Daisuke ignored the pain. "Why, Ken-chan?" he asked gently, sliding his own paws under Ken's jade-plated fingers.
"He calls me to him." The boy hissed. "He calls and I-" And froze, seeing the blood smearing Daisuke's broad arms. "Oh my... Dai, I'm sorry." As suddenly as the frazzled Kaiser came, he left.
"And you what, Ken?" Dai asked, ignoring his concern.
"Nothing, it's nothing." He said distractedly pressing his hands over the wounds.
"It's obviously something. Who is calling you, Ken?"
"I- Well, it's him. I thought I saw him for a second there." the thin boy shrugged.
"And what did you see?"
"I saw..." he stopped and pointed to TK. "He knows who I saw."
TK had been rather quiet, but when he looked up his eyes burned. "Not who. It's what, Ken."
"We can't go to Infinity Mountain." Ken said stubbornly.
"It's not just Infinity Mountain." TK murmured. "It's every single spot where someone has died."
Both boys were quiet. Daisuke watched them carefully, deciding whether to press the issue. "So, you think this is who we're being pitted against?" They nodded. "What does he want?"
Both were mute. Daisuke tried again. "Why can't we go to Infinity Mountain? Or for that matter, the Kaiser's castle?"
"Because they died there." Yolie said quietly.
"What?"
"Angemon died at the base of Infinity Mountain and Wormon in the dunes near the castle. And TK said something about not being able to go anywhere where someone died. I think our enemy is somehow drawn to these spots." she said thoughtfully.
"But why? What is it about death that attracts it?" Cody mused.
"May I suggest something?" The Digidestined jumped in surprise. They had forgotten about Gennai.
"Talk to Electmon. He knows more about the different aspects of a digimon's death than anyone else."
At the thought of Primary Village everyone relaxed and smiled. Nothing bad could happen there.
"Yeah." Davis grinned. "Let's go to Primary Village!"