Taichi: Protector Of Fire

Taichi: Protector Of Fire

[A/N: Long live Taichi, the pyromaniac! Will Kari survive her brush with the one digimon that is completely of the darkness, or will the Light truly die?]

[Disclaimer: Don't own.]

"PEPPER BREATH!" Agumon shouted, trying to save Kari. "Hand of Rime!" Shinji counteracted, and a ball of ice in the shape of a fireball fell to the ground.

"Kari!" Tai shouted, starting towards the Fallen Child. "Ah, ah, ah!" Shinji flicked out a clawed finger, "One more step and her throat gets slit!"

"Kari…" Tai whispered, fearful for his sister.

Kari choked weakly and tried to move the clawed hands around her neck. Shinji squeezed tighter, absolutely gleeful at the thought of Kari dying. "The dying of the Light is indeed beautiful!" she laughed, "I can't wait to kill your little boyfriend!"

Very suddenly, she froze. Her grip around Kari's neck slightly loosened, but very little. "Fire…" the Fallen Child murmured, "How could Fire be here?" Shinji looked up and then towards the other Digi-destined.

"Tai?" Matt looked towards his friend, "Tai, what's the matter?" Tai's eyes were closed, his hands gripping opposite shoulders tightly. He grit his teeth and his muscles literally bulged. An aura of fiery energy surrounded the twelve-year-old—but he didn't look twelve years old anymore. His body appeared to age rapidly, to that of a seventeen-year-olds.

In a flash of his fire energy, his old clothes were gone and replaced by a large, beaten-up, studded black leather jacket and baggy blue jeans. Large boots were on his feet and studded gloves with the fingers cut off appeared on his hands. The now-teenager opened his eyes, and instead of his normal brown eyes, small flames were there.

"I am not Tai!" Tai shouted, "I am Taichi, the Protector of Fire!"

Shinji dropped Kari, who ran away as quickly as she could. "Oh dammit." Shinji sighed rather sarcastically, "Looks like I've finally got a real rival."

"Damn right!" Taichi raised his fists, "I'm gonna kick your ass!" "Oh really?" Shinji grinned slowly. There was a loud 'THUD' sound, and Taichi gagged as Shinji's fist sank into his bare stomach. He flew back a few feet and coughed, dropping to his knees.

"Oh, what power." Shinji smirked, "I thought the great Fire Protector would be a bit more of a challenge." Tai lifted his head slightly with a grin and his inferno eyes flashed with power.

"PINNACLE OF INFERNO!" he shouted, throwing up his gloved hands. A tornado of flames appeared around his hands and was thrown at Shinji. She vanished in the inferno, and when flames disappeared, she was gone.

"Is this all the Fire Protector is?" Shinji's hand gripped Taichi's head tight, "I don't believe that you are supposed to be the Digi-destined leader." Taichi seemed frozen with fear, but he grinned.

"FURY PUNCH!" the Protector of Fire shouted. Flames appeared around his right hand, and he punched backwards.

Shinji gagged in pain as the attack burned through cloth and skin. A spurt of blood dripped down through her clothes and she fell back. "Eye of The Devil!" Taichi grinned and opened his eyes wide. Beams of fire energy shot from the flames that were his eyes and slammed into the wound in Shinji's side.

"How could you possibly develop your powers in such a short time?" she moaned with pain, "It took five years for me to get my powers as they are." "Look at my body." Taichi grabbed her collar, "I have made myself age, made myself develop. We Protectors must be at a certain stage in our development for our powers to truly manifest."

"HAND OF RIME!" Shinji slammed her attack into Taichi's face. The Protector of Fire fell back with a face full of ice, and Shinji phased out of sight.

A large Tyrannomon was patrolling the front gates of the castle. He was feeling exceptionally good about himself; he had just been moved up to the head of the guards, and felt like he could take on the master Shinji herself. Suddenly, he spotted a speck of black coming up towards the castle. "IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" the Tyrannomon roared.

Shinji slowly made her way up the hill towards the castle. With each excruciating step, she moaned, "Ow…ow…ow…" Spots of blood followed with each step, from the burn wound from Taichi. "That damned Protector." she thought angrily, "I'll get back at him if it's the last thing I ever do."

The Tyrannomon gasped when he saw who it was. He ran forwards and stumbled alongside Shinji. "Master Shinji!" he gasped in awe, "I, I didn't know it was you! Is there—there anything I can do, 'cause I'm always able to lend a hand and—"

Shinji, irritated with the idiot Champion digimon, smacked him hard in the nose. Tyrannomon flew into a far-off cliff, and Shinji continued up towards the castle. "We need a new head of guards." she made a note to mention that, pending she made it into the castle anyway.

"…and the tributes are all coming in quite nicely." a Datamon said in a monotone voice, "There don't seem to be any more struggles to keep the money." Ladydevimon and Devimon appeared very bored with the whole report.

"Hasn't it been an awfully long time for Shinji to be gone?" Ladydevimon asked after the Datamon left, "She should have destroyed the Digi-destined by now."

The door creaked open and Devimon snapped, "We heard the report already, now—"

Shinji slowly walked up the hallway. Every step made her lose more blood; she was weak, shaking, pale, and sweating from all the blood loss. Her parents…they would help…they would…

Shinji pushed the door opened with the last remaining shot of energy in her body and leaned against the doorway. Her father's words reached her ears, but she couldn't decipher them…

"The-the Protector of Fire…has…awakened…" she groaned, just before fading into blackness.

Ladydevimon and Devimon dashed to their daughter. "How did she get this burn?" Ladydevimon wondered as she carefully held her daughter in her arms, "It couldn't have been the digimon…" "The Protector of Fire has awakened." Devimon said angrily, "Taichi has realized his powers. That is how Shinji received that burn."

"No!" Ladydevimon gasped, "That's not possible!" Devimon growled angrily and said softly, "Take care of her, she's lost almost all her blood." He stormed away, leaving his unconscious and possibly dying daughter, and a stunned Ladydevimon.

……"Father?"……

"Father, what are the Protectors?"

"The Protectors?" "Yes, the people we are to destroy. What are they?"

Shinji couldn't move, but she could watch and hear what was going on. When she was seventeen, close to being the perfect warrior…she had asked about the Protectors… Devimon let out a sigh and tried to recall exactly what he memorized before his deletion.

"The Protectors are digimon without the term 'mon' at the end of their name." he began to explain, "It signifies that they are born digimon that were not hatched at Primary Village. But those digimon are able to control their power without having to digivolve. And the Protectors are the Digi-destined. They take their own elements and use them for energy and power. When their power is realized, their bodies must be at a certain stage of development for them to handle their power. That is why I am training you so hard."

…"Shinji?"…

Shinji slowly woke back into the world of darkness in which she lived. "Shinji?" the voice said again. Shinji looked up into the rather worried face of her mother. "How long have I been unconscious?" the Fallen Child murmured. "Just a little more than a month." Ladydevimon absently stroked her daughter's hair, "That burn was very severe." Shinji blinked once and then glanced down towards her left side. A large, slightly reddened bandage was about her torso.

"Just another scar in the many I've received." she sighed without thought, "Training and life, the place where scars happen." "I have…" Ladydevimon said slowly, softly, "Bad news. Taichi has gotten almost all of the Digi-destined to realize their Protector origins. The only ones left are the Children of Light."

"Shinji." Devimon's baritone voice called out from the doorway. The Fallen Child sat up and held the place of the burn wound, facing her father. "I have something to give you." the demon said with a dark grin.

TK collapsed to his knees, panting with exhaustion. "C'mon, TK." Yamato said in a normal tone, "You've gotta unleash your power."

"I can't!" TK moaned, "I just can't!" Taichi and Yamato sighed and look over towards the other Digi-destined, or Protectors as they were. Sora continually fiddled about with making small gusts and breezes, and Mimi amused herself by shifting the earth beneath the others' feet without warning.

Taichi shot a glance towards his…you could call Yamato his boyfriend if you wanted to. Yamato had been the second to come to his powers, growing into the beautiful Protector of Ice within a few seconds. His hair had lengthened to his waist, and he had gotten into the habit of tying it back. His blond bangs fell into his face and over his literal ice eyes. His clothes had changed in a flash of ice, just like Taichi's had done. He wore a fading, navy-blue trenchcoat with his trademark tan gloves, loose, blue silk shirt, fading black slacks, and soft brown shoes. Always the stylish person, Yamato.

The other Protectors had a style all their own as well. Mimi, Protector of Earth wore the usual for her, a dress and stylish shoes. Her hat had vanished in the earth transformation, leaving her long, golden-brown hair free to the wind. She actually liked it after the metamorphosis, letting the wind blow through her hair. She wore small sandals, but preferred to go barefoot when she could. Her earthen-colored dress was long, to her ankles, and was without sleeves. Also, with the transformation, her eyes were as a small circle of earthen-color.

Sora remained the tomboyish girl she always had been when she aged the five years for true realization of her powers. Her eyes, a literal clear cyclone, showed her as the Protector of Wind. Her skin-tight, faded nearly to white jeans went perfectly well with her loose sandals that seemed closely identical to Mimi's. Her hands were no longer covered by her red gloves, but bare and cool to the touch. Her hair remained rather short, and her blasted bike helmet vanished in the windswept metamorphosis, replaced by a white spaghetti strap shirt.

Taichi glanced over towards Jyou, the Protector of Water. It was arguable that Jyou had been the most changed of all of them. He wore a three-quarter vest that rode up to the middle of his stomach and hung on his muscularly cut torso. He was slim, taller, and no longer needed his glasses. His hair had gotten longer, but only to hang about his neck and fall in front of his water-droplet eyes. His pants had gone from sensible khakis, to worn and slashed army-style camouflage pants with combat boots. Yes, he was the most changed.

Koushiro, the Protector of Lightning…looked like a goth. He wore a long cloak, as he had grown very much in the aging process. He wore a long-sleeved, gray, button-down shirt that was tucked loosely into baggy black slacks that led down to sneaker-like gray shoes. His eyes constantly flashed with bolts of lightning.

And yet, TK and Kari were the only ones that remained unable to obtain their powers. It was strange.

Ladydevimon was worried. Certainly, any mother would be. Their daughter had just awoken from a month-long unconsciousness, and then, had been taken away once more. A heavy footstep sounded her mate and her daughter's return. Two minutes, just two minutes had passed, but when Ladydevimon looked upon her daughter's face…

She nearly let out a scream of horror.