The Dark Bandit
Part Thirteen
Taichi stared in shock and (he later had to admit this) pride. His digimon was now more than double his original height. Greymon was a formidable digimon.
"Mega Flame!" Greymon grumbled, and a huge fireball hit the ground. At least a dozen soldiers scattered away to avoid it.
"Taichi! You did it!" Yamato shouted, running in his friend's direction. "Now let's get out of his way!"
The young Prince reluctantly allowed himself to be pulled out of the center of the fray and outside of the circle. "Isn't it great?" he stated, still awed by the sight of his own digimon. Several little Agumon were now attacking him at once, but the massive orange dinosaur seemed unfazed by the attacks.
"It is," Yamato agreed. "I knew we could do it."
"But we're not done yet," Taichi realized then, pulling himself back to reality. "Go. Set the others free. Help my mother. Make sure everyone's safe."
"What about you?"
"I've got work to do." And he had run off into the fray again before Yamato could respond.
"All right everyone!" Yamato shouted, eager to have been given some sort of purpose. "Let's get out of here!"
Sora was untied by this time, and she and Yamato began to untie the others. Koushiro, now that his hands were free, was forming an energy ball he hoped would remove the chains from the digimon. Tentomon, as the first subject, was cowering defensively, but it worked. A moment later, he was free.
"I did it!" Koushiro cheered, celebrating for a moment before aiming another at Gabumon, the nearest digimon available to him. Tentomon fired a few "Petit Thunder" at a few soldiers and their Lopmon partners that attempted to distract his partner.
Gabumon, now free, was able to knock out a few more. "Thanks!" he stated appreciatively to Koushiro and Tentomon. Both grinned in response and then turned to Gomamon.
Jyou had just been freed only seconds before, and was trying to dodge the soldiers. Few of them were attacking them anymore, most were running towards or away from Taichi and Greymon. Some, however, would shoot attacks in his direction while they ran for their lives, hoping to stop them and get something accomplished in the process. They were easy to dodge, however the doctor refused to leave his partner, as Gomamon was nearly defenseless on land.
"Don't bother!" Gomamon shouted. "You can't protect me anymore than I can!"
"Don't be silly!" Jyou argued in response. "I'm not leaving you."
"You won't have to," Tentomon greeted. "Stand back please."
Koushiro lobbed the ball at Gomamon, and the chain collapsed. "Thanks!" Gomamon said as he followed Jyou to safer ground.
Both the wizard and his partner grinned as they continued to Takeru. Jyou ran in the direction of the palace. After all, Yamato had shouted that they should get out of there, hadn't he?
Gomamon was disappointed about leaving the scene of battle, but agreed that it would be best for them to go. They turned to escape. Jyou didn't notice the rock in his path. He glanced back toward the battle to see if anyone was following them. A few moments later he found himself lying on the ground.
"Jyou, are you all right?" Gomamon gasped, running back to his partner. Aside from a bloody nose, the doctor was fine. However, he had landed face down in front of a soldier with a rather vicious looking Agumon.
The Agumon opened his mouth. Jyou's digivice began to scream with a sharp wail.
"Gomamon evolve!"
"Evolve?" Jyou gasped. He turned his head as the Agumon and his partner turned and ran. He could see Gomamon growing larger. A moment later, the light subsided and a huge fur-covered creature with a horn growing out of its head towered over them.
"Ikkakumon!"
The soldier and his Agumon wailed in terror. But they weren't safe, nor were the half-dozen Dokunemon that were in the area. "Harpoon Vulcan!" the giant-sized digimon roared. A torpedo shot from the tip of his horn. As it hit the ground below, the crowd scattered and Jyou suddenly felt perhaps it wouldn't be necessary to leave the scene.
Yamato turned from where he was attempting to free his brother when he heard the crash of Ikkakumon's torpedo. "Gomamon evolved?" he gasped in surprise.
"That means we all must be able to!" Koushiro realized.
"Baby Flame!"
An Agumon chose that moment to attack the wizard, and, unprepared, Koushiro was barely able to dodge the fiery attack. He fell backwards on to Takeru, who was still tied to his post.
"Koushiro, are you all right?" Iori managed to ask from nearby.
"I-think so," the wizard replied, standing up. He apologized to Takeru, who took no personal offense at the action.
"Koushiro, look out!" Yamato warned, as the Agumon prepared to fire again. Koushiro barely heard the warning, however, as his digivice had already begun to emit a high pitched noise.
"Tentomon!" Koushiro shouted, knowing enough about the evolution process to know what would come next.
"Tentomon evolve!" the little bug shouted in reply. A white light surrounded him and a moment later faded. "Kabuterimon!"
Koushiro, like the others who had already experienced evolution, was awed by his partner's immense power and size. "Astounding," the wizard gasped under his breath as Kabuterimon began to drive off the Agumon that had dared attack his partner.
"Mega Blaster!" Kabuterimon shouted, and the Agumon went running at the sight of the giant energy ball that flew towards them.
A few moments later, Takeru, Iori, and Hikari were free. "Where's my brother?" Hikari demanded as soon as she had been released. She glanced around wildly.
"He's over there," Daisuke noted, staring straight ahead. Takeru was in the process of untying him.
Hikari turned to see. Taichi and the King were standing at the edge of the hill they were on. Separated from the rest of the digimon, including Greymon, one could almost see the electricity of the impending battle cackling around them.
The Princess turned to go after her brother. Daisuke reached out to grab her arm as soon as it was free a second later. "Hikari, don't go."
"Why? He needs me! I can't let them fight like this!" she demanded.
"It's something that has to be done," Daisuke noted sagely.
"But – they can't! I'll – I'll loose one of them!" Tears were in her eyes. She turned and stared at Daisuke.
Iori and Takeru exchanged glances, but neither spoke.
"They have to, Princess," Daisuke repeated. "I know one of them will be hurt, but it's something that has to happen." He grabbed her other arm as she turned away from him. "You have to let them do this."
"He's right, Hikari," Takeru spoke up. "This is a battle that has to take place."
"But why?" she demanded, turning her face then towards her friend. "Why can't they just live in peace?"
Iori shook his head. "I don't think either of them would agree to that," he predicted.
"Sorry to interrupt, guys, but we've got to move!" Koushiro spoke up. He had finished untying Miyako and releasing Hawkmon and V-mon, and was now working on Ken. He gestured towards the advancing line of Agumon. "There's too many of them for Kabuterimon to handle on his own."
The large blue bug-like digimon did appear to be having some trouble holding off the crowd. He was too busy dealing with the Dokunemon in sky to even notice the Agumon and Lopmon.
"Well, hurry up and lets get out of here!" Miyako shoved Koushiro out of the way and began to untie Ken instead. "I'll do that, you free the digimon! You're the only one that can do it!"
She did have a point. By this time everyone except Ken had been untied, but Wormmon, Piyomon, and Palmon were still chained. Koushiro got to work. Suddenly, there was a shout from above them. A white light surrounded Kabuterimon, and a moment later, Koushiro dived forward to catch a very weak Tentomon as he fell forwards.
"I'm all right," the little ladybug assured his partner with a weakened sigh. "Just a bit weak." Koushiro smiled with relief and hurried back to freeing the others.
"Let's get going!" Yamato shouted. He and Gabumon had been trying to hold off the Agumon, with help from Ikkakumon, but they couldn't hold out much longer.
"Good plan!" Jyou agreed. "Ikkakumon!" he shouted. "Time to retreat!"
"Already?" Ikkakumon groaned. Despite his troubles, he'd been having a bit of fun. Lopmon crowds had only become difficult when they had begun attacking in a large group.
Jyou ignored that comment. "Get ready to fall back!"
At the exact moment the doctor shouted those words, a lone Lopmon shouted violently and rushed itself at Yamato. Before anyone could react, it had tackled the young man to the ground and was preparing to attack. Yamato was so shocked he didn't know what to do. His digivice was wailing and glowing brightly. The Lopmon was blinded, and began to back off.
"Gabumon evolve!"
Yamato managed to turn his head and squint through the bright light.
"Garurumon!" A huge, four legged digimon stood where the small Gabumon had once stood. It had the blue and white coloring of Gabumon, but almost everything else was different. Yamato was so stunned he could barely move.
His digimon, luckily, did not have that problem. "Fox Fire!" he shouted his attack, and blue flames shot from his mouth. Several Lopmon and their partners turned and ran. The few that stayed were badly damaged. "Get going! I'll hold them off!" Garurumon shouted to his partner.
Yamato nodded mutely but didn't move. Takeru rushed forward and grabbed his brother by the arm, hauling him upwards. A moment later, he recovered and joined his brother and the rest of the group as they ran down the side of the hill.
"Where are we running to?" Daisuke shouted over the sounds of the battle behind them.
"I don't know!" Yamato shouted. "We just needed to get everyone out of there safely."
"Have we got everyone?" Takeru wondered once they reached the bottom. He looked over the group.
"All except Taichi," Hikari noted pessimistically. "We've got to go back."
"Hikari," Daisuke began.
"No, Daisuke, we have to," Hikari insisted. "We've got to go back and help him. If Taichi looses, it will be up to me to carry on the fight. My mother is still back there. We've got to help her. I'm not running away and living in exile when my true place is here in the palace, taking charge of my destiny to rule this kingdom. If my brother is by my side, all the better. But I'm not running away anymore!"
Daisuke blinked. There was silence. Then the Princess turned away and began marching back up the side of the hill. Tailmon followed behind her, and equally determined expression on her own face.
For a few moments, no one spoke. Then Daisuke began to walk after her. V-mon hurried behind him. Then Ken followed his friend, and Miyako shortly after, their digimon trailing them as well. Sora was next, and then Mimi. Yamato shrugged and began to follow with his brother. Koushiro, Iori, and Jyou glanced at each other, shrugged, and followed along.
Ikkakumon, Garurumon, and Greymon had managed to retreat to the edge of the hill. "I thought you said we were retreating," Garurumon complained to his partner.
Yamato shrugged. "There was a change in plans," he replied. "Let's see if we can get rid of some of these guys."
"Fine with me!"
"Me, too!" Ikkakumon agreed. Both digimon began to fire their attacks into the crowds violently.
A few moments later, everyone was involved in the attack. Despite his shock earlier, V-mon was able to head butt a few softer-headed Lopmon with great ease. Tailmon jumped eagerly into the battle, swiping violently with her claws at anyone stupid enough to get close to her or her partner. Armadimon curled himself into a ball and rolled at a few, scattering the small digimon and injuring a few more. Hawkmon hurled the feather that stuck up from the top of his head – which turned out to be a dangerous weapon. Patamon sucked in air and then blew it back at the flying Dokunemon.
Tentomon, though weakened from his de-evolution earlier, managed to still shock a few of the flying digimon, though he promised his partner he wouldn't overtire himself. Wormmon flung his sticky web-like material, and a few of the Agumon were caught in a giant-sized net. He pulled them aside, out of the battle field. Piyomon was assisting Tentomon with the flying Dokunemon, and Palmon had a similar strategy as Wormmon, using her long vines to grab a few digimon and some of their partners and hurl them off the hill.
Koushiro was easily the most powerful of the human fighters, as the energy balls he produced could knock out several soldiers or digimon. But they took some concentration to form, and he was tiring after a long day with nothing to eat. Tentomon tried to protect him as best he could, and Yamato swung a sword (he had swiped from a fallen soldier) dangerously and with some skill while the wizard prepared his spells.
Daisuke concentrated on trying to break through the crowd of soldiers so that Hikari could get to her mother, who was assisting her Elecmon with a long, thick stick. The young, nervous wizard had run off shortly after the battle's beginning, leaving the Queen to fend for herself. Tailmon was highly effective against the crowd of digimon, but Daisuke, with a stolen sword of his own, was more useful against the human adversaries. Ken had been right, he was good with a sword, even though he was young and lacked the years of serious training the soldiers had.
Ken himself was trying to assist Jyou, Koushiro, and Iori in protecting Miyako, Sora, and Mimi. Though none of the girls were weak, they were unaccustomed to fighting. Iori was a formidable fighter with a sword, defeating soldiers that were easily twice his size. Ken, because of his practice as the Dark Bandit, was comparable in skill. The doctor managed to hold his own, having had only limited training in the sword-fighting himself.
Miyako, Mimi, and Sora were quite able to handle the few soldiers that leaked through their defensive line. Sora had limited fencing training herself, due to her friendship with Taichi and her tomboyish, eager nature. Miyako and Mimi were less trained, but as equally strong willed. As neither had ever used a sword before, they both adopted the Queen's strategy and grabbed large sticks they had found lying on the ground. They were easy weapons to be gained – as there were many trees around and one did not have to search for a fallen soldier to steal a sword from.
At the edge of the cliff, Taichi and his father had been in a standoff for several minutes already. The Prince had stolen a sword from the nearest soldier, and the King had put down his digimon. The once-mighty Leomon now took the form of a tiny, weakened Pagumon and was useless to his partner in the battle. Father and son, they stood there, sizing each other up, each uncertain of when to begin.
Suddenly, without warning, the King lunged towards his son, sword outstretched. Taichi easily moved into a defensive position and blocked the blow. The clank of their swords echoed for a moment in the relative silence, and then was lost in the noise of the battle nearby. Then it was followed by many others, as a quick, rapid swordfight followed.
Taichi was not quite certain if he was being suicidal or if he had an actual chance at winning the battle. His father was larger, and stronger than him. He had been brutally tortured for the last few days, and had not eaten anything since the day before. He had been made to stand in the hot sun for the past fifteen hours. He should have been exhausted.
But something other than pure strength and conviction drove Taichi. Somehow, with the odds against him, he had managed to evolve his digimon to a stage few had reached in centuries. He had managed to not only summon the courage to fight, he had the strength.
So he blocked his father's attacks and fought back with an intensity few would have thought possible.
Hikari heard, somehow, over the din of the fighting around her, the shout that came from her brother's lips as he fought, and she turned, afraid of what she might see. Taichi and her father were locked, sword to sword, in their eyes a passionate anger she was able to sense from even fifty feet away.
It was enough to stop the young Princess in her tracks. "No!" she gasped. "Taichi!"
Daisuke, at that moment locking swords with an opponent of his own, heard her gasp but dared not turn his head. Not only because he would loose concentration and leave himself open to an attack, but because he was afraid of what he might see. It was only after he had defeated his opponent he dared to spare a glance at his friend and Prince.
Taichi and the King were both moving so quickly it was almost as though they were in two places at once. Their swords clashing were almost nothing more than bright flashes – reflections of the light from the candles scattered about the hill, the bright moon overhead, and the light coming from the castle.
"Mother!" Hikari shouted, and broke through the soldiers to run
towards the Queen. A moment later she was there, beside her mother, and Daisuke
knew she would be safe. He needed to get back to the others.
V-mon looked up at him as though he was reading his mind, awaiting his next
instructions. "Let's head back," he decided. "They need our help."
"Won't Hikari need our help, too?" V-mon wondered.
Daisuke looked back towards Hikari. The Queen had managed to hide behind a few trees and was almost unbothered. "No," he decided. "Tailmon and Elecmon can keep them safe." He looked back towards where his friends were. "We need to help them."
Suddenly, there was a shout from the area where Mimi and Sora were. Daisuke shielded his eyes from the bright light that filled the area. A moment later, he could see a tall plant and a giant fiery bird appear from the circle.
"They need us, huh?" V-mon asked.
Daisuke shrugged. "Ah, so maybe they can take care of themselves," he admitted.
V-mon pouted slightly as they headed back towards the Queen and Hikari. "How come I can't evolve?" he demanded. "Everyone else has!"
"Not everyone," Daisuke reminded him. "Hawkmon, Wormmon, Tailmon, Patamon, and Armadimon haven't." His partner was only slightly cheered up. "Let's get to Hikari."
Tailmon swiped a few Lopmon out of the way as Daisuke and V-mon
reached Hikari and her mother. "It doesn't matter what success we have here,"
the Queen was saying, gesturing over the battlefield. "What matters is what
happens at that battle." She looked up towards where her son and husband were
fighting and shook her head sadly. "We can only hope for the best."
Hikari turned then, just in time to see Daisuke and V-mon approach. "Good,
you're all right," she said with a slight smile when she saw them. "Isn't there
anything we can do to help?"
Daisuke sighed and leaned against a tree, suddenly feeling the exhaustion he'd managed to hold off for the past few hours. "I don't think so, Princess," he replied, breathing heavily. "This is something Taichi has to do by himself."
"Let's give him whatever help we can right here," Tailmon spoke up, a determined grin on her face. "The more success we have here, the better our chances, right?"
Daisuke stood up again. "Right," he agreed. He looked at Hikari. "Like you said, time to stop running away. Time to fight."
The Queen handed Hikari a long stick. "Ready?"
"Ready," she replied, her expression mirroring Tailmon's.
On the opposite side of the hill, Yamato's anger and loyalty to his friend were fueling his strength. He swung his sword violently against the soldiers, almost unaware of how many there were or how long he had been fighting. He only knew that his sword moved to block blows, and his feet moved to dodge them. He only knew that when he heard a sharp cry of pain that he had defeated his current opponent and would soon face another. He was tiring, but his emotions were so strong he hardly noticed.
Sora had stuck near to him as the group spread out, attacking the soldiers who were still running at them. Many had given up, but many had stayed. Many had been defeated, but there were still more coming. She began to feel as though there were no end to the enemies she must defeat.
Above her, she heard a screech and saw that Piyomon – no – she was Birdramon now – was flying overhead. With a strong sense of pride she watched as her partner knocked out a few flying Dokunemon. Having a digimon of such strength – it was astounding – and somehow, despite her exhaustion, Sora found a way to continue on.
Jyou had stayed close to Iori as they moved off, slightly to the left of where Yamato and Sora were fighting. The group had somehow managed to pair the weaker fighters with the stronger ones, and Iori, Jyou thought, was much better than he was.
Somehow during his training in the palace, Iori had managed to pick up fencing skills that Jyou had never thought possible before – especially for such a small boy. And so the doctor fought beside the young warrior.
Ikkakumon fought ahead of them, keeping them free from the soaring Dokunemon. Armadimon cleared a path ahead of them so they could break through the lines.
Mimi fought beside Koushiro, wielding her staff as a violent weapon. Her anger and conviction made up for her lack of skill, but she stayed close to the more powerful wizard, who continued to lob his energy balls with the support of Togemon and Tentomon keeping away a few of the digimon. He found that, despite his exhaustion, his magic was somehow still strong. This fact astonished and relieved him, but he hardly had time to study the reasons behind it.
A few feet further left of Koushiro and Mimi, Ken and Miyako fought together. Somehow, the young man was attempting to teach Miyako something about what to do with the staff she gripped while still focusing on his own opponents. Without any evolved digimon to protect them, the two had to try to fend off the flying Dokunemon attacks even as they fought past the crowds of soldiers, Lopmon, and Agumon.
Miyako gripped the staff and swung it violently. She hit one soldier in the chest, an Agumon's head, and another soldier in the shins. Hawkmon shouted a warning, and she quickly dodged another Agumon's fiery breath. "This isn't fair!" she shouted over the clanks and yells of the battlefield.
"Being outnumbered?" Ken asked, breaking for a moment from his fighting and awaiting his next opponent.
"Yes!" she agreed as she spun around to whack a soldier that was trying to advance from behind. "And the fact that we don't have any of the larger digimon to help us!" She illustrated her point by narrowly ducking a Dokunemon that had zoomed past her head and then whacking it hard enough so it would fall from the sky.
"Mega Flame!" shouted a deep voice. A few Dokunemon fell from the sky and crashed into the earth, writhing in pain from the fire before disintegrating.
"Thanks, Greymon!" Hawkmon and Wormmon both shouted to the large fire-breather. Greymon smiled back and stomped on a few helpless Lopmon that were rushing toward them.
Miyako blinked. "Well, that helps, doesn't it?" she commented aloud, and then smacked an attacking solider in the face with her staff.
Taichi was only aware of what was going on right at that moment. He heard noises around him but he didn't turn his head. He wondered what would happen once the battle was over – would he die? Would he win? But he pushed those thoughts out of his mind and focused only on blocking his father's attacks.
'You can't just block them,' a voice in his mind spoke up. 'If you want to come out of this alive, you've got to fight back!'
It was true, and he knew it. But – could he bring himself to do
it?
'You have to,' he told himself. And he knew then that it didn't matter
if he could or couldn't. It only mattered that he would.
***
Nearly all of the soldiers and digimon had retreated or been too injured to fight any longer. Quite a few digimon had been deleted, and several humans were suffering from wounds that appeared too deep and serious to heal.
Yamato surveyed the scene and then looked back at his companions. Sora had a few nasty looking scratches on her arms and hands, but nothing serious. Iori was sweating profusely but still appeared ready to battle in case someone were to surprise him. Jyou looked a bit beat up. His nose was still dripping blood from his fall earlier, and his legs were bloodied as well. His pants were ripped, and his shirt had many tears.
Mimi looked no more or less ragged than she had before the fight began. Her hair hung limply in her eyes and she pushed it behind her ears with one hand, hardly noticing it. Then she gripped her arm, where a sword had slashed her. Blood still dripped there, but it, too, was nothing serious. Koushiro was exhausted from the immense amount of magical energy he had used, but was uninjured.
Miyako, too, appeared more exhausted than anything else. She leaned weakly against her staff and wiped her own hair from her face. She had a few small scratches on her arms and face, but nothing serious. Ken had managed to protect her from the more ferocious fighters, and she had fended off the rest herself.
Ken himself appeared to also be without serious injury. What remained of his clothes was, like everyone else's, damaged beyond repair. His shirt was torn in several places, and blood trickled from some of them, but they appeared to be minor injuries. His normally neat dark hair drooped raggedly in to his face. Exhausted, he wiped his sweating face and looked around him.
Daisuke caught his eye from across the field. His expression was serious. Ken nodded in silent response to his friend's unspoken statement. Around them, the digimon that had managed to evolve now shrank back to child forms and reunited with their partners. The mighty Greymon was soon Agumon once more. Those that had not evolved stood ready. All expected something more.
At the edge of the cliff, only two fighters still clashed swords.
***
Jun awoke suddenly in the night and sat up, breathing heavily. Alraumon stared blankly at her partner. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure," Jun replied. "I think I had this weird dream, but I don't remember it."
"That could be bad," her digimon predicted, yawning slightly.
"Probably," she agreed. She frowned and thought for a few moments. Then she jumped out of bed and threw on her slippers. She grabbed a robe from nearby.
"Jun – where are you going?" Alraumon wondered.
"My brothers are in trouble!" Jun replied without explaining any more. She flung open the door to her room and hurried out without waiting for her partner.
Alraumon stared at the doorway. Then she followed after Jun. "Brothers? You only have one brother!" she shouted as she ran down the corridor.
Jun didn't answer. She just ran through the halls as fast as she could. Panting, Alraumon hurried to keep up with her. "Where are we going?" she gasped.
"To save my brothers!" her partner replied. After a few moments, they reached a door which led to the outside.
"We're not going out there? Now?"
"We are. Come on!" the girl responded. Lifting her nightgown so she wouldn't trip, Jun Motomiya ran quickly across the field in the very early morning. As she ran, she could see the early morning sun in the distance trying to peak over the hills of the castle grounds.
***
"How long do you think this will go on?" Miyako whispered to Ken, breaking the silence. She fell wearily on the ground, still clutching her staff as though it would keep her alive.
He sat beside her weakly. "Who knows," he answered with a shrug. He glanced at her, turning away from the battle. "You all right?"
Miyako put a hand to her cheek and winced at the slight pain that ran through her face. "I think so," she replied. She pulled her hand away and noticed a few spots of blood. "Does it look bad?"
He shook his head. "Anywhere else?"
She looked over the small scratches on her arms. "No. Just exhausted."
He nodded. "Same here." He didn't mention the sharp pain that darted through his stomach from the slash he'd received there. It wasn't too major, he was sure. Besides, they could clean it up when they were safe again. If that happened.
Jyou was tending to Mimi's scratched arm. He didn't have any medical equipment or water, but he was determined to at least cover it so it wouldn't bleed all over the place. He ripped a piece of cloth from his shirt and wrapped it around the wound tightly.
"The fight will most likely end fairly soon," Iori spoke up from where he stood nearby, having overheard Miyako's comment. "They're both exhausted."
"Taichi's holding him off well, but he's got to attack back if he wants to win. Neither can hold out much longer," Yamato agreed. He, too, had been intensely watching the battle for the last few moments.
Sora glanced towards Hikari and her mother. "This has to be horrible for them," she murmured sympathetically.
There was a shout from the battle then as Taichi lunged forward. A gasp came from the watching crowd, and the King stepped back to avoid the blade. Recovering quickly, the Prince stepped back again before he could be caught off guard.
Hikari turned her face from the battle and covered her eyes. "I don't want to see," she whispered so low only Daisuke, standing a few feet away, could hear her.
"It's all right," he said. She looked at him, incredulous, but he shook his head. "It is. They're both fine."
She turned slowly and saw that the battle was still going on. She breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Not for much longer," she noted. Weakly, the Princess sat down.
Daisuke stood nearby. He had decided to stay near Hikari so he could protect her, and he decided he couldn't protect her if he sat down. Even though there didn't appear to be much that would hurt her now.
"Daisuke! Ken!" a voice shouted from somewhere to his left. He turned and squinted through the darkness.
"What's that?" Hikari wondered, turning toward the sound as well.
"I don't know," he admitted. "Hello?" he called into the darkness.
"Daisuke! Are you all right?" the voice asked. A dark figure became visible, running up the side of the hill. Immediately on guard, Daisuke gripped his sword and swung into a defensive stance.
"Who's there?" V-mon demanded.
The figure emerged from the shadows, panting heavily. Daisuke dropped his sword in surprise. "Jun? What are you doing here?"
"That's what I'd like to know," Alraumon agreed, gasping as she ran up behind her partner.
"I'm sorry, Daisuke. I didn't mean to scare you -," Jun apologized.
"You didn't scare me," Daisuke denied, picking up his sword again.
She ignored the denial. "-but I had this horrible dream and I needed to make sure my brothers were all right."
"You only have one brother!" Alraumon practically screeched, feeling very annoyed about being ignored.
"We're fine," Daisuke replied, still not paying any attention to Alraumon's question. He gestured toward Ken, who was still sitting beside Miyako a fair distance away. "How did you find us, anyway?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "I just sort of ran and then I was here. What's going on?"
Hikari turned back towards the fight at the edge of the cliff. "My brother and father are involved in a duel to the death," she replied with forced casualness, as though discussing the weather.
Jun gasped, but before she could comment, another shout came from the battlefield, and everyone turned to watch.
Taichi somehow managed to catch his father when the sword was gripped loosely in his hands. He flung it to the ground a few feet from then. Desperately, the King tried to dive after his sword, only to fall a mere foot short. He found his son pointing the deadly blade at his throat.
There was silence for a few seconds. The King laughed nervously. "You wouldn't think of – of killing me, would you?" he asked.
Taichi did not respond.
Hikari turned her face from the scene. She did not wish to see her father die. She did not wish to see her brother kill him. She knew she could not stop it, but she refused to watch.
Daisuke couldn't tear his eyes from the scene. For some reason, he was entranced by the sight. Everyone else appeared to be, too, for all the others, the other Chosen, their digimon, even some of the fallen digimon and soldiers, all were watching.
"Taichi – we can work this out – can't we? You don't have the guts to kill me. Your own father? Think about it!" The King sounded slightly desperate now.
Taichi still did not reply. His face was a solid mask. Daisuke was able to see the flickers of anger in his eyes, but his expression remained cold.
Before anyone could move, however, there was a cold wind that blew through the area. Taichi was knocked down, and both he and the King rolled several feet. Everyone else was thrown down. All those who had been sitting fell backwards.
The wind stopped, and Taichi and the King both grabbed their swords and rose to their feet. Before either could make another move, a dark figure appeared to float up out of the ground.
A chill ran down everyone's spines. No one knew who or what that figure was, but they could feel that it was dark.
The figure was small, but by no means weak. It appeared to be entirely made of a cloak that was blood red in color. Two horns grew from the tip of the hood, and two glowing eyes stared from a hole in the front. Two long, dark, huge wings grew from its back.
Koushiro gasped aloud upon seeing it and then shook his head. "No," the young wizard whispered under his breath. "No, it can't be him."
"Who is it, Koushiro?" Mimi wondered.
"I've only seen him mentioned a few times," Koushiro replied. He looked very pale. "I thought he was only a myth, or perhaps he had been destroyed long ago…" he trailed off.
"Koushiro! Who is it?" Yamato demanded.
"His name – his name is Demon. He's at a level of strength that we could not come close to matching right now. He's described in some of the books as – as –," again the wizard trailed off. He gulped. "-as a demon lord."
"A demon lord?" Miyako repeated. "There's no way we could hope to defeat him!" (Quite honestly she had no idea what a demon lord was, but she knew it was powerful just from the way Koushiro spoke.)
"No," Koushiro agreed. "Not in a million years."
The creature now identified as Demon chuckled slightly. Without effort, he raised both his arms. "Flame inferno," he stated in a voice of inky blackness.
Immediately a mass of huge flames shot from each of his hands. A circle of the flames surrounded both the King and Taichi.
"Taichi!" Hikari shouted, and lunged. Only with Daisuke, Jun, and the Queen helping to hold her was the Princess prevented from jumping through the fire herself.
Daisuke felt a cold darkness grip him somewhere inside. He'd felt this before – once – but when? Where?
"Let me go! Taichi!" Hikari shouted, struggling to be free.
"Hikari, there's no way -," the Queen began softly.
"Let me go! Brother!" she screamed.
"Hikari, you can't help him right now! You'll only get yourself hurt!" Daisuke shouted over her yells. "He'll be all right, I promise, just stay here!"
Reluctantly, she managed to relax a bit. Tears rolled down her face once more.
"Neither of you is of any use to me," Demon intoned in his smooth, dark voice, addressing the King and Prince. His glowing eyes scanned the group. "But one of you is." His eyes settled on one of the Chosen.
Ken shivered when the creature's eyes stopped on him. He realized then that everyone was staring at him.
"Of course," the King mumbled from inside the flame-circle. "Kindness in the dark – an ally or a traitor."
"What?" Miyako gasped.
Daisuke stared. He turned to his sister, and then back to Ken. Somehow – he had felt that feeling before -
And then he remembered. When he had been in the cell, with Hikari, and the glowing digivice had settled in his hands. It would change everything – but some of those changes would be bad. He had felt a dread in the pit of his stomach then.
'The bad changes,' he realized then. 'One of them has to do with Ken – but what? And why?'
"What do you want Ken for?" he demanded then, finding his voice. The dark creature did not reply, but instead began to move himself past the flaming circles, through the bodies and injured that lined the hill.
Shaking slightly, Ken found his own voice. "Me? Why me?"
"You are of use to me," the demon replied. "Your brother was to be used – but sadly, he did not make it." His voice indicated that he was not entirely upset about this loss.
"What did you do to my brother?"
"I did nothing. Your brother's death was unfortunate. I needed someone in whom to implant the seeds of darkness. Your brother would have been perfect."
"You mean you wanted to use him," Ken interpreted with a slight snarl.
"I wanted to use his abilities – to make him more than he could have become on his own," Demon replied. "Thankfully, you are a perfect breeding ground for the darkness as well."
"You're not getting me without a fight!" he snapped back.
"That's for sure!" Miyako shouted in agreement. She gripped the staff in her hands and stepped beside him.
"Ditto!" Daisuke was on his other side within seconds, dashing across the hill.
Demon only laughed, his inky voice making the mocking laughter even crueler, which was, of course, what he wanted. "You don't honestly think you three have a chance of defeating me, do you?" he questioned.
"That doesn't matter," Ken replied, raising his own sword in defense. "I'd rather die than serve you!"
The monster laughed. "Your ideas will change, Ichijouji," he replied. "They will change. Someday, you will happily serve me." He faded into the ground, same as he had appeared, his laughter filling the void where he had been.
Daisuke looked around sharply. "What? I don't understand! Did he come just to scare us?"
Wormmon looked at his partner with concern. "Ken? You all right?"
Ken was shaking slightly, but he nodded. "I think so," he replied in a low voice.
"I don't think we've seen the last of him," Iori noted in a quiet voice.
"I don't think so either," Miyako agreed.
"He won't be back for a while, I don't think," Yamato stated hesitantly. "The question is – why did he come at all?"
"Taichi!" Hikari shouted. The flaming circles that were
surrounding Taichi and the King were beginning to close in on him. The Prince
had little space left to breathe.
"Hikari!" he shouted. "Get some water or something! Put out the fire!"
Hikari glanced around. The nearest water was not for some distance. The closest stream was at the bottom of the hill. "Taichi, there isn't enough time!"
A second later, everyone was surrounding the flaming circles, trying their best to beat out the flames. Hawkmon and Piyomon tried to extinguish them by flapping their wings, but that effort was almost useless. Agumon ran frantically around the edge of the fire.
"Do something! Do something!" the little yellow digimon shouted. But no one knew what to do.
The others took sticks and lifted dirt in their hands, trying to beat the fire out. It didn't help much, either.
"Taichi, it's not even slowing down!" Hikari shouted frantically. "Taichi!"
"I'm going to try to run!" he shouted from over the roar of the flames and Agumon's hysterical shouting.
"Run?! You'll get burned!" Sora shouted sensibly.
"If I stay in here I'll burn, too!" he replied. "It's my only choice."
"Taichi, don't!" Hikari shouted.
"Hikari, there's not much choice!" he replied. Suddenly, there was a poof of smoke somewhere nearby. All eyes turned. The fire that had enclosed the King was gone now, having disappeared in that puff, but, unfortunately, so was the King. Hikari stared in shock for a moment.
"Hurry, Taichi!" she shouted, her voice filled with fear.
"All right! I'm going to run!" he shouted. Yamato grabbed Agumon and tried to calm him down (or at least get him to stop shouting and running around hysterically). Everyone stepped back a few feet.
A moment later, there was a break in the flames and a figure ran out. As soon as he was free, the magical flames disappeared.
Taichi's shirt and the tips of his hair were on fire. Quickly, everyone threw dirt on him and patted his back, trying to get the fire out. A moment later, the only sign of the fire was a dark, thick covering of soot, dirt, and ash.
Hikari stared, unmoving, for a moment, and then threw herself upon her brother, hugging him and crying desperately. "Oh Taichi!"
Taichi was too weak to try to do anything at the moment except to collapse in his sister's arms. Yamato, moving behind, managed to catch his friend. The Prince – rather – the new King - looked exhausted, but he was most definitely alive.
"Let's get him home," the Queen stated then, moving to the front of the crowd to see her son. "Can you carry him?"
Yamato nodded, and then enlisted his brother to assist him. Slowly, the brothers carried the triumphant boy back down the castle and to his home. Koushiro managed to lift Agumon in his arms and carry him behind his partner.
"Doesn't anyone realize what this means?" Daisuke asked as the group made its way slowly back to the castle.
"We won?" V-mon questioned with some confusion.
"Exactly!" Daisuke congratulated his partner. He lifted the little blue digimon in the air and hugged him. "You were great out there."
V-mon shrugged and blushed slightly at the compliment. "I didn't do anything much," he reminded his partner. Daisuke didn't seem to care.
"That's not it, Daisuke," Miyako pointed out, poking him slightly in the back. "We also have a new King."
Daisuke nodded in agreement, glancing back at the unconscious boy. "That's right," he admitted. "I hope he does a good job."
"I'm sure he will," Koushiro said confidently with a slight smile.
"And there's a new enemy out there. A dangerous one," Wormmon spoke up from his place in Ken's arms.
Ken didn't reply to that troubling reminder, but Koushiro did. "I don't know," the wizard admitted. "In our current state, none of us have anything close to the power required to even fight him, let alone defeat him."
"Not yet," Daisuke agreed. "But we will."
Everyone was startled by that statement. "We will?" repeated Ken.
Jun was quick to agree with her brother. "You will," she agreed, throwing one arm around each over her brothers. "I know you will."
***
Yeah, I know, lame ending, right? It didn't exactly turn out as great as I'd hoped, either. But that's it!
Thanks everyone who read this far! Please review, and hopefully stick around for the epilogue. It'll be out in a couple of days, and it'll clear up a couple of loose ends.
I don't own Digimon or any of the characters involved. Sue me and you won't get much. Thanks again for reading and all the great reviews!
