Ep4
Disclaimer: I still own nothing. I definitely don't own Digimon. Please don't sue me.
Author's Note: Please excuse my verbosity and tendency to introduce things awkwardly. I needed to introduce some concepts, but I'm not sure if I did it well.

Episode IV
A New Old Friend

TK's voiceover: Well, we all started out looking for ways to get at the gates. We got attacked by Khartan's followers, but Angemon finally appeared and we wiped the floor with them. Meanwhile the others found a village being attacked by an Ultimate Digimon called Minotaurumon. Using superior teamwork, they took him out, but our old enemy Daemon is in charge of the Digital World!

"Are you afraid of falling little child of Hope?" the figure thundered, holding onto the front of TK's shirt in one massive fist, his eyes burning with silver fire.
"Yes. I'm afraid. I don't want to die!" TK screamed at his tormentor.
"Good. Learn from it!" the man released his hold and TK found himself spiraling downward from the mountain, heading toward the ground far below, accelerating and accelerating until…he woke up, sweating.
"Bad dreams?" somebody asked.
TK looked over to see Gatomon sitting next to him, leaning against the sleeping Patamon.
"Yeah. Why are you up?"
"Nightmares." The white cat did not elaborate.
"Who's on watch?"
"Davis, but he's busy over there. Want to talk?"
"I don't know. There's some guy, he's holding me up on the top of a mountain. He asks me if I'm afraid of falling, and I answer yes, and then he throws me off."
"That's different from most." Gatomon just stared at him.
"And it's not the first time. I had it earlier, when I was sleeping off my exhaustion. He told me I had to have Hope, and then he threw me off."
Gatomon shrugged, but her blue eyes were intense. "Sometimes our dreams send us messages TK. Sometimes we have to listen. It sounds like you've received a warning. I would heed it."
TK nodded. "What about you?"
"I was reliving what Myotismon did to me when I was still Salamon. Several times. It was unpleasant."
TK was struck by the sudden memory that Gatomon was a Digimon with a dark past, a past that she shared with nobody, not even Kari, and that haunted her to this day.
"If you ever want to talk, you know we're here."
"I know. Go back to sleep TK. I need to think for awhile, and remember."
"Good night Gatomon."

As dawn spread over the horizon, Ken stared at the meager remnants of last night's dinner for a few moments before sighing.
"I think we'll need more food. You know how everyone eats." Wormmon wiggled up onto Ken's lap.
"I think so too. When do you think everyone will get up?"
"Well, Gatomon, TK and Patamon will probably sleep for a while. Veemon will be up soon. Davis won't be. Cody's already splashing water in his face. Yolei, Kari, Hawkmon and Armadillomon will probably start showing up sooner or later."
"Grab Cody and Armadillomon, and we'll go look for food. Wake somebody else up and tell them where we're going."
"Right." Wormmon went on his way.
Ken stared after the green worm for a moment, before turning back to figuring out what he wanted. After a bit, Cody wandered up and looked over his shoulder.
"I think we better go look for something to eat. We'll need it today."
"Right." Cody woke Armadillomon up, and he and Ken set out into the woods.
"So what did you think of Angemon this time?" Cody asked, more to break the silence than to start any meaningful conversation.
"The first time I saw him, I was still the Digimon Emperor. It's not something I like to think about." Ken narrowed his eyes.
Cody walked on for a moment before raising his eyes. "I'm sorry Ken."
"No, it's nothing like that, although the memory pains me. I think that the Dark Spore was active at the time, and was thinking by itself. When it saw Angemon…" he shrugged and turned, eyes burning with an odd emotion Cody could not name. "…it panicked. There was something about Angemon that caused the Spore and almost primal fear, a terror that was rooted in what he represented. I tried to banish that fear, and even went out of my way to try and prove that you Digidestined were nothing to worry about. I even included Angemon's wings on Kimeramon to prove that I could control him, but something about him continued to worry the Darkness inside."
"Do you know what?"
"Oh yes. I recognize the emotion now. Fear. The Darkness is terrified of Angemon."
"Probably because he's an angel. He probably does extra damage." Armadillomon suggested.
"But he wasn't that special earlier." Wormmon reminded them.
"That's because he was against the wrong enemies. The Digimon I controlled weren't evil. The control spires nearly nullified his own power, and the Digimon that crossed into the real world weren't evil either for the most part. But against those of darkness, his power is incredible."
"That makes him all the more valuable." Cody noted.
"Yeah, but in a world of evil, that makes it harder than ever for him to digivolve. We'll have to be careful."
"Hey look, berries!" the rest of the conversation turned to more mundane topics.

"Wow, breakfast!" Davis was excited. Veemon was ecstatic. Kari just giggled.
"So, what do we do today?" Ken asked as they dug in.
"I think we should find that old road. Maybe there's something along it that could help us. At the least, it'll get us away from those creeps." Davis punched the air for emphasis.
"I think that's a good plan." TK contributed, chewing on some wild grapes.
"Of course it is. I thought of it. Of course, we might not want to follow the road directly, we could stay off to the side, to keep from being seen."
"Now that's a plan." Ken looked off to the side. The road was a ribbon of stone, smooth like asphalt stretching off into the distance. In this case the distance was the end of the valley they had found themselves in after fleeing the previous day's attack. The sides were covered up to a point with pine trees, above with tall rocky peaks. Everywhere, there was the sounds of an alpine forest, and the sight of clear, crisp air, and bare rocks.
As they finished up breakfast, Davis was so enthusiastic to get moving that he almost left the rest of them behind. TK and Kari followed him, Ken and Yolei followed them, and Cody brought up the rear, everyone walking along above the road, where they were obscured by the trees, but the road was still visible. Every now and then it vanished from perception behind a screen of green leafy branches that waved gently in the breeze, but for the most part, the road stayed visible.
About midday Davis, who was still in front, suddenly held up his hand. After a few seconds he whispered
"Stop!"
They all froze for a few moments while he peered out of the vegetation. Then he gestured quickly and the rest of them came up to take a look over his shoulder.
On the road below a group of Monochromon stamped through, red eyes glowing. Behind them came another group of Tyrannomon and a squad of Bakemon. For several tense moments they walked by, and then they disappeared off to the horizon in the way the Digidestined had come from.
"They're out looking for us." Ken noticed.
"Well, they aren't finding us." Armadillomon chimed in.
"Good thing too, I don't want to have to hurt them." Veemon added impudently.
"Well, we'll just have to be extra careful now." Davis looked up. "We can have lunch in about an hour, and then we can go on until dinner."
Lunch, however, provided them with a new problem.
"Well that's great." Davis muttered, one hand behind his head. "So now what?"
"Haven't a clue." Ken looked out.
"Well, whatever we decide, we should probably decide it fairly soon. We're sitting ducks out here." Hawkmon noted clinically.
"But how do we know which way is best?" Cody wondered.
"We could flip a coin." Patamon suggested.
"Or roll dice." Gatomon chimed in.
"Since we aren't actually trying to go anywhere in particular, does it really matter?" Yolei wondered.
"Looks the same to me." TK remarked.
Kari and Veemon just shrugged.
Ahead of them, the road divided into two different roads, one headed away to their right, and one headed straight forward. Both roads appeared identical, disappearing into different valleys, and rapidly moving out of sight.
"So, right or left?" Davis asked. "I know, we'll go left."
"Why left?" Cody was curious.
"Because the last time I had to make a choice like this, I chose right and ended up in the girl's bathroom. So we'll go left."
"Good old Davis. Well, it's just as logical as going right. C'mon, let's go left." TK reshouldered his backpack once more. Patamon stopped hovering and settled on his hat.

"Okay, well, this is what we technically call a dead end." Yolei noted sarcastically, looking over Davis' shoulder.
"How can you tell? We can't even see the other side!" Davis exclaimed, gesturing grandly. Ahead of him, the remains of a once proud city stretched. Where there should have been towers challenging the heavens, instead there were circular and square walls of stone, badly decayed and falling towards the ground. Several columned buildings that looked to Ken like pictures of old Roman buildings were already toppling downward, still maintaining their wings without retaining much else. Streets that once must have been wide were now choked with broken stone and fallen pillars and overgrown weeds. Everywhere there was the mark of fallen stonework.
"The good thing about cities is that it's easy to sneak through without being seen." Ken remarked.
"Well, this isn't much of a city. More of a ghost town." Yolei noted snappishly.
"That makes it easier to sneak through, right guys?" TK asked.
"Right!" Veemon shot his hand up in the air.
"Well, let's go do it." Davis muttered.
"Wait a minute, how do we know it's safe?" Kari asked.
"Because it's at least as safe as it is here." Davis declared. "C'mon, let's go."
A few minutes later, a nervous Veemon began to jerk his head around. "Does anyone besides me find this scary?"
"Or creepy?" Hawkmon added.
"Or nervous?" Armadillomon wanted to know.
"How about all three?" Davis suggested.
TK had to admit that he had a point. Walking along those deserted streets, without a single sign of life, was slightly unnerving. Everywhere they looked, it was empty, filled with the signs of habitation, but without the people who would normally be inhabiting them. The fountains were quiet, the streets dark, and everywhere was quiet.
"Hey listen!" Patamon exclaimed. "I think I hear somebody talking over there."
"Well, you would be the one, with those ears and all." Davis responded. "Let's go have a look."
Quietly they crept over the rough terrain in that direction, avoiding the broken buildings, and staying in the shadows provided by several different lumps of masonry that littered the street. Suddenly, they could hear the voices quite clearly.
"Are you sure about this? I wouldn't want to disappoint our Lord." The voice was rasping, almost hoarse. Eight of the travelers knelt down, but the other four froze in place.
"Oh boy…" Gatomon muttered.
"It's him." Patamon noted unnecessarily.
"What are you guys talking about?" Davis asked.
Kari and TK just looked at each other. "Machinedramon."
"Machinedramon? Who's he?"
"That guy who was supposed to be a ruler under Khartan. He's a Mega-level machine Digimon with an attack that can level entire city blocks. We can't defeat him, not as we are." TK was speaking fast and roughly now.
"Look, there he is." Ken pointed through a gap between buildings, his face pale.
Machinedramon, huge and hulking as always, his huge gray bulk looming against the surroundings, stood in the middle of an old forum square. He was speaking to a figure that was completely black, floating a handful of meters off the ground. It was wearing a set of black armor that enclosed every nuance of its being, but it seemed to absorb the light around it. Odd glints and protrusions demonstrated clearly that the black armor was lined with a series of very unpleasant spikes and hooks, something that only enhanced the evil look of the hovering creature.
"I am very certain they are here Lord Reaver. I had their tracks followed. They were wise enough to avoid the road, but they came this way, of that I am certain. We have walled off the valley. They won't escape. They are here. They cannot have escaped."
"Then why do I sense some power, some nerve-wracking…wait…yes Machinedramon, you are right." The voice paused, almost oozing with thick black oil that threatened to bury the kids and their Digimon alive. "They are here, somewhere."
"Then I shall leave it to you, my Lord, to dispose of them." Machinedramon began to stomp away loudly.
As he passed out of sight, the one called Reaver looked back towards the place where they were hiding. "You can come out now. You're hiding does you no good."
"Uh-oh." Patamon murmured.
"All right! Let's show this creep who we are!" Davis yelled.
"How 'bout we don't." Kari suggested, but he was already out and charging.
"So, you are the new one. You humans and your tendency toward wearing goggles interests me. Is there some arcane historical reason for it?" Reaver stepped down to the Earth, which seemed to creak as it was forced to bear his weight. The various hooks and spikes on black armor faded from view, absorbed by the armor itself as the blackness streamlined.
"No…" for a moment Davis was stumped for ideas. "They just look cool. And the leader of the Digidestined always wears them."
"Ah." The figure seemed to nod in understanding even though his head was too fixed to move. "A memorable tradition. I shall take them off your dead body and mount them proudly with my other trophies of conquest."
"Oh you will, will you? Veemon!"
"That tears it, Hawkmon, Wormmon, Armadillomon, go!"
"Patamon, you up for this?"
"I think I am, give me a moment."
"Veemon digivolve to…ExVeemon!"
"Hawkmon digivolve to…Aquilamon!"
"Armadillomon digivolve to….Ankylomon!"
"Wormmon digivolve to…Stingmon!"
"Patamon digivolve to….well, at least I'm still cute."
"That's okay Patamon. We know you tried."
Reaver smiled at them without showing his face, and adopted a strange stance, holding his hands out in front of him, one of them peaked downward, one of them raised at his throat, vertically upright.
The pose sturck Patamon for a moment, triggering something deep in his memory, something that Angemon knew, something important…
Gatomon's eyes widened and as one, the two Digimon shouted. "No, don't do it! Get away!"
But it was too late. The four Champions, speed blurring their forms, raced inward, screaming toward their target. For a moment they shifted within striking range, and then Reaver was gone. He shot upwards like a rocket, but faster, blurring into a darting shadow with the speed of a stray piece of lightning. Moving so quickly nobody could truly track him, he touched each of the four Digimon lightly, and they were suddenly surrounded by auras of light that faded as they de-digivolved.
"Now we're in trouble." Kari remarked unnecessarily.
"My turn. Give me everything you've got TK!"
"Patamon digivolve to…Angemon!"
"How'd he do that?" Davis asked. "I didn't even see him move."
"He didn't hit them that hard." Ken noted clinically even as his body raced toward the fallen Wormmon. "It must be a special technique."
Angemon looked at Reaver for a moment and then dropped his staff on the ground with a clatter. Everyone stared at him in shock as the weapon fell over, creating a cloud of dust on the still ground. Then the angel spoke, his voice distant, as if he was speaking from years away.
"The Satoro Gesai is an art of precision. The key to defeating it lies within disrupting that precision, disrupting the form of the art, and preventing that precision from destroying you. Such is the secret of that which forms the heart of the Asra-Dan-Catrel." As he spoke he moved his own arms into a position in front of him, guarding his face and his chest, wings tilted upwards, waiting in stillness.
"Ah." Reaver seemed to brighten tremendously. "So you may be able to nullify my own ability with the Satoro Gesai. But, as you should know, that is only a hobby, a sidelight to my true power."
Angemon did not move, did not even seemed to be ruffled by the wind that blew through the city square. His face and his body were calm. Gatomon looked out at them and smiled sadly, one luminous tear gathering in one blue eye.
"So be it." Reaver moved decisively back into his original position, as if he had made a decision. "A master of the Claw of Death against a practitioner of the Dance of a Thousand Stars. Such sport amuses me."
For a moment nobody moved. Then Angemon spoke.
"Gatomon, you know what is at stake here. Get the others out of here. If you can, if you remember enough, you must teach them the Asrana'Dactal. I have neither the strength nor the patience to do such. And I fear that after this battle I will lack the ability as well. Good luck old friend." His voice stopped, and then suddenly, the two figures crashed together, arms, legs and body blurring together. With sudden thunder the air between them erupted in discharges of golden and black energies, destroying buildings, dashing out stones and creating craters out of smooth earth.
"C'mon, we have to go." Gatomon gestured. "Kari, you first. You Digimon with her. Ken, Davis, drag TK with us. He won't come without it. Go now!"
Ken and Davis grabbed the unresisting TK between them, hauling him over the rough remains of the streets. TK felt them getting farther and farther away from the confrontation, but he refused to react, his heart and soul staying behind, fighting with Angemon against his dark opponent, trying to stay there, frantically trying to aid his friend in any way he could. As he was dragged further and further, tears formed in his eyes, the same tears that had fallen all those years, when he had lost his protector to Devimon. And yet he could not move, could not force himself to run back, to help his protector in his chosen, glorious battle.

Angemon….the voice whispered in his head, above the roar of the battle that the great angel was slowly losing.
For a moment he could see a figure, wearing majestic silver and black standing in his vision. For a moment it reached out a hand, and Angemon, acting out of instinct, reached out in return and accepted it. And then he screamed as he was thrown violently from control of his own body. He could still feel it, but he had no control, his limbs moving of their own accord.
So he could feel it as his body pulled out of the battle, as Reaver was left behind, frowning. He could feel it as a feral grin spread over his face and a voice entirely not his own left his mouth.
"And now, the Satoro Gesai, in under thirty seconds." The grin became vicious.
It should have been impossible to move like that, but Angemon's body was thundering through a series of nearly baffling movements in a hurricane rush as if time was standing still. Every move was thought out, but was snapped off at lightning speeds. For a handful of seconds, Reaver's frantic maneuvers kept the damage to a minimum, but his sudden reaction meant that he too understood the significance of the change of attitude. Perhaps that moment of realization of the new foe he was facing was the critical point, or perhaps not, but suddenly, through a small slip that was almost imperceptible, his seventy-third node was left open. And one hand, slim and powerful chopped down like an executioner's axe.
Reaver's eyes opened wide, staring through the faceplate of his armor, as his body crumpled, refusing to obey his commands. The presence that had taken control of Angemon's body released him in a rush that left the angel breathless.
"Another time." He gasped. The surge of fire in Reaver's eyes let him know that the date would be kept.
Then he was gone, looking for TK.

"Now which way?" Davis asked Gatomon, as she scampered along.
"How about…" she began.
"Giga Cannon!"
The explosion rocked the ground beneath them, and then they were falling down, into layers of old abandoned tunnels, or flying through the air as the blast blew them apart.

"TK! TK!"
A small voice was nagging at TK's unconscious mind, trying to get his attention. He turned away to the side, trying to ignore the voice, but it returned repeatedly. After a bit he groaned a few times and opened his eyes to try and find out what was keeping him from his much deserved slumber.
A familiar sight greeted him. Two wide-blue eyes stared down at him, full of concern, and then full of joy. Next thing he was being hugged by someone with arms that were not wide enough to get around his chest.
"TK, you're all right!"
"Sure I am. How did you survive Patamon!"
"I don't know, it was really weird, but I had to come find you. How are you feeling?"
"I guess I'm all right, but Matt's band is holding practice in my head. Maybe once they stop pounding on things, I'll be all right."
TK sat up and groaned, feeling his way around. They were in a dark tunnel, the only light coming in from a rather large hole above his head. Several different tunnel junctions ran in various directions.
"We gotta get out of here." Patamon suggested.
"Okay, okay." TK held up his D3. There was a familiar pink signal nearby. "Okay, I see Kari. How do we get to her?"
Take the next left
"Okay Patamon, the next left it is. But why?"
"Uh…TK. I didn't say anything." Patamon's voice had risen noticably in pitch.
"What do you mean you didn't say anything. If you didn't, who did?"
"Nobody did TK, nobody said anything."
"But I thought I just heard…"
You did.
"There it was again. Did you hear that Patamon?"
"I didn't hear anything."
"Well, whoever it is, they know more than we do. So let's just go through the next left."
Patamon looked worried, but he followed TK as the human made his way through the next tunnel to his left, passing through darkness and stone blocks dripping with moisture on their way to brighter places. For a while there was nothing but darkness, and occasional holes in the side of the walls.
Through this hole.
TK turned and obediently walked through a narrow crack in the wall. It was a squeeze, but a few meters later he was inside a much larger structure, with corridors branching out in all directions.
Third on the right.
TK stepped through that one and kept on going. Patamon was now really anxious, but suddenly they could hear voices ahead.
"He told me to stop here."
"I still don't hear anything Kari, and my ears are better than yours. I think we better be careful. Or maybe you got hit on the head."
"I know what I'm hearing Gatomon, and I think we can trust him."
"Well, I don't."
"Kari! Gatomon!" TK ran forward, now making out their shapes in the dim light.
"TK!"
"Patamon!"
There was a moment while the four of them rejoiced in the fact that they were not alone. TK caught Kari up in a bear hug, and then coughed uncomfortably and set her down, blushing furiously. Kari was just grateful that the darkness hid the heat that had risen to her face and the burning in her ears.
"Patamon, TK, Kari must have hit her head or something. She says she's hearing voices."
"TK's saying it too." The two Digimon stared at their humans.
"But we do hear a voice." Kari told them plainly, her voice worried.
The two Digimon just stared at them disbelievingly.
"I can speak to them better than I can to you." The voice thundered out of the empty air, nearly deafening the foursome. In the distance, dust began to fall toward the fall at the impact of that wave of unconstrained sonic force.
"Well, that settles that." TK replied after a moment while the two Digimon sat there, stunned looks on their faces. "So what's up?"
"I have a problem." Gatomon spoke uncertainly, turning to Patamon. "I don't remember enough of the Asrana'Dactal. And I don't think it could be taught to anyone besides TK and Kari."
Patamon looked up. "I was afraid of that."
"What is the Asrana'Dac…whatever?" TK asked the two curiously. "Why did Angemon mention it."
"Well…" Patamon sat back on his haunches, looking at TK in the posture that meant that he was thinking deeply. "It goes something like this. When I'm Angemon, I know things that I don't as Patamon."
"But you're the same person, aren't you?"
"Yes and no TK. Being Angemon is sort of like being in a dream and not knowing it. A whole bunch of things have happened to him that I only have vague memories of when I'm Patamon, and much of what I know about you as Patamon I really don't remember as Angemon. For instance, as Patamon, I don't totally have the feel for walking on two legs, but as Angemon I probably couldn't remember your favorite type of ice cream. That make sense?"
"Sort of, I guess."
"Well, Angemon knows a whole bunch of things. Some of them are, well…" Patamon trailed off as his eyes searched the dark ceiling above him for answers, "I guess we'll call them martial arts, but they aren't the same as your arts, okay?"
"Sure. You're the expert."
"Well, these martial arts are the arts of fighting as used by people with power, real power They use not only the body's energy, both its mental and physical energy, but they also use those same powers that fed your crests and your Digi-eggs. And you all know what those did for you, right?"
"So, anyone who can tap into those becomes really powerful."
"Yeah, they do. They're incredible as a matter of fact. Now, there is a world with a country with a lot of monks. And these monks study a variety of things, using their studies to bring them closer to enlightenment. Some of them write poetry, very good poetry actually…"
"What does this have to do with anything?" TK interrupted. Patamon shot him a look.
"I'm getting to that. Anyway, some of them do art, some of them meditate and so on. The reason Angemon remembers them is that some of them spend there entire life training in the art of war." The small mammal fell uncharacteristically quiet. "They have developed an art of immense power called the Satoro Gesai, or the Hundred Steps of Death."
Gatomon nodded silently, reinforcing her partner's explanation.
"The cornerstone of this art is the body's own energy. They have found that the body uses a series of critical points, they call them nodes, that can be deduced from their movements and the aura of their life forces. There are a hundred of them, and the more training you have, the more you can recognize. It was using these that Reaver was able to defeat the other four, he touched one of their nodes and basically paralyzed them, draining them of their energy with a single blow."
"So that's what the Satoro Gesai is. I wondered why you said that." Kari was calm, but her hand shook a little.
"But Reaver truly uses an art known as the Claw of Death. The problem with the Claw of Death is that it is a mental art."
"A mental art."
"Yes. For all its mental training and preparation, the execution of the Satoro Gesai is truly a physical art with a very physical purpose. The Claw of Death is a mental art, allowing its practitioner to use their mind to summon up the powers of darkness to defeat you, sort of like what evil Digimon do naturally. The real problem is that they can also use those mental arts to influence others. It's sort of like what Puppetmon and Cherrymon did to Matt way back when. They can cause doubt, sow confusion, and make you lose confidence in your abilities, turning your own fear against you."
"So, he can destroy us from within and without?" Kari sounded openly scared now.
"Yes, which is why Angemon tried to take precautions. Both Angemon and Angewomon are practitioners of another art, the Asra-Dan-Catrel, the Dance of a Thousand Stars, that art which is motion instead of force, calmness instead of haste, but action instead of despair. It is itself a physical art at its lower levels, something that concentrates on the physical to defeat your opponents. But the Asrana'Dactal, the Starblade, is an art that combines the mind and the powers that dwell in your crests with your own physical coordination to defeat your enemy both within and without. Just a little training in that art will allow you to resist the attacks of Reaver, and prevent him from destroying you from the inside. But neither of us remember how to do it. I'm sorry TK."
"That's okay Patamon. You tried."
"Is anything stronger than the Asrana'Dactal? Something we could learn?" Kari wanted to know, sounding anxious.
Perhaps the Dactal'voran or the Exultation of Light. But you neither have the time, nor the confidence, to engage in such training. For now, you will have to content yourself with the Asrana'Dactal or the Asra-Dan-Catrel.
"Are you still there?" Kari asked of open air.
I thought you should know that you should probably start moving.
"Which way?" asked TK
Down this corridor until it comes out.
"Okay, come on you guys, let's get going."
Patamon shrugged, an enormously expressive gesture for a creature who had no shoulders, and followed the two humans as they went down the tunnel.

"This is weird." Kari remarked, looking around. "Where did the city go?"
They were standing in the middle of a forest, surrounded everywhere by bramble and bushes that were higher than their head. The sea of green was slightly moving, but it only served to hide what was behind it in any direction. At their feet, there was a cluster of flowers.
This is important. Stare at the flowers. Do not let your eyes wander off them. Follow the trail. You'll know when to stop.
TK shrugged, relayed the instructions to the Digimon, and looked down. A blotch of rose-red flowers was at his feet, followed by a cluster of yellow ones. As he went along, he was struck by the way the different flowers sat together.
Suddenly, he was struck by an odd sensation, the realization that everywhere around him he could almost sense the trees closing in on him. The back of his neck started to itch, and he could feel unfriendly eyes boring in on him. The darkness around him seemed to coalesce into a physical force, and the once bright greenery deepened into a midnight black. He felt like screaming, but kept his eyes on the brightly colored flowers, despite the feeling that something was crawling up the back of his neck with the intent of sinking inch-long fangs into his neck.
Suddenly, they were standing in light once more. A gruff voice spoke to them from the side, loud and angry.
"And what are you doing here. You'll need more than those pretty eyes to get me."
A wrinkled, gray skinned, old looking woman wearing green clothes and carrying a large broom was standing off to one side, scowling as TK's eyes jerked off the path. She did not look either happy, or used to having visitors, but when they made eye contact her gaze sharpened.
"Ah, perhaps I was too hasty in my assessment. You would be Takeru Takaishi. And you would be Hikari Kamiya. I have been warned to expect your presence at some point." She rubbed her chin in a fashion that reminded Kari of her energetic Grandmother. "I suppose I should play the gracious host, no? I am Babamon, and welcome you are to my abode."
They looked around. Everywhere there was a green meadow ringed by pleasant trees, the sky glowing a deep, sapphire blue overhead, illuminating the landscape. Here and there patches of wild flowers bloomed, adding a display of color to the universal tracks of green. A small cottage stood in the middle of the clearing. Babamon gestured them to enter, and then followed after them, closing a large wooden door behind them, and leaving them standing alone in a rather large room with a heavy wooden table.
"Sit down, sit down. I will get you some tea. And I suppose those others bungling around in the woods are your friends and allies, no? I shall see that they find their way here shortly, and keep Reaver and his ilk from finding us."
"Excuse me, but what do you know about us, and why?"
"Ah, wanting explanations you would be. It is just as well, you deserve answers."
"Then you could explain some things to us?" Kari wanted to know.
"Yes, but I think we shall wait for your friends to arrive. We would not want to be impolite, would we?"
There was a knock on the door as the old Digimon re-entered carrying a plate filled with twelve cups of tea. The old Digimon politely set the tea down and went to go open the door.
"Ah, and you would be Cody Hida. I have been expecting you, please come in and have some tea."
"Uh…well," Cody entered and caught sight of the other four sitting around the table. "TK, Kari, you're all right!"
"Yeah, where's Armadillomon?"
"Right here." The brown and yellow Digimon clambered into the room, making a beeline for the tea table, as if looking for something to eat.
TK and Kari filled him in on what had happened when there was another knock on the door.
"Hmmm….long black hair, that would make you none other than Ken Ichijoji. The girl would be Yolei and the boy with the goggles would be Davis. Your other friends are expecting you. I hope you can stay for tea."
After a brief reunion Babamon ushered them through the beginnings of tea, and then sat back in a pile of cushions.
"I suppose you wonder what is happening in the world now, no?"
"Well, yes." Cody spoke up courteously. "If you would care to enlighten us, we would appreciate it very much. We are very confused."
"Hmmm….I guess I should start with the worlds. You are aware, I hope, that the many worlds here are interconnected. Each world that bears life is connected in some way to every other. That which you call the Digital World, a shadow of your own world is in turn connected to the other worlds, and it is to one of those other worlds that you have passed."
"Yes, Izzy confirmed that once." TK noted, remembering the red-haired genius' convoluted logic.
"Well, a long time ago there were civilizations everywhere, populated in many cases by those creatures we call Digimon. Many other creatures lived with them. Mostly, there lifestyle was calm and quiet, peaceful. Meanwhile worlds like yours were developing technology, science that was able to effect the other worlds. When your worlds erupted into the digital age it created a massive effect in the worlds inhabited by Digimon. Everything started moving a lot quicker, information was transferring faster, and in general time was accelerated.
"Before that time evil was something that happened from time to time, and either died out or was suppressed by those near it. However, with the sudden increase in the information flow that forms the lifeblood of the Worlds, Darkness swept across the lands. It was a horrible age as Darkness ruthlessly crushed Light, and life was a suddenly horrifying possibility. The war crushed all in its path, the tyranny that followed made sure they stayed broken.
"That was the start of the Great War. And that is a history in and of itself. It was a dreadful time, more so for the people living there than you can possibly imagine. It was, how should I say it, a time of great despair. And in the end, the victory which had been so dramatically sought was nowhere to be found. Instead, the forces of light and darkness have managed to maintain a balance, not unlike that which normally governs all worlds.
"But the forces of Darkness were not satisfied. The Dark, knowing that they now had time, built up tremendous forces in anticipation of another war, another chance to invade innocent worlds. They amassed powers beyond your comprehension, set them to trying to destroy the Light, and held them back carefully, waiting for the right time to strike. Those adventures you already have had were merely diversions, here you face their true power."
"I knew it." Ken smacked his hand down. "When I first saw Khartan I understood the power behind him, and I knew what it was. It was way too powerful. There's no way we could match it, not like we are."
"There are forces that can fight against the Darkness." Kari protested, her voice sounding hollow in her own ears.
"But what? If they have enough power to render what we have already faced as nothing more than distractions, how can we stop them? We just aren't strong enough."
Babamon nodded, saying nothing.
"But…" Davis protested feebly.
"But nothing. If they've decided to go to war now, we've already lost the first round. They'll crush us like insects. It will take us years to fight back at that level. What can save us? Who can fight something like that?" Ken was pounding the table now, tears running down his face. Yolei recognized that expression from when he had tried to open the Dark Gate, he was scared, terrified even of the Darkness that seemed forever waiting to swallow him.
Babamon spoke up in a whisper, something so fragile it seemed it would shatter, or fly away at a whim like a gossamer butterfly, but hard enough to cut steel. "The word has reached our ears now, for we listen well. The fields of Rodina and Selkirk are covered with the shadows of their floating fortresses. The forests and mountains of the borderworlds surge with their troops, until those who watch can only exclaim that the land itself moves in concert. The air of the Heart Worlds pulses with the beats of the wings of armies. Citadel, fortress of Light, is going to war."
There was no measured interruption, no commanding voice, but Ken slowly lowered his hand. Around the table the others merely stared at the wizened old Digimon.
"War, how many years has it been? And now the Wings of the Fleet are moving out of Citadel, armed for war. Millions of Digimon, millions of other races, all will rally to their cause, follow their glowing banner to war. Powers that the Connected Worlds had hoped to forget will be ignited once more and used to forge the blades of war. And here, on a forgotten, out of the way world, you twelve will have to learn how to save your own world."
"What is Citadel?" Kari asked quietly.
"The fortress of the Light. I have heard it described as Heaven's last Fortress on the Mortal Plane. Impressive, no? I was there once, but that was long ago. Bah, I am an old woman now, with an old woman's worries. They made your crests you know…"
"What! Our crests?" TK leaned forward eagerly.
"Indeed Bearer of Hope. They still bear the original channels of that Higher Power, but now you carry a small piece of it as well, buried inside your heart. And these others shall soon have their own."
"What, we get crests?" Cody asked, shock breaking his normally impeccable manners.
"We have the crests?" TK asked.
"They made the crests?" Ken looked amazed briefly.
"Yes indeed. They were the first to forge those conduits of power to a Higher Plane, and they bear their true powers, not the powers of those which you have now. That power, once realized, cannot be released or taken away, ever. It may be harder to activate than it used to be, but that power is strong enough to give even the greatest of the powers of darkness pause."
"So once you get your crests you carry it forever?" Davis asked.
"True."
"I want to get a crest someday." Davis sighed wistfully, his eyes distant.
"Why?" Ken and TK both noticed that Babamon suddenly seemed to focus upon him.
"Well, to impress Kari. But only a little bit. The reason is that I think I need it. I'm not a quick thinker usually, but even I know that we're in a lot of trouble. I guess I want a crest to help us get out of trouble. I mean, it won't get us out, but it will at least let me fight better and help defeat the bad guys. Well, I hope it would, it wouldn't be worth that much without it. On the other hand, I suppose any help is welcome, but I think I really need a crest to help my friends…but it would be better, I mean it would be…I'm just confusing myself now."
"And helping your friends is so important to you, yes?"
"Yeah, I mean, we fight sometimes and all, but they're still the best friends I ever had. And they're great at it, and I owe them so much. They're important to me, and I need them, and that's all that matters." Davis looked up, eyes shining. "I may not be that good with words, or with thinking fast, but I know what needs to be done."
"I see." Babamon paused, and then reached behind her and lifted up a piece of stone, square, with a graven image that looked like a tripod of sticks on it. She held it out in front of Davis.
"Take this!" She commanded, and almost of their own free will, Davis' hands reached out and took the stone from her grasp.
Almost immediately, it began to shrink until it was a piece of red material that almost looked like plastic, the same size as before, resting in the air between his palms. Then it flashed downward and entered his chest, resting there for a moment before disappearing.
"And onto you Daisuke Motomiya, by the authority granted to me by Citadel and by the living Light, I bestow upon you the crest of Loyalty. May it serve you well."
Everyone stared.
"And now, you will be wanting to stay the night, no? Perhaps you would be helping me with some dinner."

Outside the stars came up, everyone went to bed full except for TK and Kari, who talked with the old Digimon well into the dark night.

Interlude: Daisuke Motomiya

I have a crest now.
It means a lot to me, although I suspect that nobody else will ever truly know how much. It seems somehow to justify everything I've been doing for these past years. In some ways, it was bull-headed stupidity that saved us from MaloMyotismon, and that worked for a time. Now though I think I have to take the next step to make things work.
Maybe I'm not perfect. Actually, I know I'm not. I don't think well or quickly, I act impulsively, and occasionally I do almost everything possible to offend everyone around me. But I'm getting better now, and I think I'm ready for the next level.
But now I need something other than stubbornness to save me. I need something stronger inside. The crest of Loyalty. A tripod. You take out one leg and the whole thing falls down. Am I strong enough to use it?
I hope so.
I have what I need to stare down evil. But do I have what I need to stare down what is inside myself and bring the crest to life.

Interlude: Loyalty

It is said that you must look at a man's works to know him.
Perhaps it is too much a cliché to work, but the truth is that it provides insights to valuable to miss. And now the thought resounds in my head, how would the man who created the Dactal'Voran, the Blade of War, from its ancient origins, the man who alone bore the title of the Incarnation of the Blade of War, the man who wears the seal of Justice, approach this problem.
For many moments the data in front of me rests as just that, numbers, abstract to the extreme. A series of lists, supplies, times, dates, transport times, costs, ordinance lists, personnel assignments. But I too am a practitioner of that sacred art, the art of war, and inside me I can feel the numbers flying around, assuming a new meaning that transcends its origins.
And there it is, lying in the maps, passing through the figures. The vibrating heart of the Sword of War, quivering deep into the enemy's body.
"He's a tricky one, isn't he?" the words leave my lips in appreciation, soft, but audible. And Gennai always has had extremely good hearing.
"Justice?" he asks. "How so?"
"There it is." I point. "He can travel through worlds fast enough to achieve his goal. Dawngate to Refarhk to Celestine's Gate, to Encinder, to Hammerhold. With those new supply ships he has, he doesn't have to worry about supply lines, he can go straight through."
Gennai's gaze doesn't waver as he speaks. "A plan which would leave him lying exposed in Hammerhold, only a single transit away from the Dark's fortress at Cormere. He would be surrounded, isolated…"
"And perfectly safe. They'll waste more time surrounding him than trying to stop him, trying to ring him in. And Hammerhold is a transit away from Seven's Gate, which is a clear trip through to Blueaxe, which just happens to border our territory. We never bothered with it because the gateways in are so limited and constrained, and covered by enemy fortifications. But the forts are pointing the wrong way. If Fourth Wing just happened to hit those forts from behind, they could blow enough of a hole for someone to get through. And coincidentally, Fifth Wing is adjoining Blueaxe over in Lincoln. If he blows through there, he'll have a clear passage through to Hammerhold, a new set of fortifications, and the ability to cut off anything that moves down that axis that runs through Refarhk from behind."
"An interesting assumption." Gennai's voice is clear, and he does not let his gaze flicker.
"More interesting than that would be the fact that it leaves him with a fortified base just one transit away from Cormere. If he seizes that, he'll have seven new lines of attack to pursue. The Dark will throw everything they've got into defending it. Casualties taking it will be tremendous, especially through tight beamed gateways."
"Indeed."
"But he isn't going there. If he can turn back instead, he can transit to Phoenix, where the Empire of the Phoenix is still holding out against the Dark. By taking that world he frees a huge industrial base for our use, a huge boost to production and reinforcing his troops. Not to mention that through Phoenix you can practically walk over to Seventh Wing's area of operations. He may have his eye on Cormere, but you can bet he has some trick for it that we don't expect. From there he can solidify his hold, having taken a comfortable chunk of their possessions, and then strike somewhere else."
"You may be right." Gennai's face is an elaborate admission all his own, and his tight lipped smile beams approval.
"But that doesn't matter, does it? Not to us. I need authority to execute Pharsalus two in the field, and I want to see what kind of logistics we can drum up to help us with Borodino."
"Well, we'll have to see what we can do to get you that." Gennai's face is friendly, but his eyes never leave that map, and neither do mine.
I hope you haven't bitten off more than you can chew old friend.

Author's Note: There, another chapter finished. Another day's work. Things might go slower now, because I have other work to do, but if you made it this far, you're already flattering me. Thanks for the reviews I've recieved so far. Any comments or advice can be sent to danalwyn@hotmail.com, although I cannot say if I'll have time to write back (school is hard).