Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Episode X
The Honor of the Sword
"I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for..."
-Thornton Wilder
"I don't know Davis. I have some theories, but they may have to wait until Cody manages to use his new crest. I'm sure that he will, but I really don't know right now."
Off to the side Kari yawned and threw off the patchwork of branches and dried leaves that had served as her insulating cocoon during the night. She looked around and blinked several times before staggering off to the stream to splash water on her face. Davis watched the fire as she walked back several minutes later, looking definitely cleaner and more awake.
"Good morning guys. Anything interesting happen last night?" she asked.
"No, not really." Davis replied, poking the fire again. Kari shrugged and picked up a few rocks, pitching them aimlessly into a bush a few meters away.
"So what's wrong with TK?" Ken asked without changing his expression, watching the sunrise over the hills to the east. The stone that Kari was thrown jerked in her hand, its trajectory sending it bouncing off to one side with a raucous clatter.
"What do you mean what's wrong with TK?" Kari asked, her frozen position and the tiny quaver in her voice giving a sufficient answer.
"I'm not blind Kari. And I'm not stupid either." Ken sighed and looked down at the ground. "Although sometimes I wish I was. He's being sort of jumpy lately, and he tends to be too high strung, and I don't like it."
"You noticed too?"
"Ever since our run-in with SkullGreymon he's been getting steadily worse, but I think it was there before then. I don't know, he just seems soedgy. And then last night, when I was on watch, he woke up at least once in some sort of nightmare. He was covered in sweat, but there was nothing I could do about that, and he wouldn't talk to me about it."
"He hasn't talked to me either." Kari looked down. "Something's eating him up, and I don't know what."
"He's having horrible nightmares. The same one appearing over and over again." They all looked down in surprise at Gatomon, who was now calmly sitting on the ground, looking off at nothing. "His nightmares are almost as bad as mine, and they're as bad as what you used to have Kari. But I don't know why. He hasn't told me, and I haven't asked."
"Why not?" Kari inquired.
"Because he hasn't wanted to tell me." Gatomon shrugged the whole thing off. "It is a sort of personal affair, and if he doesn't want to talk to me about it, then I won't push him. Some things just need time."
"Right." Ken placed a hand on Kari's shoulder. "But maybe we should let him get it off his chest."
Gatomon shrugged and ambled off. Kari looked at Ken worriedly and then pursued her feline companion with fear written all over her face. Davis started a moment and then tried to follow her, but Ken held out his hand to stop him, shaking his head. Davis stared for a moment and then stopped.
"Why does she care so much about TK's problems anyway?" he groused.
Ken opened his mouth as if to say something, and then quickly shut it again. Davis turned and glared at him, but the black-haired boy met his gaze quietly and calmly for a few seconds before turning decisively away. Davis grumbled a little and looked back at the ground. Ken sighed and turned back to the fire and concentrated on cooking breakfast.
By the time everyone, including TK, was up, moving and eating, the signs were fairly obvious. He was moving slower, talking less, and generally looking more agitated and rumpled then was normal. Everyone noticed it, even Davis, who belatedly broke in and stared at TK for several long moments. In fact everyone was casting covert looks at TK except for Kari, who was very carefully avoiding eye contact or any other sort of contact. She did quiver a little whenever he got too close though. Ken and Cody exchanged glances, Cody and Yolei exchanged glances, Yolei and Ken exchanged glances. Davis and Veemon exchanged shrugs. Patamon and Gatomon huddled together in a corner, discussing something. The other Digimon appeared to be avoiding the situation altogether. TK must have noticed something, because his gazes became suspicious, but he apparently misjudged the magnitude of it, as he refused to engage the whole topic in conversation. By the end of breakfast everyone was moody and quiet and sullen. Ken sighed and rolled his eyes at Yolei in a clear gesture of summoning, and then tried to keep himself focused while the two of them walked out into the forest together.
Around them the morning light reflected through the pine trees, a layer of dried needles already crackling beneath their feet. Dust floated in those beams of sunlight, and the weather was crisp and cool, forcing the inhabitants to take refuge in their furred skins or any other method of protection they might provide themselves with. Here and there birds were visible, darting through the various shafts of light that spun downward from the sky. From above there was the sound like rushing water of the wind moving through the branches, gently shaking the pine needles in an imitation of dancers swaying to the beat of some unheard music. All in all, it was a quiet place, a good place for a morning walk, if one did not have their mind on other matters.
"Any ideas?" Ken asked after awhile.
"About TK? No, I thought we would just wait for it, and sooner or later he'll let it off his chest." Yolei pushed her glasses back up.
"I don't think that's such a good idea you know. Have you checked up on Kari lately?" Ken watched a Stellar Jay cock its head at him and the squawk in protest as they continued deeper into its territory.
"No, she hasn't been saying muchbad?" Yolei now looked concerned.
Ken sighed and absently picked a pine cone up off the ground and threw it into the distance, startling another bird of some sort. "Pretty bad, from what I've seen. I'm not that good at emotional things so tell mehow deep is their thing?"
"Thing, huh?" Yolei elbowed Ken and he smiled slightly. "Well, I don't know. If they don't get involved romantically or something, they'll probably spend the rest of their life as best friends regardless. They're just so close, but that means that it's hard to figure out whether the problem with Kari is over her best friend or her crush. And we all know that Kari hasn't much more of a clue. It could be really serious, but they might be too young for it."
"Young? TK's stared down demons and creatures from the abyss we don't even name anymore. Kari's been fighting darkness incarnate since the day she first stumbled into this mess. And we haven't done too shabby either. None of us are exactly young anymore." Ken looked at the sun's positions through the rays striking his jacket. "It would have been nice to be a normal teenager, but skipping that and going straight to responsible adult does have some advantages."
"Hmmmyou probably are right. Any ideas?"
"I guess I should confront TK with it. You hold Kari down and see what she can tell you."
"And how are you going to get TK to tell you anything?" Yolei asked curiously.
"Trust me." Ken's grin bordered on evil. "I have a way that will get him to do anything for me."
"All right TK!" Ken thundered when he finally caught up to the tall Digidestined on some rocks overlooking a nearby lake. "Sit down, shut up, and talk!"
"About what?" TK looked up surprised at Ken's sudden change in attitude.
"What's eating you TK?" Ken sat down beside him.
"Nothing." TK replied shortly, tossing a rock into the water and watching the waves radiate outwards to lap against the granite outcrop he was sitting on.
"Patamon," Ken turned his gaze to the orange and white mammal sitting on another rock, basking himself in the sun. "I want you to do me a favor. Go fly off to Kari and tell her that TK has a big huge crush on her and would love it if"
"You wouldn't!" TK shot bolt upright like he had been shot. Ken smirked down at him, a triumphant smile dancing across his face. For a moment TK was tempted to call Ken out, but the rock hard determination in the black-haired boy's eyes was too real, and something in him quailed from it. "All right, all right, you can stop over-dramatizing Ken. Sit down and I'll talk."
"Good, everyone's worried. What's happening TK? This isn't like you at all."
"It started with the dreams. Stupid lousy dreams." TK pitched a rock into the water. "They're always the same. Some guy, I can't tell what he is or even if he's human or not, is holding me off a cliff. He always asks a question that has something to do with Hope or Courage. And no matter what I answer, he throws me off." TK's face came up, and it was covered in tears, running down his face. "I always know that it's just a dream and all, simply a vision or something, and that I never hit the bottom, but I'm always terrified. I'm so afraid it scares me, and it disgusts me. Look at me, afraid of a little dream.
"And that's not the worst part. Something's whispering to me in the dark. What if the dream's not a dream but a prediction. What if I fail all of you because I'm just not strong enough, or I don't know the answer, or I'm too scared. That's the one that gets me, what if I'm too scared? I'm almost useless anyway, it takes more to make Patamon digivolve then it takes the rest of you to go to Ultimate. If I'm too scared to do anything, then I'm just dragging you down, and then I'm worse than uselessI'm a liability. What if that's all I am Ken?" now he was choking back sobs as what was eating his heart out emerged, and Ken could do nothing but stand there in shock, to startled at the outburst to even try and comfort his fallen friend.
"It doesn't matter what I think of TK." Kari insisted, shaking her head, looking above at the sky. "It doesn't matter in the slightest."
"What do you mean Kari?" Yolei absently peeled the bark off of a tree.
"Have you ever known something about the future or something else? Sort of like through a six sense. And I mean really known that something was going to go wrong, or go chaotic, or something. Ever?"
"No, not really." Yolei watched Kari, but Kari seemed to be almost ignoring her.
"Once I got the crest of Light it started to happen to me all the time. And I never knew what to do about it. I know the future, I'm the Light, and the Light has to shine where the darkness is greatest. The rest of my life will be devoted to fighting that Darkness, confronting it face to face. What I want doesn't matter. If I ask TK to join me, I'll be dooming him to a life of facing a Darkness I don't think any of us are strong enough to handle. I can't do that to him Yolei, I just can't." And she stood there like a pillar, a calm sentinel held out to the stars that waited, invisible, above.
"I wonder why everyone is so upset." Cody let the sword spin in his hand momentarily and then returned to a simple series of parries as he conversed with Armadillomon. Being a good sport, his partner Digimon had volunteered to walk around carrying a piece of wood on his shell that Cody could use for sparring practice, a good precaution since the blade really was sharp, and dangerous. Already today's block of wood had several nicks and cuts in it.
"They'll get over it." Armadillomon suggested, keeping a wary eye on what Cody was doing.
"Well, I'm not so sure. Maybe we're doing the wrong thing." Cody let the sword twirl in his hand again, and then came across with a series of level, horizontal sweeps. Steel slashed through the air, humming like a flight of angry bees. "After all, we always seem to be involved in hurting other Digimon, who probably only wanted to be left alone."
"I don't know about that Cody"
"Oh I don't mean the truly evil ones, like Khartan and Reaver and such, but the others are almost as bad." A vertical chop that might have severed a human opponent's arm at the shoulder it was done hard enough. "But the others, I'm just not sure. I know that we have to do it, but I hate doing it, even so. Believe me, I'm not going to let evil triumph just because I'm afraid of hurting other Digimon or anything. I grew out of that stage a long time ago. But sometimes I wonder what the best thing to do would be."
"A tricky question." Armadillomon drove forward suddenly, seeing if he could catch his human companion unaware, but a flurry of head level chops relieved him of that impression. He jerked backwards again as a single determined thrust caught him in the center.
"Well, I'm not sure what the answer is. I mean, we're trying to do the best thing, right. So should we give up if our being here hurts other Digimon. Should we avoid confrontation if we only end up destroying others." This was accompanied by a chest thrust and a sudden turn and chop that probably would have decapitated a human opponent.
"I just don't know what to say Cody."
"Neither do I." The boy thrust his sword, quivering into the ground in anger. "Look at me, I'm fighting with weapons, trying to learn how to kill things. Look what I've become Armadillomon! A murderer in training!"
"Now Cody" Armadillomon began in a startled manner.
"Oh don't worry about me." Cody gave a bitter laugh. "Don't worry about me at all. I know that what we've done was necessary. I just don't know if we should do it again."
Since everyone else was busy, it was left to Davis and Veemon to explore their surroundings. This, of course, was normal, as Davis was the one with the energy to work out, while everyone else dealt with whatever issues they were having. As a result, it was he who found the pathway of flowers.
"Hey guys, come look at this!" His shout aroused the others, who were engaged in a careful game of not watching each other. Quickly they sprung up, looking for any excuse to avoid their current problems.
"Well, we could follow it." Hawkmon suggested.
"It looks just like the one that led to Babamon." Kari noted as they followed Hawkmon's suggestion.
"Indeed it does." This voice was familiar, and they all looked up to see the wrinkled old Digimon standing there, broom in hand, waiting for them. "Hurry up now. I have lowered my protections for you, but do not think that I shall leave them low for long."
Everyone walked over to her and, to their surprise, found the familiar house standing right there as they had left it several days ago. Eyebrows and shoulders lifted in surprise and their was much staring among the party.
"I move the house around with me." Babamon noted. As they began to stare at her, she stared right back. "What? I am a Mega after all."
"Right." Yolei shook herself off, and then all of them quickly followed the old wizened Digimon indoors as she shook herself off. As they walked inside the sense of comfort overwhelmed them, making them feel much calmer and better than they had in the tense outdoor situation.
"So, I have seen that you are doing well." Babamon went over to a corner of the room and returned with a green enameled teapot, which she graciously presented to her guests. "That is you remain alive. A fine accomplishment in this world."
"You've been following us?" Davis asked, looking interested.
Babamon waved a hand dismissively. "You do not survive as long as I have without some way of cultivating information, yes? I have received some news of you, but not much, I have been listening to other matters as well."
"What other things?" Davis asked, but Babamon put up a hand in an unmistakable gesture of silencing.
"No, my story can waittell me what has happened to you."
The hours rolled on into evening. By the time that they had finished recanting their various adventures, and providing all the detail that Babamon later asked for, it was quite late. She had already provided them with a light lunch and a filling dinner, and innumerable cups of tea, and now they sat there, basking in the warm glow of a fire in the corner, and the strange lamps that adorned the walls, enjoying their simple time. Babamon looked interested, but not particularly perturbed by their run-ins in the past. In fact, she spent most of her time sitting there, calmly sipping at a cup of tea, and watching them talk to each other.
"So what news did you hear?" Gatomon asked after a while.
"I have heard many things." Babamon reached out with her broomstick and began to trace odd, eldritch patterns on the floor absently. "I have heard things from high and low, near and far, and they all hold some vast import for all of us."
"Like what?" Veemon asked.
"I have heard that the Eagles have marched through the Vericon mountains, and I have heard that the Manhunters have thrown them back in disarray all the way to For-kalas. I have heard that the garrison of For-kalas has marched on Reistat. I have heard that Reistat has capitulated and joined the Grand Alliance of its own accord, and that they march to For-kalas. I have heard that the Wolves have taken Emerstat and now hold the southern borders of that realm firm against the Black Reapers. I have heard that the Black Reapers have moved on Kornest and taken it unawares, and I have heard that an ambush at Kornest has destroyed them totally. I have heard the word that Resh'kahan itself has fallen to the Wolves, and that the Wolves now move against the Vast Emperor himself. I have heard that a counteroffensive from Resh'kahan has destroyed the Dragons totally. I have heard many things, and I know that most of them are wrong."
"Do you know anything that could help us?" Ken put down his tea cup.
"Help you now? No. Help you later? Perhaps. Some things all stories agree on. Citadel has taken Blueaxe, and now Justice masses the vanguard of the Dragon Host somewhere against the darkness. His internal lines secure he is expected to return to the offensive soon. The Wolves have moved, and, if not in possession of the once-great nation of Emerstat, they surely threaten to take control of it. The Emperor of the Vast Empire of the Blood Sun has lost much, and it could be that the Wolves and Eagles move against Resh'kahan, the Fortress City of the Mountains. Then again, they may wait for something else. I know that there is fighting between the Darkness Crest, that which controls the place you know as the Dark Ocean, and the Council of Nine. I do not know whether that infighting is serious, or another feud between the powers of darkness. Nevertheless, Citadel has clearly turned the tide of the war in its favor, through some trickery I do not yet understand. Even now they throw themselves at the crushing weight of darkness. Who knows? They might triumph early."
"Uh, I don't mean to be rude or anything" Yolei interrupted nervously. "but we have no idea what you're talking about."
Babamon gave them a wrinkled grin. "Ah yes, I had forgotten that you would not know the language. Perhaps I should fill you in. When the forces of the Light began to fight the Great War in earnest, they needed to organize themselves so that they could truly fight as a group, and not as a mob. The forces that later became that which is known as Citadel came up with several different names, and those have stuck. Originally, the names were given to fit the group they matched. For instance, the Hawks consist of Digimon who fly, the Barracudas of Marine Digimon. On land, they depended on the Wolves, ground fighters who fought like a wolf pack, continually turning and changing their plan of attack to catch their enemy in the rear, always striking from behind. Over the years they needed a better way to hold ground, and the Eagles came into being. The Eagles are named after the ancient Roman Legions, and they fought like them for a time. Do you know of the tech barrier?"
"No." Ken answered truthfully.
"Well, you may have noticed that your world's electronics do not function well here. In fact, only specially modified electronics seem to function well, such as that scanner. The reason is that the laws of science are different from world to world, something that is only natural, but that renders complex machinery unreliable. That scanner runs off your internal energy, something that never changes, but it is difficult to build something like a weapon, which uses a lot of power, that operates off a persons energy without potentially killing the person. Gunpowder and the like also present a problem. So the original humans fighting fought with sword and shield. But all of those groups held a secondary position to the Dragons.
"The Dragons are unique. They are trained to fight on the ground and in the air, and were traditionally trained from Digimon who did likewise, such as WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Over time they changed into those who support the operations of the Fleet, because a two-kilometer long flying fortress has to be able to take on any opponent. They are still considered the elite arm of the Light, but they tend to take tremendous losses in any confrontation. Commandos and Rangers are also technically with the Dragons."
"How does a flying fortress work if the laws of physics are different?" Ken wanted to know.
"Because they use the power of the Light to create a bubble of their own reality around them. Digimon do this naturally, which is why the laws of nature change when the enter your world. It allows them to function in all worlds."
"That explains who those people are, but what does all that military stuff mean?" Veemon asked after a few moments.
Babamon just smiled again. "That would take a long time to explain. Suffice it to say that Citadel has put together an impressive offensive against the powers of Darkness. They have ambushed their attackers, and then launched a counteroffensive that has staggered them. So far, fortune favors them, but it remains to be seen for how long that will last."
"Any news that can help us?" Davis questioned after a moment.
"Well, you already know of Reaver. He is a powerful adversary, one that you should avoid if all possible, but he remains close to you. Machinedramon is the Digimon who rules over this place with Khartan. He lives in a fortress not far from your current path, you are looping around it even now. Khartan's other servants, Sickle, Ravisher, Talon and Bane are with him in his fortress. I should probably warn you that they are extremely powerful of their own right. I have heard that your friends and fellow companions make progress in that world, but I am truly not sure about this."
"So, there's a question. Do we go after Machinedramon, try to stand against Reaver, or just go for Khartan's throat?" Davis asked.
As the night passed on, they began to speak of strategy. Davis argued for the direct approach, wiping out Machinedramon if they could, but heading straight for Khartan. Yolei argued that they should try to ambush Reaver first, to buy themselves some breathing space. Kari held out for an attempt to increase their familiarity with their crests, and maybe pick up some more Ultimate-level firepower before heading into battle. Ken supported staying further in the wilds until they come up with a new plan. Cody was taciturn and quiet, TK sullen and withdrawn. After a few minutes of discussions and plans, Davis was yelling at Yolei, Kari was ignoring Davis, Yolei and Ken were avoiding eye contact, everyone was staying away from TK, and Kari and Yolei had almost come to blows.
After a few minutes when everyone tried to establish exactly how powerful their crests were, Cody looked over at Babamon and asked innocently "Just what are the crests anyway?"
Babamon looked up at the ceiling as the impromptu question brought the entire argument screeching to a halt. "That would be hard to explain. Maybe I could explain it best like thisthere is a continuing battle between good and evil. Is that easy enough to understand?"
"Yes." Everyone responded.
"Well, Good and Evil are powers beyond comprehension. When the Great War was young, the forces of Light knew that they needed new power to defeat the forces of Darkness. They knew that in times of great need, a person can, through such things as Courage or Friendship, draw upon great power from above and use it in this world. By forging the crests they were able to make that kind of connection permanent, but the bearer of the crest must first open that connection within themselves to make it work. I know that the crests which you now wear are mere copies of the original crests, and, as such, have their powers reduced."
"Reduced?" Everybody exclaimed.
"Yes. As I recall the original crests drove their bearers mad for weeks at a time, and some of them never recovered. The original crests give great powers, incredible powers, to their bearers, but they cause great madness. Your crests will take more effort to bring out their true strength, but are much safer to you." Babamon looked up, her eyes bright and shining in the artificial light. "Do not ask me of Light and Hope. I know too little to answer, and what little I know would distress you too much."
"Oh, right." Davis sounded disappointed. And then everyone remembered what they had been fighting about earlier, and the argument flared up again, even louder.
The council sat around the table, debating their future endlessly. Everyone was there, Justice and Courage as holographic images from the Leonidas, Grey and Phoenix looking in from command ships worlds apart. Knowledge, Friendship and Reliability viewed the proceedings calmly from different fortifications scattered over the Interconnected Worlds. Gennai was arguing with Reliability.
"I don't think we should do it. I just can't see any sense in it."
"We need the distraction. Emerstat needs help reassembling any semblance of military might or prowess, and the only way to do that is to give the Bloody Sun something else to worry about." Gennai sat back in his chair. "If you can raid their supply convoys or something, we might be able to draw them into chasing you."
"And what if they catch us?"
"That's what you're paid for."
"If they catch your bait, you're going to have a minor disaster on your hands Gennai." Justice looked uncomfortable. "As long as they stay in narrow mountain valleys the force-to-space ratio holds both ends even. But if they get caught outside the hills and somewhere near the plains, that five to one numerical disadvantage plays against them heavily. And I don't know about long term raids, because Resh'kahan is just too close for my comfort. That puts the Wolves through a great deal of risk."
"You have a better idea?" Gennai challenged.
"If you could possibly move down the Greenwood River to the Island of Esobarte, it might be possible to take and hold the bridges for long enough to disrupt cross-river communication and withdraw before being trapped by boat."
"We'll consider it." Gennai muttered after a moment, suggesting that this was the best plan he had heard in awhile.
"Maybe if we could retake the Corinos basin" Love suggested from her end of the table. Gennai and Justice both grunted. Out of the five thousand Justice had sent in, five hundred had been lost taking it, and over a thousand lost in a desperate retreat. Even now that force was reorganizing.
"Not without air cover from up north." Knowledge stated firmly, and shrunk back as Justice flinched. Justice had been responsible for a plan of attack that worked nearly flawlessly, except that the enemy had come up with three times as many units as the Light had thought possible. They had won, but suffered nearly five times the expected casualties to their air units. It was a common mistake to make in a war, but Justice had taken it fairly hard, and everyone tried to avoid mentioning it around him.
"Or maybe another drawn out brawl over the Wilding." Friendship spoke up, and now it was Gennai's turn to flinch. He had commanded the first drawn-out battle to wrest control of the Wilding from his opponent, and left ten thousand bodies behind him in the process.
"What about the master plan?" Kindness asked, leaning back.
"I'm still convinced that Earth is the key to phase two. Otherwise I do not know enough to change the plan in any way that would concern us." Justice stared right back.
"You're expecting a lot from the Digidestined." Gennai was looking at Justice strangely.
Justice shrugged. "They'll have to handle it."
Reaver sighed again and looked very carefully at the place where the tracks he had been following disappeared into nothing. Someone was hiding the digidestined from him, and he found that the effort needed to trace these brats down was getting on his nerves. As he looked around, he suddenly thought of something, and snapped his fingers, pointing to a nearby lake, and beneath him a wave of darkness moved out. He grinned darkly, something that would have been missed easily in the cloak of night that lay over the land.
"I think I'll take a walk." Cody suggested after everyone else had been fighting for a while. The others nodded, or at least shook their heads as much as possible given that they were still fighting with each other over the wisest plan of action. In the midst of the fire and chaos, Cody shook his head and wandered out the door with Armadillomon.
"Nobody pays attention to me." Cody groused as he walked down the hill from the warm glow emitted from the house.
"Well, you do like to stay pretty quiet." Armadillomon hurried to keep up, twisting from side to side.
"Yeah, I know. I just think that they wouldn't listen that well. I am the youngest, you know."
"That doesn't mean anything Cody. I mean, usually Davis is the one who acts the youngest, and we all listen to him. I think you just don't speak out enough."
Cody smiled at his friend. "Fair enough, and probably true. But today I didn't talk much because I had no idea what to talk about. I didn't have much of a plan, and I really couldn't think of one that I could use. Could you?"
"No, not really."
"See, there you go. And my Grandpa always says that one should keep quiet if one has nothing to say."
"Of course."
For a time they walked in silence, the gentle light of the star, occasionally obscured by the gently drifting clouds overhead playing a gentle illumination over the scene. The grass they were walking through crunched under their feet, and eventually they wandered down to the lake.
"I wish I had a plan that would keep us from fighting any more." Cody muttered as they walked along.
"We all wish that." Armadillomon responded cheerfully, still watching the stars above.
"Yeah, but sometimes I just don't think that we try very hard. After all, we're always fighting with each other about the best way to fight everyone else. Maybe we're too fixed on that to really come up with a good peaceful plan."
"Could be Cody, but I really don' see anything better to do."
"What's that?" Cody pointed, and Armadillomon's attention turned to the front, where a large dark shadow was visible by the lake.
"I don't know, it looks sort of familiar though. Wait, I do know what it is." Armadillomon gazed down at the shadow and its writhing form "That's MarineDevimon."
"Great. Just great. Do you think he can see us?" Cody shrunk down on the ground, trying to hide in the moist grass.
"I don't think so. He's too far away."
"We need to get back and tell the others." Armadillomon nodded his agreement, and then the two of them started to creep away, keeping low in the grass, but they barely made it a meter before the apparition spoke up, voice trumpeting all over the immediate area.
"Attention, those of the so-called Digidestined." The voice spoke loudly and cruelly. For a moment Cody was in a panic, worrying that somehow that apparition that was MarineDevimon had somehow found their hiding place. But a moment later he shakily reassured himself by realizing that this message could be heard all over the immediate area. "I appear to have obtained the possession of a large number of Crabmon here in this lake. It would be unfortunate I suppose should anything happen to them. However, since I am supposed to be in pursuit of you, I suppose that anything might happen as I cease to pay attention to them." This statement was accompanied by a scream, something that made Cody clench his fists in sudden, impotent fury. "Oops, how careless of me. It's time to come out and play Digidestined."
"We've got to do something Armadillomon." Cody's voice was frantic.
"But what?"
"We've got no choice, the others are too far away. We've got to draw him away."
"Well, he is kinda slow."
"You think that Ankylomon can outrun him?" Cody looked down.
"Well, I kinda suppose that he could if I run fast enough. But Cody, are you sure we should be doin' this?" Armadillomon glanced at his human partner.
"I don't have a choice Armadillomon. In case you haven't noticed, it's up to us now. We keep thinking we're heroes, well, I guess it's time to act like heroes too. We have to draw him off."
"Right you are then."
"Armadillomondigivolves toAnkylomon!"
"Ah, so there you are." MarineDevimon was shifting his appearance, but Ankylomon, with Cody on his back, was already thumping away. The giant black figure laughed once, and gave chase.
As the others argued, oblivious to the conflict outside, Babamon closed her eyes and sought the peace within. She knew what was coming, and drew upon her inner strength to serve as a beacon through the worlds.
"Are you all right?" TK, staying away from the argument, was the first to notice such a change in their host, but by the time he asked the question she was already bathed in her power, drawing upon it to mark her place in the world.
"Faster Ankylomon, faster." Cody shouted, trying to maintain his seat. He had ridden Ankylomon before of course, but this time seemed worse. The constant bump and jolt of staying on top of his companion was beginning to cause damage to his spinal cord more than anything else. Behind them was the ever present shadow, seeming to grow larger in the sky with each passing moment, a constant reminder of what was following them, and why they were running away.
Ankylomon did not bother to waste breath responding to his partner's exhortations, but Cody could tell that the Champion was getting tired. Of course now that he had the time to think about things, the hole in his plan was becoming painfully obvious. Ankylomon could not run forever, and MarineDevimon could make their escape more painful than other simply by adding a few touches of his own to make them slow down and fail.
"Darkness Water!" A gout of black and yellow flame slammed into the ground nearby. With the speed of the chase their pursuer failed to make an accurate hit, but it threw Cody off his mount, and knocked Ankylomon on his back.
For a moment Cody regained his wits in peace, but then a shadow erupted, filling the sky, blotting out the stars. Oddly shaped tentacles writhed like a nest of snakes, cutting odd patterns in the air that would have made Cody's skin crawl if every hair on his body was not trying to stand up at the same time. Two reddish eyes glared down at him, piercing whatever defenses he had erected over his vulnerable mind, and Cody could feel the malevolence rain down on him. For a moment everything stood frozen, as if in a painting, the faint starlight reflecting off inky black surfaces engraving the moment in his mind. And then everything restored itself to motion. From above he could see a cruelly clawed tentacle race downward, slamming itself toward him, could hear noise faintly in his ears, could feel something inside of him refuse to look away. He could feel the steady determination, like an iron bar in his spine, as he stood to meet his end, could hear new noise, and could see better now, more light or something, but there was some pain in his chest
"Kachina Bombs!"
A mere split-second before the deadly claw should have landed, there was a whir, and then three of the familiar serrated disks flew overhead, slamming into the dark shape, and sending it reeling backward. Instead of swatting Cody like some offending insect, the claws pierced the earth a few meters away, sending dirt flying. Behind Cody, gleaming in the dark like a knight in shining armor, Shakkuomon towered, inlaid gold and jewels sparkling even in the faint light of stars. Massive as a building, the Ultimate raised two hands, ending in razor grips, in challenge to the dark shape standing across from it.
"Darkness Water!"
The black and yellow flames licked out toward Shakkuomon, but Shakkuomon raised both of his arms out to his side, and then fixed himself there. The fire exploded inward, but the Ultimate blocked it, absorbing it into the hole opened in his lower body. There was a moment when everything was illuminated by those terrible flames, and then that moment ended, and everything was darker once more, only the afterimage of those fires existing to tell where they had been. For a moment the two of them stood there, watching and waiting, and then MarineDevimon threw one massive clawed arm around, seeking to smash his enemy to the ground.
"Kachina Bombs!" This time the disks struck to immobilize, and MarineDevimon lurched backward with an animal shriek of pain as the razor-sharp edges sliced a huge chunk off of his tentacle. A moment later another streak of black and yellow flames struck out, driving Shakkuomon backwards briefly, but the effect did not last for long.
"Darkness Water!" Black fire reached out once more, but Shakkuomon had clearly had enough of this particular battle. Both arms reached out, seeking their enemy as if he were illuminated by a thousand torches.
"Harmonious Spirit!" Two red-orange beams shot out from each of Shakkuomon's narrowed eyes, smashing through the flames like a battering ram, zeroing in on the other Digimon's head. There was a moment as the two Ultimates struggled against each other, and then MarineDevimon exploded into fragments of data.
"Black Spike!" A single shot of darkness exploded down from the heavens above, striking Shakkuomon before Cody could offer his congratulations. Immediately the giant silver Digimon melted down into a collapsed Armadillomon. Now a new shape descended from the sky, but even in the dim light there was no mistaking the palpable evil of this particular visage. Reaver glinted in the darkness, emitting more darkness into the cloak of night, a sort of anti-sun glimmering in the sky.
"So, where are the others young Hida?" Reaver raised one hand to point imperiously at Cody. Cody stiffened his jaw and looked Reaver defiantly in the eye. "Ah, so you won't tell me, no matter, I didn't need you anyway. Black Spike!"
"Angel Wing!" Two vast screens, looking like waves of iridescent tissue paper, enfolded Cody. But, no matter how structurally unsound they looked, Reaver's attack slammed into them and dissipated harmlessly. Cody jerked to look behind him, and gasped when he turned.
Standing there, imperiously, was a figure, human sized and shaped, but all in angular silver armor, glinting with inner light. One arm was upraised, and from it gleamed a ball of light, as bright as the sun at noon, illuminating the surrounding area in the sharp contrast of black and white. Power radiated from this figure, not only from its body in general but from the golden symbol of a sword emblazoned on its front. Fire, both silver and gold raged off and on over its body, and its gaze through the visor of its armor was a brilliant white glare. It was, at the same time, both wonderful and terrible, beauty mixed with death, and it shown as the sun to Reaver's petty shadow.
"You!" Reaver's voice was full of terror and fear.
"Depart this place foul one." The figure spoke in a symphony of war trumpets, blaring their deadly challenge to his opponent. "Depart and trouble this place no more with your presence, lest you face my wrath." The last word was punctuated with a blast of blue-white energy that crumpled the grass five meters from where it passed.
Reaver shot upwards, screaming toward the heavens that had rejected him long ago. The figure watched him go, and then looked at Cody for a single moment. One hand, formerly empty, and now bearing a massive gleaming sword, raised in salute, the blade cutting through the plane of the visored gaze. And then the figure was gone, and only a faint light on the grass marked where he had been.
The others were still trying to get a response from Babamon when Cody and Armadillomon, sweaty and tired, burst through the door. For a moment they stood and panted in the doorway, as everyone else stared at them curiously, before Cody realized how out of place they looked in the clean house.
"What's wrong Cody? Babamon just slipped into this trance and we couldn't shake her out of it." Davis traded looks between the comatose Mega and the short human.
"He couldn't stay." Babamon sat up straighter, reaching down and taking a sip of tea as if nothing had happened, and the people clustered around her were an everyday occurrence. "Without his proper body here, or near here, his power is limited. That image and those powers he displayed were there purely to protect you, and to move you and my house away from harm. That they were more than enough to crush Reaver is but a side effect. He shows quite an interest in you."
"So why did he show up?"
"I was warned that you might be in trouble. I am able to summon one of Citadel's Guards in the greatest of needs, and I judged that now was a good time."
"So, he came to help me?"
"It appears you are more important to them than any of us thought. His presence indicates that great things are in store for you. Now we are safe, for a time, and we await the future."
About then everyone else broke in, and Cody repeated the rest of his story, and everyone was amazed, and congratulated him, and gawked at Armadillomon. And Babamon sat in a corner, drinking tea and looking wise. And generally everyone celebrated, except for TK, who thought of the man in silver armor Cody described, and a long fall off a dark mountain.
In the darkness, something died horribly, tentacles twisting and heads flailing. Here was a moment of darkness and then somebody lit a match. Oikawa, his face streaming sweat and covered in dirt and a few traces of blood, looked up at his erstwhile companion. BlackWarGreymon looked like he was in worse shape, but he gave a fierce grin to reassure the man who covered his back.
"Do you suppose that was the last of them?" Oikawa asked.
"Probably. The rest most likely went around south to avoid this mess." BlackWarGreymon polished his claws carefully.
"Hmmmit's never that easy." Oikawa looked around and then changed the subject. "Do you think the Digidestined have figured the truth about themselves out yet?"
"The purpose of the crests? I doubt it." BlackWarGreymon responded.
Oikawa nodded wisely.
Suddenly, the space in front of them twisted like a pretzel and revealed a new face, staring out at them. Gennai spoke in a hurry. "Be warned, we've lost a squadron of Devimon variants on the southern flank. If any get through, it will be up to you to defeat them unless they head northward after a turn."
As Gennai vanished, Oikawa pulled his coat up over his shoulders again. "It's never over, is it?"
Episode X
The Honor of the Sword
"I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for..."
-Thornton Wilder
"I don't know Davis. I have some theories, but they may have to wait until Cody manages to use his new crest. I'm sure that he will, but I really don't know right now."
Off to the side Kari yawned and threw off the patchwork of branches and dried leaves that had served as her insulating cocoon during the night. She looked around and blinked several times before staggering off to the stream to splash water on her face. Davis watched the fire as she walked back several minutes later, looking definitely cleaner and more awake.
"Good morning guys. Anything interesting happen last night?" she asked.
"No, not really." Davis replied, poking the fire again. Kari shrugged and picked up a few rocks, pitching them aimlessly into a bush a few meters away.
"So what's wrong with TK?" Ken asked without changing his expression, watching the sunrise over the hills to the east. The stone that Kari was thrown jerked in her hand, its trajectory sending it bouncing off to one side with a raucous clatter.
"What do you mean what's wrong with TK?" Kari asked, her frozen position and the tiny quaver in her voice giving a sufficient answer.
"I'm not blind Kari. And I'm not stupid either." Ken sighed and looked down at the ground. "Although sometimes I wish I was. He's being sort of jumpy lately, and he tends to be too high strung, and I don't like it."
"You noticed too?"
"Ever since our run-in with SkullGreymon he's been getting steadily worse, but I think it was there before then. I don't know, he just seems soedgy. And then last night, when I was on watch, he woke up at least once in some sort of nightmare. He was covered in sweat, but there was nothing I could do about that, and he wouldn't talk to me about it."
"He hasn't talked to me either." Kari looked down. "Something's eating him up, and I don't know what."
"He's having horrible nightmares. The same one appearing over and over again." They all looked down in surprise at Gatomon, who was now calmly sitting on the ground, looking off at nothing. "His nightmares are almost as bad as mine, and they're as bad as what you used to have Kari. But I don't know why. He hasn't told me, and I haven't asked."
"Why not?" Kari inquired.
"Because he hasn't wanted to tell me." Gatomon shrugged the whole thing off. "It is a sort of personal affair, and if he doesn't want to talk to me about it, then I won't push him. Some things just need time."
"Right." Ken placed a hand on Kari's shoulder. "But maybe we should let him get it off his chest."
Gatomon shrugged and ambled off. Kari looked at Ken worriedly and then pursued her feline companion with fear written all over her face. Davis started a moment and then tried to follow her, but Ken held out his hand to stop him, shaking his head. Davis stared for a moment and then stopped.
"Why does she care so much about TK's problems anyway?" he groused.
Ken opened his mouth as if to say something, and then quickly shut it again. Davis turned and glared at him, but the black-haired boy met his gaze quietly and calmly for a few seconds before turning decisively away. Davis grumbled a little and looked back at the ground. Ken sighed and turned back to the fire and concentrated on cooking breakfast.
By the time everyone, including TK, was up, moving and eating, the signs were fairly obvious. He was moving slower, talking less, and generally looking more agitated and rumpled then was normal. Everyone noticed it, even Davis, who belatedly broke in and stared at TK for several long moments. In fact everyone was casting covert looks at TK except for Kari, who was very carefully avoiding eye contact or any other sort of contact. She did quiver a little whenever he got too close though. Ken and Cody exchanged glances, Cody and Yolei exchanged glances, Yolei and Ken exchanged glances. Davis and Veemon exchanged shrugs. Patamon and Gatomon huddled together in a corner, discussing something. The other Digimon appeared to be avoiding the situation altogether. TK must have noticed something, because his gazes became suspicious, but he apparently misjudged the magnitude of it, as he refused to engage the whole topic in conversation. By the end of breakfast everyone was moody and quiet and sullen. Ken sighed and rolled his eyes at Yolei in a clear gesture of summoning, and then tried to keep himself focused while the two of them walked out into the forest together.
Around them the morning light reflected through the pine trees, a layer of dried needles already crackling beneath their feet. Dust floated in those beams of sunlight, and the weather was crisp and cool, forcing the inhabitants to take refuge in their furred skins or any other method of protection they might provide themselves with. Here and there birds were visible, darting through the various shafts of light that spun downward from the sky. From above there was the sound like rushing water of the wind moving through the branches, gently shaking the pine needles in an imitation of dancers swaying to the beat of some unheard music. All in all, it was a quiet place, a good place for a morning walk, if one did not have their mind on other matters.
"Any ideas?" Ken asked after awhile.
"About TK? No, I thought we would just wait for it, and sooner or later he'll let it off his chest." Yolei pushed her glasses back up.
"I don't think that's such a good idea you know. Have you checked up on Kari lately?" Ken watched a Stellar Jay cock its head at him and the squawk in protest as they continued deeper into its territory.
"No, she hasn't been saying muchbad?" Yolei now looked concerned.
Ken sighed and absently picked a pine cone up off the ground and threw it into the distance, startling another bird of some sort. "Pretty bad, from what I've seen. I'm not that good at emotional things so tell mehow deep is their thing?"
"Thing, huh?" Yolei elbowed Ken and he smiled slightly. "Well, I don't know. If they don't get involved romantically or something, they'll probably spend the rest of their life as best friends regardless. They're just so close, but that means that it's hard to figure out whether the problem with Kari is over her best friend or her crush. And we all know that Kari hasn't much more of a clue. It could be really serious, but they might be too young for it."
"Young? TK's stared down demons and creatures from the abyss we don't even name anymore. Kari's been fighting darkness incarnate since the day she first stumbled into this mess. And we haven't done too shabby either. None of us are exactly young anymore." Ken looked at the sun's positions through the rays striking his jacket. "It would have been nice to be a normal teenager, but skipping that and going straight to responsible adult does have some advantages."
"Hmmmyou probably are right. Any ideas?"
"I guess I should confront TK with it. You hold Kari down and see what she can tell you."
"And how are you going to get TK to tell you anything?" Yolei asked curiously.
"Trust me." Ken's grin bordered on evil. "I have a way that will get him to do anything for me."
"All right TK!" Ken thundered when he finally caught up to the tall Digidestined on some rocks overlooking a nearby lake. "Sit down, shut up, and talk!"
"About what?" TK looked up surprised at Ken's sudden change in attitude.
"What's eating you TK?" Ken sat down beside him.
"Nothing." TK replied shortly, tossing a rock into the water and watching the waves radiate outwards to lap against the granite outcrop he was sitting on.
"Patamon," Ken turned his gaze to the orange and white mammal sitting on another rock, basking himself in the sun. "I want you to do me a favor. Go fly off to Kari and tell her that TK has a big huge crush on her and would love it if"
"You wouldn't!" TK shot bolt upright like he had been shot. Ken smirked down at him, a triumphant smile dancing across his face. For a moment TK was tempted to call Ken out, but the rock hard determination in the black-haired boy's eyes was too real, and something in him quailed from it. "All right, all right, you can stop over-dramatizing Ken. Sit down and I'll talk."
"Good, everyone's worried. What's happening TK? This isn't like you at all."
"It started with the dreams. Stupid lousy dreams." TK pitched a rock into the water. "They're always the same. Some guy, I can't tell what he is or even if he's human or not, is holding me off a cliff. He always asks a question that has something to do with Hope or Courage. And no matter what I answer, he throws me off." TK's face came up, and it was covered in tears, running down his face. "I always know that it's just a dream and all, simply a vision or something, and that I never hit the bottom, but I'm always terrified. I'm so afraid it scares me, and it disgusts me. Look at me, afraid of a little dream.
"And that's not the worst part. Something's whispering to me in the dark. What if the dream's not a dream but a prediction. What if I fail all of you because I'm just not strong enough, or I don't know the answer, or I'm too scared. That's the one that gets me, what if I'm too scared? I'm almost useless anyway, it takes more to make Patamon digivolve then it takes the rest of you to go to Ultimate. If I'm too scared to do anything, then I'm just dragging you down, and then I'm worse than uselessI'm a liability. What if that's all I am Ken?" now he was choking back sobs as what was eating his heart out emerged, and Ken could do nothing but stand there in shock, to startled at the outburst to even try and comfort his fallen friend.
"It doesn't matter what I think of TK." Kari insisted, shaking her head, looking above at the sky. "It doesn't matter in the slightest."
"What do you mean Kari?" Yolei absently peeled the bark off of a tree.
"Have you ever known something about the future or something else? Sort of like through a six sense. And I mean really known that something was going to go wrong, or go chaotic, or something. Ever?"
"No, not really." Yolei watched Kari, but Kari seemed to be almost ignoring her.
"Once I got the crest of Light it started to happen to me all the time. And I never knew what to do about it. I know the future, I'm the Light, and the Light has to shine where the darkness is greatest. The rest of my life will be devoted to fighting that Darkness, confronting it face to face. What I want doesn't matter. If I ask TK to join me, I'll be dooming him to a life of facing a Darkness I don't think any of us are strong enough to handle. I can't do that to him Yolei, I just can't." And she stood there like a pillar, a calm sentinel held out to the stars that waited, invisible, above.
"I wonder why everyone is so upset." Cody let the sword spin in his hand momentarily and then returned to a simple series of parries as he conversed with Armadillomon. Being a good sport, his partner Digimon had volunteered to walk around carrying a piece of wood on his shell that Cody could use for sparring practice, a good precaution since the blade really was sharp, and dangerous. Already today's block of wood had several nicks and cuts in it.
"They'll get over it." Armadillomon suggested, keeping a wary eye on what Cody was doing.
"Well, I'm not so sure. Maybe we're doing the wrong thing." Cody let the sword twirl in his hand again, and then came across with a series of level, horizontal sweeps. Steel slashed through the air, humming like a flight of angry bees. "After all, we always seem to be involved in hurting other Digimon, who probably only wanted to be left alone."
"I don't know about that Cody"
"Oh I don't mean the truly evil ones, like Khartan and Reaver and such, but the others are almost as bad." A vertical chop that might have severed a human opponent's arm at the shoulder it was done hard enough. "But the others, I'm just not sure. I know that we have to do it, but I hate doing it, even so. Believe me, I'm not going to let evil triumph just because I'm afraid of hurting other Digimon or anything. I grew out of that stage a long time ago. But sometimes I wonder what the best thing to do would be."
"A tricky question." Armadillomon drove forward suddenly, seeing if he could catch his human companion unaware, but a flurry of head level chops relieved him of that impression. He jerked backwards again as a single determined thrust caught him in the center.
"Well, I'm not sure what the answer is. I mean, we're trying to do the best thing, right. So should we give up if our being here hurts other Digimon. Should we avoid confrontation if we only end up destroying others." This was accompanied by a chest thrust and a sudden turn and chop that probably would have decapitated a human opponent.
"I just don't know what to say Cody."
"Neither do I." The boy thrust his sword, quivering into the ground in anger. "Look at me, I'm fighting with weapons, trying to learn how to kill things. Look what I've become Armadillomon! A murderer in training!"
"Now Cody" Armadillomon began in a startled manner.
"Oh don't worry about me." Cody gave a bitter laugh. "Don't worry about me at all. I know that what we've done was necessary. I just don't know if we should do it again."
Since everyone else was busy, it was left to Davis and Veemon to explore their surroundings. This, of course, was normal, as Davis was the one with the energy to work out, while everyone else dealt with whatever issues they were having. As a result, it was he who found the pathway of flowers.
"Hey guys, come look at this!" His shout aroused the others, who were engaged in a careful game of not watching each other. Quickly they sprung up, looking for any excuse to avoid their current problems.
"Well, we could follow it." Hawkmon suggested.
"It looks just like the one that led to Babamon." Kari noted as they followed Hawkmon's suggestion.
"Indeed it does." This voice was familiar, and they all looked up to see the wrinkled old Digimon standing there, broom in hand, waiting for them. "Hurry up now. I have lowered my protections for you, but do not think that I shall leave them low for long."
Everyone walked over to her and, to their surprise, found the familiar house standing right there as they had left it several days ago. Eyebrows and shoulders lifted in surprise and their was much staring among the party.
"I move the house around with me." Babamon noted. As they began to stare at her, she stared right back. "What? I am a Mega after all."
"Right." Yolei shook herself off, and then all of them quickly followed the old wizened Digimon indoors as she shook herself off. As they walked inside the sense of comfort overwhelmed them, making them feel much calmer and better than they had in the tense outdoor situation.
"So, I have seen that you are doing well." Babamon went over to a corner of the room and returned with a green enameled teapot, which she graciously presented to her guests. "That is you remain alive. A fine accomplishment in this world."
"You've been following us?" Davis asked, looking interested.
Babamon waved a hand dismissively. "You do not survive as long as I have without some way of cultivating information, yes? I have received some news of you, but not much, I have been listening to other matters as well."
"What other things?" Davis asked, but Babamon put up a hand in an unmistakable gesture of silencing.
"No, my story can waittell me what has happened to you."
The hours rolled on into evening. By the time that they had finished recanting their various adventures, and providing all the detail that Babamon later asked for, it was quite late. She had already provided them with a light lunch and a filling dinner, and innumerable cups of tea, and now they sat there, basking in the warm glow of a fire in the corner, and the strange lamps that adorned the walls, enjoying their simple time. Babamon looked interested, but not particularly perturbed by their run-ins in the past. In fact, she spent most of her time sitting there, calmly sipping at a cup of tea, and watching them talk to each other.
"So what news did you hear?" Gatomon asked after a while.
"I have heard many things." Babamon reached out with her broomstick and began to trace odd, eldritch patterns on the floor absently. "I have heard things from high and low, near and far, and they all hold some vast import for all of us."
"Like what?" Veemon asked.
"I have heard that the Eagles have marched through the Vericon mountains, and I have heard that the Manhunters have thrown them back in disarray all the way to For-kalas. I have heard that the garrison of For-kalas has marched on Reistat. I have heard that Reistat has capitulated and joined the Grand Alliance of its own accord, and that they march to For-kalas. I have heard that the Wolves have taken Emerstat and now hold the southern borders of that realm firm against the Black Reapers. I have heard that the Black Reapers have moved on Kornest and taken it unawares, and I have heard that an ambush at Kornest has destroyed them totally. I have heard the word that Resh'kahan itself has fallen to the Wolves, and that the Wolves now move against the Vast Emperor himself. I have heard that a counteroffensive from Resh'kahan has destroyed the Dragons totally. I have heard many things, and I know that most of them are wrong."
"Do you know anything that could help us?" Ken put down his tea cup.
"Help you now? No. Help you later? Perhaps. Some things all stories agree on. Citadel has taken Blueaxe, and now Justice masses the vanguard of the Dragon Host somewhere against the darkness. His internal lines secure he is expected to return to the offensive soon. The Wolves have moved, and, if not in possession of the once-great nation of Emerstat, they surely threaten to take control of it. The Emperor of the Vast Empire of the Blood Sun has lost much, and it could be that the Wolves and Eagles move against Resh'kahan, the Fortress City of the Mountains. Then again, they may wait for something else. I know that there is fighting between the Darkness Crest, that which controls the place you know as the Dark Ocean, and the Council of Nine. I do not know whether that infighting is serious, or another feud between the powers of darkness. Nevertheless, Citadel has clearly turned the tide of the war in its favor, through some trickery I do not yet understand. Even now they throw themselves at the crushing weight of darkness. Who knows? They might triumph early."
"Uh, I don't mean to be rude or anything" Yolei interrupted nervously. "but we have no idea what you're talking about."
Babamon gave them a wrinkled grin. "Ah yes, I had forgotten that you would not know the language. Perhaps I should fill you in. When the forces of the Light began to fight the Great War in earnest, they needed to organize themselves so that they could truly fight as a group, and not as a mob. The forces that later became that which is known as Citadel came up with several different names, and those have stuck. Originally, the names were given to fit the group they matched. For instance, the Hawks consist of Digimon who fly, the Barracudas of Marine Digimon. On land, they depended on the Wolves, ground fighters who fought like a wolf pack, continually turning and changing their plan of attack to catch their enemy in the rear, always striking from behind. Over the years they needed a better way to hold ground, and the Eagles came into being. The Eagles are named after the ancient Roman Legions, and they fought like them for a time. Do you know of the tech barrier?"
"No." Ken answered truthfully.
"Well, you may have noticed that your world's electronics do not function well here. In fact, only specially modified electronics seem to function well, such as that scanner. The reason is that the laws of science are different from world to world, something that is only natural, but that renders complex machinery unreliable. That scanner runs off your internal energy, something that never changes, but it is difficult to build something like a weapon, which uses a lot of power, that operates off a persons energy without potentially killing the person. Gunpowder and the like also present a problem. So the original humans fighting fought with sword and shield. But all of those groups held a secondary position to the Dragons.
"The Dragons are unique. They are trained to fight on the ground and in the air, and were traditionally trained from Digimon who did likewise, such as WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Over time they changed into those who support the operations of the Fleet, because a two-kilometer long flying fortress has to be able to take on any opponent. They are still considered the elite arm of the Light, but they tend to take tremendous losses in any confrontation. Commandos and Rangers are also technically with the Dragons."
"How does a flying fortress work if the laws of physics are different?" Ken wanted to know.
"Because they use the power of the Light to create a bubble of their own reality around them. Digimon do this naturally, which is why the laws of nature change when the enter your world. It allows them to function in all worlds."
"That explains who those people are, but what does all that military stuff mean?" Veemon asked after a few moments.
Babamon just smiled again. "That would take a long time to explain. Suffice it to say that Citadel has put together an impressive offensive against the powers of Darkness. They have ambushed their attackers, and then launched a counteroffensive that has staggered them. So far, fortune favors them, but it remains to be seen for how long that will last."
"Any news that can help us?" Davis questioned after a moment.
"Well, you already know of Reaver. He is a powerful adversary, one that you should avoid if all possible, but he remains close to you. Machinedramon is the Digimon who rules over this place with Khartan. He lives in a fortress not far from your current path, you are looping around it even now. Khartan's other servants, Sickle, Ravisher, Talon and Bane are with him in his fortress. I should probably warn you that they are extremely powerful of their own right. I have heard that your friends and fellow companions make progress in that world, but I am truly not sure about this."
"So, there's a question. Do we go after Machinedramon, try to stand against Reaver, or just go for Khartan's throat?" Davis asked.
As the night passed on, they began to speak of strategy. Davis argued for the direct approach, wiping out Machinedramon if they could, but heading straight for Khartan. Yolei argued that they should try to ambush Reaver first, to buy themselves some breathing space. Kari held out for an attempt to increase their familiarity with their crests, and maybe pick up some more Ultimate-level firepower before heading into battle. Ken supported staying further in the wilds until they come up with a new plan. Cody was taciturn and quiet, TK sullen and withdrawn. After a few minutes of discussions and plans, Davis was yelling at Yolei, Kari was ignoring Davis, Yolei and Ken were avoiding eye contact, everyone was staying away from TK, and Kari and Yolei had almost come to blows.
After a few minutes when everyone tried to establish exactly how powerful their crests were, Cody looked over at Babamon and asked innocently "Just what are the crests anyway?"
Babamon looked up at the ceiling as the impromptu question brought the entire argument screeching to a halt. "That would be hard to explain. Maybe I could explain it best like thisthere is a continuing battle between good and evil. Is that easy enough to understand?"
"Yes." Everyone responded.
"Well, Good and Evil are powers beyond comprehension. When the Great War was young, the forces of Light knew that they needed new power to defeat the forces of Darkness. They knew that in times of great need, a person can, through such things as Courage or Friendship, draw upon great power from above and use it in this world. By forging the crests they were able to make that kind of connection permanent, but the bearer of the crest must first open that connection within themselves to make it work. I know that the crests which you now wear are mere copies of the original crests, and, as such, have their powers reduced."
"Reduced?" Everybody exclaimed.
"Yes. As I recall the original crests drove their bearers mad for weeks at a time, and some of them never recovered. The original crests give great powers, incredible powers, to their bearers, but they cause great madness. Your crests will take more effort to bring out their true strength, but are much safer to you." Babamon looked up, her eyes bright and shining in the artificial light. "Do not ask me of Light and Hope. I know too little to answer, and what little I know would distress you too much."
"Oh, right." Davis sounded disappointed. And then everyone remembered what they had been fighting about earlier, and the argument flared up again, even louder.
The council sat around the table, debating their future endlessly. Everyone was there, Justice and Courage as holographic images from the Leonidas, Grey and Phoenix looking in from command ships worlds apart. Knowledge, Friendship and Reliability viewed the proceedings calmly from different fortifications scattered over the Interconnected Worlds. Gennai was arguing with Reliability.
"I don't think we should do it. I just can't see any sense in it."
"We need the distraction. Emerstat needs help reassembling any semblance of military might or prowess, and the only way to do that is to give the Bloody Sun something else to worry about." Gennai sat back in his chair. "If you can raid their supply convoys or something, we might be able to draw them into chasing you."
"And what if they catch us?"
"That's what you're paid for."
"If they catch your bait, you're going to have a minor disaster on your hands Gennai." Justice looked uncomfortable. "As long as they stay in narrow mountain valleys the force-to-space ratio holds both ends even. But if they get caught outside the hills and somewhere near the plains, that five to one numerical disadvantage plays against them heavily. And I don't know about long term raids, because Resh'kahan is just too close for my comfort. That puts the Wolves through a great deal of risk."
"You have a better idea?" Gennai challenged.
"If you could possibly move down the Greenwood River to the Island of Esobarte, it might be possible to take and hold the bridges for long enough to disrupt cross-river communication and withdraw before being trapped by boat."
"We'll consider it." Gennai muttered after a moment, suggesting that this was the best plan he had heard in awhile.
"Maybe if we could retake the Corinos basin" Love suggested from her end of the table. Gennai and Justice both grunted. Out of the five thousand Justice had sent in, five hundred had been lost taking it, and over a thousand lost in a desperate retreat. Even now that force was reorganizing.
"Not without air cover from up north." Knowledge stated firmly, and shrunk back as Justice flinched. Justice had been responsible for a plan of attack that worked nearly flawlessly, except that the enemy had come up with three times as many units as the Light had thought possible. They had won, but suffered nearly five times the expected casualties to their air units. It was a common mistake to make in a war, but Justice had taken it fairly hard, and everyone tried to avoid mentioning it around him.
"Or maybe another drawn out brawl over the Wilding." Friendship spoke up, and now it was Gennai's turn to flinch. He had commanded the first drawn-out battle to wrest control of the Wilding from his opponent, and left ten thousand bodies behind him in the process.
"What about the master plan?" Kindness asked, leaning back.
"I'm still convinced that Earth is the key to phase two. Otherwise I do not know enough to change the plan in any way that would concern us." Justice stared right back.
"You're expecting a lot from the Digidestined." Gennai was looking at Justice strangely.
Justice shrugged. "They'll have to handle it."
Reaver sighed again and looked very carefully at the place where the tracks he had been following disappeared into nothing. Someone was hiding the digidestined from him, and he found that the effort needed to trace these brats down was getting on his nerves. As he looked around, he suddenly thought of something, and snapped his fingers, pointing to a nearby lake, and beneath him a wave of darkness moved out. He grinned darkly, something that would have been missed easily in the cloak of night that lay over the land.
"I think I'll take a walk." Cody suggested after everyone else had been fighting for a while. The others nodded, or at least shook their heads as much as possible given that they were still fighting with each other over the wisest plan of action. In the midst of the fire and chaos, Cody shook his head and wandered out the door with Armadillomon.
"Nobody pays attention to me." Cody groused as he walked down the hill from the warm glow emitted from the house.
"Well, you do like to stay pretty quiet." Armadillomon hurried to keep up, twisting from side to side.
"Yeah, I know. I just think that they wouldn't listen that well. I am the youngest, you know."
"That doesn't mean anything Cody. I mean, usually Davis is the one who acts the youngest, and we all listen to him. I think you just don't speak out enough."
Cody smiled at his friend. "Fair enough, and probably true. But today I didn't talk much because I had no idea what to talk about. I didn't have much of a plan, and I really couldn't think of one that I could use. Could you?"
"No, not really."
"See, there you go. And my Grandpa always says that one should keep quiet if one has nothing to say."
"Of course."
For a time they walked in silence, the gentle light of the star, occasionally obscured by the gently drifting clouds overhead playing a gentle illumination over the scene. The grass they were walking through crunched under their feet, and eventually they wandered down to the lake.
"I wish I had a plan that would keep us from fighting any more." Cody muttered as they walked along.
"We all wish that." Armadillomon responded cheerfully, still watching the stars above.
"Yeah, but sometimes I just don't think that we try very hard. After all, we're always fighting with each other about the best way to fight everyone else. Maybe we're too fixed on that to really come up with a good peaceful plan."
"Could be Cody, but I really don' see anything better to do."
"What's that?" Cody pointed, and Armadillomon's attention turned to the front, where a large dark shadow was visible by the lake.
"I don't know, it looks sort of familiar though. Wait, I do know what it is." Armadillomon gazed down at the shadow and its writhing form "That's MarineDevimon."
"Great. Just great. Do you think he can see us?" Cody shrunk down on the ground, trying to hide in the moist grass.
"I don't think so. He's too far away."
"We need to get back and tell the others." Armadillomon nodded his agreement, and then the two of them started to creep away, keeping low in the grass, but they barely made it a meter before the apparition spoke up, voice trumpeting all over the immediate area.
"Attention, those of the so-called Digidestined." The voice spoke loudly and cruelly. For a moment Cody was in a panic, worrying that somehow that apparition that was MarineDevimon had somehow found their hiding place. But a moment later he shakily reassured himself by realizing that this message could be heard all over the immediate area. "I appear to have obtained the possession of a large number of Crabmon here in this lake. It would be unfortunate I suppose should anything happen to them. However, since I am supposed to be in pursuit of you, I suppose that anything might happen as I cease to pay attention to them." This statement was accompanied by a scream, something that made Cody clench his fists in sudden, impotent fury. "Oops, how careless of me. It's time to come out and play Digidestined."
"We've got to do something Armadillomon." Cody's voice was frantic.
"But what?"
"We've got no choice, the others are too far away. We've got to draw him away."
"Well, he is kinda slow."
"You think that Ankylomon can outrun him?" Cody looked down.
"Well, I kinda suppose that he could if I run fast enough. But Cody, are you sure we should be doin' this?" Armadillomon glanced at his human partner.
"I don't have a choice Armadillomon. In case you haven't noticed, it's up to us now. We keep thinking we're heroes, well, I guess it's time to act like heroes too. We have to draw him off."
"Right you are then."
"Armadillomondigivolves toAnkylomon!"
"Ah, so there you are." MarineDevimon was shifting his appearance, but Ankylomon, with Cody on his back, was already thumping away. The giant black figure laughed once, and gave chase.
As the others argued, oblivious to the conflict outside, Babamon closed her eyes and sought the peace within. She knew what was coming, and drew upon her inner strength to serve as a beacon through the worlds.
"Are you all right?" TK, staying away from the argument, was the first to notice such a change in their host, but by the time he asked the question she was already bathed in her power, drawing upon it to mark her place in the world.
"Faster Ankylomon, faster." Cody shouted, trying to maintain his seat. He had ridden Ankylomon before of course, but this time seemed worse. The constant bump and jolt of staying on top of his companion was beginning to cause damage to his spinal cord more than anything else. Behind them was the ever present shadow, seeming to grow larger in the sky with each passing moment, a constant reminder of what was following them, and why they were running away.
Ankylomon did not bother to waste breath responding to his partner's exhortations, but Cody could tell that the Champion was getting tired. Of course now that he had the time to think about things, the hole in his plan was becoming painfully obvious. Ankylomon could not run forever, and MarineDevimon could make their escape more painful than other simply by adding a few touches of his own to make them slow down and fail.
"Darkness Water!" A gout of black and yellow flame slammed into the ground nearby. With the speed of the chase their pursuer failed to make an accurate hit, but it threw Cody off his mount, and knocked Ankylomon on his back.
For a moment Cody regained his wits in peace, but then a shadow erupted, filling the sky, blotting out the stars. Oddly shaped tentacles writhed like a nest of snakes, cutting odd patterns in the air that would have made Cody's skin crawl if every hair on his body was not trying to stand up at the same time. Two reddish eyes glared down at him, piercing whatever defenses he had erected over his vulnerable mind, and Cody could feel the malevolence rain down on him. For a moment everything stood frozen, as if in a painting, the faint starlight reflecting off inky black surfaces engraving the moment in his mind. And then everything restored itself to motion. From above he could see a cruelly clawed tentacle race downward, slamming itself toward him, could hear noise faintly in his ears, could feel something inside of him refuse to look away. He could feel the steady determination, like an iron bar in his spine, as he stood to meet his end, could hear new noise, and could see better now, more light or something, but there was some pain in his chest
"Kachina Bombs!"
A mere split-second before the deadly claw should have landed, there was a whir, and then three of the familiar serrated disks flew overhead, slamming into the dark shape, and sending it reeling backward. Instead of swatting Cody like some offending insect, the claws pierced the earth a few meters away, sending dirt flying. Behind Cody, gleaming in the dark like a knight in shining armor, Shakkuomon towered, inlaid gold and jewels sparkling even in the faint light of stars. Massive as a building, the Ultimate raised two hands, ending in razor grips, in challenge to the dark shape standing across from it.
"Darkness Water!"
The black and yellow flames licked out toward Shakkuomon, but Shakkuomon raised both of his arms out to his side, and then fixed himself there. The fire exploded inward, but the Ultimate blocked it, absorbing it into the hole opened in his lower body. There was a moment when everything was illuminated by those terrible flames, and then that moment ended, and everything was darker once more, only the afterimage of those fires existing to tell where they had been. For a moment the two of them stood there, watching and waiting, and then MarineDevimon threw one massive clawed arm around, seeking to smash his enemy to the ground.
"Kachina Bombs!" This time the disks struck to immobilize, and MarineDevimon lurched backward with an animal shriek of pain as the razor-sharp edges sliced a huge chunk off of his tentacle. A moment later another streak of black and yellow flames struck out, driving Shakkuomon backwards briefly, but the effect did not last for long.
"Darkness Water!" Black fire reached out once more, but Shakkuomon had clearly had enough of this particular battle. Both arms reached out, seeking their enemy as if he were illuminated by a thousand torches.
"Harmonious Spirit!" Two red-orange beams shot out from each of Shakkuomon's narrowed eyes, smashing through the flames like a battering ram, zeroing in on the other Digimon's head. There was a moment as the two Ultimates struggled against each other, and then MarineDevimon exploded into fragments of data.
"Black Spike!" A single shot of darkness exploded down from the heavens above, striking Shakkuomon before Cody could offer his congratulations. Immediately the giant silver Digimon melted down into a collapsed Armadillomon. Now a new shape descended from the sky, but even in the dim light there was no mistaking the palpable evil of this particular visage. Reaver glinted in the darkness, emitting more darkness into the cloak of night, a sort of anti-sun glimmering in the sky.
"So, where are the others young Hida?" Reaver raised one hand to point imperiously at Cody. Cody stiffened his jaw and looked Reaver defiantly in the eye. "Ah, so you won't tell me, no matter, I didn't need you anyway. Black Spike!"
"Angel Wing!" Two vast screens, looking like waves of iridescent tissue paper, enfolded Cody. But, no matter how structurally unsound they looked, Reaver's attack slammed into them and dissipated harmlessly. Cody jerked to look behind him, and gasped when he turned.
Standing there, imperiously, was a figure, human sized and shaped, but all in angular silver armor, glinting with inner light. One arm was upraised, and from it gleamed a ball of light, as bright as the sun at noon, illuminating the surrounding area in the sharp contrast of black and white. Power radiated from this figure, not only from its body in general but from the golden symbol of a sword emblazoned on its front. Fire, both silver and gold raged off and on over its body, and its gaze through the visor of its armor was a brilliant white glare. It was, at the same time, both wonderful and terrible, beauty mixed with death, and it shown as the sun to Reaver's petty shadow.
"You!" Reaver's voice was full of terror and fear.
"Depart this place foul one." The figure spoke in a symphony of war trumpets, blaring their deadly challenge to his opponent. "Depart and trouble this place no more with your presence, lest you face my wrath." The last word was punctuated with a blast of blue-white energy that crumpled the grass five meters from where it passed.
Reaver shot upwards, screaming toward the heavens that had rejected him long ago. The figure watched him go, and then looked at Cody for a single moment. One hand, formerly empty, and now bearing a massive gleaming sword, raised in salute, the blade cutting through the plane of the visored gaze. And then the figure was gone, and only a faint light on the grass marked where he had been.
The others were still trying to get a response from Babamon when Cody and Armadillomon, sweaty and tired, burst through the door. For a moment they stood and panted in the doorway, as everyone else stared at them curiously, before Cody realized how out of place they looked in the clean house.
"What's wrong Cody? Babamon just slipped into this trance and we couldn't shake her out of it." Davis traded looks between the comatose Mega and the short human.
"He couldn't stay." Babamon sat up straighter, reaching down and taking a sip of tea as if nothing had happened, and the people clustered around her were an everyday occurrence. "Without his proper body here, or near here, his power is limited. That image and those powers he displayed were there purely to protect you, and to move you and my house away from harm. That they were more than enough to crush Reaver is but a side effect. He shows quite an interest in you."
"So why did he show up?"
"I was warned that you might be in trouble. I am able to summon one of Citadel's Guards in the greatest of needs, and I judged that now was a good time."
"So, he came to help me?"
"It appears you are more important to them than any of us thought. His presence indicates that great things are in store for you. Now we are safe, for a time, and we await the future."
About then everyone else broke in, and Cody repeated the rest of his story, and everyone was amazed, and congratulated him, and gawked at Armadillomon. And Babamon sat in a corner, drinking tea and looking wise. And generally everyone celebrated, except for TK, who thought of the man in silver armor Cody described, and a long fall off a dark mountain.
In the darkness, something died horribly, tentacles twisting and heads flailing. Here was a moment of darkness and then somebody lit a match. Oikawa, his face streaming sweat and covered in dirt and a few traces of blood, looked up at his erstwhile companion. BlackWarGreymon looked like he was in worse shape, but he gave a fierce grin to reassure the man who covered his back.
"Do you suppose that was the last of them?" Oikawa asked.
"Probably. The rest most likely went around south to avoid this mess." BlackWarGreymon polished his claws carefully.
"Hmmmit's never that easy." Oikawa looked around and then changed the subject. "Do you think the Digidestined have figured the truth about themselves out yet?"
"The purpose of the crests? I doubt it." BlackWarGreymon responded.
Oikawa nodded wisely.
Suddenly, the space in front of them twisted like a pretzel and revealed a new face, staring out at them. Gennai spoke in a hurry. "Be warned, we've lost a squadron of Devimon variants on the southern flank. If any get through, it will be up to you to defeat them unless they head northward after a turn."
As Gennai vanished, Oikawa pulled his coat up over his shoulders again. "It's never over, is it?"