The Reign of Courage

Part Ten: Evolution, Danger, and More Fights

***

Standard Disclaimer Thingy: Digimon, related characters and etc do not belong to me. I make no money from this story. The plot, however, is mine, and it'd be nice if you remembered that!

***

Miyako emerged from the cave to see a large green digimon holding a club peering at her with beady eyes. She screamed, more in surprise than fear, and stepped a few feet back. Daisuke, emerging from the cave behind her, only sighed and shook his head when he saw Ogremon.

"You again?" he demanded. "We already did the fight and run away thing, remember?"

Ogremon merely growled, a vicious snarl on his face. V-mon tugged on his partner's leg. "Daisuke – I don't think that's the same Ogremon."

"You may be right about that," the boy admitted. This Ogremon did appear to have more motivation and less fear.

"He's absolutely right," the Ogremon snarled, its first words. "Bone Club!" With that attack, it leaped high into the air and raised its club in the air.

"Ha! It's not that easy!" Daisuke replied. "V-mon! Digimental Up!"

"Right! V-mon armor evolve! Fladramon!" Quickly, the tall blue digimon dived out of the way of the Ogremon's attack. Daisuke, Miyako, and Hawkmon quickly dodged the flying green creature as well.

"Don't think I'm the only thing you have to worry about," Ogremon shouted gruffly as it leapt into the air again. "Bone Club!"

"You're not a worry, you're an annoyance," Fladramon taunted in reply. "Fire Rocket!"

"He's right, though," Hawkmon observed, looking up as an Airdramon flew into view overhead.

"Spinning Needle!" it shouted, which those on the ground were forced to dodge as well.

"Well, now I've got the chance to do something about these darn Airdramon!" Miyako decided. "Hawkmon! Digimental Up!" She raised the strange egg-shaped digimental she'd recently pulled from the ground into the air.

"My pleasure," her partner replied. "Hawkmon armor evolve! Holsmon!"

Miyako watched with triumphant surprise as Hawkmon grew more than twice his normal size and was replace by a four-footed bird with a metallic helmet on the front of his beak. "Get him, Holsmon!" she shouted. Her digivice felt different in her hand, and when she looked down, she saw that it had strangely changed shape, so now it was shaped the way Daisuke's new digivice was. She barely had time to register this, however, for her attention was on the battle.

"Fear not! I'll deal with him!" the bird replied as it took to the air. Once he had, a ferocious air battle began. "Red Sun!" Holsmon called, as a red beam shot from his helmet.

"Spinning Needle!" the Airdramon shouted in response, dodging the attack.

"Fire Rocket!" Fladramon shouted from the tree branch he was perched on.

"Augh!" Ogremon shouted, as the flames surrounded it. It didn't give up, however, quickly throwing itself on the ground and rolling in order to extinguish them. In a short amount of time, they were gone, however the ugly green digimon had wasted valuable time. As it had been fixing itself up, Fladramon had come closer without risk of attack. By the time Ogremon got to his feet again, the blue and red fiery digimon was standing right in front of him.

"Knuckle Fire!" Fladramon called as he lodged a burning fist between the green ogre's eyes.

Ogremon only groaned in response as he fell to the ground in pain.

"That takes care of him!" Daisuke cheered, grinning widely, and turned his attention to the battle raging over their heads.

Despite the dust surrounding them, it was quite easy to see the battling flyers overhead. There were no trees in the area – the few that existed were half dead as though they had given up on life. There were no buildings, only a few rock formations that one was likely to stumble upon while walking through the thick dust. So the fight in the sky was less obscured than normal.

"Tempest Wing!" Holsmon called, whirling himself into a massive tornado and then launching said whirlwind toward the massive Airdramon. The attack appeared to have little or no effect, however, and Holsmon was forced to abandon this method, instead reverting to his other attack. "Red Sun!"

"Ha ha!" the Airdramon shouted, and though Miyako had never heard an Airdramon laugh before, it sent shivers down her spine.

***

"I'm reading something on my digivice," Iori announced without preamble. "A blinking dot."

Instantly, Hikari and Ken both observed their own devices. "I'm not getting it," Ken noted.

"Me either," Hikari noted. "Should we investigate?"

"Couldn't hurt."

***

Taichi looked around at the clearing. It was empty, now that Etemon had been deleted and the Ogremon and Gazimon had deserted. "What was that voice?" he wondered.

Before Jyou or Koushiro could offer up a theory, however, they were interrupted by a large explosion in the distance. "Might I suggest we figure out what that was first?" Koushiro questioned.

Taichi nodded his agreement. "Definitely." He peered at Kabuterimon, who was hovering near his partner. "You can fly. Go ahead of us. We'll follow." He gestured to himself and Jyou.

Koushiro's only response was a nod. A moment later, he and his partner were gone.

"It'll be easier if I'm smaller," Ikkakumon noted. "Faster, that is." A bright light surrounded him as he reverted to Gomamon.

"You sure?" Jyou asked. "We might need you again."

The small digimon shrugged as best was possible. "I'll be able to evolve again so long as I get something to eat."

"Eat along the way," Taichi decided, climbing aboard Greymon and gesturing for the others to follow.

***

"Hey!" Takeru shouted, as he and Patamon narrowly avoided the strange digimon's attack. "I didn't do anything to you!"

"Ah, but indeed you did, little boy. You're a Chosen, and you're threatening to disrupt my experiments. That is a serious crime," Nanomon replied. He raised one of his spindly metal arms again. "Plug Bomb!"

Takeru fell backwards, and Patamon flew upwards to avoid the explosion aimed at them. Half the side of the strange building was now gone, and a huge cloud of smoke extended upward into the dust-filled sky. "Isn't this kind of unfair?" Takeru attempted to reason with their attacker.

"Mega Blaster!" a voice from the sky shouted, and Koushiro leapt from his partner to land in the dusty, hard ground beside Takeru.
"It would be best to retreat," the wizard informed the boy, grabbing his arm. Numbly, Takeru was about to agree, and would have, if not for Patamon's sudden interjection.

"But Sora's in there!"

As expected, this did get Koushiro's attention. "Kabuterimon!" he called. "Change of plans! It appears he has our missing friend!"

"Right," the giant insect replied. "Mega Blaster!"

"Plug Bomb!" Nanomon called, causing another wall of the building to crumble.

A moment later, another explosion joined the fight. "Mega Flame!" Greymon shouted, and added a giant fireball to the mix. The wooden roof of the stone building didn't have a chance – it burst into flames and disintegrated in seconds.

"Taichi!" Takeru shouted as loud as possible over the explosions and fire. "Sora!"

The boy at the top of the giant dinosaur didn't have a hope of hearing his name over the sound, but somehow or another he was able to hear Sora's. He turned to Jyou, who was riding behind him.

"Did he say Sora?"

"I don't know," the doctor replied, appearing rather green in complexion. "I just want to get on solid ground.

Taichi nodded. "Greymon! Let us down here!"

A moment later, the two were safely on the ground. Jyou leaned against a tree, trying to fight down the nausea accompanied by motion sickness caused  by the rather bumpy ride upon Greymon's back.

"That digimon – Nanomon – he said that he has Sora," Takeru explained to the wild-haired young man as he appeared.

Taichi nodded once, to show he understood, and then ran in the direction of the building that was rapidly being demolished. "Wait!" Takeru called. "That building's not safe!"

"Honestly, I don't believe he cares," Koushiro noted with a marked lack of serious concern. He appeared bemused as he watched the other disappear. Then his eyes caught another greenish-looking figure. "Jyou? Are you all right?"

"No," Jyou replied, as he quickly dashed behind a tree. Gomamon shrugged helplessly as he watched his partner head off to empty his stomach of his recent lunch.

"Eh, he's not made for travel, I guess," the small white-colored digimon stated, half-apologetically.

***

"Ah, another cave. Does this sound familiar to you, Hikari?" Tailmon questioned.

"Yes," the girl replied, a musing expression on her face. "It looks exactly like the cave where Daisuke found his digimental."

"A digimental?" For a moment the youngest chosen dropped the pretense that a child so often maintains when around others who are older. "For me?" His green eyes were noticeably larger for a moment, shining with the idea that he should get a prize so extraordinary.

But then the pretense was gone, and the boy had returned to his serious air. At only thirteen years of age, he was still a child, still only a boy, even more than the others, but that didn't mean he wanted others to view him that way. "That would be most – beneficial," he said quickly then, covering up for what he perceived as a momentary loss of judgment.

'Great,' he thought, moving away from them as he followed his digivice into the cave, hardly noticing that neither of the others had elected to follow him. 'Now they've probably lost all respect for me. I wish I wasn't so young, then people wouldn't see me as so…different. I wouldn't be so much of a handicap.'

Iori pushed all thoughts of self-pity to the back of his head. They would be pondered over later, during a time of rest, when he could meditate on this. He was wise enough to know, despite his age, that he needed to focus on the task at hand.

At the end of the cave was a small raised platform of rock. Iori nodded when he recalled Daisuke's description of his own digimental. "Guess Hikari was right," he noted aloud, more to himself than to Armadimon, who was, as always, following behind him.

Beyond the sign which was also apparent in what Iori recalled of the story, was a small yellowish-colored egg-shaped digimental ith purple markings on it. "What's the sign say?" he asked.

"Digimental Chishiki," his partner read. "Knowledge. Like Koushiro's crest."

"Knowledge?" the boy repeated with some confusion. "I don't understand exactly how I deserve that."

"Well, maybe you don't," Armadimon replied sagely. "But there's only one way to find out, and that's to try to lift it. The sign does say that only one worthy of it would be able to lift it."

"True," Iori replied in agreement. "And I don't think my digivice would have alerted me to its location if I was unworthy either." He stepped up to the digimental, and gripped it with both hands. He was able to raise it from the rocks without much effort. "Well, it's mine, all right."

Before Armadimon could respond – Iori suspected with some sort of an 'I told you so' attitude – there was another crashing, rumbling noise. "Another earthquake?" Armadimon questioned in disbelief.

"Let's get out of here!" Iori replied, not wishing to currently speculate on the cause of so many tremors. Hurriedly, he and his partner rushed for the cave's exit, but to no avail.

Inches before they would have made their escape, rocks and boulders on the outside and inside of the cave were shaken loose, and the only way out of the cave was blocked. From outside, the boy could hear Hikari's shouts - of surprise, horror, worry - he knew not what. But when the shaking ended, there was no light, no exit, and no sound.

***

Mimi sighed, frowning slightly as she and Yamato tried for the fifth time to locate an escape from the dusty clearing. "I really don't think this is working," she noted.

"No, I don't think so either," Yamato sighed in agreement. He sank against a rather decrepit looking hollowed-out tree. "I hope Takeru's all right."

The girl traveling with him didn't have a response to that statement, but she did shriek in surprise when the tree he was leaning on creaked and then disintegrated behind him.

Yamato gave a surprised shout and grumbled under his breath about a useless tree. Mimi didn't quite hear all of his statement, but she did note that he used a few words that shouldn't have been used around her. Ordinarily, she would have said something about this, but, considering the circumstances and the boy's rather grumpy attitude at the moment, decided to remain silent for once. Instead, she offered him a hand to help him up.

"Are you all right?" Gabumon questioned of his partner, whose irritable mood had just taken a turn for the worse.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied grudgingly, dusting off his pants as he rose from the dust. "I'm not sticking around here anymore," he decided with a frown.

Before Mimi could respond, there was a loud explosion in the distance, and that settled the matter.

***

There was smoke, dust, fire, and all manner of explosions that surrounded Taichi as he made his way through the building. He hadn't a clue as to where he was going, but he knew that he had to at least try to get Sora from the building before it was destroyed.

He coughed a few times and covered his mouth with his hand. "Sora!" he called over the noise of the explosions, but quickly realized that would probably be about as effective as standing on his head. Suddenly, he became aware of a light penetrating the smog.

"My crest…" he realized, looking down at his chest. As expected, the tag was glowing brightly, visible even under the fabric of his shirt. And somewhere in front of him was something else, glowing brightly.

***

Iori tried very hard not to cry. He wiped away the tears that came as a result of pain, and tried to ignore the others that crept up from his hopeless situation. In the dark, he could see nothing, but he called for his partner.

"Armadimon?"

"Right here, Iori," the golden-colored digimon's voice replied from somewhere nearby. "You all right?"

Iori coughed, the constant cloud of dust having increased with the falling of the rocks, and now invading his lungs with a greater fierceness than before. "Yeah, just dusty. A few scratches, that's all. Do you know where my bag is?"

"Not a clue. It should be around here somewhere, though. Why?"

"I think I might have a lantern in there," he said, but paused in thought. "But I shouldn't use it." 

"Why not?" Armadimon's voice was closer now, and Iori guessed his partner was slowly making his way through the dark cave.

"The fire will use up the air," Iori explained. "And I get the feeling there isn't much in here."

"Do you think the others will rescue us?"

"I hope so," the boy replied. "But I don't think they can. There's so many rocks." He looked in the direction of the blocked entrance, but there was no sign of light or movement. He sighed deeply.

There was a long moment of silence. Armadimon, having finally made his way to his partner's side, rested his head on the boy's leg.

Iori coughed again, raising his hands from where they rested on the ground and covering his mouth. When he set them down again, he felt something round under his left hand. He felt the smooth-shaped object for a moment before he realized what it was.

"The digimental!" he exclaimed. Armadimon lifted his head in question. "Here's hoping you evolve something that can break through rocks. Digimental Up!"

Iori shouted the last two words as loud as possible despite his aching lungs. A bright light appeared from his digivice, and the digimental evaporated from his hand. He could feel his digivice changing shape in his hands, and for a moment the bright light made it impossible to see.

"Armadimon armor evolve! Digmon!" he heard behind the light and the squealing sound of his digivice.

"Big Crack!" Digmon shouted, and though Iori couldn't see what he was doing precisely, he could hear rocks falling around him. The boy pulled his arms and legs close to him and tried to shield his head as best as possible.

He needn't have worried, however, because a moment later he felt slightly fresher air fill his lungs, and a dim light filled the cave. A moment later, Digmon – who he saw now was a large digimon with a drill for a nose and of similar coloring as the digimental itself – was assisting him out of the cave, and then he felt human hands in assistance, as Ken and Hikari helped pull the boy through the hole his digimon had created.

"Oh, thank heaven!" Hikari was saying over and over, and Iori was aware of little else beside this. Ken was talking about someplace to find water, but there didn't seem to be any in the area.

Before any decisions could be made, there was an explosion in the distance, and then, overhead, two large digimon flew past. One was an Airdramon, and the other a large brownish-red bird.

And then, a few seconds later, a tall blue and red colored digimon dashed past at an equally fast speed, shouting to the bird overhead.

Hikari fleetingly recognized the blue and red colored digimon as Fladramon, but before she had time to call out to him or even comment on the situation, he was gone, disappeared into the dust again.

Iori (who was really not quite as badly off as Hikari had suspected) and Ken merely stared. It was Digmon who summed up the situation. "What the -?"

"That was - ," Hikari began in an attempt to explain the situation, but at that point she was interrupted by shouts coming from the same direction the passers-by had come. A moment later, Daisuke and Miyako emerged from the dust cloud, out of breath. Neither noticed the others

"They don't – really need – us, do they?" Miyako gasped, out of breath from trying to run strenuously when surrounded by dust.

Daisuke coughed loudly. "I hope not," he replied in a hoarse voice. "Hey! They're coming back this way!"

They were indeed. The Airdramon came first, apparently one of its wings being damaged enough to force it to land. "Spinning needle!" it hissed, firing its attack back in the direction of Holsmon, who was coming near to landing as well.

"Tempest Wing!" the bird called after dodging the attack, taking advantage of the Airdramon's weakness.

"Fire Rocket!" Fladramon was there a moment later, and the Airdramon cringed in pain. It slithered, twisting its long body and crashing its tail into Fladramon. Knocked head over feet, he de-evolved to V-mon and clutched his head. Horrified, Daisuke rushed heedlessly through the battlefield to assist his digimon.

"Gold Rush!" Digmon shouted, and the drills on the end of his nose flew off and attacked the Airdramon. Daisuke, astonished by the addition to the battle, turned back in the direction of the newcomer and noted Hikari, Iori, and Ken for the first time.

"Tempest Wing!" Holsmon attacked again, but he was tiring.

"Cat Punch!" Tailmon shouted, as her ferocious attack scratched the face of the Airdramon. Crying out in pain, it could take no more, and finally was deleted.

***

"Koushiro!" a voice called from somewhere in the distance, and the young wizard glanced up to see that Yamato and Mimi were running out of the dust cloud and into the fight.

"Watch out!" he called, and both newcomers dodged another explosion quickly.

"What's going on here?" Yamato questioned, brushing dirt and rocks from his head. He and Mimi had already figured that the other digimon needed help in the battle, and so had sent Garurumon and Togemon to assist in whatever way they could.

"Oh, just another battle, that's all," Jyou replied from where he sat, leaning against a tree. He looked rather pale, but better than he had before. "That crazy digimon has Sora, Taichi went recklessly into the building to search for him. You know, the usual."

"What?" Mimi demanded, utterly confused.

"Jyou!" Koushiro scolded. "Takeru came upon this building and said that Nanomon claimed Sora was inside and began to attack him. The rest of us came by to help – Jyou, Taichi, and myself that is, and when Taichi learned Sora was inside, rushed off to try and save her."

"Yeah, except Jyou didn't get to help much. He got motion sickness," Gomamon added cheerfully and – in his partner's opinion – annoyingly. The doctor just groaned.

"I wouldn't lean on those trees if I were you, Doctor," Mimi warned. "They're rather unstable."

Almost in response to this statement, the tree behind Jyou chose to collapse, resulting in the doctor crashing to the ground.

"Jyou, I got those herbs you said might help!" Takeru emerged from the dust, a fistful of dusty greens in one hand and Patamon flying behind him. "Oh. What happened?"

***

The bright, overwhelming light suddenly became smaller, and Taichi spotted the crest as it floated through the dust at him and attached itself to his tag. "My crest," he breathed, astonished, and took a moment to admire the glowing object.

Then there was an explosion only inches from his head, and he forgot about his amazement. "Sora!" he shouted, and this time, unexpectedly, he got a response.

"Taichi? I'm in here!"

***

"Well, that was hard," Daisuke breathed, collapsing on the dusty ground. "You all right?" he asked V-mon, who was looking rather drained.

"Yes, just tired," the small digimon replied, eyelids drooping. "We beat him, right?" At Daisuke's nod, he looked only slightly more cheerful and awake.

"Hawkmon, that was terrific!" Miyako shouted, dancing around and forgetting the tiredness she'd been feeling only a moment before. Hawkmon felt no such miracle, however, and groaned slightly in his partner's arms, exhausted.

Hikari peered at the small white cat that was her partner. "You knocked him out with one punch," she observed. At Tailmon's nod she shook her head slightly. "I didn't know you could do that!"

Her partner merely shrugged slightly. "I'm full of surprises," she replied casually, but grinned.

Iori hugged Armadimon tightly, his insecurities of before forgotten for now. For a few moments, the group rested, regaining their strength.

It was Miyako who noticed, upon looking around, that one of their group was missing. "Hey…," she said. "Where's Ken?"

***

Taichi noticed that a part of the floor of this strange building had been his crest. He didn't know it at the time, but he would have been quite astonished to discover that Takeru's crest had been formed from the entranceway, and his from the floor. At the moment, he didn't really wonder about that. He knew, that he needed to get below the floor if he was to find Sora.

"Sora?" he called into the dusty darkness of the basement. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" she called in response, and though he wasn't clear on where 'here' was, he was able to gauge an approximate distance using his hearing. "I was hoping you'd come, Taichi," she confessed, her voice sounding slightly desperate.

"Sorry I couldn't get here earlier," he apologized, moving down the hall and trying to keep her talking so that he would know where she was. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she assured him. "Taichi – this enemy – this Devimon – I don't know how we'll be able to beat him."

Taichi peered into a darkened room. "I don't know either," he confessed. "But we'll try, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess, that's the best hope," she replied. Suddenly, the entire basement of the building was brightened with a light.

"What the - ?" Taichi gasped, covering his eyes. It was the same sort of light that had been released when he found his crest. With that revelation, he rushed forward as quickly as he could, hurrying towards the light.

He found Sora in a small stone room, sitting on a metal table and holding out the tag that went with her crest. Her eyes were large, and her face aglow as the crest attached to her tag. "My crest –,"

***

"Just who is this Nanomon? I've never heard of him before," Yamato noted.

"From what I've been able to tell, he's very strong," Koushiro replied, searching through a book even as he spoke. "A level above Adult, which means he's stronger than this Devimon that sent us the note."

"So is he our real enemy then?" Takeru questioned, frowning in the direction of the battle, which was still going on.

"I don't know," the wizard admitted. "There's not much about him in this book, just that, basically, he's at Perfection level – that's what the next stage is called – and that he's evil."

"Maybe the first chosen didn't fight him," Mimi suggested.

"Or maybe he wasn't as strong of an enemy," Jyou offered.

"Both likely possibilities," Koushiro admitted. He was about to say more when another loud explosion shook the ground.

"Plug Bomb!" Nanomon shouted, and now it was possible for the humans to view the strange little creature, for the last wall of the building he had been in was nearly totally demolished.

"Maybe we'll have a chance if we hit him all at once," Greymon shouted by way of suggestion. "Mega Flame!"

"Prickly Bang Bang!" Togemon added her attack as needles flew from the spiny plant's body.

"Fox Fire!" Garurumon shot blue flames from his snout.

"Mega Blaster!" Kabuterimon added his giant energy ball.

There was a huge amount of dust, and now even the ruined remains of the building were destroyed. When the giant cloud had settled, all were shocked to find that Nanomon was still standing,  and, in fact, laughing at them.

"You're too weak to defeat me! It's a mathematical fact!" he shouted triumphantly.

Before anyone – digimon or human – could respond to this statement, two humans emerged from the ruined remains of the building, a strange glowing aura surrounding them both, and a small pink bird trailing behind them. "Taichi!" several of the Chosen present shouted in unison. "Sora!"

Jyou forgot his own nausea in his concern for others, and rushed quickly forward to see if they were all right. Both appeared rather weak, and Sora looked as though she was about to collapse. The moment the doctor reached her, she did so, fainting and falling into his arms. The glow that had been surrounding her faded then, and Piyomon, too, collapsed weakly to the ground.

Taichi looked dirty, scratched, and rather damaged, but was actually none the worse for wear. "Take care of her," he told the doctor simply and then looked directly at Nanomon. "Mathematical facts," he snorted derisively. "I'll show you real proof."

The glowing aura that surrounded him suddenly got stronger, and then a similar glow began to surround Greymon. "The energy –!" the orange digimon gasped in surprise.

The wild-haired young man nodded, gripping the tag and crest around his neck with one hand.

"Greymon evolve!" the giant dinosaur called. Metal surrounded the plate on his nose, one of his claws, and part of his chest. "Metal Greymon!"

***

That was bad. That was really bad. I apologize deeply for its badness. Eck. I'm still having fun with this though! I'm so horrible at the emotional/sappy scenes…bleh.

Now that I'm done insulting myself… ^_^…this was fun to write, and I'm still not done! Yeah! I think this chapter answers a few of the Taichi-Sora questions I've gotten…::grin::  What will happen when they finally fight Devimon? What has happened to Ken? Will there be anymore really sappy scenes? (I hope not)… Will Leomon be a help? Will he even return? Will these questions ever end or will I degenerate and turn into a bad annoying announcer person?

Well, hopefully some of those will be answered when I put out the next part. ^_^  This story is almost done, and then the next story begins! Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed, you're all cool!