Disclaimer: Digimon and Soul Reaver are not my property and I hold no right
to them what so ever. I don't own I merely borrow thank you.
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The former lords of File Island stood silently facing their former allies, both of their eyes were blank and soulless as if they weren't alive at all. Angemon and Gatomon readied themselves for the battle, the past no longer mattered; only the future of both worlds was important. As they stared each other down it was Leomon who spoke first, his gruff voice completely devoid of emotion.
" We guard this castle from all who would seek to harm the Lady, if you wish entry you must prove your strength against us." The lion shifted to battle stance and Ogremon did the same, "We will test your determination. Ha!" The mighty champion leapt at the smaller Gatomon while Angemon charged Ogremon. The smaller cat type digimon was easily keeping out of the lion's reach but was having trouble getting around his blade to attack.
" Lightning Claw!" She cried, but her claws were deflected by Leomon' s sword and he quickly countered with his Fist of the beast King. Neither of the digimon could land a solid hit and their feline agility made the bout seem like a sort of deadly dance. Meanwhile Angemon was having some difficulty with the Viral champion, Angemon's attacks would have made short work of the ogre if they hit him strait on. Ogremon was a far more experienced warrior and was doing a flawless job of deflecting the angel's attacks.
Davis was getting annoyed, Willis' overgrown bunny was managing to keep XV-mon from gaining the upper hand or helping Stingmon. Stingmon was having a tougher time since he didn't have a long-range attack; Endigomon was keeping his distance and wearing down the insect warrior.
" Ken I think we need to up the ante a bit," Davis shouted over the noise, Ken nodded and they held out their D-3's. " Digivolve!"
" XV-mon!"
"Stingmon"
" DNA digivolve to." at the two digimon came together Kari thought she saw Gatomon's tail ring start to shine, suddenly the other two champions were thrown apart the fusion had failed.
" What the hell?" Davis shouted, as the two digimon quickly recovered, "Why didn't it.Look Out!" Both of the champions turned to see Willis' digimon barreling down on them ready for the kill. They quickly countered on the Digimon closest to them, which caused Gargomon to end up impaled through the belly by Stingmon's blade and Endigomon was stuck in the chest by a V-laser. As the two hunters staggered back and begun to delete Kari came up with a plan.
" Angemon, Gatomon switch opponents," the two digimon quickly responded and did as the girl asked. Angemon charged his angel staff and went after Leomon while Gatomon used her Lightning Claw on Ogremon. The plan worked perfectly as the felines claws shredded Ogremon's bone club and Leomon's blade shattered on contact with Angemon's staff. Without their weapons the two guardians were no match for their opponents, but they still fought on.
" Pummel Whack!"
"Fist of the Beast King!"
"Hand of Fate!"
"Lightning Claw!" The latter attacks plowed through the former deleting the guardians on contact with holy power. After they had died the four depressions in the door were filled with colored glass orbs, yet the door still didn't open.
" What's wrong?" Ken asked his normally calm face puzzled, " the door should have opened once we beat all of those who protected it." The young bluenette furrowed his brow in concentration for a moment before seeing Willis sneak away out of the corner of his eye, " Of course! We have to get Willis as well; he's the last of the Hunter's." Turning quickly the group saw the blond run toward the trees, as they started to go after him a white blur moved by his face and he stopped. Willis brought his hands up to his throat and dropped to his knees, the blur stopped behind him and revealed itself to be Gatomon; she had slit Willis' throat and as he breathed his last the door to the fortress opened and allowed the group entry.
" Let's get this over with," Kari said without the least bit of remorse as she turned to enter the stronghold. As she walked Gatomon and TK fell in behind her; Davis looked at Ken who shrugged and went to join the others, Davis followed suit not risking a backward glance at the corpse of Willis. The gates shut behind them as they headed for the inner sanctum of the Garden Queen. ________________________________________________________________________
It was more than an hour later before they reached what they assumed to be Mimi's room, there were other digimon in the castle but they were all Gekomon and Otamamon, they were too afraid to fight. The defeat of the outer guardians had effectively removed the threat of opposition from the castle servants and all of the digimon were glad for it. The distance between the outer door and Mimi's sanctum wasn't that great, but the castle was built like a maze and the digimon inside weren't offering help. The problem that had occurred during the last battle had been effectively avoided for the time being as they concentrated on navigating the maze of corridors inside Mimi's fortress. When they reached the large ornate door that sealed off Mimi's room they paused.
" Guy's what happens if our digivolution messes up like last time?" Davis whispered his voice showing his concern, " Mimi may be on the low rung of the power ladder but she still has an ultimate. I don't think we can beat her if we don't have one as well." The others turned to face him and TK seemed to ponder the question for a moment.
" Well we'll have to try it out inside and hope we can figure out what's going wrong. Then we can hopefully fix it and end the match." The blond boy then proceeded to push the door open and walk in. The others followed suit and were quickly halted by the sight of the room. It seemed to have been luxurious once, but it had long since descended into ruin and decay. Vines and creepers roamed all over the walls and the furniture seemed far older than its design showed it to be. In the center of the room was Mimi, her long brown hair was disheveled and full of dried twigs and leaves. Her dress had once been white, but it was now shredded and beyond dirty, but that what was left of her humanity. Her arms and legs were replaced with thick vines that spread throughout the room, her eyes were a deep green and lacked pupils. She turned her head to face the group as she heard their gasps of shock.
" What is the matter? Am I so changed?" Kari was the first to find her voice.
" Mimi? What happened? Tell me what did this to you? " The being that was the holder of sincerity seemed shocked at the girls voice, she stared at the girl for a moment before speaking.
" Kari! How have you returned? It does not matter, if you have come back than you have come to take my life and those of the others." She seemed to sigh and drop her head, " look only on what has come of our quest for power. I wanted a garden paradise and I got a living tomb; I wish you hadn't killed Willis, he was only following orders." She sighed again, " you know I cannot let you leave here alive."
" I was going to say the same thing Mimi. You turned your back on us just as the others did, our work must be finished " The child of light advanced on Mimi but was stopped by a plant woman. The woman had a large flower on her head and had vines for hair, her skin was green and fair, on her back was a pair of green wings. Lilymon had always been Mimi's most powerful defender in and out of battle, quick and deadly her powers could not be denied.
" You know I can't let you do that Kari, you're going to have to go through me first. I don't care what happened in the past but right now Mimi is my only law. " The flower pixie took a step back and readied herself, " I don't know how you eluded death but I'll make sure he knows right were to find you this time." Leaping into the air the pixie readied herself for battle as her opponents did the same.
"Guy's we can't afford to play around this time, let's go strait to ultimate." Davis said as he pulled out his D-3.
"XV-mon"
" Stingmon"
"DNA-digivolve to." As before the energized champions came together and were thrown apart by a bright light, again Kari saw Gatomon's ring shine out of the corner of her eye yet she still didn't make a connection. The others stared at their partners in confusion.
" What's wrong you guys?" Davis questioned frantically, " We need you to so this so lets try it again." Once again the jogress was tried and it failed once again, this time Kari saw the tail ring shine and was starting to connect the occurrences. " Looks like we're going to have to overwhelm her, everyone attack at once!" Davis and Ken's partners quickly complied but Mimi who had trapped them with her vines prevented TK and Kari from helping. She had moved silently as the group had watched the failed digivolution, the vines were wrapped tightly preventing almost all motion.
" Oh no you don't, even Lilymon can't take on four champions of your strength, you'll just have to be satisfied with me." The vines curled to make a living wall around them and started to contract. TK saw the vines had ensnared Angemon and prevented his escape, Gatomon's claws were keeping her relatively safe but Kari seemed to be in a world of her own. Her mind was racing as she tried to remember all of the powers that a Gatomon's ring was said to have. It suddenly occurred to her that it was increasing not only Gatomon's power but that of all their allies, but that same power wouldn't support two in one being (A/N: this is completely made up but I needed a decent reason). Kari snapped out of her thoughts and shouted to her partner.
" Gatomon you've got to take off your tail ring, that's why they can't link, " The small feline heard and had begun to comply when she was caught unawares by the vines around her.
" Well if the ring has to come off so they can win I think we'll just leave it on" Mimi laughed as she started to constrict the group within the vines. As they struggled with the violent shrubbery Ken and Davis were watching their partners get beaten into the ground, hard. Lilymon was small and fast but she was by no means lacking in strength. Davis flinched as a petite foot crashed into his dragon's chest, Stingmon tried to fly from behind but was grounded by a punch to the gut. It was clear who was in control here Lilymon had not even used her flower cannon attack, in fact she hadn't so much as gotten winded. Davis and Ken watched helplessly as the beating continued.
Davis nearly in tears over his frustration, "We have to stop this," Davis ran toward the wall of vines and started to claw his way through. He had heard Kari's shout and was ready to rip the tail off of the cat if that is what it took to save his partner. At the same time Gatomon was putting all of her strength into freeing herself. She managed to create a temporary hole in the cover and thrust her tail into the hole, the vines wrapped around and she retracted her tail leaving her ring behind Davis grabbed it and began to pull himself from the plants. The digimon felt two effects, one was that their power seemed to drop somewhat, the other was that they're former bond was stronger than before. Davis pulled himself from the vines his right hand clenched on the ring and his confidence returned.
" I can feel it Ken! We can do it this time." He readied his D-3 and watched as the champions once again attempted to join; this time they met with more success.
" DNA digivolve to. Paildramon!" Davis felt Ken's heartbeat and smiled, as their digimon stood strong once again.
" Next round! Let's do this right." The armored dragon brandished its claws and readied the guns at its side. "Time to weed the garden!" Charging forward the dragon extended a glowing saber and swiped at the pixie.
" You may be strong," she called as she dodged out of the way, " but you're still way too slow. Flower Cannon!" The ultimate unleashed her attack striking the other ultimate in the chest and sending him into a wall. Meanwhile the altered Mimi was still trying to crush the children of hope and light.
" Crap I can't move," Kari sighed as the vines tightened to prevent them from aiding their friends, she looked over to TK who seemed to be thinking of something.
" Kari!" he shouted suddenly, " we've been so stupid, she can't hold us in the ethereal realm,"
" Yes she can, her crest would allow her to follow us,"
" Maybe so but if she did she would let the digimon free, she has to let one of us go." Kari nodded at his logic and both faded from view as they slipped into the realm of souls. Mimi was unable to decide if she feared the children or their partners more in time and before she could react the two children had reappeared behind her. " This ends now Mimi," TK whispered in her ear. The Garden queen seemed to nod as she realized what was to happen. Lilymon saw her partner was in peril and tried to fly to save her, however before should close the small distance she was struck head on by Paildramon's 'desperado blaster' attack. Having been hit full on by the assault Lilymon was thrown to the ground where she was finished off by a 'Sting Strike'. As her partner deleted Mimi's life was ended by TK who snapped her neck. As she died Kari seemed to draw a light from her chest, when Mimi breathed her last the reformed crest of Sincerity was in Kari's hand. Closing her hand over the crest Kari and the others watched as the vines withered and disintegrated, the building started to crumble and they ran.
Fleeing through the collapsing halls they reached the outer doors much faster; they made it outside in time to see a pillar of light burst from the roof of Mimi's stronghold. The light released a wave of energy that flew over their heads and obliterated the canopy, returning sunlight to the woods. They watched as the light faded and Mimi's former stronghold collapsed into the earth like a wilting rose. The group didn't speak for more than twenty minutes, they stood in shock at the events that had transpired. Kari stared at the crest in her hand for a moment longer before turning to the group.
" We'll rest here for the night," her eyes grew hard and her hands became fists, " then we will pay my 'dear brother' a visit." _______________________________________________________________________
A/N: Yeah I know I made up the thing about the tail ring but I never understood why it had to be taken from Gatomon in the first place, but for this fic that is how it going to stay. As to the lack of compassion shown by the children, Kari and TK both had their fist digimon kill at the age of eight, that added with the years spent in stewing in their own hatred has made them a bit vicious. Ken and Davis were enforcers, they have had to kill rebelling digidestined before so they are as used to it as one can get. Other than that please read and review please.
Next Time: Finally Tai must face those he left to die, how will this meeting end, do Kari and the others have a chance of beating the holder of courage? New developments come as Tai releases an ancient power. What will become off our heroes?
The former lords of File Island stood silently facing their former allies, both of their eyes were blank and soulless as if they weren't alive at all. Angemon and Gatomon readied themselves for the battle, the past no longer mattered; only the future of both worlds was important. As they stared each other down it was Leomon who spoke first, his gruff voice completely devoid of emotion.
" We guard this castle from all who would seek to harm the Lady, if you wish entry you must prove your strength against us." The lion shifted to battle stance and Ogremon did the same, "We will test your determination. Ha!" The mighty champion leapt at the smaller Gatomon while Angemon charged Ogremon. The smaller cat type digimon was easily keeping out of the lion's reach but was having trouble getting around his blade to attack.
" Lightning Claw!" She cried, but her claws were deflected by Leomon' s sword and he quickly countered with his Fist of the beast King. Neither of the digimon could land a solid hit and their feline agility made the bout seem like a sort of deadly dance. Meanwhile Angemon was having some difficulty with the Viral champion, Angemon's attacks would have made short work of the ogre if they hit him strait on. Ogremon was a far more experienced warrior and was doing a flawless job of deflecting the angel's attacks.
Davis was getting annoyed, Willis' overgrown bunny was managing to keep XV-mon from gaining the upper hand or helping Stingmon. Stingmon was having a tougher time since he didn't have a long-range attack; Endigomon was keeping his distance and wearing down the insect warrior.
" Ken I think we need to up the ante a bit," Davis shouted over the noise, Ken nodded and they held out their D-3's. " Digivolve!"
" XV-mon!"
"Stingmon"
" DNA digivolve to." at the two digimon came together Kari thought she saw Gatomon's tail ring start to shine, suddenly the other two champions were thrown apart the fusion had failed.
" What the hell?" Davis shouted, as the two digimon quickly recovered, "Why didn't it.Look Out!" Both of the champions turned to see Willis' digimon barreling down on them ready for the kill. They quickly countered on the Digimon closest to them, which caused Gargomon to end up impaled through the belly by Stingmon's blade and Endigomon was stuck in the chest by a V-laser. As the two hunters staggered back and begun to delete Kari came up with a plan.
" Angemon, Gatomon switch opponents," the two digimon quickly responded and did as the girl asked. Angemon charged his angel staff and went after Leomon while Gatomon used her Lightning Claw on Ogremon. The plan worked perfectly as the felines claws shredded Ogremon's bone club and Leomon's blade shattered on contact with Angemon's staff. Without their weapons the two guardians were no match for their opponents, but they still fought on.
" Pummel Whack!"
"Fist of the Beast King!"
"Hand of Fate!"
"Lightning Claw!" The latter attacks plowed through the former deleting the guardians on contact with holy power. After they had died the four depressions in the door were filled with colored glass orbs, yet the door still didn't open.
" What's wrong?" Ken asked his normally calm face puzzled, " the door should have opened once we beat all of those who protected it." The young bluenette furrowed his brow in concentration for a moment before seeing Willis sneak away out of the corner of his eye, " Of course! We have to get Willis as well; he's the last of the Hunter's." Turning quickly the group saw the blond run toward the trees, as they started to go after him a white blur moved by his face and he stopped. Willis brought his hands up to his throat and dropped to his knees, the blur stopped behind him and revealed itself to be Gatomon; she had slit Willis' throat and as he breathed his last the door to the fortress opened and allowed the group entry.
" Let's get this over with," Kari said without the least bit of remorse as she turned to enter the stronghold. As she walked Gatomon and TK fell in behind her; Davis looked at Ken who shrugged and went to join the others, Davis followed suit not risking a backward glance at the corpse of Willis. The gates shut behind them as they headed for the inner sanctum of the Garden Queen. ________________________________________________________________________
It was more than an hour later before they reached what they assumed to be Mimi's room, there were other digimon in the castle but they were all Gekomon and Otamamon, they were too afraid to fight. The defeat of the outer guardians had effectively removed the threat of opposition from the castle servants and all of the digimon were glad for it. The distance between the outer door and Mimi's sanctum wasn't that great, but the castle was built like a maze and the digimon inside weren't offering help. The problem that had occurred during the last battle had been effectively avoided for the time being as they concentrated on navigating the maze of corridors inside Mimi's fortress. When they reached the large ornate door that sealed off Mimi's room they paused.
" Guy's what happens if our digivolution messes up like last time?" Davis whispered his voice showing his concern, " Mimi may be on the low rung of the power ladder but she still has an ultimate. I don't think we can beat her if we don't have one as well." The others turned to face him and TK seemed to ponder the question for a moment.
" Well we'll have to try it out inside and hope we can figure out what's going wrong. Then we can hopefully fix it and end the match." The blond boy then proceeded to push the door open and walk in. The others followed suit and were quickly halted by the sight of the room. It seemed to have been luxurious once, but it had long since descended into ruin and decay. Vines and creepers roamed all over the walls and the furniture seemed far older than its design showed it to be. In the center of the room was Mimi, her long brown hair was disheveled and full of dried twigs and leaves. Her dress had once been white, but it was now shredded and beyond dirty, but that what was left of her humanity. Her arms and legs were replaced with thick vines that spread throughout the room, her eyes were a deep green and lacked pupils. She turned her head to face the group as she heard their gasps of shock.
" What is the matter? Am I so changed?" Kari was the first to find her voice.
" Mimi? What happened? Tell me what did this to you? " The being that was the holder of sincerity seemed shocked at the girls voice, she stared at the girl for a moment before speaking.
" Kari! How have you returned? It does not matter, if you have come back than you have come to take my life and those of the others." She seemed to sigh and drop her head, " look only on what has come of our quest for power. I wanted a garden paradise and I got a living tomb; I wish you hadn't killed Willis, he was only following orders." She sighed again, " you know I cannot let you leave here alive."
" I was going to say the same thing Mimi. You turned your back on us just as the others did, our work must be finished " The child of light advanced on Mimi but was stopped by a plant woman. The woman had a large flower on her head and had vines for hair, her skin was green and fair, on her back was a pair of green wings. Lilymon had always been Mimi's most powerful defender in and out of battle, quick and deadly her powers could not be denied.
" You know I can't let you do that Kari, you're going to have to go through me first. I don't care what happened in the past but right now Mimi is my only law. " The flower pixie took a step back and readied herself, " I don't know how you eluded death but I'll make sure he knows right were to find you this time." Leaping into the air the pixie readied herself for battle as her opponents did the same.
"Guy's we can't afford to play around this time, let's go strait to ultimate." Davis said as he pulled out his D-3.
"XV-mon"
" Stingmon"
"DNA-digivolve to." As before the energized champions came together and were thrown apart by a bright light, again Kari saw Gatomon's ring shine out of the corner of her eye yet she still didn't make a connection. The others stared at their partners in confusion.
" What's wrong you guys?" Davis questioned frantically, " We need you to so this so lets try it again." Once again the jogress was tried and it failed once again, this time Kari saw the tail ring shine and was starting to connect the occurrences. " Looks like we're going to have to overwhelm her, everyone attack at once!" Davis and Ken's partners quickly complied but Mimi who had trapped them with her vines prevented TK and Kari from helping. She had moved silently as the group had watched the failed digivolution, the vines were wrapped tightly preventing almost all motion.
" Oh no you don't, even Lilymon can't take on four champions of your strength, you'll just have to be satisfied with me." The vines curled to make a living wall around them and started to contract. TK saw the vines had ensnared Angemon and prevented his escape, Gatomon's claws were keeping her relatively safe but Kari seemed to be in a world of her own. Her mind was racing as she tried to remember all of the powers that a Gatomon's ring was said to have. It suddenly occurred to her that it was increasing not only Gatomon's power but that of all their allies, but that same power wouldn't support two in one being (A/N: this is completely made up but I needed a decent reason). Kari snapped out of her thoughts and shouted to her partner.
" Gatomon you've got to take off your tail ring, that's why they can't link, " The small feline heard and had begun to comply when she was caught unawares by the vines around her.
" Well if the ring has to come off so they can win I think we'll just leave it on" Mimi laughed as she started to constrict the group within the vines. As they struggled with the violent shrubbery Ken and Davis were watching their partners get beaten into the ground, hard. Lilymon was small and fast but she was by no means lacking in strength. Davis flinched as a petite foot crashed into his dragon's chest, Stingmon tried to fly from behind but was grounded by a punch to the gut. It was clear who was in control here Lilymon had not even used her flower cannon attack, in fact she hadn't so much as gotten winded. Davis and Ken watched helplessly as the beating continued.
Davis nearly in tears over his frustration, "We have to stop this," Davis ran toward the wall of vines and started to claw his way through. He had heard Kari's shout and was ready to rip the tail off of the cat if that is what it took to save his partner. At the same time Gatomon was putting all of her strength into freeing herself. She managed to create a temporary hole in the cover and thrust her tail into the hole, the vines wrapped around and she retracted her tail leaving her ring behind Davis grabbed it and began to pull himself from the plants. The digimon felt two effects, one was that their power seemed to drop somewhat, the other was that they're former bond was stronger than before. Davis pulled himself from the vines his right hand clenched on the ring and his confidence returned.
" I can feel it Ken! We can do it this time." He readied his D-3 and watched as the champions once again attempted to join; this time they met with more success.
" DNA digivolve to. Paildramon!" Davis felt Ken's heartbeat and smiled, as their digimon stood strong once again.
" Next round! Let's do this right." The armored dragon brandished its claws and readied the guns at its side. "Time to weed the garden!" Charging forward the dragon extended a glowing saber and swiped at the pixie.
" You may be strong," she called as she dodged out of the way, " but you're still way too slow. Flower Cannon!" The ultimate unleashed her attack striking the other ultimate in the chest and sending him into a wall. Meanwhile the altered Mimi was still trying to crush the children of hope and light.
" Crap I can't move," Kari sighed as the vines tightened to prevent them from aiding their friends, she looked over to TK who seemed to be thinking of something.
" Kari!" he shouted suddenly, " we've been so stupid, she can't hold us in the ethereal realm,"
" Yes she can, her crest would allow her to follow us,"
" Maybe so but if she did she would let the digimon free, she has to let one of us go." Kari nodded at his logic and both faded from view as they slipped into the realm of souls. Mimi was unable to decide if she feared the children or their partners more in time and before she could react the two children had reappeared behind her. " This ends now Mimi," TK whispered in her ear. The Garden queen seemed to nod as she realized what was to happen. Lilymon saw her partner was in peril and tried to fly to save her, however before should close the small distance she was struck head on by Paildramon's 'desperado blaster' attack. Having been hit full on by the assault Lilymon was thrown to the ground where she was finished off by a 'Sting Strike'. As her partner deleted Mimi's life was ended by TK who snapped her neck. As she died Kari seemed to draw a light from her chest, when Mimi breathed her last the reformed crest of Sincerity was in Kari's hand. Closing her hand over the crest Kari and the others watched as the vines withered and disintegrated, the building started to crumble and they ran.
Fleeing through the collapsing halls they reached the outer doors much faster; they made it outside in time to see a pillar of light burst from the roof of Mimi's stronghold. The light released a wave of energy that flew over their heads and obliterated the canopy, returning sunlight to the woods. They watched as the light faded and Mimi's former stronghold collapsed into the earth like a wilting rose. The group didn't speak for more than twenty minutes, they stood in shock at the events that had transpired. Kari stared at the crest in her hand for a moment longer before turning to the group.
" We'll rest here for the night," her eyes grew hard and her hands became fists, " then we will pay my 'dear brother' a visit." _______________________________________________________________________
A/N: Yeah I know I made up the thing about the tail ring but I never understood why it had to be taken from Gatomon in the first place, but for this fic that is how it going to stay. As to the lack of compassion shown by the children, Kari and TK both had their fist digimon kill at the age of eight, that added with the years spent in stewing in their own hatred has made them a bit vicious. Ken and Davis were enforcers, they have had to kill rebelling digidestined before so they are as used to it as one can get. Other than that please read and review please.
Next Time: Finally Tai must face those he left to die, how will this meeting end, do Kari and the others have a chance of beating the holder of courage? New developments come as Tai releases an ancient power. What will become off our heroes?