Chapter 5: Confrontations
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Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon yada yadda. And btw don't even bother to sue me. That's just stupid, 'cause you won't get anything. So save us some grief and just read the chapter, k?
(A/N: blah) =I'm talkin' to ya
~blah blah~ =thought
*~blah blah~* =inner voice aside from personal thought (you'll get it)
JUST REVISING THE CHAPTER MINNAS!!
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The digidestined continued to the area where Davis was expected to be.
"Are you sure it's this way Izzy?" asked a skeptical Cody.
"Of course. According to my calculations, the route we're taking is determined by the ratio of distance between the points and Raidramon's speed average, over the squared ratio of the number of points left to activate, which is indecisive because we don't know, and the time it takes him and whoever to activate the point and move on."
Silence. The digidestined, minus Ken, stared blankly at Izzy.
"In simple English please?" asked a lost Tai.
Izzy sweatdropped. "Point blank, yes, I just followed the patterns and bright lights."
"Oh," they all said, except for Ken who understood it to begin with.
"Let's go find him then!" said an anxious Tai. They headed the direction Izzy had last pointed to, east.
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Meanwhile...
Izzy's calculations appeared to be off as Davis and Gray had gotten to the next point. Davis decided he wanted to do it this time. He told Gray this and he consented. Davis approached the point and looked to the device placed on his wrist and waited for a reaction. A purple crystal appeared in front of him. As Gray had done, Davis reached out to the crystal. The crystal then glowed and in a flash of violet the patterns appeared. Like the previous crystals, the patterns were the same except with a dark violet color. Davis stared in awe as the firewall was produced. The flash and patterns were not noticed by the other digidestined as they were turned east and the Sternheimat point crystal was west. However, as Gray and Davis headed out on Raidramon, their new direction appeared to be east.
"Ever get the feeling something bad is going to happen?" Gray asked.
"Yep. You get used to it after a while," Davis replied in slight humor. ~And that isn't good since I know what that 'bad' thing is...~ "Come on Raidramon, hurry up, we almost got caught last time."
"What?" Raidramon sounded confused. Gray looked at him strangely as well.
"You two didn't know? The others have been tailing us since you first digivolved to Raidramon. They almost got us last time." Davis waited for a response.
"WHAT?!" Gray exclaimed. "They've been following us?"
"Actually, it's more of them following me. I'm guessing they want an explanation."
"Lovely. Now what?" Gray asked.
"What do you mean? We just keep ahead. We're the fastest, right Raidramon?"
"Yeah!" Raidramon answered excitedly. They arrived at the second-to-last Sternenheimat point.
"Let's do it." Davis decided he wanted to do it again. He had his own device and Gray stood back with Raidramon.
"Remember what to do?" Gray inquired. Davis nodded. He held out the wrist device and pressed a button labeled CSA, short for Crystal Start Activator. (A/N: Don't even ask where that came from.) A beautiful jade crystal appeared. He reached out for the crystal, waiting for it to fully form in front of him. As he grabbed for it he heard someone yell out-
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"Hmmmm..." says a dark-shrouded figure. He (A/N: It/Whatever) was viewing Gray and Davis's progress as well as the other digidestined on various screens.
"Something wrong, Shihaisha-sama [roughly...ruler/master]?" asks a feminine voice.
"No. As a matter of fact, everything's fine. Just fine." An evil smirk appears on the shadowed figure's face. "Shatora..."
"Hai [Yes], sire?"
"I have a mission for you."
"Anything sire."
"I want you to join those two in their little assignment." A low chuckle is heard.
"Hai, Shihaisha-sama?"
"Intervene and save Courage, understand? Gray already knows of you. The wrist devices they possess have an emergency call button on them. They can press that for your help in a tough spot. Gray is likely to call for you. You are to be a...guardian of sorts. And take your partner with you."
"Of course, sire." The girl and her Digimon vanished from sight.
After she disappeared, dark laughter echoed throughout the shadows.
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"Come on guys, we're almost there!" Tai called out. The others urged their digimon on, asking them to hurry before Davis got away again.
Kari, however, seemed lost in thought as Angewomon sped forward. ~Davis...why didn't you respond?~
*~You know why...~* Another voice was inside her head, speaking to her somehow.
~Who are you? What do you know anyway?~
*~So defensive...I know a great deal more than you and I'm not in denial like you are either.~*
~What are you talking about?~
~*You know why Davis didn't reply to your e-mail. You're probably the last person he wants to talk to.~*
~Huh? Why do you say that?~
*~Oh come now. Does "You're not even worth the time of day!" sound familiar to you?~*
~Ohh...~
*~Yeah, can't wait to see his reaction when you guys confront him. If he stays long enough that is heh heh...~* The voice was fading away.
~Wait! Come back! I can explain!~
*~Why should I explain myself?~* The voice was now gone.
~Am I really that guilty?~ Something inside of Kari said she was...
"Yo! Earth to Kari; come in Kari." Tai was waving his hand in front of Kari's face.
"Oh! Sorry Tai. Just thinking." She said.
"Right. Well the area is just over there."
Kari looked between the trees and over the bushes. ~There he is...~ "Well then! There he is, let's go get some answers." Kari sounded confident on the outside, but inside she was shaking.
"So how do we get his attention?" Matt asked. They watched as Davis held out some watch and pressed a button. A forest green crystal appeared. They're eyes widened as they saw Davis reach out to activate the crystal.
On the spot, Tai got an idea. A wide smile formed on his face. Matt looked over to him and froze as he realized what Tai was going to do. "Simple," Tai began, "you do this..."
"Tai no!" Matt started. Too late.
He took in a breath, "Hey Davis!"
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"Hey Davis!" He froze; as did Gray and Raidramon. Raidramon stayed armored just in case. Good thing too.
Davis, being distracted, withdrew from the crystal and it in turn vanished, due to lack of a power draw. "Oh no..." Davis whispered. "Raidramon! Let's go! Come on Gray, we'll come back later." The others apparently caught on and chased Davis. They all blocked his way to Raidramon and Gray. ~Perfect.~ Sarcasm was laid thick in his mind.
"Davis why are you doing this?" Tai asked.
"That's none of your concern. I need to go now." Davis attempted to go around.
Cody blocked his way. "Come on Davis, what's the point of all this nonsense?"
Davis shook his head. "What's the point? You wouldn't understand."
He moved again.
Yolei and Sora stood in the way. "Why don't you try to explain?" Sora asked.
"You don't unders-" he was cut off.
"Try us." Yolei said.
"Even if you understood, you wouldn't agree." He walked off.
Izzy and TK stood in his path. "That makes no sense you know." They said together.
"My point exactly. You don't get it and you wouldn't no matter how smart you are."
Davis tries again only to have Tai and Matt block his path. "You're a coward you know that?" Tai said.
Davis winces and then glares in disbelieve. "A coward? Just for not giving in? Oh yeah, I'm a coward to you maybe...and that's because you don't like what you don't understand. I may not be the smartest, but I do have the most insight."
Matt proceeded. "Oh please Davis. Look, whatever happened, we're sorry alright? So let's just forget it."
Ken appeared in the path and added, "Yeah, let's go deactivate these things and go home."
Davis looked over to Gray. He shook his head. ~Now what? Is this it? My final decision? He shook his head again to clear his thoughts. He didn't notice Gray press a button on his wrist device.
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Raidramon's POV
Raidramon looked on in worry as his partner appeared trapped. ~I can't hurt them unless Dai says to do something. But I don't want to just sit and watch. The others can get it, no problem...but Angewomon...I don't think I could bring myself to harm her. But I will if she tries to hurt Dai. Hey, what's that Gray-kid doing with his watch-thing? Oh well. Let's see. Everyone has approached-and failed-sooo...oh-except Kari. Great. Can Dai really do this? I know how much he loves her. Heh; and everyone else says it's just a crush-bordering obsession. If they only knew. So what is he going to do now?~
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Gray's POV
Gray was having similar thoughts. ~Perfect. By the look on Davis's face, this is going to be trouble. Must be the girl he called out to in his sleep. He probably loves her. But she and the blond with that ridiculous hat (A/N: Had to get that in, gomen!) appear to be very close. That has to be why Davis keeps glancing between the two. He looks sad. I could guess the connection here or I could just ask, but I don't want to nose around in his business, especially if it's painful.~ With that thought cut off, he continued his previous train of thoughts. ~I can't let her stop us. But it's really his choice in the end. Can't force him.~ Gray pressed the EMC (A/N: E M ergency C all) button on his wrist device. ~Just in case he needs help and this gets physical. Is this it?~ He saw Davis shake his head. ~Hmmmmm...~
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Kari approached Davis. The others looked on believing surely Kari can do this. Since he cares for her so much to like almost obsession, this should be easy.
Right?
Kari spoke, "Davis...what is this?"
Davis winced as he heard the voice of the last person he needed to see; his heart wavered. He took a deep breath and glanced from Kari to TK and back to Kari again. ~She's with him. Whatever she says doesn't matter now. I can do this...I hope. Hope. Yeah right.~ "What is what?" He opted for confusion.
She didn't buy it. "Why are you activating these things? We know what they do now. Why are you closing us out and trapping this place in?" Her eyes reflected hurt and loss.
Davis closed his eyes and looked away. "Because," he started to explain and stopped himself. ~I don't owe an explanation to anyone. Especially not them.~ "...weren't you listening? You wouldn't understand; and if you did, surely you, if not everyone else would be against it."
Everyone blinked as they had thought this would be relatively easy for Kari to do. Apparently not. "Davis, come on. Look, I'm sorry for what I said! I didn't mean it and you know that! Right?" She looked at him with teary eyes.
Davis winced as if hit physically as he saw what could, no...would become tears.
"Right?" She repeated. He opened his mouth and shut it as a painfully familiar sentence floated through his head. ~"You're not even worth the time of day!" "Not even worth the time of day!" "Not worth the time of day!" "Time of day!"~ It seems as if there was an eerie echo in his head.
*~Well, what's it going to be? What? You gonna go crawling back to the one who caused you the most pain? The one who left you alone? The one who let you down and not gently either? The one who basically told you you're the most selfish, bratty, annoying, stupid, worthless--~*
~Enough! I've heard enough. What do you want from me?!~ He had a feeling the word 'worthless' would now be floating in his head for a while.
*~Just to help you.~*
~Help me what?~
*~You want out of this situation right? You don't want to go back right now correct?~*
Davis appeared to be lost in thought on the outside, but on the inside he gave a hesitative ~Yes, I need help. What's the catch?~
*~No catch. I'm supposed to be helping you anyways. I'm on my way. Just seal the deal on the outside by letting them know you're not returning any time soon.~*
~You sure?~
*~It works, right? You're not running away without answers for them. They get an answer, but it's not permanent or anything. I mean you would be saying not any time soon, right? That's not saying, "I'm never coming back." now is it? So just do it. And the fact that you're saying it to her only makes it known that you are strong, you're over it, and you cannot be swayed.~*
~Yeah! You're right. I can do this. So what are you, like my guardian angel?~
*~Angel? Uh...sure. Yeah, your guardian angel. I'm on my way okay?~*
~Sure, but...~
*~What?~* The voice sounded annoyed.
~What's your name?~ Davis shivered as he could almost feel the other person smirking. It felt cold to him all of a sudden.
~*Name's Shatora.~* (A/N: Tell me you knew that. Really.)
Davis looked dead in Kari's eye and slowly, with all his will, said, "I will not go. You may be sorry, but that changes nothing. That doesn't even have anything to do with my decision." He lied on that part. "I do not and will not plan to go with you guys to the other world. Nor will I take down the firewalls. You want them down? Try and take them down because I won't. I'm not being stupid, stubborn, a jerk, insensitive, a little kid or whatever else you would like to think. I'm not going with any of you, and I'm not stopping any time soon; so get over it."
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Somewhere, a feminine voice is laughing followed by the howl of a Wolcramon. (A/N: Made it up people. Mine.)
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A sad, yet bitter smile appears as he feels an urge arise and he walks to Kari. "Besides, for you to have said 'You're not even worth the time of day', you sure are spending a lot of time trying to get me to come back. But to what? Or should I say to whom? There's nothing here, no one's there. Why should I come back then? Hmmmmm."
Tears indeed did come down at this statement. Not so much as him saying it with bitter sorrow lacing through it as the fact that it was true. ~He's right. What are we going to do? I failed. I couldn't get him to come back.~
Anger arose as Tai and TK wanted to know what Davis had said to make Kari cry and said as much. Davis turned and repeated his statement for all to hear. Eyes widened in pure shock and Tai and TK's eyes narrowed in anger. In a fit TK told Angemon to charge Davis.
(A/N: So he's a little OOC acting like that.)
However, as vowed, Raidramon intervened. The thunder-wolf growled at Angemon in defense of his partner. Sparks licked the ground as he stood; ready to attack. They drove into battle. Lightning and light energy flew around each other as the two digimon fought. TK urged his partner on as Davis stared in shock. ~He was going to attack me. And with his digimon no less!~
The two-rivaled digimon measured the other as they circled around. Angemon was glaring angrily obviously as upset as partner, but this was because they upset Angewomon as well as Kari greatly. Raidramon growled menacingly in response. Of course he's not happy, they tried to attack his defenseless partner. The two digimon charged.
"HAND OF FATE!" Angemon cried as his fist drove forward.
Raidramon's speed allowed him to dodge and fire. "THUNDER BLAST!"
"GO FOR IT RAIDRAMON!" Davis yelled in support of his partner.
At this point, Tai, who happened to still be very angry, told WarGreymon to join in. As the fight kicked up a notch, Raidramon let out a howl. What he and Davis did not quite expect was for there to be an answering howl.
The three fighting digimon paused in surprise as a wolf-like digimon appeared. A cloaked figure jumped off the digimon's back and stopped a couple feet away from Davis. He stared. The others stared. Gray smiled. The cloaked figure's digimon howled again and attention was drawn to it.
The digimon was basically a very large wolf with armored plates on its paws. There was an armored plate on its face and only the eyes were visible. Rows of dangerously sharp teeth became visible as the digimon growled and bared those and a pair of wicked fangs as well. Its fur was silver and blue with the armor being black. Another howl came out and it moved forward. Unsure of the intentions all the digimon prepared to fight. The figure stepped towards Davis and he warily backed away. "It's me. Shatora."
"Shatora?" Then it clicked. ~The voice in my head it was her!~ "Shatora! You made it!"
The figure nodded, pleased. "Care for some help?"
Davis looked at the still-unidentified digimon. "Is that your digimon?"
"Yep." She held up an advanced-looking Digital Analyzer. She read, "Wolcramon. An armor Digimon. This ferocious wolf-like Digimon is known for its speed and strength. If you're not careful, you'll get a taste of its 'Wolf Cry Shatter' or 'Fang Fury' attacks. Both are devastating and can get in a hit on any opponent. There is also another unknown attack of this Digimon but it remains unknown as none of its kind have used it and survived."
"Cool. Let's do this and get out of here!"
"You got it. Wolcramon!" The digimon awaited a request. "Go for it! Get Angemon and WarGreymon! The other is Raidramon an' he's not our enemy!"
"Same goes for you Raidramon!"
The digimon nodded to their partners and turned towards the opposing digimon growling. The other digidestined stared in disbelief as this exchange went on. "I'd hate to do this, but...Come on everyone! We have to team up and put out these two. One's an enemy and the other might as well be one since he's teamed up with this strange, enemy guy."
(A/N: To the others Shatora is still an unknown figure and don't know "he's" a she.)
Tai looked to the others. Slowly they moved forward to aid WarGreymon and Angemon.
"Perfect," Davis mumbled, "How do we get out of this one?"
"Simple," Shatora replied, "We team up and take them out. I could do it by myself though."
Davis stared at her incredulously. "Sou desu ka [Oh really]?"
"Yep. Just watch and I'll let you know when to call your digimon so we can get out of here before they recover."
"Alright. Do it." Davis turned to Raidramon. "Hey! Raidramon!" The digimon looked towards hid partner. "Stand down! These two say they can handle the others by themselves." Raidramon had an are-these-people-crazy-or-something-expression on his face, but he backed off. The Wolcramon only gave what looked like a smirk. Tai had a confused look, but leadership took over as he told WarGreymon to attack. TK followed suit, telling Angemon to charge the Digimon as well.
"HAND OF FATE!"
"NOVA BLAST!" Both attacks flew towards the still unmoving Wolcramon. The wolf-Digimon smirked and in a flash, was gone. The fire and light attacks hit empty air.
"What?! Where'd that thing go?!" Tai was alarmed by the unknown Digimon's speed.
Wolcramon spoke, "I believe it's my turn. WOLF CRY SHATTER!" The ground shook violently as Wolcramon loosed a loud howl. The howl was so strong that the vibrations coming from it were destroying all in its path. Angemon and WarGreymon were unable to get out of range and took a direct hit. Lucky for them, the attack was not aimed to kill. They were knocked back a good distance into the ground and forced to de-digivolved to their in-training forms. Shocked at the Digimon's strength, Tai and TK rushed to their partners' sides.
"You two okay?" The two in-training digimon nodded and looked warily at Wolcramon. Matt and the others, however, were not happy about this chain of events and decided to take action. Matt looked back, "Okay. I think it's time to do something. Let's get that Wolcramon out of commission first." The other Digidestined nodded their agreement and told their Digimon to attack Wolcramon.
"Well, well. Don't tell me you're mad at me. Let's see. I now get to face a Digmon, a Halsemon, a WereGarurumon, a Birdramon, a MegaKabutarimon, and maybe an Angewomon. Will the little Angewomon attack or is her partner too weak to get her to attack? Hmmmm."
The taunting got to Angewomon and she pushed forward, leaving a still upset Kari behind. This did not escape Shatora's attention. ~Hmmm...this has gotten to her, more so than I thought. There could be more here.~
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Across the field, the fight raged on.
Birdramon and Halsemon flew around Wolcramon as a decoy/distraction. Wolcramon didn't buy it and started to move away. At the same time, the other Digimon attacked. "WOLF CLAW!"
"ROCK CRACKIN'!"
"GOLDEN ARROW!"
"ELECTRO SHOCKER!" The four attacks combined and formed a powerful force, heading straight for a currently evasive Wolcramon. Wolcramon spun around and fired. "FANG FURY!" In an instant, Wolcramon disappeared and again the attack missed. Unfortunately, Wolcramon had moved so fast that Birdramon and Halsemon were still in range.
*BOOM*
The spiral of four attacks hit the two digimon. On top of that, Wolcramon's attack wasn't finished. A flurry of fangs and claws came from what seemed like all directions. They de-digivolved to their baby forms.
"Oh no!" Sora and Yolei ran to their fallen partners. Both were out cold.
"Ouch. That had to hurt. You digidestined should be more careful with your aim," Wolcramon was enjoying this.
"Man who are you?!" An angry Matt demanded of Shatora.
"I'd pay more attention to this fight if I were you," Wolcramon cut in.
"Finish this Wolcramon. No more games."
"GAMES!" The other digidestined looked bewildered.
Wolcramon gave a smirk. "WOLF CRY SHATTER!" Again the ground shook and vibrations from the primal howl laid a destructively wide path and -again- hit target.
"No!" The other digidestined looked at the dominant Digimon.
Wolcramon stood towering over the now unconscious in training and baby digimon. "See? Told you Wolcramon could handle it." Shatora was speaking to Davis. "Wolcramon! Come on, we'll come back later. Where's the next point?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let me get this straight. You're a girl?!"
Shatora turned to a disbelieving Matt. "Oh yes. Should I have mentioned this?"
Davis simply looked at Shatora. "Can I ask what you look like under there? Can't exactly see. It's no wonder they didn't know you're a girl until you spoke."
Shatora shrugged, not caring. She removed the cloak. Under the cloak, stood a fairly gorgeous girl. Shatora stood to be like an inch or so shorter than TK. Long blue hair gleamed a deep violet in the sunlight. She was wearing black fingerless gloves, black Amazon boots, black jeans shorts-frayed at the ends, a deep blue short-sleeved shirt, and a black vest. Slightly sun-kissed skin and dark violet eyes also stood out. Silence reigned as it all sank in. "What do you say, Davis? Shall we go now?"
Davis snapped out of his trance and agreed, "Yeah, let's go."
"WAIT!" Davis whipped around as Kari had appeared and grabbed his wrist. "Don't go Davis. Please can't we work this out somehow?" Hope shone in her eyes. ~Please, please don't go Davis...~
~I'd hate to do this,~ Davis thought as he shook his head. He wretched his wrist from Kari's grip. "Oh no, I told you I'm gone for now. I'm not stopping this. So you'll just have to get on without me." A bitter smile surfaced. "Then again, that shouldn't be too hard. Since I'm sooo unimportant. I mean you did say that you didn't care anymore right?"
Tears ran down Kari's face once more. "Davis! I didn't say that! I didn't mean it, you must know that!"
"Sou desu ka [Oh really/Is that so]?" Davis narrowed his eyes and walked briskly away to Shatora. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm ready. Let's go. Raidramon you're closer, so you grab Gray. You can't get me from here. In case we're 'blocked' again, I'll just ride with Shatora."
Raidramon nodded, keeping an eye on Wolcramon. "You're a girl too, aren't you?"
The wolf regarded Raidramon. "Yep. Sure am."
Raidramon tilted his head and picked up Gray. "Now what Dai'?"
Davis smiled at the nickname. "Go ahead to the next point." His partner looked worried. "Don't be so concerned, I'll be fine. Go on now."
Raidramon complied and raced off to the direction Gray pointed out. Davis, Shatora, Cody, and Matt caught this motion. Wolcramon padded over and lowered herself so that her partner and Davis could climb on. Shatora made it up and held out her hand to Davis. Kari held out her hand as well. Just once more she tried to get Davis to change his mind. Davis looked between Shatora and Kari's outstretched hands. ~Saa [Well]? What do I do?~ He looked to Kari, gave a final smile...
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A sinister laugh echoed through the chamber as the shrouded-figure looked on in dark amusement.
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Kari's hand remained where it was. She stared at Davis...or rather the empty space that was Davis. He wasn't there anymore. Gone.
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...and took Shatora's hand. ~It's not forever.~ Davis repeated this in his head as he looked down for Wolcramon's back. "Goodbye." That was the last thing heard as Wolcramon sped away in the same direction as Gray and Raidramon. South.
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Bwahahahaha! K. Gomen, if it was remotely long. Saa, finished, nnn...finally. Yep, that's my chapter. Make sure to read the next, n' review this one k? Daikari flames and such stupid things will be laughed at and become a source of entertainment for my muses' destructive tendencies.
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Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon yada yadda. And btw don't even bother to sue me. That's just stupid, 'cause you won't get anything. So save us some grief and just read the chapter, k?
(A/N: blah) =I'm talkin' to ya
~blah blah~ =thought
*~blah blah~* =inner voice aside from personal thought (you'll get it)
JUST REVISING THE CHAPTER MINNAS!!
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The digidestined continued to the area where Davis was expected to be.
"Are you sure it's this way Izzy?" asked a skeptical Cody.
"Of course. According to my calculations, the route we're taking is determined by the ratio of distance between the points and Raidramon's speed average, over the squared ratio of the number of points left to activate, which is indecisive because we don't know, and the time it takes him and whoever to activate the point and move on."
Silence. The digidestined, minus Ken, stared blankly at Izzy.
"In simple English please?" asked a lost Tai.
Izzy sweatdropped. "Point blank, yes, I just followed the patterns and bright lights."
"Oh," they all said, except for Ken who understood it to begin with.
"Let's go find him then!" said an anxious Tai. They headed the direction Izzy had last pointed to, east.
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Meanwhile...
Izzy's calculations appeared to be off as Davis and Gray had gotten to the next point. Davis decided he wanted to do it this time. He told Gray this and he consented. Davis approached the point and looked to the device placed on his wrist and waited for a reaction. A purple crystal appeared in front of him. As Gray had done, Davis reached out to the crystal. The crystal then glowed and in a flash of violet the patterns appeared. Like the previous crystals, the patterns were the same except with a dark violet color. Davis stared in awe as the firewall was produced. The flash and patterns were not noticed by the other digidestined as they were turned east and the Sternheimat point crystal was west. However, as Gray and Davis headed out on Raidramon, their new direction appeared to be east.
"Ever get the feeling something bad is going to happen?" Gray asked.
"Yep. You get used to it after a while," Davis replied in slight humor. ~And that isn't good since I know what that 'bad' thing is...~ "Come on Raidramon, hurry up, we almost got caught last time."
"What?" Raidramon sounded confused. Gray looked at him strangely as well.
"You two didn't know? The others have been tailing us since you first digivolved to Raidramon. They almost got us last time." Davis waited for a response.
"WHAT?!" Gray exclaimed. "They've been following us?"
"Actually, it's more of them following me. I'm guessing they want an explanation."
"Lovely. Now what?" Gray asked.
"What do you mean? We just keep ahead. We're the fastest, right Raidramon?"
"Yeah!" Raidramon answered excitedly. They arrived at the second-to-last Sternenheimat point.
"Let's do it." Davis decided he wanted to do it again. He had his own device and Gray stood back with Raidramon.
"Remember what to do?" Gray inquired. Davis nodded. He held out the wrist device and pressed a button labeled CSA, short for Crystal Start Activator. (A/N: Don't even ask where that came from.) A beautiful jade crystal appeared. He reached out for the crystal, waiting for it to fully form in front of him. As he grabbed for it he heard someone yell out-
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"Hmmmm..." says a dark-shrouded figure. He (A/N: It/Whatever) was viewing Gray and Davis's progress as well as the other digidestined on various screens.
"Something wrong, Shihaisha-sama [roughly...ruler/master]?" asks a feminine voice.
"No. As a matter of fact, everything's fine. Just fine." An evil smirk appears on the shadowed figure's face. "Shatora..."
"Hai [Yes], sire?"
"I have a mission for you."
"Anything sire."
"I want you to join those two in their little assignment." A low chuckle is heard.
"Hai, Shihaisha-sama?"
"Intervene and save Courage, understand? Gray already knows of you. The wrist devices they possess have an emergency call button on them. They can press that for your help in a tough spot. Gray is likely to call for you. You are to be a...guardian of sorts. And take your partner with you."
"Of course, sire." The girl and her Digimon vanished from sight.
After she disappeared, dark laughter echoed throughout the shadows.
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"Come on guys, we're almost there!" Tai called out. The others urged their digimon on, asking them to hurry before Davis got away again.
Kari, however, seemed lost in thought as Angewomon sped forward. ~Davis...why didn't you respond?~
*~You know why...~* Another voice was inside her head, speaking to her somehow.
~Who are you? What do you know anyway?~
*~So defensive...I know a great deal more than you and I'm not in denial like you are either.~*
~What are you talking about?~
~*You know why Davis didn't reply to your e-mail. You're probably the last person he wants to talk to.~*
~Huh? Why do you say that?~
*~Oh come now. Does "You're not even worth the time of day!" sound familiar to you?~*
~Ohh...~
*~Yeah, can't wait to see his reaction when you guys confront him. If he stays long enough that is heh heh...~* The voice was fading away.
~Wait! Come back! I can explain!~
*~Why should I explain myself?~* The voice was now gone.
~Am I really that guilty?~ Something inside of Kari said she was...
"Yo! Earth to Kari; come in Kari." Tai was waving his hand in front of Kari's face.
"Oh! Sorry Tai. Just thinking." She said.
"Right. Well the area is just over there."
Kari looked between the trees and over the bushes. ~There he is...~ "Well then! There he is, let's go get some answers." Kari sounded confident on the outside, but inside she was shaking.
"So how do we get his attention?" Matt asked. They watched as Davis held out some watch and pressed a button. A forest green crystal appeared. They're eyes widened as they saw Davis reach out to activate the crystal.
On the spot, Tai got an idea. A wide smile formed on his face. Matt looked over to him and froze as he realized what Tai was going to do. "Simple," Tai began, "you do this..."
"Tai no!" Matt started. Too late.
He took in a breath, "Hey Davis!"
-----
"Hey Davis!" He froze; as did Gray and Raidramon. Raidramon stayed armored just in case. Good thing too.
Davis, being distracted, withdrew from the crystal and it in turn vanished, due to lack of a power draw. "Oh no..." Davis whispered. "Raidramon! Let's go! Come on Gray, we'll come back later." The others apparently caught on and chased Davis. They all blocked his way to Raidramon and Gray. ~Perfect.~ Sarcasm was laid thick in his mind.
"Davis why are you doing this?" Tai asked.
"That's none of your concern. I need to go now." Davis attempted to go around.
Cody blocked his way. "Come on Davis, what's the point of all this nonsense?"
Davis shook his head. "What's the point? You wouldn't understand."
He moved again.
Yolei and Sora stood in the way. "Why don't you try to explain?" Sora asked.
"You don't unders-" he was cut off.
"Try us." Yolei said.
"Even if you understood, you wouldn't agree." He walked off.
Izzy and TK stood in his path. "That makes no sense you know." They said together.
"My point exactly. You don't get it and you wouldn't no matter how smart you are."
Davis tries again only to have Tai and Matt block his path. "You're a coward you know that?" Tai said.
Davis winces and then glares in disbelieve. "A coward? Just for not giving in? Oh yeah, I'm a coward to you maybe...and that's because you don't like what you don't understand. I may not be the smartest, but I do have the most insight."
Matt proceeded. "Oh please Davis. Look, whatever happened, we're sorry alright? So let's just forget it."
Ken appeared in the path and added, "Yeah, let's go deactivate these things and go home."
Davis looked over to Gray. He shook his head. ~Now what? Is this it? My final decision? He shook his head again to clear his thoughts. He didn't notice Gray press a button on his wrist device.
-----
Raidramon's POV
Raidramon looked on in worry as his partner appeared trapped. ~I can't hurt them unless Dai says to do something. But I don't want to just sit and watch. The others can get it, no problem...but Angewomon...I don't think I could bring myself to harm her. But I will if she tries to hurt Dai. Hey, what's that Gray-kid doing with his watch-thing? Oh well. Let's see. Everyone has approached-and failed-sooo...oh-except Kari. Great. Can Dai really do this? I know how much he loves her. Heh; and everyone else says it's just a crush-bordering obsession. If they only knew. So what is he going to do now?~
------
Gray's POV
Gray was having similar thoughts. ~Perfect. By the look on Davis's face, this is going to be trouble. Must be the girl he called out to in his sleep. He probably loves her. But she and the blond with that ridiculous hat (A/N: Had to get that in, gomen!) appear to be very close. That has to be why Davis keeps glancing between the two. He looks sad. I could guess the connection here or I could just ask, but I don't want to nose around in his business, especially if it's painful.~ With that thought cut off, he continued his previous train of thoughts. ~I can't let her stop us. But it's really his choice in the end. Can't force him.~ Gray pressed the EMC (A/N: E M ergency C all) button on his wrist device. ~Just in case he needs help and this gets physical. Is this it?~ He saw Davis shake his head. ~Hmmmmm...~
----------
Kari approached Davis. The others looked on believing surely Kari can do this. Since he cares for her so much to like almost obsession, this should be easy.
Right?
Kari spoke, "Davis...what is this?"
Davis winced as he heard the voice of the last person he needed to see; his heart wavered. He took a deep breath and glanced from Kari to TK and back to Kari again. ~She's with him. Whatever she says doesn't matter now. I can do this...I hope. Hope. Yeah right.~ "What is what?" He opted for confusion.
She didn't buy it. "Why are you activating these things? We know what they do now. Why are you closing us out and trapping this place in?" Her eyes reflected hurt and loss.
Davis closed his eyes and looked away. "Because," he started to explain and stopped himself. ~I don't owe an explanation to anyone. Especially not them.~ "...weren't you listening? You wouldn't understand; and if you did, surely you, if not everyone else would be against it."
Everyone blinked as they had thought this would be relatively easy for Kari to do. Apparently not. "Davis, come on. Look, I'm sorry for what I said! I didn't mean it and you know that! Right?" She looked at him with teary eyes.
Davis winced as if hit physically as he saw what could, no...would become tears.
"Right?" She repeated. He opened his mouth and shut it as a painfully familiar sentence floated through his head. ~"You're not even worth the time of day!" "Not even worth the time of day!" "Not worth the time of day!" "Time of day!"~ It seems as if there was an eerie echo in his head.
*~Well, what's it going to be? What? You gonna go crawling back to the one who caused you the most pain? The one who left you alone? The one who let you down and not gently either? The one who basically told you you're the most selfish, bratty, annoying, stupid, worthless--~*
~Enough! I've heard enough. What do you want from me?!~ He had a feeling the word 'worthless' would now be floating in his head for a while.
*~Just to help you.~*
~Help me what?~
*~You want out of this situation right? You don't want to go back right now correct?~*
Davis appeared to be lost in thought on the outside, but on the inside he gave a hesitative ~Yes, I need help. What's the catch?~
*~No catch. I'm supposed to be helping you anyways. I'm on my way. Just seal the deal on the outside by letting them know you're not returning any time soon.~*
~You sure?~
*~It works, right? You're not running away without answers for them. They get an answer, but it's not permanent or anything. I mean you would be saying not any time soon, right? That's not saying, "I'm never coming back." now is it? So just do it. And the fact that you're saying it to her only makes it known that you are strong, you're over it, and you cannot be swayed.~*
~Yeah! You're right. I can do this. So what are you, like my guardian angel?~
*~Angel? Uh...sure. Yeah, your guardian angel. I'm on my way okay?~*
~Sure, but...~
*~What?~* The voice sounded annoyed.
~What's your name?~ Davis shivered as he could almost feel the other person smirking. It felt cold to him all of a sudden.
~*Name's Shatora.~* (A/N: Tell me you knew that. Really.)
Davis looked dead in Kari's eye and slowly, with all his will, said, "I will not go. You may be sorry, but that changes nothing. That doesn't even have anything to do with my decision." He lied on that part. "I do not and will not plan to go with you guys to the other world. Nor will I take down the firewalls. You want them down? Try and take them down because I won't. I'm not being stupid, stubborn, a jerk, insensitive, a little kid or whatever else you would like to think. I'm not going with any of you, and I'm not stopping any time soon; so get over it."
----------
Somewhere, a feminine voice is laughing followed by the howl of a Wolcramon. (A/N: Made it up people. Mine.)
----------
A sad, yet bitter smile appears as he feels an urge arise and he walks to Kari. "Besides, for you to have said 'You're not even worth the time of day', you sure are spending a lot of time trying to get me to come back. But to what? Or should I say to whom? There's nothing here, no one's there. Why should I come back then? Hmmmmm."
Tears indeed did come down at this statement. Not so much as him saying it with bitter sorrow lacing through it as the fact that it was true. ~He's right. What are we going to do? I failed. I couldn't get him to come back.~
Anger arose as Tai and TK wanted to know what Davis had said to make Kari cry and said as much. Davis turned and repeated his statement for all to hear. Eyes widened in pure shock and Tai and TK's eyes narrowed in anger. In a fit TK told Angemon to charge Davis.
(A/N: So he's a little OOC acting like that.)
However, as vowed, Raidramon intervened. The thunder-wolf growled at Angemon in defense of his partner. Sparks licked the ground as he stood; ready to attack. They drove into battle. Lightning and light energy flew around each other as the two digimon fought. TK urged his partner on as Davis stared in shock. ~He was going to attack me. And with his digimon no less!~
The two-rivaled digimon measured the other as they circled around. Angemon was glaring angrily obviously as upset as partner, but this was because they upset Angewomon as well as Kari greatly. Raidramon growled menacingly in response. Of course he's not happy, they tried to attack his defenseless partner. The two digimon charged.
"HAND OF FATE!" Angemon cried as his fist drove forward.
Raidramon's speed allowed him to dodge and fire. "THUNDER BLAST!"
"GO FOR IT RAIDRAMON!" Davis yelled in support of his partner.
At this point, Tai, who happened to still be very angry, told WarGreymon to join in. As the fight kicked up a notch, Raidramon let out a howl. What he and Davis did not quite expect was for there to be an answering howl.
The three fighting digimon paused in surprise as a wolf-like digimon appeared. A cloaked figure jumped off the digimon's back and stopped a couple feet away from Davis. He stared. The others stared. Gray smiled. The cloaked figure's digimon howled again and attention was drawn to it.
The digimon was basically a very large wolf with armored plates on its paws. There was an armored plate on its face and only the eyes were visible. Rows of dangerously sharp teeth became visible as the digimon growled and bared those and a pair of wicked fangs as well. Its fur was silver and blue with the armor being black. Another howl came out and it moved forward. Unsure of the intentions all the digimon prepared to fight. The figure stepped towards Davis and he warily backed away. "It's me. Shatora."
"Shatora?" Then it clicked. ~The voice in my head it was her!~ "Shatora! You made it!"
The figure nodded, pleased. "Care for some help?"
Davis looked at the still-unidentified digimon. "Is that your digimon?"
"Yep." She held up an advanced-looking Digital Analyzer. She read, "Wolcramon. An armor Digimon. This ferocious wolf-like Digimon is known for its speed and strength. If you're not careful, you'll get a taste of its 'Wolf Cry Shatter' or 'Fang Fury' attacks. Both are devastating and can get in a hit on any opponent. There is also another unknown attack of this Digimon but it remains unknown as none of its kind have used it and survived."
"Cool. Let's do this and get out of here!"
"You got it. Wolcramon!" The digimon awaited a request. "Go for it! Get Angemon and WarGreymon! The other is Raidramon an' he's not our enemy!"
"Same goes for you Raidramon!"
The digimon nodded to their partners and turned towards the opposing digimon growling. The other digidestined stared in disbelief as this exchange went on. "I'd hate to do this, but...Come on everyone! We have to team up and put out these two. One's an enemy and the other might as well be one since he's teamed up with this strange, enemy guy."
(A/N: To the others Shatora is still an unknown figure and don't know "he's" a she.)
Tai looked to the others. Slowly they moved forward to aid WarGreymon and Angemon.
"Perfect," Davis mumbled, "How do we get out of this one?"
"Simple," Shatora replied, "We team up and take them out. I could do it by myself though."
Davis stared at her incredulously. "Sou desu ka [Oh really]?"
"Yep. Just watch and I'll let you know when to call your digimon so we can get out of here before they recover."
"Alright. Do it." Davis turned to Raidramon. "Hey! Raidramon!" The digimon looked towards hid partner. "Stand down! These two say they can handle the others by themselves." Raidramon had an are-these-people-crazy-or-something-expression on his face, but he backed off. The Wolcramon only gave what looked like a smirk. Tai had a confused look, but leadership took over as he told WarGreymon to attack. TK followed suit, telling Angemon to charge the Digimon as well.
"HAND OF FATE!"
"NOVA BLAST!" Both attacks flew towards the still unmoving Wolcramon. The wolf-Digimon smirked and in a flash, was gone. The fire and light attacks hit empty air.
"What?! Where'd that thing go?!" Tai was alarmed by the unknown Digimon's speed.
Wolcramon spoke, "I believe it's my turn. WOLF CRY SHATTER!" The ground shook violently as Wolcramon loosed a loud howl. The howl was so strong that the vibrations coming from it were destroying all in its path. Angemon and WarGreymon were unable to get out of range and took a direct hit. Lucky for them, the attack was not aimed to kill. They were knocked back a good distance into the ground and forced to de-digivolved to their in-training forms. Shocked at the Digimon's strength, Tai and TK rushed to their partners' sides.
"You two okay?" The two in-training digimon nodded and looked warily at Wolcramon. Matt and the others, however, were not happy about this chain of events and decided to take action. Matt looked back, "Okay. I think it's time to do something. Let's get that Wolcramon out of commission first." The other Digidestined nodded their agreement and told their Digimon to attack Wolcramon.
"Well, well. Don't tell me you're mad at me. Let's see. I now get to face a Digmon, a Halsemon, a WereGarurumon, a Birdramon, a MegaKabutarimon, and maybe an Angewomon. Will the little Angewomon attack or is her partner too weak to get her to attack? Hmmmm."
The taunting got to Angewomon and she pushed forward, leaving a still upset Kari behind. This did not escape Shatora's attention. ~Hmmm...this has gotten to her, more so than I thought. There could be more here.~
----------
Across the field, the fight raged on.
Birdramon and Halsemon flew around Wolcramon as a decoy/distraction. Wolcramon didn't buy it and started to move away. At the same time, the other Digimon attacked. "WOLF CLAW!"
"ROCK CRACKIN'!"
"GOLDEN ARROW!"
"ELECTRO SHOCKER!" The four attacks combined and formed a powerful force, heading straight for a currently evasive Wolcramon. Wolcramon spun around and fired. "FANG FURY!" In an instant, Wolcramon disappeared and again the attack missed. Unfortunately, Wolcramon had moved so fast that Birdramon and Halsemon were still in range.
*BOOM*
The spiral of four attacks hit the two digimon. On top of that, Wolcramon's attack wasn't finished. A flurry of fangs and claws came from what seemed like all directions. They de-digivolved to their baby forms.
"Oh no!" Sora and Yolei ran to their fallen partners. Both were out cold.
"Ouch. That had to hurt. You digidestined should be more careful with your aim," Wolcramon was enjoying this.
"Man who are you?!" An angry Matt demanded of Shatora.
"I'd pay more attention to this fight if I were you," Wolcramon cut in.
"Finish this Wolcramon. No more games."
"GAMES!" The other digidestined looked bewildered.
Wolcramon gave a smirk. "WOLF CRY SHATTER!" Again the ground shook and vibrations from the primal howl laid a destructively wide path and -again- hit target.
"No!" The other digidestined looked at the dominant Digimon.
Wolcramon stood towering over the now unconscious in training and baby digimon. "See? Told you Wolcramon could handle it." Shatora was speaking to Davis. "Wolcramon! Come on, we'll come back later. Where's the next point?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let me get this straight. You're a girl?!"
Shatora turned to a disbelieving Matt. "Oh yes. Should I have mentioned this?"
Davis simply looked at Shatora. "Can I ask what you look like under there? Can't exactly see. It's no wonder they didn't know you're a girl until you spoke."
Shatora shrugged, not caring. She removed the cloak. Under the cloak, stood a fairly gorgeous girl. Shatora stood to be like an inch or so shorter than TK. Long blue hair gleamed a deep violet in the sunlight. She was wearing black fingerless gloves, black Amazon boots, black jeans shorts-frayed at the ends, a deep blue short-sleeved shirt, and a black vest. Slightly sun-kissed skin and dark violet eyes also stood out. Silence reigned as it all sank in. "What do you say, Davis? Shall we go now?"
Davis snapped out of his trance and agreed, "Yeah, let's go."
"WAIT!" Davis whipped around as Kari had appeared and grabbed his wrist. "Don't go Davis. Please can't we work this out somehow?" Hope shone in her eyes. ~Please, please don't go Davis...~
~I'd hate to do this,~ Davis thought as he shook his head. He wretched his wrist from Kari's grip. "Oh no, I told you I'm gone for now. I'm not stopping this. So you'll just have to get on without me." A bitter smile surfaced. "Then again, that shouldn't be too hard. Since I'm sooo unimportant. I mean you did say that you didn't care anymore right?"
Tears ran down Kari's face once more. "Davis! I didn't say that! I didn't mean it, you must know that!"
"Sou desu ka [Oh really/Is that so]?" Davis narrowed his eyes and walked briskly away to Shatora. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm ready. Let's go. Raidramon you're closer, so you grab Gray. You can't get me from here. In case we're 'blocked' again, I'll just ride with Shatora."
Raidramon nodded, keeping an eye on Wolcramon. "You're a girl too, aren't you?"
The wolf regarded Raidramon. "Yep. Sure am."
Raidramon tilted his head and picked up Gray. "Now what Dai'?"
Davis smiled at the nickname. "Go ahead to the next point." His partner looked worried. "Don't be so concerned, I'll be fine. Go on now."
Raidramon complied and raced off to the direction Gray pointed out. Davis, Shatora, Cody, and Matt caught this motion. Wolcramon padded over and lowered herself so that her partner and Davis could climb on. Shatora made it up and held out her hand to Davis. Kari held out her hand as well. Just once more she tried to get Davis to change his mind. Davis looked between Shatora and Kari's outstretched hands. ~Saa [Well]? What do I do?~ He looked to Kari, gave a final smile...
----------
A sinister laugh echoed through the chamber as the shrouded-figure looked on in dark amusement.
----------
Kari's hand remained where it was. She stared at Davis...or rather the empty space that was Davis. He wasn't there anymore. Gone.
-----------
...and took Shatora's hand. ~It's not forever.~ Davis repeated this in his head as he looked down for Wolcramon's back. "Goodbye." That was the last thing heard as Wolcramon sped away in the same direction as Gray and Raidramon. South.
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Bwahahahaha! K. Gomen, if it was remotely long. Saa, finished, nnn...finally. Yep, that's my chapter. Make sure to read the next, n' review this one k? Daikari flames and such stupid things will be laughed at and become a source of entertainment for my muses' destructive tendencies.