Of Tarnished Dragons and Golden Angels
By Dickie
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the digimon card game or anime.
Author notes: No I haven't died, and no I haven't forgotten about this fic. My phone line was disconnected so I had no phone or internet access for two months o_O.
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
A pair of considerably- actually, depending on who you asked- good looking guys were walking towards the local mall, as the Odaiba Shopping District had been sealed off, and was currently under investigation by the Digital Taskforce. One would think that their unsually sullen expression amongst all the cheery shoppers would make the pair look out of place, but it was not the case. They more or less, looked like another late christmas shopper, with whatever they were after already being sold out.
"Do you believe her...?"
"Who? Shura?"
"Yeah, her."
"Not sure."
The pair continued walking in silence, despite their merry surroundings. Christmas shoppers still cruising around for presents for their loved ones, despite what had happened the previous day. The destroyed area had been taped off, and had become an investigation site for the Digital Taskforce. The Digital Taskforce was a relatively small organisation set up by the government just to calm the nerves of all those still fearing Digimon.
The majority of the public and the world had welcomed the arrival of Digimon, with the standard view of them not only being a fantastic partner and friend, but also as a sort of guardian.
Children were the only ones who had received partners, the only adult to ever have gotten a Digimon partner was Oikawa, who sacrificed his own body to help restore the Digital World. The Digimon were also, more or less a positive influence upon the children, although the more mischievous lot were a bit of trouble.
"Do you really think Davis could really have done that...?"
"I don't know... Davis is capable of alot of things. Both good and bad."
"I guess you're right. He did alot of stupid shit back then," said Matt, "But he also did a whole heap of good too."
"It's just too hard to acknowledge what he done yesterday."
"The younger guys really did something to him..."
"But what the hell did Kari and T.K. do to set him off like that?"
"Not sure. I never really ventured into that terrority with T.K. about Davis. He really didn't want to talk about it."
"Yeah, I got the same reaction from Kari. I guess in his absence, Davis really did bring those two closer together... they both supported eachother and things went from there."
Back in the Dark Ocean, Tai and Matt were unaware that their presence was being monitored by the minions of Dagomon.
"Master, Courage and Friendship are going to encounter Miracles, but it appears as if there won't be a hostile encounter between the three of them."
"Activate the fog."
"But Master-"
With a motion of his decaying arm, the lord of the Dark Ocean disposed of the lower level Digimon. Before the data of the deleted Digimon could disappear, it was drawn in by a purple haze coming from the Digiegg of Darkness and was absorbed into it, which eventually flowed into Dagomon's broken form. He was revitalised a small amount by the small source of energy and repeated his command once more with his rumbling voice.
"Activate the fog. Through it, I shall be able to weave my influence through their inner doubt and manipulate the pair into eliminating that wildcard Miracles."
This time there was no hesitation in the matter, and the Rookies working around the computer systems hurried to comply with the order.
"Fog activated and gathering power!!"
Dagomon bowed its head in acknowledgement. "Good. Once the fog descends upon the bearers of Courage and Friendship, not only shall Miracles shall be swiftly dealt with, but there should be sufficient excess data for our plans to procede even further."
"Whoa shit, where'd this freaky fog come from?"
"Who knows hon..."
The trio continued making their way through the snow and shoppers at a very leisurely pace, taking their time to oogle at anything that caught their eye. The rest of the public was rather ignorant to the unsettling grey mist that was slowly blanketing the are, and kept shuffling along with their Christmas Spirit. Davis still wasn't quite sure why he had agreed to come shopping with Jun. According to Jun, it would be good for him to be out and about in the Christmas Spirit but it was pretty much bollocks in his opinion. Although he did have to admit, Jasmine's skirt did display a great sight for him to glance at every now and then.
They continued on for a while, with Davis losing track of time until he was startled out of his thoughts when Jun barked out something at him.
"What?" he said annoyed.
"You hungry?"
"Meh, I'm fine."
"Suit yourself," said Jun, "Jazz and I are gonna go and grab some lunch."
"Whatever. Just lead the way."
Jun and Jasmine took the lead, Jasmines swaying behind taking up Davis' interest.
'I really need to get a hobby.'
His thoughts were broken when he felt a sudden flare of energy, aimed not at him, but at the pair at front of him.
"Jun, get out of the way!!"
The startled teen glanced back at her younger brother, who had already a mad dash towards herself and Jasmine.
"What the he-" Her words were cut short as he forcefully slammed into her, sending her sprawling onto the concrete. Without even pausing, Davis quickly latched onto Jasmine's wrist and swung her forward, causing her to trip and land in an uncomfortable heap with Jun, the snow quickly seeping through their clothing and soaking them. From her awkward pile up with Jasmine, Jun looked back and screeched at Davis in a piercing shrill.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU DAISUKE?!"
But out of nowhere, a massive ridge of ice ripped through the concrete, and where Davis once stood, was now a vicious column of jagged ice. Jun and Jasmine sat there in silence, staring at the rough beauty of the ice. Once again, Christmas shoppers began to flee from the scene, in a huge wave of anguish and terror. Moments passed before finally, Jun and Jasmine both heard a heavy thud onto the ground, despite all the noise from terrified shoppers and young children, emanating from behind the pillar of ice.
"Holy shit, Davis!!!"
Scrambling to her feet, Jun clambered over the ridge of ice to find him trying to get onto his feet. Making her way to his side as quickly as she could, she tried to help Davis get back upon his feet. But her efforts were in vain as she was shocked once more, as Davis shoved her aside again with even more force. He glanced around and took note of the strange grey fog that had suddenly enveloped the area around him.
'Shit... somethings not right...'
"Fuck off Jun... it's not safe for you here..."
"What the hell is going on Davis!? Goddammit, tell me what the hell is going on!!!"
"I said FUCK OFF!!"
Flinching at his harsh tone, she looked on at him with a mixed expression of confusion and fear. Despite feeling that his sisters gaze was upon him, Davis ignored it, focusing his gaze upon the two shadowy figures in the thick mist ahead, who were slowly advancing upon him.
"Goddammit Jun, get out of here now!!!"
Snapping his fingers, Davis' hand suddenly sparked up with a golden blaze of light, and with a snarl, Davis brought his hand up close to his face, then with an arcing sweep of the same arm he released a wave of gold ki, ploughing through the ridge of ice.
"Get going now!!" He barked at Jun pointing at escape route he had provided for them.
"C'mon Jun, we gotta go!!" Jasmine pulled on her best friends hand, trying to get not only herself, but Jun out of immediate danger.
"We can't go, Davis you're injured and I am not going to leave you here and get hurt!!"
"Now is not the time to be playing protective big sister Jun, get the hell out of here!!!"
"No way Davis, I'm not going anywhere!!!"
"You stupid bitch!!! You better get going now!!!"
*SLAP*
Jun's hand immediately found its way up to her face, where she found that it was Jasmine's hand that had made sharp contact. Stinging red welts were scored across her cheek, results from quite a heavy slap. Jun glanced up into the clear blue eyes of her best friend, and found more than concern in her eyes.
"Start thinkin' straight!! Your brother is right, we gotta get moving now!! I'll bet that ice thingy was aimed at us, and your brother knocked us outta harm's way!! The longer we're hanging around here, the more danger we'll be putting ourselves in, as well as Davis... he took that hit for us Jun, and how he managed to survive it is beyond me, but we *hafta* move now!!"
"But Davis..."
"I have a really strange feeling that he'll be fine, but *only* if we leave now."
Jun closed her eyes, to gather her thoughts before she answered. She couldn't help but feel that this situation could possibly turn into a repeat of what had happened four years ago. It was so hard for Davis back then. He went through too much pain, both physical and emotional and turned him into a cold unfeeling shell from his once bright and happy disposition. And she hated it. She wanted her brash, annoying younger brother back, not one who kept to himself and usually had a mono-syllabic vocabulary. And then they had move house, separating Jun from her best friend. Jun resented the move, but Davis was secretly pleased that they had moved far away from Odaiba, the source of all his pain.
As she opened her eyes once more, she had made her decision. "Okay, we're leaving."
Smiling lightly, Jasmine once more took a hold of Jun's hand. "Let's go then."
Both female teens ran off, through the gaping hole in the ice Davis had created. Just before she had passed the gap in the ridge, Jun called back over her shoulder "Be careful Davis."
Glad that his sister and her friend had finally left, he watched her disappear and mumbled to himself, "Careful? Yeah right."
Returning his gaze to the two figures who were already becoming more and more apparent through the mist, swirling blue energy surrounding one, with the other emanating reddish orange energy.
When they were finally visible, he groaned inwardly at the sight of both of them. Both Matt and Tai were standing before him, the spirit energy they had been emitting before seemed to double, at the mere sight of him. Tai's face was set in stone, seriousness carved into his features. Matt however, had a rather malevolent smirk on his lips, which eventually split into into a huge mocking grin.
"I guess it's time for a little payback eh?"
"Back off Matt, this is mine."
"Aren't you forgetting something? He seriously beat up on T.K., he barely touched Kari."
"If he gets the best of me, then you can have him all you want. I'm still going first."
"Bastard. I hope he does give you a bit of a smack around."
"Heh. Thanks for that."
Matt hung back as Tai advanced towards Davis, until he was about two metres away from him. Tai met Davis' steely glare with his own.
"That was a cheap shot," barked Davis.
"Like that stopped you from attacking Kari."
"That was different. You weren't even there."
"Whatever..."
The brittle awkward silence was shattered when Tai spoke once again. "You've changed Davis."
"Considering what I went through, I'm still surprised that there are still a few scraps of the old me left."
"They couldn't help it Davis...," said Matt in an irritable mocking voice.
"Bullshit!! Had you fucking bastards been in my position, I would have done *anything* I could. I would never have abandoned you lousy sons of bitches," snarled Davis. He took a moment to compose himself before continuing on. "Forget it. That's not why *you're* here."
Davis adjusted his clothing, making sure that he would have as little hindrances as possible during what was about to happen, and shifted into a loose stance. He wasn't taught how to fight by some master like how Cody was trained by his Grandfather in Kendo. The way he learnt how to fight was rough-housing with the Hazard kid, which would eventually turn serious, when they were both drawn in to that obscure place. Davis shook his head. It wasn't the time or place for such thoughts. He had more pressing matters at hand. Davis noted something. This didn't seem like Tai, whom he had seen before in a few scuffles. Tai had his own form during a fight, with a lot of openings in it but it suited him well enough. Tai stood before him, hands at the ready, when he formed a trio of floating orbs of flame, which zipped over and around him. He then hunched over, with his hands drawn into hooks, ready to claw and tear at his flesh.
His expression settling into a mask of pure determination, he parried the first flaming strike, swatting it away in an almost playful manner. Despite this, the rhythm of Tai's attack had not faltered, and followed with a second attack. Quickly bringing up his right arm parallel to his head, he blocked the follow up attack with the flat surface of his forearm. Gritting his teeth, he endured the immense heat and force created by the Digidestined of Courage's second strike, his jacket however not faring so well as the synthetic material began to melt and warp. From there, he noticed Tai was yet again launching another attack, this time a downward strike. Weaving backwards, Davis slipped past the attack rather easily, the tail of flames streaking harmlessly down past his face and prepared a counter attack in retaliation. But what caught him by surprise was that he had caught a glimpse of a smirk on Tai's face. Quickly glancing downwards, Davis had but one thought.
'SHIT!!!'
As Tai's white knuckled fist made contact against the icy concrete, a surge of glowing red energy poured forth from his arm and into the ground. The ground below them glowed like embers momentarily, before exploding into a flaming pillar of reddish orange ki, which originated from Tai and Davis who at the last moment did his best to defend himself from such an attack. The sheer force of the attack knocked Davis backwards, where he dissappeared out of sight into the dense fog of the Digital Field. As the orange particles of ki began to dissapate, Tai rose from his position, not even a look of remorse on his face.
"I guess it's over..."
"Shit, that was quick...."
"Hell yeah. Thought Miracles would put up a better fight than that..."
"I didn't even get shot at the bastard."
Wordlessly, Tai got up and headed off. He hadn't even made two steps before he heard the sound of snow being crushed underfoot. He turned around, eyebrow arching. Curious to what it was, Matt stepped forward, taking an inquisitive look into the fog. In the dense mist of the Digital Field, stood Davis, his ruined jacket discarded onto the ground next to him, still smoking slightly from the previous attack. Cold fury set in his eyes and seething determination etched upon his face, he snarled at both teens.
"You two... you're not Matt or Tai. Get the hell out of them."
The pair smiled demonically and spoke in unison, a warped slur of Tai, Matt and a rough scraping voice. "You're right boy. We're not Tai or Matt and quite frankly, we like these forms. It's not like you're in any position to demand anything."
"I'll just have to beat you out them then won't I?"
"We'll see about that boy," they both responded, before disappearing with unnatural speed into the grey mist in a contrasting blur of orange and blue.
"Master, Courage and Friendship have already turned against Miracles!!"
"Good. Collect their data as planned."
"Apologies Master, but we are unable to do so. The energy they are emitting however, is extremely potent!! It is within our capabilities to collect that data Master!!"
"Then do it."
"Yes Master!!" After a few more button commands, the programs monitoring the energy were suddenly minimised, and global map of the real world appeared. Within seconds, image of Japan was zoomed in and three different rectangular sectors appeared, measuring the amount of energy from each individual source. Above each bar, flashed a different symbol. Courage. Friendship. Miracles.
Hikari shot up from her light nap. Something didn't feel quite right, but she dismissed the feeling since the return of Davis, nothing had been quite right. She was feeling rather peckish at that moment, and found that it was almost lunch time as she glanced over to the garish novelty clock fixed to the wall. She looked around the room and found that T.K. had awoken and was currently reading a magazine, everyone else having disappeared. He looked sideways as he noticed Kari's sudden awareness.
"Hey."
"Hey T.K., when'd you wake up?"
"Not too long ago. I've been up for maybe an hour and half, with nothing but this magazine and Shura to keep me company." He said, waving around a womans magazine which despite being the latest issue, was in extremely ratty condition, and as usual, had all the cross words having already been done.
"Shura? Where'd she get to?"
"She said she'd go and find herself some lunch and then come back."
The moment that was mentioned, Shura strolled in, slurping up the last of her drink she had bought. She smiled at both of them before discarding the empty cup into the trash. She slung her backpack off and plopped down onto the couch in the room. Zipping open her bag, she enjoyed the delicious scent of food that wafted from her open bag and through the room. She retrieved the paper bag from within her backpack, responsible for the delectable smell. Fast Food.
"That smells really good..." said Kari, unconsciously licking her lips.
She grinned wickedly, showing off slightly elongated canines. "Yeah I know."
"You're doing this on purpose aren't you..." T.K. pouted, "You can chow down on that while we're subjected to all sorts of rooted substances they call *food*."
"Great ain't it?"
"Hardly."
"Meh," Shura replied, before tossing them both a greasy bundle wrapped in paper from within her paper bag. In an instant, both grease riddled packages were hastily torn open, teeth sinking into the unhealthy collection of various food groups. Shura grinned once more, before opening her own parcel of greased up food.
"Mmmm, this is too good."
They ate in silence, with the exception of burger wrappers being rustled, until Kari eyes widened as she suddenly felt something supremely disturbing, and almost choking on her food in the process.
"Didn't think you were that hungry Kari," commented a surprised T.K.
"No, its not that T.K., I think Davis is taking on both Matt *and* Tai!!"
"Say what!?"
This battle had been infuriating. One would engage him in combat whereas the other would hang back, jumping in every now and then to assist his partner with a brief distraction.
'If only Veemon was here, then I'd show you bastards what teamwork is.'
He swung once more, only to miss and have his fist swipe through the air, taking yet another hit.
'Thats it. You two are going to get hurt.'
Davis threw yet another wild swing, this time at Matt. As expected, he hopped back and Tai appeared at his exposed flank, ready to counterattack. Davis however, was ready for this and brought his leg up hard and fast into Tai's groin. A little awkward, but effective nevertheless. His scuffles with the Hazard kid taught him well.
"Bet that hurt."
Davis then spun round, his left hand clamping onto Tai's once dangerous arm, jerking him in close and then pounding hard against Tai's face with his his own fist. The resulting surge of yellow light that had blasted in Tai's face left his bird nest of hair a foul odoured, smouldering mass of brown hair.
As the smoke cleared, Tai stood there, a livid expression emblazoned across his face.
"You fucking bastard!!!"
Matt however, took great pleasure in the scene and let bouts of raucous laughter overcome him.
"Aww man, that is just too much," he managed through his spasms of laughter.
It was then Tai's turn to laugh, as Matt had suddenly found a knee rammed into his gut. As the knee retracted and he doubled over in pain, he found that the collar of his jacket had been gotten ahold of and was tossed aside, much like an oversize ragdoll. As Matt recovered, his face was now covered with filth ridden slush, some of which he spat out before turning his furious glare at Davis, who slouched into a cocky stance and leered back at the downed pair with a wicked grin.
"Don't you underestimate me!!"
Shura bolted through the streets of Odaiba, down one street, and up another, her backpack secured firmly in place with the straps and a cellphone in hand, which was currently held up to her ear.
"Kari, you sure they're fighting!? I can't seem to find them anywhere," said Shura, slipping past yet another gaggle of shoppers.
*..They're fighting Shura, I just know they are..*
"Okay then, if you say so," said Shura, rounding another corner.
She continued running, until the ground around her trembled and familiar blaze of light flashed from behind her.
*..What was that?..*
"Oh shit, I think I found them..."
They had been taunting him with mocking blows, which only glanced off his defending body. He had taken their bait and when he moved to retaliate, one slipped behind and caught him from behind, his arms now hanging rather uselessly as the others arms had hooked their arms up from underneath him, exposing his torso to heavy attack. As he expected, the other appeared rather quickly in front of him, and began to pummel his body with heavy, deliberate blows, each strike augmented by their ki. His torso burned, as lances of pain speared through him with each hit. He was ready to give in, to let the two blinded by rage and their apparent madness take their anger out on his form. Through the haze of pain, his thoughts wandered.
'...almost hurts... as much as what happened... last time...'
He then felt his ribs crack, and grimaced. '...almost ...'
'...Jun...'
'...no... Jun... they could go after her next... maybe...'
'...would she be safe... would Veemon be safe... dammit... I don't know...'
~Which is reason enough not to give up boy~
'...what the...hell... get out of... my head...'
~Bite your tongue boy~
'...up... yours...'
~Such insolence... at least you still have some spirit left boy... have you forgotten what would happen should you fall before joining forces with the one scarred with the mark of the Hazard?~
'... you bastards won't let me... forget...'
~And do you wish to know if those important to you are safe?~
'...yes...'
~Then why are you so willing to concede?~
'I... I don't know...'
~You don't know? You foolish little boy~
'I... I am no...fool...'
~Then prove it boy. Prove your worth. Show that you are capable of doing your part boy and that we actually have a chance in you~
'...I'm not a fool...'
'...I'm not a boy...'
'...I'll... show you...'
'...All... of you..."
"MY WORTH!!!"
And with that outburst, the small radius around Davis exploded outwards with terrific force. Matt was unexpectantly shot backwards, his body twisting and turning in the air like that of a simple rag doll until he collided against one of the many thick ice columns that he was responsible for creating. He passed out instantly from the impact, a small trail of blood creeping down the side of his head.
Tai, the one who had restrained his movements had been a little more fortunate than Matt, and tumbled end over end until he begun sliding across the slick icy surface and hit another ice structure, his face twisting in pain as he felt what probably were some of his own ribs crack.
Davis sunk to his knees, his hands supporting his battered frame, sharp, painful breaths pounding in and out of him as he tried to recover from the severe punishment he had just gotten.
Tai struggled to his feet, more exhausted than he thought. "Shit... took alot outta me...." he muttered to himself, "Doesn't matter... still got enough to kick his ass..."He balled his fists, which ignited into spheres of fierce red-orange energy, his lips curling into a malevolent smirk and madness in his eyes. "This is it Davis... lets DO IT!!"
Davis, staggered to his feet and swung his arms outwards, which had been clutching his beaten body, the ends of them collecting a golden hued light. "This battle..." he breathed hard, before pulling himself to his feet, taking a moment to steady himself before preparing himself for what was to come in the next few moments, "I'll finish it..."
Tai thrust his arms forward, his remaining fire sprite merging with the rough jagged blast of flames and increasing its power exponentially, tearing a deep scar into the frozen surface of the ground, and exploding into an outward flare of warm coloured light against Davis' own beam of light. And through it, charged Davis, a bloodied fist cocked back and his lips pulled back into an angry snarl.
"YOU'RE MINE!!!"
Tai's jaw jarred sideways, as the blood stained knuckles cracked into it. The force sent his entire body twirling through the air and crashing into the cold ground. At that very instant, the Digital Fog which had hidden the battle from the public, faded away, as the data had suddenly lost their purpose and became deleted. The ice structures were also constructed from data as well, as they too faded away.
"Finally..."
He passed out, the events of what had just happened having taken their toll upon his body. His last images of conciousness was a scene of mass panic from the public, and who he recognised as Shura stumbling over to him.
~*~
One minute you're on top
The next you're not
Watch it drop
Making your heart stop
Just before you hit the floor
One minute you're on top
The next you're not
Missed your shot
Making your heart stop
You think you won
And then its all gone...
~*~
The conflict between the humans had ended long ago, according to their monitors, yet they were still analysing it. The Digital Fog had disappeared, and judging by the spikes in power, it seemed that the Crest of Miracles had triumphed. Barely. Dagomon retreated to his own area in the inky dome, recovering from the sudden shock of being driven out of his two hosts, leaving a more or less trustworthy Ultimate level in command during his absence.
"You there, give me an analysis on the data from that incident," the Ultimate barked out at a lesser rookie, "I am going to compile a report for Lord Dagomon about what had occured earlier."
"According to the data scanned and gathered by the Hunter and Collector programs, the bearers of the Crest of Courage and Friendship can tap into a source of power equal to that of a Champion level Digimon, like their partner Digimon, Greymon and Garurumon."
"And what of the human branded with the Crest of Miracles?"
"His results were quite extraordinary sir. He was at first at the same level as Courage and Miracles, but he somehow managed to gather enough energy that could put down a Golden Armour Evolution, although that does seem fitting as he does have the brand of Miracles."
"But how in the Digital world did those humans manage to utilise that fog of data that Master had created?"
"Aah yes, that Digital Field. The excess data emanated from those humans in the form of an aura was similar to the data within the Digital Field and apparently also heightened the power of Courage and Friendship. Normally that would have taken quite a toll on their Crest powers, but because they were under Lord Dagomon's control he was free to exploit them as he wished. Without that Digital Field, there probably would have been no way Courage and Friendship could have taken on Miracles, even with the strength given from Master's influence."
A/N: BTW, that lyrical segment is from Linkin Park's 'Hit the Floor' off their very awesome Meteora album.
Aww and I forgot to mention it earlier, but thanks to those who confirmed the name for Dagomon and that I DO own Shura, Jasmine. Don't be eatass and steal them from me.