Disclaimer: I don't own digimon because it's never been for sale. Even if it was I would have no hope of buying it because I am having just a little trouble with cash right now (i.e.. I'm broke, I can't get a job, don't sue me). I don't own Batman either, because if I did then the movies would make more sense and Robin wouldn't be so annoying (you'll see what I mean).
After a sort of suspension I'm getting TBDM back on the road. I can't believe how much I've neglected it recently, so I've decided to set myself a deadline for the last chapter because I really want to finish this thing. The story just keeps growing and growing until I don't know whether I can really do the whole grand idea justice anymore. But there are so many little things that I want to get just right, so I guess I'll have to do the job myself. Oh, and I should have mentioned this before, but this fic ignores the 'official couples' that we saw in 02 (Sorato, Kenyako, debatable Takari) but I'm not going to alter the epilogue in any way. Oh, and for anyone who has or hasn't seen Batman & Robin, all the references I made to it are true and I think Robin is an idiot. I don't know if they ever dubbed it in Japanese, though.
Here we go:
Chapter 15 - Dampened Spirits
It was a bright, sunny morning when the party of twelve (six humans, six digimon) made their way to the great lake surrounding the mountain. The digimon back at the village had provided them with food for the remaining three days of their journey and some more comfortable clothing for the humans, as their current outfits were inappropriate, ruined and starting to stink.
"Well, this should be easy enough." Tai said, surveying the scene. "We take a trip across the lake, then start climbing the mountain, get to the castle and beat the -"
"Aren't you forgetting something, Taichi?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Like what?"
"The other digimon. Kappamon, for instance." Sora reminded him, with a small smile.
"Who's Kappamon?" Gabumon wondered.
"You'll see." Matt grumbled, wearily. Gabumon's lack of memory was getting him down. Just that morning Sora had remarked that he was acting like a long-suffering single mother with six-month-old twins. Then she discovered that he also had the temper of one.
"We've only beaten two of the four digimon guarding Mordremon's place." Izzy came in to back Sora up. "I'm betting Kappamon is somewhere in this lake, and after that there's still Banemon to worry about."
"Wouldn't it be better if we could just get over the lake without having to fight?" Mimi suggested. "I mean, Kappamon's no danger to us when she's not in the water, so if we can get over there without a fight then we're safe and we don't have to hurt her."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Agumon nodded. "What do you say, Tai?"
Their leader looked a little doubtful at the prospect of letting an enemy go free, but he relented. "I suppose that would make it easier. What do the rest of you say?"
"I'm with Mimi." Sora nodded. "We should try to limit our kills whenever possible."
"Ditto." Izzy agreed. "We're running out of time, so it would be good if we could start on the mountain today."
"Matt?" Tai asked his friend. The blonde just shrugged.
"Well, I've got nothing against a good fight," Matt admitted, "it might do Gabumon's memory some good. But I guess that's the least of our worries right now."
"I wouldn't say that." Biyomon argued. "Gabumon's important too."
"Thanks, Biyomon, but I know I'm dragging you down." Gabumon sighed. "I don't remember anything of how to fight or even what we're supposed to be fighting."
"You'll remember, Gabumon." Tentomon assured him.
"Yeah, you will. But it's not something we can force." Tai informed him. "Right now we have to worry about getting to Mordremon. So, let's get across this lake and get on with the job."
"You're on." Matt agreed.
"Okay, let's get moving!" Tai yelled, with a loopy grin on his face. "Joe, are you ready to... Joe?"
The others turned to find Joe sitting by the lake with Gomamon, who was conversing urgently with a bunch of fish in the lake. Joe was listening intently, occasionally asking Gomamon to let him know what was going on. Tai dashed over to him, the others following right behind.
"Hey, Joe, you ready to move? We want to get across the lake as quickly as we can." he announced.
"That's not going to be too easy." Joe told him. "Gomamon's been talking to the fish and they say that Kappamon's in there somewhere. He's been trying to find out the exact location but apparently she's very hard to track."
"We're going to try to avoid her if we can." Sora told Joe. "We want to get up the mountain and get on with the job, since we lost so much time when Mimi was sick."
"No fighting? I like it." Joe smiled. "We're still riding on Ikkakumon, I suppose?"
"There's no better way." Izzy nodded. "I mean, we could take Birdramon or Kabuterimon, but they can't feel what's going on under the water."
"Fair enough." Joe shrugged. "C'mon, Gomamon, let's go."
Gomamon shook his head stubbornly. "I don't like it, Joe. The fish tell me that you never see Kappamon coming. She's really fast but really quiet, so you don't know she's after you until you're hit. It's too dangerous!"
"It'll be okay." Joe pulled Gomamon out of the water and held him up in the air. "You're tough enough to beat her. Plus there are five other digimon here and for of them can go to Mega."
Gabumon opened his mouth to ask a question but shut it again when he saw the look on Matt's face.
"Trust me, Gomamon, we'll be fine." Tentomon butted in. "Izzy's got it all worked out."
"Well, if you say so." Gomamon sighed. Then he brightened up and leapt into the water. Joe pulled the digivice from his belt. "Let's move!"
"It should take me about fifteen minutes to get to the opposite side." Ikkakumon announced as his various passengers climbed aboard. "That is, if we don't get attacked or anything."
"Doesn't matter, so long as we get there." Joe grinned and slapped his digimon's think fur. The boy had taken up his usual position at the back of Ikkakumon's head.
"Everyone ready?" Tai asked. "Okay then, let's move."
Ikkakumon pushed off the bank and into the calm water of the lake. Silence settled upon the numerous passengers like a blanket. They sat there for several minutes, saying very little. For some reason, no-one could think of anything to say.
"So..." Mimi couldn't stand the silence any longer. "Seen any good movies lately?"
Sora started coughing as she struggled to hold back her laughter and Tai immediately dealt her a heavy whack on the back. Matt, on the other hand, held nothing back and was roaring with laughter. The digimon were all giggling too. Even Izzy had to work hard to conceal his sniggers.
"Well, I was just asking." Mimi said, with a shrug.
"We've probably missed a whole lot of movies, now that I think about it." Tai admitted. Then, as he was distracted, he whacked Sora a little too hard and she shoved back. "Hey, what was that for?"
"Oh, cut it out, I'm fine." Sora grinned.
"Sorry." Tai apologised, looking sheepish.
"Don't worry about it." Sora shook her head. "Anyway, what were you saying about movies?"
"That we've probably missed quite a few while we've been away." Matt reminded her. "I remember now, they were going to play Batman & Robin again on Saturday."
"Yeah, that's right." Tai agreed. "I loved that movie."
"I didn't like it so much." Sora disagreed. "It was a good story and I liked the action, but I just can't help noticing how it's been dubbed."
"You can always tell a dubbed movie." Izzy agreed. "The voices never match the character's lips."
"And sometimes the voice will stop but the actor's mouth is still moving." Matt added.
"They change some little details, too." Mimi informed them. "I saw that movie in English and some of the conversations are completely different. They cut a scene out, too."
"Yeah? Which one?" Joe asked, turning around.
"Oh, there's this one bit where Robin's arguing with Batman about Poison Ivy but there's nothing of it the dub." Mimi informed them. "It's a pity, that was pretty good."
"Dubbers always wreck everything, don't they?" said Matt. It wasn't a question.
"It's really annoying." Izzy nodded.
"Mmm, I hear Robin was actually smart in the original." Sora commented, dryly.
Mimi shook her head. "No such luck. Even the dubbers can't make him look any dumber than he already is."
Tai was a little surprised at the turn the conversation had taken. "It's still a good movie." he mumbled.
"'Course it is." Joe said, airily. "It's just that it's been warped by the Japanese dubbers."
"Sometimes I wish they'd just do subtitles for the whole thing." Izzy said, distastefully. "Dub versions suck."
"Funny you should say that," Mimi said, cocking her head to the side. "in America people say that dubbers wreck Japanese anime shows."
"Fancy that." Sora grinned.
Joe was about to ask Mimi exactly what American dubbers did to anime, but he was suddenly distracted when Ikkakumon shuddered. It was only the smallest of movements and the others didn't notice anything, but Joe knew his own digimon too well not to notice. Leaning forwards from his perch on the monster's head, he grabbed one floppy ear and whispered as quietly as he could.
"What's wrong, Ikkakumon?"
"There's something down there." Ikkakumon muttered. "I don't know what it is, exactly, but I felt something brush past my hind flippers."
"Do you think it'll be any trouble?" Joe wanted to know.
"Don't think so. It shouldn't be anything major, but I won't know unless I can get under the surface."
"And you can't do that with all of us on your back, right?"
"Right. Sorry." Ikkakumon apologised.
"Don't worry about it." Joe assured him. "Look, there's a little rocky bit sticking up over there, so maybe we can unload everyone and you can get a good look around."
"Good idea. Okay, I'll head over there." Ikkakumon altered his course slightly, turning to the right and heading towards the rocks.
"Hey, Joe, what's up?" Tai yelled from Ikkakumon's back.
"We're going to go sit on those rocks for a minute so Ikkie can see what's going on under the surface." Joe yelled back.
"Ikkie?" Ikkakumon grumbled.
"Well, 'Ikkakumon' is a bit of a mouthful sometimes." Joe admitted. "Don't you like it?"
'Ikkie' just grunted and started paddling a little faster.
"Is there something wrong, Joe?" Mimi asked.
"No, Ikkakumon just wants to look around." Joe lied. "Just in case there's a digimon down there trying to kill us." Only Ikkakumon heard the last bit, though.
They reached the rock platform without any problems. Everyone clambered onto the solid rock, some grateful for a break in their aquatic trip. Joe left last, slipping from Ikkakumon's head to his back and jumping of his stub of a tail.
"Don't be too long." Joe warned his digimon. "And if you get into trouble, send up one of those torpedo things so we can come and help you. Do you think you should digivolve to Zudomon before you -"
"Joe, don't worry." Ikkakumon insisted. "I'm just going for a swim. I'll be fine, so stop worrying already."
"Yeah, okay. Sorry." Joe hung his head.
"Don't worry." Ikkakumon repeated, just for good measure. Then he slipped beneath the water and vanished.
"Well, this is just thrilling, isn't it?" Taichi said, dryly, as attempted to skim stones across the water (but failed miserably).
"It doesn't hurt to check things out, Tai." Izzy argued, with an almost superior air.
"Yes, personally I'd like to know what's going on down there." Tentomon nodded.
Tai just grunted.
"Gees, what's with you?" Sora shook her head. "Ikkakumon wants to have a look around, or maybe just get a bite to eat. You don't need to get so shirty."
"I know." Taichi sighed. "It's just that I want to get out there and do something." he chucked another pebble towards the water and it hit the surface with a satisfying plop.
"There's no harm in playing it safe, I suppose." Mimi babbled. "I think we should take every single precaution to make sure there aren't any evil digimon hiding under the water waiting to leap up and drag us down into the water where we'll be trapped and we'll run out of air and die and then they can -"
"That'll do, Mimi." Palmon muttered, patting her friend's hand. "Calm down and stop worrying. We're going to be okay."
"No we're not!" Mimi cried. "In four days Mordremon's plan comes into action and the digimon that die aren't gonna come back so the digital world's going to end and it'll all be over and while were here it's been really horrible and I've been sick and I haven't seen any TV for over a week so I'll have no idea what's going on on all the shows which is really bad 'coz it just is and I can't go shopping and I hate these new clothes even though they're warmer than my old ones but I liked those clothes!"
"Oy. Sometimes I wish we didn't have to bring her along." Agumon whispered.
"I heard that!" Mimi yelled.
"Mimi, Palmon's right." Sora urged her. "Calm down. We've been through all this before and we've always survived with no trouble at all. It'll be okay this time too, you just need to relax."
The pink-haired girl just flopped down on the ground with a sigh. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't a digidestined."
"But then you never would have met me!" Palmon cried, looking hurt.
"Yeah, I guess not." Mimi smiled.
Tai grumbled under his breath and turned around. "Hey, Joe, how long d'you reckon Ikkakumon's going to take?"
"How should I know?" Joe yelled back.
"Well, I thought as he's your digimon you might know something about him." Tai snorted.
"I thought since you're the leader you would have thought to find out before he left." Joe replied, mildly.
"I was just asking." Tai snapped. "I'm sick of sitting around here. Isn't there anything else to do?"
"If you're so anxious to find out, why don't you jump in the water and have a squiz yourself?" Sora snapped back.
Taichi grunted and turned away. He sat at the edge of the rock platform with a rebellious look on his face and started trying to skim stones again, but with no luck at all. Each pebble hit the water and sank below the surface with the same resounding 'plop'. Angrily, the boy swept a whole lot of stones into the water at once, making a lot of noise and splashing a bit of water on his shoes.
"You know, you're going to have to relax if you want to skim a stone right." Yamato told him in his low voice.
"Thanks for the tip." Tai spat, not looking at his friend. Matt refused to take the hint and sat down beside him.
"What's gotten into you, Kamiya?" he asked. "You were perfectly fine ten minutes ago, but since Ikkakumon decided to take a break you've gotten all crabby. What gives?"
"How can he just 'take a break' when Mordremon's planning the end of the world?" Tai sighed. "I'm supposed to be the leader and I'm supposed to make sure we get things done, but right now we're not going anywhere."
"Sometimes people - and digimon - need to have a rest." Matt reminded him. "Judging by the way you've been acting, I'd say you could probably do with one."
"We've been resting for nearly a week." Taichi shook his head. "We've wasted enough time. We should concentrate on what we're really here for."
"Ikkakumon's barely been gone for five minutes. It's not like we'll all be doomed because of it."
"But what if we miss the deadline for stopping Mordremon because of those five minutes?"
"Listen to me," Matt grabbed the leader's head and forced him to look his friend in the face. "Taichi Kamiya, you are our leader. You are smart and resourceful and great at making those last-minute decisions without which we would be lost. You are a great leader and under you I have no doubt that everything will be fine."
"You really think I'm a great leader?" Tai's voice quivered a little.
"Of course I do!" Matt threw his hands in the air, exasperated. "How could I not?"
"Well... I haven't felt much like a leader lately." Tai admitted. "I haven't really been a leader in action for a long time. Sure, I've hung around behind the sidelines, but the leader thing is Davis's job now."
"That doesn't matter." Matt groaned. "Davis might be the leader of his group, but he's looked up to you the whole time."
"I helped him a little at the start, but he's a leader in his own right." Tai pointed out.
"So are you." Matt urged.
"Oh, come on, Ishida!" Tai complained. "You saw them all back there. Joe snapped at me, Mimi was hysterical, Sora was all sarcastic - I didn't have any sort of power. What sort of leadership is that?"
"Joe is a worry wart, of course he's going to get snappy." Matt reasoned. "Mimi and Sora... well, they're girls, how are we supposed to know what gets their backs up? Anyway, leadership isn't about power, it's about looking after everyone else."
"And what a great job of that I've done." Tai turned his gaze back to the water. "I just don't think I'm cut out to be a leader anymore. Davis is the leader of the digidestined now. He's got the skills, the experience and the goggles. I'm old news."
"No you're not." His friend growled. "You led us through things that Davis will never even begin to understand. You kept us going when we thought we'd never find out way home. You gave us hope when we thought there was none. Remember when you disappeared after MetalGreymon beat Etemon?"
"I went back to our world." Tai nodded. "And when I came back you'd all split up."
"Yes, and you were the one that brought us all back together." Matt reminded him. "I'll bet that if the same thing happened again, you'd bring us all together again. We're going to stop Mordremon and the other digidestined out of that castle, and you're going to lead the charge. You're still our leader, Tai, with or without the goggles."
"You really think so?" Tai looked hopefully at his best friend.
Matt smiled at Tai for a second before he picked up a nice, flat pebble and handed it to him. Tai flicked the stone out into the water and it skipped along the surface three times before sinking with the now familiar plop.
"Yes, Taichi, I really do."
Tai nodded and stood up, feeling slightly awkward at Matt's sentimentality. As he rose he caught a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye and instantly forgot his discomfort. The boy turned to look at the patch of water where the movement had originated, but there was nothing. Just calm, bluish-grey water, rippling slightly from currents beneath the surface. Wait - there was a larger ripple just then. There, another one. Slowly the water became more turbulent, as if there were some great battle taking place beneath the surface. Suddenly a lone bubble rose from below and popped. Then another and another, until the surface of the lake was alive with bubbles. And slowly the bubbles began to gravitate towards the boys on the rock.
"Matt, I think we have trouble." Tai muttered under his breath.
"Where?"
"Patch of water over there. I think there's something going on under the water."
"Could be trouble." Matt warned.
"What do you think we should do?" Tai questioned.
"Well, what would a leader do, Kamiya?" Matt asked, flippantly, grinning at his pal.
"Point taken, Ishida." Tai nodded. "Hey, everyone! There's something going on down there!"
The other four friends looked up in alarm as Tai scrambled back towards them.
"What's the trouble, Tai?" Izzy was always the first to ask a question.
"See in the water over there? It's nuts, you'd think someone had a vacuum cleaner under there." Tai grimaced. "I don't want to alarm you all, but it could mean trouble, so be on you guard."
"Should we digivolve?" Agumon asked, looking imploringly at his human friend.
"Yeah, Tai, do you want the digimon at champion or ultimate or something?" Sora cocked her head to the side while she looked at him, as if she was trying to figure something out.
"No, not yet. We don't know whether we're going to need a fight or not." Tai answered, barely thinking about his response before he gave it. "They should save their energy. But if it turns bad we need them ready to digivolve right away."
"Right on." Biyomon nodded. "I'll be ready, don't you worry about that!"
"Oh no, not another fight!" Mimi wailed. "Now we're out in the middle of the lake it'll be really easy for an evil water digimon to come and get us because we can't get out of here. They'll pull us down into the water and it's too far to get back to shore in time and besides that I can't swim!"
"Well I can." Tai told her, firmly, squatting down in front of her. "So I can jump in and save you if anything bad happens. Plus we have digimon like Birdramon, Kabuterimon and Ikkakumon who can help us out. We'll be fine, Mimi, you can trust me."
The pink-haired ditz bit her lip and nodded, almost shyly. "Thanks, Tai."
"Um, speaking of Ikkakumon, what are we going to do about him?" Joe asked, nervously. "If he's still out roaming the lake then how will he know where we are?"
"We can have Kabuterimon or Birdramon fly a sweep to find him." The (formerly) begoggled one assured his friend. "If it's okay with them, that is..."
"No worries!" Biyomon and Tentomon chorused.
"I don't want to interrupt, Tai, but look!" Izzy pointed at the turbulent waters, which had grown even more violent whilst Tai had been talking. There were now ripples and even small waves breaking against the sides of the rock, echoes of the chaos only fifteen metres out. Tai instinctively tensed up as he saw sunlight bouncing off what could have been the tip of a fin as it broke the surface.
"Watch out, everyone, I think we're in for some action." Tai warned his friends, focusing on the water. The bubbling seemed to slow for a moment, as though pausing before the attack. Tai's hand was already edging towards his digivice in case he needed some action.
But he couldn't have been more wrong. With a high-pitched chattering noise, a sleek young Dolphmon launched itself into the air and plunged down again. A split second later another Dolphmon shot into the air, then several more, all chattering and squeaking happily. And from the centre of this happy chaos emerged a smiling Ikkakumon.
"I found a pod of Dolphmon!" Joe's partner cried, as if they hadn't already noticed. "Nothing to worry about. Funny liddle things, aren't they?"
"Er... yeah." Joe agreed, amazed by the acrobatics of the digimon he'd been prepared to battle.
"Well, don't just stand there like stunned mullets, you lot." Ikkakumon sounded annoyed now. "Hop on already, we've got to move."
The kids and monsters all lined up to scramble back on the sea monster's back. The Dolphmon made this something of a challenge at first, but they quickly disappeared as they caught sight of something underwater, perhaps a more interesting game.
"Hey, not a bad job, Kamiya." Yamato muttered, coming right up behind Tai to talk into his ear.
"You've got to be kidding." Taichi growled back. "That was a waste of time. There wasn't even anything wrong."
"But we thought there was." Matt pointed out. "Everyone was pretty worried."
"They were like that before." Tai snorted.
"Maybe so." Matt said, in his deepest voice so that no-one even Gabumon wouldn't hear. "But this time you handled it like a true leader."
Once again, the trip was going swimmingly and all was peaceful for the six digidestined.
For five minutes or so, anyway.
******
Children and digimon alike screamed as Ikkakumon suddenly gave a huge heave, throwing them all off balance. With a strangled cry, Agumon slid down Ikkakumon's side, desperately clawing at the long fur but finding nothing to grip. He sank below the surface, still crying for help.
"Oh no you don't." Tai growled. "Hang on, Agumon, I'm coming!" He grabbed a handful of fur and slid down the monster's side in much the same way Agumon had.
"Be careful, Tai!" Sora yelled after him as the boy disappeared from view almost completely.
Ikkakumon's huge bulk heaved again, nearly jerking Tai into the water. His grip tightened convulsively as he braced himself against the unsteady beast, scanning the water for any sign of his friend. Fortunately, the second shock had brought Agumon closer to them and he had now fought his way back to the surface. But the orange digimon was not built for swimming and his fire-based attacks were of very little use in the water.
"Gotcha!" Tai exclaimed, grasping one of Agumon's slippery hind feet, then nearly losing it as one of his own feet slipped. "What's going on here?!"
"I'm being attacked from beneath." Ikkakumon groaned, shutting his eyes.
"I think it could be Kappamon!" Jyou added. "We're in trouble alright."
"Yes, you most certainly are." Tai shivered when he heard the smooth voice. He strained his head to look towards its source and saw the upper half of Kappamon's body rising above the surface of the lake. "When you're in my domain, children, you're in way over your heads. And you're about to get even deeper."
"You don't scare me." Ikkakumon snarled, glaring at the opposing digimon with a look of pure hatred.
"Oh, don't I? I'll have to do something about that then." Kappamon leered, and vanished under the water. A moment later Tai and Agumon almost fell once more when a blast of water hit Ikkakumon full on.
"I can't take much more of this, Joe." Ikkakumon groaned. "I'm gonna have to digivolve."
"Ikkakumon, you can't!" Agumon screamed, his front claws dangling in the water.
But Ikkakumon had already begun. The water around him swirled violently with the power of the digivolution. Waves lapped against the digimon's side, covering Agumon's head and filling his mouth. Ikkakumon began to grow, the strong features of Zudomon emerging from the champion's body. Tai found himself slipping as the shaggy white fur was replaced by the ultimate digimon's smooth, hard shell. A spike suddenly shot out of the side of his shell, narrowly missing Tai's body. He clawed at it desperately with one hand, still holding Agumon's foot in the other. The rising, splashing water, however, had made the boy and the shell very slick, and they were sliding closer and closer to the surface of the lake. Just as Zudomon completed his transformation and shouted his name, Tai and Agumon plunged into the water.
"Not good!" Tai yelled, trying to stay above the surface with Agumon clinging to his back. "This is really not good!"
"Oops." Zudomon commented. "Sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry there." Zudomon began turning around in the water, trying to reach the pair before Kappamon circled around again. Unfortunately, his massive bulk created a current that swept the two unlucky friends even further from the other digidestined. Agumon clung to Tai more tightly, making the human falter and plunge his head below the water for a few seconds.
"What was that for?" Tai demanded, spitting out the rather foul water.
"Tai, there's something underneath us!" Agumon whispered in terror.
Tai silenced him and floated for a minute, treading water as he carefully watched for any movement below him. Yes, there was something there: the slightest of ripples in the water, disrupting the current caused by Zudomon. It could be anything, of course, not necessarily Kappamon, but you couldn't be too careful. After all, Gomamon had twice reported that Kappamon was an extremely stealthy digimon. And seeing as she had just attacked Zudomon, chances were that she was still hanging around.
"Help us!" Tai yelled to the others on Zudomon's back. "It's Kappamon, she's right underneath me. Help!"
The disturbance in the water was growing, rising toward him from below. Tai could see Biyomon launching herself from Zudomon's back, but he knew she would be too late. They had drifted too far from their friends to hope for help now, and Kappamon was going to zoom up and blast them right about...
In one sudden movement, Taichi and Agumon were lifted completely out of the water and into the fresh air. Biyomon faltered in midair as she saw what was taking place. One of the Dolphmon they had met before had come up underneath their friends and lifted them to safety.
"What the..." Tai instinctively grabbed onto Dolphmon's triangular dorsal fin as he settled onto its back. "What are you doing here?"
"You said you wanted help," Dolphmon squeaked, "so here I am!"
"Um... okay," Tai mumbled, as Agumon released his death grip on the human. "That wasn't exactly what I was thinking of - but thanks all the same."
"No worries." Dolphmon sped easily towards Zudomon and let its passengers depart. "Glad I could help. By the way, Kappamon's around here somewhere, so I'd watch out if I were you!"
"Oh, you noticed." Kappamon said, dryly, appearing behind Dolphmon without any warning whatsoever. "I'll have to be more careful next time."
With a single, fluid movement of her long claws, Kappamon sent the friendly Dolphmon soaring behind her in a huge arc, squealing in terror all the way. Then she turned her attention to the digidestined, who were watching her apprehensively. They had finally reached the other side of the lake, but not the small, bland beach they had intended to land on. Instead, Zudomon found himself and his passengers backed up against the cliffs that took up most of the space this side of the water. The whole crew were now sandwiched between Kappamon and the forbidding rock wall. The other digimon could easily crush them all with a single attack, but like her cruel master she was biding her time.
"Joe, I'm not going to be able to take her." Zudomon growled, watching the other ultimate approach. "Her water attacks are just too powerful."
"What? What are we supposed to do now, then?" Joe asked, frantically.
"We go Mega." Tai told him, firmly. "Agumon, you reckon you can do it?"
"Do I look like I can do it?" Agumon asked. He was stretched out on Zudomon's back, soaking wet and exhausted from his stint in the water.
"Agumon, you have to become WarGreymon." Tai urged. "How can we beat Kappamon without you?"
Izzy shook his head, smiling, and shot a sideways look at Mimi, who nodded doubtfully. "Watch and learn, Taichi. WarGreymon isn't the only Mega on the block anymore. C'mon, Tentomon!"
"Yeah, you show that freak, Palmon!" Mimi agreed, finding some confidence.
Palmon and Tentomon called out the oft repeated digivolving chant and ten seconds later, Rosemon and HerculesKabuterimon were hovering above, dwarfing Zudomon's bulk.
"Whoa!" Tai commented. "Guess I overlooked that."
"Good stuff." Matt and Sora nodded in approval.
"Y'know, HerculesKabuterimon is really ugly." Joe added, mildly, then whimpered as the insect in question turned around and glared at him.
"He gets the job done." Izzy waved a hand airily. "Okay, you go get that stupid monster!"
"I'm stupid now, am I?" Kappamon whispered.
She ducked quickly below the water. Almost immediately a swirling waterspout shot up into the air, blasting HerculesKabuterimon full on. He was big, heavy and tough, but it took him a moment to regain control and hold off the onslaught. Rosemon took full advantage of Kappamon's distraction.
"Thorn whip!" Rosemon's whip flashed down into the water and curled around Kappamon's middle, wrenching her out of the water and into the air and making the rush of water subside.
"That's a nice little trick." Kappamon commented, face to face with her tormentor.
"Glad you liked it." Rosemon shot back, flicking the rapier in her other hand to slash Kappamon's hindquaters. "Do you like this one too?"
"There are things I'd prefer." the grey beast snarled, gritting her teeth against the pain. Quickly retaliating, Kappamon grasped Rosemon's neck in her strong, webbed fingers, forcing the whip to loosen around her waist.
"Oh no you don't!" HerculesKabuterimon roared, reaching for Kappamon with one of his claws.
Kappmon dragged herself free of Rosemon's whip, ignoring the stings of the thorns that had penetrated her skin. She vaulted backwards and landed on HerculesKabuterimon's head, panting slightly. "Really, sir, you underestimate me. I'm quite insulted; you only seem to think in one direction. Try looking down this time."
In dumb obediance, HerculesKabuterimon looked downwards at the lake. Kappamon had somehow created a huge upheaval in the water and an enormous surge was headed for Zudomon and his passengers. Zudomon was already feeling the effects of the disturbance and was having trouble keeping his balance. One particularly strange current slammed him against the cliff, shaking everyone violently.
Gabumon felt a sort of flicker in him mind as the digimon beneath his feet shuddered. Unlike the others, he wasn't unsteadied by the movement at all. As he stared out at the wall of water approaching, he felt an incredibly strong sense of... what was it? Like he had to do something. He was supposed to do something. Make it all okay. Help... stop the wave. Stop it from crushing everyone; he was supposed to protect them.
Protect Matt.
Without another thought, Gabumon hurled himself off Zudomon's back and towards the surface of the lake. Strange words burst involuntarily from his mouth. Strange, but somehow familiar, too.
"Gabumon, warpdigivolve to..." He was growing now. Changing, becoming more powerful. Much more powerful. Maybe now he could stop the wave. It should have felt weird, but it wasn't. It was familiar, like the words. And more than that. It was right.
"MetalGarurumon!" The huge wolf digimon hovered just a little above the water. Yes, he remembered it all now. He knew what to do. "Ice Wold Claw!"
A torrent of power burst from his open mouth and hit the approaching wall of water, freezing it solid. He stood for a moment, panting, and watched the ise slowly crumble and dissolve harmlessly in the water. He found his way back to Zudomon, moving as though he was in a dream. Exhausted, the giant collapsed and slowly reverted back to Tsunomon, just as he had been the day he found Matt.
Yes, he remembered that day.
"Well done." Matt smiled, picking up the little digimon. "I guess this means you remember everything now, huh?"
"Every little detail." Tsunomon smiled. "And I don't ever want to forget it again."
Kappamon snorted as she watched the miniature celebrations of the digidestined as they realised they had been saved from certain death once again. She knew HerculesKabuterimon and Rosemon would rub her snout in it all if she gave them one more second to think about it, so she acted as quickly as she could.
"Freeze!" she cried, raking her claws down HerculesKabuterimon's head and continuing down his back. The ugly insect suddenly found himself unable to move. "Gotcha." she whispered, before dealing him a heavy blow with her tail. He cleverly de-digivolved to Tentomon on the way down and flew to Zudomon before collapsing, so as not to create another wave. Well, she'd get them soon enough.
"We're not done yet." Rosemon announced, as Kappamon dove towards the water once more (she did not, as yet, posess the power of flight).
"What's left to do?" Kappamon asked, mildly.
Rosemon flicked out her whip again in reply. Kappamon hit the water and emerged immediately, reachign out and allowing the whip to curl around her wrist. She yanked violently downwards, pulling Rosemon off guard. Kappamon swiftly began pulling the whip in like a fishing line, only to find it dissolving in her hands as Rosemon de-digivolved, giving up as easily as her friend.
The water digimon smiled to herself. She had them where she wanted them now. She could do anything she wanted to these weaklings. But for some reason, Kappamon didn't feel like killing today. Mordremon didn't hold with killing unnecessarily, and Kappamon held Mordremon in high regard.
She dove beneath the water, using every trick she knew to reach the digidestined as quickly as she could. Summoning all her remaining strength, she gathered the water around her for a final attack. She'd have to let them go for a while so she could recharge. Pity, she wasn't really all that fond of fighting, but sometimes there was no alternative. Kappamon closed her eyes, feeling the power of the waters flowing above and below and through her, and said the word.
"Whirlpool!"
A pillar of water rocketed into the air, carrying Zudomon and his passengers with it. They were plunged back into the water, but pushed along with the current at such a rate that no-onw could see or hear or think. The roaring waters were everywhere, clouding everything, and each of the crew thought they must be drowning. And suddenly, it ceased. There was solid ground beneath their feet and the water was quickly draining away.
"Are we there?" Tai asked, groggily, climbing to his feet. "Did we do it? Did we reach the mountain?"
Joe wondered the same thing, but couldn't answer it while he searched for his glasses in the mud. Having found them, the boy wiped the worst of the mud off, pushed them onto his face and peered hopefully across the water. But his hope sank into the mud with his shoes when he realised he was staring at the same old mountain from the same old place.
"Nope." he sighed. "We have to start all over again."
~~~~~~
As usual, that took much longer than it should have. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Was that too predictable? Was it predictable at all? I'm just asking because I read a really predictable fanfic just before and I've become terrified of becoming predictable.
Oh well. See you later.
